Chapter Eleven

  Karsu stood upon the corpse of the Lord of Strength Qaz.

  His features were cold, his eyes still. Beneath the sunlight, the blood upon the ground gleamed like dark crimson orbs, reflecting against his silent face.

  He removed his cloak. His well-proportioned body was revealed—loose trousers and a black shirt clung to him, the sweat pressing fabric to skin until the shirt no longer concealed the defined muscles beneath. Under the purifying sun, he looked like a statue carved from exhaustion and slaughter.

  And within his mind, gears turned.

  "I have eliminated the second most dangerous person here."

  He looked down at the shrinking body of the Lord of Strength, recalling his opponent.

  "The Qaz of Strength is exceedingly troublesome. The fiercer the battle and the more agitated the user becomes, the more his natural abilities multiply. Had he remained alive and found others to support him, he would have turned into a catastrophe. Though only second rank, with support he would have become lethal."

  Then he lifted his gaze toward the distant left side.

  "As for the most dangerous… he is there. Concealed since the beginning."

  He was looking at the Lord of Subjugation, master of the Ajjad beasts.

  "The Ajjad beast… ranked at half a skull only. Yet its name bears approximation, not certainty. It is neither the strongest, nor the fastest, nor the most ferocious—there are beasts that surpass it in each of those aspects. But it alone evolves and learns."

  He recalled what he had read of the creature.

  "Its memory is weak. After a few hours, it forgets everything it has learned. But during battle, it adapts. It grows smarter. Faster. Stronger. With time, its rating rises to one and a half skulls. And with two Ajjad under the Lord of Subjugation's command… even if I remove all the other Lords from calculation, killing him will remain impossible once they reach their peak."

  Now he understood why the Lord of Subjugation had remained distant the entire time. He was not afraid. He was waiting. Studying. Storing every movement of Karsu within his beasts' temporary memory.

  "I must kill him first. Before the beasts learn more than they should."

  —

  In those moments, all the Qaz Lords still waited. They had not yet attacked.

  But something was happening beneath their feet.

  Rashid—the man in the brown jacket—had spread his hidden plants throughout the field. Hair-thin roots crawled beneath rubble and stone, reaching every Qaz Lord in the area. Through them, he communicated with them all in silence, without Karsu hearing a single word.

  "Prepare."

  A simple signal from his hand. A slight movement noticed only by those awaiting it.

  In an instant, everything changed.

  ---

  The Shatter Worm moved first.

  Its massive black body plunged into the earth as though swimming through water. It vanished beneath the surface, yet its presence was unmistakable: ground splitting, stones rolling, timber scattering. A deep cracking sound rose from below, forming a dreadful rhythm beneath everyone's feet.

  The earth trembled. Not randomly—intentionally, in perfect harmony with the footfalls of the Qaz Lords upon iron. As though the worm played with them a symphony of death.

  Karsu felt it. He felt the vibration shift, grow nearer, more focused. The worm was heading toward him from below.

  He raised his sword.

  And moved.

  Like a spark born of clashing blades, like a thread of light severed from its place. He shot toward his target—the Lord of Subjugation, master of the Ajjad beasts.

  But the ground beneath his feet was no longer ground.

  It trembled.

  No—not an ordinary tremor. The earth opened like a colossal mouth devouring all. Stones rolled, debris scattered, and a vast black fissure split directly across his path.

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  The worm.

  It was coming from below.

  Karsu sensed it before he saw it—a deadly vibration rising from beneath the earth, its black rings contracting and expanding like a savage heart beating under soil.

  He leapt.

  But it was faster.

  The ground exploded beneath him.

  The worm's enormous body surged upward like a black arrow, its circular maw open wide, spiraled teeth spinning at insane speed—like a colossal mill seeking to crush him to dust.

  Karsu was airborne. No place to flee. The poison in his veins had left his right shoulder nearly paralyzed. The worm was centimeters from swallowing him whole.

  In that moment—

  He did not think.

  Perhaps it was instinct. Perhaps irritation. Perhaps that cold calculation that never left him.

  He extended his left hand toward his sword. Drew the Mother Aura from the depths of his core.

  No one saw it.

  It cannot be seen.

  But its effect—

  —

  The sword moved.

  Not a mere swing. A pure line of embodied will that cut the air before it cut flesh.

  The blade passed through the worm's body as though it were not there.

  As though it were a shadow.

  The worm halted mid-lunge. Its rings froze.

  Then—

  With a thunderous scream that shattered ears, it split.

  Two massive halves separated slowly and collapsed upon the earth with a deafening crash. Viscous black blood splattered in every direction, and the spiraled teeth ceased their spinning forever.

  Karsu landed upon the ground, kneeling on one knee, his sword still faintly radiant with unseen force. His breaths rose quickly, the poison creeping through his right arm until it was nearly lifeless.

  —

  Everything stopped.

  The Qaz Lords froze in place.

  The Lord of Subjugation—standing distant upon the rooftop—his hands halted mid-gesture. His eyes widened. For the first time since the battle began, he felt something unfamiliar:

  Fear.

  Real fear.

  "The sword…" muttered the Lord of Sand hoarsely.

  "What in the world was that attack?!" the Lord of Flame added, his fire dimming.

  "It cannot be…" whispered the Lady of Radiance.

  They had not seen the Mother Aura. They had not sensed it. They did not comprehend that Karsu had used the true source of power—that secret known only to those who had crossed the Great Forest.

  All they saw was an ordinary sword, in the hand of a man poisoned and wounded, cleaving the colossal Shatter Worm in half with a single strike.

  An ordinary sword?

  Impossible.

  "That… that might be a legendary sword!" shouted the Lord of Transparency from nowhere, his voice unsteady.

  "It cannot be…" whispered the Lord of Flame. "Such swords are nothing but ancient legend!"

  The Lady of Radiance tightened her grip upon her red whip, her eyes gleaming with unprecedented hunger.

  "A legendary sword… in the hands of an unguarded man?"

  She looked at her companions.

  "If we all die here, we will never see wealth like this again."

  —

  Karsu heard it all.

  He did not laugh. Did not smile. He merely lifted his head slowly and looked directly at the Lord of Subjugation—that distant man whose hands still hovered uncertainly in the air.

  You are next.

  He rose.

  His sword remained in his left hand. His right arm was entirely dead now, hanging useless at his side.

  Yet he rose.

  —

  Sand shifted beneath his feet—a desperate attempt by the Lord of Sand to unbalance him.

  He evaded with a simple dash.

  Flame erupted from the right—a palm of fire melting all in its path.

  He deflected it with the side of his blade, and the fire split around the edge as though it feared it.

  The red whip lashed from behind—wrapped around his ankle and yanked.

  Karsu dropped to one knee.

  He spun swiftly and severed the whip with a single flash of his sword. It split like a worn thread.

  The Lady of Radiance recoiled in shock—her whip was forged of Radiant Qaz energy; no ordinary weapon could cut it!

  Yet it was cut.

  His sword cut it.

  "The sword…" she whispered again, and this time her eyes held something different. Not fear.

  Greed.

  —

  In that second, the Lord of Transparency seized the opportunity.

  He appeared directly behind Karsu—no sound, no scent, no warning. His dagger aimed for the neck.

  Karsu did not turn.

  But he thrust his sword backward blindly.

  The blade pierced only air. Yet the Lord of Transparency retreated instantly—not because he was struck, but because the sword passed near his face, and he felt that strange energy, that sensation that death had been millimeters away.

  "Damn you! My Qaz hides physical presence entirely—how do you block me every time?!" he shouted, fading once more into nothing.

  —

  Now Karsu stood at the center.

  And one target occupied his mind: the Lord of Subjugation upon the distant rooftop.

  He looked at him.

  The Lord of Subjugation looked back.

  For the first time, the Lord of Subjugation realized he might be next.

  He raised his hands—not to attack, but to defend. The two Ajjad beasts upon the walls moved instantly, descending rapidly to shield their master.

  Karsu raised his sword.

  Then—

  A stab.

  Swift. From the right side.

  Karsu moved on instinct, but the blade was faster. He felt the dagger pierce his skin, sink into his flank. Pain was not the worst of it—the cold that followed was. A strange chill seeped from the wound, crawling toward his chest, mingling with the earlier poison.

  A second stab.

  He spat blood. The wound in his abdomen now bled freely.

  But the poison was worse. His senses began to dull. The world around him grew slightly blurred. Perhaps that was why he had not noticed the attack of the Lord of Shadow—that phantom who emerged from the shade of a nearby warehouse and vanished again within it.

  —

  Karsu exhaled.

  A long, cold breath, as though the stab meant nothing.

  But his eyes—

  They burned.

  A quiet anger. A deep irritation.

  He laughed.

  A soft, brief laugh—utterly misplaced.

  The Qaz Lords paused for a moment. Their gazes met. They stood in precisely calculated positions, like a spider's web with no escape. Every angle sealed. Every exit closed.

  Karsu looked forward. At the man in the brown jacket—Rashid. He was the one who had coordinated all this. The one who had made this chaotic group cohesive.

  He exhaled again.

  Then he drove his sword into the ground.

  Using his left arm—his right now useless—he reached into his right pocket.

  A sound.

  A sound known to all: metal fragments brushing against one another.

  Some Qaz Lords' eyes widened. What?

  Mockery began to form upon their faces. Was he attempting to bribe them? In the midst of battle?

  But Karsu withdrew what he sought.

  Two stones. Small. Dark.

  Energy stones.

  For a brief second, they hung in the air. The Qaz Lords stared. A bomb? Even if it were… two? Did he think that would affect them?

  Then they realized.

  Energy stones.

  —

  The Lord of Flame laughed first.

  A loud, resounding laugh that filled the field.

  "Hahaha! Is he trying to use an energy stone to replenish himself? In the middle of battle? Hahaha!"

  He wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.

  "And I thought him dangerous!"

  The Lord of Sand shook his head calmly.

  "What is he doing? Even if we allow him to absorb them, it will avail him nothing. Under normal conditions, energy stones grant seventy to eighty percent of their power. In the midst of combat? Ten percent, if you are fortunate. And if his stones are high-tier—and they appear to be—then ten percent of their energy equals fifty percent of a low-tier stone. But with two poisons in his body? Nothing. Zero."

  He raised his hands, preparing to attack.

  "And we will not permit it regardless."

  —

  Rashid's hidden plants stirred. A swift message to all the Lords: do not underestimate him. Attack. Now.

  They surged.

  All of them.

  And this time, Rashid with them—at the front.

  —

  Karsu smiled.

  In those few seconds—their mockery, their analysis, their hesitation—his fingers pressed upon the two stones.

  He absorbed them.

  Completely.

  Not ten percent. Not fifty.

  One hundred percent of the energy of two high-tier stones.

  How? Impossible.

  Yet it happened.

  Villagers.

  Karsu thought it coldly, though behind it lay his own mockery.

  He lifted his eyes to them as they rushed him. To Rashid in the lead. To the Lord of Flame behind him. To the Lady of Radiance, the Lord of Sand, the Lord of Transparency.

  He spoke in a calm voice, heard only by those nearest:

  "You will regret this carelessness."

  Then—he smiled.

  A fleeting, swift smile.

  But behind it, for the first time—

  True anger.