Realm Lord
Chapter 96: Round 2 (2)

Chapter 96: Round 2 (2)

The respite they’d managed to steal lasted mere moments before battle resumed in earnest. Jonas, face set with grim determination, summoned his shield once more. Taking point, he positioned himself at the front, the shield humming with energy as he readied his stance.

"Stay sharp," Jonas called over his shoulder, his voice echoing against the cold stone walls.

The sheepman charged forward with unexpected speed. Its armor scraped against the stone floor, sending sparks flying in its wake as it brought its wicked blade down in a vicious arc toward Jonas’s head.

The sword met the shield with a resounding clang that reverberated through the corridor. Jonas braced himself as the knight’s blade bounced harmlessly off his shield, the impact sending tremors up his arm but leaving him unharmed.

Arthur, seeing his opportunity, darted from the shadows with precision. He circled wide, using Jonas as a distraction while he maneuvered to strike from the flank, his footfalls ghostly quiet against the ancient floor.

With the sheepman’s attention fixed on Jonas, Arthur struck. His blade whistled through the air in an upward swing, a blur in the dim light. The sheepman sensed the attack at the last possible moment, twisting its armored body just enough that Arthur’s sword glanced off its pauldron in a shower of brilliant sparks.

Arthur didn’t hesitate. He pressed forward, stepping deep into the sheepman’s guard. His sword became a blur of motion – a relentless flurry of strikes that forced the knight onto its back foot. Each attack came faster than the last, a testament to Arthur’s enhanced speed, leaving the sheepman desperately parrying, its movements growing increasingly frantic as it struggled to match Arthur’s pace.

"Now, Jonas!" Arthur called between strikes, his voice strained with exertion.

Jonas seized the opening, he lunged forward with the full weight of his body enhanced by his ability behind the blow and connected with the sheepman’s helm. The sound was deafening – a thunderclap in the confined space – as Jonas’s ability-enhanced punch left a deep, warped dent in the creature’s helmet. The sheepman staggered backward, momentarily disoriented by the powerful blow.

They pressed their advantage without mercy. Arthur was already airborne, having leapt in the air, his sword held high above his head as he descended upon their foe with lethal intent. The sheepman, still reeling from Jonas’s strike, managed to sidestep at the last possible moment. Arthur’s blade struck the stone floor with such force that sparks erupted from the impact point.

In one fluid motion, Arthur redirected his momentum. His blade carved through the air with crystallizing speed, the enchanted metal humming softly as it sliced upward toward the sheepman’s exposed flank.

The sheepman attempted to parry, but Arthur had anticipated this. He removed the weight from his strike just before contact, allowing him to halt the blade’s momentum instantly. Before the creature could react, Arthur transformed the failed slash into a lightning-fast thrust that found its mark with surgical precision.

The sword slid cleanly through a gap in the sheepman’s armor, penetrating deep and emerging from its back. The room fell momentarily silent.

’Gotcha,’ Arthur thought, a victorious grin spreading across his face as he stared at the skewered knight impaled upon his blade. His eyes gleamed with satisfaction in the dim light, the thrill of victory coursing through his veins.

The sheepman stood motionless for what felt like an eternity. It looked down at the sword embedded in its chest, then slowly raised its helmeted head to face Arthur once more. What happened next defied all logic and expectation.

With deliberate, almost methodical movements that sent chills down Arthur’s spine, the sheepman raised its free hand and grasped the hilt of Arthur’s sword. Instead of trying to remove the blade, it pulled itself deeper onto the weapon, closing the distance between itself and a now wide-eyed Arthur. Its other hand simultaneously raised its blade, preparing a strike aimed directly at Arthur’s sword arm.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Arthur’s eyes widened in horror as the realization of what was happening settled over him like a shroud. His mouth fell open, but no sound emerged as he watched his own impending doom approach with unstoppable certainty.

It all happened too fast for Arthur to defend. Some primal part of him knew this, accepted it with calm resignation. His eyes squinted slightly in acceptance, muscles tensing instinctively as the sheepman’s blade met his arm.

One moment, Arthur was gripping the hilt of his sword, still buried in the creature’s body. The next, he was falling backward through the air, several feet from where he had stood. His right arm hung limply at his side – no, not at his side. It was still there, fingers locked around his sword’s hilt, still embedded in the sheepman’s body while the rest of Arthur crashed heavily against the cold stone floor.

The pain hit like lightning – white-hot and all-consuming. Arthur stared in disbelief at the ragged stump where his arm should have been. Blood pulsed from the wound in rhythmic spurts as his heart continued its desperate beat. He clutched at the injury with his remaining hand, reality crashing down upon him with merciless clarity.

A scream tore from Arthur’s throat, echoing off the ancient walls – a sound of pain, shock, and the sudden, terrible understanding of his new reality.

"ARTHUR!" Jonas’s voice boomed through the corridor, thick with horror and rage. He arrived a second too late to prevent the tragedy but just in time to exact vengeance.

With a roar that seemed to shake the very foundations of the hall, Jonas slammed his shield into the sheepman’s side with bone-crushing force. The impact sent both Jonas and the creature careening toward the wall. Jonas channeled every ounce of his ability into his advance, driving the sheepman before him like a battering ram.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" Jonas bellowed, spittle flying from his lips as they crashed into the stone wall with devastating power. The impact shattered ancient stonework, sending fragments cascading around them in a shower of dust and debris.

The sheepman struggled against the relentless pressure, its right arm – the only limb free from the shield’s crushing weight – flailing wildly in desperate, futile resistance. Jonas took another labored step forward, muscles straining with effort as he continued to push, carving a path of destruction into the wall itself. The stone cracked and groaned under the immense pressure as Jonas pancaked the creature in one final, desperate act of retribution.

Eventually, the sheepman’s frantic movements slowed, then stopped altogether. Its arm, which had fought so desperately for freedom, fell limp at its side.

With a deep, labored breath, Jonas finally released his pressure on the shield, stepping back on unsteady legs to reveal the crumpled form of their foe embedded in the ruined wall. A broken laugh of relief escaped his lips before the gravity of the situation slammed back into his consciousness.

"Arthur!"

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