CHAPTER 9

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Kazaks met the war elephant head-on, his war hammer swinging with brutal precision

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Kazaks met the war elephant head-on, his war hammer swinging with brutal precision. Each impact against the creature's iron-plated skin echoed, chipping away at its armor in brutal increments. 

The elephant, sensing its advantage, pressed forward, tusks gleaming and red eyes trained on him. 

But Kazaks only roared louder, the force of his war hammer landing against its armored face with a bone-jarring thud.

"IS THIS IT?! YOU CALL THIS WEAPON OF CHOICE?!" 

Xertu, perched atop the beast, sneered down at him. 

"You're nothing but a cracked shield. This elephant will be the last thing you see."

"THEN I'LL TEAR YOUR 'WEAPON' APART!!"

With a fierce swing, he struck again, the hammer's impact sending cracks spiraling up the elephant's foreleg armor. 

The beast let out a screeching trumpet, one leg buckling under its own weight. As it stumbled, Kazaks seized the opening, stepping in close and bringing his hammer down hard on its foreleg.

The armor gave way with a horrific snap. 

Beneath it, the bones shattered, and the elephant let out a bellowing cry of pain, its weight shifting as it struggled to stand.

Xertu's grin faltered as he tried to steady himself. 

"That hammer won't save you."

"NEITHER THAT OVERSIZED PET!!" 

Kazaks growled, teeth clenched. Blood was streaming down his arm, but he paid it no mind, his entire focus locked on breaking the beast.

The war elephant reared back, lifting its good foreleg to stomp down on him, but Kazaks rolled sideways, rising up in one swift motion. 

He drove his hammer into the beast's other foreleg with relentless force, each strike calculated and furious. 

Finally, the bones snapped, splintering under the weight of his assault, and the elephant crashed down, blood spilling from its leg.

The elephant's breathing grew labored, each exhale rattling with pain, and Kazaks stepped forward, unrelenting. 

"Bleed. Bleed. Bleed!! You beast. Let's see if you're all iron and no blood." 

He rammed his hammer down on its head, aiming for a gap in the armor, and a sickening crack rang out as blood splattered across the ground.

Xertu, now scrambling atop the struggling creature, was thrown off balance as his dying mount swayed beneath him. Rage filled his eyes. 

"This isn't over! This is just the beginning!"

"Then climb down here and fight like a man!"

The war elephant let out one last pitiful roar before its head slumped forward, and Kazaks watched as the creature finally stilled, blood pooling around it. 

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