Nothing moved for a few seconds.
Around 30 armed men on their flying boards, Jason with his hand half raised, Balton with his smile that had just changed shape, all of them stood still staring at the figure standing in the middle of that circle of boulders.
Ash's skin was pale white like ash, and across its entire surface, from the back of his hands to his neck to his jaw, elongated cracks radiated red-orange light like embers forced out from beneath the earth.
His mouth was pulled back in a snarl, sharp fangs visible, both eyebrows drawn together toward the center with eyes that blazed with fierce anger, glowing red.
Among the dark trees at the edge of the boulders, Shiva who had already half entered the forest stopped walking. Her eyes opened wide, her breath caught.
Ash moved.
Not running, more like his body relocated, one step and he had already shot into the middle of the first group standing closest to him.
His sharpened elongated claws tore through the first man's tactical clothing from shoulder to waist, his body was instantly split apart and fell scattered with blood flooding the surroundings.
The second man tried to retreat but Ash had already turned around, one swing of his hand struck that man's chest and his body folded backward, thrown far and shattered when it hit the boulders.
"Up! Everyone up right now!" Jason shouted, his voice cutting through the stillness in the air.
The flying boards lit up simultaneously, the wind from those small engines roared together and the boulders below them trembled faintly. Within seconds everyone had already lifted off the ground, rising to a height of 5 to 6 meters, leaving Ash alone below.
"Fire! Electric pulse, all at once!" Jason turned his board to face downward, his hand pointing.
Ten rifles aimed downward nearly simultaneously. Ten blue-glowing bullets shot down, 6 striking Ash's shoulders and chest, the remaining 4 hitting his right arm.
The bullets deflected slightly several centimeters before finally Ash's body tensed hard, his feet rooted to the ground, and a long growl came from his throat like something very angry but unable to move.
The electric shock released from those bullets was enough to hold Ash temporarily. The cracks on his skin glowed brighter.
"Net! Fire the net now!" Jason called out.
Two men on the left and right sides fired the launchers in their hands, two rolls of iron net shot downward and expanded in the air before enveloping Ash's entire body.
The weight of the net pulled him to his knees, and Ash fell with one knee pressing into the ground, his hands gripping those nets and pulling but the cold metal did not break.
"Maintain electric fire! Take turns, don't stop!" Jason flew in circles above Ash's position, his eyes never leaving the movement below. "Two squads left, two squads right, keep distance and aim in rotation."
Ash raged beneath that net, his body rolling and rising halfway, but each time an electric bullet struck him his movement stopped again. The sound of metal being pulled and torn apart filled the air together with growls that grew longer.
Balton flew forward several meters, observing from a closer distance. His hand rested casually on his board's handle, his eyes moving from Ash to Jason to the people circling above, like someone watching something interesting but not yet at the best part.
In the tree, Shiva shifted her position to a higher branch, her eyes narrowing toward the figure writhing in the iron net.
Something in her chest was uneasy, not pity, but more like the feeling that something was wrong with what she was seeing. Behind all that red light and all that unreasonable strength, she sensed something different.
"Ash is dying," she murmured quietly, more to herself. "His body is burning itself from the inside."
The effect of the electric bullets began to weaken. Ash's movement that had been stopped began to return, slowly then quickly, and in one hard pull both his hands tore the iron net apart from the middle, thin pieces of metal scattered in every direction like snapped threads.
Ash stood upright, the cracks on his skin glowing brighter than before, and two red points where his eyes should be stared upward.
Then Ash leaped.
His body shot vertically at an unnatural speed, surpassing the height of those flying boards, and at the peak of his jump both his hands struck two flying boards that were closest.
Two men at once were thrown from their boards, their bodies fell spinning and slammed into the boulders below with a heavy sound, those empty boards bounced and fell farther away.
"Scatter! Don't stay at one point!" Jason shouted while sharply banking his board to the left. "Keep moving, don't give him a target he can attack!"
Everyone immediately spread out in every direction, their neat formation breaking apart into dozens of points moving irregularly. Ash landed below, his head turning to follow their movements above, then 3 electric bullets shot from three different directions and struck him again.
Ash moved.
Not standing still and taking it like before, but stepping quickly to the side, then advancing two steps, then retreating, his body kept moving without stopping, and the following shots hit empty ground or rocks behind him.
"He learns fast it seems," said Balton quietly, not to anyone in particular.
Balton reached for something standing upright at the side of his board's handle, one thick metal rod as large as an adult's arm with a flat and heavy end. His hand lifted the 30-kilogram iron bat like picking up an ordinary wooden stick, then placed it on his shoulder. "Move aside a moment, Jason."
"Commander, what are you planning, he cannot be faced with–"
"You heard me." Balton turned his board's handle and that support rod folded downward, locked in a new position so the entire upper surface of the board opened freely without obstruction.
Balton shifted his feet to a wider stance, then looked at Jason once. "Shoot only when there is a clear moment. Understood!"
Jason closed his mouth, but his jaw visibly tightened.
Balton shot downward.
His board dove sharply toward Ash who was still moving to avoid the shots from above, and Ash turned his head half a second before the iron bat struck the right side of his body.
The sound of the impact was not a normal sound, more like the sound of iron striking stone, and Ash's body was thrown to the right, floating several meters before hitting the surface of a large boulder and falling.
"Everyone stand ready!" Jason called from above.
Balton raised one hand backward without turning around. "Easy, Jason."
Ash had already risen again. The cracks on his skin were brighter than before, and now from each of those cracks small tongues of fire emerged, thin and short but clearly visible in the night, moving with every breath that came from his body.
Several people above reflexively pushed their flying boards back a few steps each.
Ash shot toward Balton.
Balton stepped half a step to the left, letting the momentum of Ash's attack pass beside his body, then his iron bat swung from below upward and struck the underside of Ash's jaw. Ash's body was launched upward, his head snapping back, and he fell to the rocky ground.
Rose again.
Attacked again, and Balton shifted half a step to the right this time, Ash's punch hit air, and the iron bat swung again striking Ash's back from above. His body hit the ground hard, the boulders around the point of impact cracking in every direction.
Rose again.
The fire from the cracks on his skin was now longer than before, licking into the air each time Ash moved his arms. The entire area around them became bright from that red-orange light, and the heat coming from Ash's body was felt even from several meters away.
In the tree, Shiva gripped the branch in front of her more tightly. Her breath came in gasps, her eyes did not blink. That fire was not a sign of strength, it was a sign that something inside Ash's body had already crossed a limit that should not have been crossed.
"Something has to stop him," Shiva murmured, her voice barely audible even to herself. "If this keeps going, Ash will be the one who runs out first."
Balton stood on his flying board with the iron bat in his right hand, staring at Ash who stood below with small fires licking out from every crack in his skin.
The smile on Balton's face did not disappear, but there was something different in his eyes now, not worry and not fear either, more like a very strong curiosity toward something he had never seen before.
Jason flew toward Balton from the right side, his voice dropping lower but his tone remaining tense. "Boss, it looks like his skin is burning from the inside. Wouldn't it be better to disable him immediately? He might explode after this."
Balton did not answer immediately. His eyes were still on Ash, following every small movement, every tongue of fire that came from those cracks.
"Fascinating," he said, quietly and calmly like someone who had just found the answer to a question that had long been bothering him.
***