Chương 108: B2 Chapter 28

Ulfar Die! The heavyweight mace crashed down upon the weasel of a Barbarian only to miss the target by a hair's breadth. Ulfar was fuming. On the outside, he maintained a calm expression, but on the inside he was steaming. His blood was boiling, and his energy was rolling through his body like crazy. His Runeskin, Spikescale, was active, blocking the pesky projectiles coming for him from all sides. However, they were far from the most annoying.

No matter how cumbersome the daggers, spears, and scythes heading his way were, he didn't have to evade them. They were too weak to harm him seriously. As expected from the weakling. Do not underestimate your opponent. Behemoth Blood rumbled in his head. And yet, despite the words ringing in his head urging him to be cautious, they were filled with bloodlust. The bloodlust was so overwhelming that Ulfar accelerated and struck again and again and again. Hakon was like a slippery eel.

He wove around the descending mace and dove to the ground when a swift horizontal strike should have knocked him out cold. Even with [Weapon Mastery] closing in on Level 15, Ulfar felt like his control of the mace was… inferior to Hakon's handaxe mastery. That's not possible. He let out a low growl, steadied his position with [Heavy Frame], and struck again.

Being faster, stronger, and tougher than his opponent gave him the opportunities needed to kill his foe, yet Hakon was not only faster but also stronger than anticipated. He accelerated suddenly whenever the mace was sure to hit him, pushing Ulfar in ways he hated the most. Energy tore out from the mass lodged deep inside him. It surged through his legs and into his feet right before he stomped fiercely onto the ground, activating [Earthshaker] in the blink of an eye.

Hakon's eyes grew wide for a moment as the ground shook. Cracks spread across the battlefield, and its firm foundation tore apart as pieces of stone flew through the air. Hakon, being the small weakling he was, failed to retain his foothold. He was too insignificant to counter such a simple Skill and faced the wrath of [Unyielding March]. Ulfar strode across the battlefield, ignoring the stones jutting from the ground and the pieces flying his way. With the heavyweight mace raised in his hand, he smiled at Hakon.

End him. Behemoth Blood ordered, yet the Ancient Power was not filled with as much confidence as Ulfar desired. It infuriated him to feel his Ancient Power acting like this. [Overwhelming Presence] flowed out of him as the mace crashed down once more. And while he had been certain that it was going to be Hakon's end, time seemed to slow to a crawl.

Hakon's head jerked up, and it frustrated him more than anything to see the Barbarian stare at him with burning intensity, the faintest hint of a smile creeping up on his face.

"My mace will drink in your blood!" he roared as soon as time resumed, but something was different than before. Hakon's position changed. It was not much. Most warriors watching the Challenge of Blood likely hadn't noticed, but Ulfar did. The mace slowed and came to a screeching halt even though Ulfar put more strength into the attack. He followed up with a quick kick, which was as fast and destructive as always, yet the mace froze in place. As if its momentum had been cut off.

Retracting the mace, Ulfar struck again. This time his second Runeskin, Overload, triggered, and his lifeforce flowed into his muscles. Hakon's eyes grew wide, energy burst free from his frail body, and he transformed into a flash. A flash of retreat. Like a pathetic little bunny that was too afraid to face its hunter. But Hakon was much less than a rabbit. He was a coward, a weakling, and soon enough he would die a Sagaless death. Pushing ahead, Ulfar smashed the stump of his severed arm into Hakon.

If he still had his arm, killing that fool would have been so simple. Slashing his throat would have been the easiest thing in all of the Dark Forest, but he had only one arm and something that had once been useful. And yet, ramming the arm stump into Hakon's face filled Ulfar with delight. One of the weird blue shields popped up once more when Ulfar raised his intact arm to squash Hakon, and again, something odd happened. More blue shields materialized, but not between him and Hakon.

They formed around his arm and froze in place. Ulfar moved and smashed his arm against the shields, but they hovered in the air and obstructed his path. You allow him to humiliate you? Behemoth Blood snorted, the ridicule in the Ancient Power's voice ever-present. No! Ulfar roared within himself and sacrificed his lifeforce for more power. Overload gave him exactly what he needed. The power and presence needed to shatter the shields restraining him.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. And yet, as he prepared to attack again, his opponent was already upon him.

Hakon This was harder than he could have anticipated. It was troublesome, to say the least. Ulfar was simply too strong. Behemoth Blood granted him too much physical strength, making it increasingly difficult to hurt him. Even [Arcane Manifestation] was struggling to inflict serious wounds. Cuts, sure, but even when he applied [Bleeding] on the constructs, they didn't penetrate Ulfar's Spikescale easily. They're enhanced by his Ancient Power. That would make sense.

It would explain how his Runeskin had grown so much stronger since the Battle of Generation. And it promised trouble, more than Flowbreaker could solve. Flowbreaker, Hakon's second Major Runeskin, was powerful. It worked just like it did with the Young Drake and shattered the target's flow of mana… when used with mana. Channeling the Will of Momentum through Flowbreaker transformed the Runeskin into something else entirely.

Hakon burst into action and shot toward Ulfar, only to use Flowbreaker and change his movement in a moment. He burst right without losing any momentum, only to change direction a moment later and charge back at Ulfar. He [Bash]ed into the towering Barbarian and rammed one of his handaxes into Ulfar's shoulder. It worked, courtesy of [Accelerate] pushing his attack speed to new heights, but the damage was laughable.

The handaxe's edge cut into the Barbarian and shattered as soon as Ulfar coated his shoulder in Spikescale. A muscle flex was all the Behemoth Blood warrior needed to destroy the refined handaxe. I really need better weapons. He growled inwardly, used Flowbreaker once more to slow Ulfar's natural regeneration, and dumped a heavy load of violent mana inside his opponent. [Discharge] worked as intended, possibly even better than he could have hoped for, but all it did was anger Ulfar and make him bleed.

The wounds spread across Ulfar's body slowly accumulated, courtesy of [Bleeding] and the countless shallow cuts that were barely severe enough to alarm Ulfar. Hakon was slowly making out a pattern in Ulfar's movements as well. The fool of a Barbarian was like a wild, bloodthirsty monster, yet he retained enough of his sanity to fight predictably. Somewhat, if one could pick up the minuscule nuances that hinted at certain movements. It was as hard as he'd expected it to be, but it worked.

Taking charge of the battle, the tide shifted slowly. I can do it. Slow and steady wins the race. He told himself before checking his reserves again. [Aether Spiral] was active and kept his Core replenished as much as possible, and while his head hurt a little from the constant casting of Skills, he wasn't doing nearly as bad as he'd feared. Confidence crept up his spine and spread outward until Ulfar began to smoke. Wafts of smoke oozed from his skin.

The Spikescales cracked and shattered as the towering Barbarian grew to surpass three meters in height, and blood flowed from his crimson eyes. Crimson eyes… Hakon had a bad feeling about it and pulled back, but Ulfar was already upon him. He reached top speed in a moment and caught up even when Hakon pushed through [Accelerate], [Swiftstep], and [Circulation]. He had to follow up with Flowbreaker to slow Ulfar when the towering Barbarian swung his mace down once more.

Yet, instead of freezing the descending weapon like initially intended, it only slowed for a moment. Long enough to escape but too short to counter. A growl escaped from the deepest pits of Ulfar's being, and he changed. His fighting style transformed into something even more bestial as he hurled the mace at Hakon. His sun-kissed skin turned a shade of red, shimmering in the light of the Blood Moon as though blessed by it.

Enough power to swallow a 3rd Ascension warrior rippled across the stage, and it threatened to do the very same to Hakon. A change had occurred. One worse than anything Hakon had accounted for. I fucking hate this.

Ulfar [Beloved of Blood and Disaster, you, ferocious warrior of the Wilds, have been blessed.] [Will of Ferocity has been acquired.] [A Will has been perceived. Insufficient Level detected. Unique circumstances detected. The Third Wall has been weakened.] [Power Skill, [Earthshaker], has mutated. [Bestial Rampage] has been created under the Will's Influence.] [Skill, [Carnage], has been learned.] [Skill, [Beast's Ferocity], has been learned.] …

More Scriptures materialized around him, but Ulfar pushed them aside with a toothy smile. He knew what the Scriptures said. He felt it. The Ancestors were on his side. They had always been and would always be. They wanted him to kill Hakon and to become the next Warlord. Ulfar embraced their trust in his power, even if it hadn't come without a price. Are you happy now? Behemoth Blood's self-satisfied voice echoed through his mind louder than ever. The power flowing through him was extraordinary.

It was not something someone as weak as Hakon could acquire. Yet, it did not feel entirely like his own. And while his attention shifted back to Hakon the moment other thoughts threatened to distract him, filling him with anger, he faintly recognized that Behemoth Blood's grasp was stronger. But it was not his grasp of the Ancient Power that had grown. It was the other way around. Its grasp was stronger than ever, so was his connection to the voice echoing in his mind. The voice. It was…

It was almost like the voice was part of him. As if it was his second voice. Ulfar embraced the power and all that came with it. Zoning in on Hakon, his crimson-drenched vision locked onto his foe. He didn't even notice the blood dripping down his nose or his burning skin splitting apart from the Behemoth's power flowing through him, pushing him to new heights.

"It's time to die." Ulfar hissed, but it was not his voice. It was the Behemoth's.