Assassination

"Uh... Aaargh!"

The Centaur let out a pained howl. His eyes bulged, his face turning a dreadful purplish red. He clutched the Satyr's arm and struggled violently, his four gaunt hooves kicking wildly in midair.

Even a sliver of air entering his lungs would have been a blessing, but the demon's sharp nails had already pierced his throat and dug out his entire windpipe.

His struggles gradually slowed, slower and slower, until before long, he finally stopped breathing.

Thus, another warm corpse lay on the ground.

Around him lay scattered, miserable remains. Severed limbs were strewn everywhere; some had been utterly pulverized, nearly impossible to piece back into whole bodies. The overwhelming stench of blood crashed into them like they had been plunged into an ocean of gore.

This horrific scene silently told the tale of a brutal massacre.

Yet not all the corpses belonged to Tauren. On the contrary, most of them were Centaurs.

"No! Forgive me, noble master! Don't kill me... no, please! Aah—!"

A filthy Centaur knelt on the ground, wagging his tail and begging for mercy. Snot and tears poured out at once, his face twisted beyond recognition by extreme terror.

But before his plea could end, a violet flash of cold light swept past, and an ugly head rolled across the ground.

Vel'th casually flicked his hand, shaking the remaining blood from his claws. His expression was relaxed, as if he had merely crushed an ant.

"Forgive you? Heh heh, how laughable."

He stepped on the Centaur's headless corpse, which was still twitching, and sneered coldly. "My plan was flawless. Those idiotic Tauren should have gathered here in terror, willingly becoming my sacrifices. But... I made one mistake."

"I overestimated your loyalty and underestimated your greed."

"You arrogant fools dared defy my orders and ruin everything I so carefully arranged. Then repay it with your lives!"

The Satyr's twisted hooves stomped viciously against the earth. Fel fire spread through the cracks, igniting every corpse.

"Come! Step forth! Offer up every scrap of flesh and blood! Welcome your destiny!"

With the demon's cry, calamity descended. The surviving Centaurs wailed miserably as evil curses tore their souls from their bodies. Corpses covering the ground began to melt, their flesh and bones breaking down into vast clouds of dust that rose into a terrifying whirlwind.

At Vel'th's summons, a dreadful creature was taking shape. It slumbered within the vortex above, several surging streams of energy extending from it into the pool of blood below, greedily drawing nourishment from it.

"Feast to your heart's content! My most magnificent creation! I shall grant you the blessing of flesh and blood, and you shall answer me with a Nightmare that will drive this world to despair!"

Vel'th raised both hands, feverishly praising the birth of this twisted creation. Within this cocoon woven from storms, an ultimate evil was gestating. The moment it awakened, the entire world would tremble!

Just as Vel'th reached out in fascination, intending to touch it, a sharp arrow came flying from behind him.

"Naive!"

Vel'th sneered. He had heard that piercing whistle through the air from far away. How could such a foolish sneak attack possibly hurt him?

Without even turning his head, the demon merely tilted his neck slightly and avoided the arrow.

But his smugness did not last long.

"Hm?"

The instant the arrow brushed past his shoulder, Vel'th noticed something strange. This ordinary arrow was wrapped in gale-force winds, making an astonishing amount of noise. For a sneak attack, that was far too...

Not good!

Vel'th's hair stood on end. For the first time, he felt the threat of death.

A deadly threat! The first arrow had merely been bait, meant to lull him into carelessness. Everything had been to conceal the second, silent arrow. The moment he relaxed after successfully dodging, the Azure Arrow hidden behind the Gale Arrow finally bared its lethal fangs!

Dodge? It was already too late!

At the critical moment, the air exploded. Centered on the Storm Cocoon, a surging Storm Nova burst forth. The turbulent currents and energy slightly disturbed the arrow's fletching, causing the ambush to fall short.

The creature within that cocoon seemed to have already understood that their fates were bound together. Yet it had not been born, and the storm it raised was still weak and feeble.

A thread of foul-smelling blood slowly ran down Vel'th's left cheek. A neat notch had appeared in his left ear. Tamara's Aimed Shot had missed the head she had targeted, punching a hole through Vel'th's ear instead.

Before he could catch his breath, a little Tauren rolled into the battlefield and immediately fired a vicious double shot. The accuracy was enough to astonish even enemies, carrying surging Arcane energy and a child's boundless hatred.

Immediately afterward, her master launched Covering Fire as well. Tamara's superb archery finally revealed itself in full. She wielded Rapid Fire, a technique of both suppression and precision, with divine mastery, sending howling arrows toward him like a raging tempest.

The pressure of the arrow storm made even the Satyr's scalp tingle, but that did not mean he had no way to deal with it.

Dark energy gathered in Vel'th's hand. At his command, every lingering curse and corruption on the corpses exploded at once!

Cataclysmic Celebration, a violent explosion produced by triggering the curses and corruption parasitizing a host's body.

This ritual had been immense in scale. At least nearly twenty Centaurs had died by Vel'th's hand. Vel'th was decisive as well; he did not hesitate to expend these precious contingencies, detonating them all and turning defense into offense.

The arrow storm was blasted aside by the shockwave. Before the smoke from the explosion had even cleared, Vel'th was brimming with confidence. But he had been too optimistic about his advantage and overlooked the attack from above.

Light! Blinding light! Amid a series of explosive cracks, Vel'th's vision turned completely white. Tears uncontrollably streamed from the irritation of the intense glare. The demon clutched his head in agony, surrounded by blazing whiteness and afterimages.

He cursed in pain, "How dare you! How dare you use such lowly tricks against me!"

He knew perfectly well that he absolutely could not close his eyes now, but the light had severely impaired his senses. He could no longer avoid the next attack.

A sharp pain struck his chest, and a tremendous impact sent him flying backward, straight into the slumbering cocoon.

The remains of the flare drifted down, hissing as they went out. Vel'th had believed he had created an environment suited to himself, never realizing that the smoke and dust he had casually produced would utterly destroy the advantage he had worked so hard to regain.