Single Mother of a Werewolf Baby

Chapter 225: The Throne of Skulls

At last, Eleanor and her team reached the mountain’s summit. There, carved into the jagged rock, loomed the fortress they had glimpsed from below. The castle rose like a dark crown against the red sky, its towering walls jagged with age yet impossibly solid. From afar, it had seemed impregnable.

But as they crossed the wide stone bridge to its gate, it became clear that the battle had already been fought.

The main courtyard was littered with bodies... orc corpses, troll carcasses, even the twisted remains of goblin hounds. The stench of blood and smoke clung to the air. Cadets moved cautiously through the ruins, weapons drawn more out of habit than necessity. When Eleanor hailed one group, she learned what had transpired here... the castle had already been purged. No monsters remained alive.

Only one challenge was left... The Troll King!

His chamber lay at the heart of the keep. The cadets explained that once a group entered, they never returned to the trial grounds. Win or lose, the chamber was the end.

A queue had already formed. Six teams stood in line before them, their faces taut with fatigue and expectation. Eleanor’s group would be the seventh to step through those doors.

She ordered her team to rest. Their bodies needed strength, and minds needed calm. While they gathered their breath, Ophelia slipped away into the castle’s dim halls, her presence vanishing into the shadows as naturally as a sigh.

Eleanor sat cross-legged against a cold stone wall and summoned her status screen.

[Status]

Time Left: 0:38:22

Primary Objective: Kill the Troll King and recapture the stronghold.

Secondary Objective: Eliminate the monsters.

Team Members: 6

Points: 1322 (Rank–7)

[Do you want to hide the status screen? Yes/No]

With a thought, she dismissed it.

hundred points. Enough to solidify their lead, but her rank had not shifted. Eleanor felt no disappointment. In truth, she was relieved. Being

of shadow heralded Ophelia’s return. She emerged silently at

the throne chamber is accessible. The upper levels are sealed by some arrays... most likely part of the trial itself. The monsters are gone, slain by the first wave of

cord, and quivers filled with sharp arrows. The weapons

approval. "Good work. Distribute them. When it’s our turn, we will be

***

team entered the throne room. The glowing door rippled more brightly once, then dulled to a dull stone-grey. Eleanor pushed

chamber flared alive. Light blazed as though the sun itself had been drawn down into the stone walls. The throne room revealed itself... vast, cavernous, and terrible. And there, seated on a

The Troll King!

upon his head, refracting light into fractured rainbows that danced grotesquely across his scarred face. His eyes glimmered with the dull intelligence of a

his voice a grinding avalanche of stone on stone. "You trespass upon my land. You slaughter my kin. And now you dare crawl before me?" His thick lips curled into a snarl, jagged tusks bared. "Arrogant! Audacious! Allow me to send you to your

step, he descended from his throne. Each stride sent tremors rippling through the floor, shaking loose dust from

his bulk impossibly fast. His roar boomed like thunder, reverberating through the bones

broadsword into guard... only

Her hand clutched nothing!

Her heart sank.

it all away. They stood bare-handed, clad only in the academy’s enchanted uniforms, as naked in battle as they had been on the first

once steep, now seemed

trolls. If it were a light ability, it might

chaos like thunder. "Surround him... we observe before we

King’s colossal fist slammed into the

outward in a deadly spray, peppering their enchanted uniforms. The shockwave itself shoved them

breath catching in his chest. "Bloody hell... he’s faster than a

said, pivoting wide, her glowing green eyes narrowing as she tracked every motion. There has

of nature. His arms swung like battering rams, each sweep displacing the air in violent gales that

whistling from her fingers to sharpen the blows. The cuts

snarl just as the troll’s massive hand closed around her torso. With casual brutality, he hurled her across the chamber.

hard enough to crater stone, coughing blood as she slid down to her knees. "Water is useless," she spat, dragging herself upright. Her jaw