Chương 166: 163 - The Frog Defenders

Herman growled with frustration as his attempt to get to the frog enclosure was once again foiled. These humans were annoying. They weren't very powerful—not compared to him, at least—but they had good coordination, and were good at keeping him occupied. And they were cheaters. Multiple times, he had tried to activate Water Portal and follow the beastwoman in, and multiple times, his Skill had failed to activate. One of the identical mages had put up some kind of barrier that prevented spatial travel.

Water Portal wasn't even a spatial spell, instead using water mana to create a spatial connection, but the barrier didn't seem to care. The other twin was just as annoying, always peppering him with attacks at the least convenient times. None of her attacks were strong enough to truly damage him, but they stung, and they always threw off his timing. It was hard to swing a sword when miniature explosives kept blowing up on his arms. The shady assassin was even worse.

She kept appearing out of the shadows behind him, trying to cut through his neck. Worst of all, she kept trying to kill Sasha. It was only Sasha's vigilance that kept both her and Herman relatively uninjured. She always knew exactly where the assassin would attack next, and had a Skill to share her senses with Herman so he could react too. The man fighting on the front line was the only respectable one. He fought like a true warrior, man to man, sword to sword.

He was similar in level to Herman, which meant Herman's stats outclassed his, but the man didn't let that hold him back. While his stats were lower, his skill in combat was higher, and as they clashed, Herman couldn't help but feel admiration for his foe. The two fought with similar styles, both wielding a shield and a sword, and they even both used water magic, but the human clearly had much more experience.

When Herman swung, the man was adept at turning his shield to just the right angle to deflect the blow, rather than taking the force head on. When the man swung, his blade went unerringly for Herman's joints, always coming at angles that were difficult to deflect. His magic was smooth, and without waste. Just watching him fight, Herman was learning a lot. He was witnessing someone on the same path as him, but further along. He had spent years mastering his craft. Years that Herman hadn't had, but wished to.

He found himself getting distracted, forgetting about his mission as he tried to imitate the human's movements. Then, he would hear Sasha screeching overhead, and he would be brought back to reality. He had a job. A mission. Zorg needed him to do his job, and Herman was going to do it. The mad had given him life and purpose, and he was going to make sure to repay that.

"So close, so close!" shouted Sasha, cackling as she flew out of range of an attack from the assassin that sent fire and lightning flashing out in a great arc.

"Careful," Herman rumbled.

"I'm careful, I'm careful!" said Sasha, changing direction in an instant to dodge a beam of light fired from the twin mage's staff.

"Let's hurrrrrry up and win, Hermie!"

"Hmm." Herman raised his shield to block an explosive projectile while dipping his blade to deflect a strike from the swordsman. She was right. They couldn't let this go on like this. The beastwoman had been gone for a few minutes now, and he knew that the frogs were disappearing by the second. The frogs were the cornerstone of Zorg's biggest business, and they couldn't afford to lose too many. If the hot zone destabilized, it would be catastrophic, setting them back months.

And at this point, it was clear that he wouldn't be able to emerge from this battle victorious. He was a powerful warrior, but he was only one, and he didn't have the tools to take down such a coordinated group of enemies. Sasha helped… but there was a reason she was still here instead of going after the beastwoman. She could detect and avoid just about any attack, but on her own, her combat ability was practically non-existent.

Her most powerful attack was weaker than even some non-Named monster at here level, and her only defense was not getting hit in the first place. She worked best with a partner like Herman. Planting his foot on the surface of the water, he pushed to the side, launching himself in the direction of the tree wall. This wasn't his first time attempting it, and just like the previous times, he encountered an invisible barrier just a few meters away.

It cracked and bent under the force of him slamming into it, but it held just enough that the human warrior and mage had time to reach him and attack. Previously, he had turned his attention to them to continue defending, but this time, he ignored them. He felt the man's sword cut into the back of his thigh, and an explosion on the side of his head made his vision swim and his ears ring, but he ignored it, filling his body with mana and slamming into the barrier again.

It shattered, and he continued on, only to encounter another. This broke, immediately, but slowed his momentum enough that the one behind it held him. Once again, he felt pain as the sword stabbed his other leg, and a beam of force gouged out a chunk of his shoulder. The wounds were shallow, and already healing, but the pain made him angry. Letting out a bellow of rage, he pushed his mana into his arm, making it bulge with power, then chucked his sword far, far away.

It shattered the barrier in front of him and kept flying. The mages looked confused, but Herman didn't give them any time to think. Gathering his mana once more, he pushed it into the water, and a wave lifted him higher and higher. Another barrier appeared in front of him, rising with him, but this time, he did not push through it. Instead, he launched himself to the side, directly toward where the twins floated on their mana barge.

Jets of water flew in front of him, breaking down the first hasty barrier they erected, but getting stopped by the much stronger bubble surrounding them. Sasha's senses let him know that another, stronger one was appearing in his path, and he saw the other twin charging up some kind of attack that he knew he didn't want to be on the receiving end of, but he never had to deal with either. Right as he was about to hit, he reached his hand out, and all of a sudden, his flight path changed direction.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Like a grappling hook, he was yanked towards where his sword was still flying high above the swamp and over the treeline. Barriers appeared in his path, but he smashed through them with hardly any resistance. His sword—his Soul Weapon—had no grand abilities like some others, but it had multiple utility abilities built in, one of which was this one.

When he was being pulled toward his weapon, he could not be stopped. His body might get destroyed on the way, but he would reach his sword. And luckily for him, the barriers weren't quite strong enough to deal him much damage. He was bruised and sore, but when he got into the open sky, he was very much in one piece, and more importantly, he was out of range of the barrier twin.

As soon as he caught up to his sword, he floated in free fall for a moment, then gathered water from the humid air, forming it into a swirling circle ahead, activating Water Portal. He emerged from the water in the center of the hot zone, and immediately sensed the beastwoman. She wasn't even trying to hide her presence, creating flashes of spatial mana everywhere as she seized frogs.

He heard Sasha cackling in the distance, and he could sense the mana of the others hot on her heels, but for the time being, he ignored them. The beastwoman was the one taking the frogs. She was his target. He charged, and as he did, he saw a frog appear in a tentacle growing from the beastwoman's back, then get tossed into the massive wooden crate in front of her. Then, the next moment, she was gone. Without Sasha to share her senses with him, Herman almost didn't notice her in time.

He barely turned around in time, raising his shield to deflect a powerful overhead swing aimed at his head. The black sword was coated in black mana, cutting into the shield a few centimeters deep. Herman swung back at her with his own sword, but she disappeared again, and reappeared a dozen meters away, crouching on a branch with the sword resting on her shoulder. Herman glanced over at the box.

It was a two meter cube, and while his senses were not good enough to make out the finer details, he could tell that there were a lot of frogs within. Based on the mana signatures, there had to be dozens—no, hundreds. And somehow, none were teleporting away. He looked back at the beastwoman, then back at the the box. Their goal was stealing the frogs. It was clear that the box was integral to that. If the box was gone… would they still be able to take them back? Doubtful.

He stared at the beastwoman again, and he could tell she was waiting for him to make a move. Just from the look in her eyes, he knew she was no ordinary foe, but he also knew that she wasn't stronger than he was. She wouldn't be able to stop him. He just needed to get there first. He sprinted toward the box, and at the same time, she disappeared from her branch, reappearing next to the box, wrapping it up with the tentacles attached to her back.

Just before Herman arrived, she leapt up off the muddy bank she had been standing on, launching straight up. Herman commanded the water to lift him up and swung his sword, but she was just a bit too fast, and his sword only hit empty air. He turned and flung his sword at her. Midair, she shouldn't have been able to dodge, but a translucent hand of mana appeared, pushing her forward and out of the path of the sword.

By the time Herman caught up to his sword again, her whole weight as well as the box was supported by other mana hands, floating in the air as she watched him with a smug smile. He tried to reach her, failing time and again. She reacted almost as quickly as Sasha did, and despite lacking Sasha's maneuverability, she didn't actually need it. Not against Herman. Fortunately, it was not just Herman. The beastwoman's reinforcements were coming, but Sasha arrived first, launching herself at the beastwoman and her box.

The beastwoman tried to dodge, but Sasha rerouted midair, changing directions so fast it shouldn't have been possible, and a second later, she collided with the box. The box was made of wood, so Herman expected it to break, or at least crack under the impact, but it held with no visible damage, even as Sasha's talons tried digging into it. The beastwoman tried to wrench it away from the harpy, but Sasha managed to get one claw around the wooden handle on the side, pulling against.

For a brief moment, they were locked in a battle of strength, one that Sasha was certain to lose. Then, the beastwoman let go, forced to teleport away as Herman's sword flew at her unprotected side.

"Give me back my frogs!" she shouted, teleporting back up near Sasha, now with her sword drawn again. Sasha was moving before the teleportation even finished, and by the time the beastwoman swung her sword, Sasha and the box were ten meters away. The beastwoman tried again and again, but Sasha was too elusive, and even when the other humans arrived, they could not hope to catch her. No matter what they did, Sasha saw it coming, evading before the attack could land.

The barrier twin tried conjuring a spherical shell around the harpy, but because Sasha sensed it coming, so did Herman. He threw his sword before it even fully manifested, and it did not exist for longer than a second before it was shattered, and Sasha flew out unscathed. The attacks continued, and Sasha avoided them all, sometimes dodging by just a hair's breadth, but no matter how close they got, they could never get her.

Herman ran interference, providing an invaluable distraction, and breaking any barrier that sought to capture his partner. Gradually, Sasha made her way further and further away, flying over to the opposite side of the hot zone. Herman was elated as they successfully stalled. The alarm wards had been tripped as soon as the intruders arrived. Reinforcements would be on their way. They just needed to last a bit longer. Wait… Herman suddenly thought. Where's the beast woman. It was not hard to find her.

She was making no secret of what she was doing, standing on a floating hand with her sword raised to the sky, black mana gathering all around it. He knew she was preparing some kind of devastating attack, but she was far from Sasha at this point, and she had to know that Blink wouldn't be enough. So what was she–? A wave of panic came across his connection to Sasha. Herman's eyes widened as Sasha suddenly vanished from the air, leaving the box behind.

A split second later, there was a flash of mana and a screech of pain. He looked back to the beastwoman and saw that she had released her attack, and the black mana was still dissipating in the air. Before her was Sasha, one of her wings falling to the ground.

"Sasha!" shouted Herman as the harpy screeched in pain. Herman charged forward to help her, and the beastwoman turned to face him, the sword now covered in glowing red veins. Herman raised his own sword, ready to meet her head-on, but before they could clash, a voice rang out across the swamp.

"Stop!" It was a new voice, but the word was infused with mana, and both combatants felt compelled to obey. Herman recognized the mana, and immediately felt a surge of hope and joy. It was him! His master. His creator. Zorg.