Chapter 137: Own The Valley
The tension froze in the basin’s humid air.
The boar’s rumble echoed like a primitive war drum, making the mud vibrate beneath their feet. There was no longer any retreat.
Maggie moved first. In a fluid motion, she spun her flail-halberd, the cold metal describing a silent arc in the heavy air. It wasn’t an attack, but a declaration: she was ready. At that same moment, the boar answered with a furious hoof strike, sending a spray of mud flying.
Élisa raised her free hand. Her stigma pulsed, a fleeting emerald glow rippling across her skin. The lance, still hovering near her, vibrated and locked into a javelin stance, aimed at the bloodshot eye of the monster. Dylan, on the right flank, took a low guard with his jian, his muscles tense despite the dull ache in his chest. His breathing was a controlled rasp.
The boar charged.
It wasn’t a reckless lunge, but a devastating surge — a grey mass hurled forward at terrifying speed for its size. The ground trembled. Maggie pivoted, using the momentum of her weapon to sidestep, narrowly avoiding the frontal impact. Élisa’s lance shot forward like lightning, aiming for the throat. But just a few meters from the beast, something strange happened. The air around the boar rippled, like above a fire. Élisa’s lance veered suddenly, as if striking an invisible, gelatinous wall, and embedded itself with a dull thud into the meaty shoulder instead of the intended throat.
A roar of pain and fury tore through the air, but the boar didn’t slow. It spun, its small red eyes locking on Maggie as she repositioned. She raised her weapon, ready to split the massive skull.
As Maggie stepped within three meters of the wounded beast, her world shifted.
The boar’s outline blurred, doubled, tripled. The muddy ground seemed to liquefy, undulate beneath her feet. Distant rocks began to dance, their shapes warping like in a funhouse mirror. A sudden nausea twisted her stomach, and her vision blurred with involuntary tears. Her strike, carefully calculated, swung through empty air, the weight of her weapon pulling her off balance.