Chapter 745: Furious Thunder
Iron Axe didn’t react the way Thuram had expected.
No flash of anger, no visible change in expression—nothing. Thuram remembered him differently: a man who had never allowed anyone to threaten the princess of Osha, not even in words. That man had been quick and dangerous and very easy to read.
This one was not.
Thuram found himself glancing at the Divine Lady instead—Drow Silvermoon, he’d assumed, though her hood still shadowed her face. She appeared equally unmoved by the threat. As if the prospect of being handed to Iron Whip clan had not reached her at all.
What are they thinking?
His hand found the God’s Stone of Retaliation in his pocket. His expression stayed fierce, though the muscles holding it had stiffened.
“I’m not coming back only for revenge,” Iron Axe said at last, unhurried. “And I never rested our hopes on you to beat the watchdogs. You didn’t have the courage for that eight years ago—I know you haven’t grown it since.”
The first half of that stung. The second half surprised him.
“Not just for revenge?”
“I intend to challenge all six clans.” Iron Axe said it plainly, word by word. “And make Osha the strongest clan in Iron Sand City.”
Thuram absorbed this.
Although the clans that occupied Iron Sand City managed it jointly, they were far from equal. The highest-ranked clan held the best position at the city’s center; anyone who wanted it had to defeat everyone above them first. For the Osha clan—starting from nothing—that meant winning six consecutive challenges against the six strongest clans in the Southernmost Region.
Only a madman would attempt that.
The rules were absolute: once a path of challenges began, it could not be interrupted. Six victories in succession, each one harder than the last, each demanding an enormous toll from the clan’s warriors. The interval required to recover from a single holy duel was typically more than six months—and the opponents would be first-class Mojin fighters. The Wildflame clan, ranked first, had held that position for decades. Resources, foundation, warriors cultivated from childhood. Against all of that, a clan with nothing.
It was impossible.
Thuram had seen many avengers: some who struck true on the first attempt, some who lost everything, some who spent years preparing and finally surrendered. The pattern was never consistent. But only the genuinely mad aimed at the whole of Iron Sand City.
There was nothing more to discuss.
“Boys!” he called out. “Take them both.”
Four clansmen were already in the room; two more stood outside the door. All carried blades and God’s Stones. Iron Axe and the woman had been disarmed at the entrance—no matter how capable the mixed-blood was, he couldn’t overcome these numbers with his bare hands.
I’ll collect a fine reward for the mixed-blood’s head, Thuram thought, and send the Divine Lady as a gift to Iron Whip. That might even earn me my watchdog position back.
Then the hooded woman stood up.
She smiled—and pulled back her hood.
Dark hair fell down her shoulders in a cascade. Her face, when it emerged from the cloth, was striking. But it was not Drow Silvermoon’s face. No woman of the Sand Nation had skin that pale, or eyes that color—golden irises that caught the firelight and held it like a struck coin.
None of Thuram’s clansmen had taken a step.
The first one who did moved toward her from the left. She stepped aside from his attack with unhurried ease, and then hit the second man in the face. The sound was wrong—too solid. Like a hammer striking a post.
The second man left the floor.
He went through the wooden wall.
He fell from the second floor.
Thuram didn’t finish forming the thought before the third clansman went through the wall after him, expelled by another blow that carried far more force than any person that size should have been able to generate.
The tavern erupted. Someone was shouting below. The fireplace guttered as cold air rushed in through the new holes in the wall.
The woman kept moving—unhurried, precise, each blow landing with the same quality of measurement. Not performance. Not fury. Simply the most direct solution to each problem as it presented itself.
Why isn’t the God’s Stone working?
He had paid significant sums of gold royals for those stones, imported from Graycastle specifically to give his men a fighting chance against Divine Ladies. Against this woman, they were entirely useless.
The fourth clansman hit the ground. He didn’t get up.
Rapid footsteps on the stairs. Many of them.
Then a blade touched Thuram’s throat.
He hadn’t seen Iron Axe move.
“Wait—” he got out, despite the line of cold metal against his skin. “Don’t come up! Any of you!”
A pause. Feet on the stairs. “Head?”
“Get back downstairs. Now.”
He heard them retreat.
Iron Axe had been right, Thuram realized. About the courage. He had never been a man who could choose death over compromise—he had simply been good at not being placed in situations where the choice was obvious. When it was obvious, he compromised. He always had.
Perhaps I was never the moribund after all. Perhaps I was always the half-dead.
“Can we talk now?” Iron Axe said, almost gently.
“Even if I agreed, it wouldn’t help you.” Thuram kept his voice level. It took effort. “The watchdogs here serve Iron Whip and Bonegrinding. After tonight, after what she just did to my people—Iron Sand City will know by morning. You can’t gather a clan in that kind of time. Most of my clansmen are slaves to other clans now. Even if they were willing to return, they’d be slaughtered by warriors who’ve done nothing but train. If you don’t want to die in this oasis, leave now while you still can.”
“I never expected you to defeat the watchdogs,” Iron Axe said again.
Thuram pressed his teeth together. Then what do you want from me? You don’t need my people, you don’t need my position—why come here at all?
Unless.
Unless his gathered force wasn’t from the Southernmost Region at all.
The realization moved through him slowly, with the particular chill of something that should have been obvious.
They called on another clan. One from outside.
Two dull, distant detonations sounded through the window.
Not particularly loud. Not particularly close. And no lightning preceded them—which was wrong. Lightning came first. Always.
Iron Axe’s expression shifted for the first time.
Something that might have been satisfaction.
“Listen,” he said. “The thunder is coming.”
Chapter 745: Furious Thunder
Translator: Transn Editor: Meh
Iron Axe didn’t fly into a rage as had been expected, he didn’t even have a change in facial expression, which surprised Thuram slightly. Thuram remembered that in the past, this mixed-blood would never allow anyone to threaten the princess of Osha, not even verbally.
He couldn’t help but look over at Drow Silvermoon, only to find the Divine Lady had no reaction either. It appeared as if she did not care about her own safety at all.
What were they thinking?
Thuram felt for the God’s Stone of Retaliation in his pocket, his fierce expression frozen on his face.
“In fact, I’d never rest our hope on you to defeat the watchdogs. Since you didn’t do it eight years ago, I know you don’t have the guts… At least you’re not as brave as you claim,” Iron Axe slowly said, “I’m not returning only for revenge.”
His first half of his words stung Thuram to his core, but the second half slightly shocked him.
“Not just for revenge?”
“I’m going to challenge the six clans to make Osha the strongest clan.” Iron Axe said word by word.
Although the clans in Iron Sand City managed the oasis together, they were not considered equal. It was universally acknowledged that the strongest
would occupy the best area in the city. If another clan desired that area, they had to challenge the clans that ranked above them. For the Osha clan, which had nothing, it meant they had to defeat all six of the clans to take the core area of Iron Sand City.
Only a crazy person would try to do that.
The path of challenges could not be interrupted once it had started, which meant that they had to win six challenges in succession. Each battle would require a ridiculous amount of physical exertion. This will make people desperate, not to mention their opponents would be first-class Mojin warriors. Generally speaking, it takes clan warriors over six months to recover from a holy duel. If a warrior died a new one had to be re-cultivated or recruited.
Basically, the clans with the most resources have the most solid foundations. Wildflame, the First Clan, had occupied the position for decades.
Avengers varied greatly, so it was hard to classify them.
Some of them hit their mark on the first shot, while others lost everything. It was not unusual to see some of them hesitate or even give up during preparation. So they might be half-dead, the moribund, or dead… Undoubtedly, only a crazy man would belong to the last type.
That left nothing to talk about.
Thuram found that he no longer enjoyed listening to them. They were biting off more than they could chew by attempting to avenge the Ironwhip Clan. Not to mention they were even claiming they would challenge the whole Iron Sand City? Just thinking of it made him anxious. He had no intention of being implicated in the trouble, so he directly shouted, “Boys, catch this guy as well as that woman!”
There were four clansmen standing in the room and two standing outside the door, all of them were holding sharp blades and God’s Stones. They already had an advantage in numbers; in addition, Iron Axe and the Divine Lady’s
weapons had been confiscated before they entered the room. No matter how strong Iron Axe was, it would be impossible for them to escape.
“I should be greatly rewarded for killing the mixed-blood and for giving the descendant of Osha to the Iron Whip clan,” he thought. “Maybe I can regain my position as the watchdog for this small oasis.”
Just then, the princess of Osha stood up and sneered, while she took off her hood, removing the thin veil that covered her face.
Her dark hair cascaded down her shoulders as her beautiful face was revealed. She was indeed a Divine Lady, but… she was not Drow Silvermoon who Thuram was familiar with.
None of the Sand women would have a snow-white complexion like her.
Her long dark hair spilled down her back like a waterfall and her golden pupils shone with dangerous light.
“Who… are…”
Thuram hadn’t even finished his words, while the woman easily dodged a strike from a clansman in front of her and then punched another clansman in his face.
The dark-haired Divine Lady didn’t need to use a weapon, her fists were actually more powerful than iron hammers. With a muffled thump, the clansman directly in front of her had been knocked into the air and smashed through the wooden wall, falling from the second floor!
“…you?”
As he finished his query, a second clansman had been hit and also thrown through the wall.
The tavern immediately fell into chaos.
A chilly gust of wind blew in, swaying the flames in the fireplace.
The Divine Lady didn’t stop fighting, instead, she moved as if dancing with the wind. Her shadow was amplified by the firelight and it horrified Thuram. “Why? Didn’t my clansmen all wear God’s Stone of Retaliation?”
He had bought the God’s stones from Graycastle with lots of gold royals. Common people deserved to have a chance when fighting the Divine Ladies, but why was she not restrained by the magic stone at all?
The fourth clansman fell to the ground, spitting blood. He had been kicked in the spine by her from behind and almost snapped him in half.
Even a diving Four-winged Eagle couldn’t hit more powerfully than that!
No one lasted more than one round. In just a moment, Iron Axe, the Divine Lady, and Thuram were the only ones left standing.
“Damn it, come here quickly, all of you. Someone is causing trouble on the second floor.”
“Where’s our Head?”
“Why the hell didn’t you watch the door?”
“A guest has been smashed to death!”
Rapid footsteps could be heard on the stairs. By the sound of it, many people were coming to the Head’s room, unfortunately, the tip of a blade had been placed against Thuram’s throat.
“Wait, don’t come in, all of you!” He shouted at the door, regardless of the piercing pain where the blade had nicked his skin. A cold sweat oozed from the pores on his forehead.
“Head?”
“Go downstairs! Now!”
Thuram sadly found that Iron Axe had been right, and his courage was indeed less than what he claimed. In the face of a death threat, his first thought was
to compromise rather than fight against it. Perhaps, from the beginning, he was never a moribund who had the hope of rising from the ashes like a phoenix. Instead, he was a half-dead who was trapped by his hesitation.
“Now can we talk about it?”Iron Axe said calmly.
“Even if I promised, nothing would change! The watchdogs here are supported by the Iron Whip and Cut Bone clans. You have made such a mess here. Do you think they won’t know it? Iron Sand City will hear the news tomorrow!” Thuram growled, “It’s impossible to summon the clansmen within such a short time. Besides, most of them have become slaves to other clans. Even if they’re willing to come back, they’ll be defeated easily by the warriors cultivated by the larger clans. If you don’t want to die here, you’d better escape from the oasis now!”
“As I said before, I didn’t expect you to defeat the watchdogs.”
Thuram grit his teeth and thought, “What does he mean? If he really is so powerful, why doesn’t he become a challenger directly? Why does he want my support?”
Unless… Unless the force he gathered hadn’t been from the Southernmost Region!
When the realization hit, the old Head felt his heart tremble in horror.
Did they launch the holy duel in the name of another clan?
Suddenly, they heard thunder dully break twice outside the window. It was not very loud and seemed to come from a great distance.
Surprisingly, Thuram did not see any lightning streaking across the sky. Common sense would dictate that lightning should precede thunder.
Suddenly, the expression on Iron Axe’s face finally changed.
“Listen, thunder is coming.”