Chapter 158 Clutch Factor

Unleashing forward in a rage, the Head Hunter threw itself towards the Blood Forger, wildly swinging his cleaver side-to-side, trying to behead the much smaller human with repeated chants:

"Head! Head! Head!"

This assault was thwarted by a single snap of Sol's fingers:

"Blood Web."

Utilizing the seemingly limitless Blood Swamp, the crimson liquid was instantaneously crystallized, expanding and breaking off into various branches that quickly surrounded the Artificial Devil.

The series of crimson webs latched onto the Head Hunter, ensnaring his entire body from various angles and tightly squeezing.

"Head!...Head!...Head!"

In a violent thrash, the Head Hunter pulled against the adhesive webs of blood, stomping forward as it tore through its bindings–all while looking straight at him with its bloodthirsty gaze hidden beneath its hood.

"I'll have it…Head! Head! Head!"

Tearing from its bounds, the Head Hunter launched forward with its head-made necklace jingling as it wildly swung its cleaver around.

"Come on, then."

While the Artificial Devil began swinging his cleaver, infusing it with hellish swarms of energy that launched out into cascading explosions, the Blood Forger danced around the bloody swamp, remaining calm and composed.

Swirling with howling, black energy of an abyssal fright, the Head Hunter leapt up, wildly swinging its head-cleaving weapon as it unleashed various assaults of the hell-made malice down towards him.

"Crimson Sentinel."

A single utterance spoken calmly from his lips resulted in the fluids of the swamp coalescing into a colossal, humanoid figure that took the shape of a knight, lifting a massive shield to guard him and Yeong-Un from the array of black slashes.

"Shit…! It's angry!" Yeong-Un said.

The shield raised by the blood-formed sentinel was gargantuan; spanning the side of a skyscraper and exceeding one in width as it produced a large shadow for the two behind it.

Still, even against the massive shield, the black explosions roared out, causing the Blood Swamp to tremble as the residual impacts spewed down in a rain of hellfire onto the bloody pool around.

"Hey, red-eyes, do ya' got this…?!" Yeong-Un asked sharply.

The spiky, blue-haired young man was on one knee during this, huffing and holding his side as after his adrenaline settled down, the battered state of his body throttled him in a coat of pain.

The Blood Forger ignored him, keeping his eyes up, watching as the shield above began to crack from the repeated, explosive slashes from the Head Hunter.

"Head! Head! Head! Head! Head!"

In a nauseating chant, the Artificial Devil, enraged and lost in madness, continued repeating the same word it loved, over and over, while rapidly swinging the massive cleaver around against the crimson shield.

"Red-eyes, I'm talkin' to ya!" Yeong-Un barked out as blood coated his lips.

He finally answered, not looking back at his companion, "Shut up. I'm working."

"Tch…" Yeong-Un clicked his tongue, "Ya' have a real mouth on ya' when yer' like this, don't ya?"

Just as the colossal shield began to be broken through, the Blood Forger raised his own spear in his hands, thrusting it forward into the air.

Though this action seemed to do nothing, the enormous sentinel of blood mimicked his movement, raising its skyscraper-sized spear and thrusting it towards the Head Hunter.

The red spear dwarfed the Head Hunter, who despite his large build, was dwarfed by the Crimson Sentinel itself.

The Head Hunter swerved around the tip of the spear with surprising agility, leaping up again as it prepared for another onslaught of hellfire slashes.

"I won't let you throw another tantrum," he whispered.

In his hands, he spun his spear around rapidly, causing the sentinel to mimic his move to a much larger scale.

WHOOSH.

Above them, the air howled, producing a storm as the far-stretching spear of the blood-formed humanoid spun rapidly.

"Holy…!" Yeong-Un grinned at the ridiculous display of power.

While the Crimson Sentinel moved its spinning spear around, which generated an overwhelming wind pressure, the Artificial Devil was knocked down harshly as the spear was rapidly swung downward, carrying the ludicrous momentum with it.

"Ghhh–! Head—! Head—!! Head—!!!"

Picking itself back up rapidly, now spewing blood from beneath its robes, the Artificial Devil lifted its cleaver, manifesting a shroud of black energy before swinging it towards the air.

Instead of an outright attack, the Head Hunter manifested colossal, black-flame skulls that soared through the air towards the sentinel.

Seeing the swarm of massive skulls, chattering their teeth as they hurled towards their location, Yeong-Un picked himself up slowly, using his own swords for balance.

"Huff…"

"Stay down," the Blood Forger said.

"Huh!?" Yeong-Un looked up towards the back of his hazel-haired, red bandana companion.

The Blood Forger brought his spear up, causing the towering sentinel to do the same as he looked back at Yeong-Un with his composed, scarlet eyes:

"I've got this."

Yeong-Un stared at him for a moment before nodding, "Ya' better. If ya' die, I'll kill ya'!"

"Heh."

With but the most subtlest of chuckles, the Blood Forger returned his gaze forward, tightening his grip on his silver spear.

"Huh…?" Yeong-Un looked around.

From around the vast Blood Swamp, the crimson essence began to rise up, moving into the air and coalescing around the spear of the sentinel.

All the same, the volley of gigantic, flaming skulls hurled forward.

"I don't know what it is yer' plannin' to do, but do it soon…!" Yeong-Un yelled out.

The Blood Forger remained unflinching, flipping the spear once more as the skyscraper-sized one up above swirled in unison, using the gathered blood to form an enormous, circular blade of blood-red brutality.

It was an enormous formation; the circle of overlapping blood, swirling and spinning to gain momentum loomed over like a scarlet cloud before, just as the many skulls closed in, the Blood Forger swept his guiding spear forward.

Just as he did, the sentinel did; launching the massive, circular blade forward as it cut through the air, bisecting the skulls before they could reach–resulting in massive, black explosions filling the air.

Even being swallowed in the volatility of the chattering skulls, the colossal blade continued on its way, hurling forth as the Head Hunter looked on in shock as the attack that dwarfed itself was now just mere meters from him.

"...Head?"

Squelch.

In a visceral, merciless fashion, the sky-made blade of blood eviscerated the Head Hunter, sawing through the Artificial Devil, turning the fiend into multiple pieces all at once.

"Ya' did it…!" Yeong-Un looked on in surprise.

The Blood Forger remained silent, breathing in and out quietly before bringing his spear down, and just as he did, he released the Crimson Sentinel–casting the blood used back into the hellish swamp.

"--"

"--Oh, crap!"

Just as the sharp–toothed young man looked on, he saw Sol begin swaying side-to-side, running over and catching him before his friend fell over.

"...Zzz…"

"Heh. Ya' did it," Yeong-Un said quietly.

As Yeong-Un picked his unconscious friend up, setting him on his back, he turned around from a trembling that occurred–witnessing a massive, wormlike creature clad in metallic scales rise up from the swamps.

"Holy…"

It was gargantuan; easily large enough in length to reach the desired ceiling up above. Seeing that towering creature, a devilish grin appeared across Yeong-Un's lips.

"Looks like I found our ticket back to the fight!"

—

For the entire time he was alone, he managed to remain slippery to his foe, pushing himself past his limits.

The Artificial Devil launched towards him with speed that only his hyper reflexes could witness, but his body was almost too slow to react–feeling as though he was tugging his corporeal form through a slowing sea.

But, by some miracle, he moved just before the chainsaw-formed limb of the devil man could cut through his midsection, hopping up and avoiding it.

"Huh–?" Dae-Mon smiled, though veins pressed against his skin.

It was hardly pure skill or finesse that allowed him to avoid the swift strike, that much was proven again as he evaded a strike in mid-air, kicking off of the black-blooded fiend for a foothold to avoid the jagged, revving chainsaw.

How?! How?! How?! How?! Dae-Mon repeatedly thought.

Even with the monstrous swiftness the morphing devil presented, transforming his legs into an equine-like shape for further speed, slamming his chainsaw-arms towards the red-haired, black-uniformed adolescent over and over–it didn't hit.

He was gassed; controlling his breathing as none of these evasions came easy–each and every maneuver manifested his full-effort to dodge as the pink-haired devil sprouted three times as many chainsaws out of a temper tantrum, doing everything he could to mutilate the young human before him.

But, alas, there was something different about him.

It was focus; honed in so incredibly sharp to a razor's edge–his focus was nothing but stepping into the "Zone"--a state of incredible conviction towards one goal, ignoring all other instances as he drove himself towards his destination.

This was the [Clutch Factor] he had recently cultivated; a concept in which at moments of impossibility, driven against insurmountable odds, miracles could be born through an intertwined effort of skill, luck, and will.