Translated by Tianic, edited by Crimson Zair
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Everybody on the battlefield was about to relief, the unexpected struck again: the pillar engravings started to vanish gradually once more!
“Your mother melon… beat me!” I blinked to make sure I was seeing it right, “Are you joking with me at a time like this?”
The priests on top of the shrine went crazy, they chanted together once again to make the disappeared engravings reappear. Before I could clap about it, the appeared engravings disappeared for the second time!
It was like a game played by two boys in a sand pit. One boy draws, and the other wipes it off, repeating, again and again, to finally come to a win.
To me, my beast opponents losing will end with them locked up for another twenty years, which was not of my concern. However, if those idiotic priests failed, we will all be needing an unambiguous language to persuade the beasts that we did not taste well.
Wilder and his men have cleaned the rest of the field.
The remaining soldiers who survived were flabbergasted at the priests failing, again and again trying to seal the beast hole.
Regardless what was in their minds, the pillars were not slopes of sand to draw over and over. During the countless reappearances of the engravings, the sealing pillars have become increasingly thinner.
“Once the pillars fail…” I couldn’t allow my imagination to continue to run wild, thus I turned to Luther and said, “… we run!”
“Gather your IGTs…” I was not the only one to observe the situation, so Luther hinted, “You get His Royal Majesty. I’ll clear out your retreat. If those priests hold onto the prince, you know what to do.”
I nodded and planned out a bit further. Then I secretly made a round of hand gestures to summon dozens of my IGTs. A few of which were the ones who outperformed during the earlier battle.
The condition has continued to aggravate. After the first guarding pillar collapsed, the rest of them followed!
Thence, all the ‘fun’ overwhelmed us. A collective roaring thundered, all kinds of beasts ranging from small and slow to tall and rapid, surged out stampeding from their cave. They ran so livelily that clouds of dust were disturbed and thrown to swirl in the air. The flow of beasts was not stopping anytime sooner because, by the time the ones who escaped earlier were already half way into the battlefield, creatures of all kinds were still pouring out of that broken cave!
I remained stoic the entire time and led my men rushing to my target: the top of the shrine where the princes were located.
“Brave warriors!” Said one of the priests on the shrine, “Hold steady! Our reinforcements are on their way! Hold your positions! As long as we bear for a bit longer, the victory will be ours! Show your bravery! Show your loyalty to your three princes, your empires, and His Protoss Majesty!”
He just wouldn’t stop talking as I was climbing that god forsaken set of stairs that led to the shrine. Suddenly, I was surprised to find I was not the only party that was running for it. That Rivalzian female commander was doing the same thing!
It seemed only idiots cared about loyalty now. We would have been long dead by the time reinforcements arrived.
I bet anyone has heard the stories as: only when the last soldier fell in desperation did the endless rows of reinforcements appeared on the horizon.
Hence we had every reason to believe that the so-called reinforcements will only show up unless every last one of us was slaughtered, or they will never come.
The shrine narrowed down as we approached the topside, making the woman commander and I climbing shoulder by shoulder.
“What would you do?” She started her first active conversation with me.
“What would I do but…” I did not bother to stop climbing and asked back.
“Together?” When she replied, we were not a few footsteps to reaching the shrine top.
“Together!” I answered, then both of our feet stepped on the last stair.
She punched away a priest who intended to inquire us and ran to her idiotic prince. I also found Fischer in the shortest time possible.
“What’s the situation?” Fischer asked.
“They can’t hold much longer, Why haven’t you run yet…” I dragged Fischer and told him in a lowered voice, “You wanna die here!”
Fischer was not stupid since he has been spending time with me. He ran as he whipped around and yelled: “I’ll check them out!”
He merely reached his way down before the upper-middle stairs cracked open! Through the decimated steps, several gigantic magical beasts revealed their ugly heads underneath.
Their running bodies resembled that of snakes, though there were protective irregular green shells that covered their skin. Each body segment had a pair of legs. The closer the legs were their heads, the stronger they were. The ones close to the tail were of a minimal size.
In this way, our path down the shrine was blocked. Those giant beasts wriggled their bodies trying to drag the rest of their tails out of the broken holes. In their triangular green heads, two flashy black eyes were set. Dozens of long and short tentacles that fiddled were located around their tiny mouthparts as if they were preparing to be served a meal.
Seeing their intercrossed scythe-shaped arms that sliced through the air, I instantly knew they must be the so-called Kha’Zix.
“BANG!” A Kha’Zix nailed his front claws effortlessly into the solid stone stair to drag out the rest of its body. As for now, its tail bent to prop up the upper body and start chirping toward us.
I observed its sharp front claws then understood why they were able to reach here.
“Watch Fischer for me!” I told the men at my side then kicked a white-robed priest down the stairs once I saw nobody was paying me any attention.
I had no knowledge of what kind of creature the Kha’Zix was, nor did I know how they attack. never would I even think of using my men to test a Kha’Zix’s lethality. However, those priests and I were not very close friends. They had the Protoss’ protection, and they have repeatedly passed on the spirit of sacrifice. They were perfect for the job.
That white priest who was kicked down was clearly unprepared for this. He screamed and yelled desperately instead of showing any sense of sacrificial spirits.
The one who ended his life was the Kha’Zix that merely dragged clean its body. It pierced the man with one of its front claws and tossed the body to its fellow Kha’Zixs. Amongst a symphony of ‘click, snap, crack’ sounds, the man’s body has ripped apart and devoured! This one seemed to be a Kha’Zix commander judging by its unselfish act of sharing food.
At this time, came a violent shriek from my back!
I knew from this voice it was Archmage Webster doing his tricks. Whenever he was about to release large-scale spells, hence the shriek: his opponent would be startled even before the spell release.
Uncle Webster did not only cast constraining Roots spell but also summoned earth element Golems. In the meantime, he took advantage of the time gap between spells to float Fischer into the air. The timing and rapid transformation of magic were impeccable, which made me realize that he was purposely letting me win during the last qualification trial. What a shame.
Webster’s rooting spell has trapped the Kha’Zixs where they were. While his dozens of Golems bugged the beasts stalling their climb. I took advantage of this time to run down toward another side of the shrine and let Luther know about our situation.
The Kha’Zixs furiously wielded their front claws on their raptorial legs to slash the Golems into pieces of all shapes and sizes. However, the Golems were inanimate. As long as the magic power persisted, they were able to revive, reform and start over.
I dashed to Tennessee and whispered a few words to him and we quickly came to an agreement.
“Fischer, stay up there!” Yelled I, “Don’t come down!”
I hand picked a few best IGT members to stay with me on the first floor. We were not to die up there, and we had no ideas on the number of the Kha’Zix that has not shown yet. I can only trust Fischer to a man as powerful as Uncle Tennessee.
“Ready?” I asked a few elves around me, “Give me your worst! We’re good!”
They nodded and chanted, Their hands glimmering in different colors. Aggressive buffs were applied to our bodies one by one.
“PROWESS!”
“ARMOR OF FLAME!”
“FUNSHION!”
The buffs were back, making our exhausted bodies once again filled with energy! The Funshion will make us jump unusually higher. Prowess will grant our bodies amplified strength. Armor of Flame will increase our defensive capabilities. All of which have given us the ability to fight the Kha’Zixs.
The commander Kha’Zix who killed and shared the priest’s corpse earlier shook its body and ignored everyone but me. It was apparently demanding a duel battle.
Before I could say no, one of its claws was screeching from the side towards me.
The Ice Armor on my shield broke into white shards on the impact, which also successfully accomplished its mission: preventing the claw from penetrating my shield.
I blocked the Kha’Zix’ other claw and bounced up.
Seeing as it was barraging me with strikes from its long and sharp claws, I knew I had to change my tactics.
With a combat distance this long, only could I bounce around like so. However, if I got careless for a second and let its claw reach me, I would be in huge trouble.
I waited for an opening and dashed close the Kha’Zix and slashed open a massive cut on its green, solid yet smooth carapace. Thick and black body fluid erupted out of the gash.
I darted to the other side of its body and kept on slashing. My flame armor seared its weak and fragile underside.
The Kha’Zix shrieked harshly. However, it was rooted in place. It could only turn its upper body difficulty to wave its claws in vain. Not only it did not reach me, but it also added to itself a few more new cuts due to it overusing its strength.
By the time I beheaded the beast. A Kha’Zix body was tossed down from the top of the shrine. I looked up and was thrilled!
The situation at the top was not so different with the battle here. A few Kha’Zix drilled out from the top while we were fighting downstairs. They knew the top was a crucial position!
Though my men have killed a few of them with luck, a colossal Kha’Zix has revealed. It was halfway out, and its two strongest front claws have already bathed in blood.
I hastily climbed back up, with an empty mind and little time to fill it. The only thing I knew was I was damn miserable today. I will be either killed by the beasts or die of exhaustion.
Ground level, Luther has become the commander in chief of the three armies. He has ordered the troops to abandon the horses and set foot on the shrine. They were currently forming ranks at an higher position to dominate the incoming beasts.
My Dark Army was at the topmost. They have all regained their bows. Elves and wingmen have flown in the air, using their best and most accurate magic and arrow to support whoever is at the lowest position.
The time has come for everyone to realize that this battle will end with the humans dead or the beasts dead. They knew that once the monsters reached the top and killed any one of the princes. Everyone, as well as his or her families, were going to die as a follow-up consequence.
The soldiers had nowhere to retreat. Thus they yelled to fight with the beasts until there was no blood left in their bodies. The white-robed priests were no longer hesitating to use their mana. They stayed on the stairs and tossed as many healing spells on the soldiers as they could. The ground was so crowded with beasts that my warlocks need not even to aim to release a spell and kill a hundred foes. All of them were engaging in mass destruction magic: firewalls, thunder clouds. Any random lightning spells could kill a hundred beasts. Even the rear soldiers were throwing fireballs towards the battle front!
We all have become crazy to hold on for a bit longer because of a sliver of hope in the form of possible reinforcements.
When I reached the top of the shrine, I saw Webster strike away a Kha’Zix with a bolt of lightning. Currently, all who were on ground level were forced into a corner by the Kha’Zixs. My IGTs were almost all fragged.
With the priest’s’ healing magic, those who were wounded were able to stand up and were led by Tennessee to battle. Seeing those who died and were hurt, shit, my heart broke!
That grandpa Kha’Zix finally drilled out of the shrine. It seemed like it was obsessive towards cleanliness because it was shivering the body to shake off all of the dust on its skin. After which, it released an intense chirp and gave a stretch. Its massive body had made the priests faces turn as green as the Kha’Zix’s skin.
The most critical moment called for a human’s most primitive force.
While it was stretching its body I went unnoticed. I had gotten a hold on a particular part of its tail closer to its body. It was not the part where it was later rumored. I did not know exactly what my hands were holding. Anyway, I used the size of my hands to find an appropriately sized beast part to get hold of.
I was too anxious about the safety of the men on the shrine and forgot the buffs on my body were still active and pulled with a bit too much strength. Thus, that part where I held might be detached somehow.
Please, believe me, I was not certain of what I was holding at the time.
Anyways, the grandpa Kha’Zix became angry.
The massive beast’s body shivered, and its head trembled. Two of its claws slashed whatever was front of it into pieces. A few younger Kha’Zixs were the first to bear the brunt and died. The grandpa Kha’Zix’s sharp chirping made all men and beast on the shrine freeze.
Everybody watched without knowing what to do. The grandpa Kha’Zix broke a corner of the shrine and turned to gaze at me. When it saw the piece of charred ‘evidence’ in my hand. It chirped heavily once again!
My ears hummed.
“I… I… I’m sorry!” I stuttered, “I… I… I… I hope you don’t mind. Y… you… you are much too old… to… to… to… use it that much…”
I was not afraid. I stuttered in profound regret. We were both living beings. Killing each other was one thing, breaking its penis was another. I wondered if the beasts would prefer death over humiliation like us humans did.
“RUN!” Someone yelled. Sounded like Fischer!
Before I turned and run, the grandpa Kha’Zix’s tail bounced up and swept over.
I leveled my hands to block its attack. I was wearing a thick gauntlet and when the tail struck the gauntlet got stuck in its carapace. But I noticed it’s turning to me. I could care less and started running!
However, I cannot run down the stairs that were crowded with people. Thus I ran down from the side passage to ground level.
The grandpa Kha’Zix was dragged while in misery. It chirped painfully. Though I was too fast to let it turn around. Its body was too long to reach me without turning.
The shrine was built out of stones that had a glossy surface. I traveled fast with the help of the Funshion buff. Whatever I was dragging behind me chirped the entire trip.
I ran over the battle front. Everybody, either the soldiers or the beasts. They all gazed at me stupidly as if they have forgotten they were at war. After I ran for a while, they came to realize they should run after me or run after what was behind my back.
I cannot be sluggish because I knew, if I ran a bit slower, I could die!
All the beasts I came across screamed and hastily moved to make a road for me. They started chasing after I run past them. After a while, I was followed by a huge tail of beasts, big and small. I had nothing on mind except for ‘I’m tired!’.
A few elf warlocks drew up to supply me with additional strength. Other mages attacked the thing I was dragging from afar.
The grandpa Kha’Zix was in misery as it screamed and flailed its arms. Bad luck for anyone who got too close to it. In my wake was nothing but crushed gravel and beast corpses. I couldn’t just explain to it, “Take a look, these hellhounds and warwick, they are your grandsons and granddaughters. Be nice to them…” I guess it just didn’t care about anything but its pain-filled penis.
After running for a while, I came to understand that I should be running around the shrine. That was how the mages could kill this elder monster.
Thus I altered the route and circled near the shrine. I did not have time to consider what will come next after this beast I dragged was killed. Those creatures who followed will not let me go quickly. Anyways, I ran.
However, beasts were still beasts. They were fearsome at first, as of now, these creatures focused solely on me in this long-distance run regardless of the ones on the shrine.
The Kha’Zix’s soft belly was battered and bloody from the rough ground. It also consistently suffered a spell barrage coming from the top of the shrine. Especially after being hit by Webster’s chanted attack, its body was already on fire.
I assumed such a situation must be magnificent. I was a fireman who dragged a lengthy firebug that followed by a huge group of beasts and human.
Thus all of us circled around the shrine ‘happily’, and there were something thrown from the sky every now and then.
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