After finishing cleaning and arranging the interior of the house that now felt comfortable, Akane rested on the soft sofa while enjoying the view of Mount Fuji in the distance. On the other side, Azlan felt the need to test the new threat that appeared mysteriously.
"Akane. I'll be going out for a bit."
Hearing that, Akane who was enjoying the new warmth on the sofa, immediately stood up.
"Where are you going, Azlan-kun? Are you going on patrol as usual?"
"I need to test those giant creatures. We can't live here peacefully if we don't understand the Titan threat."
"But that's dangerous!" Akane protested, approaching and holding Azlan's arm. "Can't you wait until it's safer?"
"Knowledge is the best weapon. I'll be careful."
"If so, be careful. Don't push yourself."
Akane sighed, knowing she couldn't change his decision. She walked ahead of Azlan toward the door, standing in the doorway, looking like a wife seeing her husband off to work.
"Don't worry. I can fly. If the situation worsens, I'll immediately escape."
"Be careful, Azlan-kun!"
Blue light wings immediately manifested on Azlan's back, and he shot into the air, leaving the safe building rooftop.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Located somewhat far from their new base to avoid drawing attention to their residence, Azlan relied on air superiority as his tactic. He flew low, deliberately attracting the attention of several groups of those giant creatures.
"Let's see how tough you are."
*WHOOSH!*
Shooting like an arrow released from its bow, Azlan targeted a 5-meter tall Titan. He coated his fist with Touki when punching.
*BAM!*
His punch landed squarely on the Titan's head. However, the effect wasn't that great. The Titan that received the punch only stepped back a few steps, its skin feeling very hard, before lunging back at him with a wide-open mouth. Azlan easily maneuvered to avoid the lunge, flying high briefly to observe.
*WHOOSH!*
*BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!*
He flew in circles, landing punches at various points on the Titan's body—knees, back, even the neck. But the result was the same: the Titan only staggered, didn't fall.
"Its physical strength is brutal, and its body endurance is higher than I expected. With my current Senjutsu level, it's not enough to bring it down with one punch."
*WHOOSH!*
Azlan tried a different tactic, making a feint to the left before attacking to the right. The Titan was easily fooled, following his false movement.
Through that test, he understood several Titan characteristics: they were mindless creatures, they attacked purely based on primitive instinct.
"Truly foolish creatures."
Azlan sneered, taking advantage of their stupidity with feints that always succeeded.
Suddenly, something strange happened. A Titan with a slimmer physique suddenly picked up concrete debris and threw it toward Azlan.
*SWISH!* *SWISH!* *SWISH!*
"!"
*WHOOSH!*
Azlan barely dodged.
"This one is different."
That slim Titan didn't attack blindly like the others. It moved with a more planned pattern, even coordinating its attacks with the Titans around it.
"Albion, did you see that?"
[Yes. That Titan shows signs of basic intelligence. Be careful, Azlan.]
Azlan activated his Mystic Eye of Heavenly Eye. Instantly, he saw various possible futures—himself being ambushed, his hand being bitten, his head being crushed...
So, he forced all those possibilities to collapse into a single future where he successfully dodged and fought back.
*WHOOSH!*
With the guidance of his Heavenly Eye, Azlan moved with perfect precision. He avoided every attack from that Abnormal Titan, landing punches right at the weak points he saw in his visions.
*BAM!*
But still, it wasn't enough.
"My physical strength alone isn't enough. I need a weapon or to increase my strength further."
[Divide]
Right when Divine Dividing worked, the Abnormal Titan's strength—which was trying to throw a car—was reduced by half. On the other hand, Azlan felt new power absorbed from the enemy, flowing through him, increasing his strength.
*WHOOSH!*
Taking advantage of the momentum of the Titan suddenly losing half its strength, Azlan launched another punch aimed right at the creature's head.
*BAM!*
The power behind this punch was far different from previous attacks. The difference was clearly visible, the Abnormal Titan's head was struck with such force that it created a small crater in the asphalt surface below.
*TAP-TAP-TAP!*
The sound of rhythmic heavy footsteps suddenly filled the air. When Azlan was about to deliver the finishing blow, dozens of other Titans ran fast toward him, trampling everything in their path.
"Tsk. Nuisances."
Not wanting to be surrounded, he quickly flapped his wings and flew to a height unreachable by the Titans.
From above, Azlan observed as the Abnormal Titan slowly got up, its dented head still attached to its body. The creature even grabbed a parked car and threw it toward him with a growl.
"Even after receiving a punch that strong, that creature is still alive? How much vitality do these creatures have?" He muttered while furrowing his brow.
[Try destroying its head. That's the classic weak point for most living creatures.]
"Yes, I'll try it."
While maneuvering to avoid the thrown cars, Azlan agreed with Albion's suggestion.
Ten seconds passed.
[Divide]
This time, the effect was even more dramatic. The Abnormal Titan nearly fell, its body trembling violently as if its bones had suddenly become heavy. Azlan again felt a wave of power greater than before—a sensation that was almost intoxicating.
*WHOOSH!*
With the new power flowing within him, Azlan dove sharply into the crowd of Titans. He threw punches at every Titan that dared to block his way.
*BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!*
If previously his punches only made them step back a few meters, now each of his fists struck with force that sent the Titans flying dozens of meters, crashing into buildings and each other.
In an instant, he had cleared the path to the now very weak Abnormal Titan.
"Time to end this."
Azlan channeled all the power he had absorbed—plus his original strength and amplification from Touki—into one focused punch. His fist glowed with white energy as it plunged right into the middle of the already damaged Abnormal Titan's head.
*BANG!*
That punch successfully destroyed the Abnormal Titan's head, turning it into bloody fragments. The headless body swayed briefly, losing balance, before falling hard to the ground.
"What?!"
Before Azlan could celebrate his victory, an impossible sight greeted him.
The Abnormal Titan's head that should have been shattered into pieces began regenerating at a horrifying speed. Flesh and bone grew like worms, reforming the intact skull.
"This isn't good news. Titans have extraordinary regeneration abilities. And worse, the head isn't their main weakness."
Now, the Titan threat far exceeded zombies, though he shouldn't underestimate the infection threat from the latter. At least zombies could be stopped by destroying their brains, but Titans required a different approach.
Next, Azlan began his relentless assault on the Titans, trying to find their weakness. As time passed, his strength continued to increase thanks to Divine Dividing dividing the opponent's strength every ten seconds and converting it into nourishment for his body.
Thanks to three months of Senjutsu training, his physical body could accommodate a strength increase of up to five times. Excess power that couldn't be absorbed had to be released through his wings—a limitation of Divine Dividing in its basic form.
The ability to store excess power was only possible in Balance Breaker form which was its mutation ability.
Back to the main topic. After five minutes of experimentation, trying to hit the chest, stomach, and back of Titans, he found the Titans' weakness, namely the nape of their neck!
To kill Titans permanently, he had to cut the Titans' nape down to the spinal nerve. Attacks on other body parts would regenerate automatically.
Without a sharp weapon, Azlan transformed his Touki into a sharp blade enveloping his right hand. Gliding toward the nearest Titan, he quickly cut that Titan's nape.
*SWISH!*
*PUCHI!*
The Titan's head detached. This time, there was no regeneration. The Titan immediately collapsed, its body beginning to evaporate into steam before finally disappearing completely.
"My objective is accomplished. It's time to return. Don't let Akane wait in worry."
With steady wing flaps, Azlan flew away from the battlefield filled with evaporating Titan corpses. Now, he had the necessary knowledge to protect himself and Akane.