CHAPTER 12: MOUNTAIN’S RAGE

Godfrey used Echo, and Mountain’s longsword appeared in his hand. In the same breath, he used Exchange.

Mountain appeared in his spot and charged at the giant dog and the Direwolf, barreling through them like a tank. While the lightweight effect made Mountain move as if he wore no armour, others certainly felt the burnt of his weight and naturally the canines couldn’t even slow him down.

Mountain increased his speed as Natasha and her goons had almost sealed the door shut.

Leaning forward with his great shield raised high, Mountain slammed into the door like a speeding train hitting a wall. The double panels flung inward with a thunderous crash. Natasha’s men were hurled aside, while Natasha herself, who hadn’t touched the door, staggered back. Mountain towered over her, broad and menacing, his golden armour already tainted with blood. The sound of metal struck her ear as he took bold steps forward while she swiftly created a safe distance between them.

Meanwhile, Godfrey’s heart thundered harder than it ever had before. As he sprinted toward the door, nearly fifty werewolves thundered behind him! One lunged from above, he spun, slicing off its arm before the claws could rip into his back.

But that left him open. Two more closed in, much faster than the first. Godfrey spun the longsword in a full arc, carving through their chests, then used the momentum of the blade’s weight to hurl himself forward. Yet before he could land properly, a wolf crashed onto him, teeth snapping.

His eyes widened. He could hear the horde gaining ground. He was going to die. Was this it?!

No!

His longsword was useless at this range, and his left forearm was already being bitten into. But he covered it with an Echo gauntlet and vambraces.

"Die!" Godfrey roared, slamming his right fist with such force into the werewolf’s snout that its head snapped violently to the side. Stunned, it refused to release him. Snarling back, Godfrey seized its head with both hands and snapped its neck.

He tore himself free, stomped another werewolf in the chest to knock it back, then bolted up the staircase. Grabbing a spear from a skeleton along the way, he rushed inside just as Mountain slammed the door shut and jammed it with the spear.

Not even a heartbeat later, the door shook violently as dozens of werewolves crashed against it. Their howls pierced his ears. Had they been a fraction of a second slower, he would have been torn apart.

The risk of entering a dungeon was real. One mistake meant a true death.

"Wow. I’ve never seen a humanoid summon that good," Natasha said with a smirk, as if she hadn’t just tried to orchestrate his death. "You’re a good Summoner. Maybe someday you can join my group."

Her nonchalant, dismissive tone toward her own treachery twisted Godfrey’s expression into disgust and searing fury. His jaw clenched.

"Brat, no hard feel—!" The big man didn’t finish.

Mountain moved before anyone expected it, even Godfrey. A flash of steel, and the giant dog’s head rolled across the ancient floor, blood spraying as its body collapsed.

The big man’s mouth bulged; blood erupted from it. His eyes rolled white before he collapsed face-first, dust rising around his body. Summoner and summon, down in a blink. One dead, the other unconscious.

"You don’t have to give the order, Prince Godfrey." Mountain’s voice rumbled, hoarse and dark, as if imbued with thunder. Everyone could tell he forced himself to speak judging from the rage laced in his tone. The sound froze everyone, even Godfrey.

The Direwolf lunged at him, but Mountain raised his shield, flinging the beast back against the door. He hurled his longsword after it with enough force to pierce straight through the thick wood, the blade jutting out the other side.

The beanie man swapped places with his wolf at the last second, narrowly dodging death. The Direwolf lunged again, sinking its jaws into Mountain’s right vambrace. The Knight-Captain lifted the beast overhead and slammed it into the stone with such force that the cavern trembled. The wolf whined pitifully before Mountain snapped its neck.

The beanie man lunged at Godfrey with two daggers, malice gleaming in his eyes. He had realized the truth: Godfrey was the weak link. If he fell, they might survive. He closed the gap in a blur only to freeze. Blood spurted from his lips as his body shuddered, then collapsed right before Godfrey.

Godfrey barely had time to breathe when instinct screamed at him. He leaned hard to the side as a huge tongue lashed past him like a whip.

Whipping around, he saw it: a four-foot-tall dark green frog with a pale underbelly. Its tongue snapped out again, impossibly fast. Godfrey couldn’t dodge this one but Mountain stood before him. The tongue struck his armour, splattering saliva.

Natasha’s eyes narrowed. "This brat!"

Mountain’s gauntlet closed around the tongue. With a roar, he yanked the frog off the ground. Mid-air, it bloated grotesquely, swelling into an eight-foot sphere. It smashed Mountain into the ground with an impact that shook the cavern. Dust and rock rained from above.

The swollen beast bounced, dragging Mountain with its tongue, and hurled him into the wall with such speed the collision echoed before Godfrey could react.

That was a Bloating Venomous Frog, tier 4.5. An elite 3.5 beast with the potential to reach 5.0.

"I never knew you had a few tricks up your sleeve." Natasha’s whip unfurled, slick with her summon’s venom, glowing faintly as she brandished it. She smiled cruelly. "I’ll enjoy watching you turn into a ball."

Godfrey tightened his grip on the longsword, Echo-clad armour enclosing his body. The great helm’s slit narrowed his view, but his gaze burned through it.

"Who said I have just a few tricks?"

Mountain’s armour turned deep crimson as he entered Black-Out State. But he wasn’t the only one. Godfrey’s armour burned crimson as well, his white sclera bleeding into black, pupils glowing a dark, furious red.

Strength surged through him, his veins like conduits of bestial blood. The stone beneath his boots imploded as he charged. Natasha snapped her whip down with such force that the very air screamed.