Chapter 123 - A Bloody Battle
When the bluish fireball was thrown in the direction of Shiro and the others, Nathalia was ready to use <Bjrnens brystplate>, to at least be able to protect herself and maybe Jilly, but Shiro didn't take even one step back when he saw the fireball coming straight at him.
The huge man wedged his Claymore into the ground, clapped the palms of his metal gloves and stretched his arms forward.
"<Renegade's Barrier>!" He roared. From one second to the next, a barrier appeared with the same golden color as the ornaments of his armor.
This barrier looked like a bear's mouth, but instead of teeth, there were vines, and as soon as the fireball collided with the vines, they wrapped around it and swallowed it. The Wizard's magic was nullified entirely.
After using the ability, Shiro tossed his hair to the side and smiled confidently.
"How did you do that, Son of a bitch!?" The Wizard asked, falling to his knees. The fireball was the most potent magic he knew, and yet it was not effective.
Shiro picked up his huge sword from the ground and replied, "You are weak. Try again."
"Attack them!" Tank shouted and began to run forward. In his mind, there was no way such a large group could lose to a trio.
"<Aura Amplification>!" Nathalia shouted, and in the next instant, a loud slam cut through the enemy Tank's armor, causing him to brake his onslaught.
However, even without Tank, the swordmans did not stop and kept running, ready to stockpile anything that came their way.
As soon as they approached Shiro, everyone could hear a loud shout from the Berserker's back. "Get down!"
Shiro was not very fast, but he tried to duck as quickly as possible because he recognized the voice that gave the order.
Just then, a dish axe that came from high in the trees made an abnormal turn and decapitated one of the sworders. The archers, who already had their strings intending to shoot, were confused, and the Wizard was disturbed.
They looked at the axe that dug into the ground and the head that rolled beside it. Followed by a massive splash of blood, the archers screamed in horror.
Without the Behemoth Axe in hand, Luke jumped from over 10 meters high right onto the shoulders of the remaining swordsman and knocked him out with a kick. Then he bounced back with a pirouette and fell in front of Shiro.
"How did you find us? Our scent?" The big man asked.
"Are you kidding? It's impossible to tell your stench apart with so much blood and mud smelling in this forest." said Luke, joking about the fact that Shiro only used to take two baths a week.
Shiro almost laughed but was not moved by the turn of events that the half-wolf provided for the battle. The archers quickly began firing as fast as they could at the emerging half-wolf, which confirmed to Luke that they were not going to give up and run away like the men of minutes ago.
Dodging the arrows with ease, Luke picked up his axe in the middle of the path and continued running toward Tank and the Wizard, who he thought were his most significant problems.
The Tank was a huge knight who, like Shiro, wielded a large Claymore-style sword. However, this man's Claymore was different because it was over six feet tall.
As soon as Luke saw the giant sword approaching him, he decided between dodging or blocking. The half-wolf quickly chose to block. He held each end of his axe with one hand and placed it in front of the blade that slashed toward him.
When the sword collided with the axe handle, it succeeded only in repelling Luke backwards. Dragging his feet in the dirt, Luke almost fell, but the weights of his new boots made sure that didn't happen.
"Shiro, can you distract the big guy? He's a good Tank, so it's going to be a bitch to get to the Wizard."
"Leave it to me!" exclaimed Shiro and started running toward the other big man in armor.
This was rugged terrain for the two huge knights to move because should the joints of their armor lock because of the mud on the ground, it would decree their deaths. Shiro was soon caught up with Luke, but the half-wolf didn't try to overtake him because he needed his cover.
With no other options left, Tank drove his sword into the ground and shouted, "Seiangrep!"
Then the ground of the battlefield began to shake in such a high magnitude that the tops of the colossal trees shook, and several large trunks snapped. Not expecting such a sudden earthquake, Luke was no longer able to steady himself on the ground, and by the time he realized it, Tank was running toward him.
"Now, Livia!" The half-wolf shouted, but when he looked up, Livia was holding on to keep from falling off one of the tree branches. '... Ah, I fucked up.'
Instead of Tank aiming his blow at Shiro, he mustered up all the anger he was at the half-beast, having coldly killed one of his companions and brandished his sword at Luke.
Seeing that the attack was coming towards him, Luke tried to get up and jump to the side. He managed to get up, but a violent headache came over him, followed closely by a tormenting ringing in his ears.
In the end, the huge sword nearly pierced Luke's heart. Even after wedging the Claymore into the thorax of the half-wolf, Tank only stopped running when he collided with the root of one of the enormous trees on the other side of the battlefield.
Slowly the tremor of his ability reduced until it ceased once and for all. Luke looked down where there was a throbbing pain and saw that a huge sword was running through him, but it was thin.
With his vision a little blurred, Luke saw over Tank's shoulder Jilly finally use an ability from his white grimoire. Three stakes of light appeared in the air and pierced through the archer's chest.
Luke was proud that despite the tension and inexperience, the girl was able to act. Nathalia, who was standing next to where Tank stopped, looked stunned to see that the half-wolf couldn't dodge.
Even though she was bleeding profusely, another round of the atrocious buzzing started. The half-wolf felt as if there were millions of bells jingling inside his head. He fought the urge to faint and held on to the smell of blood he was smelling. Slowly, the taste of iron became marked in his mouth as well.
When Luke opened his eyes again, he was still in great pain. He looked on the left side of his chest and saw that he was holding with his left hand the Claymore across his chest. Then he looked at his right hand and saw that, despite the enormous pain, his animal instincts had saved him.. His right hand was across Tank's chest, and on the other side, he was holding the man's heart.