The sounds came first — faint at first, then growing louder with every heartbeat.

  Gray crouched low on the ridge, ears straining.

  Distant screams — human, raw, terrified.

  Inaudible roars from the trolls, deep and guttural.

  Metal clanging against metal.

  Explosive blasts that echoed like thunder in the badlands.

  The terrain hid the battle — high rocks and dust haze blocked the view — but the noise was closing in.

  Fast.

  Gray’s grip tightened on the curved blade he had taken from the market days ago — black steel, single-edged, good for slashing and hooking.

  He hadn’t used magic yet.

  The mana circle in his core was still too new, too unstable.

  And his body still carried lingering pain from the old injuries — the broken arm, the slash from the duel. Every movement pulled at them.

  Tamemoto knelt beside him, bow nocked, arrow ready. His breathing was controlled, but his small hands trembled just slightly.

  Lian Wei crouched nearby, thin sword drawn, eyes narrowed toward the west.

  “They’re coming,” Lian Wei said quietly. “Soldier trolls. Hundreds. The giants are probably in the center, but these are the vanguard.”

  Gray felt the ground vibrate faintly under his boots — heavy feet pounding closer.

  Not long after, the first wave appeared.

  Hundreds of soldier trolls flooded into view — hunched, muscular, gray-skinned, eyes glowing red with hunger. They were smaller than the giants, but fast. Too fast.

  They poured down the narrow pass like a living tide, claws scraping stone, roars shaking dust from the walls.

  Gray’s heart hammered. His mind went cold and sharp.

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  Terrain: narrow pass. High walls on both sides. Loose rocks everywhere. Dust thick. River bend to our left for escape. Use everything.

  Lian Wei shouted, voice carrying over the roar.

  “Cut their heads from the body! No regeneration! Hit the brain to incapacitate!”

  The group moved.

  Gray didn’t use magic. He relied on what he knew — knife and blade, environment and speed.

  He darted forward, curved blade low. A troll lunged at him, claws raking air. Gray sidestepped, grabbed a loose rock from the ground, and smashed it into the troll’s knee.

  Bone cracked.

  The troll stumbled.

  Gray used the momentum — hooked the creature’s leg with the curve of his blade, yanked hard, and drove the point into the back of its skull. The troll dropped with a wet thud.

  “Argh—!” Gray grunted as the impact jarred his injured arm. Pain flared hot and sharp, but he pushed through.

  Tamemoto stayed on the high ledge, arrows flying.

  The first arrow took a troll in the eye. The creature roared, staggering.

  Tamemoto nocked another, loosed — this one hit the throat. The troll gurgled and fell.

  “Hngh!” Tamemoto gasped as the bowstring snapped back against his fingers, leaving red welts.

  Gray shouted over the chaos. “Tamemoto! Use the rocks! Throw!”

  Tamemoto grabbed a fist-sized stone and hurled it at a troll charging the line. The rock cracked against the creature’s temple. It staggered. Lian Wei finished it with a clean slash to the neck.

  The Azure Fan disciples fought with precision and flair.

  Shen Huo spun his chains in wide arcs — “Chain Lotus Bind!” — the weighted chains wrapped around a troll’s legs, yanking it off-balance. The troll crashed to the ground. Shen Huo followed with a crushing stomp to the skull.

  Lin Mei danced between two trolls, chains whipping like serpents — “Fan Shadow Lash!” — the blades sliced across eyes and throats, black blood spraying. One troll howled, “Aaaargh!” clutching its ruined face.

  Zhao Feng and Yue Lian moved in tandem, swords flashing — “Azure Moon Slash!” — a synchronized cut that severed two troll heads in one fluid motion. The heads rolled, bodies collapsing with heavy thuds.

  Bao Jin anchored the center, guandao sweeping in wide arcs — “Heaven Splitting Sweep!” — the polearm cleaved through three trolls at once, limbs flying, blood arcing like dark rain.

  Xia Rong darted in with hook swords — “Twin Dragon Hooks!” — hooking a troll’s arms, ripping them apart with a wet tear. The troll screamed, “RAAAGH!” staggering back.

  Gray kited his targets — running backward, throwing rocks to stun, slashing when they overextended. He grabbed a fallen troll’s arm and used it as a shield to block a claw swipe. The impact jarred his arms — pain shot through his shoulders.

  “Gah—!” Gray hissed through clenched teeth, but he didn’t stop. He shoved the arm forward, knocking the troll off-balance, then drove his blade into the brain.

  The troll dropped.

  Seven trolls down. More coming.

  Gray’s breathing was ragged. His arms burned. Blood dripped from a shallow cut on his forearm — another claw graze he hadn’t noticed.

  Lian Wei shouted again. “Hold the pass! Cut the heads!”

  Gray and Tamemoto fought side by side. Gray kited and slashed. Tamemoto shot from above, arrows finding eyes and throats.

  The horde’s vanguard broke against them.

  The narrow path ran red with black blood.

  Gray stepped back, chest heaving. His body ached everywhere — arms, shoulders, old wounds screaming. But they had held.

  The distant roar of the main horde was still far off.

  Gray looked at Tamemoto. The younger boy was breathing hard, but his eyes were steady.

  They had survived.

  For now.