40 Chapter 40
*Clang!*
"Gh!"
"I've been waiting, and waiting, for you to appear once more."
While max was fending off phantom werewolves, the gray werewolf was monologuing at the back.
"I've chased your scent, but it somehow disappeared among the ashes and smoke." The werewolf said as he slowly approached.
'Yeah, that guy is bad news.' Max thought as he opened his mouth. "I am the Bone of my Sword,
Steel is my Body and Fire, is my Blood, gah!"
But suddenly he was with a huge force that launched him towards the trees where Grid was standing.
"Archer!" He yelled anxiously.
-Why is everyone trying to kill Archer?
-Man, that is so unlucky.
-That guy has way too many enemies.
-R.I.P Archer, it was good knowing ya.
-No! Archer will win!
-Archer is the strongest!
The viewers in the stream were discussing in the chat.
"I have created over a Thousand Blades,"
But Max continued while gritting his teeth. 'Having to chant every time sucks! But this should be enough right?' He thought.
"All this time, I've thought; Why? Why did they have to die? They've never killed an innocent soul!" The werewolf said. "All these years, we've lived happily. Without hurting anyone! My wife, my kids! Even with this curse, I've helped them get through each blood moon safely. We were happy."
"Unaware of The Beginning, nor aware of The End,"
"I've protected this little village with all I had. To protect this little happiness. And one moment I take my eyes of them to get rid of some lunatics… I saw their corpses. They didn't deserve this. And you will pay." The werewolf said and lunged at Max who was slowly rising from the ground.
"Unlimited Blade Works."
But suddenly, the ground cracked with blue light and the surroundings changed to a wasteland bathed in twilight with countless swords anchored in the ground like grave markers.
——————
-Unlimited Blade Works? Wasn't that Max's skill?
-I knew that he was Max all long!
-Hey don't jump to conclusions so suddenly, the ground is a little bit different than Max's.
-Yeah. I remember it being a grassland. Not a wasteland. Maybe Archer is someone else, but possesses a similar ability to Max.
——————
Seven petals formed of iridescent light appeared before Max.
"Rho Aias."
The werewolf clashed with the petals and the impact scattered sparks between his claws and the shield.
*Shatter*
The first petal shattered but the remaining stood strong. "I remember you, Kodlak." Max said. "They told me you were the protector of the village. The residents loved you a lot because you were keeping them safe. And now, they are probably in your belly."
"They deserved it!" The werewolf, now named Kodlak, growled while trying to push back the shield. "They let you Daedra escape!"
"They didn't let us escape, we went on our own. It was blood moon. Your wife and kids had lost control and ambushed us with the intention of ripping us apart."
"Lies!"
——————
-Ah! So he was Kodlak!
-Who is that?
-He is shown in the fourth or fifth Memory Crystal. He was the protector of the little village.
-So he was a werewolf all along? Damn!
-And those werewolves Max and Medb killed were his wife and kids? Damn. That's cruel.
-Man, no matter how much I look at her, Medb's design is so beautiful!
-Please whip me Medb-sama!!
-Ah, a degenerate.
-Wonder where she is now. Does anyone know? I'm still at the eighth Memory Crystal.
-No one knows. The memory Crystals aren't complete. It finishes when they prepare to stop Deidara from acquiring the artifact.
-Maybe there is some sensitive info there and you need more relationship points with Archer to unlock it?
-Possible.
——————
"It is the truth. It was either us or them that would be killed. And I'm pretty sure no sane person would sacrifice himself for someone he doesn't know." Max said calmly.
"You are lying! They would never do that!"
"It's up to you whether to believe or not. But let's end this shall we?" Max said as he brought his hand up slowly and countless sword rose from the ground.
They stood floating in the sky with their tips pointed at Kodlak.
And with a simple gesture from Max, who dropped his arm, they shot towards their target.
In Kodlak's eyes, the swords bloated out the twilight coming from afar.
But he wasn't worried. Because those swords were counted as projectiles, and projectiles were almost useless against him due to his blessing.
*Clang!*
*Clang!*
*Clang!*
*Clang!*
*Clang!*
Countless swords rained down upon him, but he didn't flinch.
Upon seeing that swords of lowest quality wasn't even doing anything to his opponent, he switched it to higher quality swords, but even then, all they did was leave some scratches on Kodlak's fur.
'Protection from Arrows? That is troublesome.' Max thought as he materialized his bow and Hrunting in his hand.
He filled the sword with Reinforcement and knocked it on the bow.
"Go into the red plains, scarlet hound —— Hrunting."
Kodlak tried to dodge the significantly more troublesome projectile, but it found its way to him again.
"Rrah!" After seeing that he couldn't escape the projectile, he decided to face it head on.
The red bullet and the claws met.
*Boom!!*
When the smoke died out, Kodlak's gray fur was a little burnt, the claws in his right hand were chipped, but other than that, there were no visible injuries.
And even those were healing at speed visible to naked eye.
'Tch.' Max thought, Kanshou and Bakuya materialized in his hand.
He wanted to try his luck with Caladbolg but he wasn't sure he could hit such a fast enemy with projectiles.
He didn't want to waste more mana than necessary.
'He's not as fast as the Assassin. And we're in my Reality Marble. I have the advantage, probably.' He analyzed in his head. And started walking towards his opponent.
"Oh? You're approaching me? Instead of running away, you're coming right to me?" Kodlak asked as he watched Max with amusement.
"I can't beat the shit out of you without getting closer."
*Clang!*
Then Max hurriedly blocked the claws that were about to rip his head off. 'This strength is no joke!' He thought and moved his out of the way of a claw.
He continued shooting silver swords at Kodlak but they weren't doing much.
His fur singed a little but nothing other than that.
He didn't lose hope because of that though. If one sword wasn't enough, maybe 10, 100, 1.000 or 10.000 would be enough.
*Clang!*
*Clang!*
All Grid and the viewers could see were blurred figures but this didn't take out of their enjoyment.
Instead, an epic fight like this was quite the treat for them.
They could record now and watch it later in slow motion.
——————
-Go Archer!
-Archer is the strongest!
-Man, he calls himself Archer but whenever an enemy shows up, he engages in close combat. That is stupid.
-Idiot didn't you see? The arrows didn't do anything to Kodlak.
-Maybe they weren't strong enough?
-Yeah of course you would know better than Archer right?
——————
Max blocked claw after claw.
Kanshou and Bakuya broke more times than he could count but he instantly projected them again.
Not even Kodlak noticed that he projected a new pair of swords after each couple of exchanges.
Yes, there were many weapons stronger than Kanshou and Bakuya in his arsenal but the reason why Kanshou and Bakuya were his go to swords in a moment of combat was that they were very cheap, an almost negligible amount of mana for him, and their speed of projection was faster than any other weapon he could project.
Projections were mere projections after all. They weren't real. Even if one day Max got much better at Projection and his projections equaled the original in power, they would never be a match in durability.
"Gh." He blocked another claw and was pushed back from the sheer force behind it.
He dropped the married swords onto the ground and projected another pair to block the claw heading his throat.
"You will die." Kodlak growled but got no response from Max.
Max was pushed back once again.
'Almost.' He thought.
He blocked the claws once again but this time he wasn't pushed back because Kodlak had to divert his attention to the two blades almost about to pierce through his back.
Just as Max was feeling the danger from the claws, Kodlak was also feeling danger from the married swords.
They had anti-monster properties which made them his antithesis.
Just a good hit could deal a huge damage to him, that's why he made sure to attack only with claws and didn't let any flesh meet the blades.
*Clang!*
He swiftly blocked the blades and turned his attention back to his opponent, only to find a new sword in his hand.
'Wh-!' Alarm bells started ringing in his head.
it was an ornate, sparkling white silver sword adorned with splendid decorations.
More dazzling than any silver.
"Shine with brilliance——Clarent!"
Silver light engulfed Kodlak's vision. 'Oh Hircine!' He thought as he desperately tried to dodge the beam but it was futile.
The only thing he could do was to face it head on. He was sure that he would survive this blow but he couldn't say so for the afterwards.
"Gah!!" Silver light burned his fur and skin. He was in agony but he survived through it with gritted teeth.
His whole body was burnt, his right arm and left leg was gone, and his wounds weren't even regenerating due to the attack being of silver property.
But he survived through it.
And just then, two pairs of the married swords were thrown towards his throat.
"Twin wings that overcome mountains,"
He blocked them with his remaining claw.
Then two other were thrown away.
"Part seas, and never fall—"
Another pair appeared in his opponents and became abominations that made his realize that his end was at hand.
"Triple-Linked Crane Wings!"
A total of six blows from four different angles, all at the same time landed on his broken body.
"Ah…I…curse you…" Was his last words as he succumbed to his wounds.
Max watched as Kodlak's werewolf form vanished and turned back to human once again.
He dismissed the Reality Marble and was greeted with downpour.
A few swords here and there jutted out of his body, but he paid it no mind.
He lifted his head up as he stared at the sky. 'This is getting old. Does it have to rain every time?' Was his thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You thought it was a drop but surprise! The most splendid of pumas surprises once again!!
I found some time to write and took it.
Were you surprised? You were surprised right? Of course you were!
But don't get used to it because from now on the updates will be irregular. I'll write whenever I'm free and feel like writing.
Of course your support can give me the motivation to write more but it's up to you. 🤷♂️
Anyways, see ya! Puma out!
