Chapter 30: The forest of Menos!
Grayson had been walking through the vast desert for longer than he could count now, feeling his feet throbbing from all the steps he had done. It certainly didn't help him keep track of time either, considering it was always night in this god-forsaken place.
"Man, I don't even know which way to go..." Grayson said to himself, trying to think of a plan, seeing nothing other than small trees for miles of sand.
The only good thing that had happened to Grayson in a while was that he hadn't run into any more Hollows, giving him a well-deserved break for the time being.
"Still, this sure is a lonely place." He said, taking another look at the crescent moon in the sky.
[Warning... A strong enemy is approaching] The system suddenly warned, beeping in response as it alerted Grayson to the danger.
Grayson looked around, not sure which direction the enemy was coming from.
"I can't see anything?" He said, keeping his guard up and his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Suddenly the very sand behind his feet started moving, forcing Grayson to jump into the sky as the sand gathered up into one place and became a giant Hollow, staring down at Grayson.
The Hollow had a large grey body made of sand. Its arms were long, with the forearms being much thicker than its upper arms. The Hollow's head also resembles a sand castle, while his Hollow hole is in the centre of his chest. He wears a low-slung cloth around his waist and decorated bracelets on both wrists.
"What in the hell is that thing!" Grayson yelled, drawing his sword knowing he was about to have a fight on his hands.
"You dare draw your Zanpakutō against me! The guardian of the white sand, Runuganga!" The Hollow yelled, further surprising Grayson that it could speak.
"That thing can talk?" Grayson said again, getting a powerful roar from the Hollow before it raised its right arm, intending to crush Grayson with one swipe.
Grayson dodged the assault with a rapid use of his flash step, but not before he slashed cleanly through the Hollow's forearm and severed it.
To Grayson's surprise, the Hollow's arm simply grew back, mending in an instant with the almost infinite sand around them.
"Oh great... So I take it physical attacks won't work on this guy!" Grayson yelled again, flipping and dodging more attacks before he held out his hand.
"Hadō #31. Shakkahō!" Grayson yelled, shooting the powerful Kidō spell, making sure to amp up the amount of spirit energy that he used to fire the spell.
The Shakkahō blast smashed into the Hollow's face, creating a large amount of smoke around its face when it exploded, revealing that Grayson had made a hole where its mouth should be.
"You dare attack me!" Runuganga roared, opening up its mouth once it regenerated, revealing a huge set of teeth.
"Shit, no choice!" Grayson yelled, quickly releasing his Zanpakutō and increasing the gravity around the Hollow, stopping it in its tracks, and causing both of its arms to hit the ground, unable to move them.
"W-What is this!" Runuganga snarled, trying to move its huge body under the increased weight.
"Looks like that did the trick," Grayson said, seeing that if its body was made up of sand, then every grain of sand had become twenty times heavier, making it very difficult for the big guy to move.
"What is going on!" The Hollow roared again, watching as Grayson slashed its arm off from the shoulder, seeing that it didn't grow back this time due to the sand being too heavy.
"That's more like it," Grayson said with a cocky smile.
"You think you have won?" The Hollow asked, struggling to even speak under the intense weight of its body.
Suddenly the sand around Grayson's feet burst open and created a powerful whirlpool, dragging everything inside of it, including Grayson.
"What the!" Grayson yelled out as he tried to jump to safety.
However, the sand wrapped around his legs and dragged him down toward the middle of the sand whirlpool.
Crap, I can't get free! Grayson thought as he struggled, trying to pull his legs out.
"Fair well, little soul reaper!" Runuganga said watching as the sands swallowed him whole.
"Fuck, I can't do anything!" Grayson yelled as the sand swallowed him, causing him to suddenly fall through it into the air.
"What is happening!" Grayson yelled as he started free-falling down toward what looked to be some sort of forest, seeing that the sand he had fallen through was just another level of this plain.
Grayson knew that if he didn't do something about his fall he would hit the ground way harder than was good for him, he flipped around in the air and activated his Zanpakutō, taking away the gravity from his body before he touched down on the ground as light as a feather.
"That was a close one," Grayson said before he took a look around, seeing large trees in all directions reaching all the way up to what he assumed was the sand he had fallen through.
[Quest complete. Discover the Menos forest.] The system said, rewarding him with 2000EXP.
"Menos forest? That sounds fun." Grayson said sarcastically as he released his Zanpakutō and sheathed it.
This place is stranger than I thought. Grayson thought to himself while he took a look around.
Not a moment later red eyes lit up the area around him, with more and more of them coming into view before Grayson was forced to jump back as a Hollow lunged in for the kill, going for his neck.
"What in the!" Grayson yelled, quickly stepping back and drawing his sword, slicing through the Hollow with one smooth flick of his wrist.
"Not this again!" Grayson yelled, finding himself surrounded on all sides by all manner of Hollow, in all shapes and sizes.
Grayson didn't like his chances, being forced to cut through them one after the other before he saw a brake of light through the forest.
Maybe I can escape that way. Grayson thought, blocking another attack from a larger Hollow before he fired Hadō #4. Byakurai through its face, blasting through many others that were stood in the path of the Hadō spell.
Now's my chance! Grayson thought, quickly making a break for it with his flash step as he burst through the wall of Hollows, heading towards the clearing.
However, Once Grayson reached the clearing he was met by none other than four huge Menos grande, or Gillians as they were known.
Grayson skidded to a halt onto the edge of the cliff face he had just reached, finding he was now stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"Just my luck!" He yelled, seeing that the Menos had noticed him and started to charge up a Cero of all things, not wasting any time.
"Not wasting any time here are we!" Grayson yelled, sensing all of the other Hollows behind him were also planning on attacking him, charging toward him not giving Grayson a lot of choices.
"Distort, Jūryoku no Megami!" Grayson yelled, being forced to release his Zanpakutō once again, putting a gravity field of twenty times normal gravity up right away.
All of the Hollows behind him dropped to the ground, being crushed in an instant by the force. Even the four Menos had been affected, feeling the pressure of the weight upon them, forcing the one that was charging its Cero to fire it off to the side, hitting the cliff next to Grayson and causing it to give way under his feet.
"Shit!" Grayson said as he lost his footing, falling off the cliff.
Grayson flipped through the air before landing on the ground with a great roll to break his fall. Swiftly he turned around to see that the Menos were attempting to charge more Cero attacks, trying to overcome his gravity effects.
"No choice... I had better turn up the heat!" Grayson yelled as he pointed his Zanpakutō toward them, letting his spiritual energy burst to life.
"Let's try 30 times!" Grayson yelled, causing the red orb in the hilt of his Zanpakutō to start spinning even faster.
Everything within range suddenly hit the ground or was crushed by the increased force placed upon it. Even the Menos were unable to withstand the increase in gravity as they dropped to the ground with a huge crash.
Grayson had defeated the Menos and Hollows around him, taking a breath of relief before he allowed the gravity to return to normal and put his Zanpakutō away, hoping that he wouldn't need it any time soon.
However, Grayson noticed a powerful spiritual pressure, having a strange feeling he had felt it before. It was approaching fast and Grayson turned around to see who or what it was as the thing appeared before him, smashing through the trees and slamming into the ground kicking up dust around it.
"What the hell is that thing?" Grayson said out loud, looking at the huge Hollow, being able to feel how strong it was.
"Wait... No way!" Grayson said again as it finally clicked in his mind.
"This Hollow... It's the same one as before!" He yelled, recognizing that the Hollow was the one he had fought twice already. The same Hollow that had killed his friends the last time they came face to face.
The Hollow stood tall and enveloped Grayson in its shadow with the dim light of the moon behind the creature, giving it a menacing look before it did something Grayson was not expecting.
"I found you at last..."
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Thats the end of this chapter! Sorry for the wait, I have been doing a lot of work at the moment and only just found the time to get this chapter done.
Anyway, thank you for reading.
Also please check out my new story I have been working on. Kobold's Ascension To Dragon Lord With A System!