Chapter 73: Ren Versus Varuk
Silence...
The entire battlefield suddenly turned into a dead silence.
The roars from before vanished as if they had been swallowed by a black hole.
Ren narrowed his eyes as he stared at the goblins and hobgoblins. He was stunned when all of them suddenly stopped fighting.
’What’s going on?’
When they started moving again, he sensed something different about them.
The air around them grew heavy, and their behavior changed completely, as if something had taken control of their bodies.
’Are they being possessed? Or is this a high-rank buff magic?’
Several questions flashed through his mind.
"Wha-what’s happening? Why are all the goblins and hobgoblins acting like that?"
"Look! The totem marks on their foreheads are glowing."
"Glowing? Don’t tell me..."
"What is it? Just say it!"
"Their shaman has used buff magic! I saw it!"
"Buff magic? Are you telling me they are stronger now?"
"Yeah! They are faster, too."
"Damn it!"
Some villagers cursed venomously after they found out what was going on.
Most of the magical creatures had been buffed, so killing their enemies and defending themselves had become much more difficult.
"Fuck! We failed to stop her!" rage pulsed through his veins as Luka glared at Nixra.
He thought he could disrupt her chant easily. Never did he expect the goblins and hobgoblins to throw away their lives just to protect her.
"What should we do now?" Rian asked.
"What can we do? Just continue carrying out our plans. We can’t undo what has happened." It had happened, so Vito suggested they not dwell on it.
"I hope Axel won’t get angry at us later," Rian said.
"They failed?!" Axel’s eyes gleamed with fury as he looked toward Luka and the others.
He was furious, but he could only suppress his anger because they were still in the middle of a war.
"What the fuck are they doing?" Lily roared angrily. "They said they could handle the shaman, yet here, they failed to stop her from using buff magic. Are they just a bunch of mages who are good at spouting nonsense?!"
Virelia turned to her subordinate with a worried expression. "Are they going to be fine?"
Even though they had only known each other for two days, she really cared about their safety.
"GRAAAAH!" The goblins and hobgoblins started attacking them again.
This time, their movements were smoother, and their power was stronger. Not a single one of them made an amateur mistake like before, as if they were trained soldiers.
Of course, Ren and Axel’s groups had no problem dealing with them. It was just that they needed more effort to kill them.
"Aaagghhh!"
"Aaagghhh!"
The air was filled with dying screams.
One by one, the villagers were killed by the magical creatures.
Their arms, legs, and heads flew into the air as their blood flowed on the ground like flowing water.
Besides getting stronger, the goblins and hobgoblins also became more cruel and bloodthirsty.
They were not satisfied with just killing their enemies.
They always cut off some parts of their enemies’ bodies, as if their screams were a heavenly song to their ears.
"Aaaggghhh..."
Virelia turned her head worriedly when screams of agony rang out from the place where her subordinates were fighting.
She didn’t want any of them to die on the battlefield, so her concentration was immediately divided.
’Are they in danger?’
She wanted to check on them, but she could not abandon her task.
’We have to end this battle faster.’
She skimmed her surroundings to look for their leader.
The moment she found Varuk, she immediately shouted, "Little brother, that hobgoblin is their leader. Go kill him quickly."
He was much stronger than her, so she asked him to face Varuk.
Ren separated the goblin’s head from its body before finally looking at her. "Alright."
But just as he was about to rush toward Varuk, an arrow covered in green energy shot toward him at incredible speed.
Virelia noticed it and quickly unleashed her Feathers Shield skill to stop it.
*Ting...
A sharp sound echoed as the arrow was knocked away and fell to the ground.
Virelia glanced at him briefly before returning her attention to Kragmar. "Go! Leave him to me!"
Ren quickly dashed toward Varuk.
When Kragmar fired another arrow at Ren, Virelia stopped it once more. Kragmar was furious and shot three arrows at once, but she blocked all of them.
"Your opponent is me." Virelia moved to the side to block his view of Ren.
"Grun shaa vrak’th," Kragmar told her that he would kill her.
"You will be the one to die in this battle." Virelia tightened her grip on her sword and rushed toward him.
Actually, she didn’t understand what he was saying. She responded like that because he was looking at her angrily.
Kragmar grabbed an arrow and aimed his bow at her.
But before he fired it, she flapped her wings once, sending dust flying toward him and blocking his view.
When he protected his eyes with his palm, she attacked him from the side. A peacock had very good sight, so she could still see him.
Realizing he was at a disadvantage, Kragmar quickly moved out of the dust cloud and fired an arrow.
The arrow flew straight at her face, but before it could hit her, she deflected it with her sword.
*Thwip...
It pierced a corpse’s skull and landed on the ground, leaving a hole in it.
Kragmar took a long leap back as she launched an attack. While he was in the air, he grabbed another arrow and fired it.
However, Virelia deflected it easily once more.
She was skilled with the sword.
Coupled with the sharp vision and fast reactions she gained from her beast, his attack was not a threat to her.
But even so, she also could not kill Kragmar easily.
His movements were fast and precise.
He always managed to avoid her strikes or slip away, as if he knew exactly where she would attack.
When David noticed her struggling, he immediately said, "Lily, Elara, go help Zara face the archer. Leave this area to me."
Lily and Elara nodded before quickly rushing to support Virelia.
While the trio was fighting the archer together, on the other side of the battlefield, Ren ran toward Varuk while striking the goblins on either side of him.
The villagers were in danger, so he wanted to end the battle quickly.
"Hmm?" Varuk shifted his gaze when he noticed Ren’s presence.
’He looks strong.’
His instincts told him that Ren was not an ordinary shifter.
’Very well! I accept your challenge.’
He lifted his sword and welcomed Ren’s attack with a big grin.
*Clang...
A metallic sound echoed as their swords met.
Ren quickly threw a kick at his stomach.
Varuk blocked it, but he was pushed back a few meters.
The duo rushed forward and launched another attack. The sound of metal clashing repeatedly filled the air as they exchanged countless strikes.
The intensity of their fight was so strong that the people around them stopped and stared at them.
"Gwahaha!" Varuk laughed loudly as their weapons clashed.
He loved fighting powerful opponents so much because it made his blood boil in excitement.
"Eska’ra kresh humun." Varuk acknowledged Ren’s strength.
Ren was startled when Varuk suddenly talked to him. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Eska’thul vorak strun’ka." Varuk told Ren to enjoy their fight to the fullest since one of them would die on the battlefield.
"We are enemies. We should not be talking to each other now." Ren had no interest in speaking with him.
Varuk stopped talking and focused entirely on their fight.
Like before, their fight was intense and fierce.
Despite already exchanging countless attacks, neither of them was seriously injured. They always managed to avoid or block fatal strikes, so they only had minor injuries.
Bang!
Both Ren and Varuk threw a kick, and it landed on their chests at the same time.
When Ren was about to rush forward, two hobgoblins charged at him from the front.
Ren didn’t panic.
He quickly shifted his attention and was ready to strike them.
But just as he was about to swing his sword, Varuk kicked the hobgoblins hard, sending them flying into the air.
"Thirn thul esh’kar krak!" Varuk yelled as he pointed his sword at them.
The hobgoblins trembled in fear as Varuk scolded them. They quickly rose to their feet and attacked the villagers again.
"Tesh’var eska’ra humun." Varuk apologized for the disturbance.
"You are a strange beast," Ren stated. "I respect you as an enemy, but I will still kill you."
"Vzsu thort." Varuk replied.
After that, they rushed forward and launched countless deadly attacks.
Even though they respected each other, their intentions didn’t change.
One of them must die on the battlefield!
Ren would not forgive his subordinates’ actions since they had killed some of the villagers.
*Clang...
Their weapons clashed once more.
While Ren and Varuk were fighting fiercely, Jax ran toward Axel with a happy face. The first step of their revenge plan was going smoothly, so his heart throbbed with happiness.
"Axel, look! Ren is fighting their leader just like we planned." Jax said in a low voice.
Axel stopped attacking the magical creatures and shifted his gaze in the direction Jax was pointing.
’Great!’
His lips curled up into a grin.
"Tell Luka and the rest. It is time for step two," Axel said.
"Alright." Jax nodded before heading toward them.
Axel walked closer toward Ren and Varuk with an evil smile.
’Ren, I will make you pay for messing with me.’
