Ch.35Elven Haim (6)

# WHACK—!!!

Lassis’s fist struck my jaw with devastating force. She moved at a speed I couldn’t even perceive, bypassing my demonic beast’s automatic defensive senses.

“Lady Lassis! What are you—”

Mary called out to Lassis in confusion, but she merely stared at Khan with emotionless eyes.

Though surprised by the sudden punch, I’m a Minotaur. With the Predator Ratel trait, my endurance is second to none.

I touched my jaw, stood up, and prepared to charge at Lassis, but…

WHAM—!!!

Once again, Lassis approached me with lightning-fast movement and struck my head. I couldn’t see her coming—no footsteps, no presence—I had no idea how or from where she was attacking.

This time she must have infused mana into her strike because my head was buzzing. I released lightning from my body to attack her, but… she evaded my lightning’s range and returned to Mary’s side.

“Hmm. Good endurance. A normal Minotaur’s skull would have been shattered. But… this one lacks wildness. Did taking too many hits kill his savage nature?”

After striking my jaw and head once each, Lassis diagnosed my condition. Like a doctor making a quick assessment, she struck me again.

WHACK—!!!

As if her previous attacks were mere play, Lassis hit me with enough force to send me flying.

Except for when I was young, I rarely got thrown around like this. First that woman using black fire, and now this woman.

To think that women who are just slightly taller than my hooves—not my own kind, dragons, or giant cyclopes—could send me flying through the air.

BOOM—!!!!!

With a thunderous crash, my body hit the ground, making a mess of the World Tree’s front yard.

I wondered if it was okay for the World Tree’s daughter to cause such chaos in front of her parent, but the World Tree didn’t seem to mind as Lassis continued shouting at me to get up.

“Hey!!! Weakling—!!! Get up and fight! Show me what a rage state looks like! Or are your horns too damaged to use your strength?!”

CRACK—!

Blood vessels bulged around my eyes, and strength surged into my arms. I stood up, lowered my head, and aimed my horns at her.

The Minotaur race’s ultimate technique: horn thrust. I was about to demonstrate my best technique against this woman who had insulted our horns—our pride and dignity.

CRACK—!!!

BOOM—!!!

If only she hadn’t approached me in an instant and smashed my head into the ground again.

“Oh my, you hothead. When your opponent takes a fighting stance and prepares to use their ultimate technique, do you think I’d say, ‘Yes, I’d like to experience your ultimate technique. I’ll stand still, so please attack me’? Think a little, kid. Okay? That’s why your horns have holes in them.”

CRACKLE—!!!

Unable to contain my anger any longer, I unleashed lightning with the intent to kill her.

I didn’t expect this attack to work against someone stronger than me with near-teleportation speed, but it would be enough if she just kept her distance.

As expected, she who had been sitting on top of me moved to my front again, and having predicted this, I struck that spot with lightning.

CRASH—!!!!!!

The lightning that struck instantly began to burn where she had been standing.

Some elves approached, concerned about the sudden lightning strike, but Lassis went to them and reassured them that we were just training.

?

I was dumbfounded. I had predicted where she would be and struck with lightning, but she had somehow dodged it and was now reassuring the residents.

Wasn’t she right in front of me? Was it possible to move faster than lightning could strike?

While I was confused by these questions, she grabbed my horn again and slammed my head into the ground.

BANG—!!!

“That was good earlier. That’s how you launch a surprise attack. But what’s the point of spacing out while I’m reassuring the residents? You should have rushed in to crush my head.”

BANG—!!! BANG—!!! BANG—!!!

Holding one of my horns, she slammed my head into the ground rhythmically, lifting it up and slamming it down again as if playing a rhythm game.

I tried to resist by tensing my neck and placing my hands on the ground to get up, but… she pressed down on my body with her strength, preventing me from rising.

Now ignoring even the lightning I emitted, she continued to slam me down. Seeing this, I began to lose my reason and started spewing lightning wildly.

RUMBLE—!!!

The lightning from my body scarred the earth, and some flew toward the World Tree, but it was blocked by a translucent barrier that Lassis must have placed around the World Tree.

Mary was also inside that barrier. The moment I saw she was safe, I completely lost my grip on reason.

Moooo…

CRACK—!!!, CRUNCH—!!!

Gradually my body grew larger, another pair of horns sprouted, and a tail began to grow. Now enormous, I gathered all the lightning generated from my body and released it in one burst.

MOOOOOOO—!!!!!!!!

BOOOOOM—!!!!!!!!!!

* * * * *

“Will Khan be okay…”

Mary, protected inside the World Tree’s barrier, murmured.

She wanted to rush out and stop Lassis, but she believed Lassis wouldn’t attack Khan without reason, so she could only watch.

And her worries became reality. With horns growing, a tail emerging, and his body enlarging, he compressed lightning and exploded it.

“Khan!”

Her worried voice echoed inside the barrier. But Khan, consumed by rage, seemed to hear nothing as he glared at Lassis with glowing red eyes.

MOOOOOOO—!!!!!!

He roared and charged at Lassis.

* * * * *

Facing the enraged Khan, Lassis was honestly a bit surprised. She had provoked him to experience rage, appreciating his good endurance and toughness compared to ordinary monsters, but…

When his enlarged body looked down at her, it felt like being looked down upon by a giant.

WHACK-!!!

Annoyed, she leaped higher than his head with a single bound and kicked his head downward. The impact was incomparably stronger than before, and his head was driven into the ground again.

CRASH—!!!

As Khan collapsed face-down from her attack, the ground was overturned due to his enormous size, and the beautifully growing grass became a mess.

Feeling she had gone too far, she heard the World Tree scolding her, but coolly ignoring it, she decided to continue the rampage regardless of the damage.

CRASH—!!!!!!

Like a missile from the sky, she struck Khan’s waist with her knee, completely destroying the already overturned ground.

The impact drove Khan deeper into the earth, and the shock of his 15-meter body being buried caused the ground to crack and rise as if in an earthquake.

Satisfied with what she considered a proper warm-up, Lassis was caught off guard when Khan’s tail successfully grabbed her. Unlike ordinary cattle, Minotaurs don’t have tails, but his had grown due to rage—a detail she hadn’t considered.

Seizing the opportunity, Khan channeled lightning through his tail at full power and began spinning her like a windmill.

BANG—!!! THUD—!!! CRASH—!!!

With each rotation of his tail, strong impact sounds echoed from the ground. While she was disoriented by the lightning emitting from his tail,

Khan slammed Lassis into the ground and began pummeling her. As if venting his frustration from earlier torment, he drove his red fists, wrapped in black lightning, into the earth.

BANG—!!! BANG—!!! CRASH—!!!

Each blow sounded like an explosion, and the crater created by his fists unable to withstand the earth’s resistance grew wider, when…

WHACK—!!!!!!

From within the crater, a naked Lassis once again punched Khan’s jaw. With a calm expression as if she had deliberately taken the hits, she nodded as if satisfied with what she had learned about his abilities.

CLAP—!!!

Deciding there was no point in continuing, she decided to end it.

RUMBLE—!!!

The earth began to vibrate as something started to rise. While Khan, who had just spat out a loose tooth with a huff, tensed at the vibrations caused by something massive moving…

CRASH—!!!

Enormous tree roots began to bind him.

Mmmph?!

Panicking, he tried to break the roots with his strength, but this was magic used by Lassis, a High Elf, with some degree of seriousness. It was magic he could never break with his power.

MOOOOOOO—!!!!!!!!!!

When the tree roots wouldn’t break, Khan became even more enraged, and his body began to grow even larger.

Having grown from 16m to 18m and now reaching 20m, Khan was beginning to break the roots he couldn’t break earlier.

However, his body could no longer withstand such immense power, and the flesh on his arms began to burst.

CRACK—! SNAP—!! CRACKLE—!!!

As his muscles began to rupture, evidenced by the increasing sounds of tearing, Lassis had no choice but to approach him to use a sleep spell when…

Whoosh—

Mother, the World Tree, used her power. She emitted her power for just a moment, but a green wave radiated from the World Tree and covered the entire forest.

The elves bowed toward the World Tree in response to this tremendous power, and Mary, who experienced it up close, began to physically grow.

And Khan, who experienced the power directly…

The wounds all over his body healed, his teeth regrew, the holes in his horns were repaired, and he fell into a peaceful sleep.

After thanking her mother for the help, Lassis used earth spirits to clean up the mess and watched Mary’s growth.

* * * * *

“How is the forest burning operation progressing?”

Someone approached the commander who was directing soldiers carrying torches and setting fire to trees in the forest.

“Sir! The operation is proceeding slowly due to elven resistance and their magic dousing the trees with water, but the mages will be arriving soon!”

“Then withdraw all the soldiers! The Emperor’s direct special forces, loyal only to His Imperial Majesty, have arrived!”

At those words, the commander’s face lit up with excitement as he ordered the soldiers to withdraw. A figure entered the dense forest. His body was wrapped in chains that emitted an ominous aura.

He took one of the chains wrapped around his body and swung it like a whip.

CLANK—!!!

With the sound of metal chains colliding, everything caught in his weapon began to be cut down.

Trees, rocks—nothing could withstand his strike and fell, creating a 5-meter radius of devastation around him.

CRASH—!!!

The sound of falling trees echoed loudly, and as the elves became busy, the battle-crazed imperial special forces member began to rampage.

He swept away the entire forest entrance with his chains, and the elves, unable to approach due to his overwhelming aura, called for reinforcements.

The chains emitting an ominous aura gradually carved a wide path through the forest like a road.

The elves fired arrows and magic to stop him, but the chains wrapped around his body moved as if they had their own will, blocking all attacks that came his way.

As he continued to advance beyond the forest entrance, opponents gradually appeared to stop him.

Those facing him seemed to be elven commanders, who attacked him while directing other soldiers to contain him.

When he tried to unleash all his chains to devastate the surroundings, assassins appeared from nowhere to threaten his life before disappearing.

Arrows, ambushes, magic, and commanders blocking his path.

In the Empire, only Sword Masters, Adamantium-class adventurers, or named mercenaries could face him, but…

As expected of a long-lived race, there were far more opponents capable of fighting than among humans. As the number of commanders increased, making his movements difficult, he began to gradually retreat while fighting when…

Whoosh—

A green wave swept through the forest. Startled by the sudden wave, he wrapped his chains in mana for defense, but was confused when nothing happened to him.

The elves who had been blocking his path began to bow toward the direction the wave came from. Even the assassins revealed themselves to bow, creating an eerie, almost maddening sight.

Finding this ominous, he tried to swing his weapon to kill those who were bowing and advance, when…

CLANG—!!!

A green-haired elf appeared from nowhere and blocked his attack with a dagger.

“It is customary not to disturb elves when they bow to the divine, do humans no longer know this?”

“Ha! The very act of bowing and being distracted on the battlefield proves you’re all fools.”

“This time, I’ll let you experience it firsthand.”

With those final words, the green-haired elf with aura around his dagger and the battle-crazed warrior with black aura around his chains began to clash.