Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Duel of the Kings
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Argus silently watched Hatan, who was extending his axe in challenge.
For an orc, he was fairly large—but that still only put him at orc level.
Maybe just a bit bigger than his own child, Shu.
But Argus knew. He knew just how sharp and deadly the blade of that axe swung by the orc truly was.
"Calm down. Are you saying we settle this today?"
"Kheek! Of course, Argus! You're feeling the shocks building up in your body bit by bit too, aren't you, kheek!"
As expected.
This king of the orcs was thinking the exact same thing as him.
If this stalemate dragged on, the human commander beyond the mountains might notice.
That commander was always a monster.
'Maybe this works out for the best.'
If he had to settle things with Hatan anyway, it might be better to end it quickly before any more shocks accumulated.
"...Fine. Then you and I will duel it out, just the two of us. But first... can I take my child?"
"Kheek! Of course, kheek!"
Hatan gladly handed over the cart, and Argus accepted it before walking back to the ranks of Cyclopes.
Saladin, who had been watching the situation, spoke up.
"Hey, doesn't it feel like this is all gonna end with a duel between Hatan and that Cyclops boss? Why'd they tell us to get ready?"
Looking at Saladin, Beskin, Aria, and Set behind him all nodded in agreement, waiting for my explanation.
It wasn't unreasonable. If Argus were a pure warrior, that choice would make perfect sense.
But I knew better.
'The seat of a lord isn't that light.'
If that Cyclops called Argus made the choice of a king—like Hatan allowing the kidnapping of his child—he wouldn't just sit back and watch.
"Y-Young master!"
"Are you alright?!"
As Argus handed over the cart with Shu in it, the Cyclopes practically tore off the ropes binding Shu.
"My king, we've found the young master..."
Brontes, the guard who had first reported Shu's disappearance to Argus, let slip a meaningful remark.
Argus hesitated for just a moment—very briefly—before squeezing his eyes shut.
"...Do it. Once I start fighting Hatan, annihilate the orcs."
Argus truly didn't want to make this choice, but he had no option.
'I must win, no matter what.'
Only then could he protect these mountains from the humans.
Only then could he protect Gaia and the Cyclops race.
Right now, it was time to prioritize the welfare of his race as king over fulfilling his desires as a warrior.
'Sorry, Hatan. I hope you understand as one who became king.'
Having secretly given the order to his guard, Argus picked up his beloved weapon, Mjolnir, as if nothing had happened, and slowly walked toward Hatan.
Thud, thud, thud!
The ground shook just from his steps, thanks to the weight of Argus and Mjolnir.
"I've waited long enough, Hatan."
Thwack!
Gripping Mjolnir with both hands, Argus declared,
"Our long fight ends today!"
A spark of fervor ignited in Hatan's eyes as he raised his axe at Argus's words.
"Kheeeek! Here I come!!"
Hatan's thighs, thick as mighty oaks, swelled as if about to burst.
Boom!
With a sound like a shell exploding, Hatan charged straight at Argus axe-first, saying nothing more.
Unlike his savage momentum, Hatan's axe targeted precise spots all over Argus's body with impeccable control.
But Argus was no different, his power belying his ferocity.
"Hmph!"
Contrary to its brutish name, Argus spun Mjolnir like a pair of chopsticks to block Hatan's axe, then thrust his left fist toward Hatan's face to crush it.
Thud!
As Argus's fist slammed down on Hatan, the shockwave cracked the ground in expanding circles.
"...Kheek! That much won't work!"
It was powerful enough to shatter the earth, but Hatan took no damage.
Of course not—Argus's fist was caught in Hatan's opposite hand.
The moment it connected, he'd twisted his body to divert the impact into the ground.
"Kheek!"
Hatan snapped his knee up, aiming for Argus's single eye. If it hit clean, it might burst outright.
"Hngh!"
Argus anticipated it, blocking the knee strike with the shoulder holding Mjolnir.
A normal shoulder couldn't match a knee, but their size difference made it possible.
"Kheeeek!"
"Haaaaah!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Hatan's battle axe and Argus's Mjolnir clashed in midair without yielding an inch.
Perhaps because both wielded heavy weapons powered by innate strength.
There was a weighty, exhilarating brutality unseen in human swordsmen's duels.
The change began as the battle between Hatan and Argus heated up.
"...Charge. Now is the time to carry out the king's command."
At Brontes's order, the Cyclopes who had been awaiting the signal raised their weapons in unison.
"While the lord holds the orc king, annihilate the enemy!"
-Rooooaaar!
Brontes figured this surprise attack at the peak of Hatan and Argus's focus would deal a fatal blow to Hatan.
But.
Shwick!
Hatan paid no mind to the Cyclopes' movements, spinning his axe to peel the skin from Argus's forearm like an apple rind.
"Grrgh!"
On the contrary, Argus faltered at Hatan's unshaken demeanor, leaving himself open to the strike.
"...Hatan. Don't you care about your kin? Is that truly the path of kingship you seek?"
Argus clutched his bleeding forearm and asked Hatan.
He had believed Hatan's domineering path always rested on a foundation of concern for his race's future.
But Hatan's utter composure now meant he valued crushing Argus to win the war over the lives of the orcs present.
'This is bad.'
The reason Argus respected Hatan despite him being an orc was that he never strayed from righteousness.
Hatan's current attitude might signal he was starting to deviate from that path.
But contrary to Argus's worries, Hatan scoffed and denied it.
"Kheek! You're one to talk, pulling petty tricks in a sacred duel. Kheek!"
Without even glancing back, Hatan continued as if he knew the battlefield without looking.
"I merely entrusted my back to my ally, preparing for any tricks. Kheek!"
"Ally...?"
Argus instinctively turned toward the Cyclops-orc battlefield at Hatan's words.
The situation was vastly different from what he'd expected.
"Rooooaaar!!"
A Cyclops letting out a roar that hushed the mountain monsters charged the center of the orc formation, swinging a greatsword.
Thicker than a sturdy log, it wasn't so much slicing as smashing.
Clunk!
The greatsword swung mercilessly to pulp the clustered orc warriors halted abruptly in midair, failing its purpose.
"Wh-what is this?"
Two puppets leaped high from the confused Cyclops's knee.
The puppet that vaulted to the Cyclops's front dropped its jaw, spewing thick green gas.
Fwoosh!
"Agh, aaaargh!"
The Cyclops, blinded in his single eye by the gas, screamed in agony.
Then, the puppet that leaped behind drew a fishbone-like sword from its spine and hooked both sides of the Cyclops's neck like a guillotine blade, slamming it to the ground.
Thud!
"Urk!"
The Cyclops tried to rise, but.
"Better not move if you can help it? Stand up, and your head'll roll off like a condemned prisoner's under the guillotine."
No one could move in such a situation.
Thus, Saladin pulled out his 'threads' to wrap and subdue the Cyclops's neck.
Then he maneuvered Mimi and Nene to aid the surrounding orcs.
"Ah, seriously! I'm gonna die of exhaustion! Every time that human shows up, it's always this crap!"
In the opposite direction from Saladin's lament, Cyclopes clustered to collapse the orcs' left flank.
True to their massive builds, each wielded heavy weapons matching their size, closer to demolishing the orc line than breaking it.
"Crush the left flank fast, then regroup at the center!"
"Rooooaaar!"
The Cyclopes swung warhammers, battle axes, and morning stars, but.
Whoosh!
"Hot, too hot!"
The Cyclopes couldn't achieve their goal.
Their heavy weapons heated up rapidly.
In truth, it was absurd that Cyclopes—blacksmiths among monsters—couldn't handle a bit of heat.
But even they couldn't hold weapons melting from the scorching heat.
"I told you I'd handle it! Young Master Set, stay back!"
"Strange talk. I said I'd take this side first, so shouldn't the lady move instead?"
"That's why I'm saying I never agreed to that!"
Set and Aria, flames their specialty, harmonized their fire to target the Cyclopes' weapons. No weapon could withstand it.
And due to their peculiar rivalry(?), they melted the weapons even more fervently.
"Damn it! Just trample 'em!"
Weaponless, but Cyclopes dwarfed ogres in size.
They could beat orcs barehanded.
"Kheek, they think we're trash. Kheek!"
Kasim and Badol flashed cold smiles at the charging unarmed Cyclopes.
Kasim, chieftain of the Black Scythe Tribe.
Badol, chieftain of the Blue Sword Tribe.
True to their tribe names, the two chieftains drew massive scythes and greatswords to block the Cyclops horde.
But someone else shone even brighter.
"M-my feet...?!"
Besides those blocked by orc chieftains, the rest tried to slip sideways, but their slowing steps drew eyes downward regardless of will.
Crack!
The slowing legs eventually froze solid to the ground, immobile.
"No one passes beyond this point."
The Ice Knight, Beskin.
His chill was pure poison to volcano-dwelling Cyclopes.
Argus's closest aide, Brontes, headed for the orc right flank.
With other areas blocked unexpectedly, he had to shatter the right to drag the orcs into chaotic melee.
"We must break through here for sure!"
"Rooooaaar!!"
Unlike left or front, the right had just one human and orcs.
No orc chieftain either.
Judging by other fronts, the human was the only concern.
"I'll take him! You lot hurry and deal with the orcs!"
"Yes!"
Brontes boasted strength enough to guard Argus.
Wasting time throwing numbers at one human was inefficient.
'No time—crush this side quick and support the others!'
Shing!
Unlike other Cyclopes, Brontes drew thin, long twin swords.
Small and almost pitiful compared to his build.
But in his hands, they radiated razor-sharp menace.
"Brace yourself, human!"
Shwick!
Brontes's sword strikes tore toward the human's position at blinding speed.
Arms blurring to six in illusionary speed.
No need to check.
The human's small body was surely minced to paste.
'No pain given.'
As Brontes turned from the spot to join others in hunting orcs.
"Huh...?"
He couldn't help blurting foolishly.
The Cyclopes who'd moved with him lay fallen in the orc formation.
"Why are you lot...?"
"Whew, this is something."
A man appeared scratching his cheek beside a downed subordinate's head.
The human male he'd thought minced moments ago.
"How did you...?!"
"Sorry about that."
The man—Jerome—stopped scratching and said,
"Guys like you who use slashing weapons are the easiest for me to handle."