Ch.222Chapter 222. Warrior’s Grave

Hellcry of the Four Heavenly Kings.

A warrior undefeated in a hundred battles who suppressed countless demons vying for the position of the Four Heavenly Kings through sheer strength alone, and brought victory to numerous battlefields thereafter.

The hammer in his hand could crumble a great mountain with a single swing, the ground would tremble with his every step, and the battle cry from his mouth would shake the heavens and scatter the clouds.

-KUUUNG!!!

Yes, at this moment, this was the being I faced.

One who not only single-handedly defeated armies targeting him, but also brought down even the Four Heavenly Kings who had reached equal standing.

Yet in this moment that might be the last of his life, an indomitable warrior burning with life force, displaying stronger fighting spirit than ever before.

“UWAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

With that warrior’s roar, the atmosphere trembled, and simultaneously, buildings were swept away by the force behind his hammer swing.

The destruction occurred before the sound even reached my ears.

By the time I realized what had entered my vision, his body, having swept through the surroundings, had become an afterimage and begun to turn sideways.

His body approached me again just as the collapsing debris created a clamor as they fell.

-KWARLUNG!

Vast clouds of dust rose from the falling debris.

The body that received Hellcry’s attack while cutting through that dust couldn’t even attempt a counterattack, and was pushed back uselessly from that spot.

An absurd amount of strength.

Power so mighty it was impossible to believe it came from a dying orc.

If I failed to guard even once, my body would be crushed by the pressure and then turn to dust scattered around—just like the Demon Tribe members already pulverized by his hand, now trampled under my feet.

-KWANG! KWAANG!!!

As I blocked such attacks one after another while retreating, suddenly a bludgeon swung downward.

The wave of debris raised as that attack swept the ground was soon dispersed when blocked by the magical barrier deployed in front of me.

-If you keep receiving attacks like this, your body won’t hold up.

Annabelle Britannia.

The only helper assisting me in this moment when I couldn’t afford to let my guard down.

“…The people haven’t finished evacuating yet.”

I quietly answered her words while catching my breath, preparing to aim my spear at Hellcry who was readying himself to charge again.

His gaze remained fixed on me. Having long since exceeded his limits, he had no time to pay attention elsewhere.

So I had to block him.

If what he desired was an honorable fight, then non-warriors should never be harmed in it.

-KWARLUNG!!!

The hammer swung fiercely from top to bottom, shattering the ground as if breaking it apart, while his body leaped upward.

As his massive body approached after discarding even his hammer, I too deployed two blades, preparing to counter the incoming attack.

-PUPUNG, PUNG!!

The fierce explosive pressure with each collision.

Merciless pummeling that could only be offset by detonating weapons.

During this process, I tried counterattacking when I saw openings, but hastily deployed weapons could barely pierce even his skin.

“…Get ready.”

Annabelle quietly settled into my body at the signal I uttered with him in mind.

The power manipulation we achieved together was happening exactly as I had thought.

Since we shared the same foundation, she could read my intentions just by sharing my thoughts and sensations.

All that was needed was the will to match that harmony.

-KWANG!!

With the leap that finally erupted, dust scattered.

I deflected the fierce wave of power coming at me with the tip of my spear, then rotated the spear to parry away the approaching grip.

At that moment, only one thought crossed my mind.

Not to dodge, but to block the enemy’s attacks and wait for an opportunity.

-PUPUPUNG!!

Another barrage of attacks as he readjusted his grip on the bludgeon he had seized from the ground.

Just deflecting those attacks, I could feel my body gradually being pushed back.

With each collision my body trembled, and as the next attack came, I felt my breath freeze with the realization that I was facing death.

-PUONG!! PUUONG!!!

Such power grew stronger with each collision.

Without breaking his momentum, he instead accelerated, trying to land a life-burning strike on me.

But if I didn’t ultimately break under that power, it would instead become the foundation for a counterattack.

“NOW!!!”

At that signal, Annabelle released the accumulated power toward the ground I was standing on.

As my precarious stance was pushed back one step by the current of that power, my spear, now with corrected posture, prepared to swing toward him.

The power exchanged in the battle so far had been expended in this counterattack.

What it created was merely a gap of one step back, but power doesn’t disappear when dispersed.

-PAZJIK!

I created paths through the scattered power using mana manipulated through spirits.

So that power would converge to a single point, concentrating the energy that should have scattered in all directions into my body, focusing that power on a single point to increase its destructive force.

-Attack!

The moment Annabelle’s hand swung behind that power, the repulsive force created by collision with the guided power converted into propulsion, amplifying the power of the following spear throw.

-KWAAAAA!!

The thrown spear struck Hellcry’s shoulder.

Though his massive body staggered from the impact, he ultimately withstood the force, planting both legs firmly into the ground.

“Kuh, ugh…”

An attack whose power was doubled by the repulsive force Annabelle created, accumulated from the continuous exchange of blows.

The penetrating power from that nearly severed even his massive arm, depleting his combat effectiveness, and beyond that, draining his life force to prevent further action.

“UWAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

Yet he didn’t fall.

Instead, he tore off his dangling arm and charged it with mana, showing the momentum to throw it at me.

-KWAANG!!!!

As all buildings in the path of that arm were destroyed and crushed, he who had already grasped his bludgeon began to shout in front of me, who couldn’t hide my bewilderment.

“Did you think this would end it!?”

-KUUNG!

The bludgeon was thrust into the ground, and following its twist, both feet planted firmly were violently lifted.

He hadn’t merely planted his bludgeon for balance.

At this moment, the desire of one who had lost an arm, his fighting spirit, had transformed into power strong enough to alter the terrain.

“End it with this and you will die. One who proceeds beyond this point should not fall so easily!!”

-KURLUNG!

As he pulled the bludgeon from the ground, a massive boulder came up with it.

Having dug deep enough into the ground that the strata were clearly visible, it boasted a majesty comparable to a small mountain.

“So prove it.”

With power that ranked as a disaster through sheer force alone.

The one displaying that power began to roar with blood in his mouth.

“That you are a strong one who will not be broken by anything! Prove to me that all the honor and glory you will achieve can be maintained until the end of your life!!”

-KWAAAAAAAA!!!

The destructive impact of a mountain colliding.

That force was no exaggeration to compare to a meteorite impact.

The ground collapsed, the terrain surged upward, and everything perceptible was turned upside down.

-KWARLUNG!

Even in such a scene, he maintained his balance by stamping down with the power in his two legs, his gaze directed precisely at where I was.

Having discarded even his weapon, he exuded the momentum to crush my body with his massive grip.

“UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

A full-power punch tearing through the chaotic scene with a final roar.

Facing that attack, I had already deployed weapons to counter it before I could even think rationally.

-KKAGAK!

Meeting the incoming fist with my blade, I twisted its trajectory in that split second.

And simultaneously, deployed weapons swarmed toward the arm that existed where my body had passed.

-KWAJJIK!

Before the blood spurting from where the blade struck could settle, weapons I had deployed from within his embrace all penetrated the front of his body.

-PUPUPUNG!!

Then they all exploded at the signal.

The explosion occurring inside his body eroded his flesh faster than his regenerative ability could counter, accelerating his steps toward death.

“UWUGH…!!!”

But it wasn’t over yet. His eyes were still alive and his fingertips still trembled. This much wouldn’t be enough to bring down this being.

“UWAAAAAAAA!!!!”

Deflecting the attack swung with a roar, I took advantage of the opening to throw deployed weapons indiscriminately.

Weapons stuck around him exploded, tearing his skin and ripping through his insides, the spurting blood mercilessly staining the surroundings.

Yet I couldn’t dare to let go of the tension.

When someone who had been struck so many times still hadn’t fallen, I couldn’t relax and secure victory.

-PUONG! PUPUNG!!

Forty-nine weapons embedded in his body.

Despite his innards being in shambles from those weapons exploding, his persisting fighting spirit was making me anxious.

“AGH, AAAAA…!!!”

Not yet?

Not yet… with this much… I still can’t grant peace to this monstrous being?

-His balance is breaking! Finish him now!

Yet, as if seeing the end of this desperate exchange, Annabelle prepared to hand me a weapon charged with power.

Just as I was about to grasp that weapon and attack, Hellcry, steadying his staggering body, began to thrust his head toward me with flashing eyes.

“Ugh, ooh…”

Opening his mouth with a pain-filled groan, he prepared to aim his remaining hand at my head…

Damn, I overextended while focusing on the counterattack!

“UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

But contrary to thinking that moment was a mistake, he couldn’t advance any further and just stood frozen in place.

Just seeing that, I understood.

His body, having far exceeded its limits, had finally reached a state where even determination couldn’t move it anymore.

“…Hellcry.”

Even his aimed hand was finally withdrawn, and his two legs trembled as if even standing had become burdensome.

The moment I saw that, I instantly realized.

The moment his body collapsed here, his life would end. Even without me attacking here, the warrior Hellcry would die in this place.

“…Strike.”

But no matter how much time passed, his body wouldn’t collapse.

Though trembling, he wouldn’t fall, and instead his bent legs were straightening. His eyes staring at me, and the roar bursting from his mouth as well.

“STRIKE MEEEE!!!!!”

Feeling the intense vitality from him, a sense of crisis surged, and the spear in my hand shot forward regardless of my will.

With strength I couldn’t have imagined using against a dying person.

Because the thought that he might still be able to move somehow came from the spirit erupting at this moment.

-KWAK!!

The attack that followed pierced his chest, then penetrated through to his back, extracting what was inside.

What trembled at the tip of the spear was his heart, and what could be called a mana core, created by the Demon Tribe blood flowing through his body to accumulate power.

At the moment when the most fatal weak point for both orcs and the Demon Tribe was precisely targeted.

-…Is it, over?

Yet Annabelle, as if still unable to let her guard down, continued to watch Hellcry’s body with tension.

She couldn’t help it.

A body that should have died already had displayed an absurd momentum, and even now with his heart extracted, he remained standing firmly in place.

“H-Hero!”

That silence was broken when I heard a voice calling me from afar, as the situation had calmed down.

Surely soldiers who had been helping evacuate refugees were approaching after hearing the commotion.

“Are you alright!? We’ll join the—Hero?”

But I had to stop the movement of those approaching with weapons by raising my hand.

I still couldn’t relax.

This being, who might have reached the level of immortality, might still move again.

“…It’s alright now.”

That anxiety dissipated when silence finally settled around us.

I withdrew the spear with the mana core impaled on it, taking time to engrave the image of the warrior still standing before me into my eyes.

“He simply died standing.”

A warrior who persevered through countless dangers, and extended even his final moments through sheer determination to continue this fight.

His fighting spirit was more intense than at any moment in his journey, and his knees, now straightened, had never once touched the ground throughout the battle.

No, even now.

Even as the pulsation of his heart impaled on the spear subsided, and the warmth in his flesh cooled, he stood dignified in that place, calmly accepting his end.

Not by giving up through his own will, but by receiving the attack of the enemy he had chosen with his body until the very last moment.

“…It was a good fight, Hellcry.”

That was the end chosen by an orc.

The fate met by a warrior who defied his origins, pursued honor, and searched for the most brutal battlefields.

“The fight with you… I will never forget it.”

This moment, engraving his remains in my eyes, will itself become his tombstone.

Even if time passes and his flesh decays, turning to dust and disappearing.

His name will forever remain in the heart of the one who fought him.