Interrupted Part 1

In the plains between the Darkin Mountain Range and the Darknar Forest, a group stood by eleven carriages along the outskirts of the forest when suddenly a figure was sent flying out of the forest in their direction. The body flew against the wind, aiming almost too accurately at the carriages. Tyler thought about what spell to use to stop its rapid approach and was about to move, but before he could do anything, someone jumped forward and cast a spell.

"Mist Cyclone!"

Mist-like smog started spiraling inward, engulfing the body in the air, killing its momentum and bringing it down without any force.

The one who moved was the beast girl Nadine, impressing Tyler with her quick reaction time. At this point, almost everyone had alighted from the carriages, aside from the kids, who were forced to stay inside since the carriages were reinforced. When the body landed on the ground without turning into a pile of splattered flesh, they were finally able to tell what it was. It was a reptilian humanoid creature, about 2.8 to 3 feet tall, with scaled skin of reddish-black and bright yellow eyes.

It had long, clawed fingers and a jaw like a crocodile, with legs that were sinewy and digitigrade. Small black horns protruded from its head, and it had a reptilian tail. The creature was equipped with shabby-looking armor and carried a short sword in its left hand, with a dented round shield on its right arm that had a broken bone protruding from its skin—most likely from trying to block a powerful impact. It lay on the ground, moaning in pain, as everyone stared at it—all except a few.

Albert and Azar narrowed their eyes as they stared in the direction the creature had flown from. Another large boulder was hurled in their direction, along with several other projectiles landing close to them, which told them that they were not the intended targets but had just gotten caught in the midst of something troublesome.

Azar leaped forward and swung his huge blade diagonally like a bat, sending the large boulder straight into the ground. They then saw a group of similar creatures—around 40 in number—running around recklessly in their general direction, occasionally turning around and launching desperate attacks at something. They ran out of the forest with few options, and Tyler could almost feel the earth vibrating underneath his feet. Towering creatures, more than five times the size of these red-scaly creatures, were in pursuit, occasionally catching up and sending another creature flying in their direction. Some of the larger creatures picked up boulders and threw them randomly, like idiots.

Nadine caught most of the flying creatures, but she could only cast her spell so many times. Even when the others tried to help, there were still a few that had landed hard on the ground or on top of the carriages, raining down blood and guts. The sight was irritating, and Tyler was increasingly getting pissed. Liz and Erin had gotten out of their carriages as well and were now standing next to Tyler as Liz cast a spell that protected them from the bloody splatter. The large creatures soon exited the forest as they continued their chase of the smaller creatures, revealing their appearance for all to see.

They were hulking, giant humanoid creatures with dark beige, hairless skin. They wore very little clothing, save for an animal-skin loincloth. They had gnarled teeth and tusks, wielding large spiked clubs and poorly made hammers. Although they appeared slow, they had long arms that almost seemed to extend when they swung their weapons at the faster creatures that were trying to flee while launching attacks of their own.

The large monsters may have had lesser movement speed than the smaller ones, but their dexterity was surprisingly high, as they were able to block most of the attacks while sending one of the red-scaled creatures flying almost every few seconds. The red-scaled creatures were losing fighters each second, and the large monsters were still hurling rocks at them.

"Trolls," Erin spoke softly, but both Tyler and Liz clearly heard her. They now knew what those large monsters were. The smaller monsters were disorganized yet relentless. They tried various tricks and attacks as they desperately tried to flee. There was a single member of the smaller monsters that looked like the leader, barking orders and trying to take control of the chaotic situation. It had light brown scales that were tinted with a yellow hue and a pair of reptilian wings attached to its back, although one of them appeared broken.

With the sounds of splattering bodies and the trolls' footsteps making the ground tremble, Tyler wasn't able to hear what these monsters were saying, but he knew from their use of equipment that these weren't mindless monsters but intelligent creatures with some type of culture or society. The winged scaly creature soon spotted them, and a hint of hesitation appeared in its eyes.

They were not a group that loved mingling with other races, but right now, they had gotten caught in a messy situation they couldn't have prepared for. Maybe this group was their only lifeline. The winged scaly creature wore fur clothing and carried a staff with a crystal embedded in its head. It waved the staff, and the ground beneath the troll closing in on it caved in. The troll fell in with a loud cry that came to a sudden halt after reaching the bottom.

"Trap magic?" Liz questioned, but no one responded. The winged scaly creature pointed its staff at them, and all its lesser kin that were running wildly headed in their direction. Either they were trying to pull a fast one on them, or they were now seeking their help to handle this problem. It didn't take long for the scaly creatures to reach them, halting their approach a few meters away. Their numbers, which had previously been around 40 moments ago, had already been reduced to less than 30.

The winged scaly creature stopped in front of Azar, staring at the others of its kin that had been saved by the group in front of it. Tyler could now clearly see the difference between this creature and the other scaly ones. Its body was more defined, and it had a feminine shape, with an outfit that did not belong on a reptilian creature. Her face had softer features that resembled a slender dragon.

She bowed to Azar before turning her back to face the trolls with the rest of her kin. She was signaling that this would be their last stand, and they could choose to help or ignore them. Making the decision when she saw that her kin had been saved by these people, she didn't have the luxury of feeling guilty if they were to die and leave these people to face the trolls alone.

Seeing their prey stand their ground, the trolls stopped running and strolled toward them, dragging their large weapons behind them. The scaly creatures prepared for battle, although it seemed that they weren't used to fighting an opponent head-on. They were most likely the type that used traps and trickery and would only fight when their opponent was seriously injured.

One of the trolls launched at them, and they scattered. The winged one used another spell, and a hole appeared in the ground. Although, unlike the last one, this hole wasn't deep enough or wide enough to swallow the troll, but this was expected, as the troll was now stuck in the ground. The other scaly creatures sprang into action, ganging up on that troll, thrusting their weapons at it from varying directions. Before the other trolls could react, they had succeeded in killing one of them.

With that troll dead, the other trolls didn't flinch as they grouped together and attacked, swinging their large weapons all around. Bodies flew in the air like in cartoons as the trolls moved freely in the battlefield without resistance. They seemed to be having fun, as weird noises of laughter occasionally escaped their mouths. There were only around ten of them, yet they were toying with their opponents, who outnumbered them three to one.

Tyler finally had enough. When someone made a move, a large body was lifted into the air, landing around five meters away. The battlefield ground to a halt as everyone looked at the half-giant with a massive greatsword in his hand. Azar had made his move. He had an ugly expression on his face from watching this bunch of lowlifes massacre a group of weaklings with a smile on their ugly mugs.

Normally, he would have no problems with whatever this was, as long as it did not interfere with him and his people. After all, stuff like this happened all the time. The strong would prey on the weak to get what they wanted. What he couldn't stand was when people brought their sadistic and warped tendencies to the battlefield. He was a battle-obsessed ogre who knew the battlefield was a cruel place that could make or break the flow of events in this world. It wasn't a place for needless slaughters.

He knew he shouldn't be involved in something like this when they were short on time, especially after he had failed to protect his home and his people. But he had a lot of anger within him, and looking at these things brought it out of him. Orange aura slowly wrapped around him as his grip on his greatsword tightened. Another troll had already launched at him from the side, and Azar just twisted his body back before planting his foot firmly on the ground.

Skill: °Mountain Slash°

The troll attacked with a spiked club but missed its intended target. It was about to withdraw its massive club when it no longer felt the weight of its right arm. It proceeded to look down, and what it saw confused it greatly. Its arm was resting on the ground, still holding its weapon, and blood gushed out of both the part on the ground and the one still attached to it.

A stream of pain flooded its mind as its expression contorted. It roared loudly in pain, trying to stop the bleeding, grabbing the attention of the rest of its kin. This wiped the smiles off their faces as they all turned to look at the 7-foot-tall man standing in front of them in shock, hesitation, and maybe even a bit of fear.

No. Several mocking smiles bloomed on their faces as the troll who had lost an arm stopped the bleeding and made a grunting sound that seemed like a condescending chuckle. It picked up its lost limb and placed it back in place. The arm was immediately reattached and healed up without even leaving a mark. The troll looked at Azar as it flexed its renewed arm and gestured to him with its hand, seemingly saying, "Come, try again."