Chapter 94: Maddening Trial (II)
Chapter 94: Maddening Trial (II)
Zara moved first, and Uhtred followed right after. He was well aware of his leaking cosmic essence, so he chose not to cast a spell and instead closed the distance to the Neanderthals and Homo erectus charging towards them.
From the levels he could see hovering above their heads with his Inspect skill, the dozen of them ranged between Level 10 and Level 16, with most of them closer to Level 10.
Uhtred and Zara charged forward rapidly, looking to close the distance, as they were well aware the ancient variant had just arrived, still full of cosmic essence, to cast long-ranged attacks.
But contrary to the expectations, the Neanderthals and Homo erectus also charged towards them, almost as if they had immediately deciphered the state of things and known not to waste their cosmic essence despite only arriving seconds ago.
Uhtred frowned lightly, but he pressed them nonetheless. In a close-quarters battle, he was confident in his abilities and in Zara’s. So it was no surprise that they began to mow down the Neanderthal and Homo erectus numbers within a few exchanges.
Fear colored the eyes of the ancient variants as they saw Uhtred and Zara whittle down their numbers as if they were nothing more than cheap grass.
And within moments, the five or so of them who were left, turned on their heels and bolted into the distance, fleeing from the site of the battle with horrified looks on their faces.
Of all the humans to come in contact with the moment they arrived on the trial grounds, it was Uhtred and Zara, the top two strongest on the entire planet... Talk about terrible luck.
Uhtred and Zara would have chased the five down, but their attention was occupied yet again as the jackals from before sped into close quarters, flashing a cut right across the back of Uhtred’s thigh while his focus was occupied with the Neanderthals and Homo erectus he was mowing down.
"These fuckers!" Uhtred gritted his teeth as he waved his battleaxe, trying to cleave the blur in two.
He had sensed the speeding jackal even while he was occupied with the ancient variants, but the slight beat of his preoccupation had given the blisteringly fast beast the opportunity to finally score a hit.
A sharp sting spread across the back of Uhtred’s thigh as the fresh cut was exposed to the air.
"Those jackals have to be at least Level 23, maybe even Level 24."
For them to have made a cut in one strike across his new battle gear — the more expensive material he had bought to protect himself exactly from situations like this — meant they had to be that high-leveled.
Nah, they have to be Level 24.
A level 23 beast like the fire-breathing saber-toothed tiger Uhtred had fought with earlier in the day would have needed time to bypass his new battle gear before reaching his skin.
These ones had needed less than a second.
"Huh? They’re coming back for more?" Zara’s voice brought his attention back to the ancient variants.
He turned and looked in the direction where the five who had fled earlier were now returning with greedy gleams in their eyes.
Do these guys think I’m easy picking just because of a simple cut?
The thought was so preposterous that Uhtred was even offended, but then he caught himself and looked at the gleams in their eyes more carefully.
No, this is something else... There’s ambition in their eyes.
Uhtred had seen that look many times. That was the look of someone that was admiring a prize.
And from the direction of their gazes, which were focused specifically on him, he seemed to be the prize they were heading for.
Why, however, Uhtred had no idea, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to allow them to live now that they had chosen to come back of their own volition.
"Leave them all to me. Go help Diya and Dennis!" Uhtred barked a mad look in his eyes as he instructed Zara, who moved into action to immediately support the struggling Diya and Dennis, both of whom had received several deep cuts from the jackals at this point.
As she unhesitantly turned to support their other two team members, leaving Uhtred to the Neanderthal and Homo erectus warriors charging at him with wide grins and gleaming eyes, Uhtred moved into action immediately.
He charged at the Neanderthal at the forefront, meeting the warrior head-on and cleaving him in half from his shoulder blade all the way to his waist.
Hot blood spilled across Uhtred’s face, but he didn’t bat a single eye as he moved to the next attacker, bisecting the other from his mid-section.
He became a reaper of death, slaughtering the entire five in a few quick exchanges.
Before killing the last one, though, he slammed the Homo erectus to the ground, grabbing him by the neck as he stared into his wide eyes.
Those eyes were filled with deep fear... the fear from seeing all of his companions get slaughtered within a few seconds and knowing he was about to suffer the same fate.
Yet, underneath that fear was something that confused and surprised Uhtred. There was still hope and ambition underneath that raw terror in the Homo Erectus’ eyes. That same gleam Uhtred had seen as they charged at him.
"Why did you come back?" Uhtred asked with a low growl. " And why were you targeting me specifically?"
The Homo erectus laughed. A weird, uncanny laughter that was alien yet familiar at the same time. It rubbed Uhtred the wrong way, but he stopped himself from slaughtering the Homo erectus in one strike, waiting to hear what he had to say first.
"I wasn’t able to kill you," the Homo erectus spoke in his consonant-heavy tongue through his squeezed windpipe as Uhtred held him tightly by the neck.
"But I’ve made it easier for the others... Red."
A bloody grin broke across the Homo erectus’ face as Uhtred snapped his neck in one clean move, ending his life in that instant.
Red? How does he know my name?
He’s not even Level 24 yet, so he surely doesn’t have access to the human ranking panel...
Uhtred pondered grimly.
Or were they all briefed about the top rankers on our side?
That was likely the case, but even still, how were they able to discern that he was Red? They had even begun to escape in the first place before returning as if they had suddenly realized something out of nowhere.
Uhtred dodged a jackal attack again, the close miss snapping him back to attention.
He gritted his teeth and focused, yelling for the others to burst into a sprint for the rock formations in the distance.
Zara moved ahead first, with Dennis following after and Diya moving in tandem. Uhtred waited slightly, moving a beat slower to cover their backs.
They just needed to get to those rock formations and limit the area of attack of the jackals. So long as they could narrow the points of attack, they would be able to defend against the beasts more effectively, essentially rendering the blistering pace of the jackals useless.
As they sped towards the distance, the disparity between their levels began to show.
The jackals continued to use guerrilla tactics to slow down their charge, and the first one among the team to begin to show signs of tiredness, especially with the continued essence leak, was Dennis...