Chapter 96 – Monsters (1)

‘Keep this in mind, Driden.’

‘Orcs are strong and persistently struggle if the attack doesn’t kill them. Make sure you cut their heads off.’

He recalled that voice. He was led by two things: the voice and his instincts. As long as he followed those two things, the enemies would eventually beg him for mercy.

Sometimes he killed his enemies and other times he kept them alive. Then he looked for the next opponent. It was his routine. So why?

“……!”

Kakakaang!

The double swords were thrown back at the same time.

It was a crazy power.

Driden pulled up his double swords again and started moving. All of his strikes were on the offensive, his double swords looking like they were dancing. He followed the rhythm and moved between the enemy’s gaps in their defense. The core of the enemy was revealed.

Then…

Kakakaang!

They bounced off again.

This orc was different. His tempo was constantly shifting.

Driden’s face stiffened. The orc facing him was holding a massive greatsword.

“Kuk!”

Nevertheless, he was incredibly fast. The gigantic greatsword moved from east to west, west to east. Its trajectory was unpredictable. He had barely broken through City Hall’s magic, but now he was being pushed out of City Hall by the orc.

“I can’t smash the building.” The orc grinned.

Driden also forced a laugh. He pretended to smile, but his insides were boiling.

No fun. Fighting was dull.

He squeezed the double swords in his hands. The greatsword was big and heavy. Therefore, Driden dug inwards.

“Hat!”

His double swords shook like flowers. Driden expected the attack to tear the enemy’s body apart; however, the greatsword was right in front of his nose instead. The tremendous pressure pushed his body down towards the ground. He stopped all attacks and rolled across the ground. He was barely able to avoid the enemy’s blade.

He rose from his spot, breathing hard.

“……”

The surroundings were still. Indeed, it wasn’t fun. Fighting was a two-way street. Each attack must stir the other person. However, his attack had no effect on the orc. Rather, he was constantly defending against the orc’s strikes.

He clenched his double swords again.

“Crazy bastards…”

Someone’s voice broke the silence. The people around them couldn’t figure out what was happening right now.

Driden shook his head and got back into position. The orc could also enter the ‘zone’ like him. No, he accelerated the construction of it more freely than Driden.

Not fun, just another unlucky bastard.

“What is it?” asked the orc.

Driden stared at the heinous face before him. The orc’s eyes shone even more fiercely.

“Smile.”

Then the orc’s figure disappeared.

“……!”

He lost the enemy. Then the greatsword appeared in front of his nose. It was an explosive acceleration that seemed to leap across space. This couldn’t be avoided. Alarms rang through his whole body.

He instinctively activated the magic of his scimitars. The defense was unfolded.

Kaaaang!

A magic circle appeared between him and the greatsword.

“Hoh.” The orc’s eyes widened. However, cracks started forming and the magic circle shattered in a few moments. The orc got rid of the remnants of magic power.

“How many times can you use this?”

Driden stepped back and took deep breaths. His double swords shook. He needed to find his own rhythm. He had to maintain his flow and shake the enemy’s flow. It was the only way to win the fight.

‘Orcs are simple.’

‘They are all about pushing with force.’

‘Trust your techniques.’

Once again, he heard the voice of his father.

He had all types of tricks to use with the double swords. He kept his left shoulder down and struck with the right. One trick would lead to being able to hit the enemy two then three or four times. He confused the enemy and then used attacks that couldn’t be disrupted.

He could do it. He was a genius. When he fought seriously, no one could catch up with him. He believed it. However, the orc wasn’t fooled by his tricks. It felt like all his thoughts were being read.

A blade split the air and hit his shoulder.

“Kuk!”

The scimitars cried out and the magic was triggered. If it wasn’t for the magic swords, he would’ve died once again. It was two times. He borrowed the power of the magic swords to save his life twice.

“What are you doing, you idiot! Fight properly! Just chop apart that slow orc!”

Aden’s voice was heard. Driden was annoyed. Aden couldn’t follow the movements with his eyes yet he called the orc slow. But it was true that he needed to fight properly.

Driden grit his teeth and tightened his grip on his scimitars.

He moved forward again.

The greatsword’s huge size was an annoying obstacle. The orc used the greatsword with bizarre reflexes. If he tried to stab through the gaps, the attack would be black with the blade, the handle and sometimes the steel belt at the orc’s waist.

Therefore, he needed to speed up. Driden focused his mind.

He stomped his feet. One time, two times, three times faster. Gradually, his body accelerated beyond realistic limits.

He was a bird gliding over the orc with wings spread. The bird’s speed gradually slowed.

Cut in half. He was cut in half. Cut in half again.

The flight in the sky faltered. The speed converged infinitely with his spirit.

Stop. It was a world that never stopped moving.

In it, Driden moved alone. The enemies observing the fight, including Radet, were gone.

Unmatched step. His identity was someone who would cut the neck of the enemy before they even knew they died. That was assassination. The pair of swords flashed towards Crockta’s neck.

He saw Crockta’s eyes staring into the distance. At that moment,

Suruk.

Crockta’s eyes moved. He laughed at Driden. Driden got goosebumps.

At the same time, something unknown happened. In the still world, Crockta’s greatsword started to move. It met the double swords. The two exchanged blows again. Both of them sped up in the world of acceleration. Driden breathed roughly and blocked it.

There was a slight smile on Driden’s hardened face. He would die if he made the slightest mistake. The greatsword hacked at his clothing several times and he repeatedly came close to death.

There was a sense of uplifting. Adrenaline filled his body like a drug.

“Yes, yes.”

The orc came one step closer to him. Driden stepped forward. Like a giant, he poured out his courage towards the orc who had a terrifying presence. Courage was never his thing, but it seemed like he would need it today.

The orc smiled. Driden also grinned. Their weapons moved slowly.

The two of them collided once again.

***

Radet was able to witness their fight. It was an honor.

“What is going on right now?” asked the garrison leader.

However, Radet couldn’t properly explain it.

“Crockta seemed a little superior at first, but they have become similar again.” That was all he could say.

He couldn’t add any commentary. A fight between heaven and earth! The surrounding buildings were broken in the aftermath. They cut and chopped at each other in the streets. That was all.

However, their movements were so fast and elaborate that it was hard to follow with the eyes. They were acrobatics that expressed the world of the Pinnacle. It was a close battle where one mistake would lead to their lives being lost.

They were dancing at the boundary of life and death.

“Monsters.”

He could only say that.

Crockta used the greatsword like it was another limb and Driden who showed extreme dual swordsmanship, they were both monsters that transcended the Pinnacle. It was a fight of monsters that could destroy armies alone.

Even the dark elves not versed in fighting could feel it. Thus, nobody opened their mouths and just watched the two fight blankly. It even managed to keep Aden silent.

The fight between the two continued. Radet inwardly hoped that it would last forever. Then he realized something after having that thought.

He smiled. He was once a warrior who swept the battlefield with his bastard sword. Therefore, he could see even more how fascinating their fight was.

Some time passed. Their fighting made even the sense of time dull.

Radet spoke first, “Aden.”

Aden raised his head and responded, “What?”

“Did you have to do this?”

“Shut up. Borrowing the strength of a wandering orc, how far has Radet fallen?”

“You are the crazy one who is using Hurio’s son.”

As Crockta and Driden exchanged blows, Radet and Aden continued their conversation.

“The son of the one you killed returned for revenge! It is a sharp grudge that can only be cut off with the sword.”

“You must remember what type of person Hurio was.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

Aden raised his hands. He pointed at the dark elves holding rapiers and bows behind him.

“The general trend doesn’t change. I will obtain Nameragon, join forces with the Great Clan to unify the north and make the continent the land of the dark elves.”

Aden’s eyes were blazing as he spoke. It was the expression of a spellbound fanatic. Radet was unable to convince him with words.

He looked at the bastard sword. At one time, he was also a warrior. The warrior who killed Hurio. But he couldn’t overcome these numbers.

“You seem to have forgotten about us dot.”

At that moment. A noise was heard from behind him. It was Tiyo. He aimed General at Aden’s group. At the same time, the silent Anor opened his power. Dark energy started to spread along the ground.

“……!”

Radet grinned and Aden’s face distorted. Aden lowered his hands.

“Attack!”

From that point on, the dark elves started their protest.

Arrows flew in a straight line. They fired indiscriminately without worrying about Crockta and Driden. Arrows flew towards Crockta and Driden, with the rest flooding towards Radet and the garrison soldiers.

The first one affected was Driden as an arrow aimed at him from behind. He turned his body like a spin-top and struck the arrow with his double swords. Crockta didn’t miss the gap that was revealed. As Driden was defending, Crockta’s greatsword descended towards Driden.

Driden crossed his double swords and blocked the strike. But his posture was unstable and he staggered. The greatsword neared him again. Driden gritted his teeth. He sloppily moved to the side and evaded the greatsword. Crockta pursued him. Crockta was on the offensive while Driden was on the defensive. The tide was gradually shifting towards Crockta.

Aden saw this and ordered his men to fire again. The dark elves started to prepare their arrows. At that moment,

Clink.

Crunch. Clink.

Aden lifted his head at the sound. It was the strange gnome standing with Radet. The artifact in his hand was curiously changing. The muzzle multiplied by two and then four, and the barrel expanded. It slowly started to spin.

“……?”

Aden started blankly at the muzzles. Tiyo cried out as Vulcan rotated in earnest, “Kiyoooooh!”

After lowering his body towards the ground, Tiyo fired Vulcan. He withstood the recoil and sprayed his magic bullets to the left and right.

“Crockta! Take care of yourself dot!”

“No problem!”

Crockta jumped from the ground. Tiyo’s bullets hit the ground where Crockta had jumped up. Driden had no information about Tiyo’s magic bullets so he tried to stop them with his sword, only to become embroiled in the aftermath. General damaged Driden’s body with magic power.

A few seconds of indiscriminate shooting! The short attack led to the enemies being incapacitated for a moment. Tiyo gasped from the energy consumption and stepped back.

Then Radet and the garrison moved forward. It was a melee but Radet and his garrison were already in control. Aden, who was holding a weapon for the first time in his life, surrendered the moment the weapon’s shadow fell on his head.

Once Crockta overtook Driden, Aden gave up and surrendered to Radet. It was a splendid ending.

Tiyo puffed out his chest and proudly exclaimed, “Huhuhu, Crockta did you see dot?”

“You have a strange expression.”

“Are you jealous dot? You fought hard but I was the one who decided our victory!”

Tiyo started running. “Me!”

He jumped back and forth with his hands above his head. Tiyo struck a pose filled with 100% testosterone and self-pride!

“Tiyo!”