"Just how long is its tongue?"

That was Ethan’s immediate reaction the moment the Acidspine Toad struck.

He had been at least a dozen metres away, well outside what he would’ve considered any reasonable range, and yet the attack still reached him with terrifying precision.

That was even while partially assimilated with Talon, his speed pushed to an absurd level.

He had barely managed to twist his body aside, but the tongue had skimmed past him. It was close enough for him to feel the burn of acid in the air and remind him just how easily that could have been lethal.

His expression tightened.

’If I can’t dodge that... I definitely can’t dodge bullets.’

The thought came out of nowhere, unprompted, but once it surfaced, it lingered.

Ethan’s mind worked quickly, even in the middle of combat.

It wasn’t just about the toad anymore, but about scale.

’At what rank do guns just... stop mattering?’

He didn’t have a clear answer, simply because it depended.

Some abilities could probably tank bullets outright. Hardened skin, energy barriers, regeneration - there were too many variables. A well-built Titled with the right skill set might stand in front of a rifle and come out unscathed.

But for most?

It wasn’t that simple.

Even at higher ranks, a bullet was still a bullet: fast and lethal.

Although there was another way to look at it.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he shifted his stance.

’I don’t need to be faster than the bullet, I just need to be faster than the person pulling the trigger.’

With his current perception and speed, especially while assimilated, he could read movements, anticipate intent, and react before the shot was even fired.

He had done something with Rina’s arrows.

It wasn’t just about raw speed, but also timing, prediction, and instinct.

And even if he got shot, Ethan was confident he’d be able to recover in a couple of days, which was wild to think about.

’After all, that hole in my shoulder closed pretty quickly.’

His gaze flicked briefly to the bubbling acid around him, then back to the grotesque creature ahead.

Modern weaponry felt almost out of place here.

’It’s useless in Gates and probably useless here too.’

It wasn’t that guns couldn’t kill, but that they weren’t enough against creatures like this. And even if they were, they weren’t crutches that Titled could rely on, as if the Gates themselves had been designed to invalidate human technology.

But for what reason?

’Maybe to force evolution and push people toward something else.’

Something closer to what he was becoming.

’Just like the Tower...’

The thought sent a faint chill down his spine as he reflected on the beginning.

’A gun definitely would’ve made my life easier at the start.’

He exhaled slowly.

’But now I’d say I’m good. So C Rank is probably where it starts.’

Where weapons begin to fall off, and raw physical ability, skills, and supernatural power take over.

’Most B Ranks would probably be unfazed by weapons.’

His mind flicked briefly to Elara, to those moments when the demon surfaced.

’And A Ranks... yeah. Let’s not even go there.’

As for S Ranks, he didn’t even have a frame of reference, only rumours and assumptions. But there was a quiet, unsettling understanding that they existed on an entirely different level.

’I guess Mark better pray that he never has a problem with anyone C Rank and above, or that pistol is useless,’ he joked internally.

Ethan surprised himself with his deep thoughts about scale, but he always had such random ideas at the wrong times.

But a deep, guttural croak suddenly snapped him back to reality...

-

The Acidspine Toad’s throat expanded grotesquely.

Then, it spat.

A glob of bubbling acid hurtled towards Ethan, who had been momentarily lost in thought.

"Shit!"

He kicked off instantly, leaping from the lily pad to a drifting log as the acid splashed where he had just stood.

The pad dissolved almost instantly.

"Great. So everything melts."

He didn’t stop moving, more correctly, he couldn’t.

The terrain demanded it.

Each step had to be deliberate, each landing precise, without hesitation.

The tongue came again.

Fwip!

Ethan ducked this time, the appendage slicing through the air above him before snapping back toward the beast.

"Alright," he muttered, breathing steadily despite the rising tension. "That’s annoying."

But it wasn’t the craziest beast ability that he had fought against.

"Let’s see how you like this."

He inhaled sharply.

’Skyshatter Cry.’

Ethan instantly felt that familiar pressure build, rise, and expand. His chest stretched unnaturally, then...

"HAAAH!"

The sound exploded outward.

A visible distortion tore through the air, slamming into the toad with concussive force. The creature recoiled, its body rippling as the sonic wave struck.

Its croak cut off abruptly.

"Good."

It had worked in halting the beast momentarily, and that was all he needed.

Swoosh!

Ethan moved rapidly, a blur across the swamp.

He leapt from log to pad to root, his movements fluid and precise, cutting through the environment rather than fighting against it.

Then he struck.

’Gale Rend.’

His body twisted mid-motion, his arm slicing forward as the air itself sharpened and compressed around his palm. The blade of wind tore across the distance, slamming into the toad’s side.

A deep gash opened across its bloated flesh, acidic fluid spilling out with a hiss.

The beast shrieked a wet, distorted sound, but it didn’t fall.

Far from it.

Fwip!

Its tongue lashed again, faster and angrier.

Ethan barely managed to twist away, but this time it clipped his shoulder.

Pain flared instantly.

Acid burned into his skin, eating through flesh as he landed hard on a narrow patch of ground.

"Fuck-!"

He gritted his teeth, forcing himself upright.

His breathing was heavier already, and his throat burned with each use of Skyshatter Cry, which left it raw as though he had swallowed glass.

But the toad wasn’t letting up.

Another acid glob launched toward him.

Ethan moved, jumping and dodging, almost gliding to another small plot of ground as he landed gracefully.

But the space was shrinking.

Each safe platform was being destroyed, melted, or rendered unusable.

"This is getting really annoying," he muttered, eyes narrowing.

He needed to end it, and quickly.

Ethan exhaled slowly.

As he focused, the world sharpened with his enhanced vision.

The timings of the tongue and acid attacks, the openings - he could see it all.

"Come on then," he nudged it to attack.

The toad obliged and croaked, its throat swelling before firing its tongue again. But this time, Ethan didn’t move away to dodge, moving towards it instead...