I Go Up, You Go Down

I clacked my teeth loudly as I stepped forward. "Clack clack clack clack!!!"

"Huh?! Sniff sniff—"

The Orc Advanced Warrior flared its nostrils wide the moment I moved ahead, then roared.

"You bastard!! Poison! This is the skeleton's doing!"

The message still ringing in my head informed me that the Contaminated Breath was steadily dealing dot damage to the creature. The enemy had finally realized I was the culprit, but it was meaningless now. Twenty minutes had passed since it was first poisoned. Even accounting for its natural recovery, it should have lost at least twenty percent of its health by now. The stacked paralysis effect must have left it feeling quite uncomfortable too.

"Krrraaahk—! Worthless skeleton. You are war spoils. I won't smash your skull. I'll sit on it forever."

Hmm… that actually sounds pretty terrifying. Spending the rest of my life as an orc's butt cushion…

Thud.

No way in hell!

I gripped the dagger tightly and walked toward the monster.

(Ilwol, the longer Acceleration lasts, the weaker its effect becomes.)

(I know.)

The blurry form of Ran perched on my shoulder faded as it cast Acceleration on me one last time.

"Huff— haa—"

Yeonhee had squeezed out what little mana she had left to summon Ran for a brief moment.

It must have been hard for her… Thank you, Yeonhee.

"Grrruuah—!"

"Clack!!"

I had a buff. The orc had a debuff. That should have narrowed the gap quite a bit, right?

The orc and I circled each other in a half-moon pattern, taking a few steps while locking eyes.

Good. For now, focus entirely on receiving its attacks—

Twitch.

Here it comes!

Reacting to the twitch of its muscles, I immediately lowered my upper body as if crawling along the ground. I didn't forget to hide my form to disrupt its targeting either.

Whooooosh—!

Shiver—

A massive pressure of wind swept right over my head.

Uwaah! That was seriously dangerous. If I tried to dodge that with my eyes, I'd be saying goodbye to this world instantly!

Even sensing it and then dodging was risky. This was the point where I needed near-prophetic evasion. I focused every nerve, tuning all my senses solely toward the orc.

"Hmm?! You worm! Using cheap tricks!"

It seemed to think my evasion was purely thanks to Stealth. The creature swung its massive axe in a huge X-shape and charged again. The blood ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠coating my body had greatly reduced the effectiveness of my stealth. Still, managing to dodge its attacks somehow meant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the skill wasn't completely useless.

Swish— Tick—

The blade of the axe the orc swung grazed past me as if shaving off bone. I pulled off several paper-thin dodges that could barely be called "grazing," and only then did the orc adjust its stance and breathing, finally taking a proper combat posture.

"Skeleton. Strange skeleton. You fight properly!"

Hoo— You could just take it easy, you bastard.

I was too busy just avoiding its attacks. But my chance would definitely come. That one opportunity. I had to seize it without fail.

Whoosh— Boom!

The more ferocious the orc's swings became, the sharper my sense of crisis grew, and my mind gradually entered a heightened state. Thoughts about my class change, how much Acceleration had left, even the need to protect Yeonhee—all of it slowly faded away.

Then the many gazes watching me from behind scattered, and a space existed for only the orc and me. Thanks to my elevated concentration, a pure white space appeared. I had entered what the System called the Realm of Martial Enlightenment.

I couldn't clearly remember whether my focus had improved after becoming a skeleton or if I had always been like this in my previous life. I simply let out a sigh of relief that my body felt lighter and my senses had grown sharper.

"Grrruah!"

The orc didn't seem to realize it had entered another realm. Was this phenomenon only happening to me?

Soon its yellowish eyes left afterimages as they slid sideways and vanished.

Afterimages… I can finally see them…

It became easier to read the creature's movements, but even in stealth it attacked as if it could see right through me, so the sense of danger never lessened.

Shhh—

I released Stealth to create a single opening.

"Chyahahaha—! Worthless skeleton, I see you!"

The orc grinned with satisfaction, as if a rotten tooth had finally fallen out, and swung its axe again. The weapon was as large as my torso.

Like opposite poles of a magnet repelling each other, every time it pushed in, I slipped away. Dozens of exchanges passed like a dance between us.

Just once…

Whoooong—

The flow of air created by the massive axe pushed my body back ever so slightly. Incredible power and speed. But I was getting used to it.

This orc must have gone through countless battles on its way to becoming an advanced warrior. Its movements were probably crude at first, but it had gradually created its own rhythm.

In my previous life, I had been interested not only in the movements of hunters but also in those of monsters. There was a time when I fell into the absurd idea that there might be some common logic behind their movements. Of course, no such law existed, but I did learn that in a broader sense, their movements weren't all that different from those of high-ranking hunters.

They flowed naturally like water. Jo Giman, Kang Yeonsu, and even Hyeon Jung-gil of the Ilseom Guild—none of them showed any hesitation in their movements. They simply let their bodies follow the flow.

The orc before me was clumsily imitating that kind of movement. That made it easier to predict where its next action would end compared to lowly goblins.

Whirrr—

The orc flipped its grip on the axe handle mid-air, spun once in a flashy arc, and sliced through the air. I continued walking the tightrope, dodging those attacks by a hair's breadth.

If I tried to escape far away to dodge safely, I'd only get caught. So I matched its rhythm and slowly lured it in.

There's something delicious right here.

Jingle jingle—

I shook the bait. The prey that seemed catchable yet always slipped away soon made the orc lose its reason. Its vertically slit pupils burned with maddened hunger, sending chills down my spine.

The moment its follow-up attack—something the orc did habitually after a missed strike—curved toward the left side of my head—

I vanished. From its sight.

—!!

Just as bright light blinds you after being in darkness, the orc had to switch from sight to smell to locate me after I suddenly disappeared. That instant of hesitation shattered its balance.

I had already twisted my body as if collapsing to the floor to avoid the axe it had swung.

"Krrk?!"

Got it!

The weight of the axe it had swung caused its center of gravity to tilt heavily to the right, making it stagger. Under normal circumstances, such an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠opening would never appear, but the orc had been exposed to paralysis for a long time. Its condition was far from normal.

One swing. I wanted to rip open its tough hide wide on both sides with that single strike.

"Those who can't even focus solely on the act of cutting, yet dare to brandish a sword—how pathetic. It often leaves my chest feeling tight. Heh heh."

A small fragment of memory flashed through my mind.

Shunk!

The dagger, whose blade was shorter than my hand, drove powerfully into the orc's chest and sliced downward in a long arc.

"Krrraaaak?!"

A crack formed where the dagger had passed. Blood beaded along the line, and hot liquid burst out, pushing against the thick hide as if trying to drink in the outside air.

Before its scream of shock could even finish, I slammed the last 'Fang' bomb I had kept in reserve deep into its wide-open chest and hammered it in with my fist like a nail.

Thud—!

Eat this—

At the same time, the flat side of the orc's axe smashed into my head and shoulder.

Crack!

It seemed I wasn't the only one waiting for an opportunity. Even as it crumbled, it had swung the axe like a throw using the end of the handle. In that instant, the Orc Advanced Warrior's eyes clearly locked onto me.

I stared right back into its eyes. Its face was horribly contorted, yet it somehow ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked strangely satisfied.

Boom!!

At that moment, I was ejected from the Realm of Martial Enlightenment and slammed into the right curved wall.

Kwaaaaaang—!!

The 'Fang' bomb beautifully blew apart the upper body of the Orc Advanced Warrior.

Thump—!

The lower half of the Orc Advanced Warrior collapsed powerlessly to its knees. It took the other orc warriors quite a while to process what had just happened.

Their captain had been overwhelmingly dominating the skeleton that had been dodging around like a rat. Then the skeleton suddenly vanished, followed by a massive explosion, and this was the result.

"Captain… is dead?"

"Revenge… It's revenge!!"

Krrraaaahk—!!

The death of their commander seemed to have driven them into a frenzy. The orcs, their eyes rolled back in rage, all charged toward the party members at once.

"C-calm down—"

Wooooong—

Yeonhee didn't panic. She quickly resummoned her beasts. I wasn't sure exactly how long my fight with the orc had lasted, but it clearly hadn't been short. Even so, recovering that much mana wouldn't have been possible without the power of the orb crafted from the ancient crystal.

Yeonhee, who had summoned seven lizardmen at once, tossed the orb to No Hayun. The summoned lizardmen immediately rushed at the orcs.

Tap—

No Hayun caught the orb, stared blankly for a moment while rolling her eyes, then hugged it tightly and closed her eyes. It was her desperate struggle to resonate with the artifact as quickly as possible.

Whether it actually worked or not, she pierced the head of an orc that was tearing apart a lizardman and squeezing through with Icicle Spear.

Right beside it, an orc that had rolled off a rock at a strange angle was quickly trying to get up.

"Crescent Slash!!"

Slice—!

"Huh? I-it actually worked?"

Helen's main skill cleanly severed the neck of the staggering orc warrior. She herself seemed the most surprised.

"These guys are poisoned and paralyzed!! Think of them as lizardmen and fight! They've become much weaker!!"

Helen watched the orcs creak and groan, then muttered, "Yeah, they really have," under her breath.

When Bae Jua caused a shift in perception for the Helen combo, the pair finally showed some forward momentum for the first time today. They cautiously pushed forward.

The passage was wide enough that it was difficult for more than five orcs to enter at once. Moreover, once Bae Jua raised her rock barrier again, the gap became even narrower.

The mages took turns using the orb to recover their mana, and several minutes passed in frantic defense.

I stared blankly at the scene, listening to the cracking sounds coming from my skull.

Looks like the axe hit my core at the end and cracked it.

I tried to take out the kettle from my inventory to pour some water on it, but—

I see…

But I wasn't just going to die stupidly.

Farther… even farther…

Squeezing out the last drop of mana I had, I sent the smoke toward the orcs waiting in the rear, behind the ones fighting our party members.

The Contaminated Breath, which had been doing a great job today, was achieving growth like never before.

Hoo— Hoo—

With my mouth crumbling and scattering into the air, I desperately blew out the poisonous smoke.

Haha, this is hilarious. So much fun…