Free Web NovelChapter 139: My Wife Will Come Anyway
"Stay back!" Kane roared, unwilling to let either woman step into the danger zone.
"Do not move from the trees!"
Tremors began shaking the ground beneath his boots.
The beast was charging out of the shallows, aiming its immense bulk right for him.
Relying entirely on sound and vibration, Kane widened his stance.
Gripping the axe handle with both hands, he mapped the creature’s trajectory based on the trembling shoreline.
’Three paces away,’ Kane measured, preparing to swing blindly.
’Two paces. One.’
Just as he braced his muscles to deliver a lethal counterattack, a distinct, rushing splash echoed from a completely different direction. It came from directly behind him.
Before Kane could even process the impossible angle of the sound, razor-sharp teeth clamped down brutally onto his left arm.
Bone crunched slightly under the pressure.
’Two of them?!’ Kane realised, adrenaline flooding his system as pain flared up in his bicep.
’A bait!’
"Fuck." Kane grunted through gritted teeth as he was pulled into the lake.
Pain erupted across his bicep. Serrated teeth sank into flesh and scraped viciously against the bone.
’If I pull away, I lose the arm,’ Kane calculated instantly.
His pulse hammered in his ears as [Berserker’s Rage] flooded his system, numbing the agonising crunch into a thumping ache.
’If I step forward, I choke the bastard.’
Instead of retreating or trying to pry the jaws open, Kane drove his left arm deeper down the monster’s throat.
The creature gagged loudly, its jaws locking up as his fist crushed directly against its internal windpipe.
Panicking from the sudden blockage, the beast clamped down harder and began backpedalling.
It wanted the safety of the depths.
Webbed feet tore through the muddy banks, dragging Kane backwards into the shallows with brutal momentum.
Water splashed up to his calves, then rose quickly past his knees as the predator tried to drown him.
Kane couldn’t see a thing.
The acidic sludge burned his corneas, sealing his eyelids shut.
Relying entirely on sound, he heard the churning water ahead of him.
The first creature, the spitter, was recovering from its missed strike. A low guttural roar vibrated through the humid air, followed by the sound of rushing water as it initiated a fresh charge.
He was pinned. One arm was swallowed to the elbow, boots slipping in the unpredictable marsh, completely blind, with a high-level predator rushing his front.
"MiISHA!" Kane roared over the splashing chaos, refusing to let panic edge into his voice.
"Be my eyes!"
Standing near the tree line, Misha didn’t flinch or hesitate.
Her golden rings pulsed rapidly around her wrists. Her pupils vanished entirely, leaving behind glowing white voids that mapped the invisible currents of mana across the chaotic battlefield.
"I have you," Misha called out, her voice slicing through the noise with chilling, absolute calm.
"Incoming front. Three seconds."
Kane braced his legs in the sliding mud, ignoring the beast trying to drag him deeper.
’Trust her,’ he told himself, tightening his grip on his crimson axe with his free hand.
’She sees the board. Just follow the play.’
"Two seconds!" Misha warned, her tone never wavering.
The rushing sound grew deafening. The spitter was closing the distance fast, aiming to crush him between its jaws. Sensing the incoming mate, the beast attached to his arm thrashed wildly, trying to rip him apart before the collision.
"Duck right! Now!"
Kane threw his entire weight to the right side, planting his boots firmly into the submerged roots beneath the mud.
Twisting his torso, he yanked his trapped arm forcefully, dragging the choking beast directly into the open space he had just occupied.
A sickening crunch echoed across the lake.
The charging spitter missed Kane completely.
Unable to stop its own momentum, it rammed headfirst into its own partner. Bones snapped upon impact. The beast gripping Kane’s arm let out a muffled, gurgling shriek as the collision stunned it, loosening its jaws just enough for Kane to twist his shoulder.
’Got you,’ Kane grinned, tasting copper in his mouth.
’Time to end this half of the problem.’
He needed to finish this one immediately before it regained its senses. Kane raised his right hand, gripping his crimson axe tightly.
Without being able to see, swinging blindly was a fool’s gamble. Missing would leave him wide open. So he didn’t swing.
Instead, he hurled Mjoldr straight up into the air.
"What are you doing?!" Nadia screamed from the shore, watching the warlord discard his only weapon in the middle of a death match.
"Pick it up!"
Kane ignored her completely. Counting the seconds in his head, he waited exactly one heartbeat.
Then, he raised his empty right hand toward the sky.
The magical tether engaged instantly. High above, Mjoldr halted its ascent. Reversing direction, the weapon flew back toward his palm like a homing beacon.
Sensing the incoming whistle of the blade cutting through the wind, Kane grabbed the stunned beast by the snout with his bleeding left arm.
Flexing his muscles, he yanked its scaly neck directly into the weapon’s return path.
Shkrrk.
The curved axe blade buried itself deep into the back of the creature’s skull. It cleanly severed the spinal column before smacking securely back into Kane’s waiting grip.
The monster went completely limp in an instant, its immense weight collapsing into the bloody water.
One down.
Kane ripped his mangled arm free from the dead jaws, gasping slightly as the cool air hit his torn flesh.
’That is going to need a lot of healing potions,’ he thought, trying to blink away the stinging sludge covering his face.
’At least the bleeding is manageable while the berserker skill is active.’
Before he could ask Misha for the next coordinate, the water erupted right in front of him.
The surviving beast realised its mate was dead. Enraged by the loss, it abandoned any cautious tactics. It didn’t bother trying to spit again. It lunged with reckless, unrestrained fury.
"Husband! Centre!" Misha yelled, her voice cracking for the very first time since the fight began.
Kane raised the axe, attempting to block, but his footing slipped on the submerged carcass beneath his boots.
Huge jaws clamped shut over his chest. Serrated teeth dug deeply into his leather combat harness, stopping just short of piercing his ribcage. The brutal momentum of the strike lifted Kane completely off his feet.
"Kane!" Nadia yelled, drawing her own dagger even though she knew it was useless.
