Clang!
The clash of weapons echoed through the ruins.
Angela was locked in single combat with the pigfolk leader.
The pigfolk soldiers had long since surrounded Goldvalley City’s troops. Two wingfolk had tried to break out at the start, only to be speared the moment they took flight, crashing with screams.
The pigfolk leader hadn’t ordered a general attack, so the pigfolk only encircled without pressing.
The human side didn’t dare strike first either.
Everyone watched the almost predetermined duel at the center.
Angela constantly shifted position, her longsword flashing coldly, yet every tricky thrust was easily parried by the pigfolk leader’s unnatural agility for his bulk.
The massive spiked club felt weightless in his hands, always sealing her attack routes.
Angela’s shoulder wound reopened with violent movement.
Blood flowed down her arm, soaking half her battle robe.
Her face grew paler, breathing heavier. Each clash made her sway.
Anyone could see the pigfolk leader wasn’t even trying. Like a cat toying with a mouse, he enjoyed her futile struggle.
The pigfolk leader casually blocked another thrust and laughed through heavy breaths. “Why so stubborn? Though different kinds, aren’t we both beastmen? Why die for humans?”
Angela retreated half a step, sword tracing a defensive arc before her. Blood seeped faster from her shoulder.
“Look at your situation,” the pigfolk leader said, stepping closer, firelight glinting off his scarred face. “Those human nobles treat you as disposable pieces. Merit goes to them; dying is your job. In human eyes, you’ll always be an outsider.”
He pressed forward. “But in the Empire, strength is everything. With your ability, you could rise high. I swear on Duke Xenophon’s name: join us and you’ll enjoy far better treatment than now.”
“I wouldn’t be an outsider to pigfolk? You’d accept me and my subordinates and my tribe?”
The pigfolk leader scoffed disdainfully. “The fate of the weak? Why care? To stand in the Empire, first learn to shed pointless attachments.”
Angela answered with another thrust.
But the strength gap was insurmountable. The pigfolk didn’t even dodge; he swung his club casually. The sheer force blasted Angela away.
“Foolish.”
He shook his head, last patience gone, and advanced, club dragging deep furrows in the ground.
The pigfolk leader attacked furiously. Angela barely blocked, retreating steadily under the storm.
Each clash numbed her hands. Blood loss made her sway.
She wouldn’t last much longer. Lin Jun was already figuring how to use this Puchi.
Turning defeat impossible; this wasn’t Little Black.
But a self-destruct-specialized Puchi, used right, could cause serious chaos. Maybe one or two could escape.
Time was short. Lin Jun picked a group of pigfolk spearmen and prepared to roll in.
Then mana fluctuations came from the sea!
The pigfolk leader raised his club for the killing blow, but caught a glint on the sea from the corner of his eye.
His first thought: dawn. Pigfolk weren’t vampires; daylight actually suited them better.
Then realization struck: the sun didn’t rise in the west!
Silently, an arrow of pure mana shot at blinding speed. The pigfolk leader roared, swinging his club just in time. The arrow struck the metal shaft, carving a deep notch before ricocheting and piercing a nearby pigfolk warrior’s chest.
Before he could catch his breath, agony flared in his gut.
The pigfolk leader looked down. Angela had driven her longsword deep into his side through his armor.
He roared and swung. The blow sent Angela flying over ten meters, crashing through half a ruined wall and going still.
“Damn mongrel!”
He yanked the sword from his gut and threw it down. Blood gushed.
Then the second wave came.
Dozens more mana arrows streaked across the night like meteors, now targeting ordinary pigfolk.
Throat, heart; every hit fatal. In moments, nine pigfolk lay dead.
“Who is it?!”
Under faint moonlight, the pigfolk leader squinted at a barely visible sail on the horizon. The ship was at least three li from shore; even the hull’s outline was blurry.
“From that distance… impossible?!”
The realization chilled him. They had no way to strike back.
But he quickly rallied, roaring at his troops, “Kill the humans! Leave none alive!”
He planned to endure the arrows and finish the slaughter before help arrived.
He didn’t know this decision cost him his last chance to escape.
To him, the ship would take a while to reach shore; plenty of time to massacre Goldvalley’s squad.
The Puchi masters, sensing life-or-death, drove their Puchis into a desperate charge.
Especially hallucinatory-spore Puchis spread indiscriminately, thick spore clouds cloaking the battlefield, making it hard for pigfolk to advance.
The pigfolk leader grew frantic. With endless Puchi interference, killing half the humans took far longer than expected.
Meanwhile, more pigfolk fell to mana arrows.
The pigfolk leader finally considered retreat, but as he hesitated, new change came from the sea.
Over twenty silver-armored figures ran across the waves, leaving ripples.
Though lacking signature holy crests, their armor style was unmistakable: Church warriors.
The lead warrior was terrifyingly fast, leaving companions far behind. Beneath the helmet, eyes full of hatred locked on the pigfolk leader.
In an instant, the pigfolk understood: wounded, he couldn’t outrun him.
So he turned resolutely, muscles swelling.
[Bloodline Enhancement LV7
Strength Enhancement LV8
Weight of a Thousand LV5
With an earth-shaking roar, he raised his spiked club and smashed down at the charging Church warrior.
*Shhhhk!*
A mana arrow faster than before pierced his wrist. He couldn’t block while fully focused on the strong foe.
The Church warrior easily dodged the massive but predictable strike. Amid flying dirt, he reached the pigfolk leader, longsword blazing with light.
[Holy Slash LV10]
Sword light flashed. The pigfolk leader’s massive body was cleaved in two.
Far on the ship’s bow, Hero Sophia watched everything.
Her longbow never stopped. Every string pluck felled another pigfolk.
Priest Samuel stood silently behind her, guarding against danger.
The girl Bella used her incomplete Ocean Scepter to speed the ship while staring longingly at the shore; she wanted to kill demons too.
In the chaos, no one noticed a Puchi quietly crawl to the dying Angela and gently shake its cap, sprinkling spores over her bleeding wounds.
(End of Chapter)
