Chapter 38: Soulsmith

Zephyrwolf didn’t bother to check the details of the skill, but he was startled by the flames that appeared out of nowhere nonetheless. All he knew was that his fiery battle spirit was burning red hot—he could feel a boundless source of tremendous strength within himself.

Feeling the surge in power, Zephyrwolf made a battle cry. The demon wolf king’s mind was connected to his; together, man and wolf, they charged towards the enemy.

‘Raa!’ The gigantic beastman smashed its spiked mace onto the ground, sending a ripple of cracks through it. It then rushed towards Zephyrwolf.

The demon wolf king’s pupils turned green without anyone noticing. In no time, the wolf which had been trailing behind Zephyrwolf vanished. By the time everyone could see it again, the dark purplish demon wolf king had already slammed the beastman onto the ground and was pinning it down.

Drako Yau, who had been observing the fight, had glowing eyes. Such a powerful control skill that forcefully pins an enemy to the ground! He never thought that the overpowered skill that had tortured him and Zephyrwolf back then was so reliable now that it was at their disposal.

The demon wolf king tore off chunks of flesh while Zephyrwolf rushed over and leapt into the air, slashing his longsword into the beastman with an overhead strike.

Shockwave Slash!

The beastman that was under the effect of the demon wolf king’s control skill could only take the full brunt of the attack. After the skill landed flushly on its target, Zephyrwolf swung Night’s Venator in a combo of Crescent Slash and Charging Fist, also mixing in basic attacks whenever he could.

The spectating players’ blood was boiling. Thankfully, the beastmen who stood beside them came to a halt and blankly stood there together as they witnessed the duel. As long as players didn’t attack them, the beastmen wouldn’t fight back. And Drako Yau noticed everything that was going on right now.

It felt like a lot of time had passed, but the demon wolf king’s control skill only had a duration of five seconds, given that there wasn’t any external interference. The demon wolf king’s bites added with Zephyrwolf’s barrage of attacks that were buffed by Dancing Flames quickly dropped the beastman’s health to half in that short timespan. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

The five-second-skill came to an end, and the gigantic beastman leapt back onto its feet. It swung the massive spiked mace in its hand at the two.

Still under the effects of Dancing Flames, Zephyrwolf felt extremely confident after landing his fantastic combo on the beastman. He had no intentions on avoiding the attack and planned to take it head on.

The demon wolf king, while its mind was connected to Zephyrwolf’s, it also had its own consciousness and could act on its own. Seeing that Zephyrwolf didn’t plan on dodging, it placed itself in front of its master subconsciously.

Boom!

The next moment, the spiked mace struck the demon wolf king and sent it flying into the city walls like a rocket.

‘Idiot!’ Someone standing on the walls swore. He then quickly disappeared from the spot.

The demon wolf king’s flesh and blood spurted everywhere. Although shocked, Zephyrwolf didn’t forget to check its health—that hit alone drained two-thirds of its health. It also inflicted the ‘Bleeding’ condition, shown by the blood spraying from the wound, causing it to lose health every three seconds.

Zephyrwolf was stunned and felt a sense of regret. It was his mistake that led to the demon wolf king’s grave injury.

‘Watch out!’ He heard a shout that belonged to someone unknown from behind. Zephyrwolf could feel himself quiver as a gust of wind slammed into his head. He knew it was the spiked mace that could shatter even the earth itself without even looking.

Dancing Flames ends in: 4 seconds.

Zephyrwolf threw himself forwards and tumbled to the ground. He could feel the ground shaking behind him. Turning his head around, he saw that the spiked mace had already shattered the hardened soil.

He climbed back up and swung Night’s Venator in a series of difficult manoeuvres. He was locked in a neck-to-neck fight with the beastman. The demon wolf king also ignored its injuries and joined the fray, but after landing several slashes with its claws, it was sent flying again by a punch. It flickered and turned back into a summoning token which entered Zephyrwolf’s item bag.

2 seconds…

1 second…

The flames surrounding Zephyrwolf vanished abruptly, and his body turned sluggish. Seeing such, the beastman roared and swung its mace powerfully at him.

The reason why Zephyrwolf could avoid the last attack was not only because of him being in peak form, but also thanks to the buff from Dancing Flames. Now, Zephyrwolf had only one thing in mind—It’s impossible to dodge!

He had no choice but to hold Night’s Venator in front of himself.

The weapons clashed—he blocked it.

Zephyrwolf’s health bar had been full the entire time. After getting hit, no, blocking the strike, he was left with a tiny sliver of health left. The beastman’s attack was insanely high. His arms and fingers were numb, and his hand which held the sword was trembling slightly.

The giant beastman approached him with slow steps. Yet, Zephyrwolf was overwhelmed by powerlessness as he saw it closing in on him. They were just five steps apart.

Zephyrwolf tensed up. He knew he must not let it pass at all costs. He knew that the players behind would drop like flies if he let it get past him. It shalt not pass! It shalt…

The beastman suddenly stopped and took in a deep breath…

‘Grahhh!’

Howl!

Zephyrwolf who barely had any health left died. The invincible weapon that reigned on top of the Weapon Rank dropped to the ground. In his soul form, Zephyrwolf immediately clicked ‘Resurrect’.

‘Rah!’ The gigantic beastman thumped its chest to show its might. ‘See? Those humans are all trash! Kill them all!’ The surrounding beastmen all roared and cheered, their bodies now shrouded in an aura. The gigantic beastman had likely given them all a buff.

Just when the beastmen army’s morale was at its peak, something cut through the air.

Two arrows thudded straight into the beastman’s chest. Startled at first, it then yelled at a shadow in the distance, ‘Despicable human!’

The shadow simply snickered. He was a hunter, of course he wasn’t going to engage in melee combat! Pulling another arrow from the quiver on his back, he notched it onto his bow.

The arrow started radiating a crimson glow.

Hunters had two major playstyles, one being the assassin route while the other being a standard hunter route. Similar to other classes, the Hunter class also had two Level 15 skills.

Level 15 Hunter skill: Heart-Piercing Shot!

The crimson arrow whizzed through the air, making crackling noises as it travelled. It struck the beastman’s chest in no time and created an explosion of redness. The arrow penetrated through its body and several other beastmen before finally losing its momentum.

The giant beastman lost the life in its eyes, turning grey and dropping to the ground.

All players and beastmen sent their glances at the hunter. His ID was Soulsmith. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Zephyrwolf and the demon wolf king’s attacks had reduced its health to below one-fifth. With both Double Shot and Heart-Piercing Shot both landing on its weak point, the final bit of health vaporised.

When the giant beastman died, the beastmen army made terrified shrieks and all ran with their tails between their legs. At that moment, every player in Yoda could hear an announcement.

‘Successfully defended against the first wave. The second wave will begin in 15 minutes.’

‘Yeah!!!’ The players started cheering.

Meanwhile, Soulsmith silently took Night’s Venator and disappeared.