Chapter 19: The Elf Who Lends a Helping Hand
The chase continued, their footsteps squelching through the treacherous swamp as howls echoed behind them.
After stepping out of the dissipating mist, Kurtz repeated his trick. Steam billowed around his hands as he combined water and fire once more, thick fog rolling across the fetid waters like a living thing.
If it were ordinary fire and water, such dense mist would be impossible. This was the result of Kurtz enchanting the elements with his magic, forcing them to interact in ways nature never intended.
The side effect hit him like a physical blow, his magic power drained at an alarming rate. Each casting felt like bleeding, leaving him weaker and more vulnerable.
After only three applications, exhaustion clawed at his consciousness. His hands trembled slightly, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead despite the humid air.
He should have taught Serie this technique beforehand. With her vast reserves of mana, she could have maintained the fog indefinitely. Another oversight, another reminder of how much he still had to learn about working with others.
"That's enough. Leave the rest to me." Serie's voice cut through his preparation for a fourth casting. Her golden eyes noted the pallor creeping across his features, the slight sway in his stance.
He opened his mouth to protest, but she moved past him. "It shouldn't be far now. Just over that hill, and we'll reach the edge of the swamp."
Kurtz had studied the map thoroughly before their departure. Combined with the distance they had already covered before the battle erupted, they were tantalizingly close to safety. Each step forward felt like a small victory against the nightmare pursuing them.
Of course, Serie's violent path-clearing proved indispensable. She moved like a force of nature, magic flowing from her hands with casual precision. When monsters breached the fog and blocked their route, she responded with devastating efficiency.
A Light Arrow would pierce through a creature's skull, dropping it instantly. Or she would unleash another pillar of light, those terrible bombs of pure energy that carved vacuum zones through the swamp. Each blast left Kurtz's ears ringing and his vision spotted from the afterglow.
Somo, following behind them, could only stare in growing amazement. The dwarf's jaw had hung open for the past several minutes as he witnessed true elven magic unleashed without restraint.
He finally understood the vast gulf between himself and these creature. In their previous encounter, Serie had held back drastically. She had used only the most basic Light Arrow against him, probably out of some mixture of pity and boredom.
The ground beneath their feet suddenly convulsed, nearly throwing them off balance.
A monster erupted from the swamp floor with earth-shaking force, three meters of pure nightmare covered in obsidian scales that gleamed like polished armour. Its eyes burned with malevolent intelligence as it blocked their path with predatory confidence.
"A Demonscale Beast?" Serie's composed mask cracked for the first time, a genuine alarm flickering across her features. "Somo, take Kurtz and go ahead!"
Her mind raced through possibilities and found them all wanting. She hadn't expected such a creature to lurk in this relatively minor swamp.
This monster was practically the natural enemy of mages. Those black scales could nullify most magical attacks, absorbing and dissipating energy with frightening efficiency. Even the highest-level magic of the elves would struggle to pierce that natural armour in a single strike.
Serie's expression became grave as possibilities played out in her head.
Once this Demonscale Beast held them back, the massive horde of monsters behind them would catch up and surround them. Then escape would become impossible.
It was unfortunate that Somo remained so young and inexperienced. A pure warrior of his potential could have been invaluable against this type of opponent. Physical force was often the only reliable method for dealing with magic-resistant creatures.
The Demonscale Beast didn't grant them time for lengthy deliberation. It roared, a sound like grinding stone and tearing metal, and launched itself forward with surprising speed for something so massive.
Serie unleashed a rapid series of Light Arrows, each one precisely aimed at potential weak points. They struck the creature's scales and simply... vanished. The scales absorbed them without so much as scorching the surface.
Her heart sank as she backpedalled frantically, the beast's claws missing her face by inches. The fetid smell of its breath made her stomach churn as it prepared for another charge.
Somo's battle cry split the air as he threw himself between the monster and Serie, his shoulder connecting with the creature's flank. The impact sent shockwaves through both combatants, but the dwarf's momentum knocked the beast off course.
"Didn't I tell you to take Kurtz and go?" Serie's voice carried sharp disapproval mixed with something that might have been concern.
"I tried, but Kurtz wouldn't agree," Somo said, somehow managing to look sheepish even while facing down a legendary monster.
"I won't abandon you." Kurtz's voice stayed steady as he moved to Serie's side, his earlier exhaustion forgotten in the face of immediate danger.
He had also observed that Serie's attacks were being nullified by the creature's natural defences. This was troubling.
If her magic couldn't penetrate, what hope did his inferior spells have?
"It appears to be a monster specifically designed to counter mages," Kurtz observed grimly, not expecting such a perfectly evolved predator to exist in this world.
"Yes. Their only vulnerability is their eyes, but that requires hitting them." Serie's tone was clipped and professional, but he could hear the frustration underneath.
Even the Demonscale Beast's eyelids bore protection from smaller scales, overlapping like chainmail. As long as it kept them closed, even perfectly aimed attacks would prove useless.
"I'll try to hold it off and create an opening. You focus on targeting its eyes when the chance comes."
"How will you—"
Kurtz didn't waste time with explanations. He stepped forward, raising his voice. "Close your eyes!"
Brilliant light exploded from his outstretched hand, not the focused beam of a Light Arrow, but raw, undiluted radiance that turned the swamp into a miniature sun.
Somo reacted a half-second too late, his eyelids slamming shut as the light seared through them anyway. Even with his eyes closed, afterimages danced across his vision in painful bursts of colour.
The Demonscale Beast roared in fury and pain, its sensitive eyes forced shut against the overwhelming brightness.
"Now!" Kurtz dropped the spell and spun toward the dwarf. "Somo, throw your axe! Use your skill!"
Somo squinted through streaming tears, located the beast's general position, and hurled his weapon with all his strength. The battle axe's enchantment flared to maximum power, magic coursing through the steel as it spun end over end.
The moment it struck the Demonscale Beast's flank, the shockwave split the air.
The explosion was tremendous, a sphere of force and fire that lifted all three of them off their feet. Somo felt the shockwave punch through his chest as he struggled to maintain his footing.
Serie, caught off guard by the blast's intensity, stumbled and would have fallen if Kurtz hadn't caught her arm.
The blast launched the Demonscale Beast backwards, its massive form tumoring through the air before crashing to the ground. The scales around its eye socket had shattered from the point-blank detonation, revealing soft pink flesh and the blood-red pupil beneath.
Serie seized the moment with predatory precision. She leapt forward, condensing raw mana into a spear of pure light that hummed with barely contained energy.
The light spear struck true, punching through the exposed flesh and deep into the creature's eye socket. Dark blood sprayed in arterial bursts, but the beast's roar of agony proved it still lived.
Serie wanted to finish the job, but the sound of approaching monsters made her hesitate. The horde behind them surged forward like a black tide, sensing their prey's momentary distraction.
"Let's go!" Kurtz seized Serie's wrist and pulled her away from the wounded but still dangerous beast.
The three of them scrambled up the hillside with desperate energy, loose stones sliding beneath their feet as claws scraped rock behind them.
When they finally crested the hill and stepped onto solid ground, Somo collapsed immediately.
"We... we survived." His voice was barely a whisper.
A hundred meters below them, an endless sea of monsters pressed against some invisible boundary. Their eyes glowed like stars in the darkness, but none seemed willing to leave the swamp's embrace.
Kurtz gasped for air, his chest burning from the sprint. "They... why aren't they pursuing us?"
Serie's breathing had already steadied, elven constitution showing its advantages. Her golden eyes remained fixed on the monster horde.
"I'm not sure. Perhaps they're bound to the swamp's territory."
Kurtz shook his head, tactical instincts overriding his exhaustion. "These monsters are under demon race control. They shouldn't have concepts of territorial limitation."
Serie opened her mouth to respond, but commotion erupted from the monsters' direction. All three turned to look.
The Demonscale Beast, still sporting Serie's light spear like a grotesque ornament, came charging up the hillside. Blood streamed down its face in crimson rivers, but its remaining eye burned with undiminished fury.
Kurtz grabbed Serie's hand, ready to flee again, but she didn't move.
"It's fine. Only that one broke free."
Indeed, the Demonscale Beast charged alone while the other monsters remained stationary, as if invisible chains held them back.
"I see." Kurtz raised his guard again, magical energy gathering around his hands despite his depleted reserves.
Somo hefted his returned battle axe, the weapon's magic still crackling from its previous use.
Serie's stance shifted subtly. With the creature's armour compromised, this fight would be much more manageable.
"Once we break their natural protection, they become much easier targets."
As the Demonscale Beast closed the distance, Serie raised a shimmering barrier to intercept its charge. The creature slammed into the magical wall with bone-jarring force, then staggered as Serie's concentrated magic tore into its exposed head wound.
The assault opened the existing injury into a gaping chasm, revealing white bone beneath the torn flesh.
Such devastating wounds should have dropped any normal creature instantly, but the Demonscale Beast remained upright, driven by berserker rage that transcended physical limitation.
Kurtz noticed something wrong. The creature's movements were too erratic, too desperate. This wasn't normal predatory behaviour.
Just as he opened his mouth to warn Serie, the beast suddenly pivoted and charged toward him and Somo instead.
Kurtz began weaving defensive magic, but before the creature could reach them, a blade of pure energy sliced through the air and sent it tumbling backwards.
It struggled to rise, claws scrambling for purchase on the rocky ground, but the newcomer gave it no opportunity for recovery. Starting from the massive head wound, he brought his sword down in a perfect vertical cut that split the Demonscale Beast's skull cleanly in half.
Only after the monster's death throes finally ceased did Kurtz get a clear look at their saviour: a male elf dressed in the simple robes of a travelling monk, his blade still humming with residual energy.
____________
Check out the Patreon for advanced chapters right now:
👉 patreon.com/Mr UmU
https://www.patreon.com/Mr_UmU
_______________
Frieren: My Master Serie Don't Know How to Love ~: 40+ Chapters
Warhammer 40K: The Emperor's Raven: 45+
1960: My Uncle is the Director of the FBI: 65+