Shifting the Blame East

Lanbo watched Lantresuo vanish behind the black-robed leader's corpse, then stopped and swept his gaze around. "What's the point of this? Didn't that warlock say you were some Sword Saint? Is this all the courage you have?"

Knowing that Lanbo was trying to determine his location through his voice, Lantresuo did not respond. He silently searched the shadows for an opportunity—an opportunity to turn the tide.

"Since you won't talk, I'll deal with Ta first." As he spoke, Lanbo casually plunged his greatsword into the ground. With a flap of his wings, he landed before the black-robed leader's corpse. He muttered an incantation, then reached out with his right hand, and a phantom of the black-robed leader appeared in his grasp.

"Lord Lanbo! Lord Doom Guard, please spare me! Didn't you sign a contract with me?!" The black-robed leader's soul struggled and cried out in Lanbo's hand, trying to make him spare it.

"That's right, I signed a contract with you. But we only agreed that I'd clear away your obstacles. We never agreed that I couldn't have a little of your soul." With that, Lanbo ignored the black-robed leader's struggles and tossed it into his mouth.

Just as Lanbo was about to devour the black-robed leader, Lantresuo, who had been waiting for an opening, moved.

Zephyr Step brought him silently behind Lanbo. As Lanbo tilted his head back to swallow the soul, Lantresuo's dark-red longsword thrust toward Lanbo's throat.

But with a sharp clang, there was no sound of steel piercing flesh. Instead, there was the sound of metal striking metal.

"Hahaha! Ant, I knew you'd strike!" The collision of blades did not stop Lanbo from swallowing the soul. After gulping it down, he laughed triumphantly.

"Damn it." Seeing that his attack had failed, Lantresuo turned to leave. But then a vicious wind came from behind him, and a greatsword pierced straight through his chest.

Yet, to everyone's surprise, no blood flowed from Lantresuo's chest. Instead, his entire body shattered like a mirror.

Lanbo's triumphant grin instantly froze, while Lantresuo's familiar voice came from behind him.

"Idiot, just how much do you look down on a Sword Saint?!"

Then came a scream as half of one of Lanbo's wings was sliced off.

"Damn it, his body is that hard? Even a fatal strike could only cut off half a wing." Having landed his blow, Lantresuo did not linger. He turned and ran toward Saiyba. He had just heard the Behemoth roar from that direction. Saiyba's target was probably that Behemoth, so he wanted to lure Lanbo over and ruin Saiyba's plan.

What Lantresuo had not expected was that his "good intentions" would only make things worse.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Bastard! You dare damage my beautiful, noble wings?! I'll kill you!"

Having lost a wing, flames erupted from Lanbo's hands. Rather than merely clinging to his hands as before, they began spreading outward. Sparks even dripped onto the ground, scorching another patch of earth black.

Hearing the shouting behind him, Lantresuo curled his lip. He had heard words like that not a thousand times, then at least eight hundred. Yet he was still alive and well, and had even become an orc Sword Saint.

Without looking back, Lantresuo raised his middle finger behind him, then sped up as he ran toward Saiyba.

Meanwhile, Lanbo was burning with rage. Having lost half a wing, he could no longer keep his balance and could only limp after him, leaving scattered dark-green flames burning across the ground.

With a clang, Leiluo's axe clashed with Saiyba's staff once more. This time, however, the uninjured Leiluo clearly held the advantage in strength.

"Heh. I could tell from our last fight that you weren't very strong. Looks like you really don't have the physical abilities of Heroic Rank. You're only half-baked," Leiluo said disdainfully.

"Hmph, what would a Gold Tier know?!" "I'm a mage, an Ogre Mage!" "A mage!" Saiyba was clearly enraged by Leiluo calling him half-baked. His two heads fought to speak, no longer displaying their usual orderliness.

"Oh, really? But I heard that Kargath of the Twilight Hammer Clan is not only a mage, but also an immensely powerful warrior. Even Durotan, Chieftain of the Frostwolf Clan, suffered at his hands."

Durotan had told Leiluo this when Leiluo asked about the Twilight Hammer Clan at the trade fair. Leiluo had been shocked upon hearing it. Durotan had later told him that, with Kargath backing them, the Twilight Hammer Clan's ogres acted especially arrogantly in Shadowmoon Valley.

What Durotan did not know was that Kargath had long since been subdued by Gul'dan. Even that battle with Durotan had been arranged by Gul'dan, meant to display the Twilight Hammer Clan's strength, expose Shadowmoon's weakness, and weaken the hostility the other five great clans held toward Shadowmoon, whose Great Shaman Ner'zhul could foresee the future. That would make Gul'dan's schemes easier to carry out.

"So, you're a half-baked Heroic Rank, aren't you, Saiyba?"

"I said it!" "Don't call me—" "Half-baked!"

Thoroughly provoked by Leiluo, Saiyba no longer cared about capturing the Behemoth. He directly pulled out a bottle of Demon Blood from his robe and drained it in one gulp.

As Saiyba drank the Demon Blood, the originally blue fatty turned into a red fatty. Several bone spikes sprouted from his back, making him look especially vicious.

"Heh—hehe!" "Saiyba isn't half-baked!" "Saiyba is the strongest!"

After becoming more grotesque, Saiyba's strength clearly increased as well. Bolts of lightning rained down like worthless weeds. Every strike blasted a deep crater into the ground, filling the battlefield with dust and sending Leiluo scurrying about with his head down.

"Fuck, that bastard Saiyba is connected to Gul'dan too." As Leiluo desperately dodged the lightning, he thought, I've never heard of ogres being able to drink Demon Blood. And from the looks of it, this bastard has drunk it before. I need to find a way to get close to him.

Watching Saiyba go berserk, Leiluo swore that he somewhat regretted provoking him.

"From the looks of it up ahead, Saiyba should be fighting the Behemoth. Perfect, Saiyba—I'll send you another big present."

Looking at the gray haze ahead, Lantresuo felt that his tactic was absolutely correct. He turned around and shouted at the figure behind him, "Hey, you wingless one! Did losing your wings make your legs stop working too? You're so huge, with such long legs—why are you so slow?"

"Ahhhh! I'll kill you! Stop right there!"

Hearing the furious roar from behind him, Lantresuo's lips curled slightly, and his feet quickened once more.

"Cough, cough, cough! Saiyba, and you still say you're not half-baked? Are you trying to hit me or the dirt?!"

Saiyba, who was already panting somewhat, heard those infuriating words and immediately began hurling spells at Leiluo again.