Chapter 48 - A Quiet Night

Rynold whirred his drill into life as he readied himself for the fight that's to come.

With his newly armed [Mana Augment Form: Drill], Rynold now had the capability to deal devastating damage towards the enemy Behemoth Ghoul. He jumped down from the two-story building that he was previously resting on and faced the ghoul head-on.

The Behemoth Ghoul struck first.

It made a single step forward that made everything around it topple like a powerful localized earthquake. But, that didn't matter as Rynold was midair and attacked from above.

The battlefield soon turned intense once more as the fight between man versus beast was reaching its very climax.

Rynold was soon propelled towards the ground at a visible rate and getting faster by the second. Tip of the drill first, he whirred it with his Mana as his blood boiled from excitement.

'This is it,' he thought as he targeted himself towards the Behemoth Ghoul's chest. With him acting as the spear and the drill being the tip of the spear, he would ensure his victory. But, in reality, it was never that simple.

The Behemoth Ghoul reacted on instinct and instead swatted Rynold away like a fly eyeing a picnic basket in the summer. There was no way for Rynold to guard himself against the attack and was forced back a good distance away from his target.

While the trees reduced the damage of the impact, it still hurt because of how powerful the innate strength of the Behemoth Ghoul. Even without its intelligence, a creature based on instinct could be more of a threat at times.

Regardless, Rynold stood back up. Wiping the blood dripping from his chin, he readied his drill once more but he felt tired beyond reason at that very moment. Perhaps it was the attack from the ghoul or his Mana reserves depleting, he knew he wouldn't stand a chance if he didn't play it smart.

The astonishing defense of the Behemoth Ghoul proved to be something that is difficult to measure especially its strength being unreachable in Rynold's current level. Despite that, he shrunk his drill to a smaller size.

It would be difficult for him to approach such a monstrosity when something was slowing him down. Right now, what mattered more to Rynold is to win this battle and survive. He felt, no, he knew that he had the capabilities now more than ever.

With his doubts out of the way, Rynold rushed to the Behemoth Ghoul's underbelly. He noticed before from Oliver's attacks that cuts directed there would deal damage but Oliver's attacks weren't deep enough. So, Rynold thought he might give it a shot.

Each step that Rynold took, the faster and closer he got to the Behemoth Ghoul. The mainly dangerous part is to make sure that the Behemoth wouldn't step on him. He would, without a doubt, be squished like a bug if he got stepped on.

The Behemoth Ghoul was looking at the spot where Rynold came from. Thankful that it was stupid as a rock, Rynold approached from the side and came up to the Ghoul's underbelly.

Now with a closer look, Rynold noticed that the cuts that Oliver had made were indeed effective. In terms of damage, it wasn't much, but slashing attacks seemed to be the way to go. The previous attempts of the Shadow Assassin turned out to leave scar marks from the now recovered underbelly.

Rynold shape changed the drill once more and reverted it back to its original size. Without a moment's delay, he readied his drill but this time his form of attack was a bit different.

Willing his Mana to directly increase the size of the drill as well as the Augmented Mana surrounding it, he entered a sword-drawing stance.

He was actually attempting to finish it all in one decisive strike. With the drill directly beside his hip, he remembered and tried to copy what he saw in the movies about some swordsman whose sword didn't even leave its scabbard to kill the opponents in his way.

Rynold closed his eyes and pictured what he was trying to make happen. Right foot forward and lunge forward a bit to maximize the distance. Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate...

Soon, the Mana he was pouring into the drill had grown a few more meters in length. The change was negligible when a person would look at it but Rynold finally knew it was time. He willed his Mana to whir the drill and waited for it to reach max speed. It was then...

'Now!' he yelled inside his head while simultaneously opening his eyes and swung.

The drill and attack were all done in one fluid motion. If it were done anywhere else besides the underbelly, its scales would probably have gotten in the way of the attack.

The slash made a horizontal cut and once it reached its halfway point, the Mana coat was flickering in and out of place. It was Rynold's Mana reserves emptying out.

Despite that, he had to complete the attack because, at this point, there was no turning back. He strengthened his will and pushed on. It was not long until the slash finally reached its end.

Drill-style: Mana's Last Whisper!

As soon as Rynold's Mana Augment on the drill and the whirring stopped, blood spurted out from the slash attack. It drenched Rynold in so much blood that the stench would make him puke but what was even more disgusting was what happened next.

The Behemoth Ghoul's complete underbelly started to open and its guts leaked out. It was so repulsive that Rynold finally managed to puke. That would've been fine since it was a sign that the attack managed to be effective in ending the Behemoth Ghoul's life but Rynold was far from safe.

On its last legs, the Ghoul finally started to topple down from its position. That being said, Rynold was losing his balance, he was at the epicenter, after all. Despite that, he should still be safe but what happened next was then that he realized he was in a very precarious situation.

The Behemoth Ghoul fell forward to where Rynold was directly below him. It would've been okay if the Ghoul fell backward but since it didn't, Rynold would be embraced by monster guts and blood in the next few moments.

"Oh, shit...," Rynold muttered under his breath as the shadow of the falling Behemoth Ghoul was covering him. He tried to move out of the way but his body won't listen. The amount of Mana he expended in such a short amount of time had rendered him immobile.

Slipping and falling, Rynold fell flat on his butt. There was no way out except for...

The Behemoth Ghoul finally collapsed to the ground and Rynold only managed to escape in the very last few moments. His grapple being his savior at this particular moment from being crushed by a mountain of monster guts and the gigantic corpse.

Now clinging to the side of a very worn down building, Rynold breathed a sigh of relief before retracting his grapple. It wasn't very long that the Behemoth Ghoul turned to dust before his very eyes. He probably would've suffered in a few seconds if he was covered by the corpse but that didn't matter now.

[Trial of the Mech Knight Completed!]

[Skill Ascension Available for Summon: Mech Knight]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

"6 levels, huh?" Rynold chuckled and smiled at the reward but he was worse for wear. He couldn't move a muscle but he simply looked up to the night sky and thought about how quiet the town square was.

He still remembered the memories he had of this place when he was a kid but he couldn't bear the weight of his own thoughts consuming him. There was a lot more to do, after all.

Even if his body was resting, Rynold tried to raise his palm and summoned X. The all familiar magic array appeared once more and the might Mech Knight was standing before him. He thought what the ascension skills that were available to him at this moment but he couldn't even raise his arm.

"Hey, buddy," Rynold spoke to the Mech Knight in a low, weak voice. The Mech Knight recognized its liege and his overall condition. Concerned, X picked Rynold up from the ground with both hands and cradled his sorry state.

"Thanks, pal," Rynold patted the Mech Knight's hand and this moment made him realize how attached he has grown to X. They've been through life and death, after all, but the sentiment of having X around him has made him feel like he was a father to this mechanical child.

Rynold smiled and a genuine one at that too. "Can you set me down on that fountain over there?" he asked the Mech Knight. X simply acknowledged the command and moved forward to where the fountain was and settled Rynold down nice and easy. It was then that a wave of calm came over Rynold.

It was a quiet night, after all.