Free Web NovelChapter 16: The Supreme Adaptive General
[You have encountered the Great Spirit Guardian!]
[Supreme Adaptive General— Mahashima]
"Supreme Adaptive General?" Their eyes widened as the notification panel flashed before their eyes, and the creature’s intimidating presence fell on them like an anchor.
"H-How are we supposed to beat that thing?" Jake stammered as Mahashima took a step forward, the room fell silent, only the sound of the supreme general’s footsteps echoed loudly as it got closer and closer.
"The great spirit guardian of the second trial?" Rentaro whispered softly, by standards, the requirements for ascending the levels and trials of the sanctuary was to obtain the Soul Fragment.
That Soul Fragment was usually hidden in secret dungeons and caves belonging to high level beasts and creatures, however a Soul-Hunter didn’t necessarily have to cross paths with these dungeon bosses.
But now, the examiner of the second trial offered them a way to ascend without having to fight all those beasts, and it appeared to be even worse than the initial method.
Mahashima slowly stretched out its thick, muscular arm. A deep crimson glow gathered in its palm before a massive double-mouthed spear materialized in its grasp. The weapon burned with a dark red shine, its body decorated with golden lion-shaped antiques that ran along the shaft, leading to the monstrous twin blades protruding from its mouth-like tip.
"We can beat it together, just like we did those Bloodfang Wolves." Eliza stood firm, readying herself as the supreme general stepped forward.
The rest of the team got ready as well, and Timmy gulped as he summoned his twin swords.
Then.
In a single step, Mahashima vanished instantly. The ground beneath where it stood exploded into a massive crater, while a violent gust of dust and shattered earth blasted outward, leaving only drifting smoke behind.
Timmy’s eyes widened in shock as an overwhelming presence suddenly loomed above him, crushing the air around his body. He slowly looked up, only to see the supreme general’s massive double-mouthed spear descending toward him like a falling judgment.
"Timmy!" Jake reacted instantly, clapping his hands together as his Soul-Energy burst from his body in a violent surge. A glowing green dome rapidly formed around Timmy just moments before the General’s double-mouthed spear crashed down to impale him.
The supreme general’s spear crashed into the green dome and shattered it effortlessly in a single hit. A split second later, the massive weapon slammed into the ground right in front of Timmy, unleashing a violent shockwave that blasted him off his feet and sent him rolling across the ground.
"What?" Jake’s eyes snapped open with horror, his dome, his defenses shattered effortlessly in a single strike?
The supreme general’s mouth slowly opened, releasing thick streams of hot steam alongside a deep, menacing growl. It then raised its head and fixed its piercing gaze on the Awakener who had dared to interfere with its prey.
The general let out a thunderous roar as it ripped its spear from the ground. With one explosive step forward, the floor beneath its feet shattered apart, and it lunged straight at Jake like the raging beast it was.
Jake barely had time to react before the General instantly closed the distance between them. The sharp tip of the double-mouthed spear reflected in his widened eyes as it thrust toward his chest.
But just before it could impale him, a violent jet stream of water crashed directly into the General’s chest. The impact exploded like a cannon blast, sending the massive creature flying across the closed room before it slammed violently into the far end of the wall.
"Don’t drop your guard because it broke through your defenses once Jake!" Eliza quickly ran to Jake’s side, keeping one hand stretched toward the beast as streams of water swirled around her arm defensively.
With her other hand, she grabbed Jake and pulled him back up to his feet without taking her eyes off the monster.
"S—Sorry." Jake gasped softly, trying to steady his breath. It was the first time he had ever felt such emotions, the first time he had ever been in that kind of situation before.
The first time that he had ever come face to face with death.
The general slowly rose back to its feet, the fragments of broken stone falling from its massive body. A huge hole had been blasted straight through its chest, yet it still stood tall, steam pouring from the wound as its monstrous gaze remained locked onto them.
"We got it." Eliza said confidently as her attack proved effective.
Then almost immediately, the hole in its chest began to close as the steam pouring out increased in mass. In less than a second, it closed up almost immediately.
On its chest, the circular mark began to glow with a faint, ominous red light. The glow intensified as the symbol slowly started to rotate, like a mechanism reactivating deep within its body. Then, abruptly, it spun to a stop.
When it settled, two of the five empty slots had sealed shut, as if the damage had been partially rewritten, leaving the remaining gaps still faintly pulsing with unstable energy.
"W-what?" Eliza stammered as she watched the hole close up at the fraction of a second.
"Instant... Regeneration?" Rentaro muttered under his breath.
The general suddenly lunged forward, charging straight at Eliza and Jake with overwhelming speed.
Eliza reacted instantly, thrusting her hand forward and releasing another powerful jet stream of water aimed directly at its chest just as before.
But this time, the attack struck the General head-on, and it didn’t even flinch. Not a single step back, not a shift in posture.
The force behind the jet stream that could rip through solid metal plates, the general simply broke against it like a passing breeze, scattering into mist around its massive frame as it continued its relentless advance.
"What is this..." Jake muttered silently as he fell to his butt, the general didn’t just defend and withstood the jet stream, from the looks of it, it adapted to it.
"Up here! You muscular bastard!" Timmy appeared high above the Supreme General, a massive sword materialized in his hands as he plummeted downward with full intent to strike. He swung the blade straight toward the General’s head, the air splitting under the weight of his sword.
But just before the sword could land, a dome of energy suddenly erupted around the General, shielding it completely and halting the blow, and the general’s motion stopped instantly.
"Isn’t that... my energy dome!?" Jake exclaimed in disbelief.
Without hesitation, it raised its other hand toward Timmy and unleashed a violent jet stream of water, far stronger than anything Eliza had produced before.
The pressure was monstrous.
The moment it collided with Timmy’s sword, the blade was shredded apart like paper in an instant. Timmy’s eyes widened in terror as the water beam swallowed him whole, his scream cutting through the air as he was blasted backward with devastating force, slamming him into a distant wall.
He spat out a mouthful of blood, then dropped to the ground, nearly unconscious with a large wound at the side of his stomach.
"Timmy!" Alexa rushed into action immediately, sliding to a stop in front of Timmy before placing her hands over his wounds, and a golden yellow light illuminated his wounds from her hands, slowly healing his injuries.
As the general watched, the circular mark on its chest began to glow again with a faint, ominous red light. Like before, the glow intensified as the symbol slowly started to rotate, like a mechanism reactivating deep within its body. Then, abruptly, it spun to a stop and this time, another slot in the mark was closed.
The General slowly turned its attention back toward the two Awakeners standing before it, its presence still heavy and suffocating in the air.
But before it could act, a sudden impact struck it like a falling meteor.
Rentaro’s fist collided with its jaws in a clean, explosive blow, catching it completely off guard.
The force behind the strike was monstrous, so powerful that the General was launched backward at high speed, crashing violently into a distant wall and leaving a deep impact mark in the structure as debris scattered across the room.
"Are you alright?" Rentaro asked as steam rose slowly from his fist, the general’s body was more sturdy and durable than he expected.
The general slowly brought a hand up to its jaw, holding it with an unnerving calm. Rentaro’s blow had forcefully dislocated it, leaving its face slightly misaligned from the impact.
Then, almost immediately, a faint golden light began to bloom from its hand, spreading upward across its jaw like molten radiance, and it shifted its jaw back into place before healing completely.
All their brows jerked, and Rentaro narrowed his eyes as it said. "This creature... It didn’t just adapt to all our techniques, it made it its own, and even made it stronger and powerful than it was. This is the supreme Adaptive general, Mahashima."
"H-How are we humans supposed to fight against this monstrosity?" Jake asked in horror as he stared at the general.
Rentaro’s brows jerked a bit as Jake’s words got to him. "Humans... that’s right."
Thinking back, Princess Sylvaria mentioned that several races were pitied against each other in the sanctuary. And by nature, humanity was the weakest of all races.
So out of the 500 participants that survived the first trial, why was it only five humans that were given a second option that allowed them to ascend two levels at once if they managed to clear it?
"During the first trial, I met an elf that told me her grandfather postulated that all races in the sanctuary were put up against each other as some sort of entertainment." Rentaro said loudly to his teammates. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
"As entertainment?" Eliza’s eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
"If you pay attention, you’d notice that out of all participants in the second trial, only the five of us were given this second option, given the hireachy, this option would be a bit easy for other races, but only us humans were given this option. And it’s just as Jake said, how are we humans supposed to beat that thing? The truth is... we can’t." freewebnovel.cσ๓
The rest of the team’s heart dropped as they caught on to what he was trying to say, and their eyes wavered in horror.
’Now I understand why I felt that examiner smiled the moment we agreed to this.’ He thought as his attention went back to the final moments before this secret trial started.
"It was a trap."
