Mere Power

At the grassland, in the middle of the night, Ija is facing Bene.

"There's one thing that you need to be aware of," Ija spoke as she began to twirl her sword.

She narrows her eyes at him. "That when it comes to grassland, it is my domain and your death as well."

Bene raises his hand and points his thumb at himself. "Don't let your head float, woman. You do know that manananggal is the superior creature."

She begins to close her eyes, and then she utters a wave of soft laughter. Ija opens her eyes and roots emerge from the soil; they wrap around his arms, waist, thighs, and neck.

"Mitolo-ake," she raises her sword at him, "I, The Vine Death."

The soil around his feet bursts and vines come out from it; wrapping around his body parts.

"I-I can't breathe!" he yelled.

His lip begins to curve upward as he smiles widely, and his pupil and iris shift to the color of brown.

"Mitolo-ake: The Howling Beast!" Bene shouted while looking at the moon.

Grey and dark fur appears on his exposed skin as his height and weight multiply until he turns into the form of a gorilla; his height reaches the clouds and he looks upward and slams his gigantic hands on his chest.

Ija clicks her tongue. "My vines, it doesn't work on him anymore. His mitolo-ake is just too strong for me to handle."

Bene moves his brown eyes downward and sees Ija staring at him. "Ija, you should have taken the offer to be the right-hand woman of Chesa Kerf. Only if you were just a smart person!"

"I choose to be who I am and I will die as I am today!" she claps, "I will never force myself to change."

She claps once again. "Mitolo-ake: wood warrior!"

Bene swings his gigantic hand toward her but multiple bodies of trees emerge from the soil; they are blocking his fist.

Numerous trees emerge from the soil as they join altogether; forming a humanoid representing Ija that has the height of the gigantic gorilla.

"I will never allow you to hurt them!" she thrusts her gigantic wooden hand towards Bene, "even if it needs to sacrifice my life!"

Her fist hits his face and her punch pushes him backward. Ija steps closer to the gigantic gorilla and holds his gigantic broad shoulders; lifts him and slams Bene onto the ground.

Bene's form transforms into a gigantic monstrous bird, he flaps his wings and multiple tornadoes suddenly appear around Ija; encasing her while crushing her wooden body.

The gigantic bird flies at a higher level, and flies toward Ija; he thrusts his talons onto her wooden shoulders.

She extends her large wooden hands toward his fur; tightening her grip on his fur.

Bene opens his beak. "It doesn't matter how strong your clasp is. In the end, I will still be the victor of this fight!" 

She moves her other hand from his fur, and she holds his leg; she begins to pull his leg.

His eyes are widening as he flaps his wings to summon forces of wind toward her but the heavy forces of wind aren't enough to push her away. The muscular muscle of her hands up to her arms are beginning to break one by one as the heavy force of the wind is destroying the grassland, trees, and flowers around them.

Bene cries aloud. "How dare you!"  

Blood falls from his exposed muscle, veins, and bones as his foot is hauled away from its place.

"Argh!" he crashed on the grassland.

Ija continues to stand her ground. She's inhaling and exhaling at a fast rate whilst one of her arms falls from its place.

She moves her eye on the grassland and sees her gigantic wooden hand. Ija moves her eyes upward and then an enormous dark furry fist hits her chest; piercing through her wooden skin and flesh.

Meanwhile, Afitera comes out from the forest and arrives at the battlefield. His eyes begin to grow wide as his lip opens.

"I-Ija," he spoke.

"No!" Celia halts beside Afitera, "this cannot be happening, Ija!"

Ija is staring directly into the eyes of the gigantic gorilla, Bene. A green liquid appears on her lip and falls to her chin.

"Are you thinking that your full form of mito-ake can severe me?" Bene smiles while staring into her eyes, "well, here in this place settles your dream to become what you've wanted to be."

Ija lifts her other hand and settles it on his wrist, and she looks down and up at his eyes.

She begins to form a smile on her lip. "For all of my life subsisting in this world, it is you who have brought joy to my life; the one that I most admire."

She coughs multiple times as green fluid falls from her lip whilst Bene remains gazing at her eyes with his calm eyes.

He raises his other hand to her neck. Afitera glares at him and he begins to run toward the giants.

Afitera yells, "Don't you dare! Ija, fight back!"

Bene tightens his grasp on her neck; cracks begin to appear on her neck as they spread towards her wooden chest and cheeks.

Her neck bursts to pieces as her head flies away from her neck. Bene lifts her wooden body and throws her aside.

Afitera continues to stand in his position while his eyes follow the head of Ija which is flying away.

"N-No!" Afitera's thighs begin to shake, "Ija, you don't deserve this."

His forelegs begin to fold and he falls to the ground while looking downward. Memories of Ija and him flow in his mind as he's deepening his fingers on the soil.

A white line appears on his neck; white lines are forming a circle and a cross is embedded in the center of the circle.

"I will make you kneel on your knees!" Afitera begins to arise as his pupil and iris are shifting to white, "you will not only lose one foot for I will cut through your flesh!"

Dark energy bursts from his hands as they form large dark gauntlets on his hands. Dark energy appears around him and it moves upward.

The gigantic gorilla turns aside and there he sees the heavy force of dark energy moving toward the sky.

Bene speaks to himself. "That dark energy, its pressure is very strong!"

Afitera jumps from the soil, and he reaches the eyes of Bene. Afitera swings his dark energy gauntlet and it strikes Bene's forehead. Hence, Bene flies away and he hits a group of trees; his whole gigantic body drifts on the soil.

Afitera lands on the soil, and a heavy deep crater forms on the ground around him.

Bene's whole body radiates red light, and then the red light disappears only for Afitera to witness Bene in his gigantic gorilla form.

"This is unexpected, rat," Bene says, "I am not aware that you have that kind of ability within you. What kind of creature are you? A mythological creature or a slayer of them?"

Afitera appears in front of his eyes in a flash and Bene's eyes broadened upon seeing him.

Bene opens his mouth and moves forward to Afitera. He points his dark gauntlet at Bene's mouth, hence, dark energy comes out from the dark gauntlet and it strikes the inside of Bene's mouth.

Bene is carried by the dark energy toward another group of trees. Afitera begins to float while his eyes remain narrowing while looking forward.

Afitera releases a heavy force of the wind from his feet which propels him onward to Bene. He rises from the ground and Afitera appears right in front of his eyes.

He immediately throws punches at Afitera but he strikes Bene's fists by thrusting his dark gauntlet.

Afitera holds his next fast punch, and he lifts the gigantic gorilla and then slams him on the ground multiple times.

Afitera lifts the gigantic gorilla as he opens his hand letting go of Bene.

Afitera flies toward the gigantic gorilla and his dark energy gauntlets expand onto a gigantic pair of dark energy gauntlets.

Afitera reaches Bene, and he moves his dark energy gauntlet backward and thrusts it toward the gigantic gorilla whose eyes are closed.

Afitera's eyes widen as his gigantic dark gauntlet cannot move further.

Afitera begins to hear waves of heartful laughter, and he remains glaring. "Why can't I move my fist!"

A woman is floating between his gigantic dark energy gauntlet and the gigantic gorilla who's falling on the ground.

Afitera moves his eyes toward Bene, and he flies down to the ground but he cannot move.

"What is this nonsense?!" folds appear on the skin of his face while clenching his teeth, "let me go! Or I'll tear you apart!"

A woman speaks, "My, my, my… I don't want to ruin your fun but I don't want my precious servant to die at the hands of a filthy, poor young man."

His gigantic dark energy gauntlet which is being held vanishes. Afitera faces the ground and flies toward it.

The woman was left floating in her position while her purple eyes were gazing upon Afitera.

Afitera lands in front of the unconscious gigantic gorilla whose eyes are closed.

Veins appear on his hands up to his face. He begins to run toward the laying gigantic gorilla.

"I will make you pay!" Afitera jumps toward Bene, "I'll dig into your flesh and pull it out from your whole body!"

"Mitolo-ake: Lunar Hammer," the woman appears in front of Afitera's eyes, "Don't push yourself too hard."

She opens her hand and a glowing violet hammer appears in front of her hand, therefore, she grabs the handle of the glowing violet hammer and swings it toward Afitera.

Afitera utilizes his other gigantic dark energy gauntlet and pushes it toward the hammer and both weapons clash against each other.

"I admire your bravery," the young woman moves her lengthy tongue towards her lip and licks her bottom lip, "but that won't be sufficient to bring me down."

Her glowing violet hammer radiates brighter and his gigantic dark energy gauntlet bursts to pieces; the force of his gigantic dark gauntlet's devastation causes a vast force of dark energy that spreads throughout the whole forest. 

The woman's eyes begin to go wide as the dark energy seems to go in a certain direction.

In front of her eyes, Afitera is standing on the ground while facing her with dark energy lingering around him.

"Such power you have there," Afitera begins to break the bones in his hands, "however, my dark energy will not be able to be defeated by your mere power, mortal."

"This man in front of me," her smile vanishes from her lip, "he isn't the one that I fought, it's another person!"