While Elios got into a fight far more dangerous than his familiars could've predicted, Brad made the decision to get involved with the battle going on before him. He was now suspicious of Count Tusk, but he had a feeling that his master also had these suspicions before going on that journey so if he gave him this mission even with those thoughts, it was better for him to just obey his orders.
Unlike the ones that went to Elios' castle, there was only one opponent here who had touched the limit so Brad chose to go straight for him.
This enemy was engaged in battle with the strongest demon left in the castle town, the first wife of Count Tusk, Seres. She was a werewolf normally overflowing with grace, but in battle she was a dignified warrior with a captivating aura that could be a match for her husband's.
Even though her strikes were all blocked by her foe's gauntlets, every time her hammer made contact the entire town would shake. However, the time interval between her attacks continued to increase due to turbid emotions she felt while looking at the burning town below her.
'This, is all my fault.'
If William was still there he would assure her that that wasn't true, but she wouldn't believe him. In her mind, if she hadn't been weak and cried when that demon took their child hostage, he wouldn't have chosen to betray his friend and his other comrades.
And even after that, if she had been more proactive when it came to preparing for battle despite the demon saying that the attack would just be for show, this nightmarish scene could have been averted.
'I should have stopped him. If only I had stopped him.'
The rest of their family had evacuated just in case, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt her heart every time she saw one of the loyal knights, soldiers or innocents die because of her carelessness. However, she had no choice but to somehow push back the enemy forces for now. As long as William made it back their situation would get better.
'Please, you have to come back!'
The burst of motivation she felt from thinking about her husband allowed Seres to slam the hammer down with astonishing force behind it. But all of that force only went through the floor as the cloaked figure took a step out of its path.
While the floor trembled from her attack, her foe stepped on the head of hammer and kept it stuck in the floor as he thrust his fist towards her chest. Seres barely managed to put up one hand to block the blow, but she was still sent flying without her weapon.
As she repeatedly crashed through walls Seres felt herself slow down and she prepared to stop her flight by slamming her feet on the ground, but then her foe suddenly appeared in front of her and unleased a barrage of punches that forced her to think only of how to defend.
After finishing off with a kick, Seres was knocked out of the castle and her furry figure rolled through the rubble of the city.
"Countess!"
"Don't lose focus!"
Despite shouting her reply as soon as she could, Seres still caught sight of about four men losing their lives in the brief moment they expressed worry for her.
'Damn it!'
She felt the rising desire to clean up the enemy forces here, but her opponent didn't allow her that chance.
Without any magic, he jumped from the castle and landed firmly on the ground before slowly approaching. Seres couldn't help but think that he was looking down on her, but she also thought that he had the right to do so.
Still, she couldn't lose without at least taking one enemy with her.
Seres wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her finger and then hunched her back. Her black fur started turning red from the roots and continued to the tips. In addition to the change in her fur colour, a red glint also appeared in her eyes.
She seemed to be on the brink of entering a 'Berserk' state, but still had her sanity because this skill was something far more dangerous. Rather than Berserk that simply dragged out more power in exchange for your mental clarity, this skill sacrificed life force for power.
The power granted was more than Berserk and your rationality still remained, but using this skill once was enough to severely shorten your life span and could potentially cripple you. This was the forbidden trump card of the werewolf tribe, Blood Ignition.
Already aware of this trump card, the cloaked figure wasn't surprised by her transformation. He took a secure stance and waited for her to attack.
The fact that he already knew about this skill was another disadvantage, but Seres was determined to make up for it.
When she lunged at him and swung her right paw, despite seeing it coming he was a step too late and three tears were opened in his cloak. From the tears, dark brown armour could be seen but no blood.
Even so, she saw this as her chance and pushed ahead with her offense. However, after that first hit her opponent quickly got used to her new speed and didn't get hit a single other time.
'Damn it. Damn it! Damn it!!!'
As her time limit approached, Seres felt the itch of impatience. Her swings were wider and her breath grew ragged. Even if he didn't attack her anymore she would eventually die if she kept this up, but Seres still couldn't escape the delusion of landing one good strike. And it seemed as if fate chose to reward her efforts.
"Tsk."
While taking a step back, the cloaked figure stumbled on a piece of rubble. Without a second thought, Seres pounced at him with jaws eager to clamp down on his head, but beneath the cloak the man smiled.
Even though another piece of his cloak was torn, the man barely avoided her lunge and got himself into a steady stance under her.
'No!'
There was nothing she could do to dodge or block this blow so Seres clenched her teeth as if braced for the heavy impact, but the cloaked man was the one who was hit instead.
"Hope you don't mind me cutting in."
A sudden blur collided with the man and knocked him from under Seres. As soon as she landed, Seres growled at the newcomer but found her body trembling as she glared at him.
It was a well-built handsome young man, but to a werewolf like her, he was like a child. But much more so than the leader of the enemy force, he felt dangerous.
After making his shocking entrance with a smirk, Brad turned to the seven-feet tall wolf.
"I'll handle things here."
Though he sounded carefree Seres couldn't help feeling like she had been given an irrefutable order. She wondered who this young man was but after speaking he went after the cloaked figure who had smashed into the wreakage of a building.
He was still distraught over how much his arm hurt just from blocking Brad's initial blow, but he quickly prepared himself when he saw Brad coming at him.
He evaded the punch that went at his face and jumped back when Brad went after his legs, but he had to put up his guard when Brad kicked him while he was in mid-air.
He was sent flying once more, but this time he quickly got his feet back on the ground and ignored his pain. However, as Brad caught up to him and released an unending barrage of punches and kicks, the man felt his body reaching its limit.
'It's not above the limit so how is he capable of doing so much damage to me?'
The man wondered if the physical resistance from Summit of Defence wasn't activating, but there was no way to find out. After taking a strong hit from Brad, he opened some distance between them and slammed his palms on the ground to bend the earth to his will.
The ground stretched and tried to pierce or wrap around Brad, but he walked unhindered. Even if the earth tried to restrict him, he could break free just by flexing his muscles.
"What a monst-"
The man was so astonished by Brad's feat that he was late to react to a foot flying at him. The man hastily used Permeability that came with Summit of Defence, but he still felt the kick clearly make contact. In his haste he had forgotten that the Summit of Strength title would invalidate the attack damage nullification of his skill.
When he felt the full force of Brad's kick, the man realized that his title had indeed been working but his opponent was too strong.
After he stopped bouncing and rolling on the ground, the man looked at Brad in horror as he vomited blood along with a few of his teeth.
"I guess this is it, huh?"
As a trained elite he didn't run in fear, but he did panic. The man, desperate for a chance to counterattack, transformed into a giant winged demon with horns and shiny black skin and lunged at Brad hoping to catch him off guard.
"So you were a gargoyle. Then this really is your best."
Without a hint of wariness, Brad simply dragged back his hand and gave the gargoyle a solid uppercut that blew a hole straight through its head. With gore and dark blood coming down like rain he looked at the rest of the battlefield and asked, "Who's next?"