TALES OF A WITCHER - Season 8 Episode 67

The noisy field quietened down suddenly.

No one could have expected that Lorgar would have fallen into a disadvantage so soon after the fighting began. From the looks of this round, Princess Lorgar of the Wildflame clan was definitely wounded heavily.

Only Ashes knew that she had not used her full power in that attack. At that moment she struck Wolf Girl, the other party had already speedily retreated backward and had slightly curled her body. Therefore the attack was not taken at a full blow. In the face of a heavy blow, Lorgar consciously avoided being in the scope of the enemy’s attack. This indicated that even if she had not experienced the real battle of life and death, at least she had put in a lot of efforts in training.

The girl fell to the ground and rolled around for two laps. Her body rapidly started to inflate, causing the clothes on her body to get torn to shreds. Her smooth skin exposed was covered by the fluffy light yellow mane.

“Um… she looks different from Maggie.” Ashes pondered. “Fat Pigeon wraps herself up with hair and then transforms into a bird species, so this could be considered a purely physical change. No wonder she chooses to fight barefoot before, as she knows that every time she animalizes into a beast, she’ll ruin a pair of shoes. That will be a heavy burden even for a big clan.”

By contrast, Maggie was much more economical. Not only would she not damage her clothes, but she could also wrap her package in her hair and most of the time that meant she could carry an extra luggage.

“Ow ow ow woo—!”

When Lorgar stopped rolling, her body had completely changed its appearance.

A huge desert wolf appeared on the platform. Ashes had seen these wolves with yellow fur on her way to and from the Land of Fire. Compared to the snow wolves at Western Region, their fur was not only stubby and hard, but they were also thinner in shape. After sunset, their eyes would occasionally emit a green light, and they constantly had an insatiable look. Obviously, they led different lives from their same kind in the Misty Forest. Other than the lack of rich rations, they also faced the threat of other brutal predators.

But this wolf in front of her was way too large.

Even a horse would be dwarfed beside her. Just her limbs alone were already half a head higher than Ashes. If Lorgar stood on her hind legs, that would be the height of two adult men.

And her severely damaged nose was also reflected in the animalized body. The cocked bridge of her nose had a collapsed part, and the nostrils also blew out hot air and streaks of fresh blood.

Lorgar howled loudly and caused the onlookers at Sand Nation to gasp in astonishment. Not only Ashes, but it was the first time for everyone around to witness the changing process of the strongest goddess in the Southernmost Region. It was natural for them to feel great pressure and fear standing under such a burly body.

Without waiting for their inhaling sounds to subside, Wolf Girl sprang forward toward Ashes again.

This time Ashes looked more serious, as the latter’s speed had almost reached the level of the God’s Punishment Warriors. And with such a huge figure, its power certainly could not be underestimated.

She avoided Lorgar’s thrust by moving aside and immediately realized that she had made the wrong move.

Wolf Girl’s range after animalizing was too wide. Compared with the God’s Punishment Army warrior that had the same size as common people, she often only needed to move one step to dodge the attack. And with two or three steps she could even counterattack. But for the giant beast, the number of steps needed to be increased at least several times.

Right now, Ashes barely avoided the attack, before the other party struck with her right claw and hit her like a huge wall.

“Boom—!”

Being unable to avoid the attack, she had no choice but to lift her arms to block the attack head-on.

Although the collision gave both sides exactly the same impact, the advantages of body shape at this moment were very clear. Lorgar’s whole body trembled due to the impact, while Ashes was completely thrown out flying.

…

Under the platform, Echo could not help grabbing Andrea’s wrist. “Ashes… Will she be alright?”

After animalizing into a huge beast, the situation was reversed. Princess Lorgar of the Wildflame clan kept pursuing Ashes, and the latter could only use most of her energy to defend and dodge with almost no way of fighting back.

Although both were unarmed, each of their kicks and punches was as sharp as an iron hammer at this level. Several wounds appeared on Ashes’s body, and the blood gradually dyed her robes red.

“Don’t worry, an attack like this won’t cost her her life. She still hasn’t given all her force.” Andrea continued and said, “Ashes may not have many strengths, but she is exceptional at resisting attacks.”

“Not yet given her… all?” Echo was startled and said, “But she’s obviously panting, and she doesn’t look at all relaxed!”

“Do you know the Extraordinary Training Method during the Taquila age?” Andrea asked in return.

“No, what’s that?”

“It’s a way to speed up the consumption of magic power so that one can be in training mode all the time… According to His Majesty Roland, this was both ancient and inefficient, hence it would be better to study two more books to analyze how muscles and bones can convert chemical energy into mechanical energy.” She chuckled and said, “But I think for someone with the intelligence of Ashes, she might be particularly suitable for this stupid method—after all, letting her read a book was simply too difficult.”

“Is that so?” Echo widened her mouth in surprise.

“Of course,” said Andrea gracefully while she smoothened the ends of her hair. “Look, she’s going to fight back.”

…

As soon as Ashes managed to distance herself from her opponent, she pulled out a black tape from within her arms.

“What’s that?” said Lorgar, who stopped in her tracks and shouted, “is that a weapon?”

The crowd was also stirred up.

The agreement of the holy duel was sanctioned by the Three Gods and deserters would be eternally spurned. So no one violated this even if it was not checked by anyone.

Ashes smiled and casually threw the cloth strap on the ground. It looked like a waist strap, but it made a dull crash when it fell on the ground as if she had thrown a heavy stone, instead of a gentle piece of cloth.

Wolf Girl’s howlings suddenly contracted.

However, this was not the only burden.

Then she crouched down and took the two pieces of black tape that were tied to her ankles.

They looked ordinary but were handmade by Soraya. If they were ordinary fabrics, even the most sturdy canvas would not last more than a week. The cloth strap was divided into three layers. The innermost one was hollow, and filled with special iron bars. Each short part weighed about ten pounds. The cloth strap for the waist would be equivalent to the weight of carrying an adult person.

When she stood up again, she felt her whole body full of strength again and the long-lost sense of ease once again returned to her body.

“Extraordinaries wear this kind of thing to practice. The faster the magic is consumed, the stronger the body gets.” Ashes still remembered what Agatha said at that time. “Even many people bring them to the battlefield, and at the most crucial moment, the most unexpected power could be released. If all went well and you persisted for five to six years, you could even hope to break through the body’s shackles and become a Transcendent.”

And now, just over a year and three months have passed.