Chapter 35

The being that appeared in front of Annie was none other than the bear she poisoned a short time ago. She didn't understand how an animal that should have already departed this world, she was standing right before her eyes and looking hideous and strange.

Her wounds were still present and probably the inside of her body was in the same state as when she died, but they soon began to regenerate. He became 5 times taller and his eyes were completely abnormal. His sclera was completely black, while his iris and pupil gained a light purple tinge. In addition, he gave off an extremely menacing aura.

Ezir used lethal steps and moved as fast as his powers would allow, but the beast's paws were already only inches away from Annie. She raised both her arms to defend herself as fast as she could.

*blow*

Red has taken over everywhere. Blood began to spurt everywhere in large quantities. To Annie's eyes, everything seemed to have gone into slow motion as she walked away from the bear and the red of blood covered the entire scene.

But to Ezir, the only things that stood out in her vision were Annie's two arms being ripped from her body and flying away. She tried to defend herself, but the impact of the blow was enough to snap two of her arms and throw her far enough that her eyes could no longer see.

"BASTAAAAAAARD!" - Zirken.

Ezir clenched his fist even tighter and his entire arm went up in flames. Without any hesitation and with pure rage, his flaming fist slammed into the beast's ribs.

Like a drill piercing a wall, Ezir's fist pierced flesh and slammed into the beast's heart. The impact was strong enough to crush the organ and send the bear flying a few dozen meters away, knocking down any trees in its path.

Ezir immediately looked in the direction Annie had been thrown, but before he even started to run, he heard a loud explosion noise mixed with a large amount of golden lightning coming from exactly where Annie should have been.

'Filth! We'd better get this over with soon before other duos get here and see us!!' - Zirken.

*ROOOOOOOOAAAAAR*

The bear, who had just had his heart crushed, let out a roar loud enough to swing up to the leaves of the trees. Looking at him, Ezir saw him running towards him even faster and extremely enraged.

However, at the same time, coming from the opposite side, Ezir hears the sound of a giant creature's footsteps. The half that this titan came closer, the shock of their footsteps made the ground shake.

As soon as she entered his vision, her reaction was completely different from what Annie had expected. He didn't even show any shock reaction or anything like that. Ezir just stared at her and said.

"Hold this monster as long as you can and back off as soon as I give the signal!" - shouted Zirken.

Annie didn't understand the real meaning of those words. She only knew that she would have to face the freak before her one way or another. Little did she know how shocked she would be to understand exactly what Ezir was talking about.

'I'll end this in one blow!' - Zirken.

Zirken disappeared from the spot and left the way completely clear for Annie and the beast. Just as they were about to hit him head-on, the titan lifted his left leg and kicked him with full force.

But unlike what she expected, he didn't even leave the ground. The impact of the blow was just enough to send him bouncing until he hit one of the surrounding trees.

'How can a bear have this strength?' - Annie.

She immediately armed her fighting stance. The beast grew even more furious, its fur stood on end and its claws increased in size.

In a single instant, the bear launched another attack as it aimed for Annie's feet. 

*growl*

The bear was about to deliver another blow, but before he knew it, a huge fist covered in a crystalline layer reached him.

*boom*

The sound of the impact echoed through the surroundings. However, Annie continued to deliver another continuous string of punches as fast as she could. Her fists grew more and more bloodstained with each blow.

After the punches stopped hitting the ground, another sound echoed through the forest, but this time it was Annie's many stomps and kicks. She wanted to make sure the beast couldn't get up.

When the blows stopped, the raised dust began to disperse, revealing the figure of the use completely torn apart and with several parts of the body crushed. Any normal people facing this havoc for the first time would definitely throw up.

'I hope I killed...'

However, this abnormal being went against Annie's expectations once again.

'Shit!' - Annie.

The shattered parts of her body were rapidly healing, as if the existence of those wounds were being erased with every passing second.

'I will not let!'

Without any delay, Annie delivered another string of blows, all of them covered in hardening and with all the power the titan could muster.

The blood began to fly and hit her monstrous face, but Annie didn't stop once and didn't even show fatigue. The temperature around her was constantly rising, but she remained too focused to notice it.

After minutes of fervently trying as hard as possible to eliminate her opponent's health, Annie ceased her attacks. The monster was in an even worse condition than before, there was no more body, just a large pool of blood mixed with some of its bones and muscles. Even Annie knew she was only throwing up from being in her titan form.

'It's impossible for his regeneration to recover him from damage like that…it has to be impossible!'

She decided to keep monitoring it for a while just in case, but before she knew it, the blood was slowly gathering in a single spot, while the other remnants of the body clung to each other.

That was enough for Annie to realize what was happening, she couldn't believe that a being, even scarier than the original titans, existed in this world.

'Shit! I can't just punch him endlessly...!'

'Should I run away? But what about Ezir? Should I leave you behind? Does he know that I've turned into a titan... Do I have to kill him...?'

A wave of thoughts hit Annie's mind. There were too many risks in leaving Ezir alive and too little time to decide which course of action to take. It was already obvious what had to be done for her to escape and return home, but still...

'Why am I still standing here?! I just need to leave him behind as bait and run away! So why am I still standing here getting ready to rip him apart again?!' - Annie.

She already knew what the heavy grip on her heart was all about whenever she considered sacrificing Ezir, but she still refused to accept it. There are some moments in life when your body takes action before your thoughts even take shape, and this is one of them.

'Shit…since when did I start to feel this way about him? WHY?!' - Annie.

The titan was already about to launch another sequence of blows against the monster that was already with half of its body being formed, but when she least expected it, Ezir's voice resounded in his ears.

"Annie! Get out of the way now!!"

As she turned her head sharply, shock took over her thoughts. She didn't even know how to react to what appeared in her vision.

'The s-sun w-went down here?!' - Annie.