Wonderful Insane World-Chapter 57: To Ecstasy

But Maggie wasn’t easy prey.

Her body twisted, fluid like water. She rolled beneath the beast, her axe slicing through the air to slash at a scaly leg as she passed.

Truth was, the creature’s reptilian scales looked so tough that no ordinary axe should have been able to cut through.

But this time... strength, speed, angle — everything aligned perfectly.

A sharp clang rang out — metal grazing something too hard.

Then, a beastly howl erupted.

The creature spun wildly, sweeping trees aside with its massive tail. Trunks shattered on impact, sending shards of wood flying in every direction.

Maggie sprang to her feet, panting, a thin line of blood running down her shoulder — a claw had grazed her.

She stood firm between the tree and the creature, axe raised, legs braced despite the blow.

Dylan, dazed, crawled to a fallen trunk. His skull throbbed, his vision blurred. But he could still make out the titanic silhouette... the beast’s blazing eyes... and Maggie, tiny before the horror.

The creature growled — a deep rumble that made the ground tremble. Its eyes, burning with primal rage, locked onto Maggie with ferocious intensity.

It let out a beastly snort, rows of sharp teeth bared, thirsting for fresh blood.

And suddenly, it lunged.

Maggie didn’t move. She was waiting.

Too early, and she’d expose herself. Too late, and it’d be over. Her eyes locked in, breath suspended. Everything focused into a single moment.

When the beast lunged at her, jaws wide, fangs dripping with saliva... Maggie moved too.

Her muscles clenched in perfect unison. Her core pulsed, unleashing a fiery essence through her veins, flooding every fiber of her being with raw power. Her whole body vibrated with the force ready to erupt.

And she struck.

All her energy, all her fury, concentrated into a single blow. The axe carved through the air in a perfect arc, amplified by momentum, speed, precision.

A cry — no, a roar — tore through the air as the weapon came down with deadly accuracy.

This time, she wasn’t aiming for the scales.

She aimed for the eye.

A dull thud. A crunch. Then a geyser of black fluid. The beast’s scream rose, piercing, shattering — enough to make the trees tremble. The shockwave bent branches, sent dead leaves swirling in a storm.

The creature staggered back, claws raking the ground, tearing up earth in panic and agony. Its ruined eye wept a thick, dark substance, dangling in sticky strands. It shook its head violently, flinging blood and mud everywhere.

"Maggie!" Dylan shouted, on his feet but swaying.

She didn’t respond. Maybe she couldn’t hear him anymore.

Her body still vibrated. Adrenaline roared in her veins. Her heart pounded like a war drum.

This was a turning point.

She had landed a critical blow. But the creature wasn’t dead. Not yet. And it wasn’t going down without taking someone with it.

Dylan leaned against a tree, breath ragged. The pain in his abdomen still burned, sharp and deep, keeping him from standing straight.

Even he wondered how he was still alive after such an impact.

His teeth clenched, jaw tight enough to crack. The fight before him felt unreal, like he was no longer part of it. A world too violent, too fast... too far.

Maggie, meanwhile, seemed outside of time.

She moved at a staggering speed, nearly inhuman — every step calculated, every motion precise. Her axe danced in the air with a force strong enough to shatter the creature’s defenses.

She used the terrain. Every tree trunk became cover, a screen, a distraction. She emerged from shadows to strike — swift, powerful, guerrilla-style attacks.

But the beast was learning.

Each time, with a furious whip of its tail, it destroyed the trunks, leveling everything around it. Trees fell like twigs, shredded, burst, uprooted.

The area was nothing but a battlefield now. A circle of chaos and terror.

And at the center, Maggie and the beast, locked in a brutal duel. Animalistic. Relentless. Two forces — one fueled by rage, the other by the will to survive.

The creature let out another cry — guttural, hoarse, a rasp of pain laced with stubborn hatred. It stomped the ground, claws gouging the soil, seeking traction, revenge, anything.

Its lost eye blinded it partially, but it made up for it with other senses — smell, hearing, air vibrations. It could scent Maggie. It could feel her breath, her presence, her energy.

And it charged again.

Maggie moved — not fast enough this time.

The creature’s tail slammed into her shoulder like a heavy whip, sending her flying into a half-broken trunk. A sickening crack accompanied the impact. She rolled to the ground, her axe slipping from her hand.

Then... a hollow silence.

She moved again, slowly, her body screaming.

Her ribs ached. Like several were cracked. Her arms trembled. She felt something hot and sticky running down her back. But she forced herself to rise.

Giving up now would mean everything she’d endured was for nothing.

So she pushed her broken body up once more.

If she was going to die, it’d be only when she no longer had the will to move a single muscle.

Dylan shouted her name, but again, she didn’t answer.

Her fingers searched for her weapon. Touched the handle. Gripped it.

The creature approached, limping slightly but determined. Its breath scorched the air. It frothed with rage, its lone eye blazing like a furnace.

Maggie planted her feet, axe raised in both hands. She didn’t have speed anymore. Or raw strength. But she had something else.

Timing.

When the beast lunged again, she pivoted just enough to dodge the jaws and struck with a fierce, horizontal blow.

The hit slammed into the creature’s flank, where the scales were thinner. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

Her axe followed through, and the beast’s flesh gave way under the blade.

A high-pitched scream echoed, and the creature recoiled, its side drenched in blood.

Maggie staggered too. She couldn’t hold on much longer.

But she didn’t need long.

Just... one last well-placed strike.

The creature stumbled, shaken by pain, but not finished. Its breath rasped through jagged teeth — hot, harsh, like volcanic steam about to erupt.

It began circling Maggie slowly, its single eye bloodshot, jaws half-open in a savage sneer.

Maggie stood still.

Not by choice.

Her legs trembled under her weight. Every breath made her wince. Her left arm hung limp, useless.

Her muscles burned like overheated engines, and her vision blurred.

But her fingers... still clutched that damn axe. Gripping it so tightly her knuckles turned white.

She took a step, then another.

The beast inched closer, more cautious now. It had felt that blade. It had tasted pain.

Maggie inhaled deeply.

But it wasn’t to calm herself.

It was to lock in one final breath. That one breath too many.

Then she launched herself forward.

A guttural cry tore from her throat, ripping the silence apart. She raised her axe — higher than she thought possible in her state — and aimed.

Where the scales thinned. Where the heat was most intense. Where she could gamble it all.

She aimed for the throat.

The beast opened its jaws to devour her.

But Maggie was faster.

The blade sank in with a wet crunch. The axe plunged all the way to the handle. A choked howl erupted, and the creature reared back, claws flailing in a dance of agony and death.

Maggie was thrown to the ground with the motion. She felt her arm dislocate, her hip slam against the dirt.

But she smiled.

A trembling, bloodied grin. A smile of the end.

The creature staggered, fighting to stay upright... then collapsed in a deafening crash, kicking up dust and silence.

The battle was over.

And Maggie... Maggie didn’t move anymore.