A massive bipedal wolf charged straight toward Punishe.

Foot-long claws adorned each hand. The arms were the size of the logs the village used to defend itself with. Its head was adorned with a long snout filled with massive canines and sharp molars.

Its eyes radiated an intense hatred Egosum struggle to place on anything other than the most violent of animals. Each step the beast took shook the ground with its sheer weight. Any pretense of stealth and secrecy was far out of its mind as it got closer and closer to the pack leader.

“Hunters,hel-” A gravelly and deep voice abruptly stopped as a lightning crack sounded off from the distance accompanying a blinding light that slammed into the Punishe.

Cinera’s magic cut him off before he could finish the command and order his warriors back to assist him.

Egosum turned to try and find her to no avail. A massive clash that rocked the ground and shook the trees stole his attention away.

“War-warbeast!” One of the hunters stuttered at the sight of the real thing. The injured fake sent rapid slashes forward to ward off the larger attacker. It did very little to stop its advance as it pressured Punishe more with each second that passed.

The blows passed and the creature stepped further into his guard, cutting off more and more defensive options by the second.

“What is happening?!” A hunter spoke in disbelief at the scene.

“That's Thunkar, we came to kill Punishe.” All of the beastmen turned to the speaker.

They eyed Egosum with plainly visible distrust.

“Liar! You attacked us with humans to kill us!” Spit flew from his mouth as he accused the toad.

“And are any of you dead? Trapped for sure, unconscious certainly, but I am pretty confident that none of you died.” They turned in every direction to look at the battlefield.

Bodies lay about the clearing in disarray. Some were scattered by the wide, sweeping blows of the flesh golem while others were zapped unconscious by Cinera's magic.

“The humans!” They seemed to grow increasingly unsure of what they were seeing. The shockwaves of the beasts crashing together played in the background of the conversation.

“How many humans have you seen try to strangle you with detached limbs or turn into a massive meat golem that specifically avoided crushing you?” They became increasingly more confused as they conversed.

“Well, we don’t know all of the human's tricks!” One of them shouted out, earning them side-eyed glances from the others. The stupidity of the response was obvious to all of them.

“You have been fighting them for such a long time and you think they, all of a sudden, just learned how to turn into zombies? We came to save the villagers and, as I said, kill Punishe.” Egosum looked amongst the remaining hunters. The small group was struggling to understand the strange situation.

A few of them turned to the tents to see the women and children gone. Their hunched-over postures and engorged muscles slowly started to recede back and allowed them to return to their normal, furry selves.

“They are off being watched by my friends while we settle this. Would you guys be willing to get far away from the fight so Punishe can’t use you guys against Thunkar? Or I can trap you in a mud bath. Either works.” They glanced over to their friends in various states of submersion and cringed at the thought.

A few of the hunters looked around for some form of leadership in the confusion before one o them made the decision for the others.

The largest of the beastmen began jogging out of the clearing with the others lagging not too far behind.

‘That actually worked?’

The nice surprise sent his attention to the brawl that was raging on not too far away from him.

The beasts continued to slam into each other, raking their massive claws into each other over and over again.

Blood dripped from their bodies like a fresh spring bubbling up from the ground.

He took a few hops forward when he saw another hunter stirring to the side. A quick detour and kick to the chin sent him reeling back into the black void of his mind.

‘Probably easier to just keep them knocked out rather than individually explaining myself.’

The other hunters that were choked unconscious by the golem were beginning to startle from their sweet dreams. His hopes to end this conflict quickly tapered off as he broke away to deal with the waking men.

He felt for his Qi and noticed it was nearly bone dry. Very little returned to him as he let the earth reclaim his temporary territory in the dirt. The only option he had was to kick any of the people that he saw begin to stir.

Stolen novel; please report.

He watched the fight carry on from the corner of his eye as he dealt with the lackeys.

The older hunter slowly lost ground as Thunkar pressed his advantage in size.

Wounds racked up on both sides. Punishe held on with pure experience and skill honed over many years to overcome the difference in physicality.

The wounds from the sloth fight aided Thunkar in turning the battle further and further in his favor with the help of his other advantages.

Egosum turned to look at his handiwork. All of the beastmen were freshly knocked unconscious and he was free to help the boy end it.

He took two large leaps forward and caught Thunkar’s attention.

“No! Leave to me!” The rough common that left the warbeast threw him for a loop as he watched the fight continue on.

‘Does he really want to fight this himself?’

He almost couldn’t believe it as he watched the drops of blood pour out of the furred balls of muscle.

The boy opened up too much of his side, earning him a large slash up his side as he recoiled away.

‘Morgal is going to be pissed if he ends up dying on the way back.’

A light touch on his back startled him from his musings as he shot into the air in surprise.

“Quite jumpy.” Cinera’s voice calmed his fried nerves as he looked back to her.

“What is it?”

“The villagers are safe, the hunters are all incapacitated, and Punishe is the only thing left.” They turned to continue watching the violent brawl.

Thunkar grabbed the smaller man and slammed him into the ground. Dirt stuck to their bloodied fur as they rolled for control.

“He said not to interfere. Do we listen?” Egosum glanced at his friend.

“I don’t want to get in the middle of that. Do you?” A loud snarl ripped forth from one of them, drawing their gazes back.

“Definitely not. I am surprised he can control it so well. I thought he said he struggled with maintaining his senses when he turns.”

“I guess anger can be a great motivator. Think any of the hunters are dead?” Cinera looked to some of the recently concussed beastmen.

“Hope not. Their salves should be able to heal most wounds if we can get them all back to the village or get Morgal to bring some here.” She bobbed her head in agreement.

The larger beast took quick nipping bites to try and catch Punishe by the face.

Scars showed through the fur along the more experienced fighter's skin. The efforts of past combat made itself known as they clashed back and forth.

Thunkar positioned himself above the hunter for a place of control to rain blows down on the defender.

The claws raked fur from flesh and blood from veins as the flurry of attacks assaulted him.

In a loud bark of pain, Punishe forced the boy up into the air with his legs and kicked him far to the side.

Light to his side caught his attention as Cinera charged up a cloud of ash with her lightning.

The older beastman turned on his heels, flinging blood all over the ruined camp. He took two bipedal steps before falling to his hands in exhaustion and scanning the camp for an escape.

His rippling muscles were even more visible with the matted fur and Egosum watched as they tensed to send him rocketing into the forest.

Massive bounding leaps carried him on all four limbs now. Thunkar stood up in the distance, shaking his head to clear the fog caused by the impact.

His maroon eyes flared with anger as he saw the retreating fire bounding for safety.

He scrambled forward to try and catch up, only to stumble on the slick ground without the help of his long claws.

The crackling of Cinera’s magic quickly ended as the sound of thunder filled the clearing and the bright light of the attack flew through the air with speed Egosum was unable to track with his enhanced vision.

It slammed into Punishe like a freezing bolt as all of his muscles tensed beyond use. His body slid forward due to the momentum with the lupine face skidding forward on the dirt before finally falling to his side.

The beast tensed his hands repeatedly to get a grasp on his faculties once again. The pounding of feet on the ground stole everyone's attention away as they turned to watch Thunkar scrambling toward his mortal enemy.

A scowl of dread covered Punishe’s face as he struggled to right himself through the lingering spasms.

Despite his attempts, Thunkar came barreling into him once again, stealing the dominant position back once again.

The boy thrust his hand forward like a deadly spear, piercing right through the down beast's pectoral muscle and smashing into his rib cage.

The grunt was loud and sorrow filled as bone cracked under the blow. A sharp inhale from the hunter showed the struggle he felt to breathe. Thunkar yanked his hand back and threw a strong blow straight into his opponent's newly weakened chest.

Another grunt of pain filled the air as more bones shattered. The warbeast reveled in the feeling of grinding bones under his fist as he repeatedly slammed into the weak point before Punishe threw a slash out to stop the onslaught.

The grappling for control picked up again. Blood rained into the clearing with each attack, showering the ground every time they made contact.

Cinera and Egosum backed away as the fight began to reach its climax.

The winner was becoming more and more obvious. The wounds were deep on both sides, but only Punishe was wavering with each clash. The drive that Thunkar came at his with was unmatched by his opponent.

The skill and technique quickly became pointless as all he could do would block any fatal damage from finishing him off.

Thunkar raised his clawed hand into the air and thrust it into the beast's midsection. A noiseless gasp exited his lips as the vicious paw was slowly dragged out of the gaping wound.

“Please…I…You don’t understand…I did it-” His pleas for mercy were cut short as the true warbeast opened his maw tinged with both his opponent's and his own blood. The sharp canines came lunging forward, crushing the hunter's throat between his jaws.

Thunkar's head tensed repeatedly as he severed and gored as much as he could. He pulled back as hard as he could with one fast motion, tearing apart Punishe’s throat in one second.

The open wound splurt blood all around them as his arms reached up to try and stop the un unclotable injury.

His body shrunk from the impressive size he had used to fight the sloth to his original beastman form.

The boy backed up the struggling body and tossed his head to the side, flinging the chunk of meat away.

Quickly, the massive warbeast disappeared and turned into the familiar kid he had come to know.