Spirit Game

"What are they going to do next?" Rain uttered to himself. Both sides had their advantages and disadvantages.

But . . . Rain's eyes settled on Lord Izumi. The lord of an entire clan was here against just a general of the Hobgoblins. That alone was a big, one-sided fight.

"What's wrong? Cast your magic!" Gnarlock taunted. "I will smash it to pieces with my axe!" He waved his axe, and a tornado burst forth, sending Ebizo's soldiers flying.

"He's so strong . . . ," Rain muttered, a mix of awe and fear in his voice. He was grateful he wasn't the one facing that monster.

Eve was right; he should fight like the weak and let the strong fight for him. It wasn't cowardice, Rain reassured himself. It was simply strategy!

"Hmph. He is indeed worthy of his general title," Izumi said. "Unfortunately, you're up against me. In my eyes, you're still just an egg!

"I can't say we have enough battle strategies on land. After all, we mostly fight in water. Right now, we're pressed for time, so excuse me if I have to end this early. We have a lot to do back home."

Izumi's aura enveloped the whole field, rendering the Hobgoblins immobile with fear. "I will show you the gap in our power!"

Something invisible gripped the Hobgoblins' throats. They couldn't breathe, as if they were drowning.

The sky thundered and instantly darkened. Coils of lightning coalesced around Izumi at the center, followed by a torrential downpour. In the span of a kilometer radius around the battlefield, water gathered, and soon the area turned into an ocean with the Hobgoblins trapped inside.

Rain couldn't believe his eyes. "Is that . . . a lord's domain?" He couldn't fathom that Lord Izumi's domain could trap anyone inside an ocean, giving the Ebizos the advantage in terrain.

The Ebizo soldiers, who had moved like snails a moment ago, transformed into swift, spiky predators in the water. They were as fast as sharks, picking off the Hobgoblins one by one.
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The Hobgoblins' movements were greatly restricted in the ocean. They couldn't even breathe. They swam frantically, trying to escape the ocean domain, but found it endless. At this rate, they would run out of breath before they could find the exit.

Helplessly, the Hobgoblins fell, and their general Gnarlock couldn't do anything against the might of a lord.

Gnarlock's bloodshot eyes refused to give in or surrender, even under these dire circumstances. He tried to swim and strike with his giant axe, fending off the Ebizo soldiers who came at him like relentless predators.

"Leave him!" A thunderous voice commanded, and the Ebizo soldiers cleared the way, making room for thousands of bubbles forming in front of Gnarlock, taking shape into Izumi.

"I will have you alive, as a living subject and trophy to take back to my home," Izumi said with a smirk. "You'll make a fine addition to my collection, Hobgoblins General."

Gnarlock felt so humiliated that he roared, but he couldn't say anything because of the water. He choked as he opened his mouth, but that didn't deter him, and he rushed toward Izumi with full force.

Gnarlock's giant axe swung with all his might, aiming to strike Izumi's head, but it struck an invisible wall instead.

Only then could Gnarlock breathe, realizing he was trapped inside a giant bubble. No matter how hard he tried to break free, the bubble only stretched, making his attempts futile.

Izumi waved his hand, and the ocean disappeared as if it had never been there. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Ah. It has been so many years since the last time I fought. Maintaining the domain for long makes me this tired."

He took another deep breath. "I'm really getting old. Or maybe the years of just sitting in that castle, waiting for a miracle, made me rusty?"

"Lord Izumi!" Rain called as he made his way to the battlefield. He was amazed that there wasn't a single Hobgoblin left on their feet. Everyone was dead, or unconscious. The ground was littered with their blood.

"Whoa. You're so strong," Rain said. At this moment, his troubles with the Hobgoblins disappeared from his mind as he marveled at Izumi's powers. It was a good thing he had allied with him. He shivered at the thought of what might have happened to Drugar and the others if they had faced Izumi himself.

Izumi smiled at Rain. To this young lad, he couldn't help but feel a deep fondness. Rain had rescued their lives and their whole clan. He also reminded him of the power and responsibility he wielded. A youth not yet mature, inexperienced, reckless, and afraid, yet possessing a strength of heart unlike anyone else he had known. Inside, Izumi couldn't help but chuckle with admiration.

"Young Rain, there's nothing remarkable about this fight. I'm embarrassed to say that if I were in my prime, I could have finished this battle within a minute. I'm truly old and getting rusty."

Rain forced a laugh and stared at the aftermath of the battle. The Hobgoblins were totally wiped out. Izumi could have annihilated them if he wanted to. It felt like he was toying with them before wiping them all out. That's old and rusty?

"Thank you so much, Lord Izumi," Rain changed the topic. "Without your help, we could have been massacred by those hobgoblins."

"It's I who should thank you. You saved our entire clan, and you could have made me one of your troops. I was willing to do that to save my race, and yet, you didn't."

"It's not that I didn't want to, but . . . I want our relationship to start not as master and servant but as equals," Rain said seriously.

Though the offer was quite tempting, Rain still believed that he wasn't capable of handling someone like Lord Izumi as a subordinate. He felt that their roles would only get reversed, with Izumi as the lord and himself as the servant.

He lacked the strength and credentials to command someone of Izumi's caliber. There was a strong likelihood that Lord Izumi would disregard orders and act independently. Rain didn't want troops who operated that way; it was wiser to strengthen their bonds instead.

Moreover, Lord Izumi was a ruler with his own territory to govern and a family to return to. Rain couldn't bear to constrain him on land.

Lord Izumi was deeply moved. "I see. Then how about I give you my soldiers here — all of them? Those Hobgoblins mentioned a king, which means they have a much larger army up north. You'll need all the help you can get."

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