Chương 33: Five Cheap Balloons

Ch 33 - Five Cheap Balloons

"I'll kill you!" Snuk shouted.

"Come out! Stop hiding! I'll rip you apart!"

"Nobody makes a fool out of me! Nobody! I'm Bullkin's strongest warrior! I'm the one everyone fears!"

"Come out and face me, you coward! Stop hiding before I rip this whole forest apart with my own hands!"

"You think you can escape me? I'll hunt you until I find you, and when I do, I'll make sure there's nothing left of you but bones!" Snuk suddenly stopped and slammed both feet into the ground with tremendous force. The earth cracked beneath him as dust and loose stones burst into the air. He threw both arms wide and released another furious roar that echoed through the trees. Panting heavily, he turned his head in every direction, his bloodshot eyes searching the forest. There was no sign of the girl.

Then his eyes caught something in the distance. A small piece of torn fabric was caught on a low branch, fluttering gently in the breeze. His lips curled into a savage grin before he let out another enraged bellow. Without another thought, he charged toward it, smashing through bushes and snapping young trees in his path. He kept running… Until he stopped once more.

"I've already been through this path before," he muttered to himself. His breathing became heavier.

"No! That's impossible!" His anger exploded.

"Damn it! Damn this cursed forest! Stop playing games with me!" With another deafening roar, he swung his massive axe wildly, crushing nearby trees into splinters. Branches rained down around him while rocks shattered beneath his feet. He turned around repeatedly, glaring in every direction, convinced something was watching him. Then he noticed something strange. His eyes narrowed.

"Balloons?" Five colorful balloons floated quietly around him as if they had appeared out of nowhere. Green. Yellow. Gray. Pink. Blue. For a brief moment, Snuk simply stared at them, confused.

"What kind of stupid trick is this?" he growled.

"Who the hell leaves balloons in the middle of a forest?" He swung his axe with overwhelming force. The green balloon burst first. The instant it exploded, a thick cloud of green smoke erupted outward, swallowing him almost immediately.

"What the...?!" Snuk coughed violently as the smoke surrounded him. Then another balloon exploded. Something sharp blasted into his eyes.

"AAARGH!" A burning pain spread across both of them. His vision blurred almost instantly, forcing him to clamp one hand over his face. Before he could recover… Another explosion. BOOM! A deafening screech erupted from somewhere inside the smoke.

"GAH!" The piercing sound stabbed into his ears like countless needles. His balance vanished. The world spun violently around him, and every direction became impossible to judge. Then another balloon burst. And another. Blind with rage, he tightened both hands around his massive axe.

"SHOW YOURSELF!!" He swung wildly. The axe crashed into a massive tree, splitting its trunk apart. He spun and struck again. Another tree exploded into broken wood. He stumbled forward, trying to charge through the smoke, only to slam headfirst into another trunk.

"RRAAAAGH!" Disoriented, he staggered backward before charging again. This time he smashed into a giant boulder so hard that he nearly fell to one knee. His fury reached its limit. If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"You filthy little rat!" he bellowed.

"Get out here! Stop hiding behind cheap tricks! I'll rip your head off! I'll crush every bone in your body!"

"Damn you! Damn this forest! Damn all of you! Come out and fight me like a warrior! You worthless coward! I'll smash everything around me until there's nowhere left for you to hide! I'll burn this cursed place to the ground if I have to! COME OUT!" Snuk turned sharply toward a movement in the smoke. A massive figure slowly emerged from the swirling green haze. His eyes widened. The figure stood nearly as tall and broad as he was. Thick horns curved from its head, and its powerful frame marked it as another Bullkin.

"Snuk," the figure said with a cold laugh.

"You've gotten soft. You're nothing but dead weight. All that muscle, and you still can't catch a single girl." Snuk's face twisted with fury.

"Shut your mouth!" With a thunderous roar, he hurled his massive axe straight at the figure. The weapon tore through the smoke with terrifying force. But the Bullkin vanished before it could connect. The axe smashed into a giant tree instead, splitting the trunk apart before burying itself deep inside. Snuk breathed heavily as he yanked the weapon free. Then another shape appeared behind him.

"So this is what you've become? Pathetic. I expected a warrior worthy of his name, not some raging fool who can't even tell friend from foe. You call yourself the strongest? I've seen young recruits with more discipline than you. You're all strength and no skill."

"ENOUGH!" His eyes burned with rage as he spun violently, swinging his massive axe in a wide arc. The blade carved through trees, shattered rocks, and ripped apart thick bushes. He kept attacking without stopping, hacking at every shadow that moved inside the smoke. Again. And again. And again. His axe slammed into another thick trunk and lodged deep inside the wood. Snuk growled as he struggled to pull it free, veins bulging across both arms.

Finally wrenching it loose, he threw his head back and unleashed a furious bellow.

"COME OUT!" he roared.

"Stop hiding behind your tricks! Face me like a real warrior! If you've got the courage to mock me, then stand in front of me and fight! No more hiding in the smoke!" As Snuk's furious bellow echoed through the smoke, something slammed into his back with crushing force.

"GRRAAGH!" The impact launched him forward. He crashed into the ground, rolling through dirt and broken branches before forcing himself back onto one knee. A sharp, burning pain tore across his back. Four long claw marks had ripped into his flesh, leaving blood to pour freely down his muscular frame. His nostrils flared as he bellowed in anger.

"You attack from behind like a coward!" he shouted.

"Face me head-on! Fight me like a Bullkin!" Before he could steady himself, another strike came from his left. Blood splattered onto the ground as four long scratches tore across his cheek. He spun instantly, swinging his massive axe with enough force to split stone. His breathing grew heavier. His eyes darted wildly from one direction to another, searching for even the slightest movement. Then… A silhouette slowly emerged from the thick mist. One steady step. Then another. Two crimson eyes glowed through the haze.

A dark aura clung to the figure, swallowing the light around it. Resting casually over one shoulder was a long black scythe. The figure stopped several meters away.

"So... these are the Bullkin who call themselves the strongest of the Beastkin?" the stranger said, a faint smile creeping across his face.

"What a pathetic sight." Snuk tightened his grip around his axe, his muscles tensing.

"You know what's amusing?" the stranger continued as he took another slow step.

"I never overpowered you. I never needed to. I didn't even have to fight you." He lowered the tip of his scythe until it scraped softly across the ground.

"Look around you. Every tree lying in pieces was cut down by your own hands. Every drop of blood running down your body came from wounds you gave yourself while chasing shadows. I didn't need strength. I only needed your temper." A quiet laugh escaped his lips.

"I expected a monster. Instead, I found a beast that charges at whatever stands in front of it. Give you a little confusion, and you lose your mind. Show you a simple trick, and you destroy everything except your real enemy." His crimson eyes locked onto Snuk's.

"Do you know what defeated you? Five cheap little balloons were enough to turn you into a blind fool swinging at smoke." The stranger's smile widened.

"You think your strength makes you dangerous, but it doesn't. It makes you predictable. I don't need to stop your axe. I only have to decide where you'll swing it." He rested the scythe over his shoulder.

"I was leading you from the very beginning. Every step you took, every swing you made, every scream you let out... exactly where I wanted them."

"You call yourself the strongest, yet your anger controls you more easily than I ever could. A warrior who can't master his own rage isn't strong. He's just another beast waiting to be led." Snuk let out a furious bellow and raised his massive axe.

"Shut up! Stop running your mouth and face me head-on!" With a powerful kick, he lunged straight at the figure. Before he could close the distance, something slammed into his side.

"Ghk!" The impact stopped his charge cold, throwing him off balance. Before he could recover, another blow crashed into his left side, followed by another from behind. Invisible claws tore across his body, forcing him to stagger with every hit. Blood splattered onto the ground as he struggled to stay on his feet, his bloodshot eyes never leaving the figure standing calmly before him. Rage completely consumed him.

"STOP HIDING!" He roared and swung his axe with everything he had. The instant the blade came down, the figure disappeared. Snuk's eyes widened. The last thing he saw was the gleam of a massive black scythe cutting silently through the smoke. [100 Chaos Consumed] [Divine - Chaos Reaping Activated] What... was that? For the briefest moment, he felt nothing. Then his vision suddenly dropped. The world tilted beneath him, and the ground rushed upward.

His enormous body remained standing for a heartbeat before collapsing to its knees. A heavy thud shook the forest as it fell forward, while his severed head rolled across the blood-soaked ground until it finally stopped. A boot came down on one of its horns. As the green smoke slowly thinned, Jester stood there with his scythe resting on one shoulder, his crimson hair swaying gently in the breeze. Not far behind him, Fang emerged from the mist in his massive dire wolf form, watching the corpse without a word.

Jester glanced down at Snuk's lifeless head and smiled.

"That was easier than I expected." He glanced toward Fang.

"Looks like I got exactly what I came for." [You killed Rare Named Bullkin - Snuk (Lv. 151)] [+78, 000 XP] [Level Up!] [Lv. 41 → Lv. 42] [Level Up Bonus: Health, Mana, and Stamina have been fully restored.] [XP Progress: 46, 102 / 48, 086 XP (96%)] [Reaper of Chaos: Harvest Mask has been triggered.]