Chapter 109: Japan (17)
Chapter 109: Japan (17)
For Laysia, wiping out the Orc mages took only a moment.
The total annihilation of their mages was a bolt from the blue for the Orcs. However, the Orc Chieftain had no time to worry about that. Grace and Han Shin were already closing in, ruthlessly cutting down his subordinates as they advanced.
Sensing instinctively that his own life was in peril, he no longer had the luxury of looking elsewhere.
He saw silver, crescent-shaped sword energy soaring through the air, cleaving the soldiers in front of him. A fountain of black blood erupted in its wake.
"Kuaaaakh!"
The Orcs raised thick steel shields to block the energy, but those at the front were effortlessly sliced apart along with their defenses. Among the Orc warriors, there were those capable of using Qi; seeing Grace slaughter their kin with sword energy, they tried to manifest their own Qi to resist, but it was futile—at least until Grace reached their position.
Of course, the Orcs weren't just taking the hits.
Grace had to be mindful of her consumption of Tiamat’s Holy Power, so she couldn't spam sword energy recklessly. She used it primarily to close the distance to the Orc Chieftain while refraining from using it against enemies swarming from the flanks or rear.
Consequently, Han Shin followed closely behind Grace, focusing his attention on guarding their sides and back. They were breaking through the Orc lines rapidly, but the danger grew with every step.
When Laysia noticed the Orc mages attempting to cast spells and broke away to deal with them, the number of Orcs Han Shin had to manage increased significantly. He blocked with his shield and parried with his sword as best he could, but he was forced to allow a few hits through.
Being humanoid monsters, the Orcs knew how to coordinate their attacks. They realized that anything touching Grace’s sword was being split in two, so they focused on obstructing her path and keeping her in check rather than attacking her directly.
Naturally, the brunt of the assault fell on Han Shin, who appeared relatively weaker than Grace.
In truth, Han Shin was also a formidable opponent to the Orcs. They could sense he was a superior being with strength far beyond their own, and fear was beginning to take root in their hearts.
However, between Grace, who mowed them down like stalks of straw with her terrifying sword energy, and Laysia, who possessed enough power to reshape the terrain on a massive scale, the Orcs felt they had no other choice.
Han Shin managed to parry the sharp blades and axes swinging at him, but he was eventually struck by a spear thrusting from behind the front line.
Thud!
"Ugh!"
Han Shin let out a low groan as a heavy impact rattled his back and shoulder.
Fortunately, he was wearing Tiamat’s armor. The defense of the silver full body armor, which encased him without a single gap, was so high that the Orc spears couldn't pierce it, preventing any fatal wounds.
However, the kinetic force of the strike was transmitted directly to his body. Had he been an ordinary Awakener and not a Dragon Knight with an enhanced physique, it wouldn't have been strange for his muscles to rupture or his bones to crack.
Despite the pain, Han Shin gritted his teeth, swung his sword to sever the spear shafts, and slew the Orcs lunging at him.
To the Orcs, it seemed like Grace and Han Shin had reached the Chieftain in an instant, but to Han Shin, every second felt agonizingly long. His silver armor was now a mess, stained dark with black blood.
The Orcs' fear of Han Shin began to intensify.
The Orc Chieftain gripped his massive axe and began circulating Qi through his body, preparing for battle. Now that the enemy was this close, he had to find a way to fight back rather than standing still.
Had the Orcs not been captured by demons and trapped within the portal, they might have fled long ago. But the concept of retreat or flight did not exist in their current state of mind. The demons had stripped the Orcs—and other monsters—of everything but the instinct for slaughter and combat, imprinting them with the absolute command to crush the enemy.
Because the Orc Chieftain wore heavily decorated armor, even his preparations for battle produced a loud, metallic clanking. His nearby subordinates, who functioned as his personal guard, moved in unison with him.
Another reason the Chieftain decided to move was that he saw a chance of victory. He could see that Grace was growing exhausted from the sheer amount of power she had expended to reach this point.
When they were about twenty meters away, the speed at which Grace broke through the Orc lines began to noticeably drop. The reality of Tiamat’s Holy Power being heavily restricted was finally catching up to her.
Grace wanted to pace herself, but the sheer number of Orcs and their refusal to flee made it impossible. There were still nearly a thousand Orcs left. Many who weren't directly in the fray were charging forward in a rage; their burgeoning fear acted as a catalyst for anger, fueling even more ferocious attacks.
The Orcs refused to admit they felt fear, and to deny that weakness, they became obsessed with the idea that they had to kill Han Shin’s party at all costs.
Because they attacked with such reckless abandon, it was difficult for the party to distribute their strength for a prolonged fight. Grace’s breathing grew heavy, and the silver crescent sword energy began to weaken.
Previously, the mere sight of the energy felt like it could cut the air itself, slicing through enemies as cleanly as a sharp knife through paper. That was no longer the case. The blades that once severed everything in their path were finally being halted. She could still cut through one or two Orcs easily, but the energy would lose its momentum and get stuck on a shield afterward.
This happened because the Orcs were also using Qi to defend themselves.
Seeing this, the Orc Chieftain made his move. It would be a blow to his pride to stay back when the enemy was right in front of him and clearly exhausted. Furthermore, since the Orcs were in a state of extreme bloodlust and had no intention of backing down, the collective psychology of the horde demanded that their leader step forward.
The Orc Chieftain was much larger than the others, and he rode an equally massive Warboar. Clad in ornate armor and a helmet, his entrance was impossible for Han Shin and Grace to miss.
In a way, his flashy decorations actually helped them.
I have to be the one to handle him.
Han Shin looked at Grace. After watching her slaughter Orcs with her sword energy, he could see her current state. Noticing her ragged breathing and the slight tremor in her hands, he decided he had to take on the Chieftain.
Han Shin’s own body was covered in bruises and aching with pain beneath his armor, but in the heat of battle, he couldn't feel it. Moreover, the Power of the Dragon within him granted him incredible regenerative abilities, so he was still fit to fight.
Feeling the ground tremble slightly, Han Shin sprinted toward the Orc Chieftain. He bashed aside the Orcs blocking his path with his shield and cut them down with his sword, his eyes fixed solely on the leader.
A massive Orc on a giant Warboar. Compared to them, the silver-armored knight charging forward looked small, like an egg being thrown at a rock.
Initially, Han Shin intended to kick off the ground and leap into the air to strike the Chieftain. The Orc Chieftain anticipated this and prepared to bring his axe down to crush Han Shin mid-air. Once a person leaps, their movements become restricted regardless of their speed, giving a massive advantage to the Chieftain who held the higher ground.
Perhaps sensing this, Han Shin changed his plan. Instead of leaping, he lowered his shield and charged head-on into the Warboar.
Under normal circumstances, it was an insane idea. No matter how sturdy or strong an Awakener was, no one would think to collide directly with a monstrous boar several times their size.
Han Shin felt the same, but in that split second, he realized how to explode the Power of the Dragon Tiamat had given him to reinforce his body. Until now, he had only passively used the physical strength granted by the power; this was the first time he had learned to actively channel it.
A faint silver aura radiated from Han Shin’s body as he slammed into the boar.
K-Boom!
To an onlooker, it looked like suicide, but the result was the exact opposite. The boar the Chieftain was riding couldn't trample Han Shin; instead, it was forced to a dead stop and sent reeling backward.
The recoil from its own momentum was so great that the Warboar vomited black blood and died instantly. Its face was caved in where it hit Han Shin’s shield, its snout unrecognizable. Its hind legs, failing to support the impact, snapped at grotesque angles as it collapsed onto its haunches.
As a result, the Orc Chieftain was thrown backward off his mount. He had jumped off because he realized staying on the boar was dangerous, but the unexpected turn of events made it hard for him to remain calm.
What had just happened defied common sense. The Orc Chieftain had never imagined that Han Shin would survive a head-on collision, let alone overpower the Warboar.
The surrounding Orcs felt the same. Even for the strongest Orc, colliding head-on with a Warboar like that was impossible. They stood dazed, stunned by the unrealistic sight.
The Orcs' momentum broke, and a momentary silence fell over the battlefield.
Han Shin, the architect of this scene, found the shock manageable thanks to the Power of the Dragon. He moved immediately.
Now’s my chance!
Believing this was the perfect moment to kill the leader, Han Shin lunged at the Chieftain as soon as the monster landed. Using the dead boar’s head and back as stepping stones, he vaulted into the air in just two strides.
He reverse-summoned his sword and shield, pulled a Warhammer from his subspace, and swung it down toward the Orc Chieftain with all his might.
The Chieftain hadn't expected Han Shin to follow up with such a high-speed attack before he could even regain his footing. Han Shin was moving too fast to dodge; he had to defend.
He raised the massive steel shield on his left arm to block the silver knight’s glowing Warhammer.
CRUNCH!!
The sound that followed was a sickening noise of bursting flesh, unlike anything heard before.
The Orc Chieftain was crushed to death instantly, flattened by the Warhammer while still in his defensive stance. The overwhelming force didn't even allow him to scream. His body was pulverized, spraying entrails and black blood in every direction.
Han Shin, the one who caused the carnage, was drenched in the spray along with the nearby Orcs. The black blood and gore further stained his silver armor.
It was a scene that etched primal fear into the hearts of the Orcs. Seeing their Chieftain crushed in a single blow without even landing a hit, terror spread like a plague.
Their morale completely shattered. Some Orcs tried to flee for the first time, while others went mad and charged blindly at Han Shin’s party. Ultimately, they could no longer move as an organized unit. Fighting a disorganized rabble was much easier, allowing Grace and Laysia to finish the battle with far less effort despite their exhaustion.
While Grace and Laysia dealt with the remaining stragglers, Han Shin hurried to absorb the mana from the Dungeon Core in front of him. As expected, the Orc Chieftain had been the boss of this dungeon. Although his body was completely flattened, the core energy was hovering in a bluish glow above the remains, making it easy to absorb.