Chapter 87: Harpy is dead!

Each exchange drew more blood and weakened them further.

The shockwaves from their clashes had created a dead zone around them. Buildings collapsed from repeated impacts, their foundations unable to withstand the constant pressure of silver-rank combat.

Soldiers and monsters alike fled the expanding circle of destruction. Those too slow to escape died—crushed by falling debris or caught in the peripheral effects of attacks meant for each other.

A bronze-rank wolf beast made the mistake of entering their combat zone. The monkey’s staff, deflecting one of Ezekiel’s strikes, redirected the axe’s energy into the creature’s spine. It died instantly, vertebrae pulverised by force meant for a peak-silver opponent.

Three soldiers attempting to flank the behemoth met similar fates when the City Lord’s next attack missed its target. Silver energy carved through their formation, leaving only scattered remains.

Collateral damage, Ezekiel thought grimly. Unavoidable.

The monkey pressed another attack, staff targeting the gap in his damaged armor. Steel rang against powerful wood with sufficient force to shatter windows three blocks away.

“Your people die because of your selfishness,” it taunted. “All for personal advancement.”

Truth wrapped in mockery.

Ezekiel’s counterattack split the air with visible distortion, the axe missing the monkey’s head by millimetres. The stone cracked where the weapon struck instead.

“They die because they are weak,” he snarled back.

Their deadly dance continued, each combatant too injured to finish the other, too proud to retreat. Around them, the wider battle raged—monsters and humans clashing in desperate skirmishes while their champions bled themselves toward mutual destruction.

The Harpy’s next dive carried less coordination than before, it was exhausted. It had been attacking Ethan nonstop.

Ethan waited until the last possible moment before diving towards it.

There.

He slipped beneath the creature’s guard, his daggers finding the tissue of its wing. Blood gushed as his dagger tore through the wing.

SCREECH!

The Harpy crashed to earth, one wing unable to support its weight. It rolled desperately, narrowly avoiding Ethan’s follow-up strike.

Despite its injury, Ethan circled it with patience.

The creature’s golden eyes tracked his movement with undiminished intelligence, wounded but far from helpless.

Still dangerous.

The Harpy’s beak opened, releasing a piercing shriek that cut through the chaos of battle.

Five hundred meters away, the behemoth’s massive head snapped toward the call. All six remaining eye stalks swivelled in perfect unison, locking onto Ethan’s position.

Asking for help. Of course.

The colossal creature abandoned its battle with Ruan immediately. The general’s desperate strike glanced harmlessly off its armoured flank as it turned, massive limbs carrying it toward the Harpy’s location with ground-shaking strides.

Ten seconds. Maybe less.

The behemoth would arrive before he could finish the Harpy through patient assault.

Fire erupted around his hands as he activated his talent fully. Not the focused blasts he’d used before, but sustained combustion that fed on his mana reserves like a hungry beast.

Flames spread in a perfect circle around the Harpy, creating a wall of superheated air that rose fifteen feet above the broken street. The creature’s functional wing beat frantically as it attempted to escape.

Wind gathered beneath the Harpy’s control, lifting it toward the fire wall’s edge. For a moment, it seemed the strategy would succeed.

Ethan extended his own Wind talent, disrupting the careful balance the Harpy had created. Competing forces tore at each other, stability collapsing as the creature lost control of its escape vector.

Down you go.

The Harpy crashed back to earth within the fire zone, silver blood sizzling where it touched superheated stone. Its remaining wing folded protectively around its body as temperatures continued rising.

“You think fire will stop me?” It snarled through the growing inferno.

Ethan stepped through the flames without hesitation, his fire talent protecting him from heat that would have incinerated unenhanced humans.

The behemoth’s roar shook buildings as it approached, massive form visible through the fire wall’s distortion.

Two hundred meters.

Now or never.

Ethan’s daggers found the Harpy’s throat in a single fluid motion, driving through feathers and flesh to sever vital arteries.

<You have killed a Mid-Silver Ferocious Beast, Harpy>

The notification flashed across his awareness as the firewall collapsed, flames dissipating without his continued mana input. The behemoth skidded to a halt mere meters away.

Ethan immediately took the core and devoured it for some more attributes.

<+11 Intelligence>

Too late.

The Harpy’s corpse lay sprawled in cooling embers, silver blood pooling beneath still wings. Ethan stood over it, daggers gleaming with fresh kills as he met the behemoth’s furious gaze.

For a moment, neither moved. Predator evaluating predator across the invisible divide between victory and vengeance.

Ruan stumbled into the scorched clearing first, silver aura flickering weakly around his battered form. Blood seeped from a dozen wounds, each step sending fresh pain through his damaged ribs.

Behind him, Zhao.

Lightning still crackled faintly around her spear, though her usual demeanor had cracked under exhaustion.

They froze at the sight before them.

Han’s corpse lay twisted in an unnatural position, blood pooling beneath him.

The Harpy sprawled nearby, its magnificent wings spread in death’s final embrace. Burn marks scarred the ground where Ethan’s fire wall had contained the aerial predator.

Two Mid-Silver ranks.

Dead.

By one man’s hand.

He killed them both, Ruan’s thoughts churned with disbelief. Alone.

The realisation struck fear inside him.

Hours earlier, Ethan had struggled against a single Mid-Silver opponent even with their assistance. They’d coordinated attacks, shared the burden, barely emerged victorious through teamwork.

Now he stood over two corpses, barely breathing hard.

What is he becoming?

Zhao’s grip tightened on her spear as she studied Ethan.

“You killed Han,” she stated, voice carefully neutral despite the tremor beneath.

Ethan turned toward them, silver eyes reflecting neither warmth nor remorse. “He was a traitor.”

A traitor who held Mid-Silver rank for twenty years, Ruan thought grimly. Eliminated like cannon fodder.

The behemoth’s roar shattered their contemplation.

“Later,” Ethan said simply, his daggers facing the approaching monster.

“Questions can wait.”

Ruan exchanged glances with Zhao. The same thought reflected in both their eyes.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep