The Molten Giant

"What the fuck even is that thing?!" 

The flaming Molten Giant clenched its fists, watched everyone's faces buried in dread, and grinned.

Its cracked shell-like body hid the colors of hell beneath it—fire-orange and blood-red. It stank of burnt waste. There were rusted metal chains shackled to the wrists, and they hung loosely. The size of the monster was ginormous and fat, making it unfathomable to determine its exact weight. But they all knew it easily stood over thirteen feet.

And it bore an Axe that was jet-black in color with particles of lava splattered all over it. It was still grinning.

"I don't want to die! Oh god! God-man! help us!" Brody gazed at Yin with optimism, yet Yin remained paralyzed by fear, his mouth slightly open and his body shaking. 

But suddenly, Yin's vision went blurry, and he dropped down, unconscious. 

"YIN! NO!" Vegas wailed and rushed to his body. 

"WAKE UP! DON'T LEAVE US LIKE THIS! WAKE UP!" She repeatedly slapped him, but he remained the same.

"THUD!" 

They heard a loud thud in front of them.

It was the Molten Giant's footstep. A single step. 

And it began marching slowly towards them.

"Fuck! Fuck!" Neil yelped.

"We're all gonna die!" He continued screaming.

Colt and the two knights were also stunned and frozen, unable to comprehend the dire situation. 

Where could they possibly run? There was only sand and dirt in the observable distance. Like a wasteland. 

But they would die if they didn't. 

Vegas struggled to lift Yin onto her shoulders, and upon seeing this, Mathen ran to her and carried Yin with ease. 

One by one, they turned about to sprint, not wanting to see the monster ever again. 

They ran and they ran.

But when Vegas looked around, someone was not with them. 

She looked back, and her heart stopped.

It was Lars.

He unhooded the cloak from his head and stared at the molten giant with furious eyes. He stood boldly and fearlessly while the others tried running away.

"No way." Vegas whispered under her breath in utter disbelief.

Neilus and Colt had their mouths wide open.

And the two knights were confused.

"LARS! GET BACK HERE!" Vegas screamed.

But he took another step forward towards the giant.

It looked down at him and grinned with a menacing face.

Then it lifted its Axe high in the air to deliver the death strike, aiming directly at the little boy.

Lars was only standing a few metres from the giant, casually watching it without fear.

No one understood why.

"NOO!" Vegas immediately whipped out Juno and sprinted towards Lars with incredible speed.

Not a single hint of hesitation, dilemma, or fear attacked her. She only had one targat, and that was to save the boy.

She ran. Faster than the wind.

But just before she could reach him, the Molten Giant's Axe slammed!

And Vegas was pushed back from the impact.

"NOO!" She wailed.

…

"Yin Kang" 

The gritty voice of Xil woke him up. He had tears in his eyes. 

"I can't! I can't! I'm afraid! AHHHHH! Oh, Mei! I want you here with me now!" Yin let out his anger, fear, and frustration all at once.

"Yin Kang!" Xil's voice levelled up. And that made Yin shut up about his mindless blabbering.

"Your friends are out there! You've left them to die! You have to go back and save them! 

Yin continued crying.

And wouldn't stop.

…

"Yin."

This time, it was not Xil's voice, but something more sweet.

"Oh come on, don't cry now. They're just shoes." 

Yin saw the vision of his last birthday. The day he hugged Mei for the first and last time. He was just drinking his favorite creamed-cola soda, and then suddenly, out of nowhere, Mei pulled out a rectangular plastic box out of her bag, and offered it to him. Yin took it with both hands, curious and excited. He violently tore the outer wrapping and opened it.

"Oh my god, Mei." He sighed in absolute astonishment. 

They were the most beautiful pair of shoes he'd ever seen.

He couldn't help it, so he jumped in and hugged her tightly. Everyone watched them, but he didn't care. He couldn't bottle his emotions, so he broke down crying, but she held him tighter, and he felt okay again. 

"Oh come on, don't cry now. They're just shoes." She comforted him. 

Her brown eyes and brown hair could cure anything. 

"Yin Kang." Xil's voice came back again, and Mei's voice was gone, as were his tears.

"You are a human only here in the Astral Realm. But out there, I, Xil, am with you. That's why you are unable to display the fear inside you. You are not weak; you are just scared. But when we are together, we are stronger; remember that. Go now. Save your friends, God-man!" Xil's voice commanded. 

Lastly, the face of Mei crept into his eyes, and he boldly wiped away the frightened tears. He was fueled with rage now. 

"Don't fear, you are a god." 

…

"NOO!" Vegas screamed in defeat.

The Axe of the Giant slammed, creating a huge gust of wind from the impact, and Vegas's path and vision were blocked by the dirt-filled wind. Lars and the Giant disappeared.

Vegas fell to the ground and cried, deeply mourning Lars. She punched the ground with rage.

"WHY WERE YOU JUST STANDING THERE, LARS!" She wailed at the gushy wind in front of her.

…

Slowly, the wind started clearing, and Vegas saw it. 

The cracked Molten Giant was still standing there.

And its Axe was slammed, but not on the ground.

She slightly ducked her head and found that Yin was holding off the massive Axe with his bare hands.

And Lars was behind him, unharmed, with his eyes closed.

"Not today." Yin whispered to the Giant.

His hands did not boil to the heat of the Axe nor did he struggle to outweigh the Giant's force; its eyes melted in confusion. Now Yin was smiling. 

The wind cleared, and Mathen finally realized that he was not carrying Yin anymore. 

They all caught sight of the scene that was happening in front of them, and ran forth.

They withdrew all these swords while running.

Colt with his Longsword, Neilus with his pointed sword, and the two knights with their Jian swords, made of good quality steel and sharpness, crafted to kill any living being.

On the run, Colt lifted Vegas to the ground and continued running.

"Sandstorm!" Lars chanted, and a shower of sand rained directly on the Giant's head, which disrupted its wrestle with Yin, and Yin took over. 

He got on top of its right arm and trailed along its cracked and shell-like body. 

The rain of sand, summoned by Lars, went into the Giant's eyes and blocked its vision entirely. 

"GRAWW!" It screamed in agony.

Yin was near its neck, and he whipped out his sword from its sheath to decapitate the Molten monster once and for all.

But the Giant blindly switched its attention, grabbed Yin, and squeezed him.

He was being crushed inside the clenched fist of the Giant, unable to slither or move in any sort of way.

Yin's sword snapped into pieces, and it fell to the ground.

But however hard the monster tried, it wasn't able to crush Yin. So it flung him away, and Yin fell hard on his face.

The Giant angrily shook its head to clear the sand inside its face.

Colt, Neilus, and the two knights had all assembled before the monster by then. Vegas was in front of them, and Lars was next to her. 

Yin tried to get up but trembled, fell, and coughed out the dirt he ate.

"We must take advantage of its weakness." Lars commanded like he was the leader now. 

They looked at him in awe.

"Look at it. It's slow and fat. We are all pretty fast. Let's use that and go for the eyes." He concluded his strategic plan.

It was true. The Molten Giant was enormously big but also incredibly slow. 

"I'll erect sand walls for Vegas. She will go for the eyes, and you guys will follow her; I will summon sand shields for your protection." He initiated.

Vegas swallowed up her last bit of fear and ran first.

The swordsmen followed her just like Lars had commanded.

…

The Molten Giant suddenly growled.

"GRAWHH!" 

It held its Axe in front and rushed.

The heat was nearing them, and they panicked.

"Lars!" Vegas signalled.

"Sand wall!" He chanted with one hand on the ground. Rigid walls of sand stacked up in front of Vegas, and she got on top of it and jumped forward to every appearing sand wall.

She was slowly reaching the Giant's height.

With his other hand, Lars pointed to his right and announced his next spell.

"Sandstorm! Again!" He screamed. 

But this time, his powers failed him; he wasn't able to activate the spell as the other spell was taking more of his energy.

The men were running, unprotected.

"Now will be a great time for the shields, Lars!" They signalled, but they heard no answers.

"Lars!" They looked back at him. He was shaking and being pulled in closer by the spell's power.

It was the perfect time to attack the Giant, but the plan fell apart.

The monster raised its Axe and struck at the coming soldiers.

"Fuck!" They yelled.

"SLAM!"

With the Axe only being mere inches away, the soldiers rolled, escaped, and dodged the flaming Axe. 

They were so close that they could feel the heat of it.

Lars got pulled in closer to the fight as his sand wall disintegrated. 

And as Vegas jumped in the air to pierce through its eyes, but the Giant caught her, and her body was slowly burning from ithe grasp of its fingers.

…

Yin finally woke up.

"AHHH!" He yelled before he levitated.

Like the wind, Yin flew, nearing the Giant's face at the speed of light, threw a knuckled punch, and concussed it for a few seconds.

The deviation led the Giant to drop both Vegas and its Axe to the ground.

The Axe fell first and Vegas was in the air.

Lars ran quickly and slid under her fall to cast a spell of "Sand Bed," but the other soldiers had already arrived before him to catch her.

And they did.

The enraged monster grabbed Yin and slammed him to the ground again, and he was among everyone else, lying face down again.

This time, all of them were right under the monster's shadow, injured and powerless.

They could feel the heat, and Vegas was already tearing up in pain.

The Giant slowly lifted its right leg to smash them all like ants.

It growled again for one last time before turning them all into squished flesh.

The end was near.

They saw its leg's shadow caving in on them.

It was all over.

"Fuck!"

"AHH!"

"We're dead!"

They screamed in their final moments.

And they all closed their eyes.

…

"ZING!"

A green ray of light, from nowhere, struck the Giant's leg like lightning and pushed it back. It screamed in pain and fell to the ground.

They all turned back to look at where it came from, and they saw.

A hooded figure with green hair casually walking into the battlefield.

Neilus smiled.