459 Just a Baby
Everett equipped his shield, which was shaped and sized like a titanium, dark-blue door, standing near his companion, “How ’bout we do this the old-fashioned way? I handle its attacks, and you knock ‘im out!”
“Specific choice of words there–alright, let’s do this,” Emilio nodded, sliding his sword into his sheath as he abided by his friend’s conditions.
When it came to Everett, the broad, big-boned shielder was a gentle giant for the most part; killing was always the last option. It was an aspect of his friend that he appreciates and sometimes didn’t; it reminded him of the type of person he’d become.
‘Maybe it’s because of how Vandread taught me during my journey, but killing has become second nature from me–whether it’s man or beast, if they’re a threat to me or my friends, I don’t strike mercifully. Should I change that?’ He questioned.
As he thought to himself, the enormous, four-meter gorilla lunged towards the two, slamming its knuckles straight down upon him before being stopped completely–THWOM.
Everett stood in front of him, blocking the heavy fists of the primate with his shield, holding a smile, “I gotcha! Handle the offense!”
“Of course,” Emilio responded, focusing as he sidestepped past the shield, getting in direct contact with the large gorilla.
Honing a respectable amount of reinforcement into his fist, he amped his mechanical arm further as the black, metal material seemed to glisten, bulkening momentarily with rocky protrusions manifesting for the moment: “Punishing Hand of Mankind’s Golem.”
Thrusting his fist against the stone-hard abdominal region of the ape, the enchanted fist of his sent it flying back before slamming through the trunk of a tree.
“Hey, ya didn’t kill it, didja?!” Everett reacted, seeing the aftermath of the punch that left a tree completely crumbling over and leaves dancing over the clearing.
Emilio pulled his fist back, surprised at the power behind that blow, “Err, I wasn’t trying to.”
‘Damn, I was holding back on that one and it was still that strong? That enhancement spell is pretty strong,’ he thought.
To both of their surprise, the oversized gorilla roared out, making its presence–and alive status–known as it slammed its knuckles against a chest, creating shock waves that caused the nearby trees to vibrate and the leaves to shiver.
“…He’s fine. Somehow. That’s…scary,” Emilio remarked.
“He-he, yeah,” Everett agreed with a nervous smile.
Returning to the open field between the trees, the gorilla leapt in from beyond the foliage, slamming its knuckles down with enough force to cave in the soil, causing cracks to stretch out along the dirt.
“Woah!” Everett reacted, stumbling a bit as the ground rumbled.
“Focus up, ‘shielder’,” Emilio playfully called him.
It was a different sort of challenge that Everett took pride in–defending attacks, often taking them head-on with his shield, even if he could dodge them. As the gorilla slammed one of its hands forward in a slapping motion, the shielder planted himself down and deflected the blow with his shield.
“Ghh–! Got it–go, Emilio!” Everett called out.
Having its slap deflected, the ape was thrown off balance for a second, allowing Emilio to dash in as he spun around, launching a kick straight against its jaw, knocking the primate back. For the Dragonheart, he had his own pride in his abilities as well, wanting to fight the gorilla off of physical merit alone, not relying on offensive spells.
‘After losing my system multiple times now, I can’t always rely on it. I’ll end up a fish out of water in a fight–besides, I don’t want it to be my crutch, anyway,’ he thought.
Despite the kick landing square against the beast’s jaw, it displayed considerable toughness as it bounced back to its feet within a second, releasing a mighty roar as it beat its chest again. It was unlike any normal primate, that was without question; its size, toughness, and strength were all absurdly higher than expected–but that seemed par for the course on the sacred island.
“This guy is feisty!” Everett said, intercepting a rampage of blows from the raging gorilla.
Every slam of its knuckles against the shield echoed through the vast blades of grass. It was surprisingly agile too; the gorilla made a quick sidestep that almost looked sloppy, yet it spun itself around in an attempt to overcome the shield.
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‘That’s right—he’s been practicing with Father lately. Everett hasn’t been slacking,’ he thought.
Given another opening, Emilio went in as the enormous ape was stumbling back, jumping up before flipping around into a smooth axe kick that curved down and slammed against the blue-furred primate’s skull.
The impact made a crack of the wind howl out, brushing across the tree line. As the Dragonheart flipped back onto his feet, he and the shielded watched as the gargantuan gorilla groaned out, swaying side-to-side before it slowly collapsed onto its back.
“Ya didn’t bust its skull, didja?” Everett asked, squatting next to the unconscious primate to make sure it wasn’t dead.
Emilio brushed his hands off, “Well, that thing was tougher than steel, so…I couldn’t hold out on that kick. It didn’t break though—don’t worry.”
There was no opportunity to relax as a bone-chilling roar thundered through the trees. Birds fled in droves like brown leaves in autumn; the ground vibrates from the bellowing, vicious howl of bestial bloodlust.
RUMBLE. RUMBLE. RUMBLE.
“Err…Hey, Emilio, are those sounds…footsteps?” Everett gulped, asking slowly as he stood in place.
Emilio didn’t know how to answer that, knowing that something unwanted had been drawn to them.
The sound of wood splintering echoed as trees groaned, collapsing and parting with the arrival of something far too large; a shadow suddenly stretched over the two men.
As the two looked up at the same time, a sight beyond any expectations was found: it was a primate, shrouded in dark-blue, grimy fur that was meddled with shrubs and small trees along its body. It was covered in scars, looking aged and forged in a lifetime of battles.
The gorilla was colossal; towering over the surrounding trees like a distant mountain, only that it was right there—far too real despite its impossible size.
‘What we fought was just a baby? What the hell is this island?’ Emilio thought.