The Gorilla King slowly lifted its head. Its red eyes burned brighter than before. Then its entire body started to change. The stone armour shifted, layering over itself like armour being reforged mid-battle.

BOOOOOM.

A deeper aura exploded outward.

Ethius swallowed. "...It’s evolving."

Mayra whispered. "This is bad."

Julias stepped forward anyway. "Then we hit it again."

Nobody cracked his neck. "...Yeah. But I don’t think it will be easy this time."

The Gorilla King suddenly slammed both fists into the ground.

CRAAAAASH!

A massive shockwave erupted, stronger than before. The ground beneath them began to rise and fall like waves.

Ethius shouted. "Spread out!"

Everyone moved instantly.

FLASH!

FLASH!

FLASH!

Nobody teleported sideways just as a pillar of stone erupted where he stood.

BOOOOM!

He reappeared on a broken boulder, breathing slightly heavier. "...Okay. That’s definitely phase two behavior."

The Gorilla King roared again, but this time the sound was lower, heavier—like the jungle itself was growling. Then its fists sank into the ground.

Mayra frowned. "...What is it doing now?"

The answer came immediately. The earth around it began to rise. The stone chunks, boulders and the entire slabs of ground lifted into the air. They hovered.

Julias muttered. "...That’s not good."

The Gorilla King lifted its arms. And the floating stones began orbiting it like weapons.

Ethius’s expression darkened. "...It’s arming itself."

Nobody pointed. "Yeah. And I don’t like that face it’s making."

The Golem Gorilla King stood in the middle of the shattered battlefield. Dozens of massive rocks rotated around the giant beast like moons around a planet. Its glowing red eyes locked onto the four trainees.

Then...it opened its mouth. And unleashed a deafening roar.

KRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHH!!!

The jungle shook violently. Trees bent, leaves exploded from branches. The air itself trembled.

Ethius’ eyes widened. "EVERYONE DODGE!!!"

The Gorilla King swung both arms. The orbiting stones instantly shot outward.

BOOOOOOM!

BOOOOOOM!

The sky filled with flying boulders. Some were the size of carts. Others were as large as houses. And they were moving incredibly fast.

Mayra immediately reacted. "WIND SHIELD!"

FWOOOOOOOOOSH!

A massive barrier of spinning wind appeared around the group. The first boulder slammed into it.

BOOOOOM!

The barrier shook violently. A second struck.

BOOOOOM!

Then a third. Then five more. The impacts came nonstop.

BOOOOM!

Cracks began forming throughout the wind barrier.

Mayra gritted her teeth. Sweat rolled down her forehead. Her arms trembled. The pressure was becoming unbearable.

Another giant boulder hit.

BOOOOOOOM!

Mayra nearly lost her footing.

Nobody immediately noticed. "She’s reaching her limit!"

The barrier flickered. The wind currents became unstable.

Ethius looked worried. "How much longer can you hold it?!"

Mayra struggled to answer. "...Not...for...Long!"

The barrier groaned. A large crack spread across its surface.

Julias stared at the Gorilla King.

The giant beast continued launching boulders relentlessly. Its chest glowed brighter and eyes burned with fury.

Julias slowly tightened his grip on his sword. His expression darkened. "...I am really getting pissed off at that gorilla."

Nobody looked toward him. "Same."

The Gorilla King launched another barrage.

Mayra’s barrier shook again.

CRACK.

A larger fracture appeared.

Julias lowered his head. "...It can’t be helped."

Nobody noticed something strange.

Julias’ mana was rising very fast. The green aura around his body intensified. Leaves began swirling around him. Small stones lifted from the ground.

Nobody blinked. "...Julias?"

The goblin warrior took a deep breath. "I have to use that move."

Nobody froze. "What?"

At that exact moment....

the system appeared.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[SYSTEM NOTICE]

Julias is preparing a Special Skill.

Warning:

Skill consumes massive amounts of Mana and HP.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Nobody’s eyes widened. "Dude!" He immediately turned. "JULIAS! It’s too risky!"

Julias gave a calm smile. The kind that made people realize the decision had already been made. "I know."

Ethius stared. "How risky are we talking?"

Julias slowly raised his sword. The blade began glowing bright green. Then brighter. The aura surrounding him started becoming visible to the naked eye like flames made of emerald light.

Mayra looked shocked. "...That’s a lot of mana."

Julias nodded. "Everything I have."

Nobody immediately pointed. "THAT IS NOT A COMFORTING ANSWER!"

The Gorilla King launched another volley.

BOOOOOM!

A giant boulder smashed into the barrier.

CRACK!

Mayra’s shield nearly shattered. Blood appeared at the corner of her mouth.

Ethius immediately moved beside her. "Mayra!"

"I’m okay..." Though she clearly wasn’t.

The barrier flickered again.

The Gorilla King roared.

KRAAAAAAGHHHH!!

More stones began floating around it. Preparing for another attack.

Julias slowly stepped forward. His sword was now shining like a green star. The ground beneath his feet cracked. The pressure coming from his mana was enormous.

Even Nobody could feel it.

The system appeared again front of Nobody.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Team Member

[Special Move]

Divine World Splitter

Status:

Charging...

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Nobody stared. "Divine...World Splitter?"

Ethius stared. "...You’re looking insanely dope, dude."

Mayra stared. "...I suddenly feel safer."

Julias chuckled. "Good."

The Gorilla King noticed the gathering energy. Its eyes narrowed. The the monster looked cautious.

Nobody immediately noticed. "Guys."

Ethius nodded. "It sees him as a threat."

The Gorilla King suddenly abandoned the boulder attack. Instead, it crouched. The ground shattered beneath its feet.

BOOOOOM!

Nobody’s eyes widened. "It’s going for Julias!"

The giant beast launched itself forward like a living mountain.

Everything shook. Trees exploded. The distance vanished instantly.

Julias remained still. The green aura continued growing.

Charging.

Charging.

Charging.

Ethius cursed. "He’s not ready yet!"

Nobody gripped his crowbars. "Then we buy him time!"

FLASH!

Zigzag Teleportation activated. Nobody vanished.

FLASH!

He appeared directly in front of the charging Gorilla King. "...This is a terrible idea." Then he swung both crowbars.

SLASH!

The strike barely scratched the monster. The Gorilla King didn’t even slow down.

"...Yep. Terrible idea confirmed."

BOOOOOM!

Nobody teleported away just before a giant fist crushed the ground.

Ethius attacked next.

SWISH!

SWISH!

His daggers struck damaged cracks in the Gorilla King’s armor.

Stone fragments flew. The monster growled. But kept moving and its target never changed who was Juilas

Mayra raised her staff again. Despite her exhaustion. "WIND LANCE!"

WHOOSH!

Compressed air slammed into the Gorilla King’s face. The attack finally slowed it slightly.

But not enough. The monster continued advancing.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Each step felt like an earthquake.

Julias finally opened his eyes. The sword in his hand had become a pillar of green light. The air vibrated around him.

Even the Gorilla King hesitated.

The system flashed.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Team Member

[Divine World Splitter]

Charge Complete

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Nobody slowly turned. Ethius stopped moving. Mayra lowered her staff.

Julias raised his glowing sword. A tired smile appeared on his face. "Thanks, guys, for buying me time."

The Gorilla King roared and lunged forward.

The green light exploded across the battlefield.

Julias took one step. Then whispered....

"...Let’s end this."