A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 179: The Shadows - Part 4

Barely managing to dodge out the way with a roll, Beam ducked, as the trunk of the tree behind him exploded in a mess of wood and sap, completely shattered where the Konbreakers fist had hit it.

And now the other Konbreaker was closing in too, zooming in from the opposite direction. Now that they'd secured their evolution, they seemed confident enough that they could avoid the pile of food, for it was Beam they focused on now in his entirety.

He was forced to dodge again. He knew he couldn't let those Konbreaker claws touch him – he couldn't even parry them with his sword, lest his steel shatter and he be left with nothing to defend himself.

Now it was Beam's turn to run around the pile of corpses, as he desperately tried to dodge their attacks, fear rising in his chest as he got an awful sense of foreboding. He'd massively underestimated the enemy. If allowed to evolve so freely, they were nothing if not a problem.

Of course, the plan had been successful, in part – and that there was the issue. The pile had attracted them too strongly, to the point of madness, that all the logic Beam had in place was rendered irrelevant. He had carefully working to hide himself so that the monsters wouldn't see him, yet that had backfired on him, for they cared not who was there – they simply wanted to gorge themselves.

And now Beam was paying the price of that misstep. A true trial by fire. His body was already achy from his battle with the horned goblins earlier and now he was being forced to deal with a threat that was orders of magnitude worse.

He was forced to dodge incessantly. Flecks of mud, pine needs and even monster blood – they all managed to find their way into his wide open mouth, as he was made to continually dive to the floor in a desperate bid for survival. He couldn't even think about counter-attacking. Where on their body could he possibly pierce?

Even the parts that weren't covered by their shell armour, they were dotted with poison. Or, in the case of their limbs, they looked as though they were made out of stone. He could hardly imagine being able to get his sword into them, feeling the exact same problem as he had with the evolved hobgoblin.

The pile that he had so carefully made earlier on was immediately strewn apart, as one of the Konbreakers grew tired of their game and merely charged through it, crushing bodies beneath its massive weight, and sending the rest of them flying with an irritated swing of its arms.

Now it wasn't just claws that Beam had to dodge, but flying corpses as well. He was made to dive out of the way, as the body of an unfortunate goblin splattered against the cliff-face behind him.

Herded by the flying corpses, Beam's movements grew more predictable. The other Konbreaker stepped in close, its beak clacking as it backed up against the side of the cliff.

There was hardly an opportunity for it, but Beam dared to glance behind him anyway, to see if there was any chance that he might use the rocky wall behind him to his advantage.

The Konbreaker lowered its head and charged like a bull, only, instead of the curling horns of a bull, it had its huge boulder-crushing fists, both extended outwards like terrible drills.

With no other option left to him, his escape routes entirely cut off, Beam was forced to leave his fate merely to timing. Just before the Konbreaker crashed into him, he turned and spun on his foot, leaping onto the wall.

He didn't manage to get very high before the ruthless pull of gravity kicked in, but it was enough. He kicked off it, launching himself to the side, awkwardly looking for an opportunity.

The Konbreaker went rushing past, and Beam sliced its leg with his sword as he went, managing to land a scathing cut up its upper thigh. A second later, in an explosion of rubble and dust, the Konbreaker crashed into the side of the cliff.

Bits of rock pounded against Beam like a thousand fists. He raised his arms in a desperate attempt to defend his head, but he was still left feeling well and truly battered. Yet, in his situation, he was not given the slightest opportunity to rest. MvLeMpYr-exclusive-content

The Konbreaker's arms were burrowed into the side of the cliff, rooting it in place – but even then, Beam knew it would only be a matter of time before it freed itself. And now the other Konbreaker was charging in.

As he saw that mass of meat lumbering towards him, Beam's mind went blank. He glanced at the Konbreaker still stuck in the wall and hesitantly tried to stand in front of it, his heart pounding in fear all the while, as his body fought to let him know just how dangerous his positioning was.

With a monster at his back about to come free at any moment and a monster spearing towards him from the front, Beam was in the most precarious situation he could have possibly put himself in. Yet, even as his hands sweat and his grip on his sword grew looser, he fought to calm that mind of his. He glared at the Konbreaker, radiating all the bloodlust he had towards it, egging it on.

It screeched at the provocation and only sped up, its hands extended outwards, just like the Konbreaker before it, it lowered its head in a charge.

Beam felt a tremor from behind him and a gust of wind, as the other Konbreaker finally pulled himself free. He felt a shiver run down his spine, but he did as his instincts demanded and merely dived out of the way.

With that, there was a mighty collision, a roar, a look of confusion, and then the spilling of much blood, as the charging Konbreaker's outstretched claws ran straight through the other one, shattering its shell and spilling its guts.

The two of them were the very picture of confusion, as they looked at each other, then towards the gaping wound and all the blood that was flowing from it. There was a pitiful whine, as though the Konbreaker was asking 'why?' and then its legs lost their strength and its knees buckled. The claws only tore further into it, as a panicked Konbreaker fought to free himself.