Chapter 769: Unyielding Will

“By the name of Three Gods! That’s — the Four-winged Eagle!”

“How dare a beast enter the Burning Shrine!”

“Help — help me!”

“Guards — where are the guards?”

The crowd fractured. Some of the Sand Nation people drew weapons and started toward the platform, moving to reach Lorgar. Others moved in the opposite direction. The organized attention of a watching audience dissolved into independent terror and independent motion in the span of a few breaths.

Ashes could see it clearly through the smoke and the noise.

The creature was a demonic hybrid — eagle crossed with beetle in a way nothing alive had been crossed by anything natural. Its back, abdomen, and head were plated with a striped shell. It had six claws, each one segmented along its length, the segments clearly defined from across the platform. The front pair was as thick as a man’s forearm and at this moment was pinning Lorgar to the stone like a specimen in a tray. The four pairs of wings — which by the geometry of cicadas should have been thin and translucent — were thick and full like a bird’s. That was why no one had heard it arrive.

Nature did not produce things like this.

The beak was already at work. It drove toward the Wolf Girl’s neck in a rhythm of pecks, fast and unbroken, while the claws held. Lorgar could sway from side to side and did, and her cheek and jaw absorbed the deflections. Fresh blood ran through the fur. She could not move her body. The range of her lateral motion was narrowing as she tired.

She would not hold for much longer.

Ashes was not going to let that happen.

She had come to the Desert Mission for Tilly. The holy duel had been Tilly’s choice, and she had taken it seriously — Leaf’s herbs, Nana’s promised treatment, every preparation she could carry into the fight without breaking its terms. But Lorgar was still a witch, and as long as she was not a Pure Witch, the code Ashes carried did not contain a clause for standing aside while something like this happened to someone like that.

“Echo!”

She threw herself at the demonic hybrid and caught its beak as it descended for another strike. The edge of it opened her arm on contact — a long, clean cut, immediately bleeding — and she held. Blood dripped down onto the upturned wolf-face below.

Lorgar’s remaining eye searched her face with an expression too complicated to name in a single word.

Then Echo’s lullaby reached them — the music spreading outward, the quality that arrived before the melody did and started defusing the body’s first responses. The crowd’s panic frayed at its edges. People who had been moving away stopped. The urge to flee began to lose its shape.

With the crowd quieting, Andrea could work.

The rifle cracked at deliberate intervals, each report distinct. She was not firing in fear. She was placing bullets the way she always placed them. The demonic hybrid’s claws were large and segmented; she found the joint on the forelimb that held Lorgar down, and she put three rounds through the same point.

The claw broke. The clamp came loose.

Lorgar rolled clear and kicked the beast’s abdomen, and the creature took to the air. For the first time, the First Army’s rifles fired together — but a flying target that climbed, banked, dropped, and corrected in irregular intervals was not the same problem as a target on the ground. The shots did not land where they needed to.

“Are you all right?” Ashes pulled off her black robe and dropped it over the shrinking body of the wolf.

“Temporarily —” Lorgar coughed, and what came up was foam. “Not dead yet.”

“Don’t move. You’ll make it worse.”

She checked the woman’s body with her hands and found the problem at once: one side of the chest was sunken, the bones beneath it raised and irregular. Several ribs broken in the impact. The wolf form’s physical durability had kept her alive through a blow that would have killed a human woman in the moment of contact.

Wildflame warriors had moved up to the platform’s edge with their short bows drawn, aimed at the sky. But the bows could not reach what the rifles could not reach. Their range was decoration.

“Watch out — it’s coming again!” Echo’s voice cut through.

“Everyone — get clear!”

Ashes caught Lorgar against her body and rolled, and the grazing pass missed by less than the width of a hand. Several clan warriors did not get out of the way fast enough. Their chests were caved by the passage. Most of them did not survive what the pass left behind.

The Four-winged Eagle had intelligence above what its body suggested. It had registered, after Andrea’s three rounds, that the only object on the platform that could threaten it was the rifle in the blonde witch’s hands. From then on it oriented its abdominal shell toward her on every approach and varied its dive in a rocking, polyline path that defeated lead-aim. When Andrea paused to reload, it threw the bodies it had captured toward Hummingbird and Echo, forcing them to scatter, breaking the cadence Andrea needed.

Andrea was avoiding each pass by smaller and smaller margins. Her recently-acquired ability — releasing a short, hard burst of air at close range — was the only thing keeping her from being driven off her position entirely. She was tracking the beast, her partners, and her own ammunition simultaneously, and the effort showed in the line of her jaw.

It’s targeting the witches.

Ashes turned that over while she kept Lorgar still. If the creature had simply been hungry, it would have taken one of the ordinary people scattered across the platform — there were many, no one would have stopped it, the calories would have been the same. It had not. It kept returning to Lorgar, and when Lorgar was out of reach, to the cluster of witches below the edge. It ignored the rest.

That was not the behavior of a hungry predator. That was the behavior of something following instruction.

The First Army’s fifty soldiers were not configured for an aerial target. Their fire had hit the shell repeatedly and opened a scattering of wounds the creature would eventually feel — but the shell was designed for exactly this load, redistributing impact, delaying. Nothing they had landed had been fatal.

We need to lead it over the main force. Better angle, concentrated fire, greater volume. But leading it required deciding what to do with Lorgar, and deciding that required knowing what Lorgar herself was prepared to do.

Lorgar’s hand found her wrist.

“Throw me up.” Her voice came in pieces — one word, one breath, another word, another breath.

“What?”

“When it comes down at us — that’s the only opening. I can’t move on my own. I can’t pursue it. But if it dives—” She coughed again. “Throw me up. That’s the only chance I have to reach it.”

“If you miss the grab, you die here.”

“A warrior’s second home has always been the battlefield.” The wolf’s ears, which had been flat against her skull, dropped further. “I’ve fought well. Whatever comes next — I’ve fought the best opponent I’ve ever had. That’s enough.” A pause, and something like an attempt at composure that did not quite hold. “Thank you.”

Ashes looked at her. The resolve in the expression was not bravado. It was settled — the look of someone who had decided.

She shook her head. “You’re wrong about one thing. This isn’t our last fight.”

“You don’t need to comfort me. Even if I live through wounds like these, I won’t stand properly again.”

“There’s a witch in Neverwinter called Nana. She can heal anything — someone breathing their last, someone with every limb broken. Completely. Back to how they were before.” She allowed her face a small motion — not a smile, but the next thing under it. “I have been through no fewer than a hundred fights like this one. Some of them against opponents considerably more dangerous. I am here. If you live — there will be more opportunities. More opponents worth testing against. If you want to sharpen what you have, Neverwinter will give you the means.”

She let that land.

Lorgar’s remaining eye changed. The pupil reflected a light that had not been there a breath earlier.

“What you just said — is that true?”

“Of course.”

“Then —” The ears rose, both at once, quick and sharp. “I’ll survive. For certain.”

“Good. Come up, then.”

Ashes did not hesitate. She caught Lorgar’s foot with one hand, watched the Four-winged Eagle begin its descent toward the platform’s center, and moved.

Two full rotations — the weight of a transformed half-wolf woman and the inertia building through each turn — and she released.

Princess Lorgar of the Wildflame clan crossed the air like a black-robed arrow, aimed at the monster falling straight toward her.

Chapter 769: Unyielding Will

Translator: Transn Editor: Meh

“By the name of Three Gods! That’s… the Four-winged Eagle!”

“How dare this beast break into the Burning Shrine!”

“Help, help me!”

“Guards, where are the guards?”

Screams of panic and disbelief came from the crowd. Some of the Sand Nation people pulled out their weapons and climbed up the platform to save Lorgar, while the others wanted to flee. The scene suddenly became quite chaotic.

Ashes could see clearly through the smoke that the bird was actually a giant demonic beast. It resembled a demonic hybrid of an eagle and a beetle. The back, lower abdomen, and head were covered with a striped shell. It had six claws and each section could be clearly seen. The front pair was the thickest and held Lorgar firmly on the ground like an iron clamp. The four pairs of wings, which should have been as thin as cicada wings were thick like bird wings and became its most striking feature.

Nature could never produce such an ugly monster.

The demonic beast kept trying to peck her neck while pressing down Wolf Girl. Its claws could not be avoided, and Wolf Girl could only sway from left to right to avoid the attack. The inability to move her body greatly limited the range that she could dodge. In a short time, her cheek already suffered a few scratches, and the fresh blood stained her fur. By the look of things, she would not be able to hold for a long time and would be killed by the demonic beast.

Ashes would definitely not allow it to happen.

Ashes assisted Iron Axe in participating in the Desert Mission because of Tilly; using the holy duel to decide victory was also the choice of the latter. She had the aid of Leaf’s herbs and Nana’s treatment, so she took this matter very seriously in order not to let Lorgar down. However, Lorgar was still a witch, and so long as she was not evil like a Pure Witch, there was no way Ashes could sit by idly and let her die in the hands of the demonic beast.

“Echo!”

Ashes shouted, and then plunged toward the demonic hybrid. She clung to its mouth at that moment when it was trying to peck again.

The sharp corner of its mouth scratched her arm and the blood dripped bit by bit on Wolf Girl’s face, but she was still motionless.

Wolf Girl looked up at Ashes weakly with her remaining eye. Her dark pupil revealed a complex look.

At the same time, Echo’s lullaby could be heard. The music gradually dispersed everyone’s panic and soothed the crowd that was trying to escape.

Without the interference from the surrounding crowd, repeated gunfire sounds could be heard from where Andrea was standing.

She was different from the First Army that might accidentally wound the witch. Her precise shooting ability ensured that as long as there was a glimmer of space, she could hit the target perfectly.

Ashes saw Lorgar’s claws tremble fiercely. Then several rounds of bullets hit the same joint position, breaking the Four-winged Eagle’s claws directly into two pieces.

After losing the clamp, Lorgar rolled up and kicked the beast’s belly, and kicked it out. The latter flapped its wings and rose again. Only now did the First Army squad ring out the gunshots for the very first time. Unfortunately, it

was not so easy to hit a flying target that could circle or swing up and down and was behaving more like an erratic insect than a bird.

“Are you ok?” Ashes took off her black robe and covered the diminishing body of the huge wolf.

“Temporarily… Ahem, I won’t die yet…” Lorgar that had regained her human form, coughed out a mouthful of blood foam, and struggled to climb up but failed several times.

“Don’t move around or else you will aggravate your wounds.” Ashes groped along her body and discovered that one side of the chest was sunken down and she could feel the bumps of the raised bones. It was clear that several ribs were broken in the previous violent impact. It was fortunate that the wolf form could resist the impact of the heavy attacks. If she had retained her human form, that attack would have probably taken her life.

Wildflame clan warriors also surrounded the area with their short bows and aimed toward the demonic beast in the sky. But even firearms could not be effective at this distance, therefore arrows were even more useless.

“Watch out! It’s coming again!” Echo warned everyone again.

“Everyone get out of the way!”

Ashes hugged Lorgar and rolled on the spot to avoid the grazing attack of the demonic beast. Several clan warriors were unable to avoid it and were thrown out with their chests heavily deflated, so they were unlikely to survive.

The Four-winged Eagle obviously had a high level of intelligence. It seemed to realize that the only thing that could threaten it was the rifle held by Andrea. When it was diving and attacking Lorgar, it would always use its abdomen’s shell to face the blonde witch. It also followed a rocking motion and a polyline flight path. When Andrea was refilling, the demonic beast would throw the people it captured toward Hummingbird and Echo to obstruct her filling action and also rotate the direction of attack.

Andrea avoided the danger several times by a thin thread. In addition to paying attention to the movements of the demonic beast, she also had to take care of the other two partners. If she had not mastered the new evolutionary skills that enabled her to release a strong air stream at close range, she would have been thrown down ages ago by the demonic beast.

Ashes could not help frowning as this Four-winged Eagle seemed like it was targeting the witches.

If it simply wanted to prey on food, the platform was full of people, and no one would have stopped it from taking away one or two people. But it dived repeatedly to attack Lorgar or would stare at Andrea and the other witches. It showed no interest in the ordinary people and was vastly different from the rumored brutal and bloodthirsty assailant.

The First Army had only 50 soldiers that entered the Land of Fire and were no help in dealing with a flexible target in the air. Ashes thought it was necessary to lead it to the top of the large army and hopefully, it could be shot down with more intense gunfire.

But… what exactly needed to be done?

At this moment, Lorgar grabbed her hand.

“Throw me upwards.” Wolf Girl gasped and spoke one word at a time.

“What?”

“Ahem… Throw me up!” She repeated. “When it’s coming toward us, that’s the only… the only chance I can catch it. I can’t act on my own, I can only depend on you!”

“If you don’t succeed, you may die here,” said Ashes.

“A warrior’s second home has always been the battlefield,” said Lorgar, with her ears drooping down. “So at least I’ve resisted until the very end. You are the most powerful warrior I’ve ever met… Ahem… You’ve given me the chance to experience such a wonderful fight. Thank you.”

Ashes saw a firm resolve from her expression and nodded after a moment of silence, “I see. But you’re mistaken, it’s not our last fight.”

“Even if I… manage to stay alive, it will be impossible for me to stand like a normal person. You don’t need to comfort me.” She laughed at herself.

Even if she could recover from such heavy wounds, she would still be disabled. Perhaps death would be a better option for her.

“There’s a witch called Nana in Neverwinter of Graycastle, who can heal any man back to brand new. Even someone who’s breathing his last or whose limbs are entirely broken,” said Ashes, slightly widening her mouth.

The wolf’s ears became erect in the blink of an eye.

“What you just said… is that true?”

“Of course, I have gone through no less than a hundred battles like this one, and there were even more powerful enemies. And if you want to hone your skills, you can find opportunities at any time. So if you live…” Ashes stopped here without finishing what she wanted to say, as she realized that the other party’s remaining eye now reflected a brand new light.

“I’ll survive, for sure.”

“Well, come up then.”

Ashes no longer hesitated and grabbed Lorgar’s foot with one hand. She took advantage of Four-winged Eagle diving toward the center of the platform, to fling herself around for two turns before throwing Lorgar out—

Princess Lorgar of the Wildflame clan was like a flying arrow with her black robes, aiming at the monster that was flying straight down.