Chapter 21 - War in Wakanda Part 4

(Cursed old man!)

He probably summoned the monkey god using the last of his life force. Now I have to fight another giant creature.

The monkey god looks at me with red and black eyes. He knows I'm the target. I don't think he's just a mindless beast. That makes my situation much worse.

(I have to attack with everything I have, quickly.)

The gods from other pantheons have an advantage over Asgardians; they are practically immortal. Some of them don't age but can be killed, while others die but come back to life after a certain time.

Some gods are extradimensional beings that come to Earth and are considered deities, like the African and Egyptian gods. In short, I don't know the abilities or powers of my enemy. The disadvantage is clear.

With my hand raised, I summon Sigel, still embedded in the chest of the oldest priest. As the spear is pulled from the ground, I notice the gorilla looking at it. I have a bad feeling. A tree sprouts from the ground beneath the body, growing around my spear at its core, trapping it.

(Once again, it's stuck because of an enemy!)

This isn't an ordinary tree; I sense magical resistance on my spear. It will take some time for Sigel to break free.

The white gorilla raises its arm with its hand open toward me. I feel a tremendous blow to my back, sending me flying in its direction. Looking back, I see a tree trunk rising from the ground, cut off. When I'm facing it, I feel another blow all over my body. Unlike the previous one, the gorilla punches me, sending me flying in the opposite direction.

I crash into the wall, creating a large explosion of dust and rock. I've never felt such a powerful blow before.

"ROAAARRRR!"

He roars once more, this time not in anger but in triumph. I lean against the wall, trying to recover from the blow. He attacks again, raising his arm high and then slamming it down, creating several cracks in the ground that extend to my position. From the cracks, bamboo spikes resembling spears emerge and attack me. I dodge to the left, but one of the bamboo spears hits my shoulder, piercing it.

I'm pinned to the wall by the bamboo, and the gorilla raises its arm once again. I'm stuck on the ground, unable to defend against another blow, when suddenly I feel Sigel breaking free from the tree trunk and flying toward me. It shatters the bamboo as I grab hold of it, quickly jumping to the right just as another series of bamboo spikes emerge from the ground, narrowly missing me. I tear the bamboo fragment from my shoulder and activate the rune to heal myself.

"My turn," I say to the Gorilla God.

I unleash a beam of light directly at the gorilla's chest. When the beam hits, he takes several steps back, but I feel it's not enough, so I increase the power of the beam, pushing him further.

"ROAAARRRR!"

Seconds later, I stop. The gorilla's chest doesn't even have a small burn; all his fur is perfectly fine.

"This is going to be tough," I mutter.

It seems my attack only made him more irritated. With another roar, he begins to grow. From fifteen meters tall, he's now almost reaching the top of the dome. He extends his now gigantic arm, trying to grab me.

Rolling to the side, I create golden and purple flames at the tip of my spear, delivering a low blow to his wrist. The strike creates a deep vertical cut on his wrist before bursting into flames.

"ROAAARRRRRRRR"

Now I know a direct attack can hurt him. Without wasting time, I hurl Sigel at him, hitting him squarely in the chest. As the blade pierces his chest and the flames explode, the gorilla screams in pain.

When the spear returns to my hand, I see a large black wound covering almost his entire chest.

(I need a direct attack to cause more damage)

I run toward him as fast as I can, preparing a more powerful attack. It seems the gorilla didn't appreciate taking a hit, and just as I'm about to deliver the next blow, he starts emitting a green light from his body. I sense something beneath me, but it's so fast that I can't dodge it.

The ground beneath me shakes as a ten-meter-wide trunk hits me with such force that I fall face-first into it. I feel the wall of the ceiling against my back, but the trunk doesn't stop, piercing through me from the ceiling to another ceiling. This repeats so many times that I lose count.

The pain coursing through my entire body is immense, rendering me unable to even scream. If the tunnel walls were more resilient, I would have been crushed alive. Eventually, in a massive explosion, I find myself being hurled through the air. I feel the warmth of the sun; I've been thrown from the center of the mountain to the surface.

The impact with the ground is brutal, and I roll over hard rock, crashing into a large boulder. My entire body is now covered in blood, with small cuts, especially on my back.

In the middle of the mountain, a trunk emerges from the ground, indicating I'm far below the tunnel entrance. My wounds begin to close, but this blow caught me completely off guard.

Now, I have some idea of what I'm dealing with. The Gorilla God can control nature, creating trees as weapons, and can alter his size at will. He also possesses immense resilience and physical strength.

I don't have much time before he comes to kill me, but fortunately, I'm in a favorable environment. I look up at the sun, realizing I have a few hours until sunset. This will be a battle of endurance.

Using Sigel as support, I rise from the ground.

With the few seconds I have left, I begin to prepare.

"ROAAARRRR!"

Once again, I hear the roar. A fifteen-meter-tall gorilla takes shape just a few meters ahead, pounding his chest as he roars in excitement.

"Why are you celebrating? The fight has only just begun."

It takes him only two minutes to magically move to my position, and I've used that time wisely.

Several golden rays of light fall from the sky, hitting the gorilla's entire body—chest, legs, arms, and shoulders. When the last ray comes toward his head, he shields it with both hands.

Though my solar rays don't penetrate his body, they create wounds on his skin, causing him to roar in pain. I've trained my control over this attack for a long time; the rays attacking are slightly weaker than the originals, but quantity isn't always quality. However, it should be enough to inflict some damage.

"ROAAAR"

With another roar, the gorilla begins to shrink in front of me. In just one second, he goes from fifteen meters tall to three meters. Because of this, the rays lose their target, giving him time to attack me.

He charges toward me, using his arms to propel himself forward. As he nears, I spin my spear, attempting to cut him in half. He blocks my strike with one arm and delivers a punch to my face with the other, sending me flying and crashing through several trees in my path.

(The situation isn't good.)

The difference in size gave me the advantage of speed, but now I don't have it. I notice the arm he used to defend himself is bleeding, but he shows no signs of stopping his attack.

I channel all my rune magic into physical strength and regeneration and launch my own attack. I manage to strike him with my spear, slicing him and sending him flying into a large rock.

He seems unfazed as he gets up and attacks me again. I defend myself with the spear's handle until he kicks me in the stomach. As I recoil from the pain, I see the gorilla surrounded by green energy once more. Two massive trunks appear on either side, attempting to crush me.

"That's enough!"

With a roar of anger, the golden flames around my body explode, shattering the two trunks. I spin my spear and strike, unleashing a wave of flames toward the gorilla, who defends himself with his green energy, creating an explosion of fire.

The white gorilla's arms are now badly burned.

"Well, shall we continue?"

The battle blurs into a raw exchange of blows, devoid of finesse. Every time he attacks, I retaliate in kind. The destruction wrought by our clash extends from the halfway point of the mountain downwards. Broken trees litter the landscape, and enormous craters mark the areas of our explosions. Finally, I am thrown back to the foot of the mountain, my body covered in blood with my arm broken in an awkward position.

The gorilla is not in a better state. His body bears numerous vertical and horizontal cuts, with burn marks covering his entire torso. His once beautiful white fur is now charred black.

The bone of my arm snaps back into place thanks to my regeneration. I don't have the energy to prolong the fight any longer. The sun is nearly set, and even if I were to summon another energy bolt, it wouldn't cause much damage.

Several bamboo spears emerge from the ground, attempting to strike my body. They move slower than before, allowing me to dodge them. It seems the gorilla also wants to end this fight. His magic isn't as swift as it was at the beginning.

He charges toward me in what appears to be his final attack. I hurl my spear, aiming for his chest. But as it nears him, the gorilla swats it away, changing its trajectory. With only a few meters between us, I extend the palm of my hand at the level of his face.

"I invoke the light of Balthakk!"

From my palm, a beam of purple light is released, striking the gorilla directly in the eyes. It's a weaker version of the power I used to kill the cultists, not enough to cause significant harm to my body. But when the light fades, I see the gorilla's eyes shut tightly. I'm unsure if it blinded him permanently, but I know I don't have much time before he fully heals.

He begins to thrash about in panic, attacking everything around him in an attempt to hit me. I roll to his side and then leap onto his back, wrapping my arms around his neck in a chokehold, pulling his neck backward with all my strength.

"ROOOAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!"

In panic, the gorilla tries desperately to shake me off its back. After a while of not managing to suffocate him solely with my strength, I use the last of my magical energy to give myself a small burst of physical power.

"HAAAAAAAAAAA!" I scream.

"ROOOAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

I exert the remainder of my strength, hoping for the best, until...

"CRACK!!!"

I hear the sound of the neck breaking. The gorilla stops resisting and falls forward, and I roll off his back, nearly fainting from exhaustion.

As I look at the gorilla, I see it being consumed by the earth, as if merging with the vegetation. I know he hasn't died and will return after a few years, and depending on the faith of his worshippers, even stronger than before.

(I'm losing consciousness.)

I've exerted too much power, and I've also used Balthakk's power, feeling it consuming my arm, taking advantage of my weakness. I need to find a safe place to rest.

"Don't worry, my friend. I'll help you. Just rest."

I hear a familiar voice and see the same elder who welcomed me in the panther temple. I'm not sure what he's doing here, but he's certainly not an ally of the white ape.

I relax, and shortly after, I drift into sleep.