Seed of Titan-Chapter 122: Battling the Lightning Apes (2)

In less than two minutes, the pack of apes had became much sparser.

’Just a bit more...’ Drai thought as he dealt with the ten or so apes that were currently left. Though he was getting hit less now, his body was covered in sizzling red scars.

As the System had mentioned weeks ago, Pain Tolerance only dulled his perception of pain—it didn’t reduce the damage itself. Therefore, despite the increased lethality of his attacks, Drai had often allowed himself to get hurt so he could deliver these finishing strikes.

Drai well aware of the risks, but he figured this was better than prolonging the fight. Once Colossal Augmentation timed out, he wouldn’t be able to fight back.

Soon, there were only three apes left. They were quivering in fear but still forced themselves to face Drai. The reason was pretty obvious—the towering white alpha was keeping an eye on them from his spot across the river. Its expression had turned grim, but for some unknown reason, it still wasn’t interested in joining the battle.

Drai slowly walked to the frightful apes, panting slightly.

"Relax. I’ll put you to sleep soon."

The apes exchanged glances and nodded. With desperate roars, they lunged at Drai in unison.

Drai wasn’t fazed at all. By now, he was completely used to these apes’ moves which didn’t differ much for each individual, even more so when they all seemed to have the same abilities.

"One thing I noticed—you guys have a hard time tracking quick vertical movements," Drai said before ducking and slipping through the apes. He then kicked the ground and launched himself behind them.

His first attack was a brutal kick to the groin. His victim instantly dropped to the ground, its mouth foaming.

The second ape leaped away, creating a distance from Drai, while the third one swiftly turned around while sending a backhand strike, which was met with Drai’s powerful fist.

The ape howled in agony as the bones in its palm shattered. But it didn’t get to cry for long, as Drai quickly grabbed its head and slammed it into his knee, bursting the cranium open.

While the ape’s brain matter was still spraying through the air, Drai had already turned to chase the last one. However, he halted his steps upon seeing that the only remaining ape was making its way across the river. Soon, it arrived in front of the alpha.

Drai watched closely as the ape knelt before the alpha and let out soft wails, seemingly pleading. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The alpha grunted, and to Drai’s shock, it slammed down the massive black staff, crushing its subordinate’s upper body into pulp.

’Wow. Brutal.’

At this moment, the alpha shifted its gaze to Drai.

’Well, here comes the boss,’ Drai thought while glancing at his skill duration. ’Shit... Barely one minute left. I’ll have to go all out from the start.’

Before the alpha could make a move, Drai had already jumped over the river, lunging at his last opponent.

The alpha bared its stained fangs and immediately swung its weapon at Drai like a baseball bat.

Drai raised his left hand to defend, but as soon as the staff struck him, he knew that the alpha’s strength was a few levels higher than the rest.

Drai was knocked aside by the swing, but more than that, the attack also jolted his entire left side, leaving fresh burns across his skin.

If Drai hadn’t acquired Pain Tolerance, he might’ve staggered a bit from the attack. But with his pain senses dulled, Drai only skidded for a split second before dashing back to the alpha.

With less than a minute left, he had to finish the fight as soon as possible.

The white ape let out a low growl, gripping its massive black staff tighter. The air around the alpha crackled as lightning surged throughout its arms and weapon.

This time, the black staff came swinging down like a hammer, slamming into Drai. However, Drai was a bit too quick. He side-stepped to his right and completely dodged the strike.

The alpha instantly followed up with a wide horizontal swing.

Looking at the incoming swing, Drai gritted his teeth and tensed his muscles.

Boom!

The alpha smirked as it felt the swing connect. But his smirk quickly faded.

Drai was standing steady, looking rather fine. He was also clamping the center of the huge staff tightly under his armpit.

"This is the weakness of long weapons," Drai said. "The farther the impact point, the stronger the strike. But at this range... it’s weaker than a punch."

The alpha was immediately enraged, feeling that the human was mocking it. A heavy surge of lightning suddenly traveled along the staff’s shaft.

Instead of letting go, Drai endured the painful jolt and proceeded to swing the staff to the side.

The alpha was caught off guard by Drai’s move and was thrown to the side, its grip slipping off from the staff.

Drai was actually betting on him being stronger. If he was any weaker than the alpha, this move could actually backfire. But his bet had paid off, and now it was time to reap the rewards.

After adjusting his grip on the stony shaft, Drai launched himself forward with maximum speed and thrusted his new weapon.

The alpha barely managed to raise its arms to block, but the sheer force of the attack sent it tumbling backward. And before it could recover, the heavy staff came swinging once more, hitting its thigh.

The alpha growled in pain as its leg buckled. Drai didn’t waste this chance and continued his assault, pummeling the burly white ape with his powerful strikes.

Drai’s barrage sent thunderous booms that shook the trees, scaring away any remaining wildlife.

Despite wielding the staff for the first time, Drai was already more proficient with it than the alpha. Such was the advantage of being human, the best tool-using species in Gaia.

The alpha was forced to kneel, struggling to shield itself with its arms covering its head. Its body was trembling greatly while its mouth let out painful wails, which almost stirred Drai’s sympathy.

Almost.