Born In Ashes: The Enigma

Azrael had thrown about five monsters near the light golden orb during the two days he spent observing the Titan Ape.

Each time he tossed a monster near the orb, the Titan Ape would become enraged and rush back to protect it.

As soon as the thrown creature entered its line of sight, it would leap high into the sky and slam down upon the creature, crushing it into a pulp of flesh and bone.

It seemed to be the beast's habit—whenever angered, it crushed its target beneath its feet with that same brutal jump.

"Well, now I have no doubt that this guy is really addicted to crushing his targets underfoot," Azrael muttered to himself as he watched the Titan Ape leap high into the sky to crush him, only to fall straight into the deep pit he had dug.

"Addiction is really bad for one's health," He added dryly as he cut a rope behind him and nearly twenty leather bags, each filled with stones weighing around 200 kilograms came crashing down into the pit right after the ape.

The pit was nearly 100 meters deep and, among all the traps and preparations Azrael had made, it had taken the most time and effort.

Even with his current stats and the use of Fallen Star abilities—Sword Domination and The World—it had taken Azrael nearly twelve hours of continuous work to dig it.

'I really need to praise myself for stocking tons of normally used items in the wilderness inside my inventory…' He thought, briefly recalling that he still had many ropes and other supplies stored away.

BOOOOOOOM!

ROAR!

A deafening boom reached Azrael's ears, followed by the furious roars of the Titan Ape as it finally hit the bottom of the pit and was immediately buried under tons of stones.

At the bottom of the pit, Azrael had planted many sharp, spear-like spikes made from the same metal as his hidden needles—extremely durable and razor-sharp.

Though these couldn't fatally injure the Titan Ape due to its monstrous defense, they still managed to pierce slightly into its feet upon impact.

Worse still, the unexpected fall caused significant damage—the Titan Ape twisted its right knee, and the shock of the impact left it momentarily stunned.

From what Azrael had observed about the Titan Ape's movements, he estimated that the pit, the weight of the stones, and the bleeding toes caused by the spikes would buy him decent amount of time.

At this moment, Azrael was roughly three kilometers away from the golden orb, and if he pushed his body to the limit—without caring about the strain—it would take him about thirty five or forty seconds to return.

Once Azrael confirmed that the Titan Ape was buried, he didn't waste even a single second and sprinted toward the light golden orb with everything he had.

As he ran, he cut another rope.

ROOOAAAR!

The furious cry of the Titan Ape echoed through the entire forest as Azrael dashed forward with all his strength.

About twenty seconds later, he could already see the light golden orb in the distance.

ROOAAAR!

Once again, the Titan Ape's enraged roar reached his ears, louder and even more furious, as if it sensed he was going to steal its precious orb.

Azrael didn't care about the enraged ape and continued his sprint without hesitation.

BOOOOM!

A loud crash suddenly sounded from the direction of the pit. Even though he wasn't there to witness it, Azrael knew the Titan Ape had managed to break free from beneath the rocks.

'It's about time…' Azrael thought, recalling the rope he had cut just before his escape.

Near the pit, a wooden platform constructed atop a tree was now slowly tilting.

It soon reached a 45° angle, and nearly ten more leather bags—each filled with heavy stones—began sliding off and falling one by one into the pit below.

The Titan Ape, having just emerged from the rubble had bloodshot eyes. Its toes were bleeding profusely, and its right knee was twisted, making it hard to stand properly.

Yet despite its injuries, the Titan Ape growled, pressed its feet into the ground, and jumped up in an attempt to escape and catch the two-legged devil who had trapped it.

But just as it jumped, a heavy leather bag crashed down from above, colliding with it mid-air. The Titan Ape, still injured and unbalanced was once again slammed back into the pit.

More bags followed, and once again, the Titan Ape was buried beneath a mountain of stone.

ROOOOOAAAR!

A howl of pure rage and unwillingness echoed behind Azrael, who had already reached the light golden orb.

Without bothering to examine it, he immediately placed the orb into his inventory and began to flee toward the outer region of the forest.

As he ran, pushing his body beyond its limits, his leg muscles began to rupture one after another, sending sharp, agonizing pain through his body.

Azrael ignored the pain completely and despite the heavy burden he placed on himself, he continued sprinting.

Before long, he exited the central area and reached the outskirts of the forest.

Without pause, he rushed toward a nearby river and leapt into the water to erase his scent.

After staying submerged for five seconds, he emerged on the other side, tore off his soaked clothes, and tossed them into the river.

He then quickly draped himself in new clothing from his inventory to avoid leaving water marks while running.

Once changed, he continued his escape.

While running, he encountered a level 6 monster and immediately killed it.

He then smeared its blood all over his body to mask his own scent, hiding the smell of his blood that now flowed freely from his torn feet.

Though this could attract other monsters due to the fresh blood, Azrael didn't care.

As he ran, drenched in blood, Azrael felt as if he were dying. He was panting heavily, and the skin on his feet was already shredded, his soles soaked in his own blood. His stamina was nearly drained, and his mind was starting to go numb.

Even his internal organs were screaming in agony, begging him to stop.

Yet under the effect of Cold Blooded, his face remained expressionless and he simply focused on moving forward.

After about half an hour, his body finally reached its limit. He began to cough up clots of blood, and his nose and ears also started bleeding from the immense strain he was putting on himself.

Even Cold Blooded couldn't dull the complete exhaustion, and Azrael knew he would pass out if he didn't stop soon.

Realizing this, he pulled out water bottles from his inventory and washed the blood from his body.

Once clean, he moved several kilometers further before finding a tall tree.

With great effort, he climbed it and pulled out a wooden platform from his inventory.

He secured it to the tree using ropes, breathing heavily as he struggled to stay conscious.

"Not yet…" He muttered in a low voice and even as his vision blurred, he still took the time to set up several alarm traps around his resting area in case of danger.

Only once everything was in place did he collapse onto the platform, his consciousness finally slipping into darkness.