"Foolish Zandalar, you have no idea who you've provoked. Soulflayer will relish your flesh and souls." Hex looked at the tall Troll pointing a gun at her, radiating confidence. She didn't seem alarmed. Instead, she let out a menacing laugh as red magic shimmered around her and she half-raised her staff.
The moment Zul'ra saw the magic flare around Hex, he gripped his spear in his right hand and quickly pulled out a round flask with his left. He hurled it at her. With a bang, the flask struck Hex and exploded, engulfing her in flames.
The two Vilebranch Guards still protecting Hex saw their mistress attacked and let out a roar. They each hurled a battle axe at Zul'ra, then straightened their hunched backs and charged at him with axes in hand.
Zul'ra faced the two fearless guards. Gripping his spear with both hands, he braced its shaft with his left and held its butt with his right. He swept it across to knock the incoming axes aside, then leveled the spear and drove its point into the throat of one of the Vilebranch Guards.
Thick blood ran down the spearhead lodged in the guard's throat. He twisted his tusked mouth and clamped both hands around the spear, desperately trying to keep Zul'ra from pulling it free. Zul'ra's expression changed at once. Beside him, the other Vilebranch Guard had already raised his axe and was swinging it at him.
Zul'ra stepped aside with the spear in hand, avoiding the axe coming straight at him. Then a tremendous roar rang out. The Vilebranch Guard before him was seized from behind by someone who wrapped their arms around him. It was Dakkalai.
"Phew!" Zul'ra watched Dakkalai tackle the guard aside and breathed a sigh of relief. But when he'd collected himself, his eyes widened. Blood was floating out of the wound in the throat of the Vilebranch Troll impaled on his spear, defying the laws of physics. Drawn by some force, it flew into the hands of the Evil Priestess behind him.
"You will all be offerings to Hakkar." Hex had taken the blast without injury. Now, surrounded by red magic, she drew the blood of the three fallen Vilebranch Guards into her hands. She rose into the air and let out a shriek, then thrust both hands toward the remaining Vilebranch Guard. A beam of red light surged toward him.
"In the name of honor, I'll kill you..." Watching Hex draw blood to cast her spell, Zul'ra gave a low growl. He flung down the Vilebranch corpse on his spear, drained of blood and dead, then leveled the weapon and charged at Hex.
Zul'ra reached Hex and thrust both hands forward. When the spearpoint met resistance, he poured all his strength into it. The spear broke through the barrier in an instant and plunged straight into the Evil Priestess's body, its shaft sliding in without hindrance.
"Even without a shred of honor, you still have to die." Zul'ra slowly drove the spear into Hex's right chest. As the red magic around her faded and she stared at him in shock and disbelief, the corner of his mouth curled slightly.
"Hakkar..." Hex parted her lips, but before Zul'ra could make out what she'd said, he suddenly felt a heavy weight on his back. Arms looped around his neck, and a moment later, sharp pain flared in the right side of his neck.
"..." Zul'ra felt the pain in his neck and his eyes flew wide. The bastard was biting him—someone behind him was biting him.
When he felt teeth sink into his neck, Zul'ra panicked. He'd just killed two Vilebranch Trolls by driving his spear straight through their throats. That was where the major artery lay, and he'd killed both of them by piercing it. Was it his turn now?
With his life in danger, Zul'ra jerked his neck to the right and strained to pry the arms around it loose, trying to slip free of his attacker's hold. But in his haste, his tusk caught on the other man's arm.
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Ugh. Amid the frantic struggle, Zul'ra felt a tingling, splitting pain shoot through his palate and into his head. The pain only made him more ferocious. He lowered his head, grabbed the other man's arms, and, ignoring the liquid running down his neck, heaved his shoulders and flung the attacker over his shoulder, slamming him down in front of him.
The Vilebranch Troll, muscles bulging in a state of frenzy, crashed hard onto the ground. He didn't seem badly hurt and was about to get back up and fight again when a short spear flew in from the side. It pierced his throat in an instant, ending his life. The one who'd thrown it was none other than Chieftain Broken-Tooth, who'd been watching from the sidelines.
"..." Zul'ra watched Chieftain Broken-Tooth kill the Troll with a single strike. He touched the root of the tusk at the right corner of his mouth, then glanced at his finger. It was red. The tusk's root had been knocked in the struggle, and it throbbed with splitting pain. His temples were burning, too. These tusks really were a nuisance.
"Are you all right?" Seeing Zul'ra touch his tusk, Chieftain Broken-Tooth hurried over to ask.
"I'm fine." Zul'ra touched the tusk at the corner of his mouth, then felt his right neck. The bite was still bleeding, and the blood had run from his shoulder down to his waist. But the flow was slowing, and the stinging wound was growing numb and itchy—a sign it was healing. His artery had been bitten, but fortunately, he had a Troll's regenerative ability. Thank goodness.
"Dakkalai." After confirming that his injury wasn't fatal, Zul'ra turned and called out. The attacker who'd come at him from behind was the Vilebranch Guard Hex had infused with magic. He'd been fighting Dakkalai before. His sudden frenzy and surge in strength must have been caused by the magic, but how was Dakkalai, who'd fought him, doing?
"I-I'm all right." Dakkalai managed to sit up, clutching his aching abdomen and chin. His tusks had ended up uneven, one long and one short; one had been snapped off. That frenzied Vilebranch Guard had hurt him badly.
"As long as you're alive." Zul'ra looked at Dakkalai, who'd lost a tusk, and grimaced. His jaw throbbed, so he quickly stopped and turned to look at Hex. The spear had pierced her through, the magic around her had vanished, and disbelief showed on her face as she lay there like someone on the verge of death.
"Hakkar abandoned you. He's called an evil god for good reason. You'll die without honor." Zul'ra looked at the priestess, pulled the spear halfway out of her chest, and, when she slumped to the ground, aimed its point at her heart and drove it in. The defiance in her eyes slowly faded.
"Cook! Cook!" After finishing Hex off, Zul'ra left the tent and looked around the camp, where figures moved everywhere, calling for his second-in-command.
"Zul'ra Jin." Cook, tall and straight, came over from the side, holding a steel-plated shield in one hand and a spear in the other.
"Is the battle over?" Zul'ra asked.
"It is." Cook set the shield on the ground and thumped his chest with the hand holding his spear.
"How many losses did we suffer, and how many of them came?" Zul'ra asked, relief easing his mind.
"We've lost a few and have quite a few wounded. They're all dead." Cook blinked.
"I want exact numbers. Go and confirm them." Zul'ra's expression hardened. That wasn't an acceptable battle report.
"Yes!" As a Forest Troll who stood ramrod straight and a loyal follower of Zul'ra, Cook wasn't annoyed by his strict demands. On the contrary, he stood at attention and answered crisply.
It's the Mid-Autumn Festival today, so here's an extra update. I wish you and your families a happy reunion beneath the same bright moon.
Before you continue