Chapter 19: Offspring of Thorondor
Translated by: Chua
Edited by: TN and Elkassar
The world was always filled with surprises. In the eyes of everyone, Sheyan was trying his utmost to flee, yet suddenly in the twinkling of an eye, he did a somersault; his twin legs pushing off against a stalactite beside, propelling him towards the last ocean-freak instead! His plan all along was to capture the king while feigning to capture the thief!
This sudden twist of motion was out of the ocean-mystery’s consideration. It had personally witnessed the cruel deaths of its counterparts, a like-minded distress had since plagued it. Naturally, the alarmed ocean-freak revolved its tentacles frantically in retreat, commanding the remaining orcs to cover it. They had to stop this fearsome human at all cost!
Simultaneously as it retreated backwards, its compounded eye blasted out flashes of rays, releasing 6 terrifying beams. This instantly halted Sheyan’s advances as he dodged to the side, but still got struck by two rays. Two more negative buffs were bestowed onto him – movement speed drop by 15%, attack speed by 15%! Furthermore, his health had plunged beneath a dangerous state. Rolling to the side, he immediately took cover behind a stalactite; preventing another array of beams from firing against him as he panted heavily.
In his wretchedly pitiful state, searing waves of burning sensation sizzled from his wounded spots. Yet in this crucial instance, the searing pain fueled his fighting spirit, his lips curled into a malicious smile. His thinking became clearer, precisely grasping the current battlefield situation. Naturally, though the enemies were superior in strength, under his invisible guidance, they had already fallen into his tempo!
Because when Sheyan attracted the attention of the ocean-freak, Reef wasn’t idling. He rushed towards the bound captives; using his immensely impenetrable silver ‘Alien Skull’ shield to cover himself, he sliced his lightsaber down onto their wrists. His goal was obviously to free the captives!
Black lingering after-images swerved in the air, as Reef approached the fourth captive slashing apart the black vines. A smoky roasting stench filled the air, as the captives wrist mercilessly were slightly scarred by Reef’s scorching lightsaber. Yet such minor injuries didn’t matter to the freed captives; roaring in anger, they surged towards the enemy orcs. Having witnessed their companions brutally flayed personally, they pressed in furiously with great alacrity. Undoubtedly, being able to fight to their hearts content was a form of bliss!
Seizing the confusion, Sheyan rushed back to Reef. But contrary to his expectations; although the orcs were now focused onto the incoming captives, the ocean-freak was still locked onto him. As he darted out, two glaring apathetic rays zapped in horizontally, piercing directly into his chest! Instantly, his HP dropped beneath 100 points!
Flying in mid air, his body had lost its stability!
Instead, his concentration became clearer, tolerating the burning pain as he cushioned his fall with his shoulder, making a roll on the ground; finally grabbing the corpse of that stubby orc. Simultaneously, the apathetic rays of the ocean-freak closed in on him like a shadow! A ripple of violent tremble against the corpse, followed by an unstoppable force as Sheyan was knocked flying back, before rolling several rounds on the ground; finally stopping after he crashed into the nearest glacier. His hands had turned stiff and lifeless after being struck by the rays.
The ocean-freak was a glass cannon model; if Sheyan and Reef could gain on it, they could trample on it like dried twigs. Instead, with a specific distance between them, it was like a deadly turret. Fortunately, the ocean-freak consumed MP every time it released its rays, and was unable to constantly spray them out. The orcs were currently locked in fierce combat with the furious captives. Hence, Sheyan had the luxury of a small breathing space.
Currently, the battlefield situation had been overturned to the captive’s advantage.
The most fearsome ocean-freak was being shielded by the orcs. Yet though the orcs were cannibals, the 4 captives were like rats against the corner, fighting back without restraint. If they were able to breach through the orcs, then chances of victory were great.
However, plans couldn’t escape the unpredictable changes of reality! As Sheyan fought to catch his breath and finally reunited with Reef, a melancholy howl screamed into his ears! The scream was excruciatingly sharp, like a spirit chomping against his ears with razor sharp teeth. In an instance, everyone was shook by that deafening scream. Like the world was violently jolted up.
A regiment of black clouds appeared in the horizon, its speed threateningly rapid. After coming nearer, it was actually a gargantuan fluffy, plume bird. The bird had scarlet eyes, steel like feathers, wings spreading out to dozens of metres. When it appeared, even the billowing winter winds had to had to make way for its majesty!
“Is that……an offspring of Thorondor?”
A captive cried out in despair. Thorondor, also named Sorontar, was the great eagle lord of Manwë, leader of Valar. The great eagles could speak the common tongue, and were incredibly smart. Occasionally, they would aid humans and elves. Even Sauron’s master, Morgoth the first Dark lord, had been clawed by Thorondor before.
Presently, great eagles were still dwelling in Misty Mountains, their leader was called Gwaihir. In the movies, this formidable bird species were connected to Gandalf. They were so powerful that they could even face off with the mighty fellbeasts, and finally even rescue the main leads from perishing.
Yet there was a sudden appearance of this gigantic bird now. But from its exterior, although it was almost identical to the great eagles, it carried a greater viciousness. It seemed like a mix breed between the great eagles and another kind of raptor. Based on the fact that a matured great eagle could face off with a fellbeast, this gigantic bird definitely possessed unimaginable strength!
In a twinkling of an eye, this enormous raptor swooped down and caught the ocean-freak with its sharp claws! Immediately, flinging it off the icy cliff. The ocean-freak struggled desperately, releasing volleys of rays. Yet the rays simply ricocheted off the feathers of this offspring of Thorondor.
The ocean-freak’s brains were like a water bomb. “Pam!” It burst under the grip of the steel like claws. Greyish-white liquid rained down, as this offspring of Thorondor agilely orbited amidst it, thoroughly enjoying the lustful stench of blood.
The icy gale continued brewing in, as snowflakes splatter against their faces like rice; even breathing was becoming difficult. The orcs were stunned rooted to the ground, their throats releasing a choking grunt; filled with shock and fright. They completely abandoned their opponents; stumbling as they rushed towards the stage, picking up scraps of flesh and skin. Then they flushed them into the fiery stone basin.
The flames in the basin were fueled by skin; yet because of Sheyan’s atrocities, the flames had long been extinguished. After flesh and blood blended in, an indescribable blood fragrance rose into the air. It seemed like that devilish bird loved the smell, no longer swooping down for murder as it continued hovering in the air. It appeared joyous and free.
With this sudden twist of events, the captives were all currently prone onto the ground. Their fates had changed like a dream, as they laid dumbstruck. Sheyan discovered this enormous bird was behaving strangely. Bending his back, he sprinted across the battlefield, finally rummaging through the corpse of an ocean-freak. He hurriedly stashed that mutilated clump of flesh inside his waist as he yelled out.
“Run!”
As he yelled vigorously to alert the stunned captives, the wound dealt by the ocean-freak on his chest acted up. With their assistance, the chance of breaking through the defense of the orcs and successfully escaping would be increased.
Sheyan breathed heavily, as he nodded towards Reef. Lifting up the weakened elf maiden, he started rushing towards the mountain pathway. Naturally, the other captives followed him closely. Yet for some unknown reasons, the bunch of orcs decided to continue surrounding the stone basin with fear and trepidation, utterly foregoing the fleeing captives.
The harsh winter winds whistled. The journey down was arduously long. Yet with this new found glimmer of hope, the remaining survivors ignored the bitter cold as they frantically ran. Luckily, the gene mix ‘Mucus of the Ocean-freak of Moria’ was still generating a huge boost for them, filling their bodies with energy. The captives suppressed their inner fatigue as they continued to flee desperately.
Amongst the captives, 3 humans survived, headed by a robust one-eyed brute. The other two captives were a kindhearted dwarf and an elf. It seemed like this elf wasn’t from Rivendell, and was rather arrogant and anti-social. He completely ignored the semi-conscious Melody, as he silently urged forward with huge steps.