"Damn it."
Lokan was forced to parry the punch, but in doing so, he couldn't properly defend against the follow-up. By the time he recovered his stance, a steel-toed boot was already flying toward him.
"Ugh!"
The kick from the surprisingly nimble Orc Fighter connected squarely with Lokan's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Gasping for air, Lokan swung his axe wildly. However, Tachwhal withdrew lightly, effortlessly avoiding the blow. He even retrieved his greatsword and smirked.
Lokan burned with fury at the sight. This piglet, who in the old days would have lost a limb in one strike, dares to laugh at me!
"You arrogant pig!"
Lokan rushed in again. He held the axe handle short to strike rapidly at the incoming attacks. Then, seizing a moment when Tachwhal was off-balance from a powerful block, Lokan slipped into his guard, extended his grip on the axe shaft, and unleashed a full-powered swing.
"Iron Wall!"
Faced with this ferocious attack, Tachwhal could not afford to downplay it. With a grimace, he hastily activated his skill—a secondary job skill that drastically boosted defense for a short duration. It was unusual for an offensive-focused class like an Orc Fighter to have a defensive Knight skill. The skill sets of high-level monsters were partially randomized, and apparently, Tachwhal had drawn a defensive type.
Thwack!
Thanks to the skill, even though Lokan's battle-axe tore into his flesh, the wound was shallow, as if he were clad in full plate armor.
"Grrraaahhh!"
[You have been exposed to Battle Cry. Stats are decreased according to the level difference. The amount of decrease is reduced by stat correction.]
Tachwhal's own roar washed over Lokan, and he felt his power draining away. Although his high stats lessened the reduction, the base level difference was simply too vast. In an instant, the situation reversed. Lokan's skill had compensated for the stat gap, but now the disparity was widening again. Furthermore, Tachwhal began to showcase his secondary job skills in earnest.
"I'll kill you, you cheeky human!"
"You little bastard… … ."
Lokan was enraged. Tachwhal, who wielded a greatsword like an offensive warrior, also possessed the sturdy defenses of a Knight. This made the situation even more difficult. If Tachwhal combined his defensive skills with his offense, Lokan would struggle to deal significant damage. It seemed Tachwhal was opting for a war of attrition.
So there's no way?
No. Lokan had one final card left. One skill that could ignore the difference in ability and secondary job classes.
"Berserk!"
Lokan activated Berserk without hesitation.
A 200% stat boost for 10 minutes. With this, he was worthy of fighting a fully-powered Tachwhal. The world turned red, and the chilling aura vanished. However, it became impossible to distinguish friend from foe; he saw only red silhouettes.
[Activates Indomitable Will.]
[Resists all negative psychic effects.]
But the next moment, his vision cleared. His blood still boiled with rage, but his sight was restored. This was the power of the 'Indomitable Will' title effect.
"Heh heh heh heh!"
Lokan spat out the boiling energy in his core and charged at Tachwhal. With all his stats doubled, he now exerted pressure on Tachwhal, whose own stats were slightly reduced.
However, Tachwhal was a warrior among warriors. He bulged his muscles without panic and swung his greatsword with mountain-splitting force.
"Chwiik, die, human!"
"Stop grunting, pig!"
Lokan shouted and deflected the blade. His 'Indomitable Will' had restored his sight, but his hearing was muffled; he could hear general sounds, but at his current skill level, discerning speech was difficult.
"No!"
Instead of blocking the greatsword edge-on-edge, Lokan hooked his axe blade and haft around the bend of the sword and pulled with all his might. The maneuver severely damaged the Orc Battle-Axe's durability, but it violently wrenched Tachwhal's posture forward, pulling their faces close together.
"Ura-cha-cha!"
Crunch!
As their heads drew near, Lokan slammed his forehead directly into Tachwhal's face in a brutal head-butt. Stars exploded in Lokan's vision, but Tachwhal's condition was far worse; he was completely unprepared for the blow.
"Strike!"
Crunch!
Following the head-butt, the battle-axe ripped open Tachwhal's chest. The thick armor blocked a direct hit, but the powerful impact dented the plating, constricting his breathing. Lokan's assault didn't stop. He adjusted his grip freely, raining blows that began to crack the armor.
"Damn defense skill."
His goal wasn't initially to destroy the armor, but as Tachwhal persistently used defensive skills to survive, the armor's durability started failing before his health bar. Destroying it would be a significant advantage.
But Lokan's expression was grim.
'Not enough time.'
Time was not on his side. He had the upper hand but couldn't deliver the finishing blow due to Tachwhal's active defense. Nearly 7 minutes of Berserk had already passed. Only 3 minutes remained. If he didn't finish it then, Lokan would be the one trampled. Even with Berserk active, victory wasn't guaranteed, and a 50% stat penalty afterward would be a death sentence.
'I can't help it.'
Lokan made a decision. Abandoning finesse, he widened his stance and prepared for a single, decisive blow—a relentless attack meant to shatter any defense.
"Is it honorable to hide in your armor like a turtle?! Then I'll break it to pieces!"
He didn't forget to provoke. It worked. Stung by the insult to his warrior's honor and seeing an opening in Lokan's committed stance, Tachwhal took the bait.
"Power Attack!"
"Strike!"
Another clash of pure power versus power.
But it wasn't as clean as the first. As soon as they confirmed each other's formidable strength, they immediately began maneuvering their weapons, seeking openings. Tachwhal attempted a low sweep; Lokan jumped over it and countered with an upward slash aiming for a fatal blow.
"Hah!"
But Tachwhal was adept, stepping back and pulling his sword to barely escape the range.
"What are you grunting about?"
The problem was, this was within Lokan's expectations. Pretending to be over-committed to the swing, Lokan used the momentum to spin his entire body.
Whoosh! Crunch!
Another powerful strike! This final blow exhausted the last of the armor's durability, and Tachwhal's chest plate shattered.
"You're tough, I'll give you that."
Even his exposed body was tough, but it was no longer armor. Lokan, acutely aware of the ticking clock, rushed forward.
"Dash!"
"Power Attack!"
Mana was infinite under Berserk. He closed the distance as soon as the cooldown ended. Tachwhal's converting blow came down like a guillotine.
"Hah!"
Lokan barely dodged the vicious attack—he had anticipated it. However, Tachwhal wrenched his greatsword from the ground and smashed the flat of the blade into Lokan. The force was irresistible.
The flat of a greatsword the size of a man was still a devastating weapon. Lokan, without a single piece of armor, couldn't simply absorb the hit. The impact deafened him; his eardrums felt burst. His bones numbed, and his sense of balance wavered.
"Ugh… … ."
But Tachwhal wasn't unharmed either. The moment he raised his sword, Lokan had thrown his battle-axe with all his might. Without a throwing skill, the damage was shallow, but it was a significant wound, though not fatal.
"Aaargh!"
The attack drained the strength from Tachwhal's sword arm. Seeing this, Lokan lunged forward despite his injuries. Every movement sent pain shooting through his body, but it was nothing compared to the agony he'd endured in his past life. He kicked Tachwhal's injured right hand.
"Ugh!"
Tachwhal lost his grip on the greatsword, but retaliated with a fearsome bare-handed punch. He then yanked the battle-axe from his own chest and threw it back with skill-enhanced force.
"Throwing!"
Whish!
"That was too close."
The axe grazed the tip of Lokan's nose as he desperately dodged, embedding itself in the ground behind him.
[The Berserk's duration ends after 60 seconds.]
There was no time to retrieve it. Lokan rushed Tachwhal bare-handed. He clenched his fists and began a brutal, close-quarters brawl, trading blow for blow.
"Aaargh!"
Their fight was ferocious. The spirit of the two men, now fighting with fists alone, even made the surrounding Orc Warriors forget their allegiance and cheer.
But victory was all that mattered.
'If I fall, I die anyway.'
Lokan had prepared for death. Even if Tachwhal showed mercy, Lokan would die the moment Berserk ended and the 50% HP penalty was applied. The only way to survive was to kill Tachwhal and level up. So, he never stopped punching.
[The Berserk's duration ends after 30 seconds.]
'Not enough.'
But the damage was insufficient. He didn't know how much health Tachwhal had left, but his fists were still strong. He needed another approach.
Thud!
Changing tactics, Lokan stopped punching and wrapped his arms around Tachwhal's waist in a powerful grapple. He wasn't trying to throw him; he began squeezing with all his might, attempting to use his supernatural strength to crush the Orc Fighter's spine.
"Aaargh!"
Blood vessels bulged across Lokan's body as Tachwhal's fists pounded his back. Tachwhal, sensing mortal danger, was fighting for his life. But Lokan refused to let go. His health had already dropped to 0—it was only Berserk's immortality effect keeping him alive. Sustaining such punishment without armor was brutal, even with his high Stamina.
[Health has decreased to 5% or less.]
[All stats are increased by 50% with the effect of the title 'Indomitable Will'.]
This was actually beneficial. The 'Indomitable Will' title activated once more, boosting all his stats by 50% when his health fell critically low. As Lokan's strength surged again, Tachwhal's waist audibly creaked.
[The Berserk's duration ends after 10 seconds. 9, 8, 7… … ]
5… 4… 3… 2… …!
CRACK!
Just before Berserk expired, Tachwhal's body went limp with the sound of something shattering. With an expression of utter disbelief, the color drained from Tachwhal's face.