CHAPTER 154: A MIGHTY THROW.

Weren’t the damn things supposed to grow on the bodies of the Bog Golems?

Could it be that they had operated under a misunderstanding all this time?

Nero trembled as the thought was further cemented in his mind. Perhaps the fungus had originated from this strange island filled with all sorts of colorful fungi.

That was much more reasonable, the more he thought about it.

Nero pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, then slowly to his feet. His body protested every movement, but he ignored it. There would be time to rest later, after—

Footsteps.

Heavy, ponderous footsteps that made the ground tremble with each impact.

Nero’s head snapped around just as the Bog Golem came into view around a cluster of massive mushrooms. The creature’s glowing red eyes fixed on him with a madness that sent ice through his veins.

Then it roared.

The sound was like boulders grinding together, like the earth and a thousand souls screaming in pure, unadulterated rage. The wave of killing intent that accompanied it was so intense, so overwhelming, that Nero actually staggered backward a step.

The Bog Golem charged.

Nero barely had time to summon Gungnir before the creature was upon him. He raised the spear in a defensive position, bracing himself for impact.

The Bog Golem’s massive fist came down like a meteor.

Nero caught the blow on Gungnir’s shaft, channeling the force through the weapon and into the ground. The impact created a crater beneath his feet, driving him ankle-deep into the soil. But he held.

For exactly one second.

Then his left arm shattered.

The bones exploded under the transferred force, fragmenting into dozens of pieces that tore through muscle and skin. Nero screamed, a raw sound of pure agony that echoed across the island. He stumbled backward, clutching the ruined limb to his chest.

The Bog Golem didn’t give him time to recover. It dropped to all fours, its enormous body suddenly much more mobile, and charged again. Its maw opened wide, revealing a darkness that promised oblivion.

Nero ran.

He sprinted across the fungus-covered ground, one arm hanging useless at his side, the other death-gripping Gungnir. Behind him, the Bog Golem galloped like some nightmare horse, its footfalls shaking the world.

This made no sense.

Grade D Abominations were dangerous, but manageable. He had fought them before and even won. But this thing, this creature was operating on an entirely different level. Its strength was overwhelming, its speed far greater than anything its size had any right to possess.

Why was it so much stronger?

The answer came to him as he vaulted over a fallen log covered in luminescent mushrooms.

Environment.

He had to take advantage of the terrain. But there was no advantage to be taken. As far as he could see.

Here, on this island in the heart of the toxic ocean, the Bog Golem was at its absolute peak.

But Nero was dying.

His arm wasn’t healing. Vineheart was simply incapable of healing this much damage, period. He would need at the very least, a Divine Elixir.

The shattered bones refused to knit back together, held in stasis by the residual force of the blow. His body was still fighting off the toxins from the swim, still trying to repair the burns and the rot. It didn’t have the resources to deal with a catastrophic injury like this.

He gritted his teeth as he acknowledged that he needed to end this fight quickly if he wanted any chance of survival.

Nero put on a burst of speed, creating as much distance as he could between himself and his pursuer.

Activating Shadow Shift, his body melded together with the surrounding shadows. A moment later, the spot he had stold turned into a crater filled with broken rocks and upturned dirt.

Nero didn’t have the time to sign in relief as the next moment, an enormous arm of stone flesh came swung down on him.

The darkness swelled all around him as he let Shadow Shift run, his body slashing through the darkness at incredible speed, his Ein Sof burning in the process. .

When he judged he had enough space, he skidded to a stop and turned.

The Bog Golem was bearing down on him, all fury and stone and unstoppable momentum.

Nero shifted his stance, planting his feet wide. He transferred Gungnir to his good hand, feeling the weapon’s eagerness thrumming through the shaft.

Gungnir, the spear once held by the gods, wanted this.

It wanted to fly, to strike, to pierce the frown of the heavens itself, much less the brow of some stone Abomination.

He could feel it in his bones, the rightness of what he was about to do.

Nero began to gather his strength. Not Ein Sof, but pure physical power. He pulled it from every part of his body, from legs that had carried him through hell, from his core that had held him steady through countless merciless hits, and from his good arm that trembled with the strain of what he desired from it.

It was pure, raw physical might, easily comparable to that of an Abomination, mostly because he had the body of one at the moment.

The muscle fibers in his arm swelled, engorged with blood and power. His shoulder locked into position, creating a stable platform. His entire body became a single mechanism, designed for one purpose.

To throw.

The Bog Golem was twenty meters away. Fifteen. Ten.

Nero’s fingers tightened on Gungnir’s shaft. The spear sang in his grip, a note of pure anticipation.

Five meters.

Nero’s arm cocked back, the motion smooth despite the power compressed into it. His body twisted, storing energy like a spring wound to its absolute limit.

Three meters.

The Bog Golem’s maw opened wide, darkness and death waiting within.

Now.

Nero’s body uncoiled like a whip, every muscle firing in perfect sequence. His hips rotated, transferring power up through his core. His shoulder snapped forward, his arm extending in a blur of motion too fast for the eye to follow.

Gungnir left his hand.