Wave Four – The Tamers and the Savage Giants
The sky above the valley was no longer blue.
Blood-red mist and black smoke from burning corpses blanketed the sun. The air reeked of metal, rot, and the charred stench of human flesh. The corpses from the previous three waves lay rotting, unburied. But there was no time to mourn.
Not even time for a full breath.
Brama knelt on one knee, his body barely upright. Blood dripped from his lips, his shoulder was broken, and the skin on his left arm was scorched.
But his eyes still burned.
Not with hope. But with resolve.
The resolve not to die here.
DING!
> Fourth Wave Detection System Activated.
Enemies Detected: 17 Individuals.
Category: Tamers and Savage Beasts.
All enemies are Level 5.
Brama squinted. "Details."
DING.
> 1. Shadow Tamers x3
Control beasts through blood bonds and spiritual aura.
They command a total of 6 tamed beasts, each at level 5.
Vulnerable without their pets.
> 2. Tamed Beast: Ironhide Apes x2
Skin as hard as metal.
Brutal melee attackers.
> 3. Tamed Beast: Sky Snare Birds x2
Fast, agile, airborne attackers. Beaks can pierce bone.
> 4. Tamed Beast: Two-Headed Serpents x2
Can attack in two directions.
Bite contains slow-acting venom.
> 5. Armored Men x5
Failed cultivators. Bodies encased in spiritual metal.
Powerful but slow attacks.
> 6. Clay Giants x6
Formed from earth and cursed spirits.
Weak against fire and spiritual attacks.
Brama took a deep breath, then spat out blood.
"Ruda, we can't survive with the old ways. This time—we strike first."
Ruda nodded from atop a high boulder, his body covered in slash wounds and his feathers blackened by fire. But his eyes still blazed.
Brama tore a cloth from his waist, wrapped his left arm, and walked forward—his body swaying, but never stopping.
"Attack from the sky. I'll sever the tamers' heads one by one."
The valley became a hunting ground once more.
---
Initial Strike: Birds and Tamers
The sky exploded with sharp wings. Two Sky Snare Birds dove like arrows. Their beaks shimmered red, as if coated in molten steel.
Brama looked up, then pretended to fall.
From a distance, one of the Shadow Tamers grinned. "Grarrerrrrr"—as if to say, Finish him now!
The birds descended like lightning. But just as their shadows touched Brama's body—
He jumped.
A flash—Brama shot into the air, spun, and kicked one bird directly in its wing. A crack sounded, and the bird veered off, crashing into a tree and getting impaled between sharp branches.
The other bird dived at Brama's chest. But he blocked it with his cloth-wrapped arm—the beak struck, but didn't pierce.
Brama spun and punched the beak—shattering it.
CRACK!
Blood and bone fragments splattered.
The bird flailed in the air, its wings broken. Brama dragged it down, slammed it to the ground, and stomped on its head with all his weight.
CRUNCH.
Blood soaked his foot. The two Sky Snare Birds—dead.
His vision cleared. He saw the three Shadow Tamers standing in a triangle formation, their bodies cloaked in black robes marked with a bleeding eye on the chest.
Brama didn't wait.
He charged.
One tamer tried to summon his beast—the Two-Headed Serpent—but before the snake could coil, Brama smashed his knee into the tamer's gut. The air burst from his lungs along with cracking ribs.
The snake bit—but Brama grabbed both heads and tore them apart.
Venomous blood sprayed into the air like a fountain. But Brama didn't care. He'd bled too much to fear death.
One tamer down. One serpent dead.
Brama spun, hurled a rock into the second tamer's face. The man staggered, and when he looked up—a short spear was already embedded under his chin, piercing his brain.
The tamer's beast howled—an Ironhide Ape—but with the soul connection broken, it rampaged aimlessly.
Brama grinned.
"Come on... let's see how tough your skin really is."
---
Ironhide Apes: Fists Against Steel
Two Ironhide Apes pounded the earth, forming craters. Their teeth were long, arms thick as tree trunks, and their chests gleamed like black steel.
Brama advanced unarmed. Bare hands.
The first ape lunged, swinging downward. Brama dodged sideways and countered with an elbow to the armpit—the only unarmored spot.
The ape roared, still strong.
Brama leapt behind it, grabbed its jaw, and yanked its head back. The second ape punched—but Brama released his grip and rolled to the ground.
The second ape's punch shattered its brother's skull.
The first one collapsed.
Brama sprinted toward the second, grabbed a bone from a fallen corpse, and stabbed it into the creature's neck—just below the jaw.
The bone snapped but sank deep enough.
The beast thrashed. Brama climbed onto its shoulder and smashed its left eye repeatedly with a rock, until the eyeball burst and blood sprayed.
The ape clawed Brama's face—but he didn't stop. His fists hammered like iron—until finally, the beast stopped moving.
All tamed creatures... gone.
What remained… were the Armored Men and the Clay Giants.
Brama drew a heavy breath. His hands trembled—not from fear—but from blood loss.
Brama.
His robe was torn, no longer worthy of being called protection. His skin was ripped in many places—burned, scratched, pierced. And yet, he still stood. In his right hand, a broken spear—blunt, damaged, but still bearing one quality: it could kill. In his left hand, blackened dried blood from a beast's earlier bite, layered with dirt and ash.
Ruda, his soul beast, descended like a small god from hell. Its wings spread wide, no longer resembling a frail creature. Now it was a silhouette of destruction: feathers like living lava, a body glowing red, and eyes burning like embers that would never fade. With a single flap, the air beneath it ignited. The remaining grass hissed and was scorched to ash.
Brama looked down. His breath was short. His face was expressionless, but his eyes were burning.
> "Ruda… be careful. Rest for now."
The voice was hoarse, more like a growl than a sentence. But firm. Like the strike of a judge's gavel in an execution chamber.
Ruda didn't reply. He simply spread both wings, and from his eyes burst waves of spiritual energy. Like an invisible radar, it swept across the battlefield. The air trembled. A thin mist rose from the ground and sky, tracing the path of the scan as it circled the valley like a sacred fog.