Chapter 74: The Woman Beneath Me

Zarvessa’s lips curled into a furious smile.

"You still don’t understand. You don’t get to reject me and walk away. You will die here, and the rest of them will become my slaves."

She attacked before I could respond.

Her speed was terrifying.

She crossed the distance between us in an instant, her dagger cutting towards my throat.

I tilted my head aside and raised Doom Axe, but she changed direction halfway through the movement.

Her free hand struck my chest, forcing me to stumble, and her knee followed straight into my abdomen.

I grunted as the impact drove the air from my lungs.

She was stronger than I had anticipated, and her movements were becoming increasingly erratic.

There was no hesitation between her attacks.

She pressed forward relentlessly, striking wherever she found an opening.

Every time I tried to create distance, she closed it almost immediately.

A dagger scraped against my Thunderclad coating, sending sparks into the air.

She followed with a kick that struck my thigh, nearly throwing me off balance.

I swung Doom Axe at her, but she slipped beneath its path and struck my wounded chest.

Pain flared through me.

"Damn it!"

I stumbled backwards, but this time I didn’t try to meet her strength directly.

I had already learned that doing so would put me at a disadvantage.

Zarvessa was faster than me, and her physical strength was nothing to underestimate.

However, I had more than brute force at my disposal.

I activated [Lightning Step].

Lightning burst beneath my feet as I moved sideways, leaving her attack to cut through empty air.

Before she could turn, I drove my shoulder into her side and used the momentum to knock her away.

She recovered almost immediately, landing several steps from me.

Her crimson eyes narrowed.

I didn’t give her time to attack again.

I activated [Storm Charge], allowing mana to gather around my legs as lightning crawled over my body.

The ground cracked beneath my feet when I launched forward.

Zarvessa raised her dagger, but my movement was faster than she expected.

I struck her weapon arm with the haft of Doom Axe, knocking her blade off course, and followed with a heavy blow from my shoulder.

She staggered.

I swung again, forcing her to retreat.

This time, she couldn’t simply slip around my attacks.

Thunderclad strengthened my body, while Lightning Step allowed me to change direction before she could fully react.

I began matching her speed, using my axe to control the distance between us.

Zarvessa tried to slip past my guard, but I caught her wrist.

Her eyes widened.

I twisted her arm away from my body and drove my knee into her stomach.

She doubled over, but I didn’t release her.

I pulled her forward, shifted my weight, and threw her onto the stone ground.

The impact knocked the breath out of her.

Before she could get up, I dropped my weight over her and pinned her shoulders against the ground.

One hand held her dagger wrist away from her body while my other arm pressed across her upper chest.

Doom Axe lay a short distance away, its runes glowing faintly against the stone.

Zarvessa struggled violently.

"Get off me!"

She tried to twist free, kicking at my legs and throwing her weight from side to side.

I tightened my hold, keeping her arm pinned while avoiding putting unnecessary pressure on her throat.

"Stop fighting!" I shouted.

"Let me go!"

"Not until you calm down!"

She bucked beneath me, her face twisted with rage.

Her crimson hair had spread across the ground, and the leather plates of her outfit were scuffed from the fall.

She looked nothing like the composed chief who had welcomed us into her clan earlier.

Her breathing was ragged, and her eyes seemed almost wild.

I glanced towards the crowd.

The red goblins had stopped advancing.

Several stood with their weapons raised, uncertain whether they should interfere.

On the other side, Talia and the green goblins remained gathered together, watching us carefully.

Gunther was ready to move at the slightest sign of danger, while Talia held her staff in front of her.

My gaze returned to Zarvessa.

"Listen to me. I don’t want to kill you, and I don’t want to fight your clan. I said I’m willing to work with you, but you need to stop this."

She glared up at me.

For several moments, she continued struggling.

Her movements gradually became weaker, though her expression remained furious.

I kept my hold firm, refusing to give her an opening to reach for another weapon.

"You’re going to regret this," she hissed.

"Maybe. But right now, you’re the one who needs to think about what you’re doing."

Her breathing remained uneven.

She stared at me as though she wanted to tear me apart with her bare hands, but the frantic movements of her body began to subside.

The tension in her shoulders slowly eased, and her fingers stopped clawing at the ground.

I watched her carefully.

The fury in her crimson eyes didn’t disappear all at once.

It faded gradually, giving way to something harder to read. Her gaze remained fixed on mine, but the wildness that had driven her attacks was slowly disappearing.

Eventually, she stopped struggling altogether.

I loosened my grip slightly, though I didn’t release her.

"Are you done?" I asked.

Zarvessa said nothing.

I waited a little longer, watching her face for any sign that she intended to attack again.

Only when her breathing had settled, and her body had relaxed beneath me, did I finally begin to ease off.

Around us, the clearing remained silent.

Ravok’s body lay on the ground nearby, and the red goblins were still holding their weapons. Talia and the others hadn’t moved from their positions.

Whatever had happened between Zarvessa and me, there was no pretending that things could simply return to the way they had been.

I looked down at the woman beneath me.

"Now," I said quietly, "are we going to talk like reasonable people or...