The Greatness of Polar Night
"Wh-what in the world is this?"
The gnome merchant Mors's mouth hung open in shock.
The battle unfolding beyond the wall.
No, it could hardly be called a battle.
"The orcs are being massacred."
Mors's eyelids trembled violently.
Every time those long, protruding claws sliced through the air—
Slash! An orc's life was extinguished without fail.
The corpses of orcs lay scattered across the ground.
Blood pouring from the long gashes dyed the earth a sickly green.
"Guruk!"
The orcs were not simply accepting their fate.
A race of warriors.
Even after the Babel Tower destroyed their kind and stripped away their reason, turning them into slaves, they had not lost their valor. They were monsters who still burned with it!
The bravery of orcs was a fact well known even among gnomes.
They unleashed all sorts of techniques at Jinho.
Full Swing
Bone Crusher
A swarm of orcs charged at Jinho with murderous intent. Even from a distance, Mors could see how vicious they looked.
"Th-this is dangerous..."
Mors swallowed the rest of his words.
Jinho was dodging the orcs' attacks by the narrowest of margins.
Boom! A heavy war hammer struck empty ground.
The other attacks met the same fate.
They sliced through empty air or slammed into blood-soaked earth.
Occasionally an orc's short spear found an opening in Jinho's defense, but—
Clang!
It only managed to scrape against the armor covering his skin.
Is this luck?
It couldn't be.
Mors shook his head, denying the thought that had just occurred to him.
As a merchant of the Tower, he had observed many players. He prided himself on possessing an eye for talent that rivaled that of a first-rate warrior.
That was why he understood.
This client is reading every single movement the orcs make.
Jinho's movements were anything but ordinary.
Was it due to a difference in raw specs?
No, that wasn't it either.
While there was a gap between Jinho and the orcs in ability, it wasn't large enough to overwhelm twenty-to-one odds.
Wouldn't it be better to see with your own eyes?
The words Jinho had thrown at him earlier echoed in his ears.
A wave of embarrassment surged through him.
I even mentioned giving him credit. How ridiculous I must have sounded.
At the same time, he felt relieved.
He had signed an exclusive contract based solely on the Tower's records, but it seemed that decision had been correct.
"Guruk..."
The last orc collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth.
The only one still standing on the battlefield was Jinho.
He turned around and looked up at Mors.
"Well? Is this enough to earn your trust?"
"I apologize for doubting your abilities, customer."
"Doubt? There's no need to apologize. You had to see my potential for yourself at least once."
Jinho let out a low chuckle.
Mors breathed a sigh of relief.
"By the way, what do you plan to do with the orcs' corpses?"
Mors rubbed his hands together.
Orc hides, if properly tanned, could be turned into decent light armor.
"I have a use for them."
"Instead of that, if you would entrust them to me..."
"I won't."
Jinho placed his hand on the corpse of a fallen orc.
Rumble!
The orc's swollen muscles deflated like a punctured balloon.
Next, the luster faded from its skin. It rapidly dried out until it became a shriveled husk, then crumbled into powder.
The description was long, but the Devour process took less than a second.
Mors's eyes widened into perfect circles.
"What have you done, customer?!"
"Devour. It's the foundation of my ability."
"S-surely you don't mean to devour all the other orc corpses as well..."
"Of course I do."
Mors's face turned deathly pale as he sank to the ground.
Monster corpses were quite valuable resources inside the Tower.
They could be used as catalysts, materials for artifacts, and more.
Merchants affiliated with the alliance would purchase byproducts from players carrying out missions, process them, and sell them.
But now—
"If you turn all the orc corpses into powder, what am I supposed to eat for a living?!"
"That's for you to worry about."
Jinho devoured the remaining orc corpses as well.
The orc corpses had been reduced to powder.
The collection rate had exceeded fifty percent.
There were five waves in total. Collecting the essences shouldn't be a problem.
I checked the mission status.
Left Gate 1 — 872/1000
Right Gate 1 — 1000/1000
From what this one sees, the left side appears to be in peril.
"Yeah. It's unexpected."
I had placed five players on the left path and four on the right.
Theoretically, the left fortress should have had the stronger defense, yet...
"Life doesn't always follow theory."
You speak like some old man who has lived a long life.
Well.
If you included my life before the regression, I might not be an old man, but I had certainly lived enough to comment on it.
"Anyway, this works out well."
You are going there, then.
"I have to."
Cloud Flow Steps
As inner energy seeped into my meridians, my steps became light as feathers.
Following the movement pattern of Cloud Flow Steps, I advanced, and the surrounding scenery blurred past.
Is it truly fine to leave the central fortress empty?
"The wave only ends once all three orc armies in the three directions are defeated."
The break between waves was five minutes.
That was more than enough time to defeat the orcs and return.
As I walked along the narrow path between the routes, the sharp ring of metal clashing reached my ears.
The moment I stepped out of the side path, the battle scene came into view.
"Damn these orcs."
"Hey! Keep the orcs' attention away from the gate so it doesn't break!"
"The orcs are too strong...!"
The players assigned to the left gate were struggling badly.
Only three orcs had fallen.
The remaining seven were swinging axes and glaives like they were possessed.
Fireballs were out of the question.
The orc swarm and the players were mixed together. A stray shot could easily harm my own side.
It does not seem like you need allies.
"They still need to hold out until I finish cleaning up the orcs in the central path."
Hehe, as expected of this one's contractor. Such a statement suits you perfectly.
To raise the quality of the mission rewards, all three fortresses in the three directions had to be protected.
It was annoying, but there was no choice.
Fierce Charge
The distance closed in an instant.
An orc standing in the path of my charge was torn to pieces.
"Y-Yu Jinho?"
"How did you get here?!"
"What about the central fortress?!"
If they had time to chatter like that, they should swing their weapons at the orcs one more time.
This was exactly why novices were hopeless.
Darkness Dominion
Dark tendrils erupted from beneath my feet and flung the orcs away.
One of them had been swinging an axe at a player whose stance had collapsed.
"I thought I was going to die."
The player, face pale, let out a sigh of relief.
These were valuable forces I had to work with for this mission.
They might be weak, but they could still buy me time. I needed to keep them alive as long as possible.
"Guruk. It's sorcery."
"Guruk. Unworthy of a warrior."
The orcs struck away the long dark tendrils.
Since the Polar Night itself had not been shattered, my power wasn't depleted.
"Use this chance to reorganize your formation."
I glanced behind me.
"Thank you."
"We survived thanks to Player Yu Jinho!"
The players retreated from the front line.
Staying would only make them a burden, so withdrawing was the more helpful choice.
However.
Nyx's body trembled.
H-how dare they!
"What's wrong?"
Those wretches dared to denigrate this one's authority as mere sorcery!
Ah, so the orcs' words had gotten on her nerves.
Well, from the perspective of mindless beasts, there was no way they could recognize Polar Night, which touched the realm of divine authority.
Contractor, teach those insolent fools the greatness of this one's authority—Polar Night!
"Yeah, yeah. I'll do as you command."
It seemed her anger would only subside once I took down the remaining orcs using only Polar Night.
This was the perfect chance to test how much my sensitivity had increased after opening the venom sac.
I manipulated the Polar Night, shaping it into long blades.
"I wonder if you can deflect this."
Five dark blades flew straight at the orcs.
One orc boldly swung its glaive.
"Guruk! Your sorcery won't work on me."
In normal combat, I used the power of Polar Night as support.
To restrain, create openings, or slip through defenses.
Since focusing on properly using the abilities I had absorbed through Devour already consumed a lot of concentration, I naturally devoted less focus to controlling Polar Night.
But.
If I could focus solely on the power of Polar Night, the story changed.
Shhhk!
The dark blades slipped past the orc's glaive and pierced inward.
Stab. Stab. The black blades sank into the orc's body.
"Guru..."
The orc thrashed about.
Its muscles were so tough that I couldn't sever its life in a single blow.
"Struggling will only prolong your suffering."
I subdivided the Polar Night that had pierced its body, driving it deeper into the wounds and reshaping it into thorns.
The orc's eyes bulged like saucers.
"GURUK!!!"
"No matter how much you train your muscles, you can't strengthen your internal organs."
After thoroughly tearing up its insides, I reshaped the Polar Night into blades once more and finished off the orc that was on the verge of death.
"Guruk! Kill him!"
"Guruk. Stop his sorcery!"
The orc swarm charged with murderous fury.
It was a number I could have cleaned up quickly by using my physical abilities, but—
Nyx had made a request.
I faced the orcs using only Darkness Dominion.
Clang!
A wall of darkness deflected an orc's axe to the left.
It is the same technique you used to deflect the crossbow bolt on the first floor!
The principle was slightly different from deflecting projectiles and close-range attacks, but...
I didn't have the confidence to explain the process of redirecting force to Nyx, so I simply smiled.
The orc staggered, perhaps from using too much strength.
"An opening."
A dark blade stabbed into the orc's wide-open chest.
Polar Night, constantly shifting between whip, blade, and barrier forms.
It was truly a power that united offense and defense perfectly.
I manipulated Polar Night with complete freedom, toying with the orcs.
"We'll help too!"
"Don't come out here and get hurt. Just suck on your fingers and stay back."
I waved my hand dismissively.
Click. Thunk!
The ballista installed on the fortress fired an arrow.
The arrowhead flew toward a vital point on a exhausted orc.
"That's my prey."
Shhhk!
I shaped Polar Night into a shield and deflected the arrow.
From now on, I had to deal with the murderous orcs in front of me.
And I also had to deflect the arrows flying at the orcs from behind.
Paying attention to both sides at once, my sense of controlling Polar Night was gradually sharpening.
"At this rate... I think I can increase the output of Polar Night."
The total amount of Polar Night I could originally manifest was 5 points.
Whether it was because I had used it repeatedly, or because I had focused to the limit in actual combat.
The power of Polar Night I could manifest had increased by 0.5.
It was still difficult to subdivide the power as finely as Nyx could, but I could slightly increase the output of each strand I created.
0.1.
In terms of numbers alone, it didn't seem like a big difference. But in battle, a single small variable often led to a massive result, so it could not be ignored.
In fact.
"Guruk! It's too much."
An orc who had deflected a dark blade complained of fatigue.
"Thanks to you all, my ability to handle Polar Night has improved."
I grinned.
As long as even one orc remained, the next wave would not begin.
The core of the mission score was kill count.
I had plenty of time.
You are still far from perfect. Is it not because you are so clumsy that those creatures dare call this one's authority sorcery?
Nyx turned her head away with a huff.
"Then should I stop using it now?"
N-no! From what this one sees, it is quite excellent!
I had no idea why she said things she didn't mean.
"Is that skill Player Yu Jinho's unique ability?"
"I can't tell what might pop out next."
"No wonder he broke all the records starting from the tutorial."
The players who had been watching from behind chimed in one by one.
Polar Night.
It was only natural to be astonished when they saw darkness that could change shape at will.
"Guruk! Guruk!"
"Gururuk! It's a demon!"
After that, only the screams and cries of the orcs echoed across the battlefield.