Bound To The Dead: The Deceptive Class-E Farmer-Chapter 50: Wrath of a King

CRACK!

Lightning struck again, this time for Isaac.

He didn’t dodge. Couldn’t. He just braced, teeth clenched, arms crossed.

The blast hit like a sledgehammer made of fire.

BOOM.

He flew back, slammed into stone, tasted blood.

Then silence. Smoke. fгeewebnovёl.com

The scorched air still crackled.

Ash coated the broken ground, thick with the scent of burnt flesh.

Geoffrey stepped through the haze, untouched. Lightning flickered around his fingertips, calm and cruel.

"You don’t look like much," he remarked casually. "Farm boy, was it?"

"With that hit, you should have turned into ash," Geoffrey said, eyes narrowing. "And yet... here you are."

Isaac didn’t answer.

He was still on his knees in the wreckage, barely. Smoke curled off his body. Blisters bloomed across his skin. The sickles trembled in his grip.

His body screamed with every breath. His vision pulsed. The world kept spinning sideways, and he had to bite down just to stay conscious.

He wasn’t supposed to feel it. His body rejected magic, dulled it, warped it. But Geoffrey’s lightning didn’t care. It tore through like divine judgment. Too strong.

[Warning: Energy level 39%]

Geoffrey tilted his head. "So tell me, where does it come from? That... thing inside you. The strength. The power. That’s not magic. Not real magic, anyway."

He crouched slightly, watching Isaac like a scholar examining a dying beast.

"Not bloodline either," he added. "I’d know. I’ve torn enough noble brats apart to recognize one."

Isaac said nothing. Even forming thoughts felt like swimming through tar.

Geoffrey smiled, soft and razor-edged. "You fought Harper harder than I expected. Almost made me regret wasting him like that."

He took another step forward.

"What are you?" he asked. "What kind of bastard thing gets back up after that kind of beating? What cracked you open and poured in that pretty little swarm?"

Isaac slowly raised his head. His teeth were clenched so tight his jaw ached.

"...You talk a lot for a king who doesn’t understand what he just stepped on."

Geoffrey’s smile stretched wider.

"Maybe. But you’re bleeding out, and I’m still standing. So how about you entertain me while you die?"

A sudden voice cut through the smoke.

"ISAAC!"

Aiah.

Aiah led the charge with fire in her eyes. Broner and Corpuz followed close behind, surrounded by small groups of limping soldiers. Not far behind were Putol, Nai, and Ben, wounded, but still standing.

Geoffrey didn’t even flinch. He sighed, annoyed.

"Ah. The traitors. And my dear niece," he added, glancing lazily at Ben. Then to the rest, "And the trash."

Aiah dashed to Isaac’s side, planting herself beside him.

"You’re not doing this alone," she said, voice sharp.

"Get out of here," Isaac growled through clenched teeth.

"And let you die?" she snapped. "Screw that. This is my fight too."

Geoffrey turned to face them, finally interested.

"A last stand, is it?" he said.

Broner stepped forward, raising his twin swords.

"Don’t underestimate desperate people, Your Majesty."

"You mistake desperation for danger," Geoffrey replied. Lightning flared to full strength in both hands, wrapping around his arms like living chains.

Isaac’s grip tightened as he stared down the living storm.

Then...

[Alert: Abyssal Overdrive - 00:25:00 remaining]

He clenched his jaw.

[Abyssal Bind: Cooldown 00:17:20]

[Abyssal Drill: Cooldown 00:17:25]

[Abyssal Bind: Cooldown 00:17:40]

His powerful skills are still cooling down.

Geoffrey just stood there, center of the ruined plaza, a lightning god in human skin, waiting for them to try.

Broner gave the signal. "Spread out. Hit him together. Do not hesitate."

Aiah’s hands ignited with fire. Corpuz notched an arrow. Putol raised his sword with his one good arm. Nai and Ben moved in, silent and ready.

"Go!" Broner shouted.

They surged forward.

Aiah struck first, two arcs of flame hurled straight at Geoffrey.

Geoffrey raised a hand. Lightning lashed out. The flames split apart and died before reaching him.

Broner was already in motion. His twin swords blurred in a spinning cross-strike. Geoffrey caught both with a single crackling forearm.

"You’re quick," Geoffrey said, smirking. "But not enough."

Ben’s arrow flew toward his head. Geoffrey twisted mid-duel, letting it sail past, then hurled a bolt at him.

Ben rolled aside. The lightning tore a chunk from the stone wall behind him.

Corpuz fired again and again, precise and relentless. Geoffrey dodged and blocked, until one arrow sliced his side.

"Tch." He scowled and clenched his fist.

The sky growled.

CRACK!

A lightning bolt slammed down in the center of the plaza, blasting everyone back. Dust and heat roared outward.

Isaac shielded his face, blinking through the haze.

Putol and Nai recovered first. They flanked Geoffrey, swords flashing.

Putol slashed with deadly rhythm, even one handed. Nai swept low, aiming for Geoffrey’s legs.

But Geoffrey just danced between them, fluid as smoke.

He coiled lightning around his arm like a whip.

THWIP...CRACK!

The bolt struck Nai’s shoulder. She screamed as she flew backward, slamming into the ground. Alive, but not moving.

Isaac’s breath came heavy. His hands were still shaking, but not from pain anymore, frustration burned hotter.

He looked down at the spot where Harper had died. Ash. Nothing left. No corpse. No absorption.

No experience. No skill points. No upgrade.

’All that work... wasted,’ Isaac muttered, eyes narrowing.

The system flashed in his vision again.

[Alert: Abyssal Overdrive - 00:23:47 remaining]

[ Abyssal Bind: Cooldown 00:15:32]

[Abyssal Drill: Cooldown 00:15:37]

[Death Reel: Cooldown 00:15:52]

He clenched his fists. The swarm can’t be used. No more corpses to drain. No more power to absorb.

Aiah screamed as she launched another wave of fire at Geoffrey. Putol was bleeding. Nai couldn’t stand. Corpuz was running out of arrows. And Broner, he was slowing down.

Isaac cursed under his breath.

He couldn’t just stand here waiting for cooldowns to tick down.

He had Abyssal Overdrive. That was still something.

"Damn it," he hissed, then pushed off the ground and ran straight into the fight.

CRACK!

A bolt of lightning tore through the space where he’d been just a second before. Isaac rolled under it and closed the distance.

Geoffrey turned his head, a flicker of surprise on his face. "Finally you moved?"

Isaac didn’t answer. He came in hard from the left while Aiah attacked from the right. Fire and sickle. Heat and steel.

Aiah’s flames forced Geoffrey to block high.

Isaac struck low.

His sickle bit into Geoffrey’s leg, not deep, but enough to draw blood.

Geoffrey growled and sent a pulse of lightning outward. Isaac jumped back, skidding on the broken ground, but Aiah caught him, throwing a wall of flame to block the surge.

They landed side by side.

"Nice timing," she said, panting.

"I couldn’t let you have all the fun," he replied.

They moved again, together this time. Aiah blasted flames to blind, Isaac darted through the smoke to cut. Geoffrey countered, fast and focused, but now he had two targets.

That wouldn’t last.

Broner and Corpuz charged in next, weapons drawn, followed by Nai, Putol, Ben, and a handful of determined soldiers.

Geoffrey’s attacks were strong, but they weren’t clean anymore. He was adjusting and calculating.

Off to the side, Mira helped Peter sit up against a broken pillar. The old man’s eyes were locked on the battlefield.

"I knew Geoffrey was gifted," Peter muttered. "But I never thought his strength would reach this level."

Mira glanced at him. "Is it his skill?"

Peter shook his head slowly.

"No... not just skill. This isn’t normal. Something else is feeding him power."

Back on the field, The sky cracked open.

Lightning roared down like the wrath of gods.

A massive electric wave exploded outward. No warning, no buildup, just raw, blinding force.

Aiah barely had time to shout..."Get down!"...before it hit.

The world turned white.

Her ears rang.

Heat slammed into her chest, and the ground ripped up beneath her boots. For a moment, she couldn’t tell if she was standing or falling. Everything was noise, raw, tearing static, and then, suddenly, silence.

Smoke and dust choked the air.

She coughed, staggering, disoriented. Her vision swam. Sparks danced across the ground. Her hands trembled, but she was still standing.

Still standing?

She blinked. Her skin didn’t burn. Her legs hadn’t buckled. Why?

All around her, cries. Groans. The others were down.

Putol was motionless, twitching slightly. Ben’s bow lay snapped in two beside him. Nai was curled against a fallen soldier. Broner and Corpuz struggled to push themselves up, both smoking from the blast.

And Aiah... untouched.

She didn’t understand. Her heart raced, her mind catching up one beat at a time.

Then the smoke cleared.

And she saw him.

Isaac. Standing in front of her. Not facing Geoffrey, but facing her. His body hunched slightly, arms loose at his sides, as if he’d just stepped between her and the blast.

His shirt was scorched. Smoke rose from his back.

He had taken the hit for her.

Aiah’s breath caught.

He didn’t look at her. Just breathed hard, jaw clenched, eyes fixed on Geoffrey.

Why? she thought. Why would he...

She took a shaky step closer. His back was burned, the cloth fused with skin in places. Still, he stood. Still, he blocked her.

She felt something rise in her chest... anger, guilt, awe. Maybe all of it at once.

"Idiot," she whispered. "You absolute idiot."