The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 178

Chapter 178: Prince Ansu [4]: Desperation
Ansu didn’t know how long he had been locked in this battle with Ruin. Was it an hour? a day?

He had no idea.

At one point, this stopped being a battle and turned into a game.

A game of survival.

“Come on, don’t tell that’s all you’ve got,” Ruin taunted.

He looked completely untouched, as if he hadn’t been killed multiple times by Prince Ansu.

The same couldn’t be said for Ansu, he looked completely battered and bruised as he tried his hardest to survive Ruin’s attacks. His forged beast was in similar condition, blood dripping from the multiple cuts on its body.

It’s previous golden glowing mane had visibly dimmed but it still stood firmly in front of its tamer while growling at Ruin.

“Sigh!” Ruin let out, seeing Ansu’s state, “I was hoping to die a few more times by your hands.”

He sounded almost disappointed.

“I guess no matter the world, humans will always be mediocre” Ruin said shaking his head.

Ansu spat out blood, struggling to keep his vision from blurring. His breathing was ragged, every muscle in his body aching. Still, he kept his spear raised, even as his knees threatened to buckle beneath him.

“You talk too much,” he growled, wiping the blood off his lips, “if I killed you before, I can do it again.”

“Previously, I would’ve cheered you on” Ruin said with another sigh “but looking at your state, I highly doubt you have enough strength to even make me lift a finger again.”

“Shut up,” Ansu said, although his voice was barely loud enough to be above a whisper.

“Still barking?” Ruin asked, “admirable, but unfortunately for you, the fight ends here.”

Ansu gripped his spear tighter, preparing for another round of this never ending battle. Even he could feel it, he wouldn’t survive much longer.

But if he was taught one thing, it’s that warriors of his clan never back down no matter the danger.

Letting out a battle cry, he hopped on his Lion forged beast and charged forward. No matter what it took, he was going to take down this enemy, to protect his kingdom.

But as if time had been stopped, Ansu and his forged beast suddenly froze. Even the occasional sounds for the forest or from the three headed dog playing with the almost dying Bolu completely disappeared.

No, time itself wasn’t stopped but Ruin was moving so fast that it seemed like it.

Slowly, Ruin walked forward, towards his frozen opponents. He stopped just in front of Ansu and his forged beast and bent down to their eye level.

Wrapping his tail around Ansu neck, he contemplated, “I could just snap you neck and end this quickly.”

“But that’ll be no fun,” Ruin shook his head, “I believe you can grow more, I want you to surprise me.”

With that, he swatted Ansu off his forged beast with his tail but since time seemed to still be frozen, the hit hadn’t registered yet.

Ruin then moved back to his previous position as time resumed its normal flow. Ansu was flung off the Lion and again he crashed into a tree.

At this point the number of trees that had fallen due to him crashing into them was a lot more than the ones that fell due to their attacks.

‘W-what just happened?’ Ansu said as he used his spear to support himself standing up.

His forged beast had continued charging forward only to be met with a casual attack from Ruin.

The golden lion skidded across the battlefield, its claws carving deep lines into the earth as it struggled to regain footing.

“Looks like your kitty’s lost its bite,” Ruin chuckled.

Ansu dragged himself upright with a groan, one arm hanging limply by his side. He could feel his ribs cracked—maybe even broken—and his vision was getting blurrier by the second.

But even in this state, the fire in his eyes hadn’t dimmed.

“I don’t care… how strong you are?,” he panted, “You shall fall here today, even if I have to die I’ll take you with me.”

“That’s the spirit!” Ruin said with a large grin, “surprise me human.”

The Lion’s mane started glowing brighter and so did Ansu’s speak and eyes.

Opening it’s maw, the lion revealed a mass of golden glowing energy within.

“Oh?” Ruin let out in interest.

Following his forged beast’s lead, Ansu pulled the spear back as it glowed brighter with his tribal markings taking the same glow.

ROAR!

With an earth shattering roar, the lion released a golden breath attack, similar to that of a dragon’s but this one moved a lot faster.

Ansu followed up soon after by hurling his spear into the breath attack, causing it to intensify the fusion of weapon and energy forming a blinding beam of pure golden light.

The moment the spear pierced the breath, it expanded, the attack turning into a focused lance of molten gold, burning so brightly it painted the entire battlefield in its light.

The Trees, rocks, and even the ground beneath cracked and disintegrated from the sheer pressure of the blast.

Ruin’s grin widened.

“Now that’s more like it!” he shouted in pure excitement.

He was glad he didn’t kill this human just yet and he was being rewarded for his patience.

The golden blast crashed into him like a star collapsing—obliterating everything in its path.

For a moment, there was silence.

Even the three-headed dog stopped playing with Bolu and stared at the smoldering column of energy, tilting one of its heads in curiosity.

Ansu dropped to one knee, panting heavily. His lion collapsed beside him, completely drained, smoke rising from its mouth.

“I… I got him?…” Ansu muttered.

But there was no way for him to know the results of his attack since the entire battlefield was covered in smoke and dust.

The Lion disintegrated into particles of light as it returned back to where it was summoned from.

Ansu, on the other hand, used the spear as support, he stood back up and narrowed his eyes, hoping to see through the smoke.

“I really am glad I didn’t kill you right away.” A voice sounded but instead of through the smoke it came directly from behind him.

Jumping back to create space between him and Ruin, Ansu turn back to regard his opponent.

“Surprise me more human,” Ruin opened his arms wide, a grin on his face.