Chapter 11 - From Scenic to Battle

From her comforting softness, he drags his nose away from her wild-scented kiss as a resounding slap swats out the dark silence, ending it with his teasing squeeze on her rear cheek.

"Take care now, will you M'Love? Your life is more important than any hunt." She bid him another peck of goodbye on his lips.

"Who's not excited to go home when they have such a lovely wife?" His expressive beady eyes gleam green in the dark, wanting to ensnare her phoenix eyes.

Another resounding slap snaps the couple's mood. He and her glimpse to the side to witness a comical sight, Aleges, and Clux on their cultural mimicking.

"Take care, Starling."

"Who excited go home when have they dully wife?" Clux locks his sight with Aleges while he grabs into the latter's arse.

"HAHAHAHA!" His amused laughter merged with hers, summoning a homely warmth that thaws the coldness in the cave.

A little failure due to the forceful long sentence yet had brought joy before the two husbands depart for the hunt.

At the end of the ascending narrow hallways of soil and mud, he pushes the flat rough stone cover of their underground home to the side.

The white sun prickles his irises to shrink his lids, bedazzled was gone as he looks down to close the stone cover after his duo elapses from the entrance.

The wind brushed the magenta grass blades to his knees as he gazed beyond the magenta fields with scarce trees.

At the north, the thick forest walls blocked the horizons as its shadowy trees took root on the ends of the rising gradient of withered fields, the familiar Jilted Sap Forest was kneeling to its thunderclouds.

To the west of their hidden abode, the unnamed town of irons and walls had its back guarded by the two gigantic twin peaks, the same first two mountains they had seen after they came out of the Jilted Sap Forest.

And when he turned around, the sun was dazzling on the opposite of the peaks, to the east, indicating the sun's morning rise.

"Truly phenomenal, like terrains of different seasons stitched together to fabricate an unbelievable scenery." He muttered.

The freshness of the morning's air filled his lungs with energy as they hastily marched on the east. Down the glaring magenta fields.

They met the winged-ear rabbit next to its hole, munching on the magenta lushes. The most common prey of Aleges and Clux.

He beckons Clux to stop his pulling of the bow's arrow, for he has no plan for a simple food hunt, this world is more than meets the eye and it awaits to be explored to unravel its mystery.

One of the most important teachings of history from his old world is that overhunting and exploiting could earn nature's wrath in return. Even if they could benefit from the harvested souls, he and Melantha had not slaughtered any living being they had encountered

Not only would they garner unwanted attention by disrupting the ecosystem, even causing potential threats to their future well-being from other predators who lack animals to prey on, but potentially, food sources will decrease within their vicinity which could cause famine.

Alerted when his sole crushed a twig, the rabbits in their walking area scutter down their rabbit holes. Further to their journey, the number of passing scarce magenta trees gradually increases in proportion, not the same as their own, but ordinary yet unordinary distorted trees.

The stains of molds on zooming trunks were cautiously becoming more prominent in his every step, while his soles missed the prickly grasses as they turned into muddy soils in his wake, sedately, stale moldy stench twirls in the winds.

Shadows started to devour the two as the holes in the canopy of trees tightened menacingly. Unlike the short friendly magenta trees near their home that are only twice as tall as them, the towering distorted trees were neck-breaking in height.

Plop, a drop of chilly water surprised his shoulder, warning him of the upcoming drizzle up ahead. Armed with calmness, he steps into the forest's cold floor that covers his toes with thick fog, he is forced to rely on his soul sense to spot potential dangers in the mud.

The weak yet cold drizzles shower him with soft taps, asking him if he would journey onwards to the ghastly jaws of the rainforest.

As if suggesting to fall back, Clux's teeth clattered pitifully in cold. Undoubtedly, he can press on with his weather-tough body. Clux in question, obviously in a precarious plight with his thin ragged garment that solely covered his crotch.

Drooped ears, Clux's shoulders were shivering as he hugged himself, and his pale nose was running liquids down his lip. What a pathetic sight.

Why would he keep the leaf pants instead of having the similar recycled black garment of Clux? Well, if an unwanted individual has met him in a forest, wouldn't he appear more natural and magical in a leaf attire than in ragged pants that would invoke a thought that he must be just a lost beggar?

"You can return, I'll survey the area and check if there's something interes—" A realization has frozen him mid-sentence. Why was there not a single critter they'd encountered so far?

"Forget it, let's return together and hunt in a less dangerous area. This place seems unsafe and could be part of a predator's territo—"

"Enemy!" This time, it was Clux's turn to interrupt him as he pointed above his shoulder.

A humungous pitch-black scaley monster had emerged from the fog ahead, locking its two prey, it hisses threateningly, blowing off the chilly mist towards Mordred's cheeks. The remnants of light in the rainforest were sucked into its whiskers, creating an unexplainable revolving weak spark.

Not a millisecond waisted, his arm muscles harden as he grabs Clux by the forearm, and like a sling's bullet, he throws him with enough force so he can land on his feet, now far from any harm.

Opposite to Clux's safe spot. A deafening lightning clap struck his ears and blinded his vision with white light. His nerves shocked his composure, and tingling electricity coursed through his veins that downed him to his knees.

If he was the same weak newborn goblin, he would have been toasted to death. Woe to his enemy, he has messed with the wrong foe. His pores puff out the warm steam, leaving his skin darkened by minor burnt tissue.

In counter, he dashes toward the monster's triangular head as he unsheathes his claymore sword, grinding out against the wrought iron scabbard that was latched on his rear. His toes oblique a trail of black on his foggy pathway, signifying his speed.

The monster roused up another dim ball of spark on its whisker and blasted its annoying charging prey. What a close call, in the tempo of the blast, he kicked to the left, evading the raging lightning. With a crackling boom on his back, a tree was caught in the crossfire, knocked down through the scorching hole in its trunk.

The drizzle slowly extinguishes the tree of fire, but not the heated frontal battle of the giant monster and the heroic goblin. Dodges after lunges, both their insane agility had clasped them on a clash between fangs and blade.

With a jump slash, a blast of mist is sliced as his claymore sword connects to the monster's serpent-like forehead. Deep in the flesh, the cracking of the skull has lifted his lips upward. The reflection of his slasher smile of shark teeth trembled the half-his-size vertical gold irises of the serpent.

A line of crimson blood arcs in the air as the monster flicks its head away, distancing itself from his second downward slash. Due to its size, even with Mordred's newfound strength was lacking to defeat the monster in a single hit.

His hot blood was pumping crazily, a lunatic grin had never faded on his visage since he dashed in to engage. More blood! Blood for more! Since his soul sense had never warned him of potential death, his confidence was itching his hand to hack destruction.

He was so drowned in his excitement that he momentarily forgot to use Soul Disruption. As he shook his head off of his judge-blinding mad fever, an arrow pierced the body of the stiff befuddled serpent, unable to comprehend how such a small prey possessed such tremendous strength.

Pity, even with the sharp wrought iron arrowhead, the arrow has only left a shallow wound that only serves as the serpent's wake-up call. 'What a tough scale. It would be a nice decor for my future set of beautiful armor.' The shiny black splendor of the serpent's scales woke up his goblin's greed.

Unlike heavy wrought iron or any metal armor, seems like not only does an armor of this monster's scale provide the same protection, but is lightweight to improve mobility. Plus it was shiny!

He never knew he had such a fascination with shiny stuff, was this a hidden fetish of his? If so, how come none was triggered when he caught a glimpse of Kerleun's goldies? Possibly because the shiny scale has a more practical use, he theorized what he was feeling.

To communicate, he snapped his head to Clux and pointed his victory sign fingers to his eyes. "Aim for the eyes Clux."

Seeing Clux's nod of understanding, he reengages the enemy by kicking his feet forward. In response, the serpent's whisker charges up its lightning bolt.

Calculating the right distance and the short duration before the serpent's lightning strike, he was about to flash his palm to the monster when a lightning whip bashed him whole, a tail whip hit after the feint attack of a lightning charge.

Followed by a gale of mist, he rockets into the air and smashes a tree on the back of his head, snapping it in half. His visions blacken briefly by the fearful concussion. 'Fuck! What a cunning snake.'

An unexpected dread crawled from the trickling warm blood of the back of his head to his brain. That was unforeseeable, he wasn't not ready for the sudden switch of attack pattern of his enemy.

He pulled himself back erect and fetched his claymore's handle. Fortunately, his grip was strong enough to not falter midway in the air.

Unbeknownst to him, the serpent rapidly slithers next to his face. He flinches and his pupils enlarge from the serpent's surprising devouring bite, and due to tight space for maneuvering, he was not able to time a stab towards its mouth's roof.

Locked between its fangs, he found himself stuck vertically as he stopped its clamping jaws, both hands at the ends of his claymore sword.

Coming from his palm, he blasted the serpent's palate, hitting its soul with his Soul Disruption's vibration. Alas, the serpent was dazed for a few seconds yet has instinctually kept him clamped between its fangs.

As he inhaled to reenergize his muscles, the reeking fishy stench from the serpent's breath disgusted his rapidly beating heart, and its urticating venomous saliva was slowly melting his soles and fists' skins. It hurts! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

With a couple of more Soul Disruption blasts, the closing constrict halted yet again but did not loosen up for him to slip out of the serpent's mouth. 'Am I to gamble my life and do that?'

His mind weaved an option, he could let himself be swallowed and then cut open the serpent's belly for him to exit out. What are the odds of surviving? The strong corrosion of the serpent's saliva has been choking his thoughts with doubts.

He observed the shivering fang of the desperate serpent, rattling to the tempo of his thicking beads of sweat. The serpent's fork tongue wrapped around his waist, frustratingly tugging him inward to its abysmal throat.

As if answering his prayer, a gust of wind follows the ends of a menacing arrow, penetrating the serpent eye's pupil. The serpent hissed in pain, and he finally was able to bolt out of the loose enclosure.

No wonder that little rascal had blended with the rainforest's soft drizzles. In silence, Clux had been patiently holding his shot till the serpent lowered its guard. Timely, he landed in the perfect shot.

Casting from the ideal range, Mordred's crunched his face in exasperation as the wave of Soul Disruption incapacitated the irritating gigantic serpent.

Jump high, he carried his weight and all the force that his muscles could muster into his most destructive vertical sword slash. The cut surged deep as it ceased from the clang of metal to bone.

The fountain of blood gobbled him whole, not an inch of his skin remained undyed with crimson. Regretfully, the sword's size did not fit enough to fully decapitate the serpent's head in one strike, leaving a hanging head of the serpent by its body.

From the period of momentary regaining its consciousness, in its final moments, the serpent desperately thrashed the ground with its unsightly loose head, splattering mud in all directions. While Mordred and the approaching Clux instinctively shielded themselves from all the flickering specks of dirt with their arms.

Stuck on its neck, his sword flung from the grip of the serpent's neck bone, stabbing to the ground. The combination of bloody spray and muddy splatters comes to an end as the serpent's dear life suffocates from its own struggles.

"This thing is huge, let's get back and ask for my wife's reinforcement to collect this massive resource."

"Hehe! Big win, big food."