Episode 294 – An Orc and a Match of Clashing Long, Hard Objects

“Uwoooooooo!!!!”

“Tss… Haaa… Tss… Haaa…”

The world was dyed red.

The axe blade that passed by with only a paper’s difference made a scratch across my forehead, and the lifeblood flowing from it kept getting into my eyes.

My muscles, exhausted from the strenuous movements, were twitching intermittently, and the hot breath from my lips seemed to be seeping out like steam.

“Huuu… Tss… Huuu… Gulp…”

As I moistened my parched throat with the sticky saliva, I tasted a strong metallic flavor.

On the opposite side, covered in dirt, sweat, and blood, was the relatively unscathed figure of the Chieftain.

He too, wasn’t unaffected by the repeated battles; blood dripped from the scratches etched all over his body, sweat poured from his entire being, and he was catching his increasingly rough breath.

Seriously… nothing is easy… Heuk heuk heuk.

But strangely, I didn’t feel any despair or bleakness at all. Rather… I was even feeling a bit of enjoyment as this fight dragged on.

Was it because of the excited shouts of the Orcs around me?

Or was it because I felt a sense of accomplishment from my own changing self?

I don’t know.

No, I just didn’t care.

My eyes were only on the Chieftain. I gripped the shield and sword handles tightly with my sweat-soaked hands.

I licked my chapped lips to moisten them, and the moment dust rose between us, I shot out like an arrow towards the enemy.

Taktaktaktak!

As I powerfully kicked off the hard ground felt at the tips of my toes, the Chieftain responded by sweeping his double-bladed axe diagonally upwards from below.

The axe blade sweeping up from the right was stained with my blood, making it terribly sharp.

I put strength into the very tip of my left foot and pushed my body to the right.

Sswaaaaaek!!!!

Ignoring the chilling flow of air felt on my left, I stabbed my sword into his exposed side.

But the Chieftain, as skillfully as before, used the weight of the axe to twist his waist slightly, and my sword tip unfortunately only managed to slightly tear the Chieftain’s side.

“Keuheup!!”

At that moment, the Chieftain used the momentum created by the weight of the axe to turn his body and swing the axe at me, and I reflexively knelt down at the approaching axe blade.

Ssaaaak!!

Feeling my hair scatter, I supported myself on the ground with my fist holding the sword and rolled forward.

As I turned my body, I saw the back of the Chieftain, who hadn’t yet regained his posture.

…Now!

As I swung the sword in my right hand like a whip, I felt the sensation of flesh tearing at my fingertips, and soon, in a world slowed to the extreme, blood flowers bloomed… with a Hwaak…!

A thrill that sent shivers down my spine, I smiled fiercely and looked at the Chieftain’s Achilles tendon.

The blood pressure was so strong that the blood vessels seemed to be firing from the cut wound.

“Waaaaaaa!!!!”

At the same time, thunderous cheers echoed around me.

Momentarily distracted by the cheers, I was helplessly blown backward by the pain felt in my abdomen.

Peoeok!!

“Kuuup!!”

Along with the sound of leather tearing, I flew away, and even in the midst of utter confusion, I saw the Chieftain on all fours, extending his foot towards me.

Rolling backward in a daze, I struggled to catch my breath, which was blocked, and stood up.

“Heueup…! Heueueup…!”

Breathing heavily with a flushed face, I tightened my grip on my trembling hands and looked forward.

“Keuhahahaha!!”

As expected, the Chieftain was running towards me with his eyes bloodshot and bursting into a tearing laughter.

I glanced at his ankle. Blood spurting out with every step he took.

Surely, my senses weren’t wrong. It’s just that this bastard is ridiculously tough and ferocious.

I saw the axe blade being brought down from above again and helplessly rolled away to avoid it.

Kwaaaang!!

“Huuup…! Huuup! Huuuuu!”

As I was hit by the stone fragments flying from the axe blade that had been driven into the ground, I pounded my chest to regain my breath and stood up again, rushing forward with my shield raised.

I stared at him with wide eyes.

I met his red eyes, filled with murderous intent and uncontrollable excitement, and clashed again.

Seeing me approaching quickly, he planted his axe on the ground and tried to twist his waist to swing the axe at me, but I arrived first.

Kkang!!!

The shaft of his double-bladed axe collided with my shield, and I pushed in, riding the shaft made of solid iron.

Judging that it was too late at that sight, he seemed to have decided that retreating would be dangerous, and instead dug further into my left side.

Of course, I had no intention of letting him have his way.

As soon as I realized that the shaft felt like it was losing strength and drooping against the shield, I stopped climbing up the shaft, fixed my arm tightly to my side, and swung the shield fiercely at the Chieftain’s head as he dug into my left side.

The shield itself is a weapon.

Especially…

Eudeuk!!

“Keuheue!”

…in the case of a solid iron shield.

A tingling sensation passed through the shield along with a sound like something breaking, and I couldn’t help but smile.

It broke.

I could clearly see the Chieftain raising his left arm to block my shield. The Chieftain, visible beyond his raised left arm, smiled fiercely, and I also laughed cheerfully.

In the long, drawn-out time where I could feel the dust scattering, I saw the Chieftain twisting his broken left hand to firmly grip the upper part of the shield and clenching his other hand into a tight fist.

He looked like he was determined to land a blow on me, not caring about his body.

I chuckled and thought.

You want to do that?

I accepted the challenge by taking a step to his right.

Heavy.

My whole body was heavy.

Moving in the long, drawn-out world felt like desperately trying to move quickly in a sticky liquid.

And I squeezed out all my strength in that world. I twisted my waist, spread my legs slightly to firmly root myself to the ground, and then… I imbued my sword with killing intent and stabbed it forward.

Even after clearly seeing the thick killing intent overflowing at the tip of the sword being thrust out, the Chieftain didn’t stop.

Rather, he smiled even more and threw his fist towards my head with an overbearing momentum.

In the critical situation, I aimed for his heart and thrust the sword tip in, and time stretched out even longer.

“Huuu….”

A long breath is exhaled from my mouth.

Biiiiii…!

I could no longer hear the shouts of the Orcs in my ears, only tinnitus rang.

And… thick clouds of dust billowed up over the blood-stained arena.

* * *

Biiiiii…!

“Waaaaaaa!!!!”

I could hear the Orcs’ deep cheers from beyond my blurry vision.

The tinnitus in my ears didn’t stop, and my eyes seemed to be shrouded in thick dark clouds.

“Tseueueup… Cough..! Cough!”

The moment I took a deep breath, a fit of coughing burst out. I could feel a hot, sticky liquid bursting out of my mouth.

There wasn’t a place that didn’t hurt.

My left eye wasn’t working properly, and even when I put strength into my arm, it only trembled and didn’t move properly.

On top of that, I was completely drained of energy.

“Haa…”

I must have lost consciousness for a moment.

Did I win? I don’t know….

I barely lifted my trembling neck and looked at the other side.

The dust slowly settled, and finally, the other side became visible.

On the other side, a large Orc was lying face down on the ground.

“… Really, I won…”

It was a tough fight.

To be honest, I was confident that I could definitely win at first, but as time went on, there were more moments when I hoped for luck.

It must be the result of only chasing pleasure.

The Orc… he wasn’t moving at all.

On his chest, near the heart I had stabbed, a broken piece of sword stood tall, glittering in the sunlight.

The lower part of the sword fragment, glittering as if celebrating my victory, was stained red with blood, like a tombstone rising on red soil.

…. Really, did I win?

I couldn’t believe it. It didn’t feel real.

Is it because I was suddenly ejected into reality… Still.

“… Not bad”

As I smiled and closed my eyes, I finally felt the sunlight coming down from the sky gently enveloping my body.

A sensation like a newborn baby in a cozy cradle.

I smiled softly at the comfort that was so blissful.

At this moment… there was nothing in my head, in my heart, in my instincts.

Only a peace that was almost dizzying embraced me.

Just as I was about to fall into that sweet sleep…

Tseueueuk…!

I heard the sound of dirt being swept away.

The chill running through my veins made me tense my whole body, and I widened my eyes and lifted my head again with all my might.

And I was shocked to see the Chieftain standing over there with his head bowed.

Surely… I stabbed his heart?!

An alarm went off in my head.

I, have to move!!

I hurriedly tried to put strength into my body to stand up, but perhaps because the tension had just been released, I couldn’t put any strength into my body at all.

Only my neck and above could move; the rest of my body didn’t move as if I were a doll with its strings cut, and my heart became more and more anxious.

“Uwoooooooo!!!!”

The excited shouts of the Orcs echoing around me grew even louder, and the Chieftain’s body swayed, not even caring about the sword stuck in his heart, and he came closer and closer to me.

Step… Step… His slow but steady feet finally stopped right in front of my soles….

His dark face, obscured by the sunlight shining from the sky, slowly revealed itself… and I couldn’t help but be surprised when I saw his face.