Chapter 297: Personal Milestone Postponed

Instead of attacking recklessly, Darion started paying closer attention to their movements. He watched how they positioned themselves. He noticed that they rarely attacked randomly. When several hybrids attacked together, they constantly covered one another. One attacked from the front. Another attacked from behind. A third moved toward whichever side Darion tried to escape through.

They aren’t just strong. They’re coordinated.

He looked at Seren. She was doing her best to keep distance, but the hybrids were forcing her backward too. Darion realized something important. They were strongest when they were together. Whenever two or three attacked simultaneously, Darion had trouble creating an opening. But whenever one became separated from the others, its movements became easier to predict.

That’s it.

Darion changed his strategy. Instead of trying to kill whichever hybrid attacked him first, he started using his Golden Light sword to push them apart. He blocked one attack, then swung with enough force to knock the hybrid backward. Another rushed toward him.

Darion released a burst of golden energy through his sword. BOOM! The hybrid was thrown several meters away. Another came charging from the side. Darion pivoted and struck it across the chest. Golden light exploded against its body. The creature was sent crashing into a tree.

Darion finally got some distance. For the first time, the hybrids weren’t standing together. He immediately targeted one of them. One at a time. He rushed forward. The hybrid snarled and charged him. Darion swung. The hybrid dodged. Darion followed with another slash. The Golden Light caught its arm. The creature recoiled.

’Got you!’

Darion took another step forward. The hybrid suddenly changed direction. It moved far faster than he expected. Darion barely blocked the next attack. Another hybrid appeared from behind him. Darion realized too late that separating them didn’t completely break their coordination.

He turned. BAM! A powerful kick slammed directly into his chest. Darion was launched backward. He crashed hard into the ground. THUD! Dirt and leaves flew everywhere. For a moment, Darion didn’t move. His teeth clenched.

Fuck...

He pushed himself up. His chest hurt. His hands tightened around his sword. The hybrids were already coming again. Darion looked at them, then at Seren. She was still firing arrows, but she was being forced farther and farther back.

Darion finally admitted what he had been refusing to admit. Hell no. They’re too strong.

He had wanted to prove something to himself. He wanted to fight normally. He wanted to know how far he could go without relying on his undead. But this wasn’t some controlled training exercise. Seren could get hurt. He could get seriously injured. And there were still too many hybrids.

Darion realized that continuing to fight just to satisfy his pride would be stupid. His expression became annoyed.

Alright. Personal milestone postponed.

One hybrid charged him again. Darion raised his sword. Then suddenly stopped. A grin appeared on his face. "Fuck it."

Darion thrust his hand forward. Necromantic energy surged through the forest. The hybrids suddenly hesitated. Darion gave the command. Summon. Ghet Ulg. Edric Vorne. Yuimon.

His undead appeared almost instantly. The atmosphere of the battlefield changed completely. The hybrids had been dominating Darion and Seren only moments earlier. Now they were surrounded by creatures that were on an entirely different level.

Darion didn’t even need to give a complicated command. "Kill them."

Ghet Ulg moved first. A hybrid charged. Ghet Ulg intercepted it. CRACK! The hybrid was slammed into the ground. Edric Vorne attacked another. The creature didn’t even have enough time to react. Yuimon tore through the remaining formation.

The hybrids attempted to fight back. It didn’t matter. Their speed. Their strength. Their coordination. None of it was enough. The creatures that had forced Darion to the ground were suddenly being destroyed one after another. Within seconds, the forest became silent.

Bodies were scattered across the ground. The transformation began to fade from some of them, while others remained in their monstrous forms. Darion stood there holding his golden-light sword. He looked at the bodies. Then looked at his undead. Then back at the bodies.

He sighed. Yeah. That was definitely the correct decision.

---

Darion expected Seren to be shocked. Instead, she started laughing. At first, it was a small laugh. Then she laughed harder. Darion looked at her. "What’s so funny?"

Seren wiped at the corner of her eye. "You."

Darion frowned. "Me?"

She gestured toward the destroyed hybrids. "You should have done this before!"

Darion sighed. "I wanted to fight them myself."

Seren laughed again. "And how did that work out?"

Darion looked down at his dirt-covered clothes. Then toward the spot where he had been kicked into the ground. He said nothing.

Seren smiled. "Exactly."

Darion muttered under his breath. "I was doing fine."

Seren immediately responded. "You were lying on the ground."

Darion looked at her. Seren looked back. Neither said anything for a moment. Then Darion sighed. "Fine. Maybe I wasn’t doing fine."

Once the humor faded, Seren looked at the bodies. Her expression became serious again. She approached one of the dead hybrids carefully. Even dead, the creature looked disturbing. She studied its body. "What were those things?"

Darion didn’t immediately answer. He walked closer. He looked at the remains of the hunters. Just a short while ago, they had been ordinary-looking humans. Then they transformed into monsters. Darion had never encountered anything like this before.

He shook his head. "I don’t know."

Seren looked toward the forest ahead. The realization settled in. They were still nowhere near Vrethka. And they had already encountered something neither of them understood.

Darion looked toward the direction they were supposed to be traveling. "Whatever they were, we shouldn’t stay here."

Seren nodded. Darion recalled his undead. The forest became quiet again.

Darion took one last look at the bodies. He didn’t know what these people were. He didn’t know what caused their transformations. He didn’t know if there were more of them nearby. And most importantly, he didn’t know what else was waiting deeper through this journey.

Darion turned away. "We need to keep moving."

Seren followed beside him. The two disappeared deeper into the forest. Behind them, the bodies of the strange hybrids remained scattered among the trees. They were pretty close to Vrethka now.

They continued deeper into the forest. Neither of them talked much at first. The encounter was still fresh in their minds, the image of the transformed hunters burned into their memories. The way their bodies had twisted, the way their muscles had swelled, the way their eyes had turned animalistic. It wasn’t something either of them would forget anytime soon.

Darion kept looking around as they traveled. Before, he was mainly concerned about finding Vrethka. Now, he was much more cautious. If those things were this close to Vrethka, what else was out here? He didn’t know what caused the hunters to transform. He didn’t know whether they were connected to Vrethka. And he didn’t want another unexpected encounter slowing them down.

Seren seemed to be thinking about the same thing. "You think those hunters were from around here?"

Darion shook his head. "I don’t know." He glanced toward the forest around them. "But let’s avoid finding out."

They became more careful about their route.

As they continued, they began noticing signs that they were approaching a more populated region. There were occasional paths through the forest, faint traces of wagon tracks, footprints, signs that people traveled through this area regularly.