Chapter 77: Until the end (Third Part)

The devastating explosions happening above the Advanced town were finally over when Jazor made the small wall of earth blocking the mangled mouth of the Krath collapse.

The wall disappeared unexpectedly quietly but it wasn’t enough to go completely unnoticed by the few animals still lingering around the Krath.

It would have been much better if we could have waited for the place to be completely devoid of any animal to witness our escape, but hoping for something like that was a fantasy and a complete luxury in our current situation.

The latest horde composed of dozens of furious animals was gone.

The last deviant was also gone.

Jazor knew just as I did that we wouldn’t be getting another better chance.

However, when I saw the animals drawn by our presence, I couldn’t help but curse.

Of course, it had to be animals I never saw before.

Moreover, none of them seemed harmless in the slightest.

The closest was a bear-like animal that roared in anger when it spotted us. I never confronted or saw any bear in my previous world, but I was quite sure this specimen was at least twice as large as them. Its unremarkable black fur started to turn blue after it noticed us while its claws kept growing longer with each passing second.

“It’s a Donnerg, this one is the most dangerous. I will take care of it. Keep the other two busy in the meantime!”

Jazor showed his obvious superior experience and quickly ran toward the so-called Donnerg with his axe raised before I could accept or deny his plan.

Alianelle and Paul stood behind me while I faced my two almost identical opponents.

They were both around the size of a deer, had four legs and were covered with a short immaculate white fur except for their heads, starting from their neck, which were blue. This strange color similar to the night sky gave them a mysterious presence enhanced by the round golden marks disseminated around their white eyes.

They each had a remarkably long tail much fluffier than the rest of their slim bodies. This tail was completely snow white with the exception of the tip which was of the same color as their heads. This impressive tail, long enough to touch their respective snouts, was moving relentlessly around them and even sometimes intertwined with each other.

These animals were quite beautiful and didn’t seem ready to attack me, but I didn’t let their elegant appearances fool me into thinking that they were harmless.

In this world filled with bloodthirsty deviants and magical beasts more or less intelligent, all animals had to develop their own special ability to have any hope of survival. As a result, even the most harmless Ellaf, these small blue birds living in groups that I crossed on my journey, had their ‘mutual cry’ to survive.

That’s why I wished Jazor had taken the time to explain to me their natural abilities even if it wasn’t really possible to know if my current opponents, glaring at me with brilliant white eyes, were able to use magic or not.

The sudden appearance of a large pillar of fire aimed at Jazor distracted me, but was more than enough to understand that my dwarven friend didn’t have the leisure to add any comment about my opponents anymore.

When I refocused on them, the movement of their long tails had already changed. As if they were caressing the air itself, the tails slowly ondulated with a strange rhythm while their owner took a few subtle steps forward.

It took me a few seconds to realize that these apparently almost harmless animals had already crossed half of the distance separating us without making a single noise.

I shook my head to refocus and started to gather my mana while scowling.

I didn’t know the name of this specie nor could I identify its abilities but it was obvious that their tails were more than just a fluffy decoration.

The surprised expression on their almost identical faces when I managed to refocus on their movements, despite their previous attempt, made me understand that these animals were also probably more intelligent than I initially thought.

They stopped for a few seconds, and ceased the motion of their long enchanting tails to simply open their small mouths.

Like a mirror they showed their long fangs at the same time while taking slow but powerful steps toward me. Their previous enchanting appearance was completely gone the moment I saw these fangs apparently too long to fit in their small mouths.

Even if they took longer to act, they seemed just as eager as the Donnerg to engage me.

I thought they would separate to try to encircle me, but they strangely stayed close to one another.

It wasn’t to displease me.

With a wave of my hand, I sent several fast earthbullets to take care of the both of them at the same time.

However, with surprising reflexes and agility, they both jumped on one side to avoid before regrouping and launching forward in a fluid movement.

“Sillath!”

Alianelle's worried voice reached me when I jumped sideway with the propulsion from my wind magic to avoid. I fired a few other earthbullets, but none met their marks.

These animals were surprisingly fast but contrary to Jazor’s opponent, that was breathing impressive pillars of fire, they didn’t seem able to use magic.

This thought crossed my mind before I realized that it was too soon to tell. There were too many kinds of magic I didn’t even know to reach this conclusion.

Maybe they were simply waiting for the right time to use a particularly tricky magic.

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That’s why I chose to keep my distance from them.

I didn’t try to fly too high either for fear that my opponents would turn their attentions toward Alianelle and Paul who were anxiously watching my fight near the fallen Krath.

I evaded another round of attacks and turned my gaze to look briefly at Jazor’s situation.

Despite his obvious tiredness, Jazor was dominating his opponent. A large wound near the right flank of the Donner was bleeding profusely and didn’t let much doubt about the winner of their fight.

This was exactly what we needed. Even if I couldn’t sense anything yet, other animals were bound to come close sooner or later and I didn’t want to attract their attention with the sound of our battles.

I quickly refocused and barely avoided a surprised strike from a tail used as a whip.

I avoided another tail and barely managed to fix my posture in mid-air before my opponents resumed their attacks.

Jazor was perhaps almost done, but my fight wasn’t going as well.

My opponents were just too fast and too crafty. Their teamwork was peerless and didn’t let me have any time to truly threaten them.

I had a few stronger magic than I could use, but Jazor would be joining me soon so I didn’t take any unnecessary risk and simply continued to avoid with my wind magic while making sure to not be encircled.

It was the most reasonable choice especially against animals I knew next to nothing about.

This was what my experience in the wilderness told me.

Don’t take unnecessary risk by underestimating your opponent or by trying to shorten a fight.

This philosophy served me right for my numerous confrontations in these savage lands, but this time I underestimated the intelligence and ruthlessness of my foes.

Seeing the strong Donner almost defeated, they both halted their chases at the same time and gathered together once more.

As if one was the reflection of the other, they both raised the respective snout and opened wide their mouths. The breath they let out was visible to the naked eyes and changed color in just a few seconds.

From a barely visible white to an eye catching and deep red.

Before I could react, they each had a small ball of fire levitating a few inches above their mouths wide open toward the sky.

I landed on the ground and quickly fired several earthbullets when I realized they were finally revealing their magic.

However, they both jumped away at the same time with peerless coordination without even looking in my direction. They didn’t break their posture or separated from one another either, as if they were using the same brain to move.

I didn’t have the time to pursue when their respective small fireballs started to fuse together.

From two fist-size balls of fire was born a ball larger than my entire body undulating with the obvious heat it was emanating.

I didn’t panik and prepared to avoid.

However, they didn’t try to shoot at me.

They turned their attention toward Alianelle and Paul who could only look dumbfounded as a fireball, among the largest I have ever seen, was fired in their direction.

“No!” I screamed in realization.

I reacted in time and used my wind magic at maximum output to put myself in the trajectory of the magic. The giant ball of fire heading straight to my face made my heart skip a beat but it didn’t slow down my reaction.

With a scream, I immediately raised my right hand and released my own magic of ice to welcome the attack.

*Boom*

The explosion that followed was much stronger than I anticipated. The ice I created from my right hand was enough to stop the attack, but the violent wave of heat that followed was barely contained by the coldness surrounding my entire body.

The blast also made me take a couple of hurried steps backward.

However, when the cloud of dust settled, I was still standing with my right hand raised forward.

It was the first time I took this kind of magic head on. My earth magic would have probably been better used to protect myself, but I wanted to completely negate the impact and the heat with my ice magic.

Not my best idea.

Even if I protected Alianelle and Paul, my attempt was only half-successful.

I was unharmed, even if my head was painfully ringing in protestation, but the collision between hot and cold created a loud explosion.

That was exactly what I wanted to avoid.

I slowly lowered my painful hand back to my side while trying my utmost to get rid of the dizziness assaulting my head by repeatedly blinking my eyes.

My opponents didn’t seem deterred in the slightest by their previous failure. They both emitted a threatening growl and started to form another giant fireball.

They were too fast and too coordinated to be stopped by any of my attacks and the worse was that I couldn't move from my spot if I wanted to protect Alianelle and Paul behind me. My only option left was to gather my mana and prepare for the impact.

*Bam*

Before the completion of their magic, an earthball much larger than the one I was used to create violently crashed against them on their right side and sent their small bodies flying with whimpers of pain. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Jazor lowering his right arm before taking up his axe with both hands to hack at the bleeding Donner who had tried to take advantage of the situation by furiously charging forward with its massive body.

I didn’t waste this opportunity and fired several earthbullets at my opponents just after they touched the ground.

This time, even their speed and reflexes weren’t enough to avoid.

When the dust settled, one of them had already collapsed while the other one was trying to stand up.

“Finish them, Sillath!”

Jazor’s voice reached me just before I saw him finally decapitate his opponent.

The previous explosion almost guaranteed us that more animals were on their way so I didn’t waste any time.

I ran toward my now fallen opponents and raised my arm to finish the closest and most wounded of them still lying on its right side with red blood tainting its once immaculate white fur. The creature whimpered, but I ignored it and concentrated my mana to finish it in one blow.

Just before firing my magic, I saw its companion finally standing up.

I watched from the corner of my eyes as it slowly limped toward me. Its tail was down and its fangs retracted but I didn’t plan to let it come any closer.

However, contrary to my expectation, it wasn’t walking toward me. I watched with incredulous eyes as it slowly lied down beside its wounded brethren while covering it with its own body.

Its companion reacted to its presence and slowly straightened its body before raising its head to look at me.

With their long tails intertwined together and their white eyes fixed on me, they both waited for their end.

I already experienced their intelligence during our short confrontation, but I was completely frozen in place by this display of emotions.

Like lovers unable to live without the other, they were waiting for their end together.

“Hurry, Sillath. Kill them already!”

Jazor, with his axe still covered with the blood of his defeated opponent, reached me and watched with incredulous eyes as I slowly lowered my hand.

“No need…”

The expression on these strange creatures’ eyes visibly changed.

None of them were mortally wounded so I wasn’t putting them out their misery. With their wounds, it was also impossible for them to chase after us.

I don't organize death matches, remember?

I clicked my tongue in annoyance as this sentence from my old hyena master crossed my mind. However, I couldn't deny that it certainly felt familiar to spare a defeated opponent.

I ignored Jazor's eyes filled with doubt and started to run with Alianelle and Paul quickly following behind. Just like my companions, I couldn’t help but to throw a last glance at the now fallen animals tightly cuddled together.

A bit of mercy and hope in this world filled with blood and madness was all I had to offer.

The distant roars and cries filled with desire for violence was enough proof that I would soon be unable to give this kind of gift anymore.