A wail tore through the night.
It wasn't merely loud — it was primal, guttural, and soaked in rage. The sound rolled across the village like a war horn from the abyss, shaking wooden beams and rattling hanging bones strung between huts. Every troll in the settlement stirred.
Even Alex froze for half a heartbeat.
Then he moved.
The two trolls ahead of him were just beginning to rise when Alex rushed forward, his scythe drawn back in a wide arc. Inside one of the huts, a troll that had been sleeping on the dirt floor jolted awake at the alarm. Snarling, it grabbed the crude iron axe resting beside it and charged toward the exit.
It never made it past the doorway.
A silver flash.
The troll felt weightless — then pain followed a fraction too late. Its leg separated cleanly at the ankle. It crashed forward with a thunderous roar, clawing at the earth as blood sprayed across the threshold.
Alex didn't slow down.
He stepped onto the creature's collapsing body, boots crushing into thick hide, and sprinted up its back as if scaling a ramp. When he reached its shoulder, he flicked a dagger upward into the air.
The blade spun.
Alex jumped.
For a single breath, time seemed to stretch thin.
His foot landed on the flat of the falling dagger. He kicked off it midair — an impossible rebound — redirecting himself higher. Mana surged through his limbs. Using the momentum, he twisted his torso, the scythe whistling in a lethal crescent.
The blade came down.
The troll's skull split from crown to jaw. Bone parted. Blood and fragments burst outward in a red arc that painted the hut walls behind it. Alex landed in a crouch as the body collapsed in two uneven halves.
He barely had time to turn.
A shadow loomed.
Instinct screamed.
A massive wooden club tore through the air toward him. Alex wrapped mana around his arm just before impact — a thin, translucent layer condensing over his skin.
The club struck.
The force was monstrous.
The mana barrier shattered like glass. Alex was hurled backward, smashing through the hut wall in an explosion of splintered wood and dust. He tumbled across the dirt outside, carving a trench before finally skidding to a stop.
Silence lasted only a second.
Huts creaked. Doors slammed open. Heavy footsteps pounded the ground.
Alex pushed himself up. His arm tingled violently — not broken, but not untouched either.
"Tch."
Three trolls emerged from nearby huts. More silhouettes moved behind them.
He exhaled slowly and dismissed the Coat of Invisibility. The fabric dissolved into particles of fading light before reforming around him as something darker.
The Coat of AETHERWYRM.
The material settled over his shoulders like liquid shadow. The system still refused to display its attributes — question marks mocking him as always.
Unknown. Unknown. Unknown.
"Whatever you are," Alex muttered inwardly, "you're better than nothing."
The troll that had sent him flying burst from the ruined hut, roaring as it charged. Its club dragged through the dirt, gouging trenches.
Alex shifted his stance — right leg forward, left angled back. His scythe rotated smoothly into position.
Mana gathered.
"Half Moon Slash."
A dark crescent burst from the blade — not merely light, but condensed shadow, humming with compressed force. The air shrieked as the arc tore forward.
The charging troll didn't even slow.
The slash met it mid-stride.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then its torso slid apart.
The upper half continued forward another step before gravity claimed it. Blood fountained into the air, misting the battlefield. The crescent didn't stop there — it continued through two wooden huts behind it. Walls split diagonally. Roofs sagged, then collapsed in cascades of timber and debris.
A delayed system chime rang in Alex's mind.
Two additional eliminations confirmed.
The village had fully awakened now.
Flames from scattered torches illuminated the destruction — shattered huts, blood-soaked dirt, dust swirling through the night air. Roughly sixty trolls stood before him, with more gathering at the edges of the settlement. Their massive frames formed a wall of muscle and iron.
The ground trembled as they roared in unison.
The sound vibrated in Alex's chest.
He inhaled.
Exhaled.
His grip tightened on the scythe.
"One at a time… or all at once," he said calmly, voice carrying across the battlefield.
"I'm not particular."
The first wave charged.
The earth shook beneath dozens of pounding feet. Clubs, axes, and jagged spears rose overhead. Their shadows stretched long in the firelight, merging into a tidal surge of violence.
Alex ran toward them.
At the last second, he kicked off the ground and vaulted into the air.