The dragon's harem

Chapter 1939: Martial Mastery

Camilla fell to her knees and gasped for air, feeling pain surging across her entire body from head to toes. She couldn’t move a single muscle, and blood was already gushing out of the seams of her armor. She had pushed her body beyond its limit, and now she couldn’t keep fighting anymore.

How many monsters has she killed in those fleeting seconds? Twenty, thirty? Probably more than she could’ve counted, but it was nowhere near enough. She could see another huge monster crawling above the battlements ahead of her.

“Camilla…” Her father, who had been thrown to the bailey earlier when she arrived, growled in pain as he looked back at her. She had killed all of the monsters that climbed the wall earlier, but now, she seems to be the one needing protection.

He stood, pulled his crossbow, and rushed up the stairs to the battlements. “I’m coming!” He shouted and fired the bolt at one of the monster’s countless humanoid faces. The bolt flawlessly hit its mark, taking one of the two eyes, and Camilla’s father was already loading the second shot.

But something was off. The monster completely ignored the wound and Camilla’s father as he headed toward her. Those beasts might be mindless, but they are at least capable of distinguishing between threats. Camilla had just massacred many of its kin, and the monster knew that her death should come before anything else.

With its massive centipede-like body, the countless arms slithered, and one of them swung down toward Camilla’s head with an open palm.

“Get away from her!” Her father screamed, but he was too far away, too weak, and too small to help her. But he wasn’t the only father around.

CLAP! A hand caught the monster’s palm with ease, and the monster couldn’t move his hand an inch.

“Most paladins die young, high on their power.” Alcott threw a glance back at Camilla, “Mira asked me to help. Just sit and rest.” He smiled, and then shifted his gaze to the monster.

“Nice to meet you, I’m called Alcott Demorian, a dragon slayer.” Alcott introduced himself to the monster with a grin as he held its hand in a forced handshake, not allowing it to approach any further.

As Alcott expected, this monster was made by sewing countless human limbs and organs together; it was a literal human centipede with more than fifty torsos sewn together from hips to shoulders, and then with arms and legs at the side.

The monster growled, and Alcott twisted his wrist with a smile, forcing it to kneel down. “The only anatomy I’m more versed in besides dragons is that of humans. Your joints are limited in how they turn, unless you want to break them. That’s why I can push you down just from your palm.”

As Alcott twisted the monster’s palm, he put pressure on the wrist, which transformed it to the elbow, then the shoulder, and lastly pressed the torsos down.

Camilla saw Alcott’s arm, his large muscles, and strong build, but what amazed her more was his casual stance, his smile, and the fact that he came here wearing the party’s fit, not taking this fight seriously as everyone else.

He was far stronger than her, yet was using far less strength to subdue the monster, clearly showing his efficiency and martial superiority.

“Camilla, watch and learn. You’re that hurt because you accelerated without being used to it, and without using the right technique to avoid getting damaged by the shockwave of your speed.” He lifted his free hand, and took a step forward.

He pushed on the monster’s head with his hand, forcing the pressure down on its spine, and twisted its head backward with a gentle push. Camilla could instantly hear the monster’s spine crack, and all of its limbs went limp.

“This monster looks like just a bunch of human torsos linked together, so I pushed on the head of the one in the front. Do it gently at first to trick the monster’s reflexes, but then accelerate before he can brace himself. The skull would push on the neck, the neck pushes on the discs of the spine, and the pressure would just multiply the more segments there are in the spine, it’s like a whip.”

Alcott let go of the monster’s hand. “It’s like what you call a whiplash hit, when a horse suddenly stops, or when a bull tries to throw you off its back. If you’re angled just wrong, you’ll damage your spine.” He turned toward her and took the sword she held in her hand.

“You don’t even need a lot of strength, just the right angle, a lot of knowledge, and let the leverage do its thing.” He smiled. “What a beautiful blade, I wish I could’ve bought it.”

At that moment, all of the monsters who were climbing the walls arrived, and they lunged at them with mad hunger in their eyes.

Alcott swiftly turned his torso and lifted the sword, putting it in the way of the hand of one of the monsters that were attacking them. The hand hit the sword, and was cut with its own speed and force.

Camilla’s eyes opened wide as she saw the entire charging monster get split in half, a feat that she needed a divine cleaver for, Alcott had just achieved by standing in his place, and letting the monster’s momentum and weight push it against the sharp blade.

And it wasn’t just that first monster; the tens of horrors that charged at him all died one after another without him needing to swing the sword once. He only moved the blade and changed its angle to be in the right place at the right time.

In seconds, all of the monsters were dead corpses around them, and Alcott didn’t even get warmed up. Camilla knew that he was both a werewolf and a vampire; he had the stamina and strength to tear all of the monsters with his bare hands. He was strong, he was fast, and he was skilled… she couldn’t understand why he would be conserving his energy against such monsters.

“Remember this, in a fight, your stamina is the key. Never waste it needlessly, even against weak runts like those monsters.” He chuckled, “You should only sweat in the training, not in fights.”

He then looked back and handed her the sword, “Rest for a while, your body should recover with divine magic. But after that, don’t go fighting. Head straight to Mira, she’ll take care of you. I don’t want her and Arad barking at me for letting you die.”

He then walked to the edge and looked at the city. “Something feels off, the wind is cold, the shadows are clear, and the sun isn’t that hot. It’s an itch on my back.” His eyes glared at every building and street, counting the monsters.

“We’re playing into someone’s hand, and it’s pissing me off.” He growled, and Camilla slowly stood leaning on her sword. Her body was finally healing, but she still couldn’t fight or run.

“It can’t be helped; we don’t know much about Poppy.” She replied, and he chuckled.

“The problem is that I don’t think we’re playing into Poppy’s hand; this isn’t her style, she isn’t this smart and calculated.” Alcott’s hair started moving with the wind. “Violet, Ginger, never leave my side. I’ve got a bad feeling.”

The two appeared beside him, and Ginger stared at him with a smug grin. “Are you afraid? You want us to protect you?”

Violet sighed, “How arrogant can you be, Alcott. Do you think you’re strong enough to protect me?” She leaned on his shoulder with a grin. “Whatever it may be, I’ll be the one protecting you.”

Alcott kept glaring down at the city. “Whatever it is, let it come.” He smiled, and the ground beneath his feet cracked.

In the sewers, Poppy was sitting on a barrel, sweating like a hog, almost pissing herself in fear. “What… the hell is this feeling?”

[Alcott Demorian, he must’ve sensed me somehow. He is as much of a pain as Arad himself, because my Father Chad supports him.] Cain Lisworth whispered in her ear, and she immediately knew to avoid Alcott at all costs.