The giant monster slammed both of its fists toward us.
BOOM!
The ground exploded beneath the impact.
Everyone scattered at the last second.
"Barely..." one of the hunters muttered.
The monster roared.
The sound shook the trees around us.
The hunters prepared themselves, but I could tell they were exhausted.
Most of their Destructive Energy had already been used on the Flame Formation.
Which meant there was only one person left who could deal with this thing.
Me.
I grinned.
"Looks like it's my turn."
I charged.
The giant monster immediately spotted me.
With a furious roar, it swung a hand large enough to crush a car.
Instead of dodging away, I ran straight toward it.
The massive hand came down.
At the last second, I jumped.
Planted my foot on its wrist.
Then used its arm as a platform.
I launched myself over its head.
The monster blinked in confusion.
It had lost sight of me.
Then—
BAM!
I slammed both fists into its back.
The impact tore through its skin.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
The monster howled in pain.
"Got you."
But then...
the wound began to close.
My smile vanished.
It was regenerating.
The torn flesh stitched itself back together.
Within seconds, the injury was gone.
"Oh."
The monster turned around.
And punched me.
HARD.
I flew through the air and crashed into a tree.
The trunk cracked from the impact.
For a moment, everything spun.
"Kyoren!" one of the hunters shouted.
The hunters rushed in.
Gathering what little Destructive Energy they had left into their fists.
Close combat.
A terrible idea.
The monster swatted them away one after another.
I pushed myself back to my feet.
Blood dripped from the corner of my mouth.
Then I noticed something.
The monster regenerated wounds on its arms.
Its back.
Its chest.
But every time it protected itself...
it instinctively guarded certain places.
Its neck.
Its stomach.
Its head.
A weakness.
I smiled.
Now I knew how to kill it.
I quickly climbed a nearby tree.
"HEY!" I shouted.
The hunters looked up.
"What?!"
"Bring that ugly thing over here!"
They stared at me.
"Are you sure?"
"JUST DO IT!"
One hunter immediately formed a hand sign.
"Earth Technique!"
A pillar of stone erupted beneath the monster.
The attack barely hurt it.
But it got its attention.
The giant monster roared and charged.
Exactly as planned.
As it ran beneath my tree, I jumped.
The wind rushed past my face.
The monster looked up.
Too late.
I landed directly on its shoulders.
Then I grabbed its head with both hands.
CRACK.
The sound echoed through the forest.
The giant monster froze.
For one brief moment...
everything became silent.
Then its body collapsed.
THUD.
The hunters stared.
Speechless.
I stepped off the corpse.
Its head rolled across the ground like a football.
I nudged it with my foot.
"Goal."
Nobody laughed.
Mostly because they were too busy wondering if I was actually human.