The Battle Against Hellfire

As he watched Kargath charge straight at the Hellfire, Leiluo covered his eyes with his hand. The scene was too horrible to watch.

Soon, Leiluo heard the scream he'd been expecting.

"Ah—what the hell? That burns like hell!"

Kargath's fist blades struck the Hellfire, chipping off a few pieces of stone. But the flames on its body licked at him, too, and his hand instinctively jerked back.

"Hahaha! Kargath, you finally got burned for once." Kilrogg, who had always been on good terms with Kargath, teased him.

"Old fool, quit standing around watching! This rock man's no pushover. Get over here and help!"

Kargath wasn't angry at Kilrogg's remark, but his usually arrogant face had turned serious.

"There's something strange about the flames on this rock. They can hurt me! And its defense is absurdly high. My prized blades only left a scratch."

When Kilrogg, Blackhand, and Durotan came up beside him, Kargath quickly told them what he'd learned from their brief exchange.

"No wonder Leiluo asked us for help. On his own, he wouldn't even be enough to fill this rock's teeth."

Hearing Kargath's report, Durotan sighed.

"Hey, Duro, what kind of thing is that to say? Hellfire doesn't eat!"

"But you don't need to worry. Hellfire only lasts for a limited time. It'll disappear before long, so you don't need to take it head-on—just keep it busy!"

Blackhand ignored Leiluo's shouts from behind him. He assumed a battle stance and charged at the Hellfire's leg.

His warhammer flashed in his hand as he unleashed a Heroic Strike. The hammer slammed into the Hellfire's leg, throwing it off balance.

"True strength means facing your enemy head-on. There's no need to stall. Kid, let me teach you a lesson!"

Having gained the upper hand, Blackhand kept hammering at the Hellfire as he shouted over to Leiluo.

Just as the other three thought Blackhand had the Hellfire under control, it roared, its magically charged cry ringing out. Caught off guard, Blackhand was stunned. The Hellfire grabbed him in its enormous hand and squeezed him tight.

As the Hellfire clutched Blackhand, the dark green flames on its hand flared brighter.

"Argh—ah!"

Blackhand let out a scream as he was held fast.

The other three, who had been too late to stop the Hellfire, rushed over. Hearing Blackhand's scream, they finally understood just how terrifying its flames were. Blackhand was tougher than steel!

Kilrogg quickly cast Healing Wave, easing Blackhand's injuries. Kargath and Durotan each struck one of the Hellfire's legs with a Heroic Strike, knocking it down again.

Durotan then hacked at the Hellfire's hand with his axe, trying to free Blackhand.¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸

But with a clang, Durotan's Rend left only a faint scratch on the Hellfire's hand.

As Kargath and Durotan kept striking at the Hellfire's hand, it roared again.

This time, the three were ready and weren't stunned. Kilrogg cast Earthquake, knocking the Hellfire down just as it got back up. Then Kil'jaeden hurled a bolt of lightning at it, but it had no effect.

Just as Kargath and Durotan were about to strike the Hellfire's hand again, Leiluo shouted, "Use mine!"

A black shape flew over. Durotan reached out and caught it—it was Leiluo's black great axe.

Durotan swung again, and this time the cut was much deeper.

Two golden beams of light fell on Kargath and Durotan, then a halo enveloped them both. They immediately felt their strength surge.

Kilrogg wasn't about to be outdone after seeing his spell fail. He planted totem poles behind Kargath and Durotan, one after another, until there were four.

While Leiluo's group fought fiercely, Lantresuo and Leolox were having trouble. Nilru kept summoning demons like felhounds and imps with the souls of the Orcs. They weren't strong, but in such a cramped space, they effectively kept Lantresuo and Leolox at bay.

On top of that, Nilru would occasionally fire a Shadow Bolt or cast a curse from behind his demons. Lantresuo and Leolox were taking a brutal beating. They were covered in blood, with not a single patch of skin uninjured.

"Hahaha! How do you like that, dear brother? Isn't my power far greater than yours? Ah! Hahahaha!"

"You ugly green freak, what are you laughing at? Don't you know you look even uglier when you laugh?"

After spending so much time with Leiluo, Leolox immediately shot back at Nilru's taunt.

"Leolox is right, brother. You're an ugly green freak now. Even I, a half-breed, look more like an Orc than you do."

Catching Leolox's signal, Lantresuo immediately played along.

"You two! You defeated failures dare to speak to me like that? What do you know? This is a symbol of power!"

"What? You bastard!"

While Nilru cursed at them, Lantresuo seized his chance and used Zephyr Step. When Nilru sensed something was wrong and sent his demons after him, all he saw was Lantresuo disappearing right before the felhound's claws.

Not daring to let his guard down, Nilru stopped the demons from attacking Leolox and gathered them all around himself. A Sword Saint using Stealth was the most lethal of all.

"Cough, cough! I can finally catch my breath."

Seeing Nilru stop attacking, Leolox leaned on his weapon and rested on one knee.

"Roar!"

Meanwhile, on Leiluo's side, the Hellfire roared as Durotan finally chopped off one of its arms. Leiluo hurried over, caught Blackhand, who was nearly roasted, and carried him back to treat his wounds.

Kargath and Durotan were left fighting the rock man again.

"Pebble Chieftain, do you know how long this Hellfire is supposed to last? We've been fighting it for so long, but it still hasn't disappeared."

Kilrogg took the opportunity to ask.

"Well, it shouldn't last much longer. I don't know why it hasn't disappeared yet, either."

"Damn, it's so hard to deal with—and immune to spells."

"Bleeding Hollow Chieftain, didn't your Earthquake just work?"

"Earthquake affects the ground—"

As soon as he said it, Kil'jaeden realized what Leiluo meant.

"You mean spells that don't directly affect the rock man?"

"Right."

"You young ones really do think fast. Come forth, Ghost Wolves!"

Pointing at the Ghost Wolves beside him, Kil'jaeden sent them charging toward the Hellfire.

"Your power works much better than my Healing Wave!"

"Holy Light Healing really is miraculous. Bleeding Hollow Chieftain, want to learn it? I'll teach you after this fight."

"Then I'll thank you for it."