Born In Ashes: The Enigma

As both of them charged at each other, Azrael realized that his guess had been correct. Unlike its immense stamina and strength, the iron bear's agility was nearly equal to his own.

With cosmic energy surging into his legs and boosting his speed, he managed to move slightly faster than the iron bear.

Each time the beast moved, the ground trembled violently, as though an earthquake were approaching.

When the two were just a few meters apart, Azrael flicked his left hand, and a short needle shot toward the bear's eye like a bullet.

Because the iron bear was charging forward and the needle moved with bullet-like velocity, it couldn't evade the attack, and could only shift its head slightly, letting the needle struck its head.

However, the needle only pierced a few centimeters into the bear's fur before losing all momentum.

The needle Azrael had thrown was crafted from extremely high-quality material and could even pierce a bulletproof car if thrown at the right speed.

So when it only embedded itself a few centimeters into the bear's fur, Azrael raised an eyebrow—but he wasn't surprised.

He had used the needle to test the bear's defense, and from this, he confirmed that its stamina was indeed around 35 points.

ROAR!

The iron bear completely ignored the needle stuck in its head and as soon as it got close to Azrael, it roared and swung its powerful claw at him.

Cosmic energy flowed into the Fallen Star, and Azrael met the bear's attack with a swing of his greatsword.

The massive blade of the Fallen Star collided with the claw and for a brief instant, the entire forest fell into complete silence.

But the silence didn't last long as the next second, a sharp, metallic sound rang out, echoing across hundreds of meters, followed by a powerful shockwave visible to the naked eye.

The ground around Azrael and the iron bear trembled, and cracks began spreading in all directions, as if earth dragons were slithering beneath the surface.

Azrael felt an unstoppable force transmitted into his arm through the sword and his muscles contracted under the strain, nearly reaching their breaking point.

ROAR!

The iron bear let out another furious roar and exerted even more force.

Feeling the intense pressure on his arm, Azrael stopped resisting and allowed the bear's strength to carry him.

His body was thrown backwards, launching nearly three meters into the air.

While midair, Azrael twisted his body and executed a backflip to stabilize himself, landing smoothly on the ground. However, the force of impact caused him to skid back almost five meters before finally coming to a halt.

Azrael glanced at his trembling arm and took a deep breath.

'Its strength matches its stamina…' He thought to himself, his eyes narrowing.

But when his gaze landed on the bear's claw—the one it had used to clash with his sword—his lips curled into a faint smile.

"But as long as I can break through its defense, that's all I need."

The iron bear also looked down at its own claw, which was now slightly bleeding and its deep orange eyes burned with fury.

ROAR!

It let out another roar, this one filled with pure rage, and glared at Azrael with hatred.

"Who are you trying to scare with that dog bark of yours, you bastard?" Azrael sneered, catching the look in the bear's eyes before launching himself forward once again.

This time, he pushed the cosmic energy within him to its absolute limit, and his speed surpassed what it had been previously. Pain shot through his leg muscles, but he ignored it completely.

Seeing Azrael rushing toward it, the bear's eyes flared with hatred. It reared up on its hind legs and, the moment Azrael drew near, swung its claw at him with lightning speed.

The air itself was torn apart by the sheer force of the bear's swing, and even before the claw reached him, Azrael felt a stinging pain across his face.

However, thanks to Infinite Comprehension, he had already read the bear's body movements and predicted the attack in advance.

As the claw inched closer, Azrael stomped firmly against the ground and leapt high into the air.

The claw narrowly missed him and continued on its trajectory.

While midair, Azrael stepped onto the bear's still-moving arm—using it as support—and vaulted over its head, landing behind the beast.

The iron bear, having just missed its strike had no time to reposition itself. It roared in frustration and tried to turn around quickly to counterattack.

But before it could—

Swish!

A sharp sound sliced through the air as the Fallen Star, glowing with pale blue cosmic energy struck the side of the bear's neck.

Under the effect of Sword Domination, and with Azrael using Force Utilization to unleash nearly 140% of his strength, the bear's iron-like fur was torn apart, leaving a deep wound.

ROAR!

The bear let out a painful scream as blood gushed from the wound, staining its grey fur crimson. The injury only fueled the bear's fury further and its monstrous instincts flared, driving it into a violent rage.

Without even fully turning around, the bear swung its sharp claw backward at Azrael in retaliation.

For Azrael, facing a powerful monster blinded by rage was far easier than dealing with a weaker one with high intelligence.

As the bear's claw came towards him, he simply ducked right behind the bear to dodge the wild attack, and the moment the bear completed its turn, the Fallen Star in his hand shot upward like a spear, its tip piercing into the bear's lower chin.

RIP!

The sound of tearing flesh rang out as the sword tip embedded several inches deep into the bear's chin, emerging from inside its mouth.

The bear's eyes turned red from pain, but before it could react, Azrael struck the sword's hilt with his palm—

RIP!

The added force drove the sword even deeper into the bear's mouth, piercing its upper jaw and its massive body stumbled backward.

Just as Azrael prepared to continue pushing the blade in, the bear suddenly lunged forward. Both of its arms shot toward him at lightning speed, attempting to catch him in a deadly embrace.

Azrael's instincts screamed in alarm and he was certain that if he got caught in that bear hug, he wouldn't survive.

Without a moment's hesitation, he released the Fallen Star—which remained stuck in the bear's mouth—and channeled cosmic energy into his legs.

The energy tore through some of his muscles, but he managed to leap backward just in time.

Thanks to his quick reaction, he narrowly avoided being caught. However, one of the bear's arms still clipped the side of his body, sending him flying nearly ten meters through the air.

Even though he was wearing a armor, his internal organs still trembled from the impact, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood mid-flight. The bone in his left hand suffered a minor fracture, and his body rolled along the ground.

Yet under the influence of Cold-Blooded, he ignored the pain and stood up immediately.

He looked toward the bear, which now struggled to move.

The Fallen Star was still embedded deep within its mouth as blood continued to pour from the wound.

The bear's eyes were losing their luster, and it was clear that the sword piercing from its chin to the upper jaw was taking a heavy toll on it.

Without any hesitation, Azrael charged at it again.

As he advanced, another needle materialized in his right hand. Once he was within a meter of the bear, he hurled it directly at its eye.

Already weakened and unable to react properly due to Azrael's high agility, the bear didn't sense the threat until it was too late and the needle successfully pierced its eye cleanly, destroying it.

Because the sword was still lodged in its mouth, the bear couldn't even roar and collapsed to the ground in powerless agony.

Azrael looked at the fallen creature but didn't approach immediately.

Two minutes passed, during which he waited until the bear's aura grew extremely weak and finally, he stretched out his hand.

A flash of black light appeared, and the Fallen Star reappeared in his grasp. Because it was a Soul Armament—a part of his soul—he could summon it at will.

With the sword in hand, Azrael carefully walked toward the dying bear.

The beast weakly stared at him, and in the next instant, the blade of the Fallen Star filled its fading vision—before everything went dark.