Chapter 17: Achieving Victory
The tenth strike landed true.
Unlike the others, a crunch rang, the unmistakable sound of shattering bone.
The troll king’s elbow unnaturally twisted as he swung it. His own raw strength worked against him, worsening the fracture as jagged bone tore clean through the sinew and flesh.
"RRRRAAAAAAAARRRRRRR"
The Troll King bellowed, not in pain, but pure, blistering rage. He flung his mangled right arm in a wide arc, throwing dark, viscous blood across the chamber.
The half-mended muscle fibers were torn apart under the strain, splitting like overdrawn cords. His arm was left only held together by little more than shredded cartilage, tendons, and cracked bone, barely clinging to the ruined elbow.
Vlad stepped back, chest heaving, spit and blood filling his mouth, while his head throbbed with mind-tearing pain, a result of pushing his trait past his limit, and yet his eyes burned with pure resolve, not showing the slightest bit of pain.
He had achieved what he wanted, so without a moment’s delay, Vlad circled the troll king, and in a fluid motion, he leaped onto the giant’s broad back, gripping a thick handful of hair to stay anchored.
The creature buckled slightly from the sudden weight, and before it could react, Vlad drove the butcher knife deep into its shoulder with a wet, slicing crunch.
Vlad released his grip on the troll’s hair and, using the butcher knife, slipped to the front just as its mangled arm came crashing down, narrowly avoiding being crushed beneath the brute force.
A Cutlass with a pristine blade appeared in his hand, the same one he acquired after killing Swail, and as their eyes met, Vlad plunged the silver blade into the troll’s abyssal left eye.