Chapter 36 – The Final Stomp
Chapter 36 – The Final Stomp
“Will you treat me like that too?”
“Milo, you’re getting overly melodramatic, and unnecessarily complicating things. You’re being too obsessed and attached with this world lately. Remember our goal: it’s to go home. And these NPCs are mere side characters. What happens to them shouldn’t be our concern.”
“Is it me or is it you who is being obsessive? Side characters? So what if they are side characters? Even if their lives are fake—where their emotions and their entire personality is fake—do they not deserve to live? Should they just die just because it’s more convenient for you?”
“Milo, you know, you’re overcomplicating things. I don’t think we have time for this. We are in the middle of subjugating the cockroach swarm, remember?”
“Yes, keep avoiding the topic. Keep running away, like you always do. You may be brave enough to face a colossal giant beast but not brave enough to confront yourself or your real emotions. Use the excuse of the cockroach swarm now and smoothly avoid the topic. Keep doing this, but one day… Tyler, one day you’ve to stop running away and face the truth. One day, you have to make a choice, pick a side and persist with it. One day, I might not be there with you, to stop you from doing something wrong. At that time, what happens to you, what decisions you make and what path you choose, will be entirely upon you. And you cannot run away at that time.”
Tyler stared blankly at Milo. The entire world seemed to have fallen silent, and time seemed to have slowed down. He could see a teardrop in Milo’s eyes. He didn’t know what to say, what to do. He could just shrug it off, but he knew deep inside that what Milo said was true. Milo had just seen through him. His eyes lost focus and he was unable to think. He simply didn’t know what was the right thing to do now. There were cockroaches still running rampant in the town, but in this moment, his entire mind was focused on their conversation.
“Duck!” Tyler snapped out of it.
“Tyler! Duck!”
Tyler didn’t understand why Milo was shouting all of a sudden. Milo ran towards him and pushed him aside. He used [Absolute Defence] as a massive appendage—essentially a thick, jagged cockroach leg, curved like a scythe but strong as steel—pierced through his chest.
Blood burst in a terrible spray. Tyler rolled across the ground. He looked back in horror.
Milo was collapsing.
And the monster had arrived.
[Enemy Identified: Hivebound Cockroach, Level 100]
Tyler activated [Sprint] and rushed toward Milo. His heart sank as he saw the hole clean through his brother’s chest. The grotesque appendage had pierced through Milo’s [Absolute Defence] and even his reinforced titanium armour.
If it had been Tyler, he doubted he’d have survived it either.
Frantically, Tyler pulled every potion he had from his inventory and poured them into Milo’s mouth. Milo struggled to swallow, his face drained of all colour, yet somehow, miraculously, he survived—barely.
Tyler gently lifted Milo and carried him to a safer, higher spot atop a hill of rotting stone and dirt. He laid him down and checked the area using [Eagle Eye].
There were no more cockroaches.
Just one.
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[Hivebound Cockroach] [Level 100]
It was no longer a swarm. All of the cockroaches had congealed, fused, melded into one. A grotesque, revolting monster of writhing limbs, gleaming shells, and twitching antennae. It lumbered through the remains of the town, chewing through what was left of the walls and huts. It left a trail of destruction in its wake.
Tyler glanced back at Milo, then hardened his gaze.
Now wasn’t the time to be emotional.
He had no right to preach detachment if he couldn’t live by it.
He activated [Gigantify] again. His body exploded upward—bones warping, muscles tearing and swelling. Pain coursed through every fibre, but he held on. Once again, he towered over the town.
“I’ve always wanted to squash a giant bug ever since I got this skill,” he muttered. “Time to test that out.”
He stomped.
GIANT’S STOMP!!
But the fused cockroach didn’t even flinch. Its thickened exoskeleton absorbed the impact. Then it rushed Tyler, barrelling into his giant legs and toppling him.
Tyler slammed into the ground with an earth-shattering crash. A section of the outer wall crumbled beneath his massive body. Splinters of rotted wood, shattered bricks, and spikes of bone-like debris pierced his back.
As the skill ended, his body shrank—and the pain that followed was like being snapped in half and stitched back together with lightning.
He screamed.
Everything hurt. Bones. Nerves. Muscles.
He tried to stand, but even breathing was difficult.
Still, he pushed forward. He equipped his reinforced titanium helmet, activated [Rage], and charged.
He swung.
He missed.
The Hivebound Cockroach retaliated and sent him flying with a single swipe.
He crashed through a stack of barrels and rolled into the mud. He could taste defeat.
He didn’t think he’d win. But he hadn’t expected he’d feel like giving up. That thought alone frightened him more than the monster.
He looked back at Milo. His chest still leaking, but he was conscious.
“You said such big words about not being afraid of a challenge,” Milo groaned, “and now you’re in this state? Are you really my brother?”
Tyler smiled faintly.
That was enough.
He got up.
He roared.
[Gigantify] activated once more.
He sprinted toward the Hivebound Cockroach, grabbed its bladed appendages mid-swing and twisted. The cockroach shrieked, its horrible maw foaming.
He yanked one leg free.
It exploded into dozens of cockroaches that scattered.
Tyler cursed, but Milo was already moving. His knees buckled under the strain, but he stood firm—if only to give his brother a reason to keep going. [Freeze Core] activated. Ice crystals formed, and Milo began cleaning them up.
The Hivebound Cockroach regenerated another leg using more fused cockroaches.
Tyler’s skill was ending.
He grabbed the monster by its forelegs, lifted it with a guttural roar, and spun it over his head. With a herculean swing, he flung it over the wall and into the distance.
His skill ended.
Pain stabbed through him like a million needles. He collapsed again, screaming.
But he smiled. The town was safe.
Or so he thought.
[Eagle Eye] activated.
The monster had only landed… 2,000 meters away. Barely far enough. It was already stirring.
He was out of strength. Out of ideas.
Then Milo limped over.
“Tyler… do you know the formula for momentum?”
“What? This nerd stuff again?”
“It’s mass times velocity.”
“So?”
“You can increase your mass with [Gigantify]. And…”
“And?”
“Oh, Tyler, you’re still so stupid. You can increase your velocity by running.”
Tyler blinked. Then he understood.
“Will that really work?”
“I don’t know. But you’re our only hope. So stop sulking and go kill that giant bug.”
“Fine. I’ll try.”
“No. Don’t try. Do your best. Give it your all. Use that stupid ‘Giant’s Stomp’ thing.”
“It’s not stupid. It’s a cool name I made.”
“We don’t have time to argue. Just go!”
Tyler nodded.
He activated [Sprint], building speed—his boots kicking up gouts of mud and shattered rock. He leapt.
Mid-air, he activated [Gigantify].
His body surged again.
He dropped.
“GIANT’S STOMP!!!”
The impact was cataclysmic.
The Hivebound Cockroach let out a final, hellish scream before exploding into fragments.
[+90 XP]
[+2 XP x250]
[Level Up! Tyler Level 76 → 88]
[Attribute Points: +12]
[+2 XP x50]
[Level Up! Milo Level 40 → 42]
[Achievement Unlocked: Scourge of the Swarm]
[Grade: A]
[Condition: Defeat the Hivebound Cockroach and put an end to the cockroach infestation in Muckwood.]
[Acquired Runestone — Undying Tenacity]
[Skill: Undying Tenacity]
[Removes any negative status effects or debuffs cast on the user. PE Cost: 5]
Tyler dropped to his knees, panting.
The Hivebound Cockroach’s body began to dissolve into particles of light.
Another sub-boss had fallen.
Finally, it was over.
He looked to the sky and exhaled.
“…We’re still alive.”