Divine Beast Ascension

Chapter 140: Leave or Die!

While vines sprouted from the nearby trees to slow and snare the bandits circling the party and the two swordsmen were gradually forced back without damaging their opponents, Oli was targeted by the masked man.

A simple sword appeared in the masked man’s hand. It jutted toward Oli’s torso as the ape-like man was about to pound into the battlefield.

“Show me– Oh?”

To the masked man’s surprise, Oli turned in the air and grabbed the sword with one of his arms of essence. Oli’s second arm plowed straight into the man’s mask. The man flew straight down as Oli stomped into him for added damage.

The surrounding bandits were shocked by the quick exchange. One shouted, “La–”

“Shut up! You fools!”

The dust cleared for all to see Oli standing firmly on the ground as Lakd stood a couple of krin to the side. Though Lakd’s mask was half-gone he now wielded two swords, one with a bead of fresh blood still on the blade.

.....

“Leave or die!” Oli roared, disregarding the small scratch that had snuck through his essence armor.

“Fine. Give up the–”

Lakd tried to snarkily reply but Oli burst into action yet again. The sword-wielding bandit sidestepped Oli’s lunge and took another step back to avoid Oli’s arching fist from above. But Lakd was forced to scramble for a proper defense as a war hammer made of essence suddenly appeared in Oli’s hand, perfectly aimed for his head.

Crashing into Lakd’s two swords, the blow was stopped. However, Lakd was amazed to feel the ground beneath his feet tremble upon taking the impact, as did his wrists.

“You’re much stronger than–”

“DIE!” Oli roared again, swinging his hammer from the side. Though Lakd managed to evade the blow as he was no longer surprised, Oli threw the essence weapon into a nearby bandit’s head. Dispersing the essence of the hammer with a smile, Oli shouted, “Block it and die, or evade it for others to take your place!”

Startled by the young man’s strength and tact, Lakd took a deep breath and recognized it was time to fight seriously. He had underestimated the strange, young man and he wasn’t going to make that mistake any longer.

However, as Lakd gathered water essence around his blades, he was irked yet again by Oli’s unpredictability. The ape-like man barreled into the ring of bandits surrounding his party members. They had only a moment to respond, but their efforts were slowed by Shadur’s vines. There was nothing they could do to stay Oli’s rampage.

Oli broke through the ring but was forced to turn and defend against Lakd’s next attack. Two icy blades crashed against Oli’s essence armor, cracking and weakening it more than anticipated.

“That’s all you’ve got?” Lakd laughed, striking again with poise and focus. “You may be able to fight, but they won’t last without you!”

Both Leon and Johan did their best to remain near Shadur, trying to circle around Shadur and defend him. But all three of them knew it was a matter of time before the bandit’s got serious.

Suddenly, four chains lashed out toward the three of them. Johan and Leon repelled the ones aimed at them but were forced to tank the chain attacks aimed at Shadur. One chain wrapped around Johan’s bicep. Another grabbed Leon’s shoulder and armpit. Slowed, both swordsmen failed to evade the next barrage of blows from the muscular group leaders. They coughed blood as their shaky footing barely held up.

Oli understood that fleeing wasn’t an option and his original plan was dashed thanks to Vloz’s interference. Though he could call Vloz and solve the problem, that would only create a larger problem as Johan and the others would demand an explanation about Oli being friendly with a powerful beast unknown to the Taltin Mountains.

With that in mind, Oli decided it was time.

“What’s wrong?” Lakd chuckled again and again, reveling in the fight as some of the unoccupied subordinates formed a perimeter around Oli and Lakd. “You don’t seem happy about your compatriots? Why not–”

“Enough...” snarling quietly, Oli took in a sharp, deep breath.

“What do you...”

Lakd laughed again but Oli suddenly vanished the moment Lakd blinked. Before he knew it, Lakd had completely lost track of his opponent’s whereabouts.

CRACK! CRACK!

Two thunderous cracks rang out as two of the group leaders suddenly collapsed. Their heads bent backward beyond ninety degrees and their bodies were motionless.

Leon didn’t understand what just happened, but he was grateful for his two strongest opponents to be gone. Despite the injuries across his arms and torso, Leon happily redirected his attacks on the few men lunging toward Shadur.

Those with the chains tried to stop Leon but they found themselves unable. The chain around Leon’s shoulder suddenly snapped and the two free chains charging at the young swordsman stopped in mid-air, disobeying the men wielding them. When those chain-wielding bandits realized what was happening, it was too late. Their chains were yanked and those two bandits were pulled directly into Oli, who had reappeared and threw the chain-wielding bandits as weapons of mass destruction.

Those two bandits crashed into the two group leaders facing Johan as the two largest targets available. This forced the group leaders to attack their own, which they did without hesitation.

“He can become invisible! Be alert!” shouted Lakd, making sure his men weren’t stunned by the sheer shock.

Letting go of his now-dead victims, Oli threw himself at the two group leaders with reckless abandon. While one accepted Oli’s charge with his own war hammer, one flinched and back-stepped with his barbed knuckles.

Gamun decided to time his strike against Oli, wanting to use his fellow group leader as a meat shield. He had clashed with Oli once before and understood the young man’s strength much better than the rest.

However, that meat shield didn’t work as well as he had hoped.

The war hammer was met by two war hammers made from compacted earth essence, repelling the blow and creating an opening. Oli smashed into the man’s chestplate as the follow-up strike of his second essence hammer sent the brawny man flying.