Chương 97: Chapter 96. Cliff fall

For a few seconds, no one moved. The thorn bear crashed into the cavern wall with a thunderous impact, stone cracking beneath its weight before it slid down and hit the ground in a spray of dust and debris. Dozens of the jagged thorns lining its back snapped on impact. Blackened spikes scattered across the stone as dark, sluggish blood seeped through its matted fur. The bear groaned, and it came out low and guttural, like distant thunder rolling through the chamber.

All the soldiers watched it, holding their breath, and no one was foolish enough to think that the crash had killed it. It would take far more than a single blast and fall to bring down something like that. Rayne immediately released John and stepped forward, sword already in hand. His shield came up on his other arm as his mana began to move. Around him, the soldiers slowly came out of their shock.

"Formation!" Axel roared, his voice cutting through the stunned silence.

"You know what to do against these giant, rotten pieces of flesh!" At once, their training kicked in as they moved into formation. Squad leaders barked commands, lining up their men in a shield line while archers prepared their bows and spread out.

"Rayne!" Axel shouted again.

"Hold it back with your mana skill!" Even before the order was fully spoken, Rayne was already acting. Mana surged from his core, flowing through his arm and into the blade. Dark, hideous energy wrapped around the sword, crawling across the metal like smoke made solid. As he coated his sword, he couldn't help but feel like he was making great progress with his skill. The sword shone brighter now that he had much better control of his mana. As he gathered mana into one place, the thorn bear was pushing itself up.

Its massive paws scraped against stone, claws digging into rock as it tried to regain footing. Muscles bulged beneath its rotting fur as it grunted in pain and fury. Rayne didn't give it the chance to do anything. He stepped forward and swung. The arc of dark energy tore forward and slammed into the bear's exposed flank. With it still struggling to rise, it couldn't dodge. The strike exploded against its side with a violent burst. The force drove the massive body backward into the wall again.

The stone cracked further and more thorns shattered. The bear howled in pain as blackened flesh split under the impact. It collapsed back onto its side for a heartbeat. That was all the opening the others needed.

"Now!" someone roared. Dozens of arrows flew at once. They rained down toward the thorn bear's face and exposed joints, aiming for eyes, mouth, and softer tissue between plates of hardened flesh. Several embedded into its skull. Others snapped against thick bone. Axel, Hobbs, and the other squad leaders moved in next, leading small units to surround the fallen beast. Spears and blades thrust into the side of its body, and more arrows plunged into its skull. Though, all of it had very little impact.

The thorn bear roared again, louder this time, and one massive paw lashed outward. Two soldiers were thrown backward by the sheer force of it, shields dented. One hit the ground hard but rolled away before the claws could pin him.

"Don't let it rise!" Hobbs barked. Rayne stepped in again, channeling mana through his sword and, seeing it, soldiers cleared the way on their own. Another [Death Strike] ripped into the bear's shoulder as it tried to lift itself fully upright. The impact staggered it again, buying precious seconds. But before more soldiers could maim it down, another growl echoed through the chamber. One that came from above them. Rayne's head snapped upward, and he saw spells flare up, slamming into boulders with explosive force.

Chunks of stone broke apart midair, falling under the ledge as debris. He immediately understood what was going on. The second thorn bear had started throwing boulders across at the rest of the warband. More rocks tumbled through the air as he watched, but they were intercepted mid-flight by bursts of flame from Casper. Explosions shattered stone and a few soldiers raised their shields to avoid being hit. Rayne also raised his shield as more debris rained down, stones bouncing off the metal with dull thuds.

He glanced upward once, just to make sure that the second thorn bear was still occupied. He hoped it wouldn't jump down as well, but hope wasn't a strategy. If that second beast leapt down while this one was still alive, their formation would collapse under the combined strength. They couldn't afford that. Which meant this one had to die fast. The thorn bear on their level growled again, trying to push itself upright. Its claws dug into stone, but it was struggling to even get one paw to stand.

Soldiers had focused their attacks on its forelegs. Spears stabbed repeatedly into joints, and blades hacked at tendons due to Axel's orders. Even if the soldiers hadn't cut deep, they had weakened it. As Rayne watched, its weight shifted unevenly. It tried to swipe, but the movement lacked balance. He saw it as an opening and rushed forward. Instead of targeting its flank like before, he aimed directly at its face. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere.

Support the author by seeking out the original. If he could blind it fully or crush its skull, the battle would end in the next minute. Death mana coiled around his blade as he closed the distance. The thorn bear's eyes locked onto him, then its massive claws came up. Rayne thrust his shield forward, bracing for impact. The first claw struck and the force slammed into him like a falling boulder. His boots slid across the stone and his arm stung, but he held.

The second claw followed immediately, sweeping toward his side. Before it could reach him— Hobbs crashed into it. The man's axe met the bear's limb mid-swing with a heavy clang. The impact diverted the claw just enough, metal biting into rotten flesh as Hobbs roared and pushed back against the monster's strength. But it didn't last long. The thorn bear countered immediately. Its injured foreleg trembled, but there was still monstrous strength in it. With a guttural roar, it forced its weight forward.

Hobbs' boots scraped against the stone before he was thrown backward, his axe skidding from his grasp as he hit the ground hard and rolled. But that moment was enough. Rayne had already drawn mana again. It wasn't as concentrated as his earlier strikes. He hadn't had the time to gather it fully. The dark energy around his blade flickered unevenly, thinner in places and almost unstable at the edges. Still, it was enough. But as he raised his blade to attack, the bear suddenly lunged.

Despite the blood pouring from its wounds, the spears buried in its flesh, and the soldiers hacking at its legs, it gathered itself and launched forward, its massive paw sweeping out to crush him. Rayne didn't retreat fast enough. The creature's maw came within inches of his face, its breath hot and rotten, but before it could do any damage, he unleashed the strike. Dark mana tore free from his blade in a brutal arc just as he jumped backward.

The energy slammed into the bear's face at point-blank range, and there was no room to dodge. The arc carved across its skull, tearing through one eye and splitting the other. Blackened flesh burst apart and there was a crunch like bones breaking. Shards of thorn and fragments of rotten tissue sprayed outward. The force threw the bear backward. It crashed onto its side again, screaming out in agony. A deafening roar shook the chamber as it writhed on the ground.

Its paws clawed blindly at the air, and blood and dark fluids poured from the ruin of its face. Rayne stumbled back another step, chest heaving, his blade still in his hands, knowing the thorn bear wasn't dead. Though, it was close to it. He tightened his grip, preparing to move in and finish it. But before he could, Axel moved first. With a shout, he sprinted forward and leapt, boots landing directly onto the bear's back between snapped and broken thorns. The spikes tore at his armor, but he only grunted.

Rayne saw a small vial in his left hand. He uncorked it mid-motion and smashed the contents down onto the bear's exposed flesh, especially around the skull. The liquid hissed instantly. A sickly, burning sound filled the air as the acid seeped into torn muscle and open wounds. Smoke rose from the creature's body. The bear thrashed far more violently and screamed again. Its body bucked and twisted, trying to dislodge him, but Axel lowered his center of gravity and held on.

With his free hand, he raised his sword high. Then he drove it down into the side of the bear's neck, right where the acid still hissed and the flesh burned. The blade plunged deep and Axel twisted his sword. The bear convulsed at once, letting out another painful scream. More soldiers rushed in then, brave enough now that its vision was destroyed. They stabbed into its side and back, careful to stay clear of its paws.

Second after second, the thrashing slowed and the growls turned hoarse and then finally, the thorn bear went still. Notifications immediately rang in his mind, but he didn't check them. There was still one bear left. Everyone seemed to remember that as there were no cheers. Rayne lifted his gaze toward the ledge above. The second thorn bear was no longer throwing boulders. It was on one knee at the edge. Captain Edran and Varrick had moved to the other side of the ledge along with the remaining soldiers.

From below, Rayne couldn't see everything clearly, but he noticed the obvious damage on the bear's body. Half of the beast's skull had been split open. Bone jutted outward at an unnatural angle and dark blood streamed down its snout and across the stone beneath it. One of its eyes already hung uselessly, and the other flickered with dying rage. Captain Edran was in front of it. Even from below, Rayne could recognize the captain's sword and the crimson mana enveloping it.

He clashed against the bear's claws directly, his sword moving in tight arcs, deflecting a wild swipe before stepping in again. Varrick stood not far behind, his shield shimmering faintly as it absorbed a desperate slam from the beast.

"They're pushing it," Rayne muttered under his breath. One of the squad leaders near him seemed to realize the same thing.

"Get ready!" the man shouted. The thorn bear roared again, but it was barely pushing back now. Captain Edran struck once more, and Varrick's shield flared as it rammed forward. The bear lost its balance. For a second, its massive body teetered on the edge. Then it fell. It crashed down toward them in a blur of rotten fur and broken bone. Before it could even hit the ground properly, a massive ball of flame streaked downward from above.

The fireball struck the bear directly in the face mid-fall and exploded on impact. Flames engulfed the already shattered skull, and the beast screamed—a final, desperate sound—as it tumbled the remaining distance. It slammed into the cavern floor. A heartbeat later, large boulders followed from above, shoved off the ledge by the soldiers. They crashed down onto the bear's body with thunderous force, crushing ribs and pinning it beneath tons of stone. Dust rose instantly, and the bear's screams died down slowly.

Rayne didn't look away. He watched for even the slightest twitch beneath the rubble, but none came. Slowly, he exhaled, glad that he didn't have to fight the second thorn bear as well. But as he thought about it, with two spellswords and one mage, it would have been hard for the beast to survive long anyway. In the end, even if his plan to avoid fighting entirely hadn't worked perfectly, they had still split the threat. Fighting both bears together would have been far worse.

And he was certain that moving down from the other side of the ledge through the pathway would have triggered traps as well. This was a far better outcome. Around him, soldiers began lowering themselves to the ground. Some sat where they stood. Others leaned against stone walls, breathing hard. Relief spread through the formation now that the threat was over. His own party did the same, resting on the ground. But Rayne didn't sit with them.

Instead, he decided to check his notifications, but as they came up in his mind, he froze.

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