The canyon shook. Chief Malakar didn’t just charge; he erupted. The rocky earth completely cratered beneath his feet as he launched himself forward. I brought Eclipse up in time.

CLANG! 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

I was thrown backward by the impact. My back slammed into the canyon wall. "I will grind your bones to dust!" Malakar roared, closing the distance again.

His fists were his weapons. He drove a punch directly at my chest. I slipped to the right, feeling the wind of the blow past me. Malakar’s fist slammed into a huge boulder where I had just been standing.The Boulder, the size of wagons shattered into bits.

"Stop dodging like a rat!" Malakar bellowed.

"You want me to stand there and take your hit? You think I’m stupid?," I replied, parrying a downward strike and letting his own momentum pull him off balance. I rotated my wrist and slashed upward. Eclipse bit into his shoulder, cleanly severing the muscle.

Malakar howled, stumbling back. He clutched his bleeding shoulder, his burning eyes widening in disbelief.

***

High above on the ridge, the hunters’ tactical advantage was slipping.

The initial volley of poisoned arrows had decimated the unguarded Blood-Iron vanguard, but demons were born for war. The survivors quickly adapted. They hoisted the heavy iron shields of their fallen comrades, forming a crude but effective wall against the cliff face. The arrows sparked and shattered against the shields.

"They’re taking cover!" a hunter shouted. "We can’t hit them through the shields!"

Korin gripped his spear, his scarred face twisted into a mask of pure, predatory determination. If Malakar’s men formed a proper shield wall, they would march straight out of the gorge and down to the village. The element of surprise was gone.

"Arrows won’t cut it anymore!" Korin roared, his voice carrying over the din of battle. "Draw your weapons! We finish this head on! With me everyone!" Korin didn’t hesitate. He leapt from the rocky ledge, sliding down the steep embankment in a controlled avalanche of gravel and dust.

"For Elderglen!" the hunters bellowed. All the hunters dropped their bows and drew out their axes and swords, and poured down the cliff like a tidal wave.

Korin hit the ground like a meteor. His spear swept in a devastating arc, cleaving an iron shield in half and sending the demon holding it flying backward. The hunters crashed into the demonic lines a second later.

Gael, a younger hunter with a quick smile, ducked under a wild sword swing. This was the same Gael who had laughed around the bonfire before. Now, his face was entirely grim, stripped of all its youthful humor. He drove his hunting axe into the knee of a towering demon, bringing the beast down, before finishing him with a quick thrust of his dagger.

"Push them back!" Gael yelled, kicking the dead demon away. "Don’t let them form up!"

But the Blood-Iron warriors were vicious. A wounded demon, lying in the dirt and choking on venom, suddenly lunged upward with a spear. Gael didn’t see it coming.

The spearhead punched straight through Gael’s leather armor, sinking deep into his stomach and tearing out through his back.

Gael gasped hard. The breath left his lungs in a sharp, wet hiss. His eyes went wide with sudden, uncomprehending shock. The hunting axe slipped from his trembling fingers, hitting the ground beneath with a dull thud.

"GAEL!" Korin roared. The giant hunter moved with terrifying speed. He crossed the distance in three massive strides, his spear decapitating the wounded demon before the demom could even pull the spear out.

Korin dropped his weapon and caught Gael just as his knees gave out. He dragged the boy behind the cover of a shattered supply wagon, pressing his massive hands desperately against the horrific wound.

"Hold on, boy. Just hold on," Korin pleaded, his deep voice cracking. "We’ve got you, we’ll get you out of here. The healer will heal you easily. You’re going home."

Gael coughed, a thick line of blood spilling from his mouth. His hands weakly gripped Korin’s forearms. His skin was rapidly turning a sickening, ashen pale.

"Uncle Korin..." Gael wheezed. He couldn’t feel his legs anymore. The cold was creeping up his chest. He looked up at the giant, his eyes losing focus. "T-take care of my....younger sister for me."

"Don’t say such things. We are getting you out of here," Korin said. "We’re winning, Gael. Ren is finishing the Chief."

Gael managed a weak, bloody smile. The terror in his eyes slowly melted away, replaced by a quiet, heartbreaking peace. "Good. Tell my sister... I fought well..."

His grip on Korin’s arm went completely limp. The light faded from the young hunter’s eyes.

Korin knelt there in the dirt, holding the lifeless body of his friend. The roar of the battle faded. He looked around the area. Gael wasn’t the only one. Two other hunters lay dead, and several more were injured heavily as they fought tooth and nail against the surviving Blood-Iron Tribe demons.

Korin gently laid Gael on the cold ground. He closed the boy’s eyes, wiping the blood from his cheek. Then, the giant stood up. He picked up his spear again, his devastating grief hardening into cold, murderous rage, and turned back to the demonic line with a deafening roar.

***

"ENOUGH!" Malakar’s scream shook the very ground.

He was bleeding from a dozen precise cuts. I had completely dismantled his rhythm, countering every wild, destructive punch with perfect efficiency. His armor was in ruins, hanging off his body in jagged shreds.

But what finally broke his sanity wasn’t the pain. Through the dust and the chaos, Malakar saw his elite vanguard, the pride of the Blood-Iron Tribe, being pushed back and slaughtered by a group of desperate villagers. His men were dying every second. The ambush we planned was working. The invincible A-Rank warlord was losing everything to the very livestock he had intended to slaughter.

"I will slaughter all of you!" Malakar screamed. A massive, terrifying wave of dark, concentrated energy erupted from his body, expanding outward like a tidal wave of pure destruction.

I stopped holding back. I tightened my grip on Eclipse. The chaotic, deafening roar of his attack faded into absolute silence in my mind. I tapped into my Nascent Soul, condensing my Qi and drawing it entirely into the tip of my blade. I stepped forward into the oncoming wave of destruction. "Heaven Severing Sword Art. First Form."

I swung Eclipse in a single, flawless slash. There was no grand clash of opposing energies. My blade simply passed through the dark wave as if cutting through thin silk. The ultimate attack of Malakar was cleanly cut. The demonic energy split straight down the middle, rushing harmlessly past my shoulders and detonating against the canyon walls behind me.

I stood directly in front of Malakar. His arms were still outstretched, his eyes wide with absolute, uncomprehending horror. He didn’t understand what had just happened. He couldn’t comprehend how his ultimate power had simply been swatted away. A thin, horizontal line of blood appeared across his massive chest.

The surviving Blood-Iron warriors, seeing their invincible Chief standing completely paralyzed, lost the last of their nerve. The fight completely drained out of them. They dropped their shields and weapons, turning and fleeing desperately into the dark mountain pass.

"Let them run. We will march into their territory and slaughter everyone they care about. Let them feel despair.!" Korin barked.

A few of the younger hunters raised their blood-stained axes, letting out a ragged, excited cheer.

I slowly sheathed Eclipse. The click of the blade locking into the scabbard echoed loudly in the quiet canyon.

Malakar collapsed to his knees. I walked toward him, devoid of any emotions. Malakar coughed violently, a thick spray of blood staining his lips. "You think..." Malakar wheezed, grinning through bloody teeth. "You think you’ve won?"

I stopped in front of him, looking down with cold indifference. "Your men are dead and soon you will be following them too. So yes, I have won."

Malakar laughed "You disrupted the Great One’s plan. He won’t let you be. Be prepared."

"The who?" I asked.

Malakar tilted his head back, staring up at the dark sky. "The Fallen King." Malakar’s eyes rolled back. He let out a final, rattling breath, and his massive body slumped forward into the ground, entirely lifeless.

[Ding.]

[You have slained a Pawn of the Fallen King.]