Chapter 248: Weight of the Auditors

The torrent of scorching flames exhaled by Ignis engulfed the two massive figures of pure muscle. Yet to the horror of everyone watching, neither giant uttered a cry of pain. Plunging straight through the incandescent fire with their skin glowing red-hot, they launched a synchronized punch at the beast without missing a beat.

Ignis reacted on raw survival instinct: raising both front claws, the war bear met the massive fists head-on.

CRASH!

The resulting shockwave rattled the bedrock beneath them. The direct collision brought Ignis to a standstill, his low growls vibrating as his claws shuddered under the two attackers’ physical power.

Seeing his mount pinned down, Kellar didn’t think twice. Leaping off Ignis’s back, he raised his heavy war club high above his head, the weapon gleaming with a concentration of destructive aura. He plunged downward, aiming straight for the skull of one of the muscle-bound giants.

CLANG!

A shower of sparks lit up the riverbed as an enchanted steel broadsword intercepted the blow mid-air, locking Kellar’s weapon inches from the giant’s head.

General Valerius ground his teeth behind his sword’s hilt, holding off the strike with arms trembling from the force. He might have been humiliated and burning with rage over the masked youth’s arrogance, but he could not afford to let these three fall in battle.

They were no ordinary soldiers; they were the Royal Auditors dispatched directly by His Majesty. If he returned to the realm having allowed the monarch’s evaluators to perish, not only would he forfeit any chance of promotion, but his head would roll off the executioner’s block. A Royal Auditor’s word could execute even a decorated general and war hero.

"Get back, Shaman!" roared Valerius, his eyes bloodshot as he shoved upward with all his strength to throw off the blow, shielding the royal elite’s position.

Kellar didn’t bother trying to overpower him in raw strength. Instead, he released his grip on the weapon with one hand and thrust his open palm straight toward the general’s helm, less than four inches away.

"[Slowness Curse]... [Blindness Curse]... [Poison Curse]," whispered Kellar in an icy tone.

A miasma of dark runes erupted from the shaman’s fingertips, enveloping Valerius’s head and torso point-blank. The curse struck the commander like an invisible sledgehammer: his pupils dissolved into shadow, his reaction speed plummeted, and a stream of vital mana was ripped from his body.

"Agh...! You... cheating bastard!" grunted Valerius, staggering backward as he tried in vain to clear the magic from his eyes.

Taking advantage of the general’s state, Kellar pivoted mid-air and channeled the recharged destructive aura into his weapon, unleashing a direct strike into the blind commander’s ribs to clear him from his path.

Before Kellar’s strike could crash into the weakened General’s ribs, the space between them warped violently.

A sonic boom shattered the air, and in a fraction of a second, the iron-masked youth materialized directly in the path of the falling strike. With a movement too fast to track, he drew a dark steel sword and intercepted the blow.

CLANG-BOOOOOOM!

The collision of supersonic speed with Kellar’s destructive aura triggered a deafeaning shockwave, kicking up a blizzard of snow, rocks, and sparks around them. To Kellar’s surprise, the youth not only contained the impact with a single hand, but his stance didn’t even waver under the weight of the attack.

"Does the great shaman of the tribe need to rely on curse tricks to defeat an exhausted general?" sneered the masked youth, his young voice barely strained by the effort. "How disappointing."

The force of the clash repelled Kellar backward, forcing him to execute a mid-air flip to land on his feet in the snow, his arms vibrating from the back-reaction. A few yards away, General Valerius, regaining his sight, scrambled back with ragged breath, while the iron-masked youth glanced back at him without a shred of respect.

"Get back to your line, Valerius. This is no longer just a war... it is an official evaluation," declared the youth, as the aura emanating from his frame began to warp the freezing air of the gorge.

Seeing Kellar repelled by the masked youth, Grok did not think twice and threw himself into the fray with a roar, bringing his war axe down with all his body’s might. However, the iron-masked youth did not even flinch.

With speed and precision, the masked figure deflected Grok’s axe mid-air with a movement of his blade. In the same spin of his sword, exploiting the giant’s momentum and exposed state, he unleashed an upward slash that severed one of Grok’s arms entirely and cut into his torso. Grok was sent flying through the air with violence, leaving a trail of blood in the snow as his body hit the ground yards away.

"GROK!!" screamed Kellar, his voice tearing through the air, laden with fury and despair.

Ignis, the war bear, threw himself forward with blind fury to avenge his ally, but the two colossal auditors of monstrous build interposed themselves in his path. Enveloping the beast with their volume and strength, both muscle-bound giants blocked his advance on the spot, forcing Ignis to a standstill amidst a struggle where claws and fire clashed against the unyielding resistance of the two men.

The iron-masked youth flicked his blade, letting the drops of Grok’s blood spray across the snow. He stared at the rage burning in Kellar’s eyes and let out a laugh behind the metal mask.

"Come on, shaman... show me your greatness," sneered the masked youth, spreading his arms in open provocation.

A screech tore through the sky. Little Green, who had been hovering above waiting for an opening among the clouds, folded her wings and entered a dive toward the masked warrior, unleashing a trail of cutting wind in her wake. At that exact instant, from the shadows cast by the gorge’s jagged rocks, Fenrir, the shadow wolf, lunged forward like black lightning, synchronizing a pincer strike from the enemy’s blind spot.

Two high-tier beasts attacking in harmony from both land and sky.

Yet the youth didn’t panic for a fraction of a second. With fluidity, he pivoted on one foot, executing a dodge that caused Fenrir’s jaws to snap on empty air. Harnessing the momentum of that spin, the masked fighter raised his blade to meet the descending talons of Little Green head-on.

CLANG-CRASH!

The force of the impact repelled the giant eagle’s dive and threw off the wolf’s leap. With grace, the youth launched himself off the claws, executing a backflip to glide through the air and land upon the snow, resetting his battle position.

"Interesting," muttered the youth, adjusting his grip on the hilt as his gaze remained locked on Kellar. "Nice pets... but you’re going to need far more than that to survive today."