Chapter 479 - 479: Invasion [45]

Wes tilted his head, studying her expression.

"I bet you're wondering why I'm telling you all this. In order to increase the effectiveness of my skill, I have to tell you what it can do."

Zarah did not react to this absurd fact. She simply wasn't buying it.

Wes waited for a reaction of shock from Zarah, but he got nothing.

Eventually, his shoulders dropped.

"Alright, alright. You caught me. There's no such thing. This isn't JJK. I just like to ramble, you see."

He placed a hand against his chest, his expression becoming oddly sincere for a moment.

"I'm quite lonely, you see. Not many would listen to me for so long without trying to kill me. It's a rough world out there."

Zarah's eyes narrowed even further.

She couldn't decide whether this goblin was an idiot...or simply insane. But whatever the case was, she figured it was probably better to let Wes keep rambling and waste as much of his limited time in that strange liquid form as possible. If what he had said about having limited time was actually true, anyway.

Wes's smile slowly faded when he realized she wasn't going to entertain his conversation and he sighed:

"No matter. If you're not going to engage with me, then I guess I should just tear you apart, shouldn't I?"

The moment his tone changed, every instinct in Zarah's body screamed danger prompting her to react immediately.

Mana surged through her body as she thrust her hand forward, releasing a concentrated burst of ice toward Wes.

The attack struck.

But rather than stretching like he normally did, Wes flesh burst apart into a mass of red liquid, spreading across the ice like a wave before gathering itself together again.

Zarah's eyes widened.

Was sort of form was this.

The liquid moved, surging toward her.

The speed so fast that Zarah barely had enough time to react. She didn't have the opportunity to fire another attack, nor did she have enough time to properly reposition herself.

Her hands moved on instinct, ice erupting from the ground in front of her, rapidly forming a thick barrier between them.

Wes crashed into it.

BOOM!

The barrier she had created cracked under the pressure before finally shattering in a violent explosion, the force of the impact sending Zarah flying backward across the frozen ground.

She twisted her body in midair, trying to regain her balance before landing, but she barely had enough time to stabilize herself as Wes was already there.

His body had completely returned to its solid form, and before Zarah could properly react, he swung his fist toward her right side.

The fist was coated in a thick layer of red.

Zarah's eyes widened.

She immediately reinforced the side of her body with ice, forming a dense layer of armor over her ribs just before the punch connected.

BOOM!

The impact detonated.

The sound of the explosion mixed with the violent shattering of ice as Wes's fist slammed into her side, the force passing through the protective layer and driving her body sideways.

Zarah tumbled across the ground several times before finally managing to catch herself.

She planted one hand against the ice and forced herself upright, her breathing rough and uneven.

Pain radiated through her ribs.

The ice armor had absorbed a considerable portion of the impact, preventing the attack from doing its full damage, but it hadn't been enough to completely protect her.

That punch had simply been too powerful.

Zarah clenched her teeth as she slowly rose to her feet.

The ice covering her side was cracked from the impact, several pieces already falling away from her body.

There was no doubt about it.

At least a couple of her ribs had shattered from that blow, and every breath she took sent another wave of pain through her side. The ice armor had prevented the punch from doing even more damage, but it had not been enough to completely absorb the force behind it.

Zarah slowly forced herself back onto her feet.

Her legs trembled beneath her for a moment before she managed to steady herself.

She hadn't seen this transformation coming.

She had thought her plan had worked. She had believed trapping Wes in the ice and allowing her homing attack to strike him would finally bring the battle to an end.

Instead, the Chosen had suddenly burst with even more power.

That wasn't something she had accounted for.

Before she could properly adjust her strategy, two elongated hands suddenly shot toward her.

They moved so quickly that it almost seemed as though they had appeared beside her rather than traveled toward her.

Zarah's eyes widened as both hands caught her by the shoulders. Then they pulled.

Her feet immediately left the ground as her body was dragged forward with frightening force.

Zarah reacted on instinct.

Ice spread from her shoulders and raced across Wes's hands, rapidly freezing them solid.

Since Wes body was acting like liquid now, she expected the frozen limbs to become brittle under the sudden temperature change, allowing her to shatter them and break free.

But they didn't.

Instead, the frozen hands began to glow.

A deep blood red suddenly illuminated the ice from within then Wes hands exploded.

BOOM!

Zarah was caught in the explosion from both sides.

There was nowhere for her to escape.

The blast swallowed her completely before throwing her away like a rag doll.

She slammed into the frozen ground, her body skidding across the ice before finally coming to a stop.

For several seconds, she didn't move.

Her body was charred black in several places, while the ice armor covering her had cracked and broken apart from the force of the explosion. Smoke curled from her clothes as she lay there, barely conscious.

Zarah groaned, her fingers twitching against the ground. Then, with considerable effort, she forced herself onto one knee.

Every part of her body screamed in protest, but she slowly pushed herself upright, her breathing uneven as she stared at the monster standing before her.

How was she supposed to defeat him?

Her ice could slow him down, but it couldn't withstand his attacks forever. Her arrows could hurt him, but he had already adapted to them. Even trapping him had failed.

Zarah clenched her teeth.

She needed another way.

Something...

But before she could even move a muscle, Wes disappeared.

The next instant, he...