Grim stood in the center of the destroyed barracks. Bodies lay scattered around him in concentric circles.
The sll of blood and burnt wood filled the air.
Sixty-eight elves dead. Sixty-eight new pairs of ears for his collection.
But more kept coming.
"Form ranks!" an officer shouted from across the courtyard. "Surround him! Don’t let him escape!"
Grim smiled coldly. Echo blazed with aurora energy as he prepared for the next wave.
"I’m not trying to escape," he called back. "I’m trying to collect more trophies."
The elves advanced in coordinated formations. Shield walls, spear ranks, and archer support from elevated positions.
It wouldn’t be enough.
Grim had felt his aurora mana stronger since he left the divine realm. He could feel more power and with it, he felt sothing was different.
He felt a call and answered instinctively.
"Aurora Flash: Radiant Cleave," Grim announced.
The horizontal wave of energy swept through the first rank of elven shields. tal, wood, and flesh parted like water before him.
Grim had created a new technique. He was shocked, but thrilled.
Twenty more elves died in seconds.
"Impossible," soone whispered.
"He’s not human."
"Keep fighting!" the officer commanded. "Overwhelm him with numbers!"
But the elves were starting to break. Fear crept into their voices. Their formations beca less coordinated.
That’s when Grim heard the sound he’d been waiting for.
Steel rang against steel from the direction of the prison complex. Soone was fighting elven guards near the prisoner extraction point.
Huangyan was in trouble.
"Captain Wei!" Grim shouted toward his team’s positions. "Support the extraction!"
"On our way!" ca the reply from the darkness.
Grim needed to increase the pressure on the main force. Draw every available elf to his position.
Ti for maximum chaos.
"Aurora Flash: Sundering Storm," he called out.
Grim was confused, but happy. These techniques entered his mind and he followed them like a training video.
Multiple waves of energy erupted from his sword. They swept outward in all directions, cutting through buildings, equipnt, and enemies quickly.
The elven camp’s center beca a crater of destruction.
Forty more elves fell to the technique. But the real impact was psychological. Entire buildings had been reduced to rubble. The camp’s infrastructure was collapsing.
"Retreat!" soone scread. "Fall back to secondary positions!"
"Hold your ground!" a new voice commanded.
Grim turned toward the voice and found himself facing Commander Thalorin himself.
The elven commander stood at the edge of the destruction. His armor was more elaborate than the others. His sword glowed with powerful enchantnts.
"So you’re the Butcher," Thalorin said calmly. "The human who thinks he can destroy centuries of elven military might."
"I don’t think I can," Grim replied. "I know I can."
"Arrogant. Typical of your kind."
"Successful. Typical of mine."
Thalorin drew his enchanted blade. The weapon humd with contained power.
"I am Commander Thalorin of the Eastern March. I have served in twelve campaigns. Killed three hundred enemies in single combat."
"Impressive," Grim admitted. "I’ve killed ninety-six elves in the past two weeks."
"And now you face soone who can fight back."
Thalorin launched himself forward with inhuman speed. His blade traced patterns of green fire through the air.
Grim barely managed to parry the first strike. The impact sent shockwaves through Echo’s steel.
This was different. This elf was actually dangerous.
The commander’s blade moved in flowing combinations. Each strike flowed into the next without pause. His footwork was perfect. His timing was flawless.
Grim gave ground steadily as Thalorin pressed his attack.
"Not so confident now," the commander observed.
"Just getting ward up," Grim replied.
He fed more aurora energy into Echo. The blade’s glow intensified until it was painful to look at directly.
"Aurora Flash: Piercing Light," Grim called out.
The focused beam of energy lanced toward Thalorin’s heart. The commander twisted aside, but the technique still grazed his shoulder.
"Lucky strike," Thalorin said. But his voice carried less confidence.
"Skill. Not luck."
They clashed again in the center of the destroyed barracks. Steel t steel in a shower of sparks. Aurora energy fought against elven enchantnts.
Thalorin was fast, skilled and experienced.
But Grim was stronger. And he was getting tired of this fight.
"Ti to end this," Grim muttered.
He activated his Celestial Mist technique and vanished from Thalorin’s sight.
"Coward!" the commander shouted. "Face directly!"
"I am facing you."
Grim’s voice ca from behind Thalorin. Echo swept in a horizontal arc aid at the elf’s neck.
Thalorin spun and caught the blade on his sword’s guard. But the impact drove him to one knee.
"Impossible. You moved faster than—"
"Faster than you can track," Grim finished. "Yes."
The next exchange was brutal. Grim pressed his advantage with enhanced speed and strength. His techniques ca faster than Thalorin could counter.
A cut across the ribs. Another along the thigh. A thrust that punched through shoulder.
Thalorin bled from a dozen wounds, but he refused to fall.
"I will not... be defeated... by a human," he gasped.
"You already have been."
"Lord Ambrose!" Captain Wei’s voice carried across the courtyard.
Grim turned to see his imperial soldiers approaching. Captain Wei and Sergeant Liu moved through the elven dead with professional efficiency.
"Status report," Grim called out.
"Periter secured," Captain Wei replied. "Most of the elven forces are dead or scattered."
"Where’s Sergeant Zhang?"
"Supporting the extraction team. They encountered heavy resistance near the prison."
"Casualties?"
"None on our side. Can’t say the sa for the elves."
Sergeant Liu kicked over an elven corpse. "How many is that now, my lord?"
Grim hefted his collection of ears. "One hundred pairs. Plus change."
"The camp is finished," Captain Wei observed.
Around them, fires burned throughout the camp. Bodies lay scattered across every courtyard. The proud elven military base had been reduced to smoking ruins.
"Not finished," Grim corrected.
In the distance, they could hear the sounds of pursuit teams organizing. Scattered elven forces were regrouping for a final assault.
"Let them co," Grim said. "I’m just getting started."
But before the next wave could attack, new explosions erupted from the camp’s eastern section. Sergeant Zhang’s demolition charges were destroying the remaining infrastructure.
"Sir!" Sergeant Liu pointed toward the treeline. "Movent!"
Grim squinted through the smoke and flas. Figures were erging from the forest. Five people moving toward the rally point.
Huangyan led the group. Behind her ca four prisoners. One of them had distinctive red hair.
"Extraction successful," Captain Wei reported with satisfaction.
"Then our work here is done," Grim said.
He looked around the destroyed camp one final ti.
"Fall back to the rally point," Grim ordered. "We have what we ca for."
As they moved toward the forest, pursuit teams finally reached the courtyard where Grim had made his stand.
The elves stopped in horror at what they found.
Their commander was left for dead. Their camp was destroyed. Their prisoners were gone.
And in the center of it all, painted in elven blood, was a ssage written in the common tongue:
"The Butcher was here."
By the ti the pursuit teams organized, Grim and his forces had vanished into the forest with their rescued prisoners.
Behind them, the elven camp burned like a funeral pyre for two hundred dead soldiers.
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