"Over there! Kael is in grave danger!" Lizzy screamed in a panic. Her fingers clutched the edge of her robe tightly, her face filled with overwhelming anxiety.
Xavier snorted softly through his snout. Although Lizzy had ordered him to stay near the cabin and guard the two wild sheep, he had secretly followed them from a distance. And when he saw Lizzy facing mortal danger from the Dark Mages’ explosive magic, he had been forced to intervene earlier than planned.
Xavier stepped forward toward them. The movement startled Cherry, who instinctively retreated several steps, remaining on high alert as she raised what remained of her sword.
However, the gigantic wolf paid no attention to Cherry’s fear. With an astonishingly intelligent movement, Xavier swept his thick, bushy tail around their waists and caught them both.
"Ah!" Cherry cried in surprise.
Yet instead of tearing them apart, the creature gently lifted them and settled them onto his broad back. Kael’s two pet wild sheep were carefully placed in Lizzy’s arms.
Slowly, Xavier’s body grew many times larger, far surpassing even his previous size. The magical power radiating from him now felt much denser and more majestic, utterly different from when he had briefly fought Kael in the forest the other day.
Lizzy couldn’t feel even the slightest trace of fear toward the creature beneath her. Instead, she sensed a strange yet familiar warmth, as though they had known each other long ago, even though her conscious memories contained no record of such a connection.
Lizzy’s thoughts continued to race wildly, her heart twisting with anxiety over her husband’s safety.
"Kael... Just hold on a little longer..."
Meanwhile, Cherry swallowed with difficulty as Xavier began sprinting through the night. She shrieked in terror, reflexively clutching the thick, soft fur on the wolf’s back with all her strength.
"W-Where are you taking us?! We should be heading straight to the city to find military reinforcements!"
Xavier paid absolutely no attention to Cherry’s screams. His instincts had detected a far denser and more sinister vortex of Dark Magic churning at the heart of Vex City. It was a deadly trap that would backfire on them if they recklessly forced their way into the city.
Moving as swiftly as a raging storm wind, Xavier shot through the darkness. In an incredibly short time, they arrived at a road where Johan and the remaining mercenaries were struggling to overwhelm the last Dark Mage.
Cherry froze for a moment. The moment she saw that Johan and his men were still alive, she pointed toward them with a broad, relieved smile.
"Thank goodness... you’re all still alive!"
The Dark Mage, who was being cornered by Johan, stared in horror at the sight of the enormous, pitch-black, furry shadow charging toward him. Confusion and terror overwhelmed him.
"That creature... What kind of beast is that?!"
Before the sorcerer could cast a defensive spell or realize that the creature before him was one of the Seven Mythical Beasts, Xavier moved like lightning.
CRASH! Chomp!
With a single, brutal pounce, Xavier tore into the black-robed sorcerer’s body and bit him to death instantly.
Johan and all his men trembled violently. Their knees weakened beneath them, leaving them unable to rise from the ground under the terrifying pressure radiating from the creature before them.
Watching Xavier stride past them without a second glance, Johan could only rub his pounding chest and silently offer a prayer of thanks. He watched their captain disappear into the distance, unable to utter a single word.
Cherry breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that her subordinates had survived. She turned around and looked at Lizzy, who was sitting in front of her.
"Lizzy... What exactly is this creature? Why is it so tame and obedient toward you?"
Lizzy slowly shook her head, genuinely confused about how to answer the question.
However, in the distance, the blood-red glow rising from the southern village grew increasingly visible, climbing higher into the night sky and becoming brighter and more intense. New chapters come out on novelping dot com first.
All three of them fully realized that the enemies Kael was facing were not merely one or two insignificant sorcerers, but a large group of enemy forces.
"There are too many enemies over there! Hold on a little longer, Kael... We’re coming!" Lizzy cried anxiously.
Meanwhile, amid the ruins of the southern village square...
CRASH!
Kael was violently hurled backward, crashing through the wooden wall of a villager’s house and reducing it to splinters. He coughed violently, fresh blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. His greatsword had now snapped in two, leaving him clutching only its broken hilt. Gaping slash wounds covered his entire body, forcing him to rely on occasional twists and evasive movements just to stay alive.
Even so, his sacrifice had not been in vain. At the very least, Loyd and the surviving villagers who had been trapped there had managed to flee far from the battlefield thanks to the time Kael had bought them.
The remaining Dark Mages sneered contemptuously, looking down at Kael with expressions of mockery and hollow triumph.
"You’re far too arrogant, human," one of the sorcerers sneered, his voice echoing coldly amid the raging flames. "How could an insect like you ever imagine defeating all of us alone? Well... I must admit, you’re much stronger than we expected. You even managed to kill five of our comrades in such a short time."
They simultaneously raised their hands into the air, chanting the final verses of their incantations to create an execution magic formation. These Dark Mages did have absolute limitations. They had not mastered a wide variety of versatile spells, focusing instead on destructive long-range offensive magic and defensive barriers according to what they had learned.
Their ultimate objective was to summon a high-ranking demonic entity. However, thanks to Loyd’s repeated interference earlier, their primary magic circle formation had been disrupted, slowing the ritual’s progress.
Before Kael, several blood-red magic circles now blazed brilliantly, casting the glow of death as they prepared to claim his life within seconds.
Kael showed not the slightest trace of fear. Standing at the very edge of consciousness, he instead wore a faint smile. If fate truly demanded that he die here, he would be content knowing that he could at least reunite with the late Luis, Tessia, and Yohan in the afterlife.
However, if fortune still favored him and he survived death tonight, he would enjoy his life by Lizzy’s side, with his beloved wife.
A light, crisp laugh suddenly burst from Kael’s throat, carrying the undying fighting spirit that had never once faded. He staggered to his feet, unleashing every last spark of his burning warrior’s soul.
"Farewell, foolish hero," the Dark Mage said coldly. "If you’d had proper equipment or a special sword, you might have been far more troublesome for us. But now... it’s all over."