Chapter 398: ...and how it ends

"Kahahaha! You’re quicker than you look!"

The creature swung its tail.

Arthur ducked, but instead of pursuing him, the Kijin slammed its tail into the ground, sending a row of jagged spikes erupting from the pavement beneath his feet.

Arthur teleported just as the first spike pierced the ground, reappearing atop a rusted bus stop sign. He immediately kicked off it, sending the metal structure crashing down toward the Kijin’s head.

CRANG!

The creature raised an arm to block it, but Arthur had already closed the distance, his Light Staff flashing toward its exposed ribs.

THWACK!

The Kijin staggered sideways, smashing through the remains of a concrete barrier. Before Arthur could follow up, its arm stretched unnaturally, transforming into a thick, bladed appendage that swept toward him.

Arthur ducked beneath the slash and drove his elbow into the creature’s extended arm.

BOOM!

The impact forced the limb downward, burying its blade in the pavement. Arthur seized the opening, planted a foot against the Kijin’s torso, and launched himself backward before the creature could retaliate.

’He isn’t just dodging its attacks,’ Kyle thought, his eyes narrowing with interest. ’He’s making it commit to movements that leave other parts of its body exposed.’

Athena: [An excellent approach. The Kijin’s shapeshifting gives it versatility, but it still needs to redistribute its mass to execute certain attacks. The human is exploiting those transitional moments.]

Odin: [His reinforcement is impressive as well. He is directing Genesis toward the point of impact instead of wasting it across his entire body.]

The Kijin ripped its arm free and grinned, its bladed limb returning to its original shape.

"Then let’s see you handle this!"

Its entire body flattened.

Arthur’s eyes widened as the creature’s torso spread across the ground like a pool of black liquid. Before he could teleport, dozens of hardened tendrils shot upward from the spreading mass, converging on his position from every direction.

He twisted aside, deflecting two with his staff, then teleported through the narrow gap between the others. However, the tendrils followed his movement, merging together to form a massive fist that smashed into the abandoned station’s entrance.

KRAAAASH!

The concrete arch collapsed, burying the forecourt beneath rubble.

Arthur reappeared several meters away, but the Kijin had already begun reforming. Its new body was broader, its arms thicker, and a pair of curved horns had emerged along its shoulders.

’It can attack from multiple directions without committing its main body,’ Arthur realized. ’Annoying.’

The Kijin charged before he could formulate another plan.

Arthur raised his staff to intercept its fist, only to teleport at the last instant. The monster’s punch struck the pavement, sending broken concrete flying into the air. Arthur reappeared beside its head and swung his staff toward its temple.

But the Kijin had anticipated the feint.

Its shoulder horn twisted toward Arthur, forcing him to abandon the strike and teleport again. He emerged behind the creature and immediately kicked the back of its knee.

THUD!

The Kijin buckled, but it used the momentum to spin, sweeping its tail across the ground.

Arthur jumped over it, only for the creature to split its tail into three separate appendages. One struck the pavement beneath him, another swept toward his torso, and the third curled around to cut off his landing.

"Tch!"

Arthur drove his staff into the broken edge of a concrete wall, using it as an anchor to swing himself sideways. The tails collided beneath him, demolishing what remained of the station’s ticket booth.

He released the staff and teleported, reappearing directly above the Kijin.

This time, he didn’t attack its body.

He slammed his foot into the creature’s head, driving it into the ground.

DOOOOM!

The shockwave rattled the station’s remaining windows, sending shards of glass raining onto the pavement.

Tyr: [HAHAHA! Now that was a proper strike!]

Athena: [And notice the target. Rather than attacking its reinforced torso again, he went for the head while its attention was divided between its tails]

Ethan’s expression had grown increasingly solemn. He had heard about Arthur before, but never saw him fight, especially against an opponent capable of adapting so rapidly.

Every time the Kijin revealed a new ability, Arthur found a way to turn it against the creature, even if only for a brief moment.

Yet the Nightmare was far from finished.

The Kijin lifted its head from the crater, its grin widening as black patterns spread across its body.

"You’re really starting to piss me off, human."

Its flesh hardened into overlapping plates, while its arms elongated and sharpened into enormous blades. This time, however, the transformation didn’t stop there. The plates detached from its body and began orbiting it, each fragment rotating like a sharpened disc.

Arthur’s smile faded.

The Kijin snapped its fingers.

The fragments shot outward.

Arthur teleported away as the first wave tore through the forecourt, slicing apart the rusted railings and carving deep grooves into the station walls. He reappeared behind a fallen concrete pillar, but the fragments curved through the air and pursued him.

’They can change direction?’

Arthur thrust his staff into the ground and released a burst of Genesis. The resulting shockwave sent several fragments spinning off course, causing them to crash into one another.

KLANG! KLANG! CRASH!

He immediately teleported through the opening, emerging beside the Kijin before the remaining blades could return.

The creature’s eyes widened.

Arthur’s staff flashed toward its chest.

But at the last instant, the Kijin’s torso opened like a maw, revealing rows of jagged teeth.

Arthur twisted away as the jaws snapped shut inches from his arm. He landed in a crouch, his gaze fixed on the creature.

’It can transform almost any part of its body into a weapon. Predicting its anatomy is useless.’

The Kijin laughed, the sound echoing through the ruined station.

"Come on, warrior! Show me something worth remembering!"

Arthur slowly straightened, tightening his grip around the Light Staff.

For the first time since the battle began, he stopped advancing.

Instead, his gaze shifted toward the shattered station roof, the fractured pillars, and the debris scattered across the forecourt.

A new idea had taken shape.

’If I can’t predict what its body will become, then I’ll stop targeting its body.’

His eyes returned to the Kijin.

’I’ll make the entire battlefield my weapo-’

Arthur’s eyes widened as something pierced through the Kijin’s head and was coming straight at him with such precision and speed and Arthur, forget about teleporting, couldn’t even move.

*Shlink*

The faint heat from the arrow pressed against his forehead. And in the next instance,

*Thud*

The Kijin fell to the ground; dead.

Arthur’s breathing was unnatural as he realized his Lord has held the projectile and saved him just in time.

Absence rapidly eroded Kyle’s hand but Genesis, faster than the erosion, fought against the poison till Kyle broke the arrow with his bare hand.

Silence descended upon the battlefield before Kyle muttered. "I should have expected everything but manners from you, Garoth."

And then, through the rift appeared death.

Arthur lost his consciousness just a moment later Ethan.