Harem Tournament of Champions

Boom!

Splurt!

Their heads blew up with the blood splattering all over the cage, walls, and Hisha.

Kritz's Sux that had kept his prisoners hostage dissipated upon their deaths.

[Targets dead]

Wiping down his face, Hisha stared a the headless corpse, punching the bars in rage.

For a fact, he could tell this was Yoru's doing and was a failsafe in case any would try to betray her.

[Mind manipulation terminated]

[Reason: Failure to put the target under your control for 48 hours after initialization]

'I don't care about that, my leads just got killed!' Hisha barked in his thoughts, livid with unbridled rage.

"Aghhhhhh!" He let out a yell in frustration.

*****

In a secret settlement,

Having her hands clenched, Yoru stared at it with a smirk.

She had her Sux outlining her body as did her partners who had sat in a circle made of ashes.

The ominous humming sound from the two had Utuk–the Warlord of the hobgoblins narrowed his eyes at the trio.

They had been in the same position for a few minutes and it didn't seem to him like it made any sense.

The twisted smirk on Yoru's lips had him wondering what had happened.

With his curiosity unsatisfied, he questions as he points at her, "what is the update on my people?"

Raising her head with a devious smirk, Yoru got up from her lotus position.

Disappearing in a blast mist of smoke, her cackles could be heard around Utuk.

"Show yourself! You vile Vandrik!" He barked, tightening his grip on his legendary grade-melting great axe.

Its unique make had a yellow jewel glowing, seething with pure yellow energy outlining its blade.

His eyes widened in shock as he witnessed embers hover around him.

'No!'

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

....

Boom!

He didn't have enough time to respond to her sneak attack as they all exploded in unison.

Thrown onto the wall, his huge build of 234cm had made an imprint that restricted his movement, giving enough time for Yoru to materialize and reappear.

Grabbing a hold of his neck, Yoru's red eyes glowed as her hair flew all around her.

"What did you call me and my partners?!" She hissed in rage, her fist raised and brought in front of his face.

Trembling, Utuk shook his head, hoping he could bail his way out of his mistake.

"I was foolish, please forgive me." He begs.

Yoru watched him for a while, her zeal to kill him diminishing the more she realized his pitiful state.

Leaning forward to whisper into his ear, she conveys a threat. "Don't be fooled by your height, bulk build, and strength, I hate being oppressed!"

Pulling away so that she could see the fear in his eyes, Yoru continued. "I brought you out of your prison, and I can put you back if you pull off this stunt again!"

Nodding his head to the warning, he forced a smile in acceptance.

Letting go of his neck, Yoru pulled him out of the wall. "If you wish to forgo your precious wife's escape from the seal and you might have gathered enough energy to challenge me, only then can you be free as an ugly creature."

Utuk's eyes bulged, threatened by her words. He needed to be more careful than he had been and could only follow her orders if he needed his wife brought out along with the next batch of hordes to be freed in three days.

The moment he was out, she let go of his hand and cackled watching him drop six feet off the ground.

The quake caused by Utuk's impact with the floor didn't faze the partners who still maintained their lotus position, humming a strange rhythm.

Barely getting to his feet, Utuk looked to his side at the hand that had tapped on his shoulder.

"Hahaha!" Yoru let out a giggle, resting against Utuk's back.

There was one thing that she had found interesting to pass the time–messing with Utuk.

Although he was the Warlord and arguably the smartest of his race, he was also slightly stupid in her book.

Using her evasive skills, she had made it a habit to confuse him and have him try to catch her red-handed as she messed with him by strategically tapping him at a carefully timed moment.

Coming up from behind Utuk, Yoru laughed at his confused expression.

Her mood darkened as she stared into his yellow eyes, "are you sure that you want to know the update on your people?"

With a nod of his head, he awaited her response.

"They are weak! I feel cheated and betrayed." She sneered, snapping at him.

Utuk shook his head, defending his people.

"A majority of your horde scattered around Kurg had been killed, captured, or retreated. I won't be surprised if I would see some of them run in–"

Huff!

Huff!

Seven hobgoblins rushed in, going on their knees with their heads down in reverence to their Warlord and Yoru.

Casting a demeaning look at the seven, she looked beside her and at Utuk. "Pathetic!"

Walking away to meet her partners, she sat back down inside the circle. "If there is any positive news, do let me know about it."

Before she closed her eyes, she pointed in their direction. "Remember, if you do try to lie to me or exceed the limit of letting out secret Intel..."

Although she didn't finish her statement, showing a cutthroat gesture summarized her message.

Gulp!

Unconsciously, Utuk and the rest nodded their head to her words.

Meditating alongside the two, her body was outlined once more with Sux.

Utuk glares at the seven, trying his best to mellow his yell at them.

Trembling in fear, they took a glance at the trio who were sitting and back at Utuk.

Nodding in the direction of a passageway, he led them to his chambers.

Establishing mental contact with them, Utuk nodded as they continued.

'It was reported that the horde which attacked the citadel were all killed and two of our high-ranking hobgoblins were captured.'

To anyone who could be listening, it would be nothing more than grunts and screeches.

This had been the reason for the indifferent attitude of Yoru to what they had to say.

"What are their names?" Utuk questions, fearful of the result.

'Deurgar and Moka.' Another replies, nodding his head as the others also verify.

Utuk took a step back, distraught by the revelation.

"Is Deurgar still alive?" He whispers.

They all shared a knowing look, disturbed about the detail of what had been conveyed to them.

"He's gone, isn't he?" Utuk looked down, his teeth biting on his bottom lip.

Deurgar had been more than just his general, treating him as a close friend–almost like a brother.

'One of those who had survived just for a while before being burned like the rest of the hobgoblins witnessed the siblings being dragged and thrown in a nearby heap.'

"That means they were both killed afterward."

Nodding their head, they all deduced they might have been taken for questioning before they had been killed.

'There was something strange from what had been transmitted by the hobgoblin.'

Raising a brow at the new information, Utuk inquired what it meant.

Not being able to explain in detail, he chose to share the information using the very visual scenery that had been transmitted to him.

Utuk had his hand over his eyes as a rush of overwhelming information flashed by until it got to the moment the corpses were dragged out.

He gritted his teeth, witnessing through the hobgoblin's eyes as the guards threw a headless Deurgar and Mako onto the heap.

He tried to recall what he had seen, putting that scene on hold to study the jagged edge of the neck.

From the looks of it, their death had been just a few minutes and looked more like it had exploded from a strange impact.

Recovering from the memory, Utuk had cold sweat trickle down the side of his face.

'There has been only one which had caused such head damage.'

Rubbing his chin, Utuk shook his head at the singular idea of the possibility that it is Yoru.

In disbelief, Utuk mutters to himself, "No... She wouldn't."

The room was suddenly silent and replaced with an awkward cricket sound in the background.

Recalling what he had witnessed just a few minutes ago, he choked on his saliva as the confusion he had experienced initially while watching the trio.

'She killed them off without my knowledge!' He growled in, slamming his fist on the wall.

Storming off immediately to confront Yoru.

*****

A/N

Thank you [Bruce_Fannings] for the GTs!

¶ A pictorial illustration of the Utuk's legendary grade-melting great axe shown on my discord server. (•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→ https://discord.gg/NhMzNqgzwn

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