Chương 37: A Battle of Monsters

Lucien stepped forward, twirling his battleaxe around in his hand like a light branch. His muscles no longer visibly strained from carrying his oversized weapon. Something had changed. Evel's eyes remained fixed on Lucien as various ideas rushed through his mind. Many of Evel's previous plans had relied on specific mannerisms of the beast, but Lucien wasn't a beast; he was a human. He was capable of planning and scheming for himself, greatly reducing Evel's options.

He also wasn't some beast trapped in the white membrane, giving them as much time as they needed to prepare. In exchange for their intelligence, humans were significantly weaker physically, but looking at Lucien now, Evel wasn't so sure. The amount of Energy emanating from Lucien was just ridiculous. It must have some sort of time limit. Lucien looked relaxed, leisurely walking forward towards Bremin, playing around with his weapon. He had no urgency in his steps. A bead of sweat travelled down Evel's face.

The blonde-haired man ahead of him looked far more terrifying than any beast they'd encountered. Lucien's head slowly drifted to Evel.

"You're the one who stopped Igneos?" Evel met his gaze with a crooked smile.

"Any chance he messed up his own casting?" Lucien raised an eyebrow as his smile widened. Evel's heart pounded out of his chest, his sweat now soaking his body. His body was screaming danger despite his opponent's lack of movement. Then, Lucien disappeared.

"DUCK!" The moment Diana's urgent scream reached Evel, he complied. He buckled his knees, getting low to the ground as a gust of wind swept over his head, followed closely by an explosion, causing him to slam chest-first into the ground. His ears began to ring, and the world began spinning. His back had been seared, and the force of the shockwave above had caused some of the bones in his body to crack. He wasn't sure which ones. Ignoring the burning pain in his back, Evel forced himself up off the ground.

The ringing slowly subsided, and Evel wobbled as he got on his feet. What the hell just happened? Was that Diana's explosion? Everything had happened so fast, he hadn't been able to process it. Evel grabbed his forehead, squeezing hard in an attempt to stave off the thumping headache. His ribs stung, and his back sizzled. Shallow, uneven breaths were all he could manage in the moment. Doubt grasped at his heart. Am I supposed to be at the same stage as these people? He winced as his head pulsed one more.

At least the ringing was over, now replaced with the constant clashing of metal. Slowly, his vision stabilized as he scanned his surroundings. Bremin and Lucien were rapidly exchanging blows in an intense melee while Diana kept her distance, supporting Bremin with occasional shots. Lucien continuously tried to pivot and target Diana, but Bremin was always there to block his options. Diana managed to position herself perfectly behind Bremin at all times, despite her relative lack of speed.

Lucien's speed and strength were ridiculous, far above what Bremin could produce, but with Diana's support, Bremin managed to keep the battle close, taking advantage of every opening Diana could create. Lucien and Bremin met in a clash in the middle once more, as Bremin got pushed back. At that moment, Evel got a glimpse of Lucien's back. His shirt had been fully burnt off, and the skin beneath remained in pristine condition.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Slowly, the pieces began falling together. Diana had told Evel to duck, then immediately fired a shot above him. Lucien missed and had taken an explosion to the back, which gave Evel the room to survive. Bremin and Diana must have immediately engaged him afterwards. Evel exhaled slowly as the speedy blurs clashed in front of him. He couldn't keep track of the fight.

Bremin was ridiculously fast, even faster than when he had originally trained with him at the camp, and Lucien was still overpowering him. Am I even qualified to contribute? This was a battle of monsters, the peak talent of his rank. Evel was an untrained, below-average street magician from the slums of Yosten. This was a different world. Five copies of him would probably fail to take out any one of these fighters in direct combat. More and more thoughts of doubt took over his mind. How was he supposed to help?

Did he need to just wait and hope for the best? Wait. There aren't just four of us. Even now, there was something he could do. Other than the three monsters ahead of him, there was one other individual. Igneos! Evel straightened up and did a quick scan to look for the fire caster. His eyes quickly stumbled upon the dark-haired man, violently coughing from the thick smog created by his bolt. Igneos remained focused on the clash of monsters ahead of him, a cold look in his eyes. A fireball hovered by his side.

Like Evel, he was also waiting for an opportunity to contribute. An opportunity Evel wouldn't allow. If I can't help, neither can you. Evel stabilized his body and aimed his crossbow, the pain of his body just an afterthought as Evel focused on his hands. Igneos glanced at Evel for a quick moment before looking back at the fight, but his head immediately snapped back. Evel pulled the trigger the moment their eyes met. Igneos frowned and waved his arm forward.

The ball of flame, previously stationary, flew rapidly at the bolt Evel had fired. BOOM! The explosion of the arrow collided with the explosion of the fireball, causing another massive shockwave whose sound reached the other three in the midst of battle. Lucien's head immediately jerked toward the sound, his head scanning through the dust cloud that had formed. With a gleam in her eyes, Diana pulled back the string of her bow. But not at Lucien.

Her body did a half spin as she released her shot towards Igneos, helping Evel finish the battle. Another explosion fired off as the body of Igneos got sent flying into a tree and towards Evel, his body charred and greatly injured. Unfortunately, Diana had underestimated how quickly Lucien would recover from the distraction, and immediately increased his pressure on Bremin. Without Diana's constant threat and support, Bremin got rapidly pushed back.

Lucien, with his greater strength and larger weapon, slammed his battleaxe into the blocking Bremin, pushing his body far into the distance. Bremin's body slammed the ground with a thud as he rolled a few times before getting back on his feet, ready for Lucien's follow-up attack. But instead of pursuing the tumbling Bremin, Lucien bolted at Diana.

"Shit!" Diana simply didn't have the speed to keep up with him. She did the next best thing she could, and instead shot the ground in Lucien's path. The earth ruptured, destabilizing his path to Diana, but Lucien was just too ridiculously fast and, perhaps having predicted Diana's plan, took a longer arc around the explosion. Before Diana could even grab her next arrow, Lucien had arrived in front of her. Diana immediately dropped her bow and took out the blade from her pouch.

Before she could even see the arc of the battleaxe, she raised her blade up for a block. Lucien's foot turned to a blur, arriving at Diana's stomach in a violent thrust. A silent, breathless gasp came from her mouth as her blade slipped from her grip and fell onto the ground. Lucien immediately followed up, as the same foot crashed down once again on Diana. Diana wheezed as she tried to grasp the air that had been blown out of her lungs. She grit her teeth as tears began welling up in her eyes.

Lucien towered over her with one foot pressed on her stomach, looking down through cold, detached eyes.

"You were a strong one." A humble remark which didn't match his uncaring expression. Diana could hardly speak, but through an airy voice, she was just able to get out,"Fuck you." Lucien smirked, then raised his battleaxe to deliver the final blow.

"STOP!" Evel's voice rang out. Diana and Lucien simultaneously whipped their heads to the sound. Evel stood with one foot on Igneos's body, crossbow loaded and aiming at Igneos. Sweat trickled down Evel's face as he heaved in deep breaths. Lucien stood still; his confident smirk had been wiped off his face. His weapon was still raised in the air, and he turned his head to Bremin. Bremin had also stopped. Evel spoke out once again, this time with an even voice.

"You kill Diana, I kill Igneos." Evel steadied his breathing as he awaited a response. If this didn't work, Evel knew the fight was likely lost. Should Lucien choose to trade his partner's life for Diana, Evel wouldn't be able to provide the type of support Diana had, so he and Bremin would lose. Yet Evel still felt confident this fight would end in a draw. When the fireball and his bolt collided, Lucien was the first person to divert his attention, and this detail hadn't escaped Evel. Lucien cares about Igneos.

For that reason, he cannot win. Lucien continued watching Evel, a serious expression on his face as the seconds stretched out. Lucien snorted. A chuckle. Then, Lucien fell into full-blown laughter. It was a loud, boisterous sound that seemed completely out of place in the blood stained clearing. Then, just as suddenly as it began, the laughter died. Lucien shifted the grip on his battleaxe, the knuckles of his hands turning white. He didn't look like a man who was about to negotiate.

His eyes traveled to the motionless Bremin, then back to Evel. A terrifying thought settled in Evel's heart. What if I've miscalculated? Could Lucien kill him and save Igneos before his finger even moved? His eyes landed on Diana for a brief second before landing back on Lucien. He remained perfectly still, and his hands gripped tightly around his crossbow, waiting for an answer.

"Tell me," Lucien whispered, his voice a low, predatory rumble.

"Are your hands steady enough to end it with just one arrow?"