Chapter 256 – The Fury That Cannot Be Stopped

Illana:

I struggled to stand, the world spinning around me as Bernard's voice echoed faintly in the distance, calling my name. My ears throbbed with pain, a relentless reminder of the super scream that kid had unleashed. The sound still reverberated in my skull, like a hammer driving deeper into my torment.

And then the lightning struck. It hit me with a force that felt almost inhuman. My body convulsed under the impact, every nerve alight with an indescribable agony. It felt like my organs were being fried from the inside out, each fiber of my being incinerated. My blood boiled, and a searing pain ran down my spine, as though something was trying to rip its way out of me.

I tried to focus my vision, but everything was blurred. One of my eyes barely worked, maybe from the punches I'd taken or the lightning itself. It felt like my eye had sunk into its socket. My body trembled, every muscle exhausted and unable to bear the weight of the agony consuming me.

Looking down, I saw my left leg, a grotesque sight. Flesh had been torn away, exposing the bone beneath, a horrifying mix of raw tissue and dripping blood. My right ear was no better; it was completely destroyed, leaving an irregular hole where it used to be. I attempted to move the fingers on my right hand, only to realize that some of them were gone.

The stench of burnt flesh and blood filled the air, mingling with the rain as it futilely tried to cleanse the destruction around me. Despite everything, the pain was a brutal reminder that I was still alive, for now.

"Are you okay, Illana?" Bernard asked, his voice heavy with concern.

His chest bore a gruesome wound, and one of his hands was still encased in a stone drill-like armor. His eyes scanned the area, searching for the boy.

"Where's Dudan?" I asked, still dazed.

"That thing beside you… that’s Dudan," he replied grimly.

I turned to see Dudan’s body, completely burned. One of his eyes dangled grotesquely from his lifeless face.

"His head was fried by the lightning. I tried to drag him to safety, but he died halfway there," Bernard explained, letting out a weary sigh. "When I found you unconscious, I thought you were dead too."

Forcing a weak smile, I pushed myself up. "Lucky I’m a demi-human," I muttered, wincing as I rose to my feet.

"The dome of black storm clouds has already dispersed for a while now. That kid is out there, killing soldiers. Most of them ran into the castle in fear, while others managed to escape through the walls and into the battlefield," Bernard said, his voice tinged with frustration.

I sighed, trying to focus on the distant sounds of battle. The rain had stopped along with the storm clouds, and daylight now illuminated the scene. But with my damaged ears, I couldn’t make out much.

"And the war? Has it truly begun?" I asked.

"After the black dome disappeared, I climbed the walls and saw the battlefield. The enemy has started their assault. I saw some strange things but didn’t have time to investigate. I came back here to wake you up. I used our only healing potion, half for me and the other half I poured down your throat," Bernard explained, visibly worn out.

I strained to catch the echoes of combat from afar. Morning had broken, the storm now just a memory, but my battered senses betrayed me.

"We need to find Nikolaus Wolves and the other nobles," Bernard said with resolve.

"But what about the boy?" I asked.

"Forget that bastard. His mana reserves must be nearly empty by now. If we regroup with the other Ten Fingers, we can take him down easily. First, we need to warn the nobles and plan our next move. They need to know the war has already begun."

I followed Bernard, but a voice suddenly echoed through the stone walls around us.

"Perfect. So you know where Nikolaus Wolves is."

Frozen in place, we scanned our surroundings until we spotted the boy, casually leaning against the wall as though all of this were just a game. Bernard immediately activated the stone drill on his arm, encasing his other hand in solid rock. I pulled out an extra axe from my storage bracelet, gripping it in one hand while preparing to hurl a stream of mud with the other.

"I'm running out of patience," the boy began, his tone sharp and devoid of emotion. "I dismantled the black dome because I was exhausted, and I want to settle this quickly so I can help my family. I'm getting irritated, so don’t test me. What I carry inside isn’t meant for the likes of you. All I want is Nikolaus Wolves. Tell me where he is, and I’ll spare your lives. I’ll only break your arms, legs, and pelvis, leaving you immobile. Then I’ll be on my way."

"You think you can talk to us like that and expect cooperation?" I retorted, gripping my axe tighter. "Human boy, don’t get cocky just because you’ve mastered a few elements. I've fought more battles than you’ve lived years."

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Hearing that, he let out a laugh that echoed throughout the space.

I exchanged a quick glance with Bernard, who was already bracing for combat, raising his arms in preparation.

Focusing my energy, I formed mud in my hands and hurled it at the boy. He dodged effortlessly, darting to the side and rushing toward us. Bernard struck the ground with force, causing massive stone spikes to erupt as he launched himself into the air with his drill.

I cast a field spell, transforming the area around us into a treacherous swamp.

The boy charged forward, meeting Bernard head-on. Their blows collided with immense power. Bernard aimed to pierce him with his drill, but the boy countered with a thunder-imbued elbow to his stomach, sending him flying.

Stomping my foot on the ground, I conjured massive waves of mud that surged toward the boy. He sprinted against the current, the waves slowing his pace but failing to stop him.

He's coming straight for me!

"Concentration of Eels!" I shouted, stomping again to summon mud eels that leapt toward him. The boy met them head-on, destroying each one with thunderous kicks as he continued his relentless advance.

He raised his hand, firing a bolt of energy. I barely managed to dodge in time.

Swinging my axe, I launched a blade of mud at him. Bernard tried to catch him off guard with a surprise attack from behind, but the boy defended with a single kick, not even turning to look.

"Back attacks won’t work on me!" he shouted, spinning to counter Bernard.

I rushed toward him, but the boy fired a lightning bolt, sending me flying backward. Bernard made another attempt to pierce him with the drill, and this time the boy did something shocking. He caught the drill with his bare hand. Blood streamed from his fingers, even as the wind reinforced his defense, but he held on, applying relentless pressure to crush the drill.

"Ahhh! Damn it!" Bernard screamed as his hand was slowly crushed. The boy pressed harder, bringing the drill to a complete stop.

"I told you not to test my patience!" The boy’s voice was cold, his expression devoid of mercy. He crushed Bernard’s hand completely, leaving him writhing in pain on the ground.

"Didn’t you hear me? Let me clear out your ears so you can listen better," the boy said, grabbing Bernard’s ears with both hands. In a brutal motion, he tore them off.

My heart stopped for a second.

This boy is insane!

Bernard screamed in agony as the boy kicked him away, his face a bloody mess. Tossing the severed ears aside, the boy turned his gaze to me.

"One of my best friends had her ear destroyed by one of your assassins," he said with disdain. "This is nothing compared to what she suffered."

Summoning all the energy I had left, I shaped a massive sphere of mud in my hand, its surface bristling with sharp stone spikes. With a swift motion, I hurled the sphere at the boy. It flew at high speed, hitting him squarely. On impact, the sphere exploded, spreading mud and spikes in all directions. But instead of dispersing, the mud began to reform, encasing him in a deadly prison.

"Mud Coffin!" That was the name of my most devastating spell. The mud prison rapidly hardened, forming a massive petrified sphere around the boy. Stone spikes continued to grow internally, piercing the space where he was trapped.

"Now he's dead..." I murmured with a relieved sigh, feeling the weight of the battle begin to lift.

"I don't think so." A cold voice came from behind me, shattering my fleeting sense of victory.

Impossible!

My heart raced.

Before I could react, I spun around with my axe ready to strike, but I wasn’t fast enough. The blow came before I could swing, a devastating punch landed in my stomach, sending me flying. I hit the ground hard, bouncing several times before crashing violently into a wall. The impact knocked the air out of my lungs and left me stunned.

My axe fell from my hands, clattering on the ground as the boy picked it up, his gaze chilling me to my core.

"How... how did you do that?" I murmured in disbelief, struggling to stand, but my legs gave out beneath me. I was certain he had been inside the coffin, impaled by the spikes. There was no way he could have escaped.

Super speed? I thought, trying to find a logical explanation. But the speed he exhibited was so absurd it seemed more like teleportation.

It wasn’t speed… he vanished and reappeared behind me. Teleportation doesn’t exist… how did he do this?

"Stay quiet," he commanded, and before I could respond, the axe descended in a brutal swing.

"AHHHH!" I screamed as my legs were severed in an instant, the pain an excruciating inferno.

He punched me in the mouth, and I felt my teeth shatter.

"I told you to stay quiet."

Ignoring me entirely, he turned and walked toward Bernard, who was struggling to get up, still dazed.

"Just looking at you makes me angry," the boy said, his voice icy with disdain. "I bet you’ve been serving these nobles for a long time. Maybe if I dig a little deeper, I’ll find out you were one of the mages who hunted me and my mother when I was just five years old."

Bernard’s eyes widened in fear, his expression a silent admission.

"Ah, judging by your reaction, it seems you were involved," the boy crouched down to look Bernard in the eyes. "Perfect."

"Wait! Don’t do anything! I’ll tell you where Nikolaus Wolves is!" Bernard shouted, his voice trembling with panic.

"There’s a small problem. I only need one of you to talk, and there are two of you. So, one of you has to die right now," he said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Despite the unbearable pain, I forced myself to speak.

"I’ll tell you where he is! Please!" I begged desperately.

"You hear that? Your friend just betrayed you. Just like Nikolaus Wolves betrayed my family. Die knowing how that feels," he said, spinning the axe and bringing it down on Bernard. But he struck with the handle, not the blade.

I turned my face away, unable to watch, but the sounds of the blows were relentless, the nauseating crunch of bones breaking as his skull caved in echoing in the air.

The boy, now drenched in blood, walked toward me, his heavy steps filling the silence.

"Now tell me, where is Nikolaus Wolves?" he demanded, dropping the axe beside me on the ground.

"I'll tell you!" I begged, desperately trying to stop the bleeding from my legs with the mud I conjured.

Consumed by panic, I began to talk. I didn’t wait for him to ask, I spilled everything, every detail, every secret, frantically trying to save myself from a grim end.

He sighed, looking at me with cold indifference, before grabbing me by the neck.

"What are you doing?" I managed to whisper, fear surging like a tidal wave.

"I said I wouldn’t kill the one who told me, at that moment. But that moment has passed. The people I care about most are suffering at home or fighting on that battlefield. What would you do to someone who hurt your family? Would you let them walk away?"

His words froze my heart. Terror consumed me entirely.

"Please!" I begged again, but his hands began to tighten around my face with terrifying strength.

"Please?" he mocked. "In war, a general takes no prisoners. He kills every last enemy. That’s how I was forged. You brought this destruction upon yourselves. Remember this: it was you who summoned the storm. Now endure its fury."

The pressure on my skull grew unbearable.

And then, with a sickening crack!, the pain vanished, and everything went dark forever.