Invaders

The moment the mountain is fully wrapped inside the vines, Kim"s eyes flashed. He moved one step and left a blurry image. Half a second later, he appeared not in front of the mountain but in front of one side of the vine cage wall.

"The mana from the vine and the warriors are exactly the same..."

Kim"s enhanced both his arm. Muscle bulged, brilliant white light glows brightly!

"The vine is supplying the mana to the warriors! And this is its weakest time! Ora!!!"

Kim bent like an arrow, pulling his head back and roared. His eyes flickered with full determination!

"Ora! Ora! Ora!"

He unleashed a barrage of fists crushing the wall vines, layer after layer. He was punching so fast that it looked like he has limbs growing from behind. He continued to shout, mercilessly crushing down the walls of vines. The word he shouted doesn"t carry any meaning, but it"s actually a shout he learned from an anime where the main character is a high school student who has some kind of spirit following him from behind. His signature move is his deadly barrage of fists that come with his signature shout! Kim is portraying that image inside his head to boost morale.

"Not enough! I need to punch more!"

Before the arms behind him were illusory, now they become corporeal! From two-arms, he now has four arms. But it didn"t stop. More and more arms appearing behind him. Then suddenly from those hundreds of arm, it fused together to form a white giant body of 50 metres tall. But it didn"t stop growing! 70...100..150...200... 300 metres! It grew so high that it seems possible for it to climb out of the cage!

Then a head emerges from the body that actually resembled Kim! From that body, two-arms appear, then four, then eight! The white giant is glowing in white lights that could brighten the starry night. Kim roared and the white giant roared with him.

"You dare to kidnap Momo from me? Now feel my wrath! Ora!!!"

As Kim roared, the white giant roared with him. As Kim punches, it also punches. One punch feels like it could shatter the sky. A deafening sound exploded out every moment its fists. .h.i.t the wall. The ground shakes as if nature itself is trembling from the might of Kim"s punches.

Outside, a tremor with a huge magnitude that could obliterate a city shook the surrounding forest near the lair. Even the undead monsters which were guarding the lair crumbled to pieces due to the violent shake that vibrated their entire bones and flesh. Unable to hold on, they shattered to pieces.

The skeletal figure who was floating cross-legged in the air woke up from its mediation. A clear frown could be seen from its face, even though it was skinless. Its eyes flickered when sensing the mana coming out from the lair. A vile grim carved in its face. If it had a tongue, it would lick its mouth as if sensing a delicacy.

"This human is worth waiting for... I will consume you and make you one of my minions..."

It then went back into its meditation.

Other than the skeletal figure, another being was also sensing a dramatic fluctuation of mana flow happening inside the lair.

"Kim is alive, as well as Momo. And he is... getting stronger by the second!"

A bashful smile could be seen in his face which is full of pride. As if he was telling himself that all of this happened due to him.

The moment the mountain stop trembling, the vines will also stop supplying mana to it and will start to focus on strengthening the wall again. Able to sense that particular time is getting nearer, Kim didn"t waste any moment and started to circulate his mana into his left arm, focusing it at his fist. His eyes were fully concentrated on the wall in front of him. By this time, he already used to the feeling... the feeling of being one with the heaven and earth! Following his intent, the white giant behind Kim changes its form into one giant arm.

"Fist of the heaven and earth!"

Kim let out a roar and punched with full force destroying the wall until it couldn"t repair itself anymore. The shattering force trembled the sky and shook the earth. It didn"t stop just by destroying the wall. It continues on to obliterate everything in its path. Forest, mountains, river... everything is gone, splitting the green world into two parts with a huge valley in between.

At the end of that valley, Kim could see a winged monster perching on top of a tree that emanate an archaic aura as if the tree has been there forever since the creation of the Earth itself. Both Kim and the monster is glancing directly into each other eyes. The monster is fully covered with black feathers with a little bit of white one covering its chest. It has a long yellow beak with some kind of a horn protruded upward. Kim actually recognized the monster. And the one he recognized was not the monster, but what the monster resembled. It was the hornbill!

Feeling imminent danger, the monster spread out its mighty wings. It feels like the wing could actually cover the entire sky. The monster let out a mighty squawked forming a barrier. The l.u.s.trous forest surrounding it also trembles and suddenly grew larger forming another barrier as if it had the will to protect the monster as it"s master.

Kim frowned and then stopped the force of his punch just before it hit the barrier. The monster stares at Kim with a strange expression. Kim was only making a path. If only Momo wasn"t there, he won"t hold back at all. Seeing that the path is fully open for him he didn"t waste any moment to rush through. Every step he took he would leave a faint blurry image of himself running. Every step he took he would appear hundreds of metres ahead, closing into the monster within each and every step.

The movement of Kim was fast and light. If he was running on water, there would be no ripples. In the vine cage, a figure is observing Kim quietly with a solemn face. Judging by his appearances, he looked like the other Iban Warriors. However, an odd feeling emanating from his aura. A domineering aura filled grief and regret.

The ground suddenly shook. Opening his eyes wide, his pupil dilated. From his straight path, he changed trajectory. A few seconds later, several metres ahead of his original point, a vine pierced through the ground from underneath. It stood there solidly like a spike. One touch and the vine will punch a hole through his body.

The moment his feet touched the ground he changed his direction and another vine viciously piercing through like a giant needle. Then another...then another...and another. In fact, it"s getting faster and faster until the point that after twenty to thirty vines appeared, Kim started to get a slight graze which turned into a simple wound, then a deep cut!

Splash! Blood gushing out from Kim"s body. His robe is torn and his body is full of scars, sliced by the vines. But he didn"t show any weakness. In fact, he"s getting faster and faster! Kim gritted his teeth and continued to force his way through the valley. Pulling acrobatic stunts one after another, jumping from vein to vein, obliterate anything within sights with a single punch. Burn his way forward. Although it"s not his explosive h.e.l.lfire, his flame is scarily vicious enough to melt metals.

But nature is persistent! No matter how much you burn it down, it will rise again with limitless vitality. It wasn"t only the vines, the forest, the ground and even air itself are trying to hold Kim down. Messing up his footing, blowing him away. Kim didn"t understand why, but it felt like nature itself is sentient, steadfastly protecting the monster.

"That monster can"t even compare with that old geezer in terms of mana. How could it control all of this without breaking it sweat?" Kim glared at the monster who seems to be relaxing. The monster is pecking its black feather to relief its itch. It seems to be in no state of worries. Maybe it doesn"t have a slight thought of Kim breaking it through.

Although Kim felt annoyed, he didn"t have the luxury to be bothered by it. Last time in the cage, he tried to manipulate the earth him but failed. He thought that the cage was suppressing his mana. When he broke through, he tried again but failed. Seemingly, it"s possible to say that, the hornbill is better at manipulating the mana of nature than Kim. Or maybe, it"s just stronger than Kim in terms of mana.

He put aside the thought. What"s important now is to rescue Momo. Kim roared and his body is bursting with mana. His eyes were bloodshot and his entire body is in flame dancing wildly with him at the nucleus.

"If I couldn"t manipulate the mana here, I shall use mine! Burn to ashes! Disintegration!"

The dancing flame became a body of flame that looks like a sun, which increased in size by the second. Burning everything it touched to ashes. More and more vines appeared from the ground and forests to bind Kim. With futile, the vines only get burnt down. But it didn"t stop and even the earth itself started to fly and attach itself to Kim. Dirt, mud, boulders, sand and even mountain were trembling as if Kim is like a magnet. As more and more are attached to Kim, the sun started to fade. Until the point that the intense heat and light have completely gone as if it was just a dream. Finally, Kim with his mana is sealed.

"How unfortunate that the boy didn"t pa.s.s the trial. But... why is the warrior still there?" The hornbill monster looked closely at the figure who was standing still in the vine cage. The person is staring closely at the sphere of earth, wrapped inside the vines. As if, he was waiting for something...

"What are you waiting for Warrior? You had lived a glorious past and weren"t able to let go of your regret...It"s the first time I see you are interested in something"

However, the warrior only stood there continue to observe, ignoring the monster.

At the same time, another pair of eyes were opening. It pupils dilated and constricted, adjusting itself to the lights. .h.i.tting on the surface of her pale plump cheek. Then a weak cute voice that could warm a cold heart in winter was let out. "Master?"

The monster looked at the girl with violet eyes and hair with a mixed expression. "That boy... your master... although you can sense him now his life force is becoming dimmer. I"m sorry, but he"s going to-"

"No, you are wrong" Momo turned her head toward the sphere of earth. "He"s Kim. My master and my benefactor." She gave a short glanced at the monster and smiled. "Thank you, for taking care of me" She nodded a bit since she can"t move well now and looked back at where Kim was.

The monster didn"t utter another word. It already told her what is needed to be told. If the girl won"t believe what was said then it"s her choice. However, seeing how both of the warrior and the girl is looking at where Kim was has given a slight hesitation to the monster heart.

"Is he still alive?"

Inside the sphere of earth, a boy emanating a deathly aura is sitting cross-legged. He seems to be in his 20s but his body is withering and his face has developed wrinkles. "This seal, it seems time pa.s.s by faster inside. I need to get out before I become a lifeless corpse." He tried to break through by force, but it didn"t do anything. Kim started to immerse himself in his deep thought.

With a feeling of urgency, he unleashed his mana to enhance his mental capability faster, ceasing himself form doing anything else. The only way he could escape this time capsule is to manipulate the earth covering him.

"To manipulate nature is to manipulate mana. The stronger your mana is the better you could manipulate mana. But to actually manipulate the whole forest, even the air and earth... this monster must be crazily strong...unless... it didn"t actually manipulate everything..."