He passed by the HOUMS without any resistance, finding himself in front of Madame Aiko.
'I mustn't leave her body on the ground. Come on, Jaden.' Jaden said to himself. 'More effort, especially for the dead.'
Of course, the dead can't do anything, and it's evident that a lot of effort must be exerted for them. But should this effort be greater or lesser than the effort put into helping the living?
Jaden carried Madame Aiko's body into his yard towards the wooden fence surrounding it. There was a small gate in the middle of the fence. Behind this gate was a paved path.
On both the left and right sides were gardens, and in front was the house. The paved road led straight to the front door. From this perspective, to the left was the palisade, a slightly elevated area.
There was a table with four chairs, and on it were a flowerpot and some apples. The area was covered, but it still allowed some rays of sunlight to filter through.
'What is this sensation?'
…
'Behind me!' Jaden screamed in his mind.
In a panic, Jaden jumped into the garden just after placing Madame Aiko's body safely. When he turned his eyes to where he had been a moment ago, there was a hand and a HOUM. The position reminded him of Madame Aiko's death.
'In fact, if I had stayed there for just one more second, I would probably be dead.'
As if it were a reflex, Jaden ran towards the HOUM that had tried to kill him. There was no fear on his face, only determination.
Once in front of it, he punched it in the face with all his might, anger burning within him.
And then... a very unexpected scene.
The HOUM exploded.
'They're this easy to defeat? In a single blow?'
It was surprising to see creatures that terrified all humans die so easily, as strange as trying to cure COVID-19 with pain relievers.
However, once the HOUM exploded, its body gradually disappeared, decomposing into a kind of gray ash.
'What with this feeling again?' Right after the body completely disappeared, Jaden felt a strange sensation, unfamiliar to him. His senses were extremely sharp, one of the reasons why people called him a genius.
'I feel like something has been added to my body.'
'Maybe it's the adrenaline's effect.' Jaden dismissed the subject because there was no better explanation. A HOUM disappears just after you kill it, and then you feel something inside you. What could it be?
'Some kind of superpower? And it seems addictive. Is it a sort of global self-defense mechanism? Once it senses you're capable of killing one, it enhances you so you can kill more?' Jaden pondered. 'I prefer the first explanation. The last one implies too many supernatural things.'
Certainly, any sane person would opt for it being just adrenaline. Accepting the last suggestion would mean that the world has consciousness and can act directly, which would be insane.
While Jaden thought about all of this, his heightened senses informed him of something.
'Oh, oh.'
'I think I've angered the others. There are two left.'
The remaining two twins looked much wilder now that one of them was dead.
'Monsters with feelings, that's still weird.' thought Jaden. Perhaps it was just instinct, after all, they're monsters. They couldn't have feelings; otherwise, why would they kill so many people?
The two HOUMS still outside jumped over the small fence and ran towards Jaden.
'They're coming, they're slow, fast enough, but slow.'
The first one began with a punch that Jaden caught with both hands, then he sent it flying into the air. The second one came from the left with the same idea, but Jaden dodged the blow by leaning to the side and countered with a right punch to its abdomen.
It also exploded.
'What the hell is this? And the CREDHOS are proud of it?'
'Brother, self-esteem drop.'
Indeed, who wouldn't have their self-esteem drop after killing two of their monsters without much effort? He even sent one flying with ease. If he didn't lower their self-esteem, who would?
As for the third...
'He... ran away?'
'Haha, he's scared.' Jaden was overjoyed, what is better than live a lazy life, not lazy to the extent where you don't want to do anything – just the part where you don't have to literally fight for your life.
Not surprising. The guy got tossed like he weighed nothing, and then his twins got massacred one by one.
'If I were in his place, I'd have fled as soon as the first one was blown up.' Jaden said, adding, 'Since he's scared, I'll let him be. All I wanted was to keep Madame Aiko safe.'
''Hmm.'' Jaden frowned as he turned his head, facing away from the HOUM who had retreated, or at least kept his distance.
'I have the chills. What's this?'
When his head had completed its turn, he noticed that behind him was one of those creatures that measured at least 98 inches (250 cm) long.
It looked somewhat like the others, except it seemed a bit more barbaric, more brutal. But apart from its size and fierce appearance, there was really nothing different. The same gorilla-like face but larger, the same thing with the hands.
'This time, I'm sure one blow won't be enough.'
...
'Yeah, it was there, that frightening creature. In fact, the little HOUM was probably scared, but I definitely wasn't the cause.' Jaden came to a conclusion that changed things in a bad way, he wanted to say to his friends that he scared a HOUM – a human who scared a HOUM!
The HOUM that was in front of him was truly more than scary, however, the teenager was no longer afraid at all. He had killed two HOUMS with a single blow for each of them, after all!
The haters might say they were low-class HOUMS and so on, but the guy killed two of them. Once might count as luck, but not twice.
At that moment, the highly agitated guy added in his head:
'So you want to fight?' full of determination and an eagerness to beat everything, the beastly instinct on his face was proof of his desire for a brawl.
So, he started running toward the giant HOUM, but...
'I thought that for something of his weight, he'd be slower than the ones who just passed by,' Jaden thought 'But before I could even strike, I found myself far away on the ground, spitting blood?' he added while wiping the remaining blood from his mouth with his right hand.
It looks like the killing intent didn't give him strength – poor guy, he was that hot. But it helped him realize something.
'Is this what a HOUM is!?' it was hurting him so much that he nearly lost his killing intent.
'CREDHOS! Increased self-esteem.'
He got up and charged again, but this time at full speed. The HOUM also charged towards him, quite irritated, as if it were disrespectful for a puny human to challenge him.
'I see his attack coming.' thought Jaden.
He dodged it and gained some height to strike the creature's face with all his might. This time, the HOUM didn't explode at all, but there was an astonishing impact, as if someone had fired a mini-rocket launcher.
On the right side of the monster's face, you could see its inner flesh, and on the ground to the left was the impact of the blow. The grass on that side of the ground had been flattened as if a strong wind had blown.
'In fact, I'm super strong!' who can go against that? He just killed two low-class HOUM – the ones that the aspirant CREDHOS deal with and he wasn't one. It changes nothing – added that they were surely the weakest of their class.
'Since when am I this strong? Is it from fighting a HOUM or from witnessing that lady being killed?' after realizing that he was strong, Jaden wanted to know more, but time was of essence.
'AND WHAT WAS THAT JUMP?'
It should be noted that the HOUM measured no less than 250 cm (about 98 inches) long, and the guy had jumped in a way that his head was above the HOUM's.
'I'm not a monster, am I?'
'It's regenerating. That was probably my most powerful blow, and given its strength, I'm already exhausted because of the blow it landed...'
Without finishing his sentence, he turned his head to his abdomen to remember the punch he received at the beginning of the fight.
However, in a battle, the opponent doesn't wait. All they want is to win, so every moment of distraction is an opportunity – an opportunity that the HOUM won't let slip.
It swiftly stood up and delivered a hook punch to Jaden's cheek, sending him flying back towards Madame Aiko.
'This time it really hurts.'
'I have... I have the same sensation as before, but stronger.' The feeling of danger Jaden was becoming accustomed since his meeting with the HOUMs was becoming more intense, so he sent his gaze where the feeling was stronger and then…
'Oh... oh...'