Shortly after the nine dispersed and James created numerous ice constructs to assist in the bloody battle, Sameer’s longsword glistened with a red glow as he clashed with a huge white, shaggy-furred rhinoceros. Its nasal horn was as long as a lance, and spikes grew along the hump on its back.

  The monster was known as the Spike-Humped Woolly Rhino.

  The beast charged furiously at him, lowering its head to ram its lance-like horn into the measly stickman.

  Sameer jumped deftly over the ridiculously long horn and slashed the rhino’s hump. A guttural bellow escaped the beast’s mouth as it raised its head again, trying to impale the red stickman.

  But Sameer, being far smaller than the rhino, was nimble, flexible, and agile. He avoided the horn by a hair’s breadth. Upon landing, he rushed straight to the rhino’s flank and slashed at its feet.

  He did not aim for the main body or torso because the shaggy fur covering the rhino’s body was extremely thick and would cushion the damage. Beneath that fur was also a tough hide that acted as additional armor.

  By targeting the less protected legs, the rhino lost its balance and toppled over.

  Sameer quickly moved to its vulnerable throat, the very spot the beast had been protecting by tucking it beneath its furry body.

  Blood spurted as he slashed the throat of the ferocious beast, and soon it went limp.

  Sameer paused for a brief moment to catch his breath, but there was no time for rest in the middle of a heated battle. A striped, flank-marked wolf with raptorial jaws lunged at him.

  He raised his sword as the wolf bit down on the blade, pinning him to the ground.

  Suddenly, a serpentine ice construct rammed into the ravenous wolf and dragged it across the battlefield.

  Sameer stood up, breathing heavily. However, he had a goal to accomplish... or rather, everyone did.

  They were all making their way toward Deinofrigus.

  Earlier, when Helga asked James if he had a plan, James had given each of them two talismans. Their task was to place them about thirty to fifty meters away from the insidious wyvern.

  James never explained what the talismans did, nor where he had obtained them. But they trusted him enough not to question it.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  James himself acted as a decoy to distract the wyvern from the real attack that was coming. Meanwhile, the ice constructs were tasked with clearing paths so each of them could reach Deinofrigus with minimal fighting.

  Sameer continued making his way toward the wyvern. All around him, ice constructs battled the cavern monsters fiercely. Whenever one construct was destroyed, two more replaced it to fight the monster that had destroyed it.

  Sameer was amazed by James’s ability to multitask. He was fighting an incredibly dangerous opponent yet still had the mental focus to command legions of ice constructs.

  If anything, James himself was a monster. Sameer would hate to ever be on his bad side.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Triste. She wielded her whip with immaculate precision. It was not every day you saw a stickman fighting with a whip, it was the signature weapon of Turflandians, the Turfs.

  Sameer smiled briefly at the sight.

  He finally reached the marked location and placed one of the talismans on the ground, covering it lightly with snow. Given the chaos of the battlefield, that was the best concealment he could manage.

  As soon as he finished, an ice construct shaped like a bird swooped down and lifted him off the ground.

  He flinched, confused. Was this James’s way of saying, You’ve done well, go and rest?

  But that wasn’t the case.

  The moment he was lifted into the air, a ravenous maw burst out from the rocks beneath him. Had he remained there even a second longer, he would have been devoured.

  He stared at the abomination in horror, shuddering at the gruesome fate he had narrowly avoided.

  The ice bird dropped him about thirty-five meters away from James and Deinofrigus. Without hesitation, he placed the second talisman on the ground.

  Sameer wondered how the talismans worked. Wouldn’t they be crushed under the feet of monsters in the middle of the battle?

  Whatever the case, James must have had his reasons for telling them to hide them in slightly inconspicuous places.

  His task was complete.

  Now all that remained was to survive the onslaught until James defeated the wyvern.

  But then he saw something that chilled him to the bone.

  James was plummeting like a block of stone.

  His body was frozen in place by some mysterious power, and Deinofrigus had summoned a torrent of ice shards while grinning maliciously.

  Sameer did not know what compelled him to act, but his body moved before his mind could think.

  He sprinted toward James.

  Even as monstrous abominations surrounded him with clear murderous intent, he pressed forward. Some tried to stop him with their prehensile tails, but he dodged them deftly.

  There was no time to think, and the distance between them was still great. He poured mana into his feet, forcing himself to move faster.

  While there was no time to think of a better way to deal with the ice shards, one thing kept ringing in his mind:

  "If he dies, we all die"

  Deinofrigus unleashed the storm of ice shards.

  Sameer arrived just in time.

  He leaped forward, throwing himself between James and the deadly barrage.

  Only after doing so did he realize what he had done.

  But it was too late.

  His eyes widened as countless ice shards impaled his body.

  Blood sprayed into the air.

  James’s frozen, emotionless face showed the faintest flicker of reaction.

  Sameer was thrown backward, his body crashing across the rocks before finally coming to a stop.

  Blood poured endlessly from his wounds. His eyes remained half-open, and his breathing began to slow.

  Deinofrigus let out a low, grating laugh, his maw twisting with cruel satisfaction.

  “I told you,” he said with a grin.

  “Death is your destiny…”