"So what really is the reason that I am here and had to witness those events?"Elric asked his surroundings hoping to receive a reply from the warm voice of the man who seems to be another version of Lapu-Lapu himself.
Elric is back alone standing in the white sand and the scene of the Mactan dwellers" silhouette dancing in celebration can be seen in his background.
"Contrary to what you learned from the books, you see, I did not die in this battle." The warm voice of Lapu-Lapu came out of nowhere.
"You see, there is an even stronger enemy out there that brings more threat than those invaders..."
And as Elric heard this, his background changed again.
Next, he saw Lapu-Lapu and Kahayag standing on a huge rock, twelve other powerful-looking native warriors were standing on guard behind them.
Lapu-Lapu and the twelve warriors had this scarlet headband tied in their forehead, all of them wielding various weapons made of gold. Some have swords, others preferred axe, spears, even bow and arrows to some.
While on Kahayag, the only female in the group, is holding into a bow and arrow. She was wearing her usual white tribal dress.
It was already dawning and before them is the wide expanse of the deep blue sea that reflected the reddish moon.
It was only then that Elric realized that the moon was as red as blood and it brought him a complicated feeling of anxiety and weakness.
Standing before the sea horizon, Lapu-Lapu and his men wore resolute faces as they tightened their grip on their individual weapons. These few chosen warriors are Lapu-Lapu"s most trusted men as well. As a matter in fact they came out of the battle in Mactan without a single scratch. Not to mention, throughout the battle, they have a happy expression in their face as if they were there to play and were not taking the whole fight seriously!
But now, those calm and joyful expressions are gone. All their eyes reflected their utmost seriousness with a glimpse of fear.
"They are coming..." Kahayag suddenly blurted out, she quickly raised her bow and aimed towards the sea.
SHOOOOOHK~
Her arrow flew a good two kilometers without even losing momentum. As a Babaylan, she is capable of wielding supernatural powers impossible to ordinary men. It was an arrow embedded with magic, able to retain its power and strength no matter the distance it traveled.
Then finally, the arrow suddenly dived down towards the water and dissapeared out of nowhere.
"How many?" Lapu-Lapu suddenly spoke with grave expression in his face.
"Around twenty-four this time. One of them is King." Kahayag replied with her eyes glowing in yellow lights. She is currently remote viewing the area where her arrow went.
"So a King again this time huh." Lapu-Lapu murmured as he turned around to face his twelve trusted warrior behind him.
"Men, remove it." He added as he also started to remove the scarlet piece of clothes tied in his head and covering his temple. Aside from Kahayag, his men did remove theirs as well.
Elric"s eyes glowed in surprise as he finally saw what were behind those scarlet clothes covering their heads.
It was a s.h.i.+ning third-eye symbol inside a triangle. It glowed with incredible warmth and a mystery.
"I call upon the spirits from the Realm of Lights. Guide us and help us, to do your will and protect our kin. In your name, I called thee! Come!" With these chants from the Babaylan, the wind started to rampage and the sea came to unrest.
She faced the fine warriors with her and pointed to them as if guiding an invisible spirit.
And with their seals undone, Lapu-Lapu and his twelve warriors" body suddenly bulged with almost three times their ordinary sizes. Their eyes turned from black into bright orange and their aura exploded with incredible power and presence.
The various golden swords, ax, spears, and arrows on their hands are also being enveloped in blue fires!
"What the-" Elric gaped in surprise as he witnessed the sudden changes in the men"s structure and their glowing weapons.
"Those are some freaking level one hundred upgraded weapons!" He thought with his mind quickly relating to his gaming memories.
"Prepare yourselves, they are coming!" Kahayag shouted in obvious haste. Lapu-Lapu and his men also took their individual positions.
"The King is mine!" Lapu-Lapu confidently declared.
BOOOOM!~
A huge and powerful explosion in the middle of the deep-blue water suddenly erupted a kilometer ahead of them.
GROOOOOAAAH!~
GRAAAAAH!~
GRAAAAAGH!~
Several thunder-like voices followed forth from the mouth of the huge creatures emerging out of the water.
They were giant humans standing more than twenty meters tall. Their body glistened with scales covering most of their parts while obvious gills that lined across their neck can be seen twitching freakishly as it takes in the oxygen in the air.
Aside from their different heights and body build, these Anuks also have different numbers of arms, legs, eyes and even mouth.
Like mutated freaks, some have three eyes and two mouths, others have five arms and four legs and so on. They looked and moved incredibly weird but one thing that is common to them is their ma.s.sive advantage in strength and not to mention, they had long adapted to their extra body parts and used them incredibly wisely.
Despite their huge sizes, they moved with irregular regularity. While others jumped out of the water to move, others dived deeper in accordance with their body advantage.
Wherever they came from or where they were hiding, that is still a mystery for them as they seem to come and go as they please by suddenly disappearing like bubles. And according to Kahayag, these giant Anuks are currently residing in the hidden legendary underwater City of Atlantis which current location is still untraceable.
Obviously, there is an even higher being protecting them and working on the background for them.
Quickly, like hungry beasts, the giant Anuks rushed their way to the sh.o.r.e.
And like a scheduled fight, Lapu-Lapu and his men received the unwanted giants with flaming swords together with the help of the borrowed powers from the unseen spirits of Light, they managed to start the fight with a flashy show of strength that can rival the giant"s naturally overwhelming strength.
GROOOOAH!~
SLAs.h.!.+
SMAs.h.!.+
GRAOOOOAH!~
"These Anuks keeps growing and evolving like s.h.i.+t!" Lapu-Lapu murmured in surprise as he realized the incredible changes in the towering human"s figure. Like a scene in a famous animated film Attack on t.i.tans, he lunged himself towards the mountain-like body of the Anuks, hacked and slashed like a mad G.o.d of war.
The giant Anuks retaliated with their heavy fish smash, deadly stomps and even hard claps trying to squash their miniature opponents.
And just like that, the battle of the Anuks and the island warriors of Mactan led by Lapu-Lapu created ma.s.sive craters of destruction across the rocky beach.
"They are the Anuks. The son of the fallen angels. " The warm voice explained at Elric who was staring intently on the battle of the giants and the island warrior.
"Their existence should have been wiped out long ago during the great storm and flood. But it seems some managed survive with the help of certain mysterious individuals who called themselves The Outsiders." The voice continued and Elric finally reacted with a frown on his face.
"The Outsiders?" Elric muttered in surprise. It was not the first time for him hearing about them as this seemingly enigmatic beings continued to move strings here from there to create events.
"Just what are they? And what is their purpose?" Elric mumbled to himself.
"The Anuks should have been completely wiped out since water is one of their greatest weakness. But as you can see, they seem to have evolved and found a way to survive and even live in the water."
"I see. The bible did mention them though. I never thought they are actually real." Elric replied.
"Kahayag, who came from the dimension of Light, is a Spiritual being who has no real human body. She is currently using your grandma"s "jar" to move around the human physical realm with a certain mission. If you want to know what really happened to your grandma, I think it is best that you ask her." The warm voice added.
Elric remained quiet for some time as everything that happened so far had overwhelmed him. It was just too confusing as more questions keep piling up in his head.
"I need answers! But where do I really start?" Elric held touched his temple from the headache of all this information bombardment.
The battle is currently reaching the peak as the twelve human warriors are now down to four with Lapu-Lapu, Kahayag, and two other badly wounded men.
On the other side, the twenty-four or so giant Anuks are still standing with only five losses on their end. Their humungous bodies are riddled with scorched marks and bleeding wounds but their superior healing abilities seem to have gone a notch in their evolution as well.
The situation was not looking good on the human"s side.
"So tell me," Elric said, referring to the warm voice of Lapu-Lapu in his background.
"Why did Kahayag took me here? Is it just to show me these? Surely there must be something else." Elric said.
"You think we are gonna lose like that?" The voice added as the whole atmosphere suddenly changed.
Elric suddenly noticed the hundred or so, silhouettes of the majestic Eastern Dragons hiding behind the thick dark clouds.
"The reinforcements have come. And the deal is about to be revealed. Watch closely, boy."