The Orc Warrior (1)
With a single step, the entire atmosphere of the battlefield flipped.
The massive frame covered in green skin was clearly different from any ordinary orc. Mutant. A superior specimen that displayed a distinctly unique appearance even among its own kind. Should it be called an Evolved Species? For a fleeting moment, it reminded me of the Kobold Shaman I had clashed with before. The way its mere presence dominated the surroundings carried an overwhelming pressure that instinctively made my body tense.
It radiated the true majesty of a warrior, utterly unlike the orcs we had been slaughtering until now. If I had to give it a name, Orc Warrior seemed fitting.
At least, that’s what I think.
My eyes were drawn to the weapon the massive Orc Warrior carried slung over its shoulder like a burden. It was a large, heavy halberd that seemed entirely too refined for a monster. And on the blade remained a faint pattern.
“That pattern…”
It was a pattern I had seen before. I instinctively glanced at Arisha. The eagle emblem engraved on the halberd’s blade was the same one she had shown me back in the barracks.
The Vile family.
It was the family crest used by Arisha, her father, and the entire Vile house. A symbol they displayed on the battlefield to announce and flaunt their presence.
“Why is my father’s weapon in that thing’s hands?!”
Her question erupted with raw, heated fury, but no answer came. The Orc Warrior offered no reply. It simply bared its sharp fangs and grinned.
It raised the weapon it had been carrying on its shoulder overhead. And then—
It’s coming.
The attack was simple, like splitting firewood—bringing the halberd straight down. The movement and intent were so obvious that anyone could read them.
“Block it!”
Recognizing the Orc Warrior’s strike was easy. Three soldiers raised their shields in unison, attempting to defend. No matter how exceptional its physique and strength, they believed combining their power would let them hold out. That judgment stemmed from the experience and confidence they had built through several previous engagements.
There was just one thing they hadn’t accounted for: they had completely underestimated the combat ability of this special entity known as the Orc Warrior, which they were facing for the first time.
That’s…
I felt it on instinct. It shouldn’t be blocked. I sensed the energy condensing along the halberd’s axe blade. My gut told me this was on an entirely different level from the attacks of ordinary orcs.
There was no time left for analysis or hesitation. I moved.
Arisha’s urgent voice rang out a beat too late, infused with magical power.
It was an order that didn’t even entertain the idea of defense. The three soldiers who had raised their shields froze in confusion. The halberd’s attack was already a split second from smashing into their shields. But I had already reached them.
I slammed my full strength into the side of the leftmost soldier.
“Ugh?!”
The three soldiers were hurled to the right by my charge. The one who took the direct impact from my shoulder gasped from the blow to his ribs, but I couldn’t spare them any attention. Because in pushing them aside, I had taken their place.
I swung my sword toward the halberd’s axe blade now filling my vision.
Blocking it is impossible.
The halberd the Orc Warrior swung wasn’t a mere weapon. An enormous amount of mana had condensed along its axe blade. It was probably magic equipment fitted with some special mechanism. Arisha clearly knew what that device on the halberd could do. That was why she had ordered an immediate evasion instead of any attempt at defense.
Her judgment had been correct. Therefore, I never once considered meeting the strike head-on. But it was already too late to dodge.
Not blocking—deflecting.
More precisely, letting it flow past. My response was the same as when I had fought the orcs before. Meeting the full weight of the weapon and the orc’s raw muscle power driving it downward in a direct clash would be nothing short of suicide.
My swung blade collided with the descending halberd.
Kiiing!
I twisted the sword at an angle, redirecting the vertical plunge of the attack.
“K-Kugh?!”
This was on a completely different scale from when I had received the previous orc’s axe. Unlike then, when I believed I could somehow endure it, the overwhelming thought that this was absolutely impossible flooded my mind.
In reality, the Orc Warrior’s halberd barely shifted its trajectory before continuing along its straight path.
Crack!
The sword…
The blade began to tremble violently. The halberd’s edge was carving cracks into my sword and digging deeper. It was going to break.
The instant I sensed it, I released the hand gripping the sword. In that razor-thin moment, my survival instinct screamed desperately.
I have to dodge.
I twisted my body frantically to escape the halberd’s path, but my physical form couldn’t keep up with the whirlwind of thoughts and calculations racing through my mind.
It drove into my shoulder along with the shattered sword.
Crunch!
“Ugh…!”
“Jungwoo!”
A familiar voice screamed my name in horror from a distance. It was Seo Hayun.
Huff?
I heard the Orc Warrior exhale sharply above me. It must have been confused by the current situation. It should have easily bisected a frail human body, yet its halberd had failed to cut clean through my shoulder. To be exact, though it had sunk into the flesh, it stopped short of shattering my collarbone.
“K-Kugh…!”
It hurt. The cold, biting edge of the halberd buried in my flesh burned with pain. Crushed beneath the Orc Warrior’s strength and the weapon’s weight, my knees slammed into the ground. Yet I endured.
It was practically a gamble…
Even with Hoshin-ganggi reinforcing me, I hadn’t known whether I could truly withstand the Orc Warrior’s strike head-on. I had never tested it before. So I had focused my Heavenly Fate on the shoulder where the halberd would land directly. Bones boasted the greatest hardness of any part in the human body. I reinforced their strength to the absolute limit using Heavenly Fate, even accepting the risk that part of my body might transform into metal. The gamble had paid off.
I looked up at the Orc Warrior as it exhaled.
Huff.
Our eyes met. It bared its grotesquely protruding fangs, and the corners of its mouth curved into a smile.
…It’s smiling?
It was laughing. I couldn’t understand or even guess what could possibly make it so happy.
Huff!
The Orc Warrior poured strength into the halberd that had been stopped. It was trying to wrench the weapon free, but I seized the blade with an iron grip. I locked it firmly in place so it couldn’t move while embedded in my shoulder. My face twisted from the agony of the blade tearing through flesh, but keeping the Orc Warrior’s weapon pinned was far more important.
Huff.
The Orc Warrior seemed to realize my intention and smiled again. And it wasn’t only the monster displaying overwhelming power before my eyes that understood what I was doing.
The atmosphere around us changed. More precisely, the air—the flow of the wind. It was no longer moving in a single direction. Instead, it began condensing around a specific point.
While keeping the Orc Warrior’s halberd firmly fixed in my shoulder, I shifted my gaze toward that point.
It was Arisha. Wind spiraled and condensed at the tip of her finger as she pointed it toward the Orc Warrior. The vortex gradually drew in the surrounding air currents before shooting forward like lightning from her hand.
"Triple Digit"
⟨ Gale Bolt ⟩
The condensed wind erupted with a roar like an explosion. Its speed and destructive power were on a completely different level from a simple mana rifle shot. The Orc Warrior’s torso was blasted sideways from the impact. Despite being fired from a distance, the precision was astonishing.
Tch-ik!
Blood sprayed from its side where the iron armor had been torn open. It had worked. Arisha didn’t miss the opening as the creature staggered, its balance broken by the magic.
Bang! Bang!
Explosions rang out in rapid succession from range. The soldiers’ mana rifles spat fire as they unleashed a barrage. The Orc Warrior’s massive frame made an excellent target for the magical bullets hammering it from the front and both flanks. The creature’s armor crumpled under the continuous fire, unable to withstand the assault. Its green skin tore in multiple places, blood pouring freely.
Yet the continuous barrage of magical bullets failed to deliver a fatal blow that would end the Orc Warrior’s life. Arisha’s spell, which should have carried the greatest power, had at least landed a solid hit. But the enormous amount of mana it consumed meant she would need just as much time to recharge for the next one.
Hssss!
The Orc Warrior roared in fury. Even as its skin tore and blood flowed from the relentless magical assault, it moved. In its unstable posture, it forced power into the halberd and swung. My body, still gripping it tightly, was lifted into the air along with the weapon. Then it brought the halberd down once more.
It slammed the weapon down with all its might toward the empty ground.
Th-this…!
It wasn’t aiming for the soldiers. Its true target was me—the one clinging to the halberd. It intended to smash me into the ground like discarded trash. The brief pause in my reasoning from the pain delayed my realization of its intent.
My body was already being driven into the earth along with the halberd.
BOOM!
“Cough—hack!”
A massive shockwave spread from my back throughout my entire body. At the same time, the Hoshin-ganggi I had barely been maintaining lost its effect for an instant. The power that had far surpassed the hardness of metal vanished, allowing the halberd blade buried in my shoulder to dig even deeper. My collarbone shattered completely. Flesh tore apart.
It hurt. The moment the balance I had barely maintained with Hoshin-ganggi collapsed, my whole body screamed in agony.
Damn it… all…!
The curse that should have burst from my lips never came. I simply didn’t have the strength left to even open my mouth. I felt sick at the helplessness washing over me once again.
Even though I tried so hard.
I recalled the moment I had been trampled by the Minotaur. The time I had died without managing even a single proper act of resistance. I hadn’t even realized my head had burst open and death had claimed me. The empty end I had met without any time to process that pain, the flashing memories, or the emotions.
I had worked so desperately because I never wanted to experience that powerless, miserable death again.
I…
How weak. How pathetic. Even after receiving a second chance whose very principle I didn’t understand, even after obtaining the mysterious power known as Heavenly Fate, the end I reached was no different from before.
Damn it all.
It was utterly pathetic. My consciousness gradually faded. My blurring vision was like a weak candle flame flickering before a fierce wind, as if staring into thick, hazy smoke.
[…at you?]
The more everything blurred, the clearer something became. It seemed to reveal itself more vividly the closer I drew to death’s threshold.
[You said you would bet everything, didn’t you?]
Who are you.
[It’s not time yet. You still haven’t shown me.]
It—she—spoke. It was a question I had always carried. The true identity behind this voice was likely the answer to every doubt I had held until now. The woman who had brought me back to life and granted me the mysterious power of Heavenly Fate.
Who are you.
[I’m waiting.]
She gave no answer to my question. Still, I couldn’t stop asking. It was the only thing I could do.
What the hell do you expect from me?
Even though I couldn’t understand what she was anticipating.
[Show me. My ‘brilliant possibility.’]
The candle flame that had been dying flared back to life, burning fiercely once more.