He hurriedly raised his bone knife in a defensive manner. Just then, a fist wrapped in thick lightning mana smashed into his knife.
Bang!!
A crisp bang sounded, the web between his forefinger and thumb split apart, and he almost lost his grip on the knife. That was not the end as the fist continued forward and smashed his chest.
Crack!
There was a crack as several of his ribs snapped before he was sent flying, spitting out blood.
Just as he was about to crash into the ground, a scarlet light flashed, considerably slowing down his speed, which allowed him to land on his feet. However, his face had turned pale, and deep terror could be seen in his eyes.
But when he looked up, his expression turned dark because Durden was looking at him with a small smile on his face as he clenched one of his subordinates’ neck and raised him into the air.
“Tell me, do you still want to fight to the death?” Durden asked and started clenching the dwarf’s neck tighter, making him gasp for air.
Seeing this, the dwarf leader’s expression changed and hurriedly shouted, “Wait! We don’t want to fight any longer. We’ll give up our knives. Don’t kill…”
Crack!
Before he could finish his sentence, Durden’s hand clenched tighter and snapped the dwarf’s neck, instantly killing him. He then threw the dead body away and sighed in regret, “Sigh! If you had spoken a moment earlier, he would be still alive. What a pity!”
Adam and Jasmine looked at each other, and smiled bitterly while Marsh, Shasha and other elves flinched. This guy…
“How dare you?”
“Shameless human!!”
“You deserve to die!”
“Attack!”
The dwarf demons roared in fury. It was unbearable for them to see one of their own be killed.
“SHUT UP!!”
Just when they were about to lose control and attack Durden, the dwarf leader shouted, immediately silencing them.
“Leader, this bastard killed my brother. He deserves to die.” A dwarf said through gritted teeth, his eyes red with anger.
The dwarf leader’s expression wasn’t any better and his chest was heaving up and down. He was barely able to control himself from attacking but he knew doing so would only result in their death, so he suppressed his anger. At the same time, he regretted the fact that he underestimated Durden even though he knew the human was a lot stronger than him.
Glancing at the corpse of his fellow demon, he sighed inwardly, ‘Only if we had surrendered our knives earlier…’
“Give them your knives.” He said in a defeated tone, before throwing his knife toward Durden. The rest of the dwarves were reluctant and furious but they also knew they could only comply if they wanted to live. So, they also threw their bone knives, took their fellow demon’s corpse and retreated.
Everyone watched as demons disappeared, feeling confused. They still didn’t know why they didn’t kill all of them and allowed them to leave.
Marsh glanced at Durden, wanting to ask this when he saw Durden spat out a mouthful of blood.
“”Big brother!””
Jasmine and Adam anxiously shouted and rushed over to him.
“I’m alright.” Durden wiped his lips. He then glanced at Max and gravely said, “Let’s go. They will be here at any moment.”
His statement confused everyone. Who’ll be here?
Before anyone could ask anything, Max released the silver hawk, and ordered everyone to get on it, “Let’s go.”
…
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two minutes after Max’s group left the valley, a large group of horned demons arrived.
A four-star horned demon frowned as he looked around, “It seems they somehow knew we were coming so they left.” He then glanced at the Dwarf demons in his group, who they met just a while ago, “That’s also why they didn’t fight you.”
“Yeah, I was wondering why they let them when they had a five-star and multiple four-star mages. But how did they know we were coming this way?” A shrewd looking horned demon muttered in confusion.
Hearing this, the four-star horned demon frowned. ‘That’s right. Even a five-star mage doesn’t have a strong enough divine sense to sense someone almost ten miles away. Only king ranked or stronger experts can do it.’
Thinking this, he glanced at the dwarf leader, “Are you sure the strongest of them was just a five-star mage?”
“Yeah. I’m sure.” The dwarf leader nodded, his expression solemn. Inside, he was feeling bitter. He should feel angry by the fact that their lives were only spared because the humans didn’t want to waste time on them, but he was feeling relieved because if this wasn’t the case, they would’ve lost their lives.
“Should we give chase? It hasn’t been long since they left.” Another four-star demon asked.
“If a five-star expert wants to escape, we can’t stop him, so it’s useless to give chase. They should be heading over to the Green leaf battlefield. If fate wills it, we’ll meet them there.” The shrewd looking demon said. Hearing this, others nodded in agreement. Then, they moved in the Royal city’s direction.
…
After traveling for over a hundred miles, Durden sighed in relief, “We are safe for now.”
“Mm. Let’s rest there.” Max nodded and directed the hawk toward a nearby destroyed city. Ellie needed time to recover while he also needed time to get used to the changes in his body. Besides, he already had the Drop of life, so he was no longer in a rush to head to the battlefield.
Durden didn’t say anything as he also needed time to recover from his injuries.
After landing in the city, everyone found some intact buildings to rest. After resting for a day, Max checked on Ellie. Her wound had mostly recovered but she had yet to regain her consciousness.
After that, he summoned the Elves.
As Ray, Kamesh, Shasha and others wondered why they were gathered, Max spoke up, “You guys no longer need to accompany me to the battlefield. You can head back to Ninam city.”
No matter if it was Kamesh, Shasha or others, everyone was stunned.
“What did you say, team leader?” Ray asked, thinking he had heard wrong.
He had thought they might be gathered to discuss some fighting strategy or something else, but he had never thought Max wanted to send them back. Weren’t they supposed to go to the battlefield? Could it be that the recent fights, or Ellie’s injury had made him afraid? No, that wasn’t right. If he was really afraid, he would also return, and wouldn’t send only them back.
Shasha looked at him with furrowed brows, while Kamesh and others appeared confused yet relieved.
Max glanced at them, a little surprised by Ray’s and Shasha’s expression. Clearly, they weren’t accepting of the sudden change of plans.
“I’ve achieved the goal for which I needed you all. So, there is no need for you guys to risk your lives any further.” Max calmly said, before glancing at Ray and Shasha, “Of course, if any of you want to experience the battlefield, you are welcome to accompany me.”
Hearing this, Shasha’s expression eased. “I will go to the battlefield.” She said, before stepping to the side.
Ray hesitated for a brief moment, before he smiled, “I’ll continue accompanying you, team leader.” Saying this, he walked over to Shasha.
Max nodded. He then glanced at Kamesh and others. Kamesh kept his silence, a ruminating expression on his face.
Seeing this, an elf, who got injured a few days ago, and was yet to recover, cautiously asked, “If we return without you, won’t the Lord commander punish us?”
The 10 Bonus Chapter Mass release between 10-15 November!
