Free Web NovelChapter 30: One-Horned Tiger (4)
The glow intensified with every passing second, like a beating heart, pulse, pulse, pulse, and the light became whiter, brighter, almost blinding. Tiny blue sparks leaped from the tip of the horn, crackling through the air like miniature bolts of lightning before vanishing.
Clavor knew what that was.
He knew it far too well.
He had faced a One-Horned Tiger before, years ago, when he had still been a foolish young man who believed he could fight anything. He had learned the hard way that the horn was not merely a physical weapon, it was a conductor of mana. The beast was gathering magical energy. Preparing a special attack.
If the horn shone brightly enough, it could fire a concentrated beam of energy.
Capable of piercing steel armor.
Capable of killing a horse in an instant.
He adjusted his grip on the sword, fingers firm around the worn leather hilt. He shifted his weight onto his back foot, bent his knees, and lowered his center of gravity.
Ready to advance.
Ready to retreat.
Ready for whatever came.
"Come on," he said quietly, almost to himself. His voice came out hoarse, not from exhaustion, but from concentration.
"Show me what you’re capable of."
Clavor stared back at it.
And for a long moment, the two enemies remained motionless, measuring one another, waiting for the next move.
The sun blazed high in the sky, mercilessly heating the earth and making the blood in the puddles shine like red glass. The dirt road was marked by deep footprints, claw marks gouged into the ground, and dark splatters already beginning to dry beneath the heat.
The carriage, a few meters behind, stood still.
The horses were still panting in fear, their eyes wide and ears pinned back, but the coachman held them steady, the reins short, their bodies restrained.
Inside it, Lukas waited.
Judite waited.
Aurora waited.
And Clavor, standing between the beast and his family, waited as well.
His eyes fixed on the One-Horned Tiger, muscles tense, sword at the ready.
The wind blew.
Dry leaves rolled across the ground.
A bird sang in the distance. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
And then, something changed.
Suddenly, Clavor’s body began to glow.
It was not a weak, timid glow like a candle in the darkness. It was a soft, silver, ethereal radiance, a light that seemed to come from within his skin, from within his bones. The light flowed across his entire body like a liquid wave, bathing his hard features and the scar on his cheek in vivid silver.
Even from inside the carriage, Lukas could see the glow.
Through the small gap in the window, he watched his father transform into a luminous silhouette, a figure of silver outlined against the dark green forest.
His heart skipped a beat.
’It’s the inner light... mana,’ he thought.
’The same thing I saw during Asmon’s training. But stronger. Much stronger.’
Clavor gathered all of that mana into his sword.
The blade began to vibrate, not a random tremor, but a rhythmic, harmonious vibration, as though the metal itself were singing.
A low, dangerous hum emerged from it, deep as the growl of a sleeping beast about to awaken.
The silver light flowed from Clavor’s arm into the sword, enveloping the blade in a brilliance that outshone the sun.
On the other side, the tiger gathered its mana into its horn.
The bluish glow grew stronger, brighter, nearly blinding.
The horn pulsed like a living heart, and the light shifted between white and blue.
Sparks leaped from its tip, crackling through the air, burning tiny holes into the dry grass.
The two enemies stared at one another.
Two points of light amid the forest.
Silver against blue.
Human against beast.
Five seconds passed.
Time seemed to freeze. The birds stopped singing. The wind stopped blowing. The entire world seemed to hold its breath.
Then both of them moved at the same time.
The One-Horned Tiger leaped.
It was not an ordinary jump.
It was a launch, a movement so fast that the beast’s body became nothing more than an orange blur against the green forest. Its front paws stretched forward, claws gleaming like daggers, and the horn, the pulsing, shining, living horn, pointed directly at Clavor’s chest like a living spear. freewёbnoνel.com
Clavor did not retreat.
He spun.
His body moved in a perfect arc, his feet sliding across the packed earth, the sword shining in a circular motion that followed his rotation. The silver light on the blade left a trail through the air, as though he were drawing a circle of light around himself.
And then the sword met the horn.
’CLANG!’
The impact was deafening.
It echoed like a giant bell.
Like a hammer striking an anvil.
Shockwaves spread through the air, making the nearby trees tremble and the horses neigh in panic. Leaves fell from the canopies in a green rain.
Silver and blue sparks exploded from the point of impact, bursts of energy that blinded everything for an instant.
For two long seconds, two seconds that felt like an eternity, the two remained locked in a brutal stalemate.
The beast’s strength against Clavor’s technique and mana.
Muscle against muscle. Will against will.
Clavor’s sword groaned under the pressure.
The tiger’s horn shone brighter, as if making one final desperate effort.
Clavor gritted his teeth.
"Now!"
He pushed.
With one final burst of strength, with all the mana remaining in his body, with every bit of technique he had learned through years of training, Clavor drove his sword forward.
’CRACK!’
The sound was loud and sharp.
Clear. Final.
The horn split in half.
Its tip flew through the air, spinning, shining, before landing in the grass several meters away.
The base of the horn, still attached to the tiger’s forehead, pulsed twice, three times, and then went dark.
Freed from the resistance, Clavor’s sword continued forward.
It pierced through the beast’s defense, through its snout, skull, flesh, and bone, and plunged directly into the tiger’s head, just above its yellow eyes.
The blade sank all the way to the hilt.
The creature’s final roar was cut off abruptly.
There was no cry of agony. No death rattle.
Only the wet sound of metal piercing flesh. And then, silence.
