Daltonious was radiating some seriously intense vibes, his eyes burning with pure hatred and lightning crackling around him like some kind of epic force field. With one massive punch to the ground, the earth shook and sent a shockwave that had everyone jumping out of their skins. Artoris got caught up in the energy storm and got tossed like a rag doll but managed to land on his feet, teeth clenched, throwing a death glare back at Daltonious.
Poor Purply didn't stand a chance to move an inch; the force of the impact was just too intense. Stepping even slightly within Daltonious's strike zone would mean a guaranteed loss of a limb or, worse, one of his many eyes. The turmoil wiped out houses left and right, leaving nothing but rubble. This place wasn't a beastmen village anymore; it was more like a battlefield aftermath.
Destroyed roofs, bodies everywhere, and huge cracks in the ground made it look like a mini canyon of chaos. Artoris thought he was just heading for a simple mission in the dwarf valley but ended up facing this unexpected monster of a challenge. It was clear the king didn't just pick anyone for this gig.
Taking down this beast was going to need more than a tank or even a chopper. Probably an entire army. Each step Daltonious took made the ground quiver, and when he locked eyes with Artoris, he charged, grabbing him by the cloak and trapping him in an iron grip.
Caught in the giant's fist, Artoris tilted his head, trying to wriggle free. His teeth chattered, and a chill ran down his spine realizing how close he was to those lethal blades.
"Don't... don't eat me, man!"
Then came a hail of arrows slicing through the air, and when Daltonious turned, his back was lit up with projectiles, seconds from blowing up. The explosion hit, forcing him to let go of Artoris, who seized the moment to leap away, landing back on solid ground.
As he looked back, he spotted the squad leader with his grey fur and wolfish features, along with other army dudes. The breach team, all posed and ready, fired off a volley of flaming arrows, aiming straight for Daltonious.
The beast tried to block with an arm, but it was too slow. The arrows detonated with insane speed, engulfing his view in smoke.
"LIGHT 'EM UP!" the squad leader bellowed, as the soldiers quickly followed suit, unleashing a storm of arrows, giving the beast no chance to recover.
Daltonious was nothing but a criminal, a dirty traitor who had defiled the law and betrayed his own kind. He deserved no honor, and nobody was cool with letting him loose; the king's call to release Daltonious turned out to be a massive blunder, unleashing a threat upon the kingdom.
Artoris was taken aback and looked at the squad leader. "Why are you helping me?"
"We're fighting the same enemy, I'm not helping you, got it?!" the wolf snarled defiantly.
Artoris couldn't help but smirk proudly.
The soldiers lowered their bows as Daltonious kneeled, beaten.
The squad leader scanned them with a sharp gaze.
"Why the heck are you stopping? I said fire!" he roared.
The soldiers lifted their bows again and sent another volley of arrows towards the target.
Like a whirlwind of fire, Daltonious didn't even get a chance to react before being blown back by the barrage. He charged forward like a raging bull, resisting the fall, but still getting pelted by the bullets pushing him further back.
In the smoke shrouding the beast, a hand emerged from the fog, slowly opening and trembling slightly.
The axe, with its handle stuck in the ground, began to rise slowly until it floated in the air, snapping back into its owner's hand instantly. The hand gripped the axe firmly, and with a swift spinning motion, the blade deflected the avalanche of arrows, making them strike against it.
The soldiers froze, turning to the squad leader for orders.
"W-what do we do now, boss?" stammered one of the soldiers.
The squad leader was on his knees, pulling his hair out with his nails.
"We're all gonna die!" he sobbed.
"BOSSSSS!" a soldier yelled, trying to snap their leader out of it.
The beastman made an insane leap, hanging in the air before slamming down hard, unleashing a furious blow that tore the earth apart. Cracks spread under the soldiers' feet, who, in sheer panic, bolted.
The squad leader, nearly passing out, spotted a crack right under his foot and knew it was the end for him. The ground was splitting, isolating him from the others. On the other side, he saw his comrades safe and sound, shouting to get the squad leader's attention, begging him not to die. But the squad leader felt the ground giving way beneath him more and more.
"Guys!" the squad leader shouted, tears in his eyes. "H-help!"
In despair, the wolf slammed the ground. "I don't wanna die!"
But then, a strong hand grabbed and yanked him away. It was Amelia, who had pulled him by the fur and thrown him onto another ledge formed by the split.
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The squad leader jumped to his feet and saw Amelia sinking lower and lower. He lunged forward, stretching his hand out, trying to grab her.
"Why'd you do that?!"
Amelia was sinking. The ground was giving way...
"Take care of the soldiers," she said with a brave smile.
"Amelia!" the squad leader screamed his lungs out, cursing himself over and over.
Kira, watching the scene unfold, bit her lip and activated her power. A wave of flames burst from her hand.
"Fireball!" she shouted, extending her palm and hurling it towards Daltonious. However, the attack was ineffective as the beast's axe deflected it in an instant.
Purply charged at Daltonious, trying to trap him with its paws. But with a lightning-fast axe strike, Daltonious broke two of Purply's legs. Purply tried to take flight, but Daltonious grabbed him again, this time aiming straight for the wings. Purply crashed heavily to the ground, robbed of his ability to fly.
Daltonious loosened his grip on the axe and plunged it into Purply's skull. Blood flowed from the wound as the axe buried itself deep, causing a massive loss of blood. Purply's eyelids slowly closed as his life faded away.
Purply's legs began to weaken, losing the strength they once had. Daltonious pulled the axe from Purply's skull and flicked it like a whip, splattering the blood off its blade.
The soldiers were petrified by the gruesome scene, while the squad leader struggled to keep his footing, still in shock from the recent events. Kira, on the other hand, began to show a pained expression, shaken by the sight of Purply in such a state. She wasn't sure what to feel but was overwhelmed by a sense of injustice seeing the king of demons' follower so grievously injured. She felt a responsibility towards Purply and decided it was her duty to heal him.
Daltonious needed a breather, setting the axe on the ground, having used too much power.
With a last strand of spider silk thrown by Purply, the filaments wrapped around Daltonious's hand, preventing it from moving; it was reduced to a mere tangle of webs.
Another tangle of webs was shot towards the axe, completely enveloping it. Daltonious lunged forward to grab it, but something stopped him. His legs seemed paralyzed. He looked down and raised an eyebrow, seeing Artoris's shadow beneath him.
"Are you a shadow?!" Daltonious exclaimed.
With his other arm, he tried to punch the ground, but it was ineffective. He raised an eyebrow again and continued to strike with his other arm, but each hit proved futile against Artoris's shadow, which remained unfazed with hands clasped over its torso and cloak billowing proudly.
Daltonious furrowed his brows and glared at the ground as Artoris's shadow clung to his feet like a whirlpool. As soon as Artoris's shadow stretched and completely enveloped his body, a text message appeared on the interface:
[YOU HAVE ACQUIRED DALTONIOUS]
Daltonious's eyes widened, trying to maintain control over them as he looked around in anger.
"Coward!" he stuttered, his voice dripping with frustration. "Face me without these pathetic tricks."
Suddenly, Artoris's smug smile was mirrored in the shadow on the ground as he witnessed the beastman's humiliating moment.
Artoris had the raging, hulking creature right in his palm; it had fallen into his trap. Of course, this improvised plan wouldn't have worked if Purply hadn't tied Daltonious up with his webs.
The beastman's muscles were paralyzed, unable to move even an arm, his eyes were the only thing fluttering. "Coward," Daltonious had called him, a wretch who, instead of facing him head-on, hid behind a shadow.
Artoris didn't care about following ideals or moral rules anymore, not for the wrongs he had suffered in the past, nor because, in this new world and with the position he held, he no longer cared in the slightest about what was right or wrong.
The web continued to flow over his massive form, Purply stopped because he couldn't go on, he was at his limit. Kira had to come closer and start a healing spell to mend his deep wounds.
"You would have made a great underling," Artoris said with bitter disappointment. "I would have sent you to storm Heden Castle, you would have gained a lot by becoming my underling, but it seems you're stubborn, my friend."
Daltinous could only widen his eyes, unable to move.
"What do you say?" Artoris continued. "Still want to join me?"
Artoris relaxed the muscles of his face so he could move his lips. "B...bastard!"
In a flash, Daltonious's face changed, his eyes shook wildly, and his mouth opened wide.
"ROOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!"
The sound echoed with such force that the webs crumbled off Daltonious's body, and vaporized. The echo was so deafening that it broke every spell in the air, and gradually Artoris reemerged in physical form.
Daltonious freed himself from the last of the webs as the cocoon imprisoning him tore apart, allowing him to clench his fists freely. Each step he took seemed to come with a boom, and when he reached Artoris, he lunged at him with a punch charged with energy. Lightning flashes danced around his arm.
"DIE!" he roared, expelling all the air from his lungs.
The punch intensified into a whirlwind of force, slamming Artoris to the ground with the kind of impact that would squash a fly, making him bounce like a ping-pong ball before burying him in the dirt.
Beaten to a pulp, covered in wounds, and struggling to breathe, that hit was devastating for him.
-40 HP
"That's all?"
Artoris felt the thunder of footsteps grow louder and saw the beastman's shadow eclipse the sunlight. More punches followed, one after the other, quick and relentless, as Daltonious pounced with ferocity. Artoris trembled before the creature, questioning, "Why? Have I been defeated? Am I incapable even in this world?"
Daltonious kept hitting him, inflicting a blinding pain that would have killed Artoris had he been a regular human, right at the first punch.
Daltonious delivered a powerful blow that sent Artoris's teeth flying. Each time a wounded part of Artoris regenerated, Daltonious hit it again at the same spot, causing constant pain. Regeneration consumed mana, and if the onslaught continued like this, Artoris would soon be out of magical resources.
He could go on forever, pondering how much pain he wanted to inflict on Artoris. But instead of growing tired, Daltonious seemed to get more energized, as evidenced by the evil light in his eyes, filled with destruction and satisfaction in watching every hope wither.
The sight was horrifying, not just for the beastmen soldiers and the subjects of the Demon King, but for them to see Artoris reduced to such a state was like a dagger to the heart. Defeated and torn apart by a beastman, if that was the case, it had to be a very high-ranking enemy to have brought even the Demon King to his knees. If the news spread, the Demon King would lose his reputation as the "most feared."
In a flash, Artoris's eyes flew open, bathed in a beam of sunlight. He stretched his arm upward, opening his palm with fingers reaching towards the sky, and suddenly, the interface appeared.
There was something he hadn't noticed before, an update, a glimmer of hope, a chance of victory that might still be within reach. His fingers curled towards the interface, and suddenly, the view transformed with the update.