Monarch Chapter 68

Chapter 68

The roar tore through the clearing like a physical thing.

Rayne’s breath locked in his chest as the stonefur bear exploded into motion. The ground trembled under its charge, massive paws churning soil and shattered roots into the air as it barreled straight toward Casper’s position.

For a second, everything slowed for him.

She was still mid-cast, mana flaring around her hands, and had no way of getting out of the way. The soldiers guarding her were also moving, but Rayne could tell at a glance—it wouldn’t be enough. Even if they dove away now, the bear would be on them in a heartbeat.

“Shit,” he muttered and didn’t think further.

He jumped.

The branch cracked under the force of his push as he launched himself from the tree, body angling forward, sword already drawn back. Wind screamed past his ears as the world narrowed to the charging beast below him.

He hit the stonefur bear hard.

The impact rattled his bones as he slammed onto its back, his boots skidding against rough, stone-plated fur. The creature roared again, a furious bellow that shook the air, its body twisting violently as it tried to throw him off.

Rayne gritted his teeth and locked his legs around the ridge of stone running along its spine.

It was hard to focus with the monster shaking so much, but he still managed to see it—a narrow gap between overlapping plates near the base of its neck, where fur gave way to flesh.

As the stonefur bear roared again, Rayne drove his sword down with all his strength.

The blade punched through with a crunch of resistance, biting deep into muscle and sinking past the hilt. The bear shrieked, a deafening sound filled with pain and rage, its charge stuttering as it slammed sideways into the ground.

Arrows whistled through the air then.

A volley rained down from the treeline, shafts punching into exposed joints and gaps between the armour. Most of them snapped uselessly against stone, but a few struck true, making the monster falter.

Rayne yanked his blade free, red blood spraying across his arms, and stabbed again, twisting this time, carving deeper.

“Rayne, get out of the way!” Casper shouted suddenly.

The next second, heat surged up.

Rayne felt it before he saw it. Mana spiked violently behind him, the air warping as Casper’s spell finally completed.

A roaring torrent of flame slammed into the stonefur bear’s side, engulfing it in a sheet of blazing orange and white. Fur ignited instantly, the smell of burning hair and scorched flesh flooding the clearing.

Rayne didn’t hesitate.

He kicked off the bear’s back just as the flames washed over where he’d been a heartbeat earlier, the heat biting through his armour as he flew clear. He hit the ground hard, rolling instinctively, pain flaring up his side as he scrambled to his feet.

Behind him, the bear staggered.

Parts of its fur burned away, stone plates blackened and cracked from the sudden heat, but it didn’t fall.

It turned, grunting, and its eyes—furious and burning with hatred—locked onto Rayne.

For a brief moment, the battlefield seemed to freeze. Then the stonefur bear roared again, louder than before, and charged.

“Don’t stay at one place, you suicidal bastard. Move!” Axel bellowed.

Rayne was already moving.

He sprinted sideways as the bear thundered after him, its bulk tearing through scorched ground. Arrows crunched under its paws as it swung a paw in a wide arc.

He had no time to take out his shield from his back.

Rayne ducked, the swinging paw passing where his head had been. He felt the wind of it yank at his armour and didn’t stay for the next swing.

He rolled on the ground, then sprinted across the clearing.

But before he could put distance between him and the monster, something massive slammed into him.

Rayne flew, briefly catching the silhouette of the female stonefur bear that had finally decided to join the battle.

He crashed through brush and roots, skidding across the forest floor until he slammed back-first into a thick tree trunk. Pain exploded through his spine, and his vision swam for a second. He slid down, gasping, hands scrabbling for purchase in the dirt.

Then he looked up, only to see that the female bear was already moving.

It reared up on its hind legs, stone-plated chest flexing, then slammed back down, scooping a chunk of earth, rock, and shattered roots with one massive forepaw.

His eyes widened and he rolled. The projectile hit the tree like a catapult stone, shattering the bark.

Debris rained down on Rayne, hitting his armour and helmet. He shook it off, immediately taking out his shield from his back and getting up before the monster could launch another attack.

He gritted his teeth.

Things had gone wrong, but it hadn’t been the first time. It had happened almost always, and like before, he knew he would pull through.

The female bear roared, its voice thinner than the male’s thunderous bellow, but equally furious. Rayne snapped his attention back to it as it charged, head lowered and intent on crushing him into the ground.

He didn’t panic. He waited for the attack, and just as the bear swiped, he sidestepped. The monster’s claws smashed into the tree behind him. The trunk groaned, more bark exploding outward as deep gouges were carved into it.

Rayne didn’t let the opportunity go. He slashed at its foreleg, aiming for the thinner plating near the joint.

The blade bit, but before he could push deeper, the stonefur bear roared, pushing back against the tree and freeing itself. Then it immediately jumped at Rayne, who put his shield forward.

Claws rang across the plating of his shield, spit flying from the beast’s open mouth. Rayne grimaced in disgust before pushing back against the bear.

It staggered back a step, eyes widening at the display of strength, and moved to charge again. But before it could, arrows flew down from the trees, hitting it in the gaps between the stone armour.

It grunted in pain and immediately took off, breaking out of the cover of trees as Rayne chased after it.

He looked up for a brief second to see Bran there. The veteran gave him a nod. “Go after it. We need to finish it fast!”

Rayne hit the ground in a sprint.

The stonefur bear broke into the nest, barreling towards a group of soldiers. But before it could reach them, his party finally decided to join in the fight.

Kesh and John appeared from the side, catching the bear by surprise and slashed into its side.

Their swords bounced off the stone armour, and the monster veered left only for Jason to crash in from the side a heartbeat later, his axe biting deep into the creature’s flank with a roar of effort.

Two soldiers from Rancour’s squad followed, spears flashing as they hacked at its legs, drawing its attention. Nate and Heins appeared to flank it from all sides.

More arrows whistled through the air, trying to hit the flesh between the stone plates.

The stonefur bear screeched, eyes looking around in panic before it charged and swung a massive paw. The impact sent one of the soldiers flying, armor clanging as he rolled across the dirt.

Rayne closed the distance just then.

For a moment, his eyes flicked past the fight.

Across the clearing, the male stonefur bear was half-bound in burning, glowing coils—Casper’s [Infernal ropes] biting into its stone armor as it thrashed and roared. Axel, Rancour, Hobbs, Fredrick and three dozen soldiers swarmed it, weapons rising and falling in brutal rhythm. The bindings were holding, but even with them, the bear was as dangerous.

As Rayne watched, three soldiers became a victim of its claw and slumped on the ground before the bear stomped, killing them in seconds.

He didn't keep watching. The female bear lunged again, eyeing him and dragging his focus back where it belonged.

He slipped inside the arc of a sweeping claw, felt wind tear past his face, and drove his blade into the bear’s shoulder seam. The strike landed with a dull crack, biting through fur and scraping stone beneath. The monster howled and twisted, its bulk slamming into him like a moving wall.

Rayne staggered but escaped the attack, boots digging trenches in the earth.

He didn't panic.

He could easily feel it. Despite its high base stats and ferocious appearance, he was stronger. Even if its attacks hit, Rayne would survive.

He simply needed to find a way to get past the stone armour and land a strike lethal enough to kill it in seconds. It was already bleeding, blood covering its back, but with its massive mass and frame, it was surely not dying of blood loss.

The bear roared again at one of the soldiers aiming at its eye. It turned just in time to escape the attack and sent the man's shield cracking with a claw attack. But before it could follow it up, Jason brought down its sword in a downward swing.

It bit into flesh, and blood sputtered out. Kesh and John flanked it from the left and Nate and Heins moved in from the right. They kept their distance and more and more smaller wounds formed on the bear's body.

It counterattacked with claws, breaking shields, and Nate even got a nasty slash across his arms, but none of them stopped. And soon, Rayne could see that it was overwhelmed.

He let them have its attention.

He circled, breathing steady, and looked for an area to aim. The stone plating overlapped heavily along its shoulders and spine. The gaps there weren't enough to deal with a lethal attack, and he doubted he would reach any organs from its back.

But as he kept watching, he noticed it. There were gaps—small, ugly gaps near the throat where thick muscle replaced armor.

If he could strike there, then the bear would be dead.

As he watched, the stonefur bear finally had enough, and scooped earth and shattered rock with a sweeping motion and hurled it.

Pieces of it immediately hit Kesh and Heins, spinning them and pushing them back.

Rayne ducked as chunks of stone smashed into trees behind him. The attacks paused for a second, and the bear finally got the opportunity to get out the circle they had trapped it into, but before it could move, he stepped right in front of it.

“You aren't getting away,” he barked.

The stonefur bear snorted, fury clear in its eyes and charged straight at him.

Rayne didn’t retreat.

He counted the steps—one, two—then dove sideways at the last possible moment. The bear thundered past, momentum carrying it forward as Rayne rolled, came up inside its guard, and drove his sword upward with everything he had.

Steel sank into flesh.

The blade slid into the soft, unarmored stretch of the bear’s neck, burying deep. The impact of it jarred down his arms. Hot blood sprayed across Rayne’s face as the beast screamed, its charge collapsing into a stumbling skid.

It trashed, but Rayne managed to keep his grip on the hilt before smashing his shield right onto its face. The monster let out a grunt of pain, and he twisted his blade to reach deeper.

One of its claws raked across his shoulders, armour breaking under the strength. And just then, Jason and Kesh moved from the back, their weapons plunging into the gaps on the back.

The stonefur bear shuddered, eyes matching with Rayne and at that moment, he saw a lot of emotions. Panic and fear the most prominent of them before an arrow lodged itself in its eyes.

Blood sprayed and it let out a painful cry.

Rayne pushed before it could trash around again, using all his strength to push back against it as the monster fell on its back.

He immediately climbed on it, took out his blade and plunged it again.

The bear twitched, shuddered, then its eyes lost the light of life and it went still. Rayne didn't move for a second, simply looking down at it as notifications buzzed inside the back of his mind.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

Then, finally moved back from the bear’s body, the taste of bear blood in his mouth. He looked up at all his party members, staring at him as if he had grown horns.

Jason shook his head. “I will never wrestle with you.”

He looked down on the bear's body, and Rayne followed his gaze. But as he stared at it, he suddenly froze. He blinked his eyes, not understanding what he was seeing for a second.

When he looked at Jason, he had the same expression as him.

“The bear was supposed to be female, right?” Rayne asked and the man slowly nodded.

“What's going on?” Kesh asked, stepping forward to look at the bear's corpse. But he had no idea what to tell him.

The stonefur bear they had killed was clearly a male going by his sex organs, but then, why were two male bears living together in one nest. And where was the female one?

As he tried to find an answer to those questions in his mind, a terrifying possibility suddenly flashed. He looked down on the corpse again, and how much smaller it was compared to the other one.

It all clicked together.

Rayne immediately turned around just as the stonefur bear looked at the corpse. Ropes still held it, but it stilled for a second, eyes not leaving the corpse, then it raised its head and matched eyes directly with him.

They turned blood red the next second and the bear let out a bass of bellowed rage and charged.

To kill the murderers of its child.