Chapter 11
Chapter 11
I realized.
That the Orcs I had cut down until now were close to being weaklings.
As their bodies grew larger, or the number of white tattoos they wore increased. Their combat power rose.
It reached a point where striking them with my sword three or four times didn't end their lives.
The smell of blood numbed my senses.
Even swinging my sword horizontally didn't kill them. Ripping through their abdomen with my sword didn't kill them either.
At that moment, I pulled out my Black Javelin and thrust it into their necks, then twisted it.
"Kuaaaaaaak!"
The screams of soldiers echoed in my ears.
My gaze and senses had long since moved away from the Orc I had just killed.
A giant Orc, staring at me from a distance.
An Orc, of all things, who had attendants carrying a red flag.
That one had been constantly drawing my attention.
It was a gaze that had been watching me since I threw a short spear from atop the castle wall.
That guy intends to kill me.
But I'm in a position where I have to kill you too.
After cleaving the head of one more, I shifted my gaze.
Riselinn, the leader of the Lucerna Mercenary Group, was indeed not an extra.
She was fighting valiantly, covered in red blood from head to toe.
A shield in her left hand.
A spear in her right, both caked with blood and flesh.
She severed the Orc's life with a cold expression and walked towards me.
"Yuseong."
Riselinn stood beside me, pulling her one-handed shield up to her upper body.
"It would be best not to approach the Orc behind that red flag. He's an Orc Legion Commander."
Legion Commander.
I wondered who she was referring to, but it seemed to be the giant Orc I had just exchanged glances with.
The problem is, I've already decided to have a go at that guy.
"I'll kill the Legion Commander, so could you just help me reach him? There are quite a few pigs."
Riselinn looked at me, her brow furrowed slightly.
"...Did you even hear what I said?"
I continued in a low voice.
"Is this a situation where reinforcements are expected?"
Riselinn sighed.
"Of course not. If they were coming, they should have arrived long ago... The fact that they haven't yet means something has gone wrong."
"If I kill this Legion Commander, won't the current situation be resolved? At least it would buy us about two days."
"That's true... but it's absurd when you say it like you're going for a stroll."
Riselinn clicked her tongue and pushed her shield forward.
"You're serious, aren't you?"
"I am serious. Mana Potion, do you happen to have one?"
"Yes."
Riselinn didn't seem surprised that I used Mana. Perhaps she thought I wouldn't use it after causing such a commotion.
Riselinn handed me a potion filled with a blue liquid, her expression more like she was looking at a strange person than one of surprise. Always.
"I know you're strong, Yuseong... but I don't think you're strong enough to kill a Legion Commander?"
Hmm.
It was a judgment that was cold enough to be a little hurtful.
"That's right. I'm just trying."
"People don't usually bet their lives on a 'just trying'..."
After all, if I stayed put, the rest of the legion's forces would pour in, and I would be swept away and die in that wave of troops.
If I kill the Legion Commander before that, the 2nd Floor Stage might end.
Of course, my instincts were telling me that wasn't the case.
Like the text that appeared above my head when I faced Queen Ansranthrope, the name didn't come to mind.
There was a possibility that a higher-tier Monster existed above this Legion Commander.
I looked at the approximately 80 soldiers fighting valiantly. They were barely holding back the Orcs' invasion, like waves at the edge of the sea.
The shields they used to block were long and vertical.
Countless spears extended between the shields.
The spearheads pointed towards the Orcs, but they couldn't inflict fatal wounds.
The people at the front were dying one after another.
Screams.
The sound of flesh being torn.
NPCs.
It was a situation where I had no idea what would happen on the next floor.
In the first place, it was uncertain whether we could even clear the current 2nd Floor Stage.
But even if the story of this floor didn't continue and ended here, I didn't want to see more soldiers dying.
I admit it.
I am in an extremely emotional state.
Perhaps it's because I've only seen dead and dying NPCs until now, and now I'm with living, breathing beings.
Creaaak-
I downed the sapphire-blue Mana Potion.
Player Level 6, reached by killing the one Orc just before.
My Mana stat became 16 due to a rise of 4 this time.
Perhaps because of that, the Mana Body Reinforcement skill also reached Level 2.
I could barely remember how many Orcs I had killed now.
It took me over twenty Orcs to go from Level 5 to Level 6.
"You're really going through with it?"
"Yes."
After confirming my intentions once more, the mercenary leader Riselinn positioned fifteen more people around me.
All of them were Lucerna Mercenary members.
Riselinn spoke in a calm tone, unlike the current situation.
She used informal speech when speaking as the mercenary leader, just as she did when giving orders to depart.
"We will advance in a charge formation. Yuseong is the primary target for cover."
Following Riselinn's words, the fifteen pairs of eyes gathered focused on me.
Ed, the attack captain with whom I had a brief conversation, was among them.
"I don't intend to be covered. I'll be at the very front."
Everyone wore a blank expression at my words.
"He says the objective is to kill that Legion Commander. Quite a bold declaration."
Riselinn gestured with her chin towards the front.
"I shall try it. After all, if we continue to stalemate any longer, we'll have no choice but to retreat in defeat. Let's make a reckless choice."
The Lucerna Mercenary Group raised their shields in unison and formed a line.
I advanced, swinging my sword at the forefront of the mercenaries who pierced through the Orcs before us like a drill.
"Everyone, return alive! Raise your shields high and completely block the enemy's approach! And stab through the gaps with your spears!"
Attack Captain Ed's voice boomed.
A systematically trained charge formation. The Orcs were pushed back, bleeding, helplessly.
It was the moment I had just ended the life of a fierce-faced Orc directly in front of me.
Suddenly, a giant shadow fell upon Ed's body, who had stepped forward to kill an Orc approaching diagonally.
A face.
A very ferocious face.
—The Orc Legion Commander.
The Legion Commander, who had been standing idly in the back just moments ago, had reached right beside me.
KWA-AAANG!
The Legion Commander's fist slammed into Ed's upper body.
Ed's body was crushed as if half-folded.
Riselinn's desperate cry, calling Ed's name, could be heard.
All my nerves were on edge.
Hwaak-!
I grabbed Ed by the scruff of his neck, pulled him back, and then shoved him backward as if throwing him.
It was to save his life, at least.
From then on, only the Legion Commander was visible in my sight.
A colossal physique.
An overwhelming sense of dread.
The Orc Legion Commander.
Standing before him, I seriously wondered if I had hit my head.
[Focus Enhancement Lv.3 - Activating skill.]
It was the thought of 'let's give it a try' that bloomed from my toes.
[Mana Body Reinforcement Lv.2 - Activating skill.]
The Legion Commander's arm moved slowly.
Raising a massive battle axe, the Legion Commander stomped the ground and charged.
His eyes glowing with a terrifying red light.
The charge speed emanating from his giant body was unimaginable.
That must be why Attack Captain Ed ended up like that.
The axe was brought down vertically. A brutal attack that even carried the Legion Commander's weight.
I withstood the axe's pressure with my sword.
The Dragon Slayer Sword, Libra.
Sword Defense Technique, Form 1, balancing the sword and body to block.
The ground beneath me cracked, but the sword was intact.
The Legion Commander held the axe handle with both arms.
Kwooooreeeeeeeeee──!
And with a thunderous roar, he began to swing the axe indiscriminately.
Ash-gray trajectories filled the air.
Attack is defense.
Rather than blocking the Legion Commander's attacks with Sword Defense Technique, I responded with counter-attacks.
My hair, cut by the axe blade, scattered in the air.
Diagonal.
The situation repeated, where if I had twisted my head even slightly less, my neck would have been severed and my head would have fallen to the ground.
I unleashed all the basic sword forms of the Dragon Slayer Sword.
Blood spurted from the Legion Commander's neck. But he didn't fall.
His neck was just too thick.
His waist too. The leather protecting his heart and the pectoral muscles of his upper body were the same.
On the other hand, my body was still weak. Even with Sword Defense Technique Libra deployed, I could barely block critical hits.
Kagagagagak!
I twisted the trajectory with my straight sword. But.
Sserk.
Even twisting wasn't enough.
Pain, beyond a throbbing, spread from my left shoulder. Blood flowed fiercely.
Kagang!
Even as my consciousness seemed to fade, I swung my sword and parried the axe.
[Status Effect - Bleeding!]
Am I going to die?
Dying like this would be too absurd.
Perhaps because I had lost so much blood, the pain evaporated.
In a state close to unconsciousness, I followed the trajectory and struck again.
If I allow even one more attack, I will die.
[Skill 'Composure' level up. Lv.3]
Just one.
Just one more chance.
I don't expect luck.
[Skill 'Fighter's Movement' level up. Lv.3]
What I have built up.
[Skill 'Fighter's Movement' calls forth a linked skill.]
I just hoped it wouldn't be meaningless.
[Doombringer Lv.1 - Skill acquired.]
It's here.
[Status Effect - Due to 'Bleeding - Critical', Doombringer is activated.]
[The body temporarily breaks through its limits.]
One of the reasons 'Sword of Light' wrote in the appendix of the Sword Manual that 'Fighter's Movement' must be acquired.
The special condition activation skill, Doombringer.
— Sword of Light) It is the final desperate act, and the best desperate act.
I understood this skill as similar to those often found in other games, especially fighting games, where power increases when health is low.
My joints creaked, not obeying my commands.
But my mind was clear.
More than ever.
I am aware. The limit is at most 20 seconds.
If I exceed that time, my life will be extinguished.
I swung my straight sword.
Horizontal slash, Thursahǫgg.
The sword strike, which had not landed before, pierced the Legion Commander's armor and exploded on his upper body.
Hjartagnyr.
Drakabani.
Tres Puncturae.
I poured out all the Sword Paths my body remembered.
Again, Thursahǫgg.
A flash passed through the Legion Commander's waist.
— Thud.
The Legion Commander's body collapsed onto the ground.