Born In Ashes: The Enigma

The Titan Ape's intelligence was far inferior to that of even a ten-year-old child. It couldn't properly understand Azrael's actions, but from the look on Azrael's face, it could tell that the other party was insulting and cursing it.

By the time it understood everything and began to chase after Azrael, the distance between them had increased from the initial two hundred meters to two hundred and fifty meters.

As he ran with everything he had, Azrael felt the ground beneath his feet trembling.

ROAR!

He heard the furious roar of the Titan Ape, and when he glanced back while still running, he saw the creature leaping high into the sky like a certain green-colored gamma monster.

With just a single jump, it closed the distance of about fifty meters.

Boom!

A thunderous sound echoed as the Titan Ape landed heavily on the ground once more.

The surrounding trees shook violently, and some even toppled due to the impact caused by the Titan Ape.

Around two seconds later, Azrael passed by a line of trees.

All of these trees had deep cuts on their right side, and as Azrael passed them, he summoned Fallen Star, stretching the blade of his sword toward each tree while continuing to run. His cosmic energy flowed into the sword, slightly deepening the existing cuts.

As the cuts deepened, the trees began to tremble as if they could collapse at any moment.

Boom!

At that moment, the ground quaked, and the aftermath of the Titan Ape's pursuit reached the trees.

The moment the shockwave hit, the trees began to fall one after another.

As the first tree collapsed, the Titan Ape—who had been chasing Azrael—arrived at that exact spot.

Seeing a tall tree falling toward it, it roared in fury and punched the trunk, sending it flying and scattering wood splinters in all directions.

The Titan Ape moved forward again, but the next tree fell at that very moment, forcing it to punch that one away as well.

Massive trees toppled one after another. Though they didn't harm the Titan Ape directly, they still managed to slow its pursuit slightly.

When the Titan Ape saw Azrael growing farther and farther away while it remained stuck among the trees, its eyes burned with rage, and it let out an earth-shaking roar.

As it roared, a powerful shockwave exploded in all directions, blowing away all the falling trees at once.

Azrael, who had again widened the distance between them to about two hundred and fifty meters glanced back and his eyes twitched slightly when he saw what the Titan Ape had just done.

"As expected from a Class-Level monster close to reaching level 25. Its skill can even blow away so massive trees."

After clearing the trees, the Titan Ape hesitated for a moment, debating whether to continue the chase. If it did, it would exceed a distance of five hundred meters from the light-golden orb.

Just as it was deep in thought—

"Red butt monkey, are you done?"

A voice dripping with sarcasm reached its ears, and it saw Azrael grinning at it while flashing a middle finger.

The Titan Ape burned with fury at the sight of Azrael's mocking smile and—

ROAR!

It let out a deafening roar and resumed the chase.

This time, its speed was even greater.

The distance between it and Azrael rapidly decreased, and in just a few seconds, it had narrowed the gap to only one hundred meters.

At that moment, Azrael passed through an area where someone had cut down all the trees.

There were lines of ropes tied throughout the area, and as he ran past them, Azrael began cutting the ropes one by one.

The Titan Ape, still chasing after him, reached the position where he had cut the first rope just a second later and—

Swish!

A log of wood tied with a rope came hurtling toward its face like a missile.

The Titan Ape glared at the incoming log and punched it away with a single strike.

It stepped forward, only for another log to fly at it in the next instant.

The Titan Ape swung its arm again, destroying the log completely.

But when it took the next step, yet another log came flying straight toward its face.

Letting out a roar filled with frustration, its eyes turned bloodshot with rage.

Its aura turned chaotic, and even though Azrael had once again put about two hundred and fifty meters between them, he could feel that the Titan Ape was on the verge of exploding.

'Because the Titan Ape didn't fight even once while I observed it, I have no idea what kind of skills it possesses…' He thought, and after reaching a certain position, he stopped running. 'If I provoke it any more, it might just use its ultimate move—and I'd be in serious danger if that happens.'

Azrael turned around to look at the Titan Ape, who had destroyed all the wooden logs that had come its way and was now staring at him with eyes full of hatred—as if Azrael had murdered its entire family.

Azrael calmly met the Titan Ape's gaze and even offered a slight smile.

Upon seeing Azrael's smile, the Titan Ape felt something snap inside.

ROAR!

With a roar that seemed to shake the very world, it jumped high into the sky, closing the distance of nearly a hundred meters in an instant.

After landing, it ran a few more steps and jumped again.

Azrael raised his head and saw the Titan Ape just above him, its eyes filled with pure hatred, as if it wanted nothing more than to crush him into a pulp and obliterate him completely.

Just when the Titan Ape was about five meters above his head, about to crash down, Azrael lightly jumped back.

The Titan Ape landed exactly where Azrael had just been standing and attempted to grab him the moment it touched down.

However, the moment its feet hit the earth, the ground beneath Ape's feet crumbled, and it continued to fall deeper into a hidden pit.

Azrael looked back and sliced through a rope.

As soon as he did, a wooden platform built on a nearby tree shifted its angle, releasing large leather bags filled with stones that began to fall into the deep pit.