The Real Monster

Initially, it was the Imperial Rule who always had the right to summon the hero as instructed by the priests of Safir in the Temple of Humanity located at one of the busiest streets of the Imperial Capital Empyria. However, this time, the Hero was summoned at the backwater kingdom of Acadria because of a foolish Imperial minister of the lowest rank sent to Acadria as their representative. That Chancellor was supposed to tell the King of Acadria that he has been selected as the representative to become the summoner in the Imperial Palace"s Summoning Hall as suggested by Duke of Raflesia, who was related to the queen of Acadria by blood. It was supposed to be a honor for the backwater kingdom, yet the Chancellor sent to Acadria took his being sent there as an insult and plotted against the Empire.

Originally, the Empire had received news that the hero had been summoned in Acadria and this infuriated the whole Empire. The Emperor though, was not that affected. He sent for word to be delivered to Acadria and its Hero specifically to be invited to the Empire to have an audience with the emperor. Typically, a trip to the Imperial Capital would take about 1 to 2 years by carriage and with a lot of escorts, however, an event that needs that long a march on the road only happens once every 50 years, when the Imperial Summit is held there.

However, the command of the Emperor could not be easily dismissed and so, they sent for word through messengers, yes, not one, but many messengers taking different routes.

However, even that measure resulted in failure all credited to the politicians of the Empire.

Not one minister let go of the messengers that they found and killed them. They though that if the Hero were to be summoned here, then the Emperor would gain even more power instead of dying appropriately for their schemes and political power.

A year pa.s.sed, it was as expected so the Emperor was patient, a second year pa.s.sed, and the Emperor had slightly begun to worry. A third year currently, and the Emperor had begun to be anxious. After the initial news that the hero had been summoned through the priests, it had already been three years since he sent for the Hero and he had yet to come.

As the Empire that held most power in the Human Realm, or even in the entirety of the continent that has yet to be explored to the fullest, they believed that the G.o.d of Humanity, Safir had continued to bless them until they can ama.s.s forces to finally force the other races out of the continent or annihilate them altogether. However, now that the hero had been delayed so much, the Emperor have become anxious for the plotting and schemes of the ministers under him. There was none that he could trust and even his family and children are plotting against him to dethrone him or even worse, kill him.

"Summon the Ministers!" The Emperor shouted as he sat in his throne.

"Hah!" Answered the guards as they relayed the order to the herald outside the room.

Over an hour later. In the Throne room of the Palace.

"Imperial Majesty, the Son of G.o.d. What troubles you?" Asked the Minister of the left.

"Your Imperial majesty, we have received your summons, what is it that you wish to accomplish?"

One by one, they started to voice their "concern." These treacherous bunch! Screamed the Emperor in his mind.

"What has become of the Hero? Why has he yet to arrive when it has already been three years since I sent for him?" The Emperor asked with a calm demeanor, a stark contrast to how he truly felt. Just as you would expect from a veteran politician. The Emperor has already become old enough to be called an Uncle by the children around him, so politics and the like were his constant plaything.

"Imperial Majesty, we also have not heard from the messengers that we have sent at that time. They may have been delayed or worst case, killed on the way to or back. What we do know is that they have not come back for these three years." A minister said to answer him. It was one of the ministers that had the messengers killed. A good politician so to say, able to lie to the face of the Emperor without any problems at all in conscience.

"What was the point in sending a squad of them if they all failed the same?! Send word to the hero again. This time, send it via the wyvern riders!" The emperor commanded.

I should have done it this way from the start. Thought the Emperor.

"By your will!" Everyone agreed and did not try to argue about it. In fact, they could not argue about it. If they did so now, they risked getting suspicion on them and ruin their plans. So, they allowed the Wyvern Riders to take the summons towards Acadria. At most it would take 3 months flying.

Crash!

Just as they were all about to head out of the audience room, the crashing sound of buildings and a slight earthquake erupted suddenly.

Roar!

Then a roar followed the crash. A terrifying roar that would paralyze every citizen in this imperial Capital. And soon, panic blanketed the whole Capital of Empyria. Those who saw the Nagataurus for the first time still were able to hold a tiny bit of sanity as the appearance of a monster in the middle of the capital was a first for them and so the shock was also at the initial stage. However, when the Nagataurus started its Rage, buildings and stores around it were crushed as if made of sand. A light swing of its arms and tail could pulverize human fortresses. Those who saw it for the first time were still better off, however, those from the Imperial Palace were not so peachy. The Empire had been in existence for a long time and the records of their ancestors about wars and encounters with monsters had all been recorded in their libraries. One of the ministers who served to preserve knowledge saw the Nagataurus and his eyes began to bulge, and his legs gave way.

"Old Librarian, what happened to you, is your sickness getting to you now of all times?" A minister that he was close with asked half-jokingly and half worriedly. However, the answer he was going to get also gave him a ton of fright and loss of complexion.

"O-Old Mage, will you remember if I told you… a NNNNagataurus" appearance?" Said Old Librarian. And that was enough for the Old Mage to remember their discussion on the extinct monsters of old that had ceased to exist after the cleansing war many centuries back.

"Oh… no!" The Old Mage also remembered clearly and sure enough, his complexion got worse by the second and even his legs started to shake as well. As if he was doing a dance move.

"M-M-Men! Report to his I-I-Imperial Majesty immediately! Tell him, a NNNagataurus has appeared!" Ordered the Old Mage who still had better complexion and courage compared to Old Librarian that knew all too well what a single Nagataurus" threat was.

***

The Nagataurus stood at more than 50 meters in height when it stood up, so it was Gigantic. However, when including its tail to the length of its body, then that doubles in size. A Nagataurus" tail is longer than its main body and so its strength at the tip of its tail was even more deadly than its arms combined. And now, it was using that same tail to smash buildings apart and kill hundreds of people in the process.

Where it landed was a distance away from the Imperial Palace but the way it was moving, it got closer and closer to the Palace. All the plotting ministers and even the Emperor had bated breaths. Because of the Old Mage"s emergency report, the Emperor also learned of what has appeared and what it can do. He wanted to order a sortie, however, he realized, there were no warriors as strong as the Nagataurus in the Capital. Although, there were S Rank Adventurers who stationed themselves in this Imperial Capital, it was so that they could retire in piece, so the adventurers of the S and Triple A rank here, were retirees or those who wished to enjoy their life after all the hard work they have done for themselves.

That is not to say that they are weak, it means that these people were strong but was evaluated against the Nagataurus, they still could not hold a candle.

"Send for the rank S and Triple A rank adventurers and have them stall the monster so that we can proceed with evacuation of the citizens! They take priority!" The Emperor gave out orders. Although it looked like it was out of pure intentions, the Emperor still included calculated risks and other calculations in his move. First, the citizens were the one who made him Emperor, he understood this more than anyone else, maybe too well that he was able to give orders like that without difficulty. Second, having the ministers to evacuate with the citizens would put him in a better light among the ministers after the disaster. However, all this were still gambling that he had to cash out on when this disaster is over. Question is, when would the disaster end? After the whole Imperial Capital of Empyria falls to ruin or when all the citizens are dead?

***

The moment Clay disappeared from the hallway where he had just sentenced his subordinates a h.e.l.lish nightmare, he reappeared in the skies above the Imperial Capital. He had noticed that FG-23 had been flying quite slower than he had designed it to and found that it had something in tow while it went to spread the seeds of the dungeons he had wanted to sprout in this world, artificially.

"FG-23 is without emotion and only lives to follow my will. Any other consequence for its actions is all pinned on me. Sigh. I have to clean this up since it was my creation that gave birth to this disaster." Clay muttered under his breath. However, when he was about to subjugate the Nagataurus, he found that there were some people who held their own against the Nagataurus. Although they moved as a team to minimize damage and stall the Nagataurus while the citizens were being led to evacuate somewhere, they still were able to effectively contain it. In interest, Clay started to watch them fight. He thought he might learn from them even more than his subordinates" fights.

The reason Clay wanted his subordinates to grow through fighting is because he also wanted to learn their techniques and the way they cope with situations. Not so that he could guide them better but so that he could learn how to better utilize his strength. Having no one to fight and no one that could make him go all out in a fight was the downside of being powerful after all. Look at Saitama, he fights while holding back all the time, look at Superman, he had to control his strength so that puny humans would not die when he fought them, and even when fighting other galactic beings, he still held back even to the point of death. Clay was also undergoing the same dilemma. He wanted to fight but could not because he had to hold himself back and to do that, he had to focus on minimizing his strength output to the barest minimum. That was no fun at all.

He wanted to fight and enjoy his strength with his subordinate"s growth as well, thus, he made his body double. And now, the time to test whether this body was durable enough to withstand a full powered fight.

As time went by, the adventurers who stalled for time each suffered major injuries and were grasping at straws on the verge of death. It was at that time that Clay"s body descended at a rate faster than a bullets" after releasing the magic he was using to fly.

Boom!

Dust fly all over the place as Clay"s body landed on the site in a superhero landing pose.

The injured adventurers were surprised and wanted to warn him not to come any closer. However, he shut them up by throwing pills into their mouths faster than they could blink. Their wounds were healed immediately and were surprised. However, ignoring their amazing health regeneration, the Nagataurus swept its tail towards them in a circle to finish the job. It was then that Clay stepped up.

Boom! Crack!

A loud explosion of sound reverberated in the vicinity as Clay"s arm was compressed in defense against his side. Colliding with it is the Nagataurus" tail which also produced a cracking sound after collision. As if it was broken.

Roar!

The Nagataurus roare out in fury and pain. It was confused that its tail was broken as if hitting a pole that was immovable and indestructible with a soft child"s hand, breaking it in the process.

The moment the tail had swept towards the adventurers, Clay activated the runes inscribed on his bones to make himself heavier at more than 200 tons while his defense was also unbreakable because his skeletal frame was made from the same material as FG-23 reinforced with magic at the same time, which made it stronger.

The Nagataurus was strong and its body was a real weapon for those who were weak enough to die by its body"s raging. However, to Clay, its steel-like muscles and scales were undeniably weak. If this were his real body, he would not even need to defend against it and just stand there after increasing his weight.

"All of you settle down and get away from here for the time being. Let me clean this up." Clay addressed the S and Triple A rank adventurers. After seeing Clay"s display, even if they wanted to help or tell him off, they just could not. They understood that not one of them would be able to take on a hit of that swing and still be alive afterwards. However, Clay not only survived, he was even unfazed and uninjured. As if a tall mountain that stands tall without putting anything in its eyes. It would not be the mountain that detoured, but the people who wants to pa.s.s the mountain.

"Be careful!" Said the middle-aged S rank Adventurer who had taken his retirement at the Imperial Capital.

Clay heard but did not react. He had his focus on the Nagataurus that was now staring daggers at him.

"Come!" Clay said while Neo-ing the Nagataurus.

"Raa!" The battlecry of the Nagataurus as it charged towards Clay. It had wanted to constrict Clay and kill him, but it found that it could not control the end of its tail that was broken and so gave up on that idea.

Rumbling noises resounded as the buildings were put aside in its charge like a ship splitting water.

"Let"s see, my Pugilist skill is already at Master level, so I don"t need to rely on weapons to attack, and my own body is a weapon with its st.u.r.diness, I guess I"ll just fight it like this." Clay put a stance on as a Pugilist. Different from how he trained with his subordinates, he properly looked at the Nagataurus as an opponent. If it gets rekt easily that would be too anticlimactic.

With its charge, the Nagataurus raised both its arms and made a hammer with it to smash Clay who was an ant compared to its size. Contrary to how it looked, the Nagataurus found Clay to be a threat to itself and thus used its whole body to attack him, as opposed to merely sweeping with its tail in all direction as an act of disdain for those around it.

Clay looked at its smashing figure and seriously considered the moves available to him. He could counter, or block and even dodge such a slow attack, but this time, he chose to block the strike to make room for those he told to get away to be able to do so.

Whoosh!

The smash came while splitting the air and making it whistle. Clay was not in his original body and so his senses were not as sharp as when he had his real body on. However, he could still move relatively well, and his reflex was still at superhuman levels. The source of his current power was magic. He was supplementing his weakness with magic power circulating inside his body.

Boom!

Crack!

Cracks bloomed on the floor of the pavement that were already in tatters. The ground was gouged, and the cracks spread wider. Clay was at the center of a mini crater that resulted from him blocking a heavy strike from the Nagataurus. Dust rose and made Clay"s image blurred but his figure was still barely noticeable.

"Wow. This guy"s strike is heavy." He mumbled. He spread his senses to know if the rest of the adventurers had already gone. Confirming that they are far away already, going towards the evacuation direction, he started to exert some strength to pull the hammer-fist of the Nagataurus towards him pulling its entire body and punching it in the face.

"[Turtle Destruction Wave Revision – Corkscrew]" Clay uttered the name of the technique. It was a technique from one of his favorite boxing manga"s that involves a first step. Incorporating the iconic Turtle Destruction Wave and a boxing technique to his Pugilist Arts, it was the birth of an attack that brings forth destruction and punishment in waves. The concept behind it was that the energy acc.u.mulation from the Turtle Destruction Wave enables greater energy multiplication through compression, while the Pugilist Art of using the muscles of every inch of the body to deliver blows and the boxing technique of the same name brings penetrative damage in waves in the form of oscillations from releasing the compressed energy into the body of the target.

The face of the Nagataurus was as hard as it could be for its age and race, the scales and muscles protecting it were fibrous and durable. However, in the face of Clay"s attack, half of its face was in tatters and was mangled beyond recognition. If this were a normal monster, it would have died when its head was destroyed however, Nagataurus was a race of vigorous monsters that have vitality that rival that of the Tauren Beastfolk and the regenerative ability rivaling that of the Dragonkin. Making it a monster in a league of its own. Its healing and regenerative abilities would make the Hydra"s head multiplication and regeneration pale in comparison to its own. In but a few seconds of being destroyed, visibly, its brain and everything inside its head regenerated and was enclosed in its regenerated skull before being covered by its muscle and scales.

"That didn"t do it huh. I guess I need to put in more effort to this fight. That was a full-forced-maninduced-technique and it just regenerated out of it. I know I can do that as well but man, maybe fighting me later would be as annoying as fighting this guy." Clay said as he talked to himself, swinging his outstretched hand used for the attack just now.

Roar!

The Nagataurus roared in anger and charged at Clay in rage. Even with fear in its mind, the humiliation of being beaten by a puny ant in its eyes made it lose its shred of intelligence. It had been too long since it had met anything else that could match it in its life from being away from any real threat except for the greater predators of that lonely continent.

For Clay, it was a great practice dummy. The Nagataurus became a simple dummy that he could dish out techniques to as practice. As he could not do that with his subordinates who"ll die from having their heads destroyed. Still, Clay could not allow the destruction of this large city to grow out of proportion because of his golem"s carelessness; this was on him and was his responsibility. Any lives lost here should be his responsibility.

The Nagataurus lunged at Clay with unG.o.dly speed using its tail as a spring to propel it forward. The gust of wind that resulted in that fell some of the buildings" debris surrounding its initial position. Clay did not have any difficulty in following its movements and easily punched out to match its outstretched arms in a punch towards Clay as well.

Boom!

Both fists collided and a booming resounded as the Nagataurus" arms all the way to its shoulder was blown off. It stood no chance against Clay in a clash of strength. Seeing this reality, the Nagataurus switched to using magic. And magic was something its race had high proficiency in. Large magic circles appeared in the air as it gathered magic energy from the surroundings into its spell. The elemental affinity of the spell showed that it was a water spell. Clay looked at it with a glance and already knew what was going to be used.

Realizing the damage to the surroundings if he allowed that, Clay acted swiftly and nullified the magic using Null Magic, [Magic Canceller]. With the sound of gla.s.s being broken, the magic circles in the air shattered and dispersed while all the magic energy that it gathered caused a backlash on it and greatly damaged it.

This time, its injuries did not heal as fast as earlier, and Clay realized that its healing ability was dependent on its magic energy being abundant. That was the limit of its healing abilities. Unlike Clay"s which enables him to regenerate even without those energies. It was powered by his indestructible soul.

"Let"s finish this shall we?" Stepping up his game Clay gathered magic to himself from the surroundings and molded it through compression making it the size of a 45 mm bullet resting just above his index finger ready to be fired at will. However, the mechanism Clay thought up for this spell was a surprise to those who were shot at. Without waiting for the Nagataurus to fully recover, Clay shot the bullet towards the Nagataurus while posing in a rather familiar 90"s anime"s protagonist"s signature move involving spirits. The scope though, was unlike it. It was comparable to Agamemkeru"s Breath of Nihility thus, Clay named it Nihility Bullet. As the bullet flew at a speed imperceptible to the ordinary man, its tail grew bigger every inch it flew forward until it reached the Nagataurus" body. As it hit, the bullet disappeared and not even a dent was left on its body, however, the tail of the bullet, the wind-draft-like tail brought with it a force that cannot be blocked nor dodged for its scope. Like a pa.s.sing gust of wind, it went past the Nagataurus and would have threatened to destroy the rest of the Imperial Capital where it was directed towards, however, Clay stopped it in its tracks after it annihilated the Nagataurus.