Chapter 73: On Two Fronts

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Kazko considered himself a special type of Gray-War troll. He may not have been as strong as Rekaz or his other kins when it came down to raw strength, but he had still risen through the ranks and was now on the verge of becoming their next chief. Naturally, by right, he would also become the left hand of Lord Zerahut.

Being an unusually more intellectual troll, he had always been considered an outcast even before they had evolved from cave trolls to Gray trolls. And even as a Gray-War troll, a superior species to the Gray trolls, he had still been mocked and ostracized as the weakest.

Despite all that, he slowly surpassed all those who mocked him just by being patient and calculating. And now that he was so close to the end goal, so close to the finish line. How could he make such a costly miscalculation?

Anger the likes of which he had never felt before began to rise within him. He wasn't exactly angry at the enemy that had put him in such a state, no. He was mad at himself. He was mad because he had failed to notice it earlier. This was a trap. He had no idea who could be orchestrating such a plan to split his forces but, it had to be the one who had killed Kadiz.

The fact that they had opted for such a plan meant they lacked the numbers to take them on in a head-to-head confrontation. If only he had sensed this earlier, he wouldn't have taken those ten cloaked figures lightly and would have stopped Rekaz from heading in alone recklessly, no matter the cost.

Kazko ordered his men to halt and stay on the defensive. They were only allowed to occasionally hurl rocks at the enemy and not charge in as there were traps everywhere. He had the troll surround and protect the goblin riders while the riders fired at any enemies they saw.

He already found his targets so he held his sword with both hands and charged in alone. He roared again and his unique skill activated. He was able to locate all the traps in front of him. Trolls generally couldn't learn skills, they could only use their innate ability and for a select few like Rekaz, they would also possess the berserk skill.

However, Kazko was able to rise to the top not only due to his intellect but the unique trait that allowed him to consciously manipulate the flow of mana from his core to learn actual skills. Being a bit slender for a troll, he avoided the traps quite easily and swung his sword.

There were about ten small creatures on the tree in front of him, one of which had a pair of reptilian wings and hovered above the rest. 'Kobolds' Kazko thought, as his bone sword extended forth like a whip, about to wrap around all ten creatures in an attempt to crush them all in a single strike.

"Die Reptiles!"

He yelled as his attack was about to make contact, too fast for the kobolds to react. Then suddenly, a large hammer came out of nowhere and slammed his bone sword away and into a nearby tree, making Kazko's eyes widened with shock.

This wasn't because his attack was blocked. Rather it was because the large weapon that blocked it, wasn't any ordinary weapon. It was an Hamaxe, one that was attached to a long black chain which was then tugged on and the weapon flew back to in the direction at which it came.

"Dark-Syphon."

Kazko muttered while turning his head in said direction. He saw the figure of a large shirtless man walking in his direction with a faint but excited smile on his face as he caught the weapon casually and the chains wrapped around the black vambrace on his right hand with almost sentient vigor.

He was a large man that stood at least, 7ft tall and had two dark horns on his head. He wore metal inlaid armor on his legs revealing his chest and abs and even in such blistering cold, he moved freely and unhindered. He had short white hair, violet pupils, and a clean-shaven face. He strolled towards Kazko and judging by his aura alone, he would be an intimidating sight for most people.

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Further down the forest trail...

Rekaz roared with hate and anger as he lunged at the three cloaked rangers on the tree branch closest to him after they had hurriedly avoided his last spear attack. He jumped lightly and his mighty fist descended upon them like a meteor.

Several arrows were immediately fired from the other rangers still perched upon several large trees, they aimed for his large fist. Rekaz tried to disregard them all and continue his attack but one of those arrows turned out to be an enchanted arrow with a paralyzing effect.

The arrow briefly halted his movements but Rekaz rage was so strong that he was able to break free from the arrow's effects instantly, well almost instantly. However, that was all the time the rangers on the branch needed to getaway.

Rekaz fist finally made contact with the tree and a large Boom was heard with snow and roots, alongside dirt and debris flying everywhere. The tree was obliterated by the sheer force of his attack and shattered along with anything within 30 meters ahead of him. The cloaked rangers atop the trees took off immediately, they didn't bother to try anything else and just retreated using the treetops

When the dust had finally settled enough for Rekaz to locate his opponent, he became even more furious. He turned his head around and saw a few Trolls running towards him alongside goblin riders. They had finally caught up to him. Rekaz didn't dwell on them anymore and ordered.

"Take them down." As he ran forward to retrieve his spear. The trolls picked up rocks and large tree branches, hurling them at the rangers while they tried to give chase. The goblin riders proved themselves to be a lot more useful than Rekaz had thought as they swiftly chased after the nimble rangers.

The goblin rangers would also occasionally fire their crossbows at the cloaked rangers and although their attacks were more accurate than that of the trolls. The rangers still proved to be more than a notch above them.

Rekaz pulled out his spear from the large tree trunk it had punched a hole in and immediately threw it. His aim was true and it almost found his target, however, another ranger dragged his target by the cloak out of the way in time.

The ranger that had been pulled turned around in mid-air and fired several consecutive arrows from their long purple crossbow. Each arrow seemed to have an enchanting effect and Rekaz instincts told him to avoid direct contact with those arrows at all cost.

As a War troll, his instincts had never failed him but the mocking smile on that ranger's face was so infuriating that he decided to forgo caution and threw his large shield at the incoming arrows. Without pause, Rekaz picked up a large rock and as his shield meet the arrows, an explosion went off from the impact of one of those arrows.

His shield was sent flying back and in one smooth motion, Rekaz hurled the rock at the rangers while he also caught his shield. His skin seared from the intense heat of the shield but he paid it no heed, it would heal soon enough.

The rock flew accurately at the rangers who were hopping from tree branch to tree branch, but again they were able to quickly avoid the attack at the last moment. Another ranger fired an arrow at Rekaz but he easily deflected it with his shield.

The Gray trolls behind him hurled rocks upon rocks at the escaping rangers but the rangers were all too fast for such simple attacks yet, they were still unable to escape. It didn't make sense to Rekaz. They were fast enough to dodge their attacks with such timing and precision so they should've been able to move faster and should have already gotten away from them, so why? why were they moving so slowly only while they run?

He may have been faster than ordinary trolls but he was still slower than these rangers and even if the goblin riders could keep up, they were all too weak to do anything without the trolls defending them. However, the cloaked rangers only seem to get faster while dodging their attacks.

"You insects dare mock me!! You're all dead, I'll kill you, I'll kill you all! I'll use your bones as poles to hang your heads!"

Rekaz bellowed in rage and frustration as he emitted a greyish black fog-like aura that was almost as thick as smoke from the entirety of his body. His left leg spread wide and his right arm sprung back, his muscles budged and the grip on his spear tightened.

The aura he emitted quickly wrapped around the spear, giving it a terrifying and menacing aura. Like a catapult his arm short forth and with a whoosh, the spear cut through the air like lightning.

"Dark Spear."

The aura that surrounded the spear slowly morphed into the shape of an unknown beast. It moved like it had a mind of its own and when the rangers tried to get out of its path, it altered its trajectory.

This was not a skill, rather it was a simple technique he had taught himself. Rekaz may have not been able to use skills like Kazko, but he was still the most talented troll in combat, second only to Kadiz.

He had accidentally done something that no other trolls had ever done. He created a technique that most trolls criticized him for due to jealousy. This was the reason he had gotten along with Kazko at all. They were both outcasts amongst their peers and thanks to that, lord Zerahut had recognized their talents and made them second only to Kadiz.

Recognizing the gravity of their situation and knowing fully well that they could not dodge the attack. Two cloaked rangers quickly halted their step atop a large tree and took out their weapons. One held a composite longbow and the other a purple crossbow.

They both activated several skills and shot out a few enchanted arrows to meet the spear head-on. Colorful attacks shot out of their bows, aimed at the incoming spear. However, the spear adjusted its trajectory and the death aura around it devoured the arrows.

They each quickly brought out a scroll and activated it. A translucent defensive barrier appeared in front of them in an instant, and in the next instant, the barrier was shattered by the dark spear about to consume the both of them in its deathly aura.

"Max magic - Banishment!"

'It disappeared?' Rekaz eyes narrowed at the sudden development. His most powerful technique had just disappeared before his eyes, how could he not be shocked. He slowly raised his head to the side and squinted his eyes at the figure that had just appeared out of nowhere and was hovering in the air.

She was a young girl that wore the same type of fur cloak as the rangers, however, her hood stayed lowered revealing her features. She had a tanned skin tone and a pair of dog ears that rested at the top of her thick and lustrous black hair that was styled lazily in a single large braid.

She looked to be in her late teens, however, she also gave off a childlike demeanor. Her tapered eyes gleamed like onyxes even in the dark forest and her smile told Rekaz that she was mocking him.

"Ray Of Enfeeblement."

Rekaz thought he heard her say something when suddenly, a black beam of enervating energy shot out from her left index finger toward him. He could not feel threatened by the beam and his instinct told him nothing, however, he aired on the side of caution and raised his shield to deflect the beam.

Now that he had lost his weapon he needed to be wary of the newcomer. His anger had slowly died down a little and he was now thinking clearer. The beam struck his shield but to his dismay, what he had expected, was not the situation that followed.