Chapter 117 Warrior’s Sacrifice

“Come, then,” Alekkai said, holding his blade up as the rain fell down his body, “Allow me to slay you like the beast you are.”

Though he was taken aback by the sheer speed at which Urganna moved–bursting forward with agility that didn’t shift at all from the increase in size. A ground-trembling roar unleashed from the monstrous bear’s jaws as it tunneled forward, digging up piles of mud with its claws.

“–!” Alekkai readied himself.

He dodged to the side as the paw of the champion, which now was the size of his body, slammed town, causing the mud to ripple with a shock wave of the bear’s weight. In an attempt to counter, he struck the arm of the champion-turned-beast, but found his sword unable to slash the flesh of the great bear.

What? Alekkai thought.

What stopped the edge of his blade were the hairs belonging to the champion bear; they stood up, spiked and hardened like endless spears.

“Grr-ha-ha!” A contorted, chasm-deep laugh bellowed from the champion bear’s maw at the failed attack.

“–!” Alekkai looked up.

His entire vision was filled with black; it was a sea of darkness closing in on him. That unending darkness was the arm of the great bear, which swatted him away like a fly as he was sent flying back harshly.

“Alekkai!”

“Champ!”

Calling out, both Raegun and Yula yelled out worriedly, but they were both in too poor of a state to worry about any other than themselves.

“Little pups…I could use a nice meal,” the voice of Urganna vibrated the mud as his words traveled from his colossal body.

Still, Yula and Raegun picked themselves up, meeting side-by-side as they hardly seemed to register the pain inflicted to their bodies.

“Ya good to fight like that, pops?” Yula asked with a smirk, having her left eye closed by a welt as she breathed heavily.

The veteran warrior’s left arm was hanging on by a thread as his shoulder had been cut into heavily, allowing crimson to dye his entire torso.

Raegun took a moment to catch his breath as his expression remained of stone, his beard swaying in the stormy winds, “This? It is merely a flesh wound!…Right now, what matters is allowing our Champion to recover! He is our key to victory!”

“Well said, pops!” Yula said, slamming her knuckles into the palm of her other hand.

The united front of the two, half-dead Verma warriors caused the Outrider Champion to roar with laughter as he stomped in front of them, staring down, “The pride of a wolf is as boundless as they say.”

“Haven’t you heard…?” Raegun asked, breathing ruggedly.

“…Hm?” Urganna peered down at him.

“Its bite is even greater,” Raegun corrected him.

–

The Verma Champion only stopped once his back slammed into a tree, colliding into it with an echoing thud as the oxygen was squeezed from his lungs.

Such a blow caused his entire body to seize up as his lungs burned and his bones were rattled, causing him to fight for his next breath.

The back of my throat…it tastes like coal. I see why you had trouble now, brother…this one is tricky. However…I am Alekkai–Champion of the Verma–I am your brother! He told himself.

As he stood up, he found his knees buckling and his body failing to follow his commands as he fell back to one knee, coughing up blood.

“Grk…!”

I was hit harder than I thought…such raw strength…! He thought.

While he struggled to pick himself up, his two comrades held off the gigantified champion of the Outriders, who moved with agility that surpassed even the swift, elite Verma, yet possessed such grandiose size.

In his place, Yula and Raegun held off the Outrider Champion, though it was a losing battle; they were placed on the defensive as continuous, powerful attacks flooded in through Urganna’s assault.

Yula was flung back several meters despite blocking a swipe of the Outrider’s claws, causing her to flip back to regain her balance.

“…How am I supposed to get an attack in when he’s so fast at that size?!” Yula yelled out.

Raegun stood beside her, readying his blade, “Focus. If you lose your cool, the battle will be over.”

‘Right,” Yula said, wiping the sweat from her chin.

As they rushed back in, the fight was over just as quickly as it resumed; it happened just as Alekkai managed to regain his strength and step back in.

“Yula! Raegun!” The Verma champion roared out.

They had been caught by the sword-like claws of the gigantified bear-man, suffering massive lacerations across their bodies as they were knocked back harshly by the strength of the blow.

Blood fell alongside the rain as the two warriors landed on the ground, though Alekkai had no time to check on them as Urganna rushed him without any mercy.

“Grrr…!” Alekkai growled.

“Angry, little pup?! Good-!!!” Urganna bellowed.

The Outrider Champion slammed one of his boulder-sized fists down, causing the soil to crack and split, caving in as the attack had missed the red-haired Verma.

“Silence!” Alekkai roared out.

As he deflected a set of swipes from the gargantuan bear champion, he dashed in, going in for a front flip that carried into a spinning sword slash, aiming to disembowel the beast right then and there.

CHNK.

“–!” Alekkai looked forward in surprise.

No cut was left despite having a clear opening on Urganna’s stomach; his blade bounced off of the fur of the beastman as if striking a sea of impenetrable steel.

Urganna laughed with his distorted, animalistic voice, “…Now do you understand, little wolf? When I’m serious, nobody can harm me! My fur is as tough as metal!”

Before he could react, a counterattack came as the harrowing claws of Urganna swept against the flesh on his chest, carving in and knocking him back.

It burnt like a brand being held to his torso; blood spewed from the set of three gashes on his chest as skin and flesh alike had been eviscerated. The rain ran against his body as he laid on the grass, wincing and trying to stand up, but the wound caused his body to seize up.

STOMP. STOMP. STOMP.

Urganna approached with his thunderous footsteps, though his approach was stopped for some reason unknown to the bleeding champion of the Verma.

“…Huh?” Urganna bellowed.

As Alekkai managed to lift his head up just enough to look, he saw what had stepped Urganna’s march: the veteran warrior of the Verma, Raegun, stood between him and the man-eating demi-human, huffing as blood poured from his fresh wounds.

“Raegun…!” Alekkai shouted.

The experienced warrior didn’t look back, only standing tall as he looked up at Urganna, gripping his sword as crimson seeped from his lacerations.

“Pops!” Yula yelled out, trying to stand up, but falling over due to her wounds.

There was nothing that could do in that moment to stop the man from standing his ground, but as he watched, Alekkai found himself not wishing to; the warrior pride he witnessed was not something he could tarnish.

“Prepared to die, old wolf?” Urganna asked.

“I always have been,” Raegun answered without flinching, “I am a warrior.”

Though Urganna watched the wolven demi-human, looming over him like a pillar of death and destruction, there wasn’t an ounce of fear that left the pores of the seasoned warrior of the Verma.

Raegun spoke without looking back, “Champion!”

“–” Alekkai listened, struggling to pick himself up.

“It is you who bears the title of Champion, Alekkai! As long as you’re still fighting, the Verma will not lose! However! The same goes for the Outriders–so, until you defeat this man, this war will not be over!” Raegun shouted.

“Enough,” Urganna said.

Noticing the sense of malevolence dripping from the steel-furred Outrider, Yula picked herself up, but was unable to move in time.

“…Pops!” Yula yelled.

Raegun didn’t look away, “Get on with it.”

Just then, those colossal claws struck as the body of the proud warrior was cleaved in half in one go, painting the drenched fields in his blood.

“Pops…!!” Yula painfully yelled.

It was enough; though only a few moments were bought, a fire was lit within the champion of the Verma as he picked himself up to his feet; blood ran slick down his body, but he solidified his hold on his sword.

Urganna scoffed, “…It’ll be no different for the rest of you. The Outriders are the dominators of this forest; after wiping the Verma out, we’ll take over the rest of it! There won’t be a woman spared! There won’t be a child spared! The Outriders will take it all!”

“No,” Alekkai said, interrupting the proclamations of the beastly foe.

“Huh?” Urganna looked down at him with his blood-dripping claws.

Alekkai looked up at him, “I’m still standing, so save your claims until I’m buried beneath the mud.”

A smile crept against Urganna’s lips, “Is that how it is, then? Ha-ha! So be it! I’ll bury you six feet under, then!”

As the giant bear-man went in for a slam of his fist, Alekkai flipped around and landed on his large hand, beginning to run up the length of his arm in a swift sprint.

“Urgh…?!” Urganna growled.

Before the Outrider could do anything, Alekkai had reached his head, using his sword to stab into the abhorrent demi-human’s right eye, sinking it in deep.