Chapter 527

Charlotte sprang forward, one knee driving high, and Nehat’s head snapped back as she whipped through the air, leaving a spray of scarlet light in its wake.

Nehat flipped backward, landing hard in a crouch, boots skidding across the dirt.

"----!"

Her face, from which a beastly roar erupted, was already a complete mess.

Several teeth were broken, of course, and her face was swollen all over. The fact that she hadn't lost consciousness despite her condition was likely thanks to her being an apostle of Kruxica.

"She’s lasting longer than I thought," Thesaya murmured, looking down at Nehat charging at Charlotte.

A smile was on her lips, as if she had never been worried about Charlotte at all. "I figured a few good hits would strip her down to her true colors."

"Pride’s a hell of a thing," Ian replied nonchalantly.

It wasn’t just them watching; the warriors of her clan were watching, too. She wouldn’t want to show a weak side. That was likely why she had come to meet him in person in the first place.

However, that patience would surely hit its limit soon. A crack in her pride would be better than losing her position as Great Chieftain.

Shhhhk—

Charlotte avoided various attacks from Nehat, including punches, claw gauntlets, and kicks.

It wasn't surprising. They had already fought two duels. Having fought in an extremely disadvantageous situation, she must have done her best to read her opponent's habits and movements.

Now, with their roles reversed, that effort was fully bearing fruit.

Crunch!

Charlotte’s fist shot forward. Nehat’s jaw twisted violently as she was slammed through the half-collapsed wall of a hut.

Rumble—

Another hut noisily collapsed. Charlotte, who was about to charge again, paused. Her red-tinted eyes glared at the debris from which dust was thickly spreading, and she spat out the bloody saliva she had been holding in her mouth.

Swoosh!

A haze of ash-gray mist seeped from the wreckage, curling and coiling like smoke. A guttural snarl rumbled low, vibrating through the ground.

"Finally!" Thesaya’s eyes lit up.

From behind her back, hidden by her cloak, she drew her horn bow and added, "That’s it, Ian. Let’s go. Let’s take that damn beast’s head off."

"Not yet," replied Ian.

"Hmm?" Thesaya furrowed her brow and looked back at Ian, but he wasn't looking at her.

Thesaya’s eyes, following his gaze, soon narrowed slightly. "That crazy Kitty."

Charlotte was looking up at Ian with burning eyes, thumping her breastplate with her fist, as if asking him to let her continue this duel.

"You’re actually going to—what, let her keep going?" Thesaya asked, turning back to Ian with a frown.

Nodding as if to show Charlotte, Ian replied, "We can intervene at any time now, anyway. Charlotte needs to resolve her grudge, too."

However, that wasn’t the whole truth. The quest was not yet complete. As long as Charlotte’s life wasn’t in danger, he could wait a little longer.

"No, what if she ends up in that state again—"

A roar that felt like it was pushing her back swallowed Thesaya’s voice just then. It was the sound of Nehat screaming as she shot up, sending the hovel’s wreckage flying in all directions.

She was cloaked in the gray mist that was seeping across her. Her gray-tinted eyes glinted.

"-----!" Charlotte let out a responding roar and launched herself forward.

Nehat, her nose wrinkled in a snarl, shot forward to meet her. A blazing red trajectory and a mist-like gray trajectory drew long, straight lines and collided at a single point.

Clash!

The shockwave rolled outward in concentric rings, hurling debris in every direction. The two colliding beastfolks froze for a moment in mid-air as if suspended.

Charlotte buried her outstretched fist in one side of Nehat’s face. Even so, she had raised her left arm to block the right hand Nehat had swung at her. Nehat immediately grabbed Charlotte’s forearm, twisted her waist, and slammed her into the ground.

Boom, boom, boom!

The debris of the ruins, swept up in the shockwave, heaved with dust, and the surrounding huts tilted and crumbled. The roof where Ian and Thesaya stood also shook precariously. Despite the shaking ground, they shifted, balancing with ease.

Crash, boom!

Charlotte and Nehat, intertwined, exchanged strikes while traversing the destroyed hut. It was a messy dogfight. They ceaselessly struck, clawed, and threw each other.

That alone was enough to make the already chaotic area even messier. Red divinity burned away the gray mist and scattered, and the wreckage of the swept-up huts flew in all directions. It was a simple, brutish fight, but it was worthy of being called a battle of superhumans.

Everyone, including Palmer, Idris, and the beastfolks, watched the scene breathlessly. Their eyes showed that it no longer mattered which side won.

Boom! Crunch—

Regardless, Nehat was the one in control for the moment. Having completely surrendered herself to her bestial nature, she was charging as if she no longer felt pain.

Clash!

Her strength and speed also seemed to be slightly superior. Although healed from her injuries, Charlotte’s body was still in its gaunt state. A weakness that hadn’t been apparent when she received the blessing alone was finally coming to the fore.

"-----!"

Nehat’s fist grazed past Charlotte’s face. Though that alone drew blood, Charlotte shot out her arm and grabbed Nehat by the scruff of her neck.

The protectors on both her arms had long since been torn away—though they were nothing but rags to begin with. With Nehat’s equipment being destroyed, there was no way Charlotte's armor could have held up.

The marks where claws had raked her extended forearm were clearly visible. However, it wasn’t just dark red blood flowing from that wound.

Swoosh—

A golden haze was slowly spreading, and the wound was healing at a rapid pace. The same was happening on the side of her face that Nehat’s fist had torn.

It was likely one of the elixir’s secondary effects—granting enhanced resistances and accelerated regeneration for a limited time. He didn't know how long it would last, but it would surely hold for the duration of this battle.

Though I never got to experience it myself.

Ian exhaled slowly, tension easing from his jaw. If the elixir's effects were ongoing, he felt Charlotte would eventually be able to seize victory.

Nehat was completely covered in blood. Even if she couldn’t feel pain, she couldn't be truly immortal.

Crunch!

Even so, Charlotte was still being pushed back, pressed down by Nehat.

After a moment of plowing through the wreckage, she suddenly curled up and kicked Nehat’s abdomen with her front paws as if pushing her away.

Boom, boom, boom—

Sent flying, Nehat skipped across the debris like a stone on water. Finally landing on all fours, she slid to a stop. A ragged breath mixed with gray mist burst out. The effects of blood loss were starting to show.

Nehat snapped her head up, gray lights flashing from her eyes.

Woosh!

Charlotte had already rushed to be right in front of her. As her blazing red eyes left a long afterimage, Charlotte’s outstretched fist slammed into the center of Nehat’s face.

Boom, boom, boom—

The two of them, sent flying together, disappeared beyond a half-collapsed hut behind them. Another hovel crumbled.

A reddish-gray mist, along with a cloud of dust, thickly enveloped the surroundings.

The roof where Ian and Thesaya stood swayed as if it would collapse. Charlotte and Nehat were closer now, having cleared the area by demolishing the nearby buildings and expanding the battlefield.

Rumble…

A red light flashed through the mist, and ground-shaking booms erupted one after another. Flying debris rained down around Ian and Thesaya. However, neither Ian nor Thesaya paid it any mind. They fixed their gazes on what lay beyond the mist thickly mixed with divinity.

Crash! Boom!

Because in the center of it all, flashing silhouettes were becoming clearer.

It was Charlotte, on top of Nehat. She was relentlessly smashing her fists down as if to crush Nehat’s head. The surrounding debris continuously heaved, and waves of hot shockwaves burst out.

Charlotte, who had been striking without rest, paused. It seemed she realized Nehat was no longer struggling. She looked down at her blood-soaked fist for a moment.

Tilting her head back, Charlotte roared, "-----!"

It was a cry that seemed to heat the very air.

Following her, Palmer raised his head and let out a howl like a wolf’s cry. Idris followed, raising his head as if in response.

"-----!"

"----!"

Soon, the beastfolks standing on the outer roofs and the palisade also raised their heads and let out howls. It was their acknowledgment of the birth of a new Great Chieftain.

One corner of Ian's mouth twisted slightly.

What's with them? They're not even wolves.

"She won! Ian, our Kitty won!" shouted Thesaya, with a huge smile now plastered on her face, jumping up and down.

Raising the horn bow in her hand above her head, she added, "I believed in you! Kitty! Now finish her!"

Charlotte was already standing, having finished her roar. Leaving the limply sprawled Nehat behind, she turned and staggered away.

She fixed her red-tinted eyes on the jagged sword stuck diagonally in the ground beyond. It seemed she intended to cut off Nehat’s tail. It wouldn't have been strange if she had intended to cut off her right arm as well.

Charlotte’s steps came to an abrupt halt. Almost at the same time, a quest completion window popped up in front of Ian’s eyes.

Suddenly, she trembled violently, and a red-hot crest branded her right shoulder blade like a stigma. It was a shape familiar to Ian. Though it was incomparably smaller than the one engraved on his forearm, it was unmistakably Karha’s combat tattoo.

Huh, guess that makes her my second-in-command.

Ian smiled. It seemed Karha had chosen Charlotte as his lieutenant. The Northern barbarians would have grabbed the backs of their necks if they had found out.

"----!" The beastfolk's howls grew louder as if in celebration.

It was perhaps a natural reaction, seeing a human god accept a beastfolk. Charlotte was likely the first beastfolk to be chosen by Karha.

Charlotte looked back at Ian. Even as she panted in pain, she was baring her fangs in a smile. Ian returned the smile. Charlotte and Karha were a well-matched pair.

Thump…

His smile froze right after that. As the bead of chaos essence resonated, a quest window popped up before his eyes.

[The Corrupt Chieftain, Nehat.]

"Some things never change," Ian murmured.

Thesaya, who had been waving the bow in her hand, turned to him. "What never changes?"

There was no need for Ian to answer. Cheers were overcome by a scream as a gray shockwave swept across the zone.

Swoosh—

Charlotte fell, completely unprepared, and the hut where Ian and Thesaya stood collapsed. Of course, Thesaya had already sprung off and was sailing through the air.

"Uwaa?"

Thesaya, who had been screaming, widened her eyes.

A brilliant light shimmered in the air, and a curtain of divinity rose to block the shockwave. At the same time, she came to an abrupt stop in mid-air as if caught by an invisible hand.

Rumble!

Thesaya’s gaze turned to Ian, who was landing amidst the tumbling wreckage. A faint divinity was already shimmering on his left hand.

"Get ready. Thesa," Ian said, raising his head. Only then did Thesaya’s gaze turn toward the source of the shockwave.

"------!"

Beyond the thickly spreading gray mist, the silhouette of a screaming beast shimmered. Only the red, cross-shaped glint in the eyes burned clearly.

"Not that way," said Ian.

Thesaya looked back at him again. Ian’s gaze was scanning the village entrance.

"You go over there."

"Huh?" Thesaya’s eyes widened as she landed.

"----!"

"-----!"

A gray mist was also billowing up from among the beastfolk warriors. As if resonating with Nehat, several warriors were roaring, engulfed in chaos.

"Take Charlotte with you. Quickly, before the beastfolks self-destruct!" Ian shouted as the shockwave subsided.

Blinking in surprise, Thesaya nodded. "Ah, got it!"

Taking in the red silhouette staggering to their feet in the distance, she immediately dashed off. "Kitty! Follow me! You have to protect your kin! Ian said they’re about to kill each other!"

Fortunately, it seemed Charlotte had also noticed the change occurring among the beastfolks. Pulling out the jagged sword that had been stuck in the ground right next to her, she ran with Thesaya without a second word.

Swoosh—

The thick, gray fog drifted down and faded away. In its midst, the form of Nehat, letting out beast-like breaths, was revealed.

In the center of her gray eyes, red pupils torn into a cross shape scanned the back of the retreating Charlotte.

Thud!

It was right after that Nehat kicked off the ground on all fours, dashing toward Charlotte like a hunting dog chasing its prey. However, before she could pounce on Charlotte, something shooting out from the side slammed into her—a hexagonal, golden shield.

Crackle!

Even as she was violently knocked sideways, Nehat swept her gaze over the shield to Ian beyond it. Almost simultaneously, Ian swung his left arm as if shaking it off.

Boom, boom, boom!

Sent flying, Nehat tumbled across the wreckage. Shaking her head violently, she got up and turned to face Ian, who was sliding to a stop.

"I told you, didn't I?" Ian’s eyes met hers, and he slowly curled his lips into a smile. "That I would kill you with the same sword that killed your father."

The dragon's magic brilliantly overlaid the blade of the Truesilver Steel Sword in his right hand.