Chapter 49: Thunderclap Strike
Smoke drifted across the battlefield like ghostly fingers searching for the dead. Scorched soil hissed with residual heat, and the metallic stench of blood clung thick in the air. In the silence after slaughter, the forest seemed to hold its breath.
Lei Feng stood alone amid the carnage, Stormpiercer in hand. The blade still glowed faintly with residual lightning. His robes fluttered—not from wind, but from the force of his pulsing aura.
He stared at Grimgut.
The goblin chief had changed.
Gone was the maddened brute thrashing in blind rage. In its place stood something far more dangerous—a calm, calculating beast. Grimgut's bloodshot eyes no longer burned with fury, but gleamed with unsettling clarity. He met Lei Feng's gaze and smiled—a slow, knowing grin that curled across his warped face.
"You're strong… too strong for a fair fight," Grimgut rumbled in guttural Common, his voice thick with phlegm and spite. "But strength without awareness… is wasted."
Lei Feng narrowed his eyes. Something was wrong. The mana around Grimgut was no longer lashing out in wild torrents—it was focused. Controlled.
What's going on…? How did he rein in his emotions so easily? No wonder the system flagged him as 'high cunning'…
Then it hit him.
Where were the five remaining goblin warriors?
He spun—too late.
SHIK!
An axe burst from the shadows, narrowly missing his ribs as he twisted. Another blade sliced from behind. Lei Feng blurred with Lightning Steps, the air cracking from displaced force.
ZZZAAAK!
He reappeared ten feet away, kneeling, breath shallow. Blood trickled down his side. Just a graze… but not from Grimgut. It was one of the goblins—coordinated, precise.
They weren't attacking wildly.
They were surrounding him.
Grimgut chuckled darkly, stepping forward. "You saw them as broken. Beaten. But I trained them for war… not pride."
Lei Feng stood slowly. Calm on the surface—but his eyes burned like a gathering storm. "So that was your plan… bait me with rage, hide your fangs behind loyalty."
Grimgut's grin widened. "You're smart. But not smart enough."
Lei Feng exhaled. Instead of fear, excitement surged through him. "Heh. Finally showing your true colors, huh?"
His voice grew steadier. "Come on. Show me what you're really made of."
Shiiin!
A resonant ring echoed as Lei Feng unsheathed his second weapon—the Nameless Sword. He stood firm, twin blades drawn. Stormpiercer crackled with lightning. The Nameless Sword gleamed with cold light.
Then—
The five goblin warriors emerged, stepping from behind trees in perfect formation. One behind each trunk—spaced evenly, weapons drawn. Their crude armor bore faintly glowing sigils—runes. Enchantments. Their eyes were cold, steady. Disciplined.
This wasn't desperation.
This was assassination.
A trap.
Lei Feng tensed.
"A well-laid plan," he said softly. "But flawed…"
The goblins froze in place, instincts sharpened.
"…because you forgot who you were fighting."
His body ignited with radiant light.
"Lightning Pulse."
KRA-KOOOM!!!
A searing sphere of electric energy exploded outward in a thunderous shockwave. Trees shattered. Earth cracked. Arcs of lightning ricocheted through the forest like vengeful spirits.
The goblin warriors screamed—blinded, hurled back, their formation shattered.
Lei Feng blurred into motion—appearing mid-air above the first goblin. Stormpiercer already raised.
"Your chief betrayed your lives… for a moment's advantage."
CRACK!
His blade cleaved through the goblin's chest in a blinding flash. The warrior hit the ground convulsing—dead before impact.
---
Ding!
Successful Kill!
+70 EXP
EXP: 180 / 1000
---
"Shut the notification off, system!" Lei Feng snarled, sparks flickering from his eyes.
The second goblin lunged, trying to strike during the distraction.
Lei Feng saw it coming.
"Too late."
ZZZAAAK!
He weaved beneath the incoming blade, twisted behind the goblin, and drove Stormpiercer clean through its spine.
"Two."
The third goblin turned to flee.
Lei Feng didn't chase.
He raised a hand—electricity crackling into his palm—and hurled the Nameless Sword like a bolt of wrath.
"Swoooosh!"
The sword, charged with lightning essence, pierced the goblin's heart and pinned him to a distant tree—lifeless.
The last two goblins tried to regroup.
"Lightning Slash!"
He slashed through the air, unleashing a crescent arc of blinding power.
BOOM!
The energy wave ripped through both targets, vaporizing flesh and armor. Their bodies dropped, charred beyond recognition.
And then—silence.
Grimgut stood alone, frozen in disbelief.
"You… you killed them all…" he muttered. His plan, his warriors—reduced to ash.
Lei Feng walked toward him, step by deliberate step.
"You used them," he said coldly. "Just pawns to buy you a moment."
Grimgut roared—rage and denial consuming him. He charged, both axes raised.
Lei Feng didn't flinch.
He raised Stormpiercer skyward.
The wind stilled.
Clouds above churned, spiraling unnaturally. Thunder rumbled—deep and immediate. The forest darkened as if mourning.
Electricity surged around Lei Feng—not flickering, but boiling. His blade radiated blinding light. The air itself seemed to bend.
Even Grimgut hesitated—his instincts screaming danger.
Lei Feng's voice echoed like judgment.
"This is the end."
"Thunderclap Strike."
He brought the blade down.
KRAAA-KOOOOM!!!
The heavens answered.
A colossal bolt of divine lightning struck Stormpiercer, and Lei Feng unleashed it in one fluid motion.
The force—
Was cataclysmic.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
A pillar of blinding energy exploded outward. It consumed Grimgut in its wrath. Trees vaporized. The ground tore apart. The impact flattened the forest in a radius of dozens of meters.
There was no scream.
No resistance.
Only annihilation.
When the light faded, nothing remained of Grimgut. Not even bones. Just a crater—still glowing, molten at the edges.
Lei Feng dropped to one knee, panting, body steaming. His robes sizzled with residual energy, veins glowing with overdrawn mana.
---
Ding!
Thunderclap Strike successfully executed.
Warning: Mana reserves critically low.
Remaining MP: 30 / 260
---
Lei Feng chuckled softly, breath ragged.
"That… was not what I expected…"
He looked around—the scorched earth, the silent forest, the lingering ozone in the air.
"Note to self…" he muttered. "Don't use that indoors."
---
Ding!
Boss Defeated!
You have defeated Grimgut, Ironbelly — Goblin Chief (Level 16)!
Critical Kill!
Calculating Rewards…
+500 EXP
EXP: 960 / 1000
---
"No bonus loot, huh? Still… 500 EXP's generous." He smiled, eyes fixed on the system interface. "Almost there…"
Almost Level 21.
He turned slowly toward the carnage—then to the tree where the Nameless Sword was buried in a goblin corpse.
Without hesitation, he retrieved it, and sheathed it with a smooth motion.
He stood still for a moment, gaze distant, unreadable.
Then he smiled faintly, brushing a hand through his hair.
"Now… let's find somewhere quiet. I've got some rewards to go through."
Although unbothered by death, the blood-soaked battlefield wasn't where he wanted to rest.
He turned away from the devastation, took one last glance at the ruins of Grimgut's domain…
And vanished into the trees.