Yuri sliced through the tendril extending from the pitch-black mass. And in the very next moment, he was struck by Okua's fist and slammed into the ground.
The black shaman screamed in shock.
[What kind of sword was that!]
Yuri, face-down, grinned.
"Cool, huh?"
[You bastard!]
Yuri tried to stand, but his body wouldn't obey.
His posture tilted on its own.
Then suddenly, a dark shadow loomed over him.
When he looked up, Okua was standing there.
His long, muscular arms were raised high into the sky.
The fists at the end of them looked like iron hammers.
"Are you being punished?"
Okua answered not with words, but by slamming his arm down.
Yuri blinked as he watched the oncoming fist.
He had to dodge, but his body wouldn't respond.
Is this how he would die?
Had he failed even in his second life?
Still, there was one comfort.
Honor.
He hadn't defiled it.
In his past life, he had survived disgracefully, but in this one, he would die with honor.
Yuri forced a crooked smile.
And then it happened.
Screech!
A strange cry rang out, reverberating through the surroundings.
His vision blurred, and something suddenly filled his sight.
He saw someone's broad back.
Yuri let out a sigh of relief.
He had been preparing himself for death, and yet, he had survived again.
Yuri spat out the blood rising in his throat and muttered,
"So damn slow…"
Then Moyong Chan responded.
"Sorry."
"As long as you know."
"You may retreat now."
Yuri was about to make a joke, but he suddenly realized how flawless Moyong Chan's pronunciation was. When Moyong Chan got serious, his continental tongue was perfect.
"Yes, sir."
Yuri shook his head and crawled to the side. While doing so, he glanced back.
Okua was staring down at Moyong Chan, twitching his face.
The moment had finally come—Okua and Moyong Chan now stood face-to-face.
The fate of the Allied Army would be decided here.
"Your Highness!"
Laurent rushed in and supported Yuri.
As the black shaman shouted something, Okua moved to chase after Yuri, but Moyong Chan stepped in his way.
Okua growled.
"Your opponent is me."
Moyong Chan's robes fluttered. Despite standing before the towering Okua, he didn't look small at all.
With Laurent's help, Yuri left the danger zone.
"Are you alright?"
"I need to stabilize my mana method for a moment."
"Yes. I'll guard you."
"Please, just for a bit."
Now that he was away from Okua, Yuri sat down and began regulating his energy. Orcbal approached, but hesitated under Laurent's pressure.
Trusting him, Yuri closed his eyes.
The energy of the heart-soul slash brushed over his meridians.
Suddenly, the earth trembled.
With his eyes still closed, Yuri muttered,
"So it begins."
Moyong Chan and Okua had clashed. The waves of aura they generated shook Yuri's body.
Yuri chuckled quietly.
"He did it. A one-on-one."
***
Moyong Chan stared at Okua, his fury suppressed.
He had been taken in by the illusion conjured by the bastard's sorcery.
Had it been a completely absurd notion, it wouldn't have worked.
But the belief that he needed to maintain a perfect condition and fight one-on-one wasn't entirely wrong, and it dominated his mind.
That hesitation allowed Okua to continue growing in strength.
Now that they were up close, he could see more clearly.
That body had been modified by sorcery. Orcs were already unnatural creatures, but Okua was beyond even that.
He was a monstrosity that should never have existed in the human world.
"Today, I will erase you and bring down the Black Star."
He raised his sword and aimed it at Okua.
A pure energy swirled.
The secret internal energy method inherited from the Qingcheng Sect resonated solemnly as it faced the ominous force.
Then, something strange happened.
Okua straightened his back and stood upright.
[Have you finally come to your senses.]
Moyong Chan was slightly taken aback.
Until now, Okua hadn't uttered anything resembling human speech. Growling and roaring had been the extent of it.
He had assumed Okua was merely a puppet controlled by that black shaman.
But now, he spoke.
And in the continental tongue.
Even his voice was unexpected.
A smooth, calm baritone with precise pronunciation. If heard without sight, one might imagine a handsome young man.
"Okua… don't tell me, you were just pretending to be dumb?"
[Pretending to be dumb?]
Okua laughed.
[The dumb ones are you humans.]
He raised his hand.
From the tips of his fingers, black mist oozed out. The black shaman standing beside him immediately prostrated himself before Okua.
Okua gently stroked the shaman's head.
[You've done well.]
It seemed almost comforting.
Then, Okua spread his fingers.
His massive hand opened, and the black shaman's head was instantly seized.
[W-Wait. This is not what we…!]
[Find peace.]
[Graaaaaagh…]
The black shaman tried to shout something, but it was muffled by Okua's palm, reduced to a stifled groan. His body convulsed.
Okua opened his mouth.
The shaman's blurred form began to get sucked into Okua's maw.
"You wretch!"
Moyong Chan shouted and swung his sword in outrage.
A blade of sword aura materialized and surged toward Okua.
[You can wait.]
Okua swung his arm.
Moyong Chan's sword aura was blocked by Okua's palm. His flesh split, and blood dripped out, but it quickly regenerated.
All the while, the black shaman continued to be absorbed by Okua.
Soon, he was reduced to a shriveled, mummy-like corpse.
Okua casually tossed it to the ground.
Moyong Chan shouted in fury,
"That is a sorcery forbidden in this world!"
[This world?]
Okua began walking toward him.
Until now, Okua had moved like a mindless beast, but now, his steps carried a clear presence.
[Since when did the world belong to humans?]
Okua clenched his fist and swung.
A massive pressure crashed down on Moyong Chan like a war hammer.
Moyong Chan didn't dodge. Instead, he stepped forward. Entering within the radius of the fist, he thrust his sword into Okua's abdomen.
Thwack.
The blade dug in deep.
It was a clear hit.
But Moyong Chan immediately sensed something was wrong.
He couldn't pull the sword out.
Okua's muscles were gripping the blade and sucking it in.
With a gentle voice, Okua said,
[Too hasty.]
Moyong Chan blinked.
His eyelids fell and rose again—and by then, he was already flying through the air.
Pain surged belatedly as he crashed into the ground and came to his senses.
He'd been kicked.
But he couldn't be sure. His memory had cut out for an instant.
Blood surged up from within.
"Hahahahaha..."
Moyong Chan spat blood and laughed. Then, he muttered in the eastern tongue.
[Yes, this makes it worth coming to the western lands.]
He stretched out his hand to the side.
A sword, clutched by the corpse of an Allied Army soldier, flew into his hand.
He closed his eyes.
The memories of the past flowed by.
The Qingcheng Sect had fallen.
His master and senior brother had died fighting for something the martial world no longer cared about.
The world of warriors no longer needed them.
So, he had abandoned everything and left.
He came to the western lands in search of the Black Star that was throwing the world into chaos. Evil had taken root.
There was still something he had to do in this land.
Moyong Chan rose to his feet and pointed his sword.
A blue energy surged from his body.
"Okua, today, you die beneath the sword of Qingcheng."
***
Yuri calmed his internal energy and got to his feet.
A gust of wind blew from the distant clash between Okua and Moyong Chan. The shockwaves of their energies colliding were spreading outward.
Yuri spat the blood pooling in his mouth and looked around.
The atmosphere was unsettled.
The battle had waned, and even the orcs had stopped fighting and were watching the two.
Yuri raised Guilty.
"Laurent."
"Yes."
"This is our chance."
"Sir?"
Just because those two were fighting didn't mean Yuri would sit back and watch like a fool.
"This isn't a fight between humans, is it?"
If this had been a war among humans, maybe the outcome of the duel between Moyong Chan and Okua could have led to negotiations.
But orcs were different.
They were not a party to negotiate with.
The Allied Army had come to kill every last orc.
"Understood."
Laurent nodded.
Yuri began hopping in place, loosening up his body. Though he'd accumulated some damage from Okua, it wasn't enough to stop him from fighting.
Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out.
Okua and Moyong Chan had officially begun their clash.
Yuri forced himself to look away.
Then, he calmly walked up behind Orcbal, who was dazedly watching the one-on-one battle.
Sensing movement, Orcbal turned around.
"What are you looking at?"
Yuri swung Guilty.
Orcbal raised his halberd to block.
Yuri followed up with a flurry of strikes. After several clashes between weapons, Yuri thrust Guilty into Orcbal's neck.
"Die."
Then, he twisted Guilty left and right.
Orcbal's head came clean off.
Yuri's attack reignited the battlefield that had been slowing to a halt.
"Don't stop!"
Yuri shouted.
A knight looked at Yuri with a puzzled expression. At this point of extreme fatigue, many thought they needed time to catch their breath.
But Yuri had his reasons.
"Okua is absorbing the power of the orcs."
Laurent looked at him.
"Sir?"
"It's hard to explain, but it's true."
When the world shifted into that colorless realm of black and white, Yuri had seen the black threads connecting through black magic.
Aside from the thick, large strand linking to Moyong Chan, there had been countless thin, faint lines spreading out.
He had a rough idea of what they were.
Okua was a being that drew power from sacrificing humans.
Born of the same black magic, he could absorb the life force of the orcs who offered him their loyalty far more easily.
Hadn't he just absorbed the life of the black shaman?
Yuri muttered,
"We can't leave the orcs alive."
Even with black magic, energy couldn't be drawn from orcs whose lives had already ended. So Yuri killed them.
"I believe in you, Your Highness."
Laurent nodded.
Yuri saw absolute trust in his eyes.
"I will simply follow."
"You…"
Yuri chuckled.
In his past life, Laurent hadn't been like this. But now, he felt like a loyal hound that followed only his words.
"Laurent."
"Yes."
"There's a lot of work ahead."
Yuri reached out to him.
"You'll stay with me, right?"
Laurent's eyes widened briefly, then he took Yuri's hand.
Through the gauntlet, he felt Laurent's warmth.
"Of course."
Yuri grinned at Laurent's blue eyes, then turned his body.
"Then let's clean up this lot first."
"Yes!"
As Moyong Chan and Okua clashed, the ground trembled. Explosions that didn't sound like they belonged to this world boomed one after another. Occasionally, Okua's thunder-like roar echoed.
But Yuri didn't look at that scene.
He had things to do.
Dragging his not-quite-responsive body, he approached Orcbal.
Seeing how exhausted he looked, Orcbal charged first. A flurry of fierce attacks came at him.
But Yuri danced just out of reach and sliced Orcbal with a clever trajectory.
Enemy blood sprayed through the air.
Yuri watched Orcbal beyond it.
His vision was blurred from accumulated damage. But his battle-hardened body moved on its own to find and kill the enemy.
His unconscious will guided him.
Even without actively using it, the heart-soul slash coursed through his body like limbs.
"This is the final battle!"
Yuri shouted.
"We're all going home alive! Don't die, kill!"
His lion's roar, charged with the power of the heart-soul slash, shook the entire battlefield.
Yuri didn't just shout. He stepped forward and directly took on the orcs.
The morale of the Allied Army rose.
With the knights' valiant charge, the Ancient Worm and Wyverns that had long tormented the Allied Army began to fall, one after another.
Graaaargh...
Suddenly, a scream rang out like a dying cry.
Yuri looked back.
"Master."
Yuri's lips curled up.
Moyong Chan was slashing open Okua's chest, sending a fountain of blood into the air.
[T/L: Read more chapters on Ko-fi page "RevengerScans" : https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]