Green Monster Epic

Chapter 7: A Narrow Victory

They stood facing each other for only a breath before Allen once again took the initiative, moving with agile steps, circling outside the range of the steel axe. Finding an opening, his longsword struck like a snake emerging from its hole, launching a sudden attack from the flank of Split Claw, where his movements were sluggish and his vision obscured.

In the nick of time, the axe in Split Claw's hand transformed into a dark shield, interrupting Allen's attack. He then retaliated with a ruthless horizontal chop aimed at Allen's current position. However, Allen had already quickly moved away after his initial strike missed, exploiting Split Claw's disadvantage of being relatively slow and dodging the counterattack.

Such a drawn-out battle might seem somewhat dull to onlookers. For example, the group of hobgoblins currently watching the duel were making strange "lulu lulu" noises. However, both Allen and Split Claw, who were in the midst of the duel, were acutely aware that each attack and counterattack was like walking on a tightrope. A moment of carelessness could lead to serious injury or even death.

Faced with the tense situation, the experienced Split Claw was no longer as impatient as he had been at the start. Compared to Allen, who was constantly moving around, he was merely continuously swinging his heavy, wide steel axe around him, turning it into a shield. This undoubtedly conserved a significant amount of stamina, so he would certainly benefit from a prolonged battle.

Allen also noticed the danger. Fine beads of sweat began to appear on his body, and his breathing gradually became rapid. All of this was telling the body's owner that it was rapidly consuming the energy stored within. Moreover, Split Claw was wearing the only complete set of full-body leather armor in the tribe. If he wanted to hit the opponent in one strike and cripple most of his mobility, he only had a few exposed vital points. This undoubtedly increased the difficulty of his attack.

Fortunately, he had eaten two roasted rats for breakfast, which could still provide him with a lot of energy for the duel. If it were anyone else in the tribe, who were either full or hungry, they would have collapsed on the ground from exhaustion after this intense activity and begged for surrender.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

Allen temporarily slowed his attacks, relying only on movements that were far more agile than Split Claw's to circle around him. At the same time, he slowly adjusted his breathing, trying to restore his physical strength to its best and accumulate energy for another burst.

Now is the time!!

Soon, Allen seized the opportunity when Split Claw made a backhand horizontal chop. Instead of dodging, he took the initiative to step forward, raised the longsword in his hand, held the hilt with one hand and placed the other on the blade, and held the sword vertically against his chest.

Because Allen had been moving around for a long time and had few opportunities to clash with him, Split Claw was somewhat lax in his attack. Therefore, the power of his attack on Allen was much weaker. By the time the opponent closed in and actively engaged him, his move was already spent and lacked support.

"Clang!!" With a loud bang, the two weapons collided, creating a string of sparks. Allen felt as if he had been hit in the chest by a giant hammer. He groaned, and a sweet, metallic taste rose in his mouth. The force of the impact almost pushed him backward, but he stubbornly resisted, bending his body into a lunge to brace himself. A clear footprint was imprinted on the simple mud ground.

Having finally seized the opportunity to counterattack, Allen would naturally not let go of this great opportunity. The 40-pound steel axe was heavy and powerful, but it also required Split Claw to actively exert force and add inertia to unleash its power. Now that Allen had suppressed his movements, it would take Split Claw a second or two to swing the steel axe around and launch an attack. This was enough time for Allen to launch a dangerous attack.

Allen dragged his right hand down, pushed the Split Claw's steel axe away from his body while pressing his left hand on the blade, and slowly aimed the tip of the longsword at Split Claw's head.

"Ah!!!!"

Allen's muscles all over his body bulged, and veins popped out as he shouted. A huge surge of energy gushed out from his heart. Allen, who had been suppressed by Split Claw's powerful strength, was now as if divinely helped, and he forcibly won this power struggle.

This was Allen's hidden trump card. More than a month ago, Allen had suddenly awakened this skill during an extreme training session. He could use a reserve of energy accumulated in his heart to unleash a huge burst of energy for less than 3 seconds. According to Allen's estimation, his own strength would be about twice its limit in these 3 seconds. Although the burst time was short, it was enough to launch a fatal blow in a life-or-death situation.

"Die!!"

The longsword was getting closer and closer to Split Claw's head. Split Claw's astonished eyes were reflected on the cold sword. But in a very short time, Split Claw regained his composure, and ferocity refilled his turbid eyes. Instead of dodging backward, he pulled back the steel axe and grabbed the sword with his left hand. As it slid, a stream of blood slowly flowed down from the blade.

And the steel axe that had broken free, though somewhat awkward under the swing of the right hand, swung a blow from the lower right.

It was obvious that Split Claw was going to play a game of mutual destruction. If Allen continued to thrust the sword with both hands, he would pay the price of possibly having his stomach ripped open by Split Claw's axe.

Faced with this scene, Allen's mind turned and came to a conclusion.

Without hesitation, he still thrust the longsword hard, while lifting his right leg forward in a lunge, using his flesh and blood to block the opponent's axe. A dull collision sound was heard, and severe pain came from his right calf. Allen swayed, but at the same time, his longsword finally pierced through Split Claw's neck.

The two men separated. Allen used the longsword as a crutch, his right leg was already unable to exert force and dragged on the ground. It took a lot of effort and time to spin around and face Split Claw behind him again.

Fortunately, Split Claw, who had just missed him, did not attack either. When Allen struggled to turn around and raised his longsword again, he suddenly found that the other was covering his throat with both hands, gasping for breath, "Uh~~~ Uh~~~," and his giant axe was casually discarded on the mud.

Allen did not soften his heart because the other seemed to have lost his fighting ability and had his back to him. Dragging his injured leg, he moved behind Split Claw, gripped the sword hilt tightly, and drew an arc from the right, piercing through Split Claw's neck again. Then Split Claw's heavy and hideous head fell to the ground, his face facing Allen. Those unseeing eyes stared at Allen, but it was difficult to cause even the slightest ripple in Allen's heart.

......

After a moment of silence, the entire tribe cheered again: "Allen!!! Allen!!!"

Stone, who had been nervously watching the duel, quickly stepped forward after the dust settled and steadily supported the tottering Allen, while also shouting Allen's name foolishly along with the tribesmen.

From this moment on, a brand new era for the Green Field Tribe had arrived.