Return of the Fallen Volume 9 Chapter 10
With the flames now gone, the sight left was nightmarish. Cinders and ash covered the land. There were still several thousands of soldiers and a few Mages left but with a gentle breeze, several thousand fell apart, their corpses reduced to ash. If one didn’t believe in the thousand-man slayer as fact, this demonstration was all the proof needed.
Many soldiers and Mages looked around at their environment and couldn’t help but feel shivers creep down their spines. Had they been slower, had they run out of magic, they too would have been nothing but ash.
Ogastx watched this from the back and he grew more excited. At the same time, he could see that this fire breath Grek had used, had exhausted him some. He could care less about a few normal soldiers dying and found this to be the perfect opportunity. He grabbed the old village chief by the collar and tossed him forward.
“You know the forest well. Take my soldiers with you and capture Grek’s family alive and unharmed.”
The chief felt this was reckless but how could he go against Ogastx.
Ogastx gave his order and it spread across the battlefield instantly. The very next moment, he waved a hand and the large wall behind Grek opened like a door.
The remaining army rushed forward and headed toward the Great forest. Grek, even though he felt weak, he could not just allow these people to chase after his family. He stomped on the ground with strength and a large relatively flat piece of stone flipped up from the ground. Lifting it up, he held it by his waist and begun to swing at his surroundings.
The flat sone was nearly 50 feet long and weighed several thousand pounds. Swinging it wildly from left to right, he crushed many as if he were stepping on eggs. No matter who he came across, he would destroy in a single swing. Doing this, he was taking out ten or a dozen men and women with each swing.
This though wasn’t enough. Not when there were thousands more to take their place. In only a few seconds, several people got past Grek and had entered the forest, and then those few became a few hundred and then a few thousand. There were just simply too many.
The old chief as well was protected and got past Grek. After that, the chief quickly led the soldiers deeper through the forest disappearing into the thick brush.
After all was said and done, Grek had killed a few thousand with just his breath and a few hundred more swinging the stone slab. Sweat poured from his face and his clothes were soaked. He had expected to kill nearly all of these people with his flames but he hadn’t expected there to be so many Mages that could use barriers. That would mean that most of these Mages were at the 3rd stage. By his count, there were near a dozen or so of these Mages. Through all his years of war, he had never known an army to have so many Mages in their ranks. Maybe two, three at the most but Ogastx’s army held more than 12. This was something completely unheard of.
After the army had entered the forest, it was now only Ogastx and Grek left. Ogastx casually walked over, a smirk on his face.
“You didn’t expect so many Mages, did you? With that flame attack, you wished to take bath the whole army in a blaze of death. So many kingdoms and yet the age of magic is still highly underutilized. It’s something that I still do not understand. So much magical energy in the land sky and sea, and yet no one is taking advantage of it. This is why so many places fall apart, there is no one guarding their backyard properly. Tell me, in a land of war, where people do not understand how to play the game, what should a man like me do?”
Grek didn’t care what Ogastx was talking about and swung his stone slab at the man’s face. To his surprise though, Ogastx raised a hand and caught the slab. With a squeeze, the slab was crushed in his grip and crumbled into a hundred pieces.
“A man like me, seeing all of this fighting and yet all of the fighting is like a group of toddlers slapping each other in my eye. In the end, I have to take away their toys. I’ll take the land, the food, the riches, all of it and by the end, you will be the one to help me. That or you will just be another toddler who gets his toys taken from him.”
Grek jumped backward and grabbed his blade off the wall above. Putting strength into his legs, he pushed off the wall, while pulling at his blade.
*CRcH*
His crescent sword popped loose and he came down upon Ogastx with a heavy slash. Ogastx knew this was not something he could catch but he still didn’t move. Instead, his eyes and his ring glowed with a faint green light.
*CACHNK!*
Eight metallic wires, as thick as a person’s wrist exploded out from Ogastx’s back and curved around his body. They instantly shot forward and intercepted Grek’s slash from above and stopped him dead in his tracks.
The sound of metal clashing against metal grated on one’s ears before half of these wires coiled up like a snake and shot forward together right at Grek’s chest.
Grek could sense death in this attack and with a flip of his wrist, he pulled his blade in front of him and blocked the attack.
*BANG!*
The power of this coil punch was like a two thousand pound hammer striking him. Grek was thrown backward, back toward the wall. Using the momentum, Grek flipped in the air. His feet connecting with the wall, he kicked off the wall and came rushing right back at Ogastx. He once more tried to cut Ogastx down in a single slash but Ogastx was already ready.
His wires moved like tentacles and aimed for eight different vitals at once. Grek had to change his slash mid-air and bat each of these attacks away at once.
The two separated for a moment and the two took note of the other.
(This man is far quicker than I thought. For every one attack my tentacles do, he can block all 8 of them in an instant. His physical strength isn’t equal to mine but with that red sword, he would only need a single cut to get through to take my life. How refreshing. It’s been so long since I found such a good opponent. However, just like everyone else, he will submit to me, or he will die a dog’s death.)
Grek held his blade flat in front of him as he observed Ogastx.
(This man is no joke. He’s too strong. The only real advantage I have is my speed and my breath. I don’t have time to wait for my flames to come back though. I have to kill this man as fast as possible and save my family!)
Grek looked at the view behind him through the reflection of his blade. He wondered if maybe he should just escape into the forest. Fighting Ogastx may take too much time, time he doesn’t have. Without the tracking scent from the trailing flower, Grek was confident he could evade Ogastx, even if he did have a superior sense of smell.
Ogastx though, caught Grek’s eye line and could already guess what he was thinking. Before anything started, Ogastx waved his hand, and a large dome of dense stone formed around the two. Grek saw this and tried to escape but since a large wall was already in place, the rest of the dome formed in almost an instant, leaving him no time to flee from here.
“YOU BASTARD! RELEASE ME!”
Ogastx smirked.
“Now now now, is that any way to talk to your future master?”
Grek couldn’t even speak. He was so overcome with rage he simply roared and rushed forward.
*RAHHHHH!*
He appeared in front of Ogastx ready to trike and Ogastx in return moved the wires as if they were his own arms to counter. Grek though was in no mood to fight fairly or waste any more time than necessary. He swiped upward with his blade, digging at the ground with the tip of it as if it were a shovel. In doing so, he launched a good chunk of dirt and debris directly in Ogastx’s face, blinding him.
He then sidestepped and came from below Ogastx at a wide angle, his blade swinging in from a low side angle like a hammer instead of a sword.
*Clank*
The wires moved soundlessly and blocked his side, intercepting his blade perfectly.
Grek didn’t stop even with this failure and continued to swing with all of his waning strength. Every strike though was intercepted with the metal wires. Grek couldn’t understand this. How can a man with no vision block every single attack with deadly accuracy?
“HOW!?”
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