Ch.5454. Orc Road

Standing at the forefront of the Drakeman Cavalry that had rammed into the flank of the Orc forces was their commander and Grand General, Seri.

THUD—CRACK!

CRUNCH!

CRAAACK!

After impaling and grinding through four mid-level Orc warriors with her lance (Anitheus), she immediately transformed the weapon back into a greatsword and began swinging.

Though she was conserving her energy by not using her psychic abilities and simply wielding her weapon, the combination of two high-level monsters and a warrior with near-high-level skills demonstrated combat prowess beyond imagination.

With each swing of her sword, dozens of Orcs were dismembered, and as her mount Iron Breaker casually walked and trampled, it crushed all Orcs in its path.

When some relatively strong Orcs stepped forward to block the charge, Seri single-handedly shattered them, and the Drakeman Cavalry’s vanguard, arriving just a step behind, smashed through the broken formation.

When a Triceratops rammed with its horns, an Ankylosaurus would trample, and the scattered Orcs were hunted down by the Drakeman light cavalry following from behind.

Already inferior in every aspect and unable to mount their beasts, the Orcs couldn’t offer meaningful resistance, let alone escape.

At this rate, the Orcs faced complete annihilation, but fortunately for them—their leader would not stand idly by.

“KUUU KHUU KUUUUUUUUUK (Damn scaly humaaaaaaaans)—!!!”

The Orc Lord, his face turned completely red with rage, appeared smashing through his quarters while shouting in the Orc language.

In his hands, he wielded axes made from the processed bones of a 4th-grade Drake, and his entire body was covered in barbaric armor meticulously crafted from various monster hides and bones.

This five-meter-tall giant, with the appearance of a typical Orc barbarian warrior who looked like he had just stepped out of a monitor, charged forward with his brain consumed by rage—

WHOOSH—BOOM!

Starting by swinging his bone axe to crush three Drakemen, he began grinding down every monster in sight.

Following the trajectory of his axe, which glowed red due to its unique crimson field, the ground split open, and any monster in its path, friend or foe alike, was reduced to chunks of meat.

The Orc Lord displayed the majesty of a high-level monster, but someone stood in the way of his advance—

“Iron Breaker, charge!”

[Neeeigh (Understood)!]

The one who charged at the Orc Lord, mounted on the steel-clad black horse Iron Breaker and wielding a massive greatsword (Anitheus), was Seri, the commander of the Drakemen.

“Anitheus!”

Transforming Anitheus from a greatsword to dual blades, she channeled the field flowing from inside her armor into the swords.

Immediately after, Seri raised her swords, now gleaming with her signature black field tinged with light green, and swung them toward the Orc Lord, initiating an intense battle.

CLANG—BOOM!

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLAAANG!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOM!

The metallic sounds and shockwaves from the collision of swords and bone axes shook the surroundings.

The ground trembled and clouds in the sky wavered from the violent collisions repeated numerous times in just a few seconds, and after dozens more clashes between Anitheus and the bone axe…

CRACK…SNAP!

Following the sound of the Orc Lord’s bone axe cracking, the collision finally shattered the Drake bone axe into pieces.

No matter how fine a bone axe it was, suitable even for an Orc Lord’s use, it couldn’t match a 3rd-grade monster’s bio-weapon enhanced with both its inherent field and the wielder’s field.

“KUUUUUK (Damn it)!”

‘…Good!’

As the Orc Lord cursed at his shattered axe, Seri, sensing an opportunity to gain the upper hand, prepared to swing her sword forcefully, but…

“—What?!”

WHOOSH—CRASH!

Momentarily confused by the sudden change in her body (weakened psychic body enhancement), the Orc Lord grinned and swung his remaining bone axe with both hands.

CLANG!

Of course, Seri deployed both her psychic barrier and her sword’s psychic barrier in double layers to defend, but the deployed psychic barriers were weaker than usual and shattered in one blow.

‘Why isn’t my psychic power activating properly?’

Naturally, Seri couldn’t help but wonder about this…but being in the middle of battle, she had no time to investigate or analyze it.

“—Iron Breaker!”

[Neeeigh (Okay)!]

So Seri briefly distanced herself from the Orc Lord and transformed Anitheus into a form similar to a glaive, then maintained a suitable distance while swinging the glaive with one hand while activating telekinesis with the other.

She intended to test her psychic abilities by binding the Orc Lord and then cutting him down with the glaive, but…

‘What?!’

The psychic energy extending from her hand began to lose control as it approached the Orc Lord, and by the time it reached him, it had completely dissipated.

‘…Could it be Anti-Psychic?!’

It was the typical appearance of psychic nullification caused by the Anti-Psychic gene.

‘Ah, ahhh! That’s right! That’s it!’

Only at that moment of realization did Seri remember that the Captain had previously informed her that this Orc Lord possessed Anti-Psychic abilities.

Though a bit late…it was fortunate she remembered now, as winning was all that mattered.

“Iron Breaker! I’m counting on you!”

Now aware of the Anti-Psychic ability, Seri immediately changed her strategy, maintaining distance from the Orc Lord and extending the handle of her glaive to attack unilaterally from outside the Anti-Psychic activation range (3 meters).

Combined with the overwhelming mobility of Iron Breaker, Seri could land all her attacks while completely avoiding the enemy’s—and this was exactly her aim.

WHOOSH—SLASH!

BUOOOOOOO!!!

‘Good, first strike!’

Her movements, enhanced by heaven-sent close combat talent and overwhelming skill granted by the Hive Mind, appeared completely unified with her mount, Iron Breaker.

In contrast, the Orc Lord, despite swinging his remaining bone axe vigorously, was barely managing to deflect attacks aimed at his vital points.

At this rate, even if it took some time, she could gradually wear down the Orc Lord like shaving away a surface, and the Orc Lord clearly knew this too.

BUOOOOOOO!!

‘…Huh? Hey! Where do you think you’re going?!’

Perhaps because of this, when Seri briefly increased the distance, the Orc Lord suddenly retreated, pulled out a horn from his waist, and blew it with all his might.

BUOOOOOOOOO!!!!

The magnificent sound from the horn, likely due to his overwhelming lung capacity, spread throughout the fortress, and suddenly a building in one part of the fortress collapsed as something burst out from inside.

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

The creature approaching with thunderous footsteps was a rhinoceros monster so enormous that even the five-meter-tall Orc Lord could ride it.

Its skin was made of steel, and the horn protruding from the center of its snout was a bio-weapon called an energy horn. This monster’s name was Metal Rhino.

A 4th-grade large monster, it was one of the Rhino series often used as mounts by large Ein-type monsters, particularly known for its high defense.

‘…A Rhino, huh?’

Of course, Seri couldn’t fail to recognize such a flashy entrance.

Immediately identifying the approaching Metal Rhino, she unhesitatingly drove Iron Breaker toward it and commanded:

“Kick it, Iron Breaker!”

WHOOM—CRASH!

Channeling energy into the charge hammer installed in its hooves and tensing its hind legs, Iron Breaker kicked the charging Metal Rhino—and with that, the Metal Rhino’s internal organs were crushed, killing it instantly.

‘Good!’

It seemed the Orc Lord had planned to mount the Metal Rhino to try to get close, but…given that Iron Breaker was a 3rd-grade monster, there was never any chance of success.

“Let’s go!”

Meanwhile, the Orc Lord had pulled out what appeared to be a secondary weapon, throwing spears carved from whole bones, and began hurling them frantically, but the advantage in ranged combat was clearly on Seri’s side.

Most of the spears were intercepted by icicles created from Anitheus’s psychic cold energy, and even those that weren’t were deflected by the psychic construct shield generated by Iron Breaker.

During this time, the Orc Lord tried to face Seri, who had transformed Anitheus into a cavalry lance, with a bone shield covered in leather and an axe…but the outcome was already all but decided.

After Iron Breaker kicked and shattered the massive tower shield (bone shield covered in leather) that the Orc Lord had put forward, Seri brought down Anitheus, infused with a field so intense it radiated light in all directions—

—SQUELCH!

Anitheus pierced through the Orc Lord’s face and then released a burst of field energy that exploded his head, bringing an end to his worthless life.