A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

And then, to top it all off, amongst the trees, Beam knew there to be at least two Horned Goblin archers somewhere.

Despite the adversity, Beam had accrued a frightening amount of experience with these enemies over the last couple of days, and he thought he knew their strengths rather well. He was even accustomed to fighting their evolved forms.

That's why Beam could tell, even as the beasts surrounded him, that there was something off about them.

"They're weaker…" He murmured to himself, as he flicked the blood from his sword. His comment was not about their physicality. For physically, they were just the same as the enemies he had grown to remember. But it was that weakness behind the eyes, the weakness of soul, the same thing that he had begun to sense with the Titan.

It was as though they were more frayed in that area of soul. Ingolsol could sense it too. The Dark God dared him to take command over the beasts, and slay them even as they pledged their allegiance to him.

But though Beam had decided to demonstrate his strength properly, so that Lombard would dedicate his all to the assistance that he gave him, he also knew that his curses were something that he should keep to himself.

Dominus had warned him about their seriousness all that time ago. Those who bore the Curse of Ingolsol were meant to die, lest they cause calamity around them. If it was ever discovered, the people around him would grow almost assuredly grow fearful, as they anticipated the day that he lost control of himself, and Inglsol took fully over.

Especially now that his vessel was that of a Second Boundary warrior, and he had accrued all the skills he had. He had integrated both Ingolsol and Claudia's marks into his own soul, subordinating them, making them a source of power and making them easier to control.

But the ease with which he could now control them would be ignored, instead, people would only see the danger that he posed, the danger of the bomb that he had created, and the destruction it threatened to reap.

"WATCH YOUR BACK, BOY!" One man called amongst the men. The soldiers were rooting for him as well, having guessed their Captain's intentions. None were close enough to the Captain to call him friend, but all who had fought for a time under him grew to trust him, to a degree that was exceptional even amongst the army.

Beam was already aware of what was at his back. Even if his awareness was his weakness – it wasn't that weak. Yet, as more men joined that soldier's cry, he did begin to feel the weight of that boost in morale. A different kind of strength leaked out of him, as the people called for a hero.

Beam sucked in a deep breath. One of the goblins jabbed a Gorebeast from behind with a spear, wounding it enough to force the beast for it. With how wound up the monster was, it did not snap at the goblin behind it, but merely lunged forward, directing all its anger at Beam.

Like that, the stalemate was broken, and the monsters came charging in together, crashing down like a great tidal wave.

Only this tidal wave was more of a careful net. It sought to close off all Beam's options, and ensnare him in place, in time for that fatal blow to be dealt.

With the first Gorebeast came the second, charging in from behind. Whilst the two animals lumbered in, controlling their space with their speed, the Horned Goblins read the battlefield, and controlled whatever scraps of space were left over, as the entire force came in as one, in a true encirclement.

There was none to see it, but as the soldier's cries increased in volume, purple flecks rose up into his eyes, as Claudia gave her his blessing, urging him to give the people what they asked for.

With such demands, there was only one style of combat Beam could settle for. There was no need to tempt in the Gorebeasts with his misdirection, to force them into a position such that he could offer that fatal strike. Instead, he readied his sword, declaring that he would overcome any amount of resistance that was put in his way.

The Gorebeast neared and lunged.

"CAREFUL BOY!" The soldiers all roared different pieces of advice, Judas bellowed amongst them.

"SHOW THESE TIN-HEADS WHAT YOU CAN DO, BEAM!" He bellowed, his voice far louder than the rest.

Beam moved with such speed and overwhelming force, that he could feel himself forcing the air apart. Before the Gorebeast could even near his throat, Beam moved with blinding speed, bringing his sword down in a single mighty strike.

It hit the Gorebeast where it was toughest – that iron-like snout that it had. It made such a thing look like it was made out of paper, as it tore straight through it, driving through the Gorebeast's brain, immediately killing it.

The strike didn't stop there, however. It did not slow until it had cleaved the beast straight in two, with its blood and organs spilling out altogether.

What Beam had noticed earlier – that weakness of soul – was made apparent a moment later, as the Gorebeast running from his rear flinched ever so slightly, as doubt crept into its mind, and a part of it looked to abort the attack.

In the end, it continued charging forwards, but the delay was much too late.

Arrows shot through the air, covering the Gorebeast's failure, blocking Beam's counterattack, and then two spear points ran towards Beam's chest, looking to take advantage of his lapse in attention.

He managed to defend against them all with light movements, twisting his body as minimally as was necessary to dodge. Even as he avoided all those attacks, his slight slither of a speed increase lent him more options. His sword crept out and he managed to nick a Horned Goblin on its shoulder, forcing it to drop its weapon.