TBATE Volume 7

by Divergence (epub)

  More annoyed than in pain, I shrugged off the wound that had been mostly blocked by my aura and stabbed the wolf.

  However, the tip of my teal sword had long since been broken, and was unable to pierce through the wolf’s thick mana-imbued fur.

  Imbuing mana into Dawn’s Ballad and condensing it into a sharp point, I dashed forward and struck again. Blood was drawn this time and the thunder wolf struggled to get back up, but there was no time to celebrate my little victory.

  Almost immediately, a flock of bat-winged birds swooped down with their sharp metal beaks homed in on me.

  Putting Dawn’s Ballad back into my ring, I spread a blast of lightning into the air. The metal beaks dropped like flies, their wings still spasming from the shock as I quickly moved onto my next list of neverending targets in sight.

  Despite our competitive banter earlier, Sylvie remained close as she continued to fight the onslaught of mana beasts. She fought with her wings tucked in, a flurry of claws and fangs as she dyed the ground in crimson.

  Sylvie’s voice rang in my mind. ‘Arthur. These beasts seem off. Most of them aren’t even retaliating and just keep marching toward the Wall. Only some of the stronger ones and their packs are actually putting up a fight.’

  I feel it too. I’m not sure what the Alacryans did.  They must be controlling the beasts to get to the Wall no matter what, I replied, continuing to kill as many mana beasts as I could.

  Giving my limbs—heavy from slashing through the tough hides and exoskeletons of the mana beasts—some reprieve, I began casting more spells. Spheres of fire, water and lightning orbited around me, burning, slashing and electrocuting beasts that came close enough while I cast spell after spell.

  The terrain had become a domain of all elements; some parts of the ground had become scorched, with corpses still in flames, while other parts of the ground had become a garden of stone and ice spikes.

  The metallic odor of fresh blood alongside the smell of burning fur and flesh mingled in the air, causing the devastated landscape to be even more unbearable to endure.

  Navigating around the remains of my own spells and the corpses of fallen mana beasts—some of which were about the size of a small house—had become another challenge.

  However, the turning point was when the S-class mana beasts began coming. The first one was a humanoid feline just twice my height made of pure muscle, fur, and claws.

  Its speed and agility was on par with Kordri, my martial arts master from Epheotus. However, its major flaw was that it relied on only its speed, its attacks leaving it wide open.

  “Come on!” I barked, dodging its clawed kick while nicking its neck. Blood rushed to my head, drowning out everything other than the opponent in front of me. The beast that had the ability to kill its victims long before they could even fear it hissed and dashed toward me. Its muscular hind legs left imprints on the hard ground, its body barely visible, but its attacks were linear.

  “Thunderclap Impulse,” I murmured as the sensation of electricity coursing through my body left me even more focused. Withdrawing my teal sword once more marked the beginning of our second round.

  The world around us blurred as I relished the battle. Each swipe of its mana-infused claws left deep gashes in the earth and oftentimes mana beasts nearby. Each failed attack of the S-class feline was a successful attack of mine as Dawn’s Ballad left its mark on the beast’s elegantly striped fur.

  I had almost forgotten my objective as I dominated the S-class mana beast even without relying on Realmheart Physique. My legs ached from old wounds and the scratches left by the S class beast stung, but I was in much better shape than the panting oversized cat.

  Heaving for breath and blood matting down its fur, the S-class beast warily backed away. It didn’t even manage to take four steps before I caught up and slashed its neck.

  Picking the dead S-class beast by the scruff of its neck, I let out a roar. The mana beasts around me, no matter how deranged and feral they had become due to the Alacryans corrupting them, began to tremble in fear.

  It would be easy to say that this is what war did to everyone. Part of it was true—fighting countless beasts slowly turned me into a beast myself. However, another part of it was that I enjoyed it.

  Being surrounded by death, yet never being able to kill freely myself might have had something to do with it. The countless duels I had fought in my previous life had all been supervised and restricted by rules and laws. Here, it was different.

  ‘Arthur. Don’t lose yourself. Remember that this is a battle to protect, not a battle to kill.’

  Sylvie’s words were like water splashed to my face. I had indeed lost myself, high on the freedom to wreak havoc. I had acted like a wild beast let loose from its cage.

  Finally sober, I could feel the aches and wounds I hadn’t even realized existed began to take their toll.

  That’s when I felt the next one. Before I could even see or hear it, I felt it. Even amongst the drone of countless mana beasts marching, the footsteps of the particular mana beast shook the earth.

  It didn’t take long for me to see the towering monstrosity that trampled other its fellow corrupted beasts like they were insects.

  Even as it stood on four legs, it was about three stories tall and every inch of its body was covered in a metallic hide. Spikes sprouted along its spine and at the end of its trunk-like snout was a dented metal orb the size of Sylvie’s head.

  ‘Do you need help?’ Sylvie asked, sensing my fear as I watched the colossal beast advance.

  Not yet, I conveyed, putting Dawn’s Ballad back into my ring.

  I threw out an arc of lightning at the beast but it didn’t even flinch as it continued making its way toward me. It swung its snout like a flail, bludgeoning mana beasts left and right. The mana beasts fortunate enough to evade its snout were soon trampled by its thick hooves as it charged at me. That’s when I saw him—a human.

  The Alacryan mage, who had been riding between two of the spikes on the S-class beast’s back, was desperately holding on for his life. At this distance, it was easy to tell that this was not part of the plan.

  That’s when it clicked. The weaker mana beasts appearing almost sedated and mostly ignoring Sylvie and I even as we killed them, the higher-tiered mana beasts seemingly possessing their own will even against the Alacryan’s struggles.

  A plan began to bloom in my head as I watched Alacryan mage struggle with what appeared to be a black stone in his hand.

  I cast a ball of fire at the towering beast, hitting its face. The flaming sphere splashed across its metallic hide without so much as a mark, but it did its job.

  The beast bellowed and raised its front legs in anger. The Alacryan mage was barely able to hold on but the mammoth beast didn’t stop there.

  Making it its life goal to flatten me with its flail-like snout, the beast charged relentlessly. I, on the other hand, continued throwing spells just barely strong enough to annoy it while flying through the beast horde.

  The mammoth beast created a path paved in decimation and crushed corpses as it continued to chase me. I used every creative method my brain could think of in order to get the beast as furious as possible while slowly whittling it down. I drove earthen spikes into its hooves, I layered the ground in ice so that it’d slip, but my half-assed spells weren’t doing anything.

  Fire seemed to work best in annoying the beast, but when I shot another spell at it, a translucent shield flickered in its path, blocking my spell before it could hit.

  I need your help now, Sylvie, I sent leisurely as I led the beast to where I could sense Sylvie was fighting.

  ‘Wow, how did you make it so angry?’ she replied, leaping into the air with a beat of her wings.

  Pin the beast down for as long as you can, I instructed.

  With a mental confirmation, Sylvie flew up into the sky before dropping back down in a nose-dive.

  ‘Keep it steady!’ she transmitted, showing the general range sh
e’d be able to land.

  Clearing the beasts around me with a gust of wind, I waited as the mammoth beast rushed toward me. Taking a deep breath, I waited for the moment just when the beast’s front legs were about to touch the ground as it charged. Precision, timing, and distance compounded made the spell that much harder, but as a white core mage, it felt natural, as if I was shaping clay.

  At my behest, the ground just below the beast’s front feet splintered, sending the beast crashing on the ground. However, with the speed it had built up, its momentum continued to carry the beast and the mage riding on its back toward me.

  Pummelling through every earthen wall I had conjured in its path until it was only a few yards away, I cursed in frustration.

  Damn it, no choice.

  Preparing my mind and body for the toll about to come, I waited until just before the beast was close enough before I activated Static Void.

  With my control over both aether and mana making leaps and bounds during my ascent into the white core stage, I confined the time-pausing mana art into just the beast and the mage.

  Even with the reduced range, the sheer size of the beast made my mana core protest. However, I persisted, biding time right up until Sylvie was about to crash into the beast.

  ‘Now!’ she screamed mentally.

  I immediately released Static Void and leaped out of the way, almost crashing into the open jaw of a reptilian mana beast.

  The force of Sylvie’s descent onto the beast sent a shockwave of wind and debris all around them. If I hadn’t erected a stone wall from the ground, I would’ve gotten blown away along with all the other beasts in the vicinity.

  With no time to rest, I dashed toward the mammoth beast that was dazed but still alive and struggling to get out of Sylvie’s grasp.

  Don’t kill it yet, I said to my bond.

  ‘I’m not confident I even can. Its hide isn’t as strong as my scales but it’s a lot thicker.’

  Leaping up on top of the beast’s back, I picked up the unconscious mage and threw him on the ground.

  The oblong black stone fell from his grasp. After picking it up, I formed an ice spike in my hand and drove it into the mage’s thigh.

  The Alacryan, surprised at first to be awake and seeing me, quickly succumbed to the searing pain radiating out of his bleeding thigh.

  Before he could even get the chance to speak, I held the black stone to his face. “Does this control the mana beasts?”

  His eyes widened and he made a desperate swipe at the stone.

  I conjured a stone nail, impaling his hand to the ground.

  He let out another scream, and the mana beasts that smelled the blood of prey began drawing closer.

  ‘Hurry. I can’t keep him still for much longer,’ Sylvie conveyed.

  I was about to ask again, when I realized that the mage was about to bite off his own tongue. Quickly, I held down his tongue, burning and searing his wound.

  The mage let out another muffled wail before I froze his mouth shut.  

  “What is up with you Alacryans and killing yourself,” I sighed. “Well, if you won’t tell me, I might as well find out myself.”

  The oblong stone wouldn’t react with any type of mana or even aether, so I did the only other thing I knew. I crushed it in my hand.

   

  Chapter 216: Battlefield

  The mage stared at me with panic-stricken eyes as the crumbled fragments of the black stone fell from my grasp.

  There was a tense moment as I waited for something to happen amidst the war zone besides the already-ensued chaos raging on.   

  Suddenly, as if a switch had been turned on, every mana beast in the vicinity seemed to have become provoked by my action.

  The once glazed and lifeless eyes of the mana beasts now burned with fury. It wasn’t just at me though; the mana beasts began growling and hissing at each other, baring fangs, claws, and horns at one another.

  It didn’t take long for hell to break loose. Beasts pounced on one another without even a semblance of sanity left amongst them. They leaped at me with reckless abandon, often getting caught by one another in the process.

  Quickly drawing the two swords I had received from the Flamesworth blacksmith, I turned into a flurry of blades. I slashed and stabbed at the vitals of the mana beasts that attacked me until a mound of bloody carcasses accumulated beneath my feet.

  However, despite the massacre that befell those who came close, the mana beasts continued to attack and throw their lives away as if possessed.

  ‘Arthur! I can’t hold on anymore!’ Sylvie’s struggling voice pierced through my mind.

  I turned back to see the mammoth beast break free, eyes locked on me as he pawed the ground in preparation to charge while the pile of corpses continued to grow.

  However, I didn’t fail to notice the subtle difference in the mammoth beast’s behavior. The way the beast glared down at me still indicated rage, but the very targeted, threatening act of scruffing the ground showed some level of intelligence.

  It showed that it wasn’t thinking of blindly charging like before, but waiting for me to react somehow to its act of aggression.

  As for me, rather than having the luxury to react to the mammoth beast, I was occupied by the neverending mana beasts that seemed hell-bent on ripping my limbs off.

  “Enough!” I roared, releasing every ounce of murderous intent I had pent up over time.

  To the naked eye, nothing had changed, but for anyone that had an ounce of sense, they felt it. Even the beasts, as deranged as they were, froze in their tracks and began trembling out of instinct.

  This may not have worked while they were in their stupor moments ago, but now the beasts around me shrank back out of fear while some of the weaker ones even collapsed.

  With finally some space to breathe, I took a step toward the mammoth beast. A path opened up as I walked, the mana beasts unable to bear being too close.  

  I locked eyes with the colossal S-class monster that stuck out above the sea of mana beasts wreaking havoc amongst one another, directing the entirety of my unabated bloodlust. It was a primitive thing to do, much like flexing your muscles in front of your opponent to discourage them, but it did its job.

  The colossal monster broke eye contact with me, its body slackening. Finally, with a mournful bellow, the S-class beast turned and left, trampling smaller mana beasts with each step.

  ‘It’s been a while since I felt your bloodlust. A good reminder not to tease you too much,’ Sylvie said as she joined me at my side.

  I cracked a smile before replying. It seems to only work on the more intelligent and powerful beasts, though.

  The mana beasts that had been temporarily paralyzed by my intent had quickly broken free and resumed their mauling spree.

  Turning around, I saw the Alacryan mage. Despite being bloody and incapacitated, he was still alive. None of the beasts seemed to even want to go near him.

  Seeing how the crazed beast acted, it couldn’t have been out of pity or even out of loyalty to their supposed master.

  “Now…” I peered down at the frightened mage. “I wonder how you’re still alive.”

  Sylvie craned her neck and began sniffing at the mage I had nailed to the ground. ‘I’m not sure if it has anything to do with it, but there’s a rather repulsive stench coming from this human.’

  The Alacryan mage let out a muffled whimper as my bond bared her fangs at him, but there was little else he could do.

  As I contemplated whether to take the mage in for questioning or killing him on the spot and continue whittling down enemy numbers, the mage let out a slightly more coherent sound.

  “Ah h-hell ooh, ah hell ooh,” he muttered through the melting ice binding his mouth shut.

  Exchanging glances with Sylvie, I melted the ice around his lower face. “Speak. Any useless words and I’ll kill you on the spot.”

  “I-I’ll tell you why they won’t attack me. Just promise you’l
l let me live.”

  I let the tip of my new sword rest on the mage’s mouth, just barely nicking the corner of his lips. “I hate making promises I know I won’t keep.”

  Tears rolled down the mage’s cheeks as he glared daggers at me. “Then why should I tell you anything?”

  The dirt and blood on his face did little to mask how young the enemy was, but it would be sloppy to show mercy. I pushed the blade just a little deeper; the mage let out a pained cry. “Because… a quick painless death is better than a long painful one.”

  Using fire magic to heat the blade of my sword, I pressed it against the mage’s cheek. While the mana beasts around us were creating havoc, the majority of the beast horde was still making its way toward the Wall. I couldn’t waste too much time on this.

  “All right! Please, just stop!” he screamed, stretching his head as far away from my sword as his neck would take him. “W-We have a serum that the corrupted beasts can’t stand during their frenzied state.”

  “Where did you get it? Who else has this serum?”

  The Alacryan shook his head vigorously. “I-I-I really don’t know this! I just know it’s precious so everyone who even gets it only gets a little bit of it to spray on themselves.”

  With a terse nod, I stabbed my sword down into the Alacryan mage’s heart. The young mage’s eyes bulged but what surprised me was his lips that curved up into a smirk.

  “It’s useless…even if you know,” he sputtered, blood leaking out of his mouth. “Long… live…”

  Unable to even finish his sentence, the mage fell unconscious from the shock. He’d most likely die within a few minutes, painlessly in his sleep.

  I pulled out my sword with a quick jerk and moved on. There was a lot more work to be done.

  I spent the next hours on the ground, hacking, stabbing, and shooting mana beasts with swords and spells. My guidance under Kordri had honed my body to last for days with the help of mana arts and martial technique. There was no wasted effort in my movements and attacks as mana beasts, whether in a stupor or in their frenzied state, fell lifelessly beside me.