Chapter 72: The Chief’s Wrath

The next thing I knew, I was flying through the doorway.

My back struck the ground, and I rolled across the stone floor before coming to a stop near the opposite wall.

The impact knocked the air out of my lungs.

Well, that was one way to end a date.

For a moment, I could only lie there, staring at the open sky while I tried to understand how I’d gone from sharing a bed with a beautiful woman to being thrown out like unwanted trash.

I turned my head towards the doorway.

Zarvessa stood in the doorway, her crimson hair falling messily around her shoulders.

Her face was twisted with anger, and her chest rose and fell as she glared down at me.

The seductive woman who had been whispering sweet words into my ears moments ago was nowhere to be seen.

"You arrogant little bastard! You’ll pay for this."

Arrogant little bastard?

I slowly pushed myself upright.

"Well, that’s rather rude. I thought we were getting along."

"Shut your mouth!"

Her voice echoed through the corridor.

She was breathing heavily, and I couldn’t tell if it was the anger making her mad or the result of the little exercise we’d just done.

I’d practically rejected her after she’d gone to considerable lengths to convince me to join her.

She’d offered me a position at her side, used every bit of charm she possessed, and even gone as far as trying to seduce me into accepting.

And I’d told her no.

It was only natural that she would be furious.

She was the chief of an entire clan, after all.

Someone in her position should have been accustomed to getting what she wanted.

Perhaps that was precisely the problem.

Maybe people rarely told her no, and she had no idea how to handle it when someone finally did.

Still, I wasn’t going to give in simply because the woman was beautiful and knew exactly how to use her body to get what she wanted.

Believe me, I was tempted.

Very tempted.

My body hadn’t exactly forgotten what had happened in that room, and a part of me was already regretting how things had ended.

But pleasure wasn’t a good enough reason to hand over my freedom.

I didn’t know what Zarvessa wanted to accomplish, what kind of future she intended to build, or what she’d expect from me once I became her subordinate.

For all I knew, she wanted a personal bodyguard who would follow her around and eliminate anyone who displeased her.

That wasn’t the kind of position I was interested in.

There was also the matter of her clan.

Their unnatural features, their strange appearance, and the things Talia had told me about Zarvessa’s practices all made me suspicious.

She had mentioned a ritual and spoken about offering her own kind to a god.

Now I didn’t know what kind of deity she worshipped, but I had no intention of finding out by becoming part of whatever twisted arrangement she had prepared.

I preferred my problems simple.

A monster appeared; I killed it.

Someone threatened my life; I fought back.

The humans sealed our magic; unseal it.

That was simple.

But joining a clan whose chief might be involved in some strange ritualistic business was an entirely different matter.

"You ungrateful bastard!" Zarvessa spat.

I looked up.

She had already put her clothes back on, including the fitted black outfit and leather armor she had worn earlier.

Her hand moved to the curved dagger hanging at her waist. Its dark blade slid free of its sheath with a metallic hiss.

She held it in a reverse grip, her crimson eyes fixed on me.

"You’re going to regret humiliating me."

"Humiliating you? How did I even do that?"

"Shut up!"

"If I told you there’s nothing to be embarrassed about, would that make you feel less humiliated?"

"I said, shut it!"

She hurled the dagger straight at my face. I quickly tilted my head to the side, and the blade whistled past me.

I sighed.

"Is this really necessary? I thought we could end things peacefully."

"You think you can walk into my territory, use my body, reject my offer, insult me, and leave?"

"I didn’t insult you. I simply said no. And if anyone is using anyone’s body, it’s you who used mine."

"Silence!"

"Okay, to be fair, we both used each other."

Her grip tightened around the dagger.

I felt the atmosphere change.

The anger in her expression wasn’t merely the result of wounded pride.

There was something deeper behind it, something vicious that made the hairs along my neck stand.

Her eyes seemed brighter than before, and the faint markings along her arms began to glow beneath her skin.

Oh. This was getting serious.

I reached for the Doom Axe.

The weapon flew into my hand with a surge of mana, its heavy blade appearing beside my shoulder. The runes carved along its surface glowed faintly, casting a dim light over the corridor.

Zarvessa’s eyes narrowed.

"You dare draw a weapon against me? In my own home."

I glanced down at the axe.

"Well, you did pull out a knife."

She bared her teeth.

"Die!"

She lunged.

My eyes widened.

She’s fast!

I barely managed to raise my axe before her dagger struck its shaft.

The collision was much heavier than I’d anticipated.

My elbows bent under the force, and the impact travelled all the way up to my shoulders.

I had fought creatures larger than her without struggling this much to block their attacks.

Yet this woman was pushing me backwards with nothing but a dagger.

Whatever was responsible for her strength, it certainly wasn’t ordinary goblin physiology.

The impact sent a jolt through my arms, forcing me to take a step backwards.

Before I could recover, she twisted her wrist and struck again.

I blocked the second attack, but the force behind it pushed me further down the corridor.

What the hell?

Her movements were nothing like those of an ordinary goblin.

She crossed the distance between us in a blur, her dagger flashing towards my chest before I could properly adjust my stance.

I twisted aside.

The blade missed my heart but sliced across my ribs.

A sharp sting followed.

I jumped backwards, putting some distance between us as blood trickled down my side.

"You’re stronger than I expected," I muttered.

Zarvessa didn’t answer.

She came at me again.

I swung the Doom Axe, forcing her to change direction before the blade could reach her.

She moved with unnatural speed, slipping past the attack and striking at my exposed side.

I managed to turn the weapon in time, but her dagger scraped against the metal shaft.

Her attacks were relentless.

I tried watching her shoulders and hips to anticipate where the next strike would come from, but that wasn’t helping much.

Her movements were too quick, and she changed direction before I could properly react.

Even worse, she seemed to know exactly where my weapon was positioned, constantly targeting the openings whenever I committed to a swing.

Fighting her was like trying to hit a shadow with an axe.

Every swing carried the full weight of her anger.

She wasn’t fighting with the measured movements of someone trying to defeat an opponent.

She was trying to tear me apart.

I gritted my teeth and swung again.

The Doom Axe cut through the air, forcing her to retreat.

For a brief moment, I thought I’d managed to create an opening.

I was wrong.

Zarvessa planted one foot against the wall and launched herself forward.

Her body seemed to blur as she crossed the space between us, and before I could bring my weapon around, her dagger struck my chest.

I felt the blade bite into my flesh.

My breath caught.

She twisted her wrist, dragging the weapon across my chest before pulling it free.

Blood spilled down my torso, and I stumbled backwards, struggling to keep my balance.

"Damn it!"

I clutched the Doom Axe with both hands.

How was she moving like that?

Zarvessa landed several steps away, her dagger dripping with my blood.

Her crimson hair had fallen across one side of her face, and the markings along her arms pulsed with an eerie light. She looked almost inhuman.

Actually, considering the other red goblins I’d seen, perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Her breathing was heavy, but her eyes remained fixed on me.

"I should have killed you the moment you opened your mouth."

I tightened my grip on the axe.

"That would’ve been rather inconvenient. We hadn’t even finished our conversation."

"I’ll tear you apart!"

She raised her dagger, and the anger in her voice sent a chill down my spine.

I looked at the blood running down my chest.

This wasn’t a threat she was making to frighten me.

She genuinely intended to kill me.

I felt chills on my balls.

For the first time since entering her clan, I began to wonder whether I’d made a mistake by following her into this settlement.