The once intense battle between the ogres and beastmen of the settlement, combined with the red-scaly creatures versus the trolls, came to a halt at the arrival of eleven more trolls that had suddenly appeared at the edge of the forest. None of the other trolls made a move either, and the red-scaly creatures had retreated behind the carriages before anyone had noticed. Albert stopped the pursuit of the three trolls, who were slowly retreating back to what was most likely their leader.
Although they were not as smart as other humanoid monsters, they were still better off than other trolls. They didn't seem to mind the death of their kin, most likely because they knew their leader was watching and were confident in his strength against these opponents.
Albert didn't like the look of this, and the sneer on the trolls' ugly faces as they retreated was evident that they were still looking down on them, even after being on the losing side of this battle. Trolls valued strength more than anything and would only acknowledge those who wielded it, so it was probably natural for them to disregard the weak ones amongst themselves.
Although normally they would have fun fighting or massacring weaker opponents when they went hunting for food, they didn't mind going up against stronger opponents as well. Gray Trolls were especially more vicious and sadistic. Having successfully withstood the corruption of undead creatures, ordinary cave trolls had evolved into Gray Trolls with greater resistance to fear and a slight increase in their cognitive functions, as well as higher dexterity and battle strength.
They would only show fear and respect to those who could completely suppress them.
The leader of this group of trolls, a Gray-War Troll, caught the hilt of his hamaxe and spun it around by the chain while leisurely walking toward the group with his entourage in tow. The beast had an air of dominance around him and carried himself with confidence and what might constitute as dignity for a troll. The ten trolls around him were also vastly different from the others they had seen so far. They wielded bone weapons from unknown creatures that could be passed as swords, maces, clubs, and some even wore them as parts of armor.
The War Troll strolled to the battlefield at his own pace, and once the three trolls had retreated to his side, he slammed one of them in the head with the side of his hamaxe, causing what would be a fatal wound for most races. However, as a troll, the wound quickly healed as its regeneration ability kicked in. The Gray-War Troll snorted, then ignored the scared faces of the other two and stopped just a few meters away from Tyler, who was now at the front of the battlefield after switching places with Azar.
Of course, Albert had immediately ordered his team to pull back when Tyler had decided to step in, and the only one remotely close to him now was Liz and Albert himself. Erin still remained at the carriage side, healing those who had gotten injured in the battle as much as she could while conserving her mana.
The ten trolls that appeared with the Gray-War Troll spread out to form a semicircle around the group in an attempt to box them in place, with their carriages acting as a wall behind them.
The Gray-War Troll swept his gaze around the battlefield before locking his eyes on both Albert and Tyler. "Ku ku ku, for you to be able to see through my camouflage shows you have some skills. You were even able to block my initial attack. Not bad, not bad. My blood is boiling in anticipation. However, you're still weak." He turned to glance at Liz before staring at the distant Erin and made a sound of chuckling.
"Did you think you could hide from me? Keeping your strongest fighter in the rear is a coward's tactic. Ku ku ku... No matter, I am going to kill you all anyway. Your bones will make excellent weapons for my men."
Returning its gaze back to Albert, Tyler, and Liz, it spoke again, raising its head high. "Since the three of you are the strongest here, you can all attack me at once. As a show of respect for your bravery, I will not permit any interference from my tribe." It spoke with a hoarse and slightly broken voice that seemed like it hadn't used its voice for a while now.
Tyler had completely ignored the beast ranting in front of him and was staring at the massive blade he was holding as he was in the midst of his thoughts. It's light, way lighter than it should be. Does this blade have any weight reduction enchantments attached to it? Even so, it shouldn't be this light, right? Then again, I did take care of those magic beasts a lot easier than I thought, and I know my speed and body control is nothing to scoff at. The only issue is my magic. I didn't do any proper mage training in the past and only used my innate ability... Huh, speaking of my innate ability, do I still have it? With my current level, shouldn't something like Potential Break be a proper overpowered ability—
"Insolence!"
He didn't get a chance to finish his thoughts when the Gray-War Troll snapped from being ignored and threw its hamaxe again. "Ice Wall," Liz pronounced, and a massive wall of ice shattered in front of Tyler as the hamaxe fell helplessly to the ground.
"How dare you, bunch of weaklings, ignore the mighty Kadiz Ral Ke Lizor!" Kadiz bellowed as dark grey mist started to expel from its skin. The other trolls around him took a step back, and then several, trying not to get caught up in Kadiz's attack. Tyler saw the Gray-War Troll preparing to attack and thought again. Damn, I lost my train of thought. What was I just thinking of? Anyway, I shouldn't just stand here and do nothing. Magic is unstable, and any minor mishaps would leave me incapacitated, and I still don't trust anyone here to help me if that happens. So, I suppose close-quarter combat is my only option.
Tyler raised his head to look at the large Gray-War Troll in front of him. This guy seems strong, should be almost as strong as those magic beasts, right? He should be even more challenging than them. Since it looks like it has a lot more battle experience than me, this might be good for me and also a way to gauge how strong I've become so I can make more effective plans in the future.
Tyler's lips curled up slightly into a smile as he gripped the two-handed sword he was wielding with one hand tightly. "Alright, I'll play with you for a bit," Tyler said tauntingly at the War Troll, who was now swinging his hamaxe by the chain like a fan above its head. The troll's anger grew, and its aura intensified as it continued to bellow. "Rodents like you dare look down upon the great Kadiz, the left hand to Mighty Zerahut of the Four Kings!"
Albert's eyes twitched upon hearing that but quickly returned to normal as Tyler then gave him an order for the first time since he had sworn himself to him, making him feel a little relieved as he happily obeyed and retreated back to the carriage alongside Liz. The Gray-War Troll roared as it used the created momentum from the intense spins and sent the hamaxe flying at Tyler with greater power than it had so far.
Tyler then stabbed the greatsword into the ground before speaking. "First test, strength." As soon as he finished speaking, a massive impact reverberated in the field like a massive explosion had just gone off. Dust and dirt were kicked into the air, making visibility difficult.
The War Troll withdrew his weapon and chuckled with his hoarse voice. "Did you really think that such weak arms would withstand the full-powered attack from the great Kadiz... ku ku ku..." The other trolls behind it started laughing alongside the War Troll, and most of the red-scaled creatures were panicking. If these people were to lose, they would have nowhere to run, as the trolls blocked the entrance to the forest, and they would only be used as target practice out in the plains.
The winged scaled creature approached Albert and asked in a low and shaky voice that projected the terror they had been through. "H-hey... s-shouldn't... we run? He might be d-dead?" Albert turned his head to look down at the female creature and asked, "Your kind are called kobolds, correct?"
"Ah, yes... sorry, we should have said something earlier."
"It's fine. Now is not the time. And about my master, I understand your worry since trolls are your natural enemies, but there is no need to fear. If they somehow manage to kill my master, then there is no way we would be able to escape from them," Albert said confidently. He was definitely weaker than his master, so if the Gray-War Troll was somehow stronger than him, even with the help of Erin, there was nothing they could do to escape.
Of course, he hadn't factored in Liz's strength since he wasn't too sure of it either, but he was positive his master was stronger.
The female kobold gulped at that and turned her gaze toward the dust that was about to settle down. The laughter from the trolls ceased, with looks of shock now fully plastered on their faces as they saw the young man still standing in his prior position with an arm extended outward to support the greatsword in front of him.
The Gray-War Troll frowned. He didn't understand how a puny man with no aura could possibly survive that attack. He then heard the young man speak again. "Strength test. Data insufficient. You need to try harder, oh great Ka-Diz..." Tyler said as he smiled at the troll. He had watched the other trolls fight and could roughly gauge their strength, so he expected this War Troll to be at least twice the strength of an ordinary troll. Which meant he was now stronger than a Gray-War Troll since he withstood its attack and barely felt it.
He had already confirmed his speed against Liz, so there was no point in doing that now, and although he wanted to test his vitality, he would have to do that privately. Now all he needed was to gain some battle experience against higher-level fighters like this Gray-War Troll, who was a warrior, unlike the other trolls who had just been relying on their very sharp battle instincts. This Gray-War Troll was one that had evolved after going through countless battles and developing its battle prowess.
The Gray-War Troll, hearing the mocking tone of the young man, forgot his worries as his heart boiled with anger, and it dashed at Tyler with mad eyes. Tyler pulled out the greatsword from the ground and readied himself to learn as quickly as possible, as they were still in a hurry. The troll jumped high in the air, and the grey mist or smoke that engulfed its hamaxe expanded into a projection of a giant hamaxe that was larger than the troll's massive body. The beast then swung the projection at Tyler from above.
Tyler couldn't think of any skillful way to counter the attack, and since he had no secret techniques of his own—having failed to learn them in the past—he decided to use a basic skill most swordsmen knew: an Uppercut Slash. With a light swing of his blade upwards, the misty projection of a hamaxe shattered from only the wind pressure.
The Gray-War Troll was dumbfounded, but its battle instinct allowed it to recover quickly and immediately twisted itself in the air, preparing another strike. With a diagonal swing of its extended weapon, with the momentum it gained from the wind pressure that had shattered its last attack, it sent an intense slash of dark grey energy straight at Tyler.
'Grievance Slash.'
Tyler, on the other hand, wasn't interested in such attacks. He wanted an intense physical battle, not an exchange of skills. He swung the greatsword lightly to meet the attack, and the wind pressure sliced through the aura as it headed for Kadiz. Kadiz quickly brought his weapon to his chest to block the attack. However, the force was beyond his expectations, and without any foothold in the air, his body was sent flying back by the impact.
"I don't have much time to waste, so it's high time you get serious so we can end this."
The other trolls watching the battle had slack jaws as they watched their leader being toyed with. They may not be the brightest bunch, but they could recognize true strength when they saw it. Kadiz tumbled several times on the ground before stopping. He picked himself up and stared at the man in front of him in disbelief. His eyes drained of his previous arrogance.