Ch.22Drive Hunt (3)

The battle that followed was extremely simple.

It seemed the apostles who confronted me first were the only ones who actually knew how to fight.

Those who had been trying to extinguish the fire perished without offering any proper resistance.

Some chose to flee rather than fight, but due to the hill made of soil, they couldn’t escape properly and ended up rolling on the ground.

‘They’re too weak…?’

If there was one thing bothering me, it would be how incredibly weak these opponents were.

This wasn’t about them being unable to fight actively because they relied on skills, like the ones I’d faced before.

These apostles not only had poor skill proficiency, but their numbers were also few.

Judging by their movements, their basic stats were close to the minimum.

If I were to estimate their stats numerically, they’d be around 10 to 15. The weakest one might even be below 5.

Based on the information I had from the game, this situation made no sense.

‘Even if they just hunted monsters at their level, they shouldn’t be this pathetic.’

I could simply consider it fortunate that the enemy was weaker than expected. But it felt too ominous to just ignore.

However, there were too few clues to be certain about anything. So I could only speculate based on the limited information I had.

The clues I had were that this situation couldn’t occur under the same conditions as the game. And when considering differences from the game, the first thing to consider was the existence of the Evil God.

‘The Evil God’s method of interfering with the apostles was through quests.’

From the current situation, I could deduce two facts.

The Evil God gives quests to the apostles. And if they succeed, they get rewards; if they fail, they receive penalties.

With these facts in mind, I wondered why.

Did the Evil God need to make the apostles weak?

If so, why?

Various speculations came to mind again, but I couldn’t continue that train of thought.

Lilly’s voice pulled me out of my contemplation.

“Get ready, it looks like the one holding out below is coming up.”

“The energy I’m feeling is quite substantial.”

The total number of apostles I had eliminated here was 15.

Even if I combined the energy of all 15, it couldn’t compare to the energy of the apostle now ascending.

If what I had just done could be described as one-sided hunting, it seemed I would now need to engage in a proper battle.

Thud.

Thud.

Quite heavy footsteps could be heard from the entrance of the tomb.

The footsteps grew louder as the figure approached the exit.

Eventually, when the loud footsteps stopped, I knew the figure had reached the entrance of the tomb.

Due to the smoke filling the entrance, I couldn’t see its appearance, but from the vague silhouette, I could tell it wasn’t small.

‘About 2m 45cm tall…’

Even considering armor, it didn’t seem to be human-sized.

As I kept my distance from the entrance, preparing for its actions, I heard a voice that sounded like metal scraping.

“Pathetic fools… They couldn’t even extinguish a single fire, let alone drain your stamina…”

The silhouette that spoke began to move slowly. The opponent drew a greatsword as big as its own body from behind its back and swung it.

The wind pressure created by the swing not only instantly cleared the smoke filling the entrance but also extinguished the flames that had been burning continuously.

The revealed appearance was truly violent.

An orc wearing full plate armor and wielding a greatsword. That was the opponent’s appearance.

However, more than its appearance, what caught my attention was the way it revealed itself.

The dramatic way it cleared the smoke and flames with its greatsword stimulated the gamer’s soul in me.

“It’s like… a boss entrance cutscene.”

Of course, since the real boss fight would be waiting later, this seemed more like a mid-boss than the final boss.

Lilly didn’t seem to like my thoughts, as she lightly tapped the top of my head and said:

“Stop saying weird things and focus on the battle.”

“Got it.”

I briefly replied and prepared for battle while looking ahead, but the opponent didn’t seem to be doing the same.

I felt a gaze filled with confusion, despair, and jealousy.

“Are you also an apostle…? No, that can’t be. If you were an apostle, you wouldn’t have a fairy with you. Besides, there’s no way to escape the shackles…”

He seemed to ask me a question… no, he muttered to himself and then ended his thoughts with self-denial.

Whether he considered my words as a simple deception tactic or not, he now directed a gaze filled with anger at me and pointed his greatsword.

“I’ll behead you.”

Instead of answering, I pointed my sword back at him.

And so the battle began.

I was the first to move.

‘Let’s check his specs first.’

The first thing to confirm was the opponent’s strength.

I swung my sword straight and honestly, making it easy for our swords to clash.

The opponent, as if responding to this, swung his sword in the same manner, directly at me.

Clang-!

For a moment, the sound of swords clashing echoed, and the next moment, the winner of this power struggle was decided.

“You’re stronger than I thought…”

The hand holding my sword trembled.

The winner was the orc, and the loser was me.

Not only was my sword pushed back, but my attack was completely destroyed. As a result, a diagonal cut was engraved on my upper body.

Fortunately, the wound wasn’t severe. It was thanks to pulling my body back as soon as I felt my sword being deflected.

But it was also unexpected. I had thought I could avoid it perfectly.

‘When I tried to dodge, he stepped forward half a step.’

While I was faster in terms of speed, it meant the difference wasn’t enough to outmaneuver him.

‘No need to check speed and technique separately.’

Originally, I had planned to check each aspect one by one, but after that single strike, there was no need.

I couldn’t confirm his durability, but I could feel that continuing to test him in battle would bring more harm than good.

His strength was overwhelming, his speed was decent.

His technique was violent but skilled, and his durability looked strong at a glance.

A formidable opponent indeed.

The moment I thought that.

Thump.

My calm heart began to respond.

Thump. Thump.

My heart started beating wildly with anticipation.

It wasn’t just my heart that responded.

I was already smiling, and my senses began to sharpen more than ever before.

Thanks to this, I was reminded once again that I was a battle maniac.

“Well then… let’s go again.”

I quickly looked for an opening in my opponent.

Find an opening, then approach.

Since I’d be pushed back in a direct clash, I’d mix in technique.

Induce a wrong defense and thrust an attack into the gap.

Clang!

My sword touched the opponent’s armor.

I delivered some impact, but it wasn’t an effective hit.

Approach again and aim for an opening.

This time, there was a reaction as soon as I approached.

A downward slash aimed at me.

I held my sword at an angle to deflect the attack.

I felt pressure on both arms, but I succeeded and once again saw an opening.

I cut through the opening more sharply.

Clang-!!

It felt better than before.

“Grrrgh!!!”

As if to prove it, a fierce reaction erupted from the opponent.

“You little fly…!!”

In an instant, I felt a large amount of magical power gathering in his sword.

It was the precursor to a skill activation.

The opponent’s movements became larger. He became static, as if bound to perform a designated action by the skill.

I could see a huge opening, but at the same time, I knew a powerful attack was being prepared.

Should I safely dodge, or continue my attack?

Between the two choices, I chose to advance rather than retreat, to continue the attack.

I operated my cultivation technique to the extreme. I drew up magical power to the point where it felt like my magical circuits would burn.

My posture naturally became larger too, but not as much as my opponent’s.

Half a step faster than the opponent could launch his attack, my sword tore through the armor and cut his side.

“Kuhurk..!!”

The posture of the one preparing the attack collapsed, and green blood spewed from his mouth.

The apostle looked at me with confused eyes.

“When a boss is preparing a technique and gets burst damage, it gets canceled, you know.”

When I answered simply, the apostle looked at me with the same gaze as before.

A gaze full of confusion and jealousy, a gaze as if he couldn’t acknowledge something.

He gritted his teeth as if denying something, and forcibly maintained his collapsed posture to continue the failed attack.

Kwaaang-!!!

The ground shook, and the earth in this area was destroyed. It was a strike that would have cut the opponent in half if defended against.

But no matter how strong an attack is, it’s useless if it doesn’t hit.

“You should have thought about your next move rather than continuing the attack.”

Having moved to the opponent’s rear to avoid the attack, I thrust my sword into his side.

With my sword stuck in his side, the apostle forcibly turned his body to look at me.

Then, with a voice dedicated to evil, he shouted:

“Why… why only you!!!”

“I don’t know what you’re so upset about, but you’ve killed many, haven’t you?”

I looked at the greatsword he was holding.

I hadn’t recognized it immediately because it looked different from what I knew, but thanks to the energy it emitted, which matched the description perfectly, I could belatedly identify it.

“This sword. It seems you’ve fed it quite a lot.”

This was the Executioner’s Sword.

It was a magic sword that gave its user powerful strength the more sentient beings it beheaded.

“Judging by the red color of the blade, it seems you’ve killed over a hundred.”