The Untamed: Game of Hearts
Chapter 252: The Growing War

Chapter 252: The Growing War

In the middle of the garden, Nathan and Marcus found themselves squaring up against one another. With the rest of their own men eyeing each other up, the two were left all alone as they themselves gauged each other’s strengths and weaknesses from their sheer presence alone.

"It really doesn’t have to be like this," Nathan growled, his hands already raised at the ready as he circled in front of Marcus. "Still, I’m not above killing you for the sake of peace."

"Such hostile words for a monster preaching about peace," Marcus scoffed, his fists also at the ready as he eyed his opponent. "In the meantime, let me rid this world of your foul presence!"

A tense stillness settled across the garden. Tensions were high, and the world around them seemed to slow down as both men kept their eyes peeled on one another. Each breath was taken into account. Each blink, each minute step, it would only take one errant twitch for the battle to go into full swing.

Then... It happened.

With a swift pump of his legs, Nathan lunged forward. With claws at the ready, the King moved to swipe Marcus right on his face. His enemy quickly took a step back, however, and delivered a swift uppercut in response to his overextended arm.

"Tch..."

Nathan clicked his tongue as Marcus’s fist connected. He wasn’t down for the count, of course, as he quickly tilted his head back down and used his momentum to do an upward kick at his opponent’s chin.

"Khh!"

A direct hit. Marcus flew upwards as the strength of Nathan’s blow threw him off-guard. The man might be a decent combatant, but he was still human as he eventually picked himself back up.

Spitting out a bit of blood, Marcus flashed a bloodthirsty grin at his opponent. "Fair play, monster."

"You’re not bad, yourself," Nathan scoffed. "It won’t be enough to save you though."

"I could say the same to you!"

Once more, the two duked it out in the center of the garden. Exchanging blow after blow, blood began dripping from their fists as they focused only on their opponent’s misery. Marcus made sure to aim for all of Nathan’s weak spots, leaving nothing to chance even as he aimed a kick right between the werewolf’s legs.

Of course, Nathan hastily backed off and quickly reset, his eyes narrowing as he pointed out the low blow. "Really? Have you no honor among men?"

Marcus only scoffed, "You’re no man. You’re a monster. Losing your ability to reproduce would be a benefit to us all."

Immediately, the thought of being unable to sire a child with Raine flashed through Nathan’s mind. He didn’t know why that happened, but it still stoked an unprovoked anger at his enemy as he renewed his attacks. With more ferocity, the King aimed blow after blow at the man, not even caring at the damage he was taking from foregoing defense to switch to pure offense.

"Have you gone mad!?" Marcus taunted despite his swelling face. "You’re only making my fight easier!"

Nathan ignored what he just said. Nothing was more important to him right now than killing this man for even trying to take away his fertility.

**

By the sidelines, Randall had finally arrived. He was accosted by a few of the invaders, but they were nothing compared to his martial prowess. Silently, he moved to save his King from Nathan’s onslaught, making sure that his actions weren’t noticed by the growing war going on around them as he-

"Oh no, you don’t!"

Randall’s eyes widened as he quickly shifted his body away from the incoming attack. As his previous position was pulverized by an errant leg, he blinked as his new opponent showed himself as he walked away from the rubble.

"Nathan should really check his surroundings sometimes," Decan let out a resigned sigh, his leg still covered with dust as he casually brushed it off. "We can’t have him dying because of his recklessness."

Randall didn’t bother with a response. As usual, he kept his silence even as he allowed himself to slink back into a fighting stance. He didn’t want to keep his King waiting for too long, so it would be best if he simply disposed of his opponent in a single swipe.

"Wha- So fast!"

Ignoring his enemy’s comments, the silent combatant moved to gouge the man’s eyes out. With his fingers aimed squarely at his eyes, Randall was sure that it would be over right then and there. However, Decan was faster than he seemed. Quickly ducking sideways, the werewolf then delivered a flash kick right at Randall’s side, catching the man by surprise as he was sent flying to the nearest bush.

As his back made contact with the shrubbery, Randall blinked his eyes open in stark realization. The hit had been harder than he expected, which meant that he wasn’t just fighting some random mook. No...This was going to take him longer than he expected.

Just as he was getting up, another attack came flying right at him as Decan moved to kick him while he was down. Quickly rolling away, Randall planted his hands on the ground and used his leverage to kick upward. He didn’t hit the man, unfortunately, but it did give him enough space to reorient himself as he stood at the ready once more.

Eyeing one another, no words were said as they both kept each other’s cards thoroughly up their sleeves. Randall had already noticed that his opponent favored kicking for some reason, while Decan, on the other hand, quickly noted his enemy’s penchant for debilitating attacks. The two were psyching one another out, and it would only take another move for the fighting to resume once more.

"Why are you fighting?" Decan suddenly asked. "Are you not-"

Not allowing his opponent to finish, Randall lunged once more. He didn’t need to answer such a question anyway. He knew his own reasons, and they were more than enough to justify his actions.

Whoever won wouldn’t matter. So long as the people he cared about were safe, then it was good enough for him.