VOLUME 3 CHAPTER 8 REWRITE

“You fought me before, geh, and…” The young man said as he hold his head.

“Why did you kill them?”

“Who? Oh, these humans huh? Who asked them to call me ‘monster’, and throw things at me?”

You’re clearly a monster, Zkocha thought as his eyes narrowed.

“They’re really too much for being so rude to me even though they’re just some weak and pathetic lower life forms. So I taught these idiots a lesson.”

“I am partially responsible for you becoming like this.” Zkocha muttered, “I am the king of elves yet I wasn’t able to preemptively detect this danger and let you out into the world. That is my mistake. I may hate humans but I do not wish to see them come to harm from you and lose their lives like this.”

“What are you talking about huh?”

“Before you’ve completely fallen, I must bring you back from the edge and set you back on the right path.”

The sound of an electric current grew larger and larger as a magic formation expanded beneath Zkocha’s feet, making the stones on ground vibrate and shattering the glass in nearby stores.

When he saw this, the young man gave a silly giggle, “Oi oi oi, you wouldn’t be thinking of fighting me now, would you? I advise you to think about it carefully, I’m super strong now just so you know.”

“Not really.” Zkocha said as he raised his head and looked down on the young man with a prideful look. Unfortunately, the electric current made his hair stand on end so he looked like a large golden broom which ruined the atmosphere quite a bit.

“You said humans are weak and pathetic but from my point of view, you’re not much stronger than them.”

“Is that so?” The young man laughed gleefully as his nose touched Zkocha’s.

——-!!!

Zkocha grabbed Tess and leapt back immediately. So fast!! Zkocha thought as he hid how shaken he was inside. He couldn’t see the young man’s movements at all. When Zkocha was still speaking, the young man was sitting at the corner of the street and in the blink of an eye, he was right before Zkocha, his serpent tongue sweeping across Zkocha’s chin.

The young man was not as tall as Zkocha and when Zkocha got a good look after jumping away, he found that the young man was floating in the air, supported by a thick tail. It seemed like it had just grown out of the young man’s body and was covered by black scales. It constantly pulsated as though it were breathing.

He should still be in the earlier stages… Right? Perspiration began to flow down Zkocha’s back while his chin was sticky and smelly from the young man’s lick.

Zkocha can’t afford to let him continue transforming futher. Otherwise, not just the humans, even elves would be in disaster. The initial plan was to capture him alive but the situation was far more dire in reality than expected. It seems like he will have to be killed, Zkocha thought as he clenched his teeth.

“Tess.”

The little girl in his arms couldn’t stop shivering.

“Hide somewhere a little far from here.”

“Un…”

“Did I die in the prophecy?”

“… No…”

“Then there’s no need to worry, I’ll end the battle as soon as possible.”

Those words seemed like they were more for himself than the little girl. The young man was not slowly walking over as he stepped on the puddles of blood.

Once Zkocha confirmed that Tess was safely hidden, he began his incantations.

A harsh and bloody battle was about to begin.

The entire street was covered with electric currents!

Piles of corpses littered the street and blood rained down from the skies. This, however, meant that there were many conduits for Zkocha.

Zkocha had become lightning incarnate as he charged at the young man, sending out electricity and creating sonic booms as he did so.

“Over there!” Zkocha yelled when he finally grasped the young man’s movements and pounced, leaving a trail of destruction. Immediately, Zkocha began preparing for the next attack.

But the young man successfully dodged once more.

“Stop running around!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be very fast, why haven’t you caught up huh? Wahahaha!” The young man’s mocking laughter came from somewhere.

“Got you!” Zkocha sent out a wave of electricity in the direction of the voice.

“You guessed wrong.” The young man said from behind Zkocha.

His tailed slammed into Zkocha’s waist, sending him flying. Zkocha held his wounded side and turned in mid-air to counterattack but the young man was no longer there and his attack landed on thin air.

Zkocha backed up to the wall and cautiously surveyed his surroundings. There was a significant amount of debris and fog which greatly obscured vision, making it possible for the young man to launch a surprise attack from almost any direction.

“I’m actually above.”

Instead of looking up, Zkocha shot out an attack up top first and for the first time since the fight began, his attack finally hit.

“Bastard!!”

He’d destroyed the young man’s footing, causing him to fall down head first from the roof of a building, landing on a street lamp.

“Owwww!”

It seemed like his head was perfectly fine though his foot wasn’t as the young man rolled about on the ground grasping his foot.

“Ah, it’s becoming numb.”

Zkocha completely ignored the young man’s utterings and completed his incantation. Behind him, a gigantic magic formation manifested, with Zkocha as the center, from which countless electric balls poured out of and flew straight for the young man.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*!!!!!

The road completely shattered, creating a dust cloud several dozen meters tall. The shops were flattened by the shockwaves and glass fragments flew about, cutting Zkocha’s skin. But he ignored all of this and concentrated on injecting more power into his spell.

Not enough! It’s still not enough! Far from it! I have to put in everything I got and give him no quarter! Even if I kill him, it’s fine, I must completely neutralise him!

“Thunderstorm—– Wind!!!!”

Electricity creates magnetism. And magnetism creates force.

Anything and everything that could conduct electricity began to fly and revolved around Zkocha, creating a tornado with Zkocha at its eye.

“Will you finally die!? Will you finally die huhhhhhhh!!!!” Zkocha cried out. He’d went over his limits, causing his ear drums to burst as blood flowed out profusely from his nose. But he ignored this and continued to fervently repeat the incantations.

Some distance away, people felt their houses shake and thought there was an earthquake so they ran about seeking safe shelter, not knowing that the tremors were caused by Zkocha’s tornado.

The 7th repetition!

41st!

108th!

Zkocha was spent, and fell down face first, but he still kept his eyes on the center of the vortex. As the smoke dissipated, a large crater was revealed with the half-man half-beast young man lying in the center. His body was riddled with holes and his eyes were closed peacefully.

As though he’d died.

“Did he really die?” Zkocha crawled up with difficulty and leapt down to where the young man was. He checked the young man for breathing but he didn’t sense anything.

… Finally.

He finally defeated him!

As the prophecy said, Zkocha stopped the young man’s rampage and survived with serious multiple injuries.

He looked at the young man and saw that more than half of his body was covered by scales.

“Even the tail has…”

Tess’s prophecy came just a few hours ago and yet more than half of his body has been consumed already. If they’d been delayed any further, the consequences would be unimaginable.

But whatever the case, he still managed to kill the young man before he was fully consumed. Zkocha felt at ease when he thought of this.

Not being able to capture him alive is my fault…

“Just kidding~” The young man’s eyes suddenly wrenched open and a black arm pierced Zkocha’s abdomen.

Zkocha cried out in surprise and spat out copious amounts of blood as he fell down while the young man pulled his arm out.

“I nearly, *Ke*, died like that.” The young man said as he looked down on Zkocha, “If you could have held on for a couple more waves.”

“Has he kicked the bucket?” The young man said as he kicked the motionless Zkocha.

“Tch, that’s no fun at all.” The young man said as he stepped on Zkocha’s back and held Zkocha’s left arm as he pulled it off.

Blood splattered on his face and he seemed pleased as he licked it, “I wonder what elves taste like.” The young man said as he opened his mouth to take a bite.

“Molan!!”

I don’t know who is shouting. Who is Molan? That name sounds familiar.

“Molan!!!”

That person shouted tearfully once more.

The young man followed the voice and looked over. There, a lithe, young girl stood.

She was bereft of clothes, revealing a clean and beautiful body with long, golden hair behind that seemed unbelievably soft floating in the wind.

When the young man saw her, he was so bedazzled by her that he wasn’t sure if she was reflecting the light of the sun or vice versa.

I… I’ve seen her before. The young man thought as he let go of Zkocha’s arm.

Sometime ago, she’d walked out from the holy pool, dressed in a pure white gown and brought God’s word to mankind. Her expression then was icy and her gaze was wide enough to survey everyone in the Plaza.

“… Te… Ss…?” The young man muttered.

Molan was missing, and Tina had suddenly fainted, what do I do now! Alisha’s mind was in a mess.

The guards were searching but they’d found no clue so far and were currently questioning passers-by. Alisha was fraught with anxiety and regretted not sending someone to accompany Molan to the toilet when Tina suddenly collapsed onto her.

There was no warning whatsoever, could it be the drink from the restaurant? No, that can’t be it, I’m fine after all.

As Alisha grasped Tina’s hand, the ice-cold skin gave Alisha a shock. It wasn’t just her hands, Tina’s body temperature was dropping fast.

Tin’s body temperature was lower than normal to begin with but it was far too cold now, as though she’s–

Alisha trembled and touched Tina’s neck, “…”

No pulse.

Wh, what about breath?

What about her heart!!??

Alisha confirmed these things in a panic but the outcome made her lose all colour.

It can’t be… It can’t be…

Nothing at all. No signs of life.

“Get me a carriage!!” Alisha yelled at the top of her voice, “Get me a carriage now!!!”

Luckily, the station was nearby.

As Alisha dragged the ice-cold Tina into the carriage, “Continue searching for Molan!” She commanded the troops and threw several gold coins at the stunned driver.

“Go to St Txarango! Do you know St Txarango!? Yes, yes , yes, there! Please go faster, faster, faster!!”

Why did this happen all of a sudden? She couldn’t be dead right? Don’t die without saying anything!

Alisha hugged Tina tightly, hoping to warm her up with her own body heat.

It will be fine as long as we get back to school, they’ll definitely have a way to save Tina! That principal will definitely be able to do it!

Tina’s head accessory fell down and Alisha picked it up and replaced it. But then she found the mark at her forehead and was stunned.

“What is this, why is it shining…”