jmclarke
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Chapter 770: Three as One and Prey
🕑 Added 2024-01-26 22:21:42 +0000 UTCPower, flowing from her swords, raced through Theresa's veins.
Energies churned throughout her being, uniting with her reinforced lifeforce. They shone with the essence of life and divinity.
Gabrian shrank back. “What is this?” he cried.
The world continued slowing around the huntress, filling her every muscle fibre with newfound strength. Her heart thundered, her bones hardened, her senses sharpened, growing clearer.
Power surged inside her core, linking her training, energy and will. It flowed through the link between her and Brutus, fuelling the connection, strengthening it. Together, their power grew, flowing between them, concentrating in the blades and the cerberus’ form.
Their energies grew to overflowing, spilling over, finally splitting.
As Theresa raised her swords, the blades shone with a strange witch-light that they’d never had before, it drifted off them, replicating their shape in phantom replicas around her.
The phantom blades hovered in the air as she held the swords higher, raising them above her head. Two shimmering blades of life energy hung suspended in the air on either side of her body, forming six blades in all; four phantom and two of solid steel. Three on either side. Three, like the number of heads Brutus had. Theresa felt giddy, elated. She was smiling. “This was your secret all along, great-grandfather, this was it.”
“I don't care about you or anyone related to you,” Gabrian snarled. “Every last one of you is going to die—but you’ll be the first.”
He lunged suddenly, his sword swinging down.
She blurred away, now a perfect union with the Twinblade—her swords a natural extension of her body, as united with her as her fingers and toes. The phantom blades trailed after her sword at first, then began striking from different angles.
Two flew up, joining together, locking onto Gabrian’s blade, deflecting it to the side. The First Apostle tried to free it, but the phantom blades slid down the metal weapon, catching it by the crossguard.
They tangled with it, while their master struck.
She slashed long draw cuts along his torso, opening deep wounds. He screamed, then muttered a prayer of healing, freeing his sword and springing away. Instantly, two phantom blades circled behind him, slashing the back of his thighs and calves. “Arrrgh!” he cried out, then began healing himself.
No sooner than his flesh had stitched together, the blades were on him again, carving his body like he’d done to Theresa in that snowy forest months earlier.
He became a blur of motion, but was being flanked on all sides. A pair of phantom blades appeared on either side of him, slashing his legs. Two more were behind him, cutting him from behind, and the huntress was in front of him, striking at his face.
He was now the one taking dozens of wounds, and though he was healing them, he was clearly off-balance.
Off-balance, but still dangerous.
“Enough!” he shouted, swinging at her side.
The sword came on in a blur. While she struck high; her swords arcing downward—slashing his back and sides—his foot drove up, aiming for her thigh.
But, she was already gone.
His foot passed through empty air, his sword found no physical weapons waiting, but they did find a pair of phantom blades in her place.
Had she made more?
Where had she gone?
His mind was racing, trying to understand what had happened when two deep gashes pierced his flesh, cutting him down to the bone.
He shrieked, quickly healing his wounds and spinning around, his eyes frantic.
The huntress was there, but how had she gotten behind him?
The pair of phantom blades on either side of him moved to one side, slashing at his right leg.
“Is this more accursed teleportation from you too?” he grunted, thrusting his blade at her face.
She parried with one sword, struck him with the other…then disappeared mid-swing. Where she and her physical swords had just been, only a pair of phantom blades remained.
To his right, where there had been one pair of phantom blades, now they’d been replaced by an enraged warrior, cutting deep into his ribs.
He hissed in agony, swinging at her, but she disappeared again.
Another deep cut split the flesh on his back, soon followed by shallow cuts from the phantom blades.
An answer came to him.
“You are teleporting! You're switching places with those illusionary swords!” He was so confident.
She shook her head. “No, priest. You're wrong.”
The huntress came at him with a fury then, burying him in a flurry of strikes from all sides. He was on his back foot, stumbling away, his sword twirling in his hand. The First Apostle was still faster and stronger, but the gap between them had lessened, and now he wasn’t only fighting off two blades, but six, with a single arm.
The phantom blades hit nowhere near as hard as the huntress could, but they cut deep, he couldn't ignore them. He prayed to Uldar—feeling the accumulated divine power in the chamber flowing to him—he had to keep using it, healing his wounds; if he paused, he'd be dead.
“You are unworthy!” he shouted. “You are just some impudent whelp! The Fool conjured those hideous beasts and tricked me with his ill-gotten magic, but you are some yearling warrior! You’re green! I got the better of three Heroes just outside this very sanctum! You cannot compare to me!”
“Maybe,” she said, twisting her sword and slashing deep into his arm, nearly taking it off; his reflexes saved him. “You had two arms back then. Last time we met, you had your shield and armour. Both times, you seemed to be in your right mind. You seem off now, devoted servant of a dead god. If you weren't, you'd realise what's actually happening. I'm not switching places with ‘illusionary blades’, as you called them.”
The huntress brandished the Twinblade and the phantom swords spun around him. “These swords are a part of me. Both the steel ones in my hands, and their siblings around you. They're all me, and I’m one with them. It doesn’t matter if my hands are holding—”
She raised the Twinblade. “—these…”
She vanished, appearing at his side where a pair of phantom blades had hovered. Those blades emerged where she had been a moment before. “…those…”
She vanished again, as the other set of phantom blades that had been behind him appeared in her place. The huntress slashed at his back.. “…or that pair…we’re all one. It might look like we’re switching places, to a layperson, but you practise life enforcement; you should know better. The fact that you think I'm just switching…tells me just how off you are, but considering what you’ve done, you’ve always been off.” She shook her head and rushed him. Her assault was furious.
His world was a flurry of slashing swords as she moved around him with the Twinblade’s phantoms.
She was cutting him to ribbons.
Blood poured from a deep gash along his forehead, filling his eyes, blinding him. He fled, uttering a Flight spell and shooting toward the sanctum’s ceiling, his chest heaving as he called on his divinity to heal his wounds. The phantom blades hovered around ten feet away from the huntress, straining to chase him, but he was too far from the swords.
She glared at him.
“Coward,” she muttered, turning toward Brutus, rushing to help him. The cerberus was on his feet, he’d been empowered by the Twinblade’s energies and was stronger, bigger, and moving faster. He was speeding around the monstrous looking fae, snapping at his legs from all sides.
“Stop it, damn you!” the fae hunter cursed the hound, grabbing at him, trying to snatch him up with his claws. “Keep still, you—” He looked up, seeing Theresa and the phantom blades coming for him. “Uh oh.”
Fire suddenly rained down from above.
Theresa skidded to a halt when flames landed in front of her, forming a straight line, erupting in a wall of roaring flame.
She glared up at the First Apostle, he was looking down on her. “You are right, I am not in my right mind. Both my mind and soul are wounded, but while I cannot best you with my sword now, I can still wield divine miracles. Uldar’s might is always with me!”
Chanting a powerful incantation, he sprayed a cone of energy at her, forcing her back. At the same time, holy fire encased his blade—extending from it like a whip—lashing at her.
In seconds, the huntress was dodging spells and fighting for her life.
###
“Here, puppy, puppy, puppy,” the Stalker whispered, stalking toward the three-headed hound.
The infernal beast was darting around his legs, rushing in to bite him, then moving out of reach. How’d he get so much faster all of a sudden? So much bigger and stronger? It seemed he’d changed…when his master changed… They’d transformed somehow…
Whatever it was that had happened to them, the three-headed beast was more dangerous now, and he was having trouble catching him. Especially with those infernal sonic blasts.
“You know, this ain't rightfully fair,” he growled at the dog. “I don't rejoin the other half of my body every day, so I'm still getting used to all this, to being in my true body. It's like putting on a shirt you haven't worn for a while and finding it’s not fitting quite as comfortable as you remember. It seems to me you’re just taking advantage of that: I don't know how you're managing to adjust to…whatever it was that happened to you so quick.”
He watched the hound closely, trying to keep control of his mind. A range of bestial urges were rampaging through his thoughts, distracting him, telling him to drop down on all fours and rush after the hound like a ravening monster.
But that wouldn’t do, that’d be a losing game: he'd be acting like an animal, looking to face an animal on its own terms.
He needed to think like a fae. Think like a hunter.
Think like he thought when he was hunting their quarry…wait, that was it!
He grinned at his prey, pursing his lips and whistling.
Much of Uldar’s white floors had been chewed up by spells and maul-blows. The god’s body was lying still on a patch of untouched floor, like a calm island in the middle of a storm-wracked sea.
The Stalker could make use of the ruined stone.
As he whistled, a cloud of stone chips and debris suddenly rose into the air like a swarm of wasps. With a flick of his finger, he swept the shrapnel toward the cerberus, surrounding him in a cloud of shredded stone.
Most of the chips bounced off his bone armour, but some cut into the hound’s wound and struck his eyes, noses and mouths. He bucked and shook, snapping at the air, lashing out with his sonic blasts…and was blind to the Stalker’s headlong rush.
The fae swept the cerberus onto his antlers and charged, bending down, running straight at a wall.
Bone crunched and the cerberus howled, yelping in agony. The Stalker was laughing again, grinding his hooves against the stone, pinning his prey between the floor and Uldar’s wall, crushing him and driving the breath from the creature's lungs. He reached down, slashing at the hound’s wound with his claws.
“Either a crushed carcass or a butchered one,” the Stalker said lightly. “Either way works for me.”
###
“Brutus!” Theresa screamed, panic surging through her. She tried to get away to help him, but the First Apostle’s storm of magic kept raining down on her.
It was all she could do to save herself from the flame.
The Stalker’s antlers pinned Brutus between the floor and wall, ramming his bone armour without mercy. A shadow appeared above the transformed fae, growing, descending over the Stalker and cerberus.
Theresa’s mind flashed to a sparring match between herself, Hart, and Grimloch.
She remembered how it had ended.
###
“What the…?” the Stalker muttered as a shadow fell over him.
He glanced to his left.
His eyes flew wide.
The sharkman was there, leaning over. The decidedly not dead sharkman.
The sharkman whose jaws were wide open.
Before the fae could spring away, his world turned dark.
Those enormous jaws closed on his head and much of his torso.
They bit down, powered by bone crushing force.
The Stalker panicked, struggling to get free, but—bent over as he was—he had little leverage. His cloven hooves scraped uselessly against the stone floor.
“No!” He screamed, clawing at the monster that had him in its jaws. A powerful hand grabbed one of his overly long arms, three sets of fangs grabbed the other one.
“Let go of me!” he shrieked, sounding like he was in a cave as the sharkman’s jaws continued to bite down. He felt his bones begin to pop. Row after row of razor-sharp teeth shredded his tough hide. “Not like this!” His words sounded muffled. “I’m the hunter, not the prey! Gabrian, help me, my hound! Come to me! I'm the hunter! I'm—”
A single word—grunted by the sharkman biting down on him—reached his ears.
“Lunch.”
His body gave way.
Flesh shredded.
Bone collapsed.
Agonising pain gripped his skull, an impossible pressure built until…
…pop.
The Stalker knew no more.
###
Author's Note
Hello forty-three cool fools, almighty chosen, wise sages, and mighty champions! Thank you for your support!
Y'know, someone asked me if Grimloch would be coming back soon about a week ago...I had written this chapter, and good lord, it was tough to not give it away heehehheheeh.
Cya tomorrow!
Comments
Joshua Little
Thanks for the chapter.
IntrinsicallySynest
Uh oh? UH OH? The hell is this writing?
TheRaptorOfHermes
Grimloch should ascend to uldar's throne.
Sean T
Alex dumb dumb plot weird weird
N0ct3m
Grimlock YAAAAASSSSSSSSSSS
Jessica
And the dialogue is just… 🤮
maube180
The stalker is probably the only powerful fae that the group is going to face and since there is so little use of fae magic in the story its rules have been summed up to magical bullshit for convenience.
Josh
I mean if you think about it Alex is a third year as well
Donpra
Daaaaaddy Shark do do do do do doo
Raivshard
I would say it's more that Alex has been pigeonholed by narrative plot requirements which no longer conform to his ability level. There are plenty of ways to introduce small details which explain and justify every action without altering the major plot points. Without those details, suspension of disbelief completely falls apart. This entire arc and the entirety of the previous book is going to require massive amounts of editing before it's remotely ready for anything resembling a publisher. Anything less would be genuinely unprofessional.
Raivshard
And Theresa's not the only one! Alex just did pretty much the same thing, full on monologue as if there's somehow time to do that in a fight. People in a life or death struggle are physically incapable of talking when they're putting everything into winning and surviving. The most you'll get is short single words pushed out intermittently with strong breaths. Forceful deflection or attack could include something like "no!" or "why?" or "how?" or "die!". Conversations and monologues are what happens when you pause for tea and biscuits, and even then, yeah, you don't tell them all of your secrets. Stuff like that is the sort of thing that works perfectly fine in the characters internal dialogue. Externally there should be nothing but a snarl or a contemptuous sneer, etc. no pause in the action where everyone somehow stops to talk at the exact same time.
Daniel is ŁØNE
Truth be told they would need to do a bit more for this to read in a manner that is consistent with characterizations we have so far, realistically speaking if Brutus and Grimloch were enough to kill the Fae and an admittedly powered-up Theresa was enough to handle the current FA then some serious literary gymnastic would have to take place for it to be even possible for Alex to not beat hem outright while not looking incompetent. The author wrote himself into a hole with this one no matter how you slice it, this fight is written decently although it nerfs the FA a bit too much imo, that said the fact that this chapter is written relatively well only serves to highlight how stupid the Alex fight was. If this is all it took for them to lose then the fact that Alex let them get away in the first place shows a severe level of incompetence on his part. As much as I like side characters being notable doing it at the expense of the main characters is a no-go especially when one of the protagonist's defining features is his intelligence and adaptability.
Raivshard
The implication is supposed to be that the speed, skill, and life enforcement of the FA are keeping him out of the worst of it. Theresa got a power upgrade, but she has a long way to go before she approaches anywhere near his skill level. What's happening here is functionally the same as fighting multiple opponents who are in sync with one another. It's a losing proposition, but a monstrously skilled sword master would not simply die right away, and you absolutely could not take them for granted just because you outnumbered them. That's a fast way to get yourself killed. The proper way to look at this is that Teresa is absolutely going for killing strikes every single time. So is the FA. Keep in mind that a sword fight is not a simple matter of swinging and slashing and stabbing and perfect magical anime dismemberments. People move and stuff gets deflected. The weapons will frequently clash in what is referred to as a "bind". Ignore how movies and TV depict this. The bind is not a test of strength and it is not where people put their faces up close to one another and try to push each other off the other sword. Working within the bind is a trial of leverage and angles, and is a common source of shallow cuts and narrowly avoided danger. Now, all of that said, we didn't exactly get a real depiction of this, but honestly, unless you've studied and practiced all of these things, it's a very difficult thing to write or portray, and even then, the right words are troublesome, because you generally can't get too technical about it or you lose half your audience to boredom. Anyhow, TLDR: The injuries are reasonable considering the skills and powers in play.
mant06
When I was thinking about possible tools for life enforcers, the thing that came to mind was a combination of Tyranid and Eldar gear from 40K symbiotically bonded to the user, feeding on their lifeforce and growing with them. Similar to Theresa's and Brutus's bond, though likely done without magic and less risky to the life enforcers.
Adrian Cheung
"Lunch"
Joel Magnuson
All that plays through my head at the end is "Tasty Num-nums" in Shark Kings voice.
Stefano
What I find puzzling is that the fea magic has never been explored, on one hand is powerful enough to track people by name, is invisible and can remove organs from people without killing them. He can create tornado by flicking a finger, it can create earthquakes and can kill wardens by the flick of a finger again. But he can’t keep up with Brutus and is eaten by Grimloch, Not that I don’t like his fate but still it’s jarring and inconsistent
Cpt Tardigrade
He even found a spell to summon claygon but didn't learn/use it. My boy claygon would never have let them escape alive
Fleetpanda
More than anything, this fight makes me think Alex is even more an idiot. Brutus and Grimloch just killed the fae… Alex refused help from everyone and made his fight infinitely harder to “protect his friends” but BRUTUS AND GRIMLOCH killed the fae. Alone. They just did what an arch wizard and the Unmaker failed to do. Imagine if they’d been part of the sanctum battle? Imagine if his entire cabal and freaking army of friends and allies had joined the battle?! I like Theresa’s upgrade though. DnD Echo Knight ftw
Scott Emery
Did you hire a spy to go to J.M.'s place and look at the plot notes, or is this reverse engineering? Either way, you are spot on.
lenkite
Why bother with powering up Alex at all for 50 chapters ? Could have just set a trap with his friends and the heroes and the First Apostle and the Hunter would never even have gotten away in the first place.
Scott Emery
In my mind, it would have been so much better if Alex reached a ceiling that he couldn't overcome yet. If this book gets a rewrite, he should not be able to summon the unmaker at all. That guy is supposed to be to OP for anyone to handle, and it's very hard to write OP well. That one change would make a huge difference in all the rest of this book, making it more reasonable than it is in its current incarnation.
Tijay Arnie
It's not really a stabbing blade
Scott Emery
Yes to this a hundred times over!
lenkite
Why didn't Alex just set his trap inviting his friends and the heroes along ? That would have been a guaranteed and safe kill. The Saint would even have removed the interdiction. The Sage would have countered that Earthquake. Grimlock would have gotten his lunch without even being injured. He could have gotten his Mark removed in a relaxed fashion far later after getting rid of the First Apostle. The story clearly shows that one doesn't need an under-performing and over-hyped 9th tier summon to kill the Hunter. Much of the plot just doesn't add up in the last 50 chapters.
Blahful
That summon did less than the blob water thing ever did.
Scott Emery
World consistency and illogical adherence to parameters allows readers to suspend disbelief, even in a wild fantasy world. I've been having a lot of trouble suspending disbelief lately. I feel like I am 90% positive and optimistic be nature, but lately the dark and skeptical part of me has been lamenting, "Dang, the writing is never as good after it's been outsourced." Seriously, there comes a point where an author becomes too machine–like in their writing. I have an author that I liked for about 30 books, then something happened. I have given up on them because their material is no longer interesting or creative.
lenkite
Alex could have just called his friends earlier instead of summoning 9th tier creatures and gotten rid of the bad guys much faster. All of that desperate powering up feels rather useless - he could have gotten rid of the bad boys as the plain old fool if he had just invited the sharkman to his trap. And the Saint to counter the interdiction.
Lola
How lovely 🥰 That damn fae is dead, and in the most ignoble of ways! And the apostle is going to have a hard time weaseling himself out of this without his fae getaway car. Here’s hoping he won’t pull another miracle out of his ass.
Scott Emery
He says the echo blades aren't as strong... But how does that work if she is actually all of them at once? Yeah, the shallow strikes are not quite adding up to me either. Oh, I know! It's because Alex isn't here yet.
Scott Emery
I wish Theresa didn't explain her power to the First Apostle. No one should ever educate their opponent on how to win. Smack talk, where you try to undermine your opponents confidence is fine, just don't give away your advantage! Sun Tzu would be appalled.
BelligerentGnu
That was cathartic.
Shawn Treants
I don't recall it saying he was so powerful. As much as a deadly hunter. Hunters arent strong in and of themselves. They are ambush predators. Not necessarily all that great at real fights. So sure the fae was strong and deadly. But shark dude plays with kraken and isnt a student.. he is like theresa, and outside force there for specialized training.
BoxQueen
That is one satisfying lunch. And glad about Theresa's power up, it is nice.
Scott Emery
Yeah, I do hope it gets a solid edit (read that as a sanity check) and rewrite before getting published in book form.
Decide
I honestly thought grimloch became giant or something. Wasn't the fae more than twice his height?
Scott Emery
At last. It was clear that Garloch had been feeling a bit peckish for a while now. I am glad he got to have a nice, dignified, formal lunch after his leisurely walk and delightful morning nap.
Daniel is ŁØNE
Yep, it's functionally just teleportation to any location in which there are phantom swords. The explanation is some magic fuckery about being one with the blade and being at all locations at once but in essence, the ability functions similar to limited teleportation between points that fit a certain criteria, the criteria in this case being the presence of a phantom blade.
Daniel is ŁØNE
The display of that creature is one of the most glaringly obvious cases of plot-induced stupidity I can allude to in that fight. I wish they gave a valid reason why the Unmaker didn't do more because that entire display rendered every single description about it being a being at the near pinnacle of violence look like a fucking joke. The fight as riddled with inconsistencies as it was would be easier to swallow if he never summoned the unmaker in the first place.
Kyler
I’m still wondering what’s going to happen to Alex since the Unmaker didn’t get a fight at all worthy of being called for. And the fact that the “baddies” are getting beat by side characters makes the whole powering up of Alex quite pointless.
Daniel is ŁØNE
OH HE IS, he is being made to look like less than he is for the plot to move in a certain way and IT IS INFURIATING. It isn't like it's impossible for this set of events to have happened if Alex was shown to be competent, it would have just taken a bit more literary finesse to get to this point, but the author took the easy path of plot-induced stupidity and it seriously grinds my gears. I love most of the cast and I like seeing them involved but when people are made to be worse than they are just so the plot can move forward it pisses me off since I've spent much too long reading this for it to start doing something so stupid close to the climax. Hell, if he wanted everyone to get their round 2 why didn't Alex just bring them along for the final fight there is literally 0 reason why he went for the kill alone ignoring the other resources he has available to him, at the point we are in the story you would think he would be above such arrogance but nope, you can't even use precaution as an explanation because the positives of adding a select few people to his fighting power vastly outweigh the negative, if nothing else the fact that even Claygon wasn't called baffles the mind.
Callum
Quite like Theresa having agency and being a power in her own right rather than just dime a dozen power fantasy of Alex coming in and doing everything. Do think this chapter hit some cliches tho with the monologuing your power up (while you believe your friend lies dead next to you) and the return to life we all saw coming. Still enjoyed it tho.
Daniel is ŁØNE
Plot-induced stupidity is what it is, there are few things I hate more than monologuing or explaining plans to an enemy who you have not completely bested. I believe that you should only mouth off after you confirm the kill, this could have been written in such a way that we see the POV of the FA as he slowly figures out the working principles and thinks that having that knowledge doesn't help him fight against it. It would highlight how strong said ability is from the perspective of a competent enemy while also not making Theresa sound like a comic book villain who explains their plans before completion. And as much as you can say the guy is manic, he is still an old monster while I can see him making the wrong decisions due to his manic state I still feel like he would be competent enough to figure out how the ability works even if he can't stop it. Also, I probably sound like a broken record but am I the only one who feels like the FA is hardly using the skills that we KNOW he should have? He doesn't use spells nearly often enough and constantly relies on physical combat in areas where spells would make significantly more sense. Then there is the fact that he hasn't used an interdiction once this fight, and Before anyone says he is tired, I distinctly remember him spamming the fuck hell out of the ability while fighting Alex with hardly any downsides and despite him being tired I could have sworn he was capable enough to butcher a bunch of watchers to get into Uldar's hall so miss me with that BS explanation. I love power fantasy as much as the next guy but the whole thing where characters are nerfed for specific fights is kinda of getting old, despite this, the fight was enjoyable enough and I was happy to see Theresa get her much-needed power-up. That said I would love it if characters used their full kit and duked it out without the author intentionally making it look like they don't have abilities that could work in their favor when they do. All in all, I just want some more CONSISTENCY.
Zachary LaCount
I’ve got no problem with Grimmlock getting the kill. In fact, it’s amazing and well written. I just don’t understand why Alex couldn’t have been present even if you teleported in just as it happened he deserves to see it happen, and I just feel like he’s been done dirty
Neil
I think Stalker dying as prey to another predator is perfectly suited. Alex can kill Mr. One Arm.
Zachary LaCount
I completely agree with this but and I won’t stop reading just because of disappointment but you have to agree that It’s a little infuriating when you spend three weeks preparing for battle and powering up just for the BBEGs to be killed by side characters, important side characters, but side characters while the main character is too far away to do anything, even with all that planning, and powering up just to kill some mooks
Daniel is ŁØNE
I think I've said it before but most of us aren't that mad that this fight happened, hell most of us have been anticipating Theresa's power-up for a while now and I doubt many people considered Grimloch dead. In truth this current fight has been alright, the only major issue I have with the recent events is the fact that it occurred too unnaturally. I can nearly guarantee that the vast majority of people who have an issue with what is going on wouldn't have been mad if the Alex vs FA and Stalker fight happened in a way that was more consistent with in-story parameters, I understand that the author wanted to set-up the current event and while I'm slightly peeved at Alex not being the one to finish this fight this fight was written well enough that It doesn't bother me. What bothers me is the fact that instead of writing the enemy escape in a way that would be believable and consistent with the characterizations we have been given thus far the author instead threw that all out the window and wrote the fight and filled it with a questionable amount of Plot induced stupidity. It is to the point where I feel like if any random reader who has followed the story were put in Alex's place with his same tools and abilities they would have been able to push for a better outcome. I've explained the particulars multiple times over the last few chapters so I'm not gonna talk specifics but as much as I love world-building, power fantasy, and the like I still need consistency in what I read especially if it is something I've invested a decent amount of money as well as time into, you can't build up a personality type or set abilities for a character and have them forget about their abilities or personality the second it would require a bit more literary gymnastics to let your intended plot event play out that's a tell tale sign of bad writing.
Zachary LaCount
The stalker and the apostle were supposed to die at Alex’s hand or at least him being present for their deaths. The last 40 chapters are pointless because of this. This is just infuriating and while the quality of writing has improved again, WHY IS ALEX STILL NOT THERE?!?!
CentaureHeart
This is the most shonen power increase this story has known. And Alex got powered up by removing a shitty patch so that's saying something
Enif
Guessing we'll get Alex breaking free of the interdiction and showing up to the battle won tomorrow.
Kenneth Dennis
My only comment about the fight is why it the world is she cutting and slicing him when he clearly just heals every time. Why wasn't she going for kill shots instead of just wounding?
Kenneth Dennis
Well. His jaws are at least haha
Randall Jones
I am super satisfied with the way this story is wrapping up! Hunter gets eaten, FA gonna die in the throne room, Alex is totally gonna have to get lectured about the dangers of monologging. Perfect
Fire Bucket
Tbf, Grim was always a beast, but has had blood magic and life reinforcement massively enhance his body, whilst also honing his skills against Hart. Pretty sure his gear was also high tier and likely helped him survive.
Julien Fellegara
I enjoy the show. But not anymore for the well written and logical thinking.
Code Reed
Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
A. B. Edwards
Just a quick comment on the chapter, I like the way the story is going despite what some are saying. It is near the end of the story and power ups like this, while cliche, along with the plot armor, are a stable of this genre. This story is going to have a happy ending with minimul deaths, it was never meant to be a grimdark, chapter long inner monologues or anything like that on the nature of life and death (looking at you Defiance of the Fall). It is about the literal power of friendship, some bull power-ups that are cool and the culmination of many smaller things coming together. If you don't like the story, just stop reading. I know for a fact it will have a happy ending and Clark does not plan on killing off too many of the major or fan favorite characters. That is not the story being told. The true charm of this series is the magic research, the alchemy, the lore and world building and the characters and their unique powers and styles of combat. Was Theresa's new power-up perhaps rushed a bit, sure. Was it a deus ex machina moment, for sure. But also damn satisfying. And remember, the Fae and Gabrian have been hyped for a long time and took a huge beating from Alex; they are not in prime condition. Gabrian is broken, the Stalker is freaked out and not in his element. Of course they will struggle. This story is not just about Alex but him, the Cabal and his team. Just enjoy the power fantasy, the plot armor and the perhaps questionable power-ups. If this makes you mad, then read any other modern web novel or litRPG and say the same. This one is a fabulous story that has a clear end and is not just about "me swing weapon, me get stronger, me swing again and get new power" but has real thought into it.
Sanctum
There’s usually space between the antlers.
Blahful
I don't get it. It is implied that he's the strongest of the fey after their King. So much so that he gets away mouthing off to the King. The King who seems to have designs on vacant goddhip. And this big bad second strongest boy is eaten alive by a 3rd year.
Jacob
Kinda makes sense though, he was all about the power of names and roles. When he was the Hunter he was strong but after getting beat by his prey and getting ambushed by a predator ( the weakness of all hunters) he was probably weaker
A. B. Edwards
Come by the new restaurant in Generasi, "LUNCH!" Best cooked Fae in all the land, owned and operated by the Roth Family. All are welcome. Try out our new sharkman exclusive menu "FEEDING FRENZY" for a great bite for you buck. Stop by now! (Note: All food is locally source, Themland grade Fae, all hunted down in a perfectly humane way. No Gwyllains were harmed in the operation of this restaurant)
Brad
Grimloch is just great. Love the power up for Theresa and Brutus but the Stalkers end was just so satisfying
Bob Bryan
Called it. Grimloch is a shark.
Bender
Nom nom, shark bait!
Grine
Nice to see Grimloch being Grimloch. I don't know why Theresa decided to spend minutes explaining how her power up works when she needs to finish her fight quickly and save Brutus. IMO it would be better if she just told the bare minimum and then let Gabrian figure it out for us while getting his *ss kicked.
Blahful
Okay, so the big bad venerable fey demon was eaten alive by a 3rd year academy dude?
Obi-Wan-Sage
Grimlock played dead until the right moment. Nicely done!!!! Now teresa can focus on Gabrian!!!!
Ghast Renave
I'm glad the shark got his lunch.
Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander
Grimloch getting that good good for lunch 😋
Decide
I joked about Teresa becoming the bone of her sword last chapter, but I didn't expect it to really happen. Cool. But just so we are clear, she's totally teleporting, right?
Vara Lawraga
So grimloch is stronger than the brutal lord of violence?
xxmaniaxx2019
Might have caught him sideway with the antlers poking out of his mouth.
trufflezz
These last few chapters for me have just been sad. I feel like the story has changed to just no rational thinking and whatever goes.
xxmaniaxx2019
EATING FRENZY!
George R
Huzzah
Tom Roettger
This was a great one. I hope Alex joins in the next one.
Linkneo5
Yayay! Finally dead! I just hope he stays that way. Will be interesting to see if the Fae king reacts...no reaction then he is probably not dead - dead. Lots of literature has Fae as immortal after all...
Hyperion
Woohoo!! Finally dead!!
Fate Hydrax
YEAAAAHHH!!!!
Owen Kaz
Jaws over antlers, he should have known.
Bunny Waffles
Grimloch is like the Jaws franchise: He keeps coming back even long after people (his enemies) believe he should be dead for good.
Cyrus McEnnis
The one thing I'd question - if Lunch has antlers, how did Grimloch get his jaws over the head to the extent he captured "much of the torso"?
HardcoreLace756
So after Theresa's power up moment, gabrian remembers hes a magic dude, almost beats her again and then sharky bites fae dudes head off after he tried hunting the dog.
