Chapter 67: Moga vs Baktou
In the shadows, two villagers appointed by Baktou stood watchful, guarding the front door of a mysterious mine that surprised their enemies.
The wooden wall stood proudly surrounding the village preventing anyone from entering, so unless they tried to climb the wall or break it, none of them had the ability to enter it.
Moga, known for his cunning and stealth hunting abilities, crept silently through the underbrush, his eyes glinting with malevolence.
With swift, deadly precision, he and his fellow rogues ambushed the unsuspecting guards, dragging them into the obscurity of the bush and ending their lives with cold, calculating ruthlessness by snapping their necks.
"What is this place? How did they do all this?" One of Moga's underlings questioned, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of innovativeness in the mine.
With the path to the hut clear, Moga and his lackeys cautiously approached the rustic wooden structure. The air was heavy with tension as they pushed open the creaking door and stepped inside. What they found inside left them all stunned.
Moga's sharp eyes scanned the room, taking in the bizarre scene before him. People, both young and old, were hard at work, their faces etched with exhaustion, as they chipped away at the rugged rocks that littered the space.
The walls of the hut were adorned with strange, shimmering light, and the air hummed with otherworldly energy.
One of Moga's lackeys whispered, "Moga, are you sure these are humans like us? How can they do all these things?"
Moga, equally baffled, replied in hushed tones, "I have no idea, but whatever it is, it's worth waiting to find out. Let's observe and learn before we make our move."
They hid in the shadows, watching the workers toil away in the dim light of flickering lanterns that were built with old coconut shells.
The mysterious activities in the hut had piqued their curiosity, and Moga couldn't shake the feeling that they had stumbled upon something much bigger than they could have ever imagined.
As he watched the workers meticulously chipping away at the rocks, he couldn't help but wonder about the nature of these stones they were collecting. They didn't look like any ordinary rocks he had ever seen. They shimmered with an unearthly colour, and their significance remained a puzzle to him.
Another detail struck him as odd – there were no women among the workers. He whispered to one of his companions, "Have you noticed? There are no women here. How can these people survive without women?"
Just as he pondered these questions, his sharp eyes caught sight of a man who seemed to be the leader of the operation. This man had jet-black hair and an aura of authority about him, even though he looked rather young to be a leader. Moga decided that capturing him might provide some answers.
He quietly relayed his plan to his fellow rogues, and they prepared to make their move.
"There are too many people here, so we should first take a healthy approach and kill all of them. Once they are dead, we will capture the leader and questions about this place."
Moga gave the signal, and his men swiftly attacked the hut, catching the workers off guard. Their orders were clear: kill anyone who resisted and capture the black-haired leader.
One by one, Moga's underlings started to hunt innocent miners that were working, until Baktou felt something was wrong. Noticing the absence of guards that were protecting the entrance, he quickly ordered a few of his people to search for what was going on.
As chaos erupted within the hut, Moga, with the element of surprise on his side, lunged at the black-haired boy, attempting to take him down. However, the boy proved to be quicker than expected.
He dodged Moga's initial attack, but not before Moga managed to strike him with a rock, damaging one of his eyes.
"Ahhhhh~ my eye!" Baktou shouted holding one of his eyes.
He stumbled back, clutching his wounded eye in pain, but he managed to maintain his composure. With a growl, he locked eyes with Moga and demanded, "How did you enter this place? Who are you people? Surrender now and drop all the tools,"
Moga was taken aback by the boy's resilience and refusal to submit. He knew that the pressure of his attack should be enough to crush the head of a Steppe Bison.
"He is strong!" Moga muttered to himself while getting more and more cautious about it.
In a split second, the boy grabbed a nearby rock and hurled it in Moga's direction with startling speed, warning him that he should prepare to meet his end for daring to intrude upon their sanctuary.
The tension in the hut escalated as both sides braced themselves for what would come next, their encounter shrouded in mystery and uncertainty.
The confrontation between the black-haired boy and the muscular man escalated quickly into a brutal fight. The boy initially relied on his strength, attempting to overpower his opponent, but soon realized that this man was not an enemy he could defeat with raw power alone.
"Damn it! You wild animal." Frustrated by the extraordinary opponent, Baktou shouted and tried to hit Moga's shoulder to dislocate it, but he quickly evaded Baktou's attack with precise speed.
With uncanny agility, he closed the gap between them in an instant, his fingers gripping Baktou's hips with a vice-like grip. The suddenness of the move caught Baktou off guard, leaving him momentarily stunned as he struggled to break free from Moga's unyielding hold.
"You're strong! Too strong, I want to have you under my control, but I can already see in your eyes that you're not someone that I can tame," Moga muttered to him, showing he was getting ready to do something.
And soon with astonishing strength, the muscular man effortlessly lifted the boy and hurled him across the hut.
Fortunately, the boy collided with a pile of rocks, sustaining minor injuries compared to the damage inflicted on him by the formidable opponent, but it was still enough to limit his strength. As he lay among the rocks, he remembered Garnt's words about the tools they used in the mine.
With a plan forming in his mind, Baktou crawled towards a nearby stone crusher. These devices were used to break down the stones in the mine until the iron tools were made. They look rather small like a dagger, but need considerable strength to wield.
Baktou kept his intentions hidden, waiting for the right moment to strike, as he kept the tool hidden behind him.
When Moga got close enough, he sprang into action, attacking the muscular man with the stone crusher. The element of surprise worked in his favour, and the crushing blow sent the man reeling, with one of his teeth shattering upon impact.
"Did it work?" Baktou wondered feeling the sensation of the attack travelling through his body.
Despite his own injuries and the pain coursing through his body, Baktou was determined to finish the dangerous opponent before him. He raised the weapon, prepared to deliver a deadly blow.
"This is over," He muttered and lowered his stone crusher.
However, the muscular man, his face contorted with madness, blood oozing from his head, nose, and mouth, suddenly seized the weapon with incredible force using his bare hands. The boy struggled but was ultimately forced to let go of the weapon.
"That hurts! You dumb kid," Moga shouted throwing a broken tooth out of his mouth.
As he backed away from the crazed man, the boy realized that more than half of his own men had fallen at the hands of the Moga's men. Panic surged within him as he saw the attackers closing in on the remaining members of his group.
'No! No! They can't die, these are our valuable members of our village'
He thought looking at the dead bodies. And because of how shocked he was, Baktou made a stupid and desperate decision.
He abandoned his one-on-one battle and rushed to protect his fellow miners, determined to eliminate the smaller threats before it was too late.
"Idiot!" Moga shouted as he turned his back to the enemy. Just as he did, Moga attacked Baktou. Baktou was hit in the head by the strong man that followed him, and he lost consciousness, remembering Garnt's words and asking him not to face backwards toward the enemy.
'Ahhh~ brother!'
As he slipped into unconsciousness, Baktou managed to mumble a weak apology towards Garnt, regretting his reckless actions.
"Garnt! I'm sorry- I was incompetent," He paused and kneeled on the spot holding his head. "Unami, I wanted to see your children with Garnt, but it looks like I won't be able to,"
Moga seeing his opponent holding his head in pain, decided to finish it so he dealt the final blow that was less powerful than his earlier attacks.
"Now let's see what this place is about! Search for women and food. And tie everyone to these trees."
With the newly found mine, Garnt's village became an enemy camp, occupied by some gnarly men waiting to prey on anyone who approached them.