Chapter 227: The Price of Arrogance

Zahliver’s POV

On the chaotic battlefield, true fear is a weakness it is a heavy gift you should never offer to your enemy.

Across the distance between us, through the blur of moving bodies and pounding hearts, one distinct scent sliced straight through the thick noise and struck me deep in the gut. It was not blood or hot steel. It was fear. Sharp, raw, and unmistakable. And it certainly did not belong to me.

The ancient beast resting inside my mind stirred instantly, its lips curling back with dark delight. Nothing ever thrilled him quite like that the rich scent of prey finally realizing it was about to be hunted down and slaughtered.

"I have been trying to speak to you for a long time," she snapped, her voice sounding low but dripping with venom. "Pero if you insist on doing things the hard way, then so be it. You have lingered on this earth far too long, taking whatever you want, slaughtering anyone at will. You honestly believe that I fear you, do you? The great Lupus Deus." She sneered harshly at the title like it was some kind of bad joke. "You are dead wrong. I am the one who made you what you are. I trained your kind. And I can end you just the same. You have always been a dirty stain one I should have wiped away long ago."

Ah. There it was. That tiny, nervous flicker in her voice, the ugly crack she desperately tried to patch over with loud rage. A fatal mistake. A trembling word. The absolute truth. She was terrified of me.

I began moving toward her, slow and steady, my twin swords humming dangerously at my sides. "Guess that makes you a pretty shitty teacher," I said flatly.

She stepped forward quickly to meet me, trying desperately to match my pace with a predator’s calm, but I could clearly see the hesitation hiding behind her eyes. She had never fought me like this before. Not in this powerful body. Not at this towering height. I towered over her now, even without shifting into my full wolf form.

She was only just beginning to realize just how completely outmatched she really was.

Without any warning, I surged forward, disappearing in a sudden blur of motion. My sword sliced fiercely through the empty air right above her head. She ducked just in time and spun away, her green eyes flashing. And then the entire battlefield erupted around us.

Our soldiers clashed fiercely like a crashing ocean tide steel meeting steel, and sharp claws tearing against armor. But none of them dared interfere in our personal duel. This fight belonged only to us.

She came at me with both blades, fast and relentless. I blocked her heavy advance with my own weapons, the hard steel singing loudly as it collided. I bared my teeth, my tongue sweeping slowly over the sharp points in dark anticipation. The beast inside me was practically giddy, urging me to sink my fangs into her throat and end it right now. Her frightened gaze flicked down to my mouth, and she visibly faltered for a second.

She tried to stab low at my stomach, her blade grazing my left side barely before I twisted sharply and deflected the rest of the blow. Not a bad move. I will give her that much.

She dropped down suddenly, rolling smoothly into a crouch before whipping her swords back up in defense. I launched myself high into the air and tucked tightly in a mid-spin, landing squarely behind her with a forceful push that sent her stumbling forward. It could easily have been a fatal blow but I was not quite done playing with my food yet.

She turned around fast, her eyes wide and her face starkly pale.

"Slower than I remember you being. Are you getting old?" I teased, grinning widely as I easily danced out of range from her next desperate jab.

Her sharp blade caught me cleanly across the left cheek as I lunged once more for her side. I hissed softly as hot blood dripped briefly down my face, but the wound sealed itself up a second later. My divine healing was far faster than thought. She already knew that fact. Still, the shallow scratch stung more out of sheer irritation than actual pain.

She looked briefly smug, just for a moment. So I quickly returned the favor.

My counterattack was swift, and unlike me, she did not have the luxury of instant, miraculous healing.

Her face twisted into agony as the harsh reality finally set in.

This was not a fight she could possibly win anymore. Not by a long shot.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Albericus disarm one of the enemy soldiers with brutal efficiency. In a single blink, he ducked low, spun around, and lopped the man’s head clean off his shoulders. Without pausing for a breath, he flung his heavy sword up into the air, shifted mid-motion into his beast form, and launched himself at another attacker. His powerful jaws clamped down hard, tearing through flesh with ease. Before the body even hit the bloody ground, he shifted back into human form, caught the falling sword out of the air, and drove it straight through the next man’s chest. Flawless execution. I turned my attention right back to my own fight.

Alstha had already started to bore me to death.

I slashed downward with my right blade, aiming to sever her leg, but she leaped high into the air just in time. I fully expected that trick. As she rose up, I thrust my other sword upward toward her chest. She blocked it midair and retaliated instantly, swinging one of her own blades straight for my head.

Ah, gravity. It is always so terribly predictable.

As she descended downward, hell-bent on impaling my skull, she did not even notice the first sword I had swung was already carving sharply back up toward her from below. She was far too focused on attacking that she completely forgot I always played with more than one hand in a fight.

The clean slice cut through flesh, bone, and everything in between. The exact moment the hard steel met her leg, the wet sound of it slicing through and the sharp crack of bone echoed loudly above the surrounding battlefield noise. Then came her piercing scream.

Raw. Shattering. More painful than anything else the field had heard all day.

All around us, the ghostly battlefield began to tremble and flicker like a dying candle. Her powerful illusion was rapidly weakening, her heavy focus breaking apart at the seams.

She toppled hard to the ground, and to my complete surprise, instead of desperately shielding her bleeding wound or trying to crawl away to safety, she raised one of her swords at me with trembling hands defiant even in blinding agony. Her face was deathly pale, sweat beading heavily down her temples. All around us, the surrounding warriors had paused hers gaping in horror at their fallen leader, mine far too disciplined to ever look away from their own ongoing fights. As I had strictly warned them earlier: distraction equals death.

Apparently, Alstha did not believe in following her own rules.