The forest held a peculiar stillness in the early morning. In the faintly bright sky, the playful Blue Child hid half its face, while Elune had long since disappeared.
The two trudged through dense undergrowth, the dwarf's incessant complaints and the youth's laughter occasionally breaking the silence.
As time passed, Al and Hemet finally reached Golakka Lake. The hot spring lake, steaming all year round, lay still and unruffled. Al sniffed carefully, but there was nothing besides the pungent sulfur drifting through the air.
"It's gone. Looks like it's already swallowed that multicolored crystal you described."
His expression grave, the youth crouched down and carefully examined the enormous footprints, which had already grown indistinct.
"My lord, do you mean...?"
Hemet asked, only half understanding.
"That multicolored crystal was no ordinary thing. From Nablya's tone, I could tell how much importance she placed on this beast. We delayed too long and let it finish digesting the crystal."
As he spoke, the youth kept moving, racing in a particular direction. Although puzzled, the old dwarf asked no further questions and followed close behind.
Transformed by the divine power of the earth, Hemet no longer struggled as he had before. His stocky legs churned like a speeding truck. As the dwarf raced past, he left a trail of compacted pits in the soft ground.
The scenery flashed past on either side. Eyes closed and nose twitching rapidly, Al nimbly dodged one towering tree after another, heading tirelessly in one direction as though guided by radar.
Half the dense forest seemed to have been erased like strokes from a painting as the two reached a clearing. The old dwarf stopped alongside the youth, and the sight before him sent a chill through his body.
Beast carcasses littered the ground, their vivid blood staining a vast stretch of earth red. Ancient, towering trees had been snapped in half. A Devilsaur's head, bearing obvious bite marks, lay on the ground, its enormous bulging eyes displaying the agony the beast had suffered before death.
Shattered animal organs lay scattered everywhere, making even the old dwarf, with all his hunting experience, retch.
A faint, anguished cry interrupted their thoughts. The youth pushed aside the shattered remains of an ancient tree, revealing a dying Pterrordax.
Al crouched and touched the Pterrordax's hideous, gaping wound. Without a word, he drew Sunscorch and put the pitiful beast out of its misery. To kill without tormenting was a basic principle for a biology professor.
"Let's go. The wound's still fresh. It couldn't have gone far."
Al's handsome face was dark and grim. Before the old dwarf could react, his figure became a blur, darting into the distance.
Rumble... rumble... rumble.
Deafening footsteps sounded not far from them, and a figure as enormous as Godzilla appeared before the two.
Its vicious, blood-red eyes exuded madness, and its rough scales were so thoroughly soaked in dark brown blood that their original color was unrecognizable.
The beast bit through towering trees one after another. A breeze swept past, lifting the fallen leaves from the ground with a rustling sound, like the forest's mournful cry.
Seemingly noticing something, the beast twisted its enormous head around at an impossible angle and stared unblinkingly at the two tiny ants in the distance.
After a thunderous roar, Mosh surged into motion, its two hind legs, comparable to towering ancient trees, pounding the ground furiously.
The youth's smooth, long hair stirred without wind. His clear, sea-blue pupils vanished in an instant, replaced by a void of luminous white.
[Freedom's Protector extraordinary affix]: Power Infusion activated
Just as the youth took the legendary staff from his back, ready to teach this beast that trampled so wantonly upon the will to live a lesson, the old dwarf patted his shoulder.
Al looked at Hemet in surprise. The old dwarf merely smiled and shook his head, his gaze resolute.
It was only a simple look, yet Al saw complicated emotions in it: excitement, sorrow, and determination. He respected the old dwarf's will, even if he fell in battle...
Stepping back slightly, the youth dispelled Power Infusion's metamagic effect, then nodded at the dwarf with a faint smile and a thumbs-up.
The old dwarf returned the thumbs-up and strode forward without hesitation.
Like an out-of-control train, Mosh charged madly at the dwarf, ready to trample him.
Hemet walked slowly forward, his linen robe tearing apart in strips. With every step, his body grew larger, pale gray muscles bulging into knots. No expression could be discerned on his marble-carved face.
"By Nesingwary's beard, blood for blood!"
"Avatar!"
His furious roar was deafening. Blood-red flames of light, almost solid, erupted around him as Hemet began his charge, his fearless, resolute momentum seemingly capable of shattering the heavens.
Rumble... rumble.
The ground began to crack. The two colossal figures collided like a comet striking the earth, and dwarf and beast began a contest of strength.
Crack!
Following a sharp snap, Mosh's enormous jaws, possessing astonishing biting force, clamped onto the dwarf's shoulder. Pale gray stone dust showered down from it.
"Hah!"
His ferocity roused, the dwarf swelled in size. Having originally stood only half as tall as the beast, he immediately matched its height. His knotted muscles grew along with him, their expansion snapping Mosh's sharp, serrated teeth one by one.
"Muda, muda, muda!"
As though venting his fury, Hemet hammered his enormous iron fists into the beast's vulnerable throat, his eyes bloodshot and his movements fierce.
"Ora, ora, ora!"
His iron fists grew faster and faster until only afterimages remained. Every blow slammed into flesh, leaving Mosh in excruciating pain. It twisted wildly, then smashed its enormous, battering-ram head into the dwarf the instant his strength faltered.
Hemet flew backward like a cannonball, doubled over. After a dull impact and the sound of shattering rock, the old dwarf lay embedded in the mountainside.
"Hemet, don't push yourself!"
Al sighed and was about to take out his staff when a mighty shout interrupted him.
"Lord Al, this is a battle between me and this beast. Cough, cough... please don't interfere. Cough, cough, cough..."
The old dwarf emerged from the dust, his chest and abdomen visibly caved in, yet he still staggered forward.
With a smile uglier than tears, Hemet wiped the blood spilling from the corner of his mouth and laughed heartily.
"Life and death, an endless cycle. I live... it dies!"
The instant that last word left his mouth, Hemet's body, shrouded in red flames of light, seemed to swell once more. His second charge began.
Bang, bang, bang...
After a fierce clash, Hemet was sent flying backward.
Several more cracks had appeared across his body. The dwarf emerged from the dust again, but his movements had clearly slowed.
The third charge... began.
The fourth...
The fifth...
"That's enough, Hemet! You've already proven your valor. Stop. You'll die."
The youth's tiny figure stood in the dwarf's path, his reddened eyes reflecting the heaviness of his heart.
The old dwarf said nothing-or rather, he no longer had the strength to speak. His body was already terribly fractured, with several broad fissures across his chest and abdomen.
Weakly raising his right hand, he slowly lifted his thumb, then walked step by step toward the distant beast, which was likewise on the verge of death.
"When I was little, my mother once told me something..."
The old dwarf stumbled forward, suddenly losing his footing and falling to one knee. After a long while, he struggled shakily to his feet and continued in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
"You don't cross a mountain to show others your strength..."
The old dwarf shuffled forward unsteadily, his voice coming in fragments.
"You cross a mountain to see a more beautiful view..."
"Aah!"
Hemet roared in fury, and the crimson flames of light, almost extinguished, abruptly surged higher.
Al covered his mouth as tears spilled helplessly from his eyes. He knew the dwarf had burned the last of his life force.
"Was it worth it?"
The youth hung his head, his fingers clenched tight as blood slowly trickled between them. Though he had asked a question, his tone revealed that he already had an answer in his heart.
"Roar!"
A mighty dragon's roar rang out. Huge stones circled Hemet, and the phantom of an enormous black dragon's head appeared behind him. The old dwarf's nearly exhausted body seemed to fill with strength anew.
"Dragon Roar..."
Al watched the sprinting Hemet sorrowfully. In the final moments of his life, the old dwarf had comprehended a supreme technique that only epic Warriors had a chance to master.
As Mosh watched the dwarf charging at it for the sixth time, fear finally appeared on its face.
Under the old dwarf's death-defying charge, this frenzied beast actually regained its senses for a moment. It wanted to rise on its powerful hind legs and flee, but its severe injuries hindered its movements.
Most of its once-sharp, serrated teeth had been knocked out by the dwarf's beating, and one of its thick Achilles tendons had snapped. The beast let out a mournful cry. Its golden slit pupils had long since lost their original savagery and cruelty, leaving only pleading and terror.
The dwarf's enormous figure soared high into the air, then plummeted toward Mosh.
Epic Warrior secret technique-Heroic Leap.
Huge blue arcs of electricity, like winding snakes, appeared around the dwarf. Like the descent of a thunder god, brilliant blue lightning struck the terrified beast, making it foam at the mouth and convulse all over.
Epic Warrior secret technique-Thunder Clap.
Crack!
As Heroic Leap came crashing down, the beast's skull visibly collapsed and shattered, white brain matter bursting everywhere.
The dust dispersed, and a succession of pale purple lights flared as Al blinked to the dwarf's side.
"He... He... Hemet."
Choking with sobs, the youth rushed toward the dwarf, who had returned to his original form.
Hemet lay weakly on the ground. His pale gray skin had returned to its flesh color, and the cracks had become hideous wounds from which blood gushed.
The broken skin on his chest fell away. Shattered ribs lay across his heart, which struggled to beat.
Before long, the ground beneath the dwarf was soaked bright red.
"Don't... don't... don't you... I..."
At a complete loss, the youth rummaged through his spatial backpack. Oddly shaped instruments and some potions he had made himself scattered across the ground.
"Drink, this... hurry, drink..."
Al picked up a bottle of pale green liquid, but his trembling hands accidentally spilled the potion. Kneeling on the ground, he frantically tried to gather the liquid seeping into the sand and soil, mumbling broken, incoherent fragments.
"Lord... Al."
The dwarf struggled to open his eyes.
"I'm here. I'm here."
The youth wiped the tears from his face, his hands, covered in mud and blood, smearing his fair features with grime.
"Don't worry. I'll heal you..."
He forced an ugly smile, his voice somewhat distorted.
"Lord... Al... was I brave?"
The corners of Hemet's mouth lifted, as though in a smile.
"Of course. That Mosh was such a loser. Old He, you were super brave..."
The youth forced back his sorrow and spoke with a playful laugh.
"Actually, just now... cough, cough... I... cough, cough... hadn't finished... what I was saying."
The old dwarf coughed violently. The failing heart in his chest beat more and more slowly.
"Don't talk... sob... don't say any more... sob..."
The youth wept as he covered the dwarf's chest with his hands, as though doing so could prevent his death.
"I've already... crossed... cough, cough... that mountain. Thank you... Lord Al... you let me see the most beautiful view."
His heart gradually stopped beating. The dwarf's lips moved in a murmur.
Forcing back his grief, Al leaned closer to listen.
"Catherine... Ailno... Lida... I'm not a coward. I fulfilled my oath..."