Near Dark Lantern Street, which had turned into a wasteland.
Xiao Ping and James were playing rock-paper-scissors on that piece of flying earth, just to pass time while they reached the southern side of the city.
"Why do you always win? Are you cheating?!" James said, looking at Xiao Ping sitting opposite him.
"What? Me cheat? No, I never cheat!" Xiao Ping denied the accusations.
"Then how do you explain your constant winning?" James asked, looking suspiciously at Xiao Ping.
"Take those suspicious looks away from me! All I did was apply a rule to always win!" Xiao Ping said while looking at James.
"Really?" James asked, looking even more suspiciously at Xiao Ping.
"Yes!" Xiao Ping quickly replied.
"Then show me this rule! The one you apply—" James was about to say something to Xiao Ping but suddenly fell silent, opened his mouth, and screamed: "Ping! Take cover!" Saying that, he activated an energy barrier and stood with Xiao Ping behind him.
"It's coming!" Xiao Ping said, having seen in his vision that they would be hit by violent winds.
"I know!" James said while looking at the powerful winds heading toward them at extremely high speed!
"Prepare for impact," James said... and firmly planted his feet on that flying piece of earth.
The next moment, they were engulfed by extremely strong winds that swept away some of that earthen piece with them! But they managed to protect themselves from it.
However, at that moment, James suddenly shouted: "Ping! Don't lower your guard, the worst is coming now!" Saying that, he grabbed Xiao Ping by the arm and pulled him toward himself.
"What do you mean the worst is com—" Xiao Ping couldn't finish his words before a powerful and violent energy appeared before them.
The energy crashed into the barrier, causing James and Xiao Ping to stagger back a few steps, but they returned to the barrier again. This time, Xiao Ping channeled his energy to support the barrier with James.
"Let's do it!" Xiao Ping shouted while reinforcing the barrier with his red, bloody, and violent energy.
"What kind of monster are you! Tell me!" James said while pushing more energy into the barrier.
"I'm like an ancient beast that returned from hell to reclaim its throne!" Xiao Ping said while his energy overflowed endlessly from his body.
"That description suits you very well," James praised while looking at those violent energies, one after another, crashing into the barrier. 'They pose no danger to me, but Ping is something different!'
After a minute of this, those energies stopped emitting or crashing into the barrier created by James and reinforced by Xiao Ping.
But only small pieces remained of that flying earthen slab, barely enough to hold two people, and they also showed signs of cracking.
"No no... hold on just a little longer!" Xiao Ping said to that cracking ground.
"Hahaha, what are you doing? This is so funny!" James said while watching Xiao Ping's actions.
"I don't know? Is it because I'm crazy, I wonder!" Xiao Ping said with a crazy expression on his face.
"Yes, you're right! We really are mad!" James said while looking ahead. He continued: "Get ready, because we'll arrive soon."
...
That beast was flying in the sky, looking at the giant crater left by its last attack with inhuman expressions.
It wanted to descend when it heard a cracking sound in the sky, and its scales began to slowly fall off one by one.
The beast roared upon seeing its pitiful state and finally decided to descend to see if that human, who had launched such a deadly attack at it, had died.
But at that moment, numerous vines shot up from the ground at high speed! They pierced through the thick smoke from the explosion and moved toward the beast in the sky... and there was a strange development on them... as if they had begun glowing with red and dark blue colors.
The beast didn't try to avoid them; instead, it let them hit its body, thinking they would bounce off as before, but this action was mistaken. Because those vines with red and dark blue glow pierced through those scales that had begun falling earlier and emerged from the other side of the beast.
The beast roared in pain and emitted sonic vibrations that moved the clouds around it—a scream carrying pain and despair in its tone.
But those vines weren't satisfied; they pulled it toward the ground at high speed.
BOOOOOM!
A massive explosion echoed, causing giant rocks to fly from the ground to the sky from the force of that impact.
"I knew you would underestimate them! That's why I wasn't worried you'd avoid them!" that person's voice was heard from within the thick smoke... as he emerged from it and walked toward the place where the beast had fallen.
"This dust is annoying!" that person said while waving his hand, and a huge, giant tornado appeared, sweeping all that dust away.
Leaving only rocks and the barren place... due to that beast's attack.
"To deliver such a blow while still at the pseudo-fourth level is something to be very proud of!" that person praised while stretching himself.
There were no fatal injuries on his body, even after receiving all those blows, tail swipes, and the powerful, finishing strike from that beast.
That person advanced toward the beast, which was looking at him with its black eyes, as if asking: Which of us is the real monster, I wonder?
That person looked at the beast, which was seriously injured with wounds sufficient to kill other people, but it wasn't dead, which was truly amazing compared to others of the same level.
"You truly are a stubborn beast! But you've earned my respect, unlike those noble dogs from before! So I will kill you with my strongest technique, so you die with great honor!" that person said while placing his foot on the beast's head, raising his hand and aiming it toward it.
Immense and bloody energy began gathering in that person's palm, reflected in the beast's eyes, before it closed them and accepted its fate.
"Total Destru—" that person was about to say the name of his technique when he was hit by an earthen rock flying strangely.
BOOM!
A small explosion occurred at that time, and two people emerged from within the explosion, staring ahead. They looked at the wounded beast lying on the ground, from whose body many black scales were scattered, appearing to be peeling off. They waved their hands to disperse the thick smoke.
"An ancient beast!" James spoke while looking at the beast.
"An ancient beast?" Xiao Ping asked while cleaning dust from his coat.
"It's a beast with the strength of someone at the beginning of intermediate levels!" James replied, looking around and seeing that this area no longer had any houses or streets, having turned to ash as he thought.
'This is something new, discovered today too! "And this means the cause of those explosions we suffered earlier was because of?" Xiao Ping asked.
"Yes, I think so!" James quickly replied.
"That's wrong!" A voice emerged from the smoke behind them, devoid of humanity.
Xiao Ping and James turned behind them and looked at the rising smoke caused by their landing. Xiao Ping said while activating his ability: "And I was wondering why the landing was comfortable? Anyway, thank you for this!"
"Where did you come from? Are you also from the noble dogs?" that person asked as he advanced through the smoke.
"No... we're just two crazy unofficial investigators!" Xiao Ping said, seeing glowing threads running through that person's body.
"Oh! That's very interesting," that person said.
"I know it's interesting! But what did you mean by saying what James said earlier was wrong?" Xiao Ping asked coldly, looking at the person who appeared from the smoke before him. He wasn't wearing any shirt on his upper body, only black-corded trousers hanging from him. His long crimson hair moved violently with the wind. His eyes were strange purple, and also, he showed a devilish smile on his face.
"Ping! Retreat slowly and carefully!" James suddenly said to Xiao Ping.
"Kekekekeke, no need to fear, I'll answer his question and let you two leave alive, if you don't interfere with my work!" that person laughed while emerging from the smoke.
Xiao Ping didn't respond to James's warning and stood calmly before that person without any noticeable fear.
"The cause of the first explosion was me! As for the second, it was Mr. Beast!" that person pointed toward the beast behind Xiao Ping and James.
"So that's it, and how did you survive an attack like that?" Xiao Ping asked as if he weren't facing someone capable of obliterating all of Frendenstream City.
'What is Ping trying to do? That person isn't ordinary at all! Could he be that serial killer?' James thought to himself before advancing and standing beside Xiao Ping.
"I told you: if you interfere too much, you'll be killed! So this is the only remaining chance for you!" that person directed a threat toward Xiao Ping and refused to answer his question.
"Hahahahahahahahahaha!" Xiao Ping laughed loudly, making that beast open its eyes and say only one word: "It's you!"
"Why are you laughing? Have you gone mad?!" that person said while advancing toward Xiao Ping. He continued: "And you can talk too!"
That beast didn't respond to that person, but kept looking at Xiao Ping, who was laughing loudly.
"Hahahahahahahaha!" James laughed loudly and said: "This means we're going to kill you, you fool!"
"Fool? It seems you're tasting your death! So don't blame me for what will happen to you two now!" that person said in a devilish voice.
"I can see it!" Xiao Ping suddenly shouted in a mad voice, having stopped laughing, and added: "Yes, I can see it."
"See what?" that person asked while suddenly stopping and looking at James's and Xiao Ping's hands, where there were glows of silver and dark purple.
"They are threads of vengeance!" Xiao Ping said it and charged toward that beast, saying: "Black Abyss Gun, arise!" Suddenly, terrifying pressure appeared around Xiao Ping, and a pitch-black aura appeared in his hand.
James followed him after saying: "Silver Ray, arise!" Saying that, another terrifying pressure appeared, but this time it wasn't pitch blackness, but an aura of purity and light that shone on the area and collided with Xiao Ping's black aura.
"Are you ready?!" James asked while running beside Xiao Ping.
"Yes, I'm ready! And this will be our second joint battle on the same day of our partnership, so let's make it an unforgettable fight!" Xiao Ping said while aiming the gun's muzzle at that person and said: "Fire!"
...
End of Chapter ~ To be continued