Chapter 77: The Pitiful Herculean, The Mighty Silverback Mystic Ape

Rooooaaaarrrr!

A brutal battle cry resounded far and wide as a gush of wind spread out, ruffling the sturdy tree branches as shrubs swayed back and forth, while gravel took to the air with the stray leaves.

Looking at the scene more closely, one would notice a giant ape with primarily black fur and silver hair on its back stood grandly of a height of eight meters. Its body emanated a dense silver color mystic power as its eyes shone in a red ray when it glared before it.

Currently, it towered above a large-bodied man, the scar on his cheek giving him an aggressive edge as his short brown hair was unruly. He held onto a giant blade with his trembling arms as a pile of corpses surrounded him, some being unrecognizable due to the brutality used to crush them into piles of meat.

Suddenly, this man coughed out a bit of blood as he slumped over, threatening to fall onto his knees, but as if he refused to express such weakness, he stabbed the edge of his giant blade into the ground to balance his body upright.

Herculean was having a bad day; after his encounter with the mystical and powerful man outside of the Seeker's Union, he had ventured into the wilderness with his party to complete their newest quest. The Silverback Mystic Ape was one of the most powerful monsters to face on the E Rank Mission Boards and one of the most rewarding. 

As such, one could imagine the number of challengers who had opted to take on the quest. Sadly, each and everyone who chose this mission had failed, and that was due to a reason with which Herculean himself had pitifully only found out.

'Damn, they all died, simply because of my foolishness, I thought too highly of myself... and now, I'll pay for it.' 

Herculean cursed at himself inwardly due to his tired breath, his eyes shifting from the ape to the bodies of his former comrades.

As if the Silverback Mystic Ape had enough of him, it lowered its posture with both arms on the ground, looking like a runner about to dash. With its music power scattering from its body, the ground rippled before breaking into fissures as it gathered power to finish him.

Herculean felt weak when seeing this; the energies coming from the beast was more than enough to make him feel suppressed, but as of he didn't want to go down without a fight, his weakened eyes burned with spirit as he tightly gripped the handle of his blade and shouted.

"You may have beaten in force, but even if I end up dying, you won't break my spirit!"

Bang! As if his words had inspired something within him, Herculean drew strength from the unknown as he hoisted his blade and brandished it ahead of himself.

"Eruption Slash!" His voice sounded as a wide slash wave fired towards the Silverback Mystic Ape.

As if viewing Herculean's attack as an insult to its pride, the Silverback Mystic Ape roared as it pushed it from the ground with its muscular arms.

With a swoosh, its body blurred due to its high movement speed which then crashed through the energy wave that exploded after a loud bang.

As if unimpeded by it, the ape charged ahead like a rocket, its towering silver-colored mystic power shrouding its fists that positioned ahead of it as if aimed to crush Herculean with the fabled 'superman' assault.

Herculean, seeing that his all-out attack failed, was shocked, but even so, he didn't show fear or regret; his face remained firm as if even if facing death, he would die without flinching.

OUU! The violent battle shout of the Silverback Mystic Ape sounded once more as it was only one step away from pulverizing his human adversary, but right before it happened, there was a change.

"Gravity Fall..." An emo-like voice said, followed by a towering gray power that swept around the body of the ape.

Boom! With a loud collision sound, the Silverback Mystic Ape crashed into the ground due to the sudden surprise; its fist smashed into the earth, creating an explosion of force that pushed away from the stunned Herculean.

With a cry, Herculean flew away in the air and landed on a towering tree. He promptly held onto the branch as he spat out another chunk of blood.

"Wha... what the hell happened?" Herculean said in surprise, but as if answering his question, the scene he saw before him made him open his eyes. He exclaimed, "Who the heck are they?"

Right now, a different party appeared, taking advantage of Illiak's skill that momentarily pinned down the Silverback Mystic Ape, both Quon and Leya attacked, holding nothing back.

"Mystic Blast!"

"Raging Gale Bolt!"

A bright series of lights fired from Leya's staff which collected over the Silverback Mystic Ape; they then joined together in a flash before exploding in a flash of white light.

Quon's spiraling green arrow crashed down soon after, rupturing a large hole in Leya's explosion as it crashed into the ape before exploding.

"Did we get it?" Leya asked as she now held her staff before her with an arm placed above it.

"I'm not sure, but it should have been injured from our attack," Quon said as he stared at the flashy explosive lights with sharp eyes.

Illiak also crawled out of the darkness from the shrubs. He didn't say anything but look at the scene with his eyes hidden underneath his hair.

Time came to a standstill, but in a flash, the lights vanished due to a sinister roar. With another bang, a massive explosion of silver energy scattered from the area of the impact, followed by the slowly rising silhouette of the Silverback Mystic Ape, glaring at them with eyes that shone menacingly.

"What it's unphased?" Leya exclaimed in shock.

"Darn! How is it strong?" Quon cursed as Illiak trembled while taking a step back.

Marius, who watched this from behind them, shook his head as he made a light movement, traversing the earth as if he was a part of its whole as he swiftly arrived in front of them.

"Hey... we..." Leya and Quon said as they felt a bit embarrassed.

Marius knew what they wanted to say, but he waved his hand and spoke, "It's fine, you kids can leave it to me; this fellow isn't as simple as he looks."

As Marius said this, he faced the brutal Silverback Mystic Ape with a smirk as he licked his lips, his eyes shining as he could see its stats along with a few details before his eyes.

____

Ding!

[Target: Silver Back Mystic Ape has been discovered, commencing mission!]

Ding!

[Silverback Mystic Ape]

[Race: Mystic Beast]

[Level: 29]

[Stamina: E★★★]

[Strength: D(E★★★)]

[Agility: F★★★]

[Dexterity: F★★★]

[Mystic Power: F★★]

[Mystic Force Power: F★★]

[Innate Skill: Power Boost (Passive) - Strength Increases by 1 Star passively.]

[Abilities: Iron Furr, Raging Ape Fist, Earth Shattering Roar]

____

'This should be a little fun...' Marius thought as he had a feeling that the quest might have been more worth it than he had initially thought.