Without looking back, Aziel sprinted swiftly. His legs moved as fast as they could, every muscle straining to distance himself from the creature.
"Papa! Don't leave me!" The Crazy Beast's roar shattered the forest's silence, its raspy and piercing voice echoing among the trees.
The beast's footsteps could be heard behind him, following the direction of Aziel's flight.
"Blackie! Any ideas on how to escape from this crazy beast?!"
"Hmm…I think this is the perfect time for you to discover your power," Blackie replied, as if they were casually chatting rather than being chased by a mad creature.
"Power? Right now?" Aziel protested slightly, his tone mixed with panic and disbelief. "I'm being chased, Blackie! This is not the right time to learn magic!"
He ducked under a low-hanging branch, nearly tripping over a tree root.
But despite his mouth protesting, deep inside, Aziel felt a flicker of excitement.
Magic power.
Ever since Blackie mentioned Mana Stones and magical powers, he had been wondering if he had any special abilities. Perhaps this was his moment to find out.
"Raise your right palm," Blackie instructed, ignoring Aziel's complaints. "Imagine your power in your hand. Focus."
While running and jumping over a fallen log, Aziel complied. He held out his right palm, trying to concentrate even though his heart raced and his breath grew shorter.
He envisioned the elemental forces that could be his magic.
Fire? Wind? Water? Earth? Any of them could work, as long as it could help him escape from the Crazy Beast.
Suddenly, something appeared in the palm of his hand. At the same time, his instincts urged him to grip the object.
The surface felt soft, smooth, and... it felt like skin.
Aziel was taken aback, glancing at his hand for a split second. What he held in his right hand was something he had not expected.
It was an arm. A human arm.
His eyes widened, staring at the severed limb.
He flung the arm behind him without thinking.
"What the hell?!" Aziel exclaimed, his voice cracking. "What is that?!"
"What are you doing, Aziel?!" Blackie exclaimed, its tone clearly displeased with Aziel's action. "Why did you throw the arm?"
"An arm? What the heck did I just summon, Blackie?" Aziel asked, confusion and revulsion lacing his voice. "Why did a person's arm just appear out of my palm?"
"That is your magic power," Blackie responded, its tone more patient this time, though there was still a hint of annoyance. "Not ordinary magic power, but Unique Magic."
"Unique Magic? An arm? This is the last thing I need right now! I'm being chased by a monster, and I've got a severed limb as my backup plan?!" Aziel exclaimed.
But at the same time, he began to contemplate his unique magic.
What kind of power was this?
The unsettling images flooding his mind painted a disturbing picture — was his ability intrinsically linked to the acquisition of human body parts? Had he been a surgeon in a past life? Or perhaps something far more sinister, a human organ trafficker?
A shudder ran through him as he tried to shake off the disturbing thoughts. Now wasn't the time to delve into his potentially criminal past; a Crazy Beast was hot on his heels.
Aziel glanced back to see where the Crazy Beast was.
Surprisingly, the creature had stopped at the spot where the arm had fallen.
It leaned down, staring at the arm with a curious expression clearly etched on its grotesque human face, almost as if examining a discarded toy.
Was it trying to understand what it was?
"At least that arm can distract it…," Blackie said.
While running, Aziel kept looking back at the Crazy Beast.
Perhaps, like Blackie said, the summoned human arm could divert the Crazy Beast's attention from chasing him.
However, his hope was crushed just as fast as it had surfaced. The Crazy Beast suddenly lost interest in the arm.
It lifted its head, its bulging eyes fixating back on Aziel, and that creepy grin reappeared on its lips.
"Papa... don't run away!" the Crazy Beast screamed, and it resumed its chase with even more speed.
"...Or not," Blackie retracted its previous statement.
"This is useless! That arm didn't even distract the Crazy Beast! What kind of power is this, Blackie?"
Aziel continued to complain while running.
"There you go, I hadn't finished explaining yet!" Blackie retorted back. "You threw the arm before I could say anything! How are you supposed to understand your magic power if you're so impatient?"
Blackie exhaled — or at least it appeared so since it had no lungs. It knew this wasn't the time for a detailed explanation about Aziel's power.
They were in a dire situation. The Crazy Beast was getting closer. A long-winded explanation would only waste time.
"Enough," Blackie said, its tone shifting to be more serious and focused. "Let's defeat that Crazy Beast first. After that, I'll explain everything."
Originally, Blackie intended to guide Aziel in fighting the Crazy Beast using the arm he had summoned. However, since he had instinctively thrown the arm backward, Blackie had no choice but to change his plan.
Blackie then urged Aziel to attempt using his magic power again.
"Try again, Aziel," Blackie commanded, its voice insistent. "Try summoning another arm like earlier. But this time, imagine an arm that is large. Much larger than the Crazy Beast."
Aziel furrowed his brow, a knot of confusion tightening between his eyes.
A large arm? Larger than the Crazy Beast?
The mental image was frustratingly vague; how was he supposed to imagine something like that? The sheer scale of it felt impossible to grasp.
But he didn't have the luxury of prolonged contemplation. The Crazy Beast was rapidly gaining ground.
He extended his right hand, palm facing forward, attempting to replicate the summoning technique he'd used before.
He focused his mind, willing the image of an arm, gigantic and enormous enough, to materialize in front of him.
"Not like that," Blackie's voice cut through his concentration, sharp and urgent. "This time, point your hand upwards. Summon the giant arm in the air. Above us. Give it some space to manifest."
Aziel was puzzled by the strange instruction.
Upwards?
Quickly, he adjusted the position of his hand, angling it towards the dimly lit sky above the canopy of trees.
Still running, he focused, pushing away the fear that threatened to overwhelm him.
He envisioned an arm — not just any arm, but one that was colossal, truly enormous — one that dwarfed the monstrous Crazy Beast. An arm the size of a building, larger than anything he'd ever seen before — though it's not like he had any memory to back that up.
Suddenly, the sky above darkened, the air growing heavy and crackling with unseen energy.
Aziel looked up, his eyes widening with awe and a hint of fear as a colossal arm — far larger than he had envisioned — materialized out of thin air above the forest canopy.
Its surface gleamed like freshly forged metal, every plate of iron connected with large rivets. Its fingers were as thick as tree trunks, its claws sharp like swords. Iron veins bulged along the arm, radiating an aura of tremendous strength.
The dark gray arm, almost black, resembled iron that had long been exposed to harsh weather.
Its size? At a glance, Aziel estimated the arm to be at least 50 meters long, maybe more.
The weight of the giant arm caused the branches of the trees above to tremble, and small twigs fell all around. Shadows loomed over the area, the sunlight seemingly blocked by the presence of that iron arm.
Then, the giant arm began to fall, its descent a terrifying ballet of impending doom. It dropped with terrifying speed, aimed directly at Aziel and the Crazy Beast still hot on his heels. A gale-force wind ripped through the clearing, whipping dust and dry leaves into a frenzied vortex.
"Get out of the way, Aziel!" Blackie's warning cut through the roar of the wind.
Aziel, his eyes glued to the plummeting monstrosity, reacted instantly.
He bolted, muscles screaming in protest as he sprinted across the ravaged earth, creating a desperate gap between himself and the fallen enormous arm.
The Crazy Beast, consumed by its relentless pursuit of Aziel, realize the colossal arm's presence only in the final seconds.
Its eyes, usually filled with manic glee, widened in stark terror. Its mouth opened in a silent, desperate gasp, a strangled attempt at a scream or perhaps a final, incoherent word, lost to the overwhelming imminence of its demise.
BOOM!
The earth-shattering impact resonated through the forest. The giant iron arm smashed into the ground with a sound that was both deafening and bone-jarring.
The very ground trembled, and a colossal cloud of dust and earth erupted, a swirling grey maelstrom that momentarily blotted out the sun.
Aziel stopped running, and looked back at the spot where the giant arm had landed.
About half a minute later, the dust cloud, which had been obscuring his vision, gradually began to thin and clear.
Slowly, visibility returned to the forest, revealing the giant iron arm which was now half-buried in the ground, a stark testament to the force of its earlier impact.