Chapter 152
Jala the Twice-Grafted
The arrow loosed from Akula’s bow sung through the fog, the wind imbued into its body by means of Akula’s Skill made the arrow even more deadly. But Akula’s face was still when she saw – for a brief moment – a spark.
Then they hear a roar so loud that it blew the fog away.
The Hunters all felt fear gripping their hearts. Some of them even had a mind to turn tail.
“Stand your ground!!” Connie shouted. “They are coming.”
With the fog cleared, now they could see their enemies. Instantly their eyes fell on the large creature standing in the middle of a mixed group of monsters and Demons.
“By Junnaveil’s Grace…!” Barney exclaimed.
It was a Toad the size of a house. Its body a sickly green and yellow color. Upon its back was a Demon with a humanlike body and two heads, the two heads had colors mismatching the color of the rest of the body. He wielded a mace that was far larger than any mace the Hunters had ever seen.
The mace in question had a shaft about one and a half meter long, with the girth of an adult man’s arm. The mace head was made of stone instead of metal.
“Humans. Ur-Nagud Bet-Zebek’s warning is correct!” the Demon sitting on top of the Toad monster said. “I am Ur-Kulak Jala the Twice-Grafted!! You will make fine food for my men!!”
We’re screwed! That Demon is the strongest Ur-Kulak under Bet-Zebek. Leyn wrote furiously. The Demon had his own brother's head grafted onto his body!!
“Illumca,” Connie glanced at the Dark Elf meaningfully, ignoring the panicked look of the Dark Elf.
Illumca’s eyes moved swiftly left to right as if she was reading something in front of her after declaring her Skill. She nodded at Connie. “That thing’s called Ershelan Giant Toad. That’s what we need to kill to move to the next floor. The Demon’s above my level, I can’t see his exact numbers.”
"The Demon managed to tame a Floor Boss!" Barney cursed. "Dammit! Dammit all to Sud-Ghazid!!"
“Calm down, Barney. For now, we need to gather ourselves. Martell – you…” Just as Connie was about to say her orders, someone broke rank.
And it was someone no one ever thought would do such a rash thing.
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“YOU BASTARDS!!!”
“Caelin?!”
The normally coolheaded Elf rushed towards the enemies with his sword. An arrow came at him from one of the Demons. With a swift movement he broke it with a single slash before weaving through two Bearded Lizards’s spitting attack and slashing their abdomens. He evaded another attack coming from behind and stepped on the face of a dog-headed Demon, using his face as a platform to jump into the air.
The Toad blinked and opened its mouth. A pink, poisonous tongue dripping with poison shot at him.
“Air Step!!” Caelin used the Skill to gain elevation and quickly followed up with another Skill.
“Wind Blade!!”
A blast of sharp wind directed at the Mace-wielding Demon cut through the air. Jala smirked and swung the mace with both hands, easily dispersing it. The move was followed with a giant swing which barely grazed Caelin, but was enough to cause his rib to crack as he was sent flying back.
“Argh!!”
He expected to have his back meet the ground, but instead felt a soft mound upon his back.
With Caelin in his arms, Connie took a few light steps back upon reaching the ground to lessen the force.
“Martell!! Take the lead!!” she said while she stabilized herself.
At once, Martell played his instrument and roused the fighting spirit of everyone around him. Even those that had almost turned tail felt their hearts burning with bravery. With the newly acquired vigor, they began attacking the Demons.
“Forward! There are only thirty of them!! Let our party handle the Ur-Kulak!!” Martell bellowed his order.
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As the battle began and metal clashed against claws and fangs, Connie crammed a Rejuvenating Pill into the Elf’s mouth.
“You cracked some ribs,” Connie frowned. “What the fuck were you thinking?!”
“The…mace he’s holding…,” the man said as he tried to settle his breath. “That’s Rhoddes’s mace. I’d recognize it anywhere!”
Connie looked at the two Dark Elves who were standing awkwardly as they had no weapon in their hands. “Do you know how Demon managed to get that mace?”
The Demons captured an Anukaran Priest and a woman a few months back. Jala took his weapon as a trophy.
“As a trophy?!” Caelin shouted, which made his abdomen cry out in pain. “Are they alive?!”
We don’t know. They keep the captured humans in a jail cell separate from our living quarters. And most of us don’t venture there willingly.
“…Ugh…”
“Rest a bit and stabilize yourself,” Connie said.
She then took out two swords from her Item Ring and spoke. “You, the big guy. Keep him away from the battle. And you, take this sword and follow me to kill some Demons. Then I’ll know if you are really willing to get your balls all in with us.”
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The two looked at each other.
Arryn immediately grabbed the sword by the hilt. With no more choice, Leyn also took up the sword.
“At least you two had the sense to make the right choice.”
Connie let go after a gentle tug and smirked.
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Akula took the lead as she fired arrow after arrow at the enemies while she galloped through the battlefield and managed to hit five. She also tried shooting at the Toad with her Skill, unfortunately, the Toad’s skin was too thick and slimy that they either bounced or slipped off.
“Don’t spread out. Keep it busy! Don’t let that Demon aid the smaller ones!” Martell bellowed as he sent his swords flying towards Jala. The swords managed to pierce his arm. But they could not enter any deeper than the tips.
“Get that damned Demon off his mount!!” Nick roared as he parried a Demon’s claw attack and separated its head from its body with a swift counter.
The battle was hard. The Hunters fought back as well as they could, but the monsters were strong; their claws and poisoned fangs fierce.
The Toad leapt all over the battlefield, everywhere it landed, the muddy ground shifted an made the Hunters lose their footing. It shot its sticky tongue at a Hunter and ate him in one gulp.
“Shit!” Martell shot three swords to hinder him, but it only managed to make it angrier.
Seeing that, Akula took out her Sukheri and charged towards the Ershelan Toad. Seeing this, Jala punched the Toad’s head, startling it. The toad bucked and spat out green colored sputums at her.
“GROOAAKH!!”
In an incredible show of leg strength owing to her Altanghazar blood, Akula kicked the ground and zigged and zagged past the attack. Angered by this, the Toad shot out its sticky tongue yet again. This time, due to its speed, it managed to stop Akula on her track. However, she managed to open her Sukheri just in time. Still, the impact managed to make her buckle.
“Not yet!” Jala cried out in alarm.
From the side, Illumca who had been biding her time in the shadows appeared with daggers imbued with flame. “AKULA!!”
The Ershelan Toad saw the oncoming danger and tried to retract its tongue. However, it found out that it was unable to. At the other end of its long tongue, Akula’s powerful fingers had dug into the flesh and wrapped it around her arm.
The daggers swung down. Blood burst out of the wounds and it bucked around in pain.
This sudden movement threw Jala off his back. With a heavy sound, the large Demon fell upon his back.
The few Hunters who had finished off their opponents saw this chance and attempted to ambush him from behind.
Barney, who saw what his teammates were trying to do, tried to stop them. But it was too late.
The Ur-Kulak swung the mace half-kneeling and crushed their torso into red paste. All that were left were two pair of flailing legs that fell onto the wet ground with a splosh.
This cruel scene quickly dampened the bravery of the Hunters who only just managed to win their respective fights.
“I have two pairs of eyes, humans! Do you think you can ambush me?!”
“Jan -! Esta - !” Barney shouted in disbelief. He had fought Demons before, but it was the first time he saw a Demon as strong as this. From all the men that he had brought, only three excluding him managed to survive. He always knew that there was a possibility that they could die in their line of job, but he did not think that it would be today.
“…Humans!” the Demon grumbled as he regarded his mace. Small pieces of brain still stuck on its surface. The other pair of eyes glared at the Giant Toad who had – in its pain-induced frenzy – trampled on both enemies and allies.
“Kakkul!!” The Demon bellowed.
When it heard the call, the monstrous Toad began to calm down and quickly hopped towards him.
Illumca noticed this and used her Skill. “Firewall!!”
Pillars of fire made up a wall that stopped the Toad in its track due to its instinctive fear of fire. “Don’t let it on the Toad again!!”
The Toad croaked angrily and tried to jump, but Connie appeared from the sky with her weapon brimming with Yin Energy, pushing down.
“You’re gonna play with me, little croaker!!”
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Akula swung her Sukheri at Jala, who was enraged by the audacity of the Races hindering him. Jala roared and blocked the attack.
“I am Jala the Twice-Grafted!! Ur-Kulak of the Bereaved Dead Banner!! Even without my mount, I can turn you into meat paste! I will feast on your flesh and offer your bones to Ur-Nagud Bet-Zebek.”
The two weapons were locked in battle. Each pressuring the other. Sounds of stone grinding against metal hurt their ears as they leaned in close to push against the other in a contest of prowess. At first, Akula was in disadvantage, but then she felt a sudden feeling of empowerment.
“Keep going!!” Martell shouted as he furiously plucked his strings.
With a powerful grunt, Akula pushed back. “Demon! I’ll take your heads!!”
“I’ve heard those words many times! And each time I’ve beaten them! Just like those Dark Elves you have with you! Berserk!!!”
Sukheri and mace met again and again. Each swing sending bursts of muddy earth into the air. With each hit, the Demon’s body turned redder and redder. His power becomes more and more pronounced.
The next hit was enough to cause Akula to almost lose her consciousness. She only barely managed to stay awake through willpower.
“Once they’ve been beaten enough times, they either die or submit. Which one are you going to be?!” the Demon roared triumphantly.
“What you said is true, however, you forget one thing.”
Akula remembered Connie, who dared to fight against a Hero for the sake of what she believed in. She remembered her form; broken and beaten from an unfair fight. Rendered unable to stand as a result of it.
She did not even blink when the whole kingdom went against her, and instead laughed and turned their words against themselves.
Akula laughed. Her shark-like teeth red from the blood seeping from her gum as she clenched her teeth to gather power for her next blow.
“The ones who keeps standing up no matter how much they are beaten!! AAHH!!”
Skill “Voice of the Undefeated” Obtained.
Her next blow was something that she had never experienced before. It was something that she could feel into the marrow. The heat of her will manifesting into strength. But she did not have the time to think as she used this chance to push on the advantage.
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A shadow flit pas Jala’s sight. Sensing danger, he wanted to catch the annoying fly. However, though he had two heads; he only had two arms. And they were both locked in a stalemate with the Centaur. Illumca took this chance knowing this and stabbed the eyes of his left head. If her daggers could not get through his skin, then his eyes would do. Such was Connie’s teachings.
“Aaargh!” the creature flailed angrily. The sudden movement caused Illumca to fall.
“My eyes!” The momentary lapse of judgment caused Jala to enter a state of rage and his eyes glow red with indignation. His muscles bulged and he raised his weapon in anger, disregarding anything else. All he wanted now was to kill the thing that just took his eyes.
“Heavy Bulwark!!” Nick shouted as he raised his shield over his head.
“Damn you!! Earth Breaker!!!” The mace’s head fell onto the shield like a meteor, cracking it. “DIEEE!”
At the moment of impact, the ground behind and under him exploded. Illumca was not sapred from the aftereffect of the attack and was sent flying back. However, she was nimble enough to land safely.
“Get up!!” Nick shouted through gritted teeth, forcing himself to stay standing. His bones felt numb just from that one hit. He could not imagine how Akula could handle such power by herself.
“Die!!” The Centaur dug her legs into the ground and sunk her Sukheri through his abdomen.
Green blood burst through the hole, staining the bronze-colored weapon.
“HAAAARRGHHH!!!” the Demon roared. The roar caused even Akula to momentarily lose her grip. Jala pushed her away and then fell to one knee. With great pain he pulled off the Sukheri from his torso.
“Kakkul!!” The Demon called his mount once more as he tried to cover the hole from which green blood were pouring out and staining the land under him. “Kakkul!!”
He saw the Ershelan Giant Toad that was his mount and called out to it once more.
Then he saw the figure of a white-robed young girl standing on top of his mount.
Connie gave a little wave when she noticed his gaze. Crimson Serpentbane was still dripping with fat and blood from killing the Giant Toad, whose skull had been cracked open. Standing nearby with a shocked look on her face was Arryn.
This person could kill such a strong enemy by herself. She did not need me. She was just testing my determination.
And she shuddered.
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Jala looked around him and saw that he was alone. None of the monsters or Demons under him survived the battle. And with the human head-sized hole in his torso, he would not survive for long.
“You win, Centaur. But my death does not mean a thing. Ur-Nagud Bet-Zebek will see you beaten and your bones shall be his food. Just like those Dark Elves. Just like those who coveted our land.”
Akula grabbed her fallen Sukheri, regarded the resigned Demon briefly and said. “May Sud-Ghazid take your soul.”
CRACK!!