Chapter 221 — The Last Gambit
The settlement had become a frozen graveyard.
Ice covered almost every corner, with jagged spikes rising from the ground and pale mist drifting between the ruined structures.
At the center of it all stood the Shaman and the two mutated Goblins.
Their eyes remained fixed on the enormous crater left behind by the final wind attack.
The last currents of wind slowly faded.
Silence returned.
The Shaman narrowed his eyes.
He was waiting for the human's corpse to emerge.
Instead, a figure slowly rose from the center of the crater.
Evan.
He was alive.
But barely.
The three-elemental armour covering his body had almost completely collapsed. Broken pieces of earth and bone slid from his body and shattered against the frozen ground.
Blood covered him.
It leaked from his mouth and ears, while deep cuts ran across his body.
His breathing was shallow.
His chest rose and fell heavily.
Yet his eyes were still open.
And they were no longer calm.
A cold, murderous focus had replaced everything else.
Evan stared directly at the three figures before him.
A faint green-golden aura suddenly spread across his body.
His regenerative talent activated.
The damage beneath his skin began slowly repairing itself.
Even so, he could still feel his internal organs throbbing from the impact.
It was as if his entire body had been hammered from within.
'That attack...'
Evan clenched his fist.
'It was stronger than I expected.'
The Shaman noticed the recovery immediately.
"Don't give him time."
His voice carried across the frozen settlement.
"Kill him!"
The two mutants moved.
The ground beneath them cracked.
They vanished.
Evan was still recovering when a massive shadow suddenly covered him.
He looked up.
One of the mutated Goblins was descending from above like a falling boulder.
Evan immediately pushed himself away.
BOOM!
The mutant crashed into the ground.
Ice and debris exploded outward.
Evan barely managed to stabilise himself before something struck his right side.
BANG!
The second mutant's fist smashed into his ribs.
Evan was thrown across the battlefield and crashed through several ice spikes before finally stopping.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
His ribs screamed with every breath.
He forced himself upright.
There was no time to recover.
The mutants were already coming again.
One attacked from the front.
The other moved around him, searching for an opening.
Above them, the Shaman continued casting spell after spell.
Wind blades descended from blind angles.
Every time Evan tried to create distance, another attack forced him back.
'If this continues...'
Evan narrowly avoided a claw.
'I'll lose.'
There was no shame in admitting it.
The three of them had created a perfect killing formation.
One mutant forced him to defend.
The other waited for his blind spot.
The Shaman controlled the battlefield from above.
There was no obvious pattern.
No predictable rhythm.
Nothing he could exploit.
'Then I have only one choice.'
Evan's eyes hardened.
'Gamble.'
The first mutant suddenly appeared on his left.
Its massive claw swept toward him.
Evan raised Crimson Edge.
CLANG!
The impact sent him flying backwards.
But Evan didn't resist the force.
He used it.
His body twisted through the air.
His eyes shifted behind him.
As expected.
The second mutant was already there.
Its claws were reaching toward his back.
'Got you.'
Evan's hand snapped downward.
Earth energy erupted from beneath the mutant.
The ground twisted like living serpents.
CRACK!
Stone and earth wrapped around its legs and waist, binding the massive creature in place.
The mutant roared and struggled.
The bindings cracked.
But that single moment was enough.
Evan appeared before it.
His fist slammed directly into its face.
BANG!
The mutant's head snapped sideways.
Blood exploded from its mouth.
Evan's knuckles were instantly coated in red.
His expression didn't change.
He raised Crimson Edge.
Flames erupted across the blade.
The trapped mutant struggled harder.
The earth bindings were already beginning to break.
Evan brought the sword down.
But a shadow suddenly crossed his vision.
The second mutant had recovered.
It lunged toward him with both claws extended.
Evan lowered his body.
The claws passed directly above his head.
His eyes became colder.
"Did you really think I forgot about you?"
His hand moved.
Crimson Edge erupted with its flames in a blazing arc.
SHING!
The mutant's hands were severed at the wrists.
Both fell to the ground.
Blood sprayed across the ice.
Some of it splashed across Evan's armour and face.
He didn't even blink.
His attention had already returned to the trapped mutant.
The creature finally broke one of the earth bindings.
Too late.
Evan stepped forward.
Crimson Edge descended diagonally.
SLASH!
Flames tore through the remaining bindings and continued through the mutant's body.
For a moment, everything became still.
Then the earth bindings collapsed.
The upper half of the mutant's body slid away from the lower half.
Blood poured across the frozen ground.
One of the Shaman's greatest weapons had fallen.
Evan slowly turned his head.
The Shaman was staring at the corpse.
His eyes were almost completely red.
Pure fury twisted across his face.
A massive spell began forming above his staff.
Evan's mana was dropping again.
But this time, he didn't retreat.
He simply raised one hand toward the Shaman.
[Mana Siphon]
The change was immediate.
Mana began flowing into Evan's body.
His depleted reserves started filling again.
At the same time, the massive spell above the Shaman weakened.
The Shaman's expression changed.
"You..."
He instantly understood.
The human was stealing his mana.
Evan's lips curled slightly.
"Thanks."
The Shaman's fury deepened.
Evan didn't give him time to react.
The earth beneath him rose.
A dense spike formed from the ground.
It began spinning.
Faster and faster.
Until a violent current of air formed around its tip.
Evan watched the Shaman carefully.
He wasn't attacking yet.
He was waiting.
The Shaman noticed it as his eyes narrowed.
Then Evan's gaze shifted.
The remaining mutated Goblin was charging toward him.
Its severed hands had already stopped bleeding under the strange power of the totem.
The creature lowered its body and lunged.
Evan didn't move.
"I was expecting you."
The spinning earth spike shot forward.
BOOM!
It pierced the mutant through the chest in midair.
Blood exploded behind it.
Yet the creature didn't stop.
Even with its chest pierced, it continued forward, driven by the unnatural power flowing through its body.
It reached Evan.
Its massive body tried to pin him down.
Evan didn't even look at it.
He knew the creature's life was already fading.
The mutant's strength was disappearing by the second.
And now...
Evan only had to finish what he had started.
But Evan's attention wasn't on the dying mutant.
It was on the Shaman.
Blood was running from the Goblin's nose and mouth, staining his robes as his trembling body struggled to withstand the spell he had just completed.
Above his staff floated a massive arrow of compressed wind.
It was almost invisible.
Only the distortion around it revealed its existence.
The surrounding air screamed under its pressure.
"Human..."
The Shaman's voice was hoarse.
"You slaughtered my warriors. You destroyed our settlement. You killed my kind without mercy."
He coughed violently, more blood spilling from his mouth.
"I don't know whether I will survive after this..."
His bloodshot eyes locked onto Evan.
"...but I promise you one thing."
The Shaman's grip tightened around his staff.
"You will not leave this forest alive."
His voice became colder.
"I have already made sure my master knows of your existence."
The wind arrow trembled.
Then disappeared.
It didn't fly.
It was simply gone.
Evan's pupils contracted.
"!"
He immediately raised several layers of earth.
Walls erupted between him and the Shaman.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then more earth wrapped around his body as he forced himself underground.
The arrow arrived.
BOOOOOOM!
The first earth wall disintegrated instantly.
The second lasted less than a breath.
The third shattered into countless fragments.
The compressed wind tore through everything in its path as though the earth itself had no resistance.
Then it struck the ground.
KRAAAAAAASH!
The entire settlement shook.
An explosion swallowed everything.
Ice was obliterated.
Bodies were thrown apart, and wooden structures collapsed.
The remaining walls were ripped open by the storm.
For several seconds, the settlement disappeared beneath a roaring cloud of dust, ice and wind.
The Shaman dropped to his knees.
Blood poured from his mouth.
His staff barely kept him upright.
He stared toward the destruction with exhausted eyes.
"If that still can't kill you..."
He breathed heavily.
"...then there is nothing left for us."
His gaze became distant.
"Only my master can take your head now."
Silence followed.
The Shaman slowly looked toward the crater.
His expression changed.
There was no body.
Nothing at all.
Only a massive crater remained.
Even the mutant's body had been torn apart, its remains scattered throughout the destruction.
"Where..."
The Shaman's voice trembled.
"Where is he?"
It was impossible.
The human couldn't have escaped that attack at such a distance.
He forced himself to stand.
Then—
CRACK.
The ground beside the ruined wall collapsed.
Something emerged from beneath it.
The Shaman froze.
A blood-covered hand gripped the edge of the hole.
Evan crawled out.
And he wasn't alone.
The remaining mutated Goblin hung from his hand.
Evan had dragged the creature beneath the earth with him.
His armour was damaged.
Several cuts covered his body.
But compared to what the Shaman had expected...
He looked almost unharmed.
The mutant was another story.
Its chest had already been pierced.
Its breathing was barely audible.
Its body was almost completely limp.
The Shaman stared in disbelief.
Blood escaped his mouth again.
"You..."
Evan slowly lifted the mutant by the throat.
He jumped onto the broken wall and landed directly opposite the Shaman.
Their eyes met.
"I told you."
Evan's voice was calm.
"Killing me..."
He tightened his grip around the mutant's throat.
"Don't make me laugh."
The Shaman's expression twisted.
He knew.
His strength was gone.
Evan was continuously siphoning his mana.
His settlement was destroyed.
His warriors were dead.
His strongest spell had fallen.
Yet he still had one final hope.
"My time has come..."
The Shaman's voice became weak.
"But don't think this is the end."
His eyes burned with hatred.
"My master may already know what happened. The forces of our tribe will arrive here soon."
He suddenly roared.
"YOU ARE DOOMED!"
The sound echoed through the ruined settlement.
"There is nowhere you can escape now!"
Evan looked at him and sighed.
"I don't know where this confidence comes from."
His eyes narrowed.
"Is it because of the two messengers you sent?"
The Shaman froze.
Evan continued.
"If that's what you're relying on..."
A faint smile appeared beneath his armour.
"...then you should mourn them."
The Shaman's pupils contracted.
"They never left your surveillance zone."
Evan glanced toward the forest.
"I knew you would call for reinforcements."
His voice remained completely calm.
"So I prepared for it."
"The summons I sent after them took care of everything."
The Shaman's face slowly lost its colour.
"They're dead."
For the first time, true despair appeared in his eyes.
The last hope he had been clinging to had already been taken from him.
Evan looked down at the dying mutant in his hand.
The creature was barely conscious.
Evan's flames suddenly ignited.
The mutant's body was swallowed by fire.
The final struggle ended almost instantly.
Evan released the burning corpse.
It fell into the ruined settlement.
The Shaman's eyes trembled.
"You..."
His voice was barely audible.
"You will pay for this."
His fingers tightened around his staff.
"You won't survive much longer either."
"I curse you, human."
His staff slipped from his hand.
"May the wrath of the forest fall upon you."
He stared directly into Evan's eyes.
"I'll meet you in Hell."
The Shaman's hand moved toward the wooden totem.
Evan's eyes narrowed.
Something was wrong.
The Shaman raised the strange object.
"I sacrifice my life..."
His voice echoed through the dead settlement.
"...and the blood of my people..."
The wooden totem trembled.
"...to curse this human."
Evan's instincts screamed.
But before he could understand what the Shaman intended—
THUD!
The Shaman drove the pointed end of the wooden totem directly into his own chest.
The wood pierced through flesh.
Straight into his heart.
Blood erupted from his mouth.
Evan's eyes widened.
The Shaman's body trembled violently.
Blood began flowing over the wooden totem.
The markings covering its surface slowly turned crimson.
One after another, they pulsed as something beneath the wood had awakened.
Evan remained completely still.
His senses were stretched to their limits.
He waited for something to happen.
A spell.
An explosion.
A curse.
Anything.
But nothing came.
The Shaman's body slowly went limp.
His grip loosened.
The totem remained buried inside his chest.
Evan stared at him for several seconds.
Then narrowed his eyes.
"What the hell was that?"
No answer came.
The Shaman was dead.
Evan finally turned away.
He looked across the ruined settlement.
The battlefield was almost unrecognisable.
Ice covered the ground.
Bodies were scattered everywhere.
Broken bones and shattered weapons lay beneath the frost.
The Goblin settlement that had once stood proudly in the forest had been reduced to a graveyard.
Evan exhaled slowly.
"Hah..."
He rubbed the blood from his mouth.
"That was definitely tougher than expected."
But the battle was over.
The settlement had fallen.
And now...
Evan only needed to see what the trial would throw at him next.