The Earth After Rebirth

Hubris slowed down and eventually came to a complete stop. It wasn't just the suffocating warmth anymore, the fumes alone were a choking hazard.

Kiro remembered a little about this, you'd have to fight and defeat the golems while in this hazardous environment for the path to be created for you.

If they went beyond the point they were rooted in, if they took any steps further they'd either burn to cinder or choke to death. Kiro also noticed a hot spring nearby, he had to fight the urge to take off his armour and soak in there.

Not so long ago it was raining but it didn't quite reach the surface of the space they were at, it evaporated before it could. They hadn't noticed it before but just at distance, there was lava.

It wasn't moving, so they weren't at that much of a risk as long as they stayed away. Neither of them had a skill that made them impervious to fire.

Though Hubris could withstand most fires, he had a feeling this one would burn him to the bone.

Just then, two silhouettes rose from the lava. They were as big as Hubris was. They were made entirely of rocks, unlike the stone lions who looked like smooth sculpted stone. The golems were full of huge cracks.

Every step they took made it seem like they were at a risk of breaking apart but clearly something stronger was holding them together.

"I guess we're lucky." Hubris chimed in.

"What do you mean?"

"There's only 2."

Kiro used vibrations in hopes it could stun them, but they continued to walk forward. He abandoned that idea and activated vibrational sense and lightning for speed.

He used Ryu to jump higher than he should've been able to. As he descended, he blinked above the head of the one he marked as his kill.

He planted Ryu right on its shoulder, he bounced right back up and planted his heel on its head with bending kick.

With these, he was able to make it kneel on one knee. He then blasted it back where it came from with whirlwind. There was no system notification, so he knew he didn't really finish it off.

As if to mock him, it got up and closed the distance between them at frightening speeds, it threw a punch at its enemy, Kiro blocked it with Ryu and connected another punch on its leg breaking it off completely.

Without a leg to stand on, it fell to the ground with a deafening sound. Kiro didn't wait for it to collect its thoughts, as he kicked it right on the face.

But a new a leg was already formed, seeing that, Kiro fell back creating distance between him and the golem.

"Ah, why did I think this was going to be easy?"

The golem had already closed the distance he created, it faked a punch and swiped him at his feet, he fell to the ground. It raised its gigantic arms, intending to squash Kiro like the bug he was. It missed however when he swerved to the right.

Then he kept backing away, because it hadn't stopped, he was followed by a barrage of attacks that left the ground dented.

He directed his palm to the ground and used whirlwind to hoist himself up and push himself back by several meters. He was finally on his feet, he blinked and thrusted Ryu right in its rocky chest.

He felt a weird sensation, almost like vibrations on his hands.

When he attempted to take him out, Ryu was stuck. He could've sworn he saw the thing cackle, before it threw it's punch right between his eyes.

It was commandable that Kiro refused to let go of Ryu, he still darted dangerously close to the lava with his staff in hand and with a broken face. He quickly downed a health potion.

Hubris on the other hand was putting on a show too, he wasn't losing to his opponent. His battle was way more messier, as he'd often claw his way into the inside of the thing, he was disappointed to learn that there was nothing there, nothing but lava.

It had almost burnt his claws off when he instinctively used affliction and cancelled out the process that had already taken place.

He breathed fire to it, which didn't seem to do much since his opponent was made of rock. His best bet was turning it into molten rock, but his flames weren't hot enough to turn anything into lava.

He didn't give up, as he used fear inducement, he noticed that though his master's vibrations didn't work to stun them, he could momentarily stun them with fear.

The window was a small one, so he galloped forwards to his enemy, with all of his claws out he sliced it's head using affliction. That didn't make it fall, instead it threw a punch aimed at Hubris' muzzle.

He used intangibility, so the punch went straight through him, causing the attacker to stagger and fall into the lava which it came from.

"Master, I beat you again."

Kiro saw the thing jump out of the lava through his peripheral.

"Watch your back, you idiot." He yelled.

He had already acted, as he threw the lightning that was already zapping through his entire body. It reached the Golem in less than a second. Six lightening bolts hit it at the same time, causing a great explosion.

Which left the air more noxious, Kiro couldn't see much, so he squinted, zooming in on the explosion that happened midair near the volcano.

Rabble was raining in the drought ridden atmosphere. Kiro had absolutely obliterated the golem, nothing of it was left except for the rabble. Which also fell into the volcano, erasing it's existence completely.

"That's--that's new."

Hubris was completely dumbfounded, but they had no time to celebrate or be shocked. As the other golem was going through a metamorphosis of its own.

They tried attacking it while it was evolving, but nothing worked, it was as if it was protected by an invisible shield, a shield that they couldn't break.

"I was careless, sorry master."

"Let's just focus on this thing first, then we will talk."