A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 160: The Signs of Calamity - Part 8

The point was made. These were creatures powerful enough to treat even the newly discovered horn goblins with contempt. By the strength of its grip as well, it was proving itself to be a menacing foe. But Beam could not let that deter him, for he knew not what was waiting for him in the future.

All these monsters were unexpected – all of them. Which meant that he could have to face enemies that were stronger still. With such knowledge in his head, Beam assumed his grip on the sword.

He could already feel it, as he envisioned it in his mind's eye, that the same movements that had worked on the horned goblins – they wouldn't work on these. There were far fewer openings, especially with that shield of a shell protecting the entirety of its front torso.

The middle Konbreaker opened its beak and gave a loud and piercing squark. At its command, the two Konbreakers to either side of it stepped in front. Beam could see that they were slightly shorter than its leader. He dared to pose the assumption then, that physical strength was what decided dominance in the Konbreaker world.

"Then I'll hit you with speed," he murmured, darting off his back foot. He had two weapons at his disposal now – his old style of misdirection, and the new style of overwhelming force that he'd been trying to perfect.

He feinted an overhead slash at the Konbreaker on the left. It reacted heavily to it, twisting its torso so that its shell would be there to shield itself from the strike. Beam didn't slow, instead, he twisted, bringing his whole body low, he abruptly changed direction, going for the other Konbreaker instead, swiping for its exposed legs that stuck out from under its shell.

With a squark of surprise, the Konbreaker managed to get its shield down just in time. But Beam was not done moving yet. These were not singular, purposeless attacks, they were killed with the vigour of a man that had to get something done quickly.

This time, as he stepped back to avoid the sharp claws of the Konbreaker on the left, he didn't move to feint. Instead, as the shield rose up to defend his strike from overhead, he brought his sword with full force down upon it, angling it such that the strike was more likely to move the enemy than cut it – for he knew there was no way that he would slice through its shell.

After watching his last two feints, this direct attack caught the Konbreaker by surprise – it had started to make assumptions as a result of Beam's movements, as all creatures did, eternally attempting to simplify the world they were in, so that they could process more information. It had assumed that its shell would eternally function as a repellent – it always had in the past, after all.

Yet Beam slammed it back. With a squark, the creature's legs buckled from under it, as it received the unexpected attack poorly and it was forced to the ground.

With it on its knees, Beam moved it sever its head, just before the Konbreaker on the right could reach him. Now, after feeling the overwhelming might of his last attack, the downed Konbreaker reacted even more strongly to his feint, the traces of fear evident within its movement.

But Beam spun on his head and severed the head of the Konbreaker next to it instead.

The head landed on the floor with a dull thud. It blinked twice in horror, before its body collapsed next to it.

With a few moves, Beam had built up a wave and now it crashed down upon the enemy. Seemingly disconnected attacks all flowed together to build up a perfect picture, a picture that put the enemy on the back foot and controlled its movements.

It was the very beginnings of a combat-oriented strategy and though it was the first time Beam had executed upon the idea, it was a roaring success.

And now the Konbreaker on its knees crumbled entirely to fear – a deeper fear than Beam had seen even in the goblins. But its leader was unaffected. It squawked in dismay, its laidback mannerisms vanishing, and it came rushing in at Beam in his moment of pause, thinking that such a simple surprise attack was likely to catch him off guard.

Beam glared at it with a void smile. He could hardly contain the darkness within him on this day. It flooded out of his pores excitedly, screaming for his acknowledgement, condemning his subordination of it, and flexing its power.

"Defend," he tried.

And then, the subtlest of movements. A jarring attack on the Konbreaker's soul. The kneeling monster that had already given into fear lost its autonomy for but a moment. It started to its feet, moving in the direction of its leader, as though to obey Beam's command.

But after a mere half a second, Beam's hold on it was broken. It collapsed in front of its charging ally, its soul battered and its body exhausted.

That was more than enough, however. With an attack coming from the most unexpected of places, the Konbreaker leader was hardly able to react. For all its strength, it lacked nimbleness. With its ally collapsed in front of it, it took everything it had to avoid toppling over it. That opening was all Beam needed.

He leapt high into the air, clearing the fallen monster and he levelled a strike on its head just before the Konbreaker could respond – a sweeping horizontal slash.

And yet, as if by a miracle, the creature managed to raise its shell just in time. But Beam was faster. By virtue of his superior speed, he was able to determine whether that strike would indeed end up being a killing blow, or whether he would allow it to hang merely as a feint.

With the small amount of testing force he had put it into, he was able to seamlessly twist and change his angle of attack, striking the Konbreaker leader from straight above instead, splitting its skull in two.