Tiefling (II)

Mezhuolash, gifted as he was, soon became a squad captain in the North Wind Fortress City Defense Army. He maintained order throughout the city and took on the duty of protecting it.

During that time, he found a Tiefling wife he loved. They soon had a child, bought a loft in the city, and everything in life seemed to be heading in a better direction. Yet from one day onward, everything changed.

That day, he was still dutifully investigating the city's string of disappearances, never noticing the strange looks people gave him, dismissing them as ordinary.

Then that "Lord Duke" gave a speech.

The human neighbors who had once seemed to live in harmony with them suddenly showed another face. Holding torches high, they cheered as they stormed into his home, tied his wife and son to Stakes, and burned them alive.

By the time he arrived after hearing the news, everything he had was reduced to ashes. His former comrades were slaughtering his kin as though butchering cattle and sheep.

Mezhuolash wept as he swung his Silver Sword, killing every perpetrator present.

He became an Oathbreaker.

The burning radiance in the Redemption Knight's heart had gone out, leaving behind only darkness. Cruel reality had utterly shattered his naive ideals.

"What a naive fool."

He repeated it once more.

Suddenly, urgent horn calls sounded from outside the cave.

Mezhuolash abruptly returned to reality, grabbed his longsword, and hurried out of the cave.

"What's happening?"

The guards stationed at the camp entrance looked panicked. "Yetis! More than one Yeti!"

"Roooar—"

In the deadly cold, the Yetis' howls crossed the remote mountains and swept over the entire slope with the cold wind, seeping utter terror into the hearts of the gathered Tieflings.

These monsters could smell the scent of fresh flesh and blood from miles away, then track it through wind and snow.

Mezhuolash looked up. Dozens of ghostly white figures charged down the slope like a tidal wave.

"Everyone, prepare for battle!"

"Damakos, shoot them dead for me."

The Tiefling Fighter called Damakos nodded grimly and drew his bow to its fullest.

"Whoosh—"

With a shriek that tore through the air, an arrow plunged into a Yeti's brow, sending the monster straight to the ground. Several Tiefling Fighters behind Damakos also drew their bows and nocked arrows.

However, they were firing uphill from below, with a blizzard in the way. Unlike their captain, they lacked exceptional archery skills, and their arrows often sank into the snow almost immediately.

Damakos fired several arrows in succession.

Two out of seven hit, and two more Yetis fell.

In weather this harsh, the Yetis moved through the snow like phantoms. Even a Fighter skilled in archery like him could not guarantee his accuracy, much less stop the Yetis' tide-like charge.

"No, Mezhuolash, the snow is too heavy."

"I can't see."

Damakos shouted as he loosed another arrow, bringing down yet another Yeti.

But the tide of Yetis had already reached within a hundred meters of the camp.

If these hungry Yetis, ravenous for flesh and blood, were allowed to break into the nearly defenseless camp, it would be an absolute disaster.

"Follow me! We'll meet them outside!"

Mezhuolash raised his sword high, with more than forty Tieflings following behind him.

These Tieflings were poorly equipped. Some did not even have blades, and could only raise pitchforks and torches. Yet their eyes were incomparably resolute.

They might once have been merchants, clerks, or artists, but at this moment, to protect the camp and the family behind them, they could only—and had to—be Fighters.

The Yetis surged forward, staring at the Tieflings with greedy hunger for flesh in their eyes.

These Yetis stood over three meters tall, covered from head to toe in snow-white fur. Their massive bodies were thick and powerful, while ordinary Tieflings were nothing more than exposed food in their eyes.

Mezhuolash stood at the very front of the group and charged straight at a Yeti.

But the Yeti did not pounce at once. It merely stared at the Tiefling strangely.

Chilling Gaze

A ghostly blue light flickered in its tiny eyes. They were the freezing eyes of an ape, capable of freezing its prey on the spot.

When that gaze fell upon Mezhuolash, he immediately felt a bone-piercing chill that nearly froze his entire body.

"Damn monster."

But Mezhuolash cursed inwardly, forced himself through the cold with his powerful body, and pointed with one finger.

Infernal Rebuke!

At once, blazing hellfire surrounded the Yeti, drawing a pained wail from the creature.

The fire-fearing monster's fur was ignited by unquenchable flames, making it frantically beat at its own body.

"Die!"

With a furious shout, Mezhuolash leaped several meters into the air and severed the Yeti's still-burning head with one stroke.

The Yeti beside it tried to use Chilling Gaze as well, but the move no longer affected Mezhuolash.

Momentum Cleave!

Using the force of his descent, Mezhuolash's longsword slashed into another Yeti's shoulder.

"Roar!"

That Yeti let out a pained howl, its broad palm instinctively swatting at the Tiefling.

Inflict Wounds!

A dark green corrosive force spread from the longsword into the Yeti, ceaselessly eroding and widening its wounds.

The next moment, Mezhuolash actually used that force to hack off the Yeti's entire left shoulder and arm in one brutal stroke.

Blue blood splashed across the Tiefling's face. His expression did not change, nor did he blink.

Only after killing two Yetis in succession did he look around the battlefield with sword in hand. The Tieflings and Yetis had already become locked in battle, and several Tiefling Fighters had been turned into ice statues by the Yetis' Chilling Gaze.

Just as frost spread across another Tiefling's entire body and he was about to freeze solid—

Guardian Light!

A flickering crimson radiance appeared around Mezhuolash, blocking the Yetis' chilling gazes for the moment and preventing that Tiefling from freezing any further.

He strode forward and drove his sword into the Yeti's heart.

"Roooar—"

More and more Yetis closed in, twelve in all. Like a white tide, they surged toward Mezhuolash from every direction, seeking to kill this Tiefling Paladin first.

Facing the clawing Yetis closing in around him, Mezhuolash remained calm and merely raised his longsword high.

Oathbreaker Channel Divinity.

Dreadful Aspect!

This Oathbreaker Paladin channeled his darkest emotions, condensing and unleashing them as an aura of magical menace.

Blood-red light rapidly spread outward from the longsword.

Every Yeti surrounding him saw what it feared most, instantly falling into inescapable, endless panic. They stood frozen in place, too terrified to move.

To him, these Yetis were now nothing but living targets.

Momentum Cleave!

Mezhuolash swept his sword through the throats of several Yetis, sending blood spraying everywhere.

A few breaths later, the twelve massive creatures crashed backward to the ground. Not a single Yeti remained standing around him.

"Huff, huff, huff..."

Mezhuolash knelt on one knee with a hand braced on his sword, gasping for breath.