The Titan

Chapter 36

Pickle looked at the parent and the child still frozen in their place with fear.

Pickle: Get out of here!

He told them in a harsher tone than he intended to but seemed to do the work as the parent grabbed the child and quickly began to flee. He put his attention back on the abomination as his sensors told him about the high corrosive mucus that the creature was excreating that killed anything it touched. The mutant let out a guttural roar, charging forward with surprising speed for its rotting form. Its hand lashed out, seeking to rot the very flesh off Pickle's bones.

Sidestepping with uncanny agility, the ground where he had stood moments ago turned black and crumbled into dust. With a thunderous roar of his own, Pickle delivered a Bonecrusher to the mutant's torso. The mutant simply stood back up on its feet, its chest caved in but rapidly regenerating, the flesh knitting itself together in a grotesque display again. Pickle looked at his right gauntlet which was hissing as it resisted the corrosive rotting nature of the creature.

The mutant lunged again roaring and groaning, faster than its decaying form should allow, claws slashing toward Pickle's chest. With a deafening roar, Pickle swung the Great Slayer in a wide arc. The sheer force of the swing tore through the air, colliding with the mutant's claws. The impact sent a shockwave through the forest, splintering nearby trees.

The mutant was thrown back, its body landing with an unnatural grace. The flesh of its arm was mangled, but it healed within seconds, the wounds closing under the sunlight. It snarled, the ground beneath it rotting as its corruption spread outward.

Pickle hefted his sword once more, charging forward with a ferocity that shook the earth. He brought the massive blade down with a Colossus Strike, aiming to cleave the mutant in two. The mutant dodged at the last second, the blade burying itself into the ground with enough force to send a shockwave rippling through the decaying earth, toppling nearby trees.

The mutant retaliated, slashing at Pickle's exposed side. The claws grazed against his armour, and the scales of the creature they were made of hissed and fought against the corrosion of the mutant. Taking the opportunity Pickle hit the creature with a backhand fist and a sickening sound of neck-snapping followed. 

With a powerful upward swing, Pickle unleashed the Gravis Impact, sending the mutant flying into the air. The force of the blow left a crater in the ground, and the mutant crashed into a tree, rotting and shattering it into splinters, But the mutant was relentless. It scrambled to its feet, its body regenerating even faster now, roaring and unleashing a wave of rot. The ground around Pickle turned black and brittle, forcing him to leap back. With the agility granted by his Parkour Heritage, he launched himself onto a sturdy tree branch, using it as a vantage point. From above, Pickle swung the Slayer in a wide arc, sending the blade crashing into the mutant. The impact flattened the decayed earth beneath them, and for a moment, the mutant lay still, its torso split open. But once again, its body began to regenerate, the flesh knitting itself back together with grotesque speed and unspoken horror. 

The battle was far from over.

Pickle's instincts flared in warning. He stepped back, gripping his sword tightly. His senses screamed of danger—something very dangerous.

Suddenly, the mutant exploded in a burst of black, corrosive energy. The force of the blast sent Pickle skidding back, his feet digging trenches into the ground. When the dust settled, what emerged was no longer the same mutant he had fought.

The mutant now towered above Pickle, nearly reaching the top of the trees, its body grotesquely enlarged. Its once-rotting flesh was now encased in black, chitinous armour, pulsating with veins of glowing green energy. Spines and jagged blades jutted from its shoulders and back, while its claws had grown into massive, scythe-like appendages. Its hollow eyes now glowed with a sickly green light, and a crown of twisted bone jutted from its skull like a mockery of royalty.