CHAPTER 114: SWIFT

No issues.

I warped, folding space in an instant, blinking out of sight just before the arcane arrow and the berserker’s sonic wave collided.

WHOOSH.

The two attacks slammed into each other instead, their powers clashing violently in midair. The arrow’s unstable energy detonated the instant it struck the vibrating wall of sound, and the result was catastrophic.

BOOM!

The explosion ripped through the clearing, a shockwave tearing leaves from branches and sending splinters of wood flying. For several heartbeats, smoke and dust swallowed the battlefield, the acrid tang of burned mana stinging the back of my throat.

Through the haze, I remained still, watching.

The goblin archer’s silhouette shifted on his branch as he squinted through the smoke, bow still raised. His voice carried across the chaos, uncertain.

"Did we get him?"

No,

I thought, lips curling faintly. You didn’t.

The berserker said nothing, but silence often spoke louder than words. His axe lowered slightly, his jaw clenched. He wasn’t fooled. He had seen me shrug off worse—had watched me turn aside blows that would have ended lesser fighters. He knew I wasn’t finished.

Smart.

But knowing wasn’t going to save him.

I reappeared above the goblin archer, space folding around me as I materialized high in the air. The [Inferno Lance] still burned in my grasp, its molten core thrumming with power. I leveled it downward, aiming squarely at his chest.

The archer’s eyes snapped upward. Panic widened his gaze. He bolted across the branch in a desperate sprint.

But I didn’t give him the chance.

I loosed the lance. The blazing projectile tore through the air, streaking toward him like a falling star. The heat warped the air, curling leaves to ash and scorching bark along its path.

The archer realized too late that he couldn’t outrun it. His hands moved frantically, muscle memory overriding panic. He drew and released in a single motion, loosing an arrow wreathed in unstable arcane energy.

The two projectiles met.

BOOM!

The collision detonated with catastrophic force. Fire and raw energy clashed in a blinding eruption, red and blue light tearing across the canopy. The shockwave rattled the forest, splitting branches and shaking the ground.

The archer was thrown back violently, his body spinning as the blast swallowed the branch beneath him. He plummeted, striking the dirt with a heavy thud.

But the explosion had been too close. Though he had managed to keep himself from being consumed whole, he hadn’t escaped unscathed.

He rolled across the ground, smoking, nearly half his body charred black. His breaths came in shallow gasps, each one rattling painfully as he tried to move. Flesh blistered where flame had seared him, his right arm twisted and limp.

"Ingrid!" the berserker roared, his voice breaking with something raw. Too raw to be anything but the archer’s name.

His molten gaze snapped back to me, burning with rage. He threw his head back and unleashed another guttural howl.

The sound burst from his chest, compressed into a focused wave of destruction. It ripped through the clearing toward where I had been standing.

But I was already gone.

I had blinked away before his jaw even unhinged, instincts moving faster than fury. For all his muscle and strength, his movements were telegraphed, every shift screaming his next intent.

Space folded. I reappeared on the ground, boots biting into the dirt as Gravefang materialized in my grip. The weight of the blade was familiar, steady, grounding.

The berserker whirled, lips curling back, breath ragged as he prepared another howl.

I didn’t let him.

I warped, closing the distance in a heartbeat. One moment a breath away, the next directly before him—Gravefang already driving forward.

The blade punched deep into his throat, slicing through cartilage and muscle with brutal efficiency. His howl strangled into a gurgle. Blood bubbled, spilling down his chest as his eyes widened in disbelief.

The goblin choked, hands twitching toward the wound as though he could claw the steel free. But strength was already leaving him. His axes slipped from his fingers, hitting the dirt with twin thuds.

A sharp chime rang in my skull as the system responded.

Ding![Venomous Slash activated]

But I wasn’t finished.

Gravefang pulsed in my grip, hungry. I ripped the blade free, hot blood spraying across the dirt. His massive frame swayed but still clung to life, stubborn fire in his gaze as he tried to lift one trembling arm.

Too slow.

I rammed the blade into his throat again, twisting hard, blood spilling in torrents across my hands. His gurgling breath tore raggedly through the clearing. I yanked the weapon free and drove it in once more, each thrust deliberate, merciless.

Then, with a sharp exhale, I planted my boot squarely against his chest and kicked.

His massive body lifted from the ground, tumbling backward in a heavy arc.

He crashed into a tree trunk with a sickening crack that rattled the branches. The impact left him slumped against the bark, his breath coming shallow, then faltering. Silence spread, broken only by his dying gurgles.

I turned, Gravefang still dripping, my eyes locking on the goblin archer.

He had managed, somehow, to drag himself upright. His bow still hung at his side, but his right arm dangled uselessly, charred and blackened. His body trembled with the effort of staying on his feet, pain etched into every line of his face.

Even if he wanted to, there was no way he could draw the string again.

The eyes of the goblin archer flicked toward the berserker’s broken form, and when he realized my attention had shifted entirely to him, his body began to tremble.

I could see the conflict plain across his face.

Loyalty warred with survival, instincts pulling him in two directions.

He didn’t know whether to stand his ground or flee.

But fleeing wasn’t an option. I wouldn’t let him.

They were Drugars Chosen. Killing them would serve me far better than letting them slip away.

The goblin archer shuffled back a step, his feet scuffing the dirt, and that was all the invitation I needed.

I surged forward, Gravefang angled to strike, the distance between us vanishing in a blur of motion.

Startled, the archer lifted his good arm and...