But instead of blindly charging forward as before, they began to circle around Karl, waiting for an opening.
Finally, the four ferocious wolves seemed to reach some unspoken agreement. They attacked simultaneously from four directions, with one even attempting to come from behind.
Karl remained rooted to the spot. With a slight movement of his right hand, the sword became two blurred streaks of light. The blades crossed in the air, forming an X shape.
"Thud! Thud!" Two wolves attacking from the sides had their heads severed from their bodies. The wolf heads flew into the air, while the bodies, still bent forward, ran a few more paces before collapsing.
At the same time, Karl clenched his left fist and struck the wolf charging straight at him. "Boom!" The wolf's skull shattered instantly, and its body flew backward as if struck by a catapult. It arced through the air and slammed into a rock face several metres away. Spiderweb cracks appeared on the stone surface, and the wolf's carcass slid down, mangled beyond recognition.
The last wolf, attacking from behind, was pinned under Karl's foot. It desperately clawed at Karl's calf, trying to break free. But its claws, strong enough to tear through leather armour, left not even a scratch on Karl's trousers. Karl glanced down at the wolf at his feet and pressed down slightly with his foot. "Splat!" The wolf's head burst open as it struggled, spraying red and white matter everywhere, forming a gruesome mess at his feet. The headless wolf twitched a few times on the ground, then lay perfectly still.
From the start of the four wolves' attack to their deaths, the entire process took less than a second.
At that moment, three crude arrows flew through the air, aimed at Karl's chest and head. Almost simultaneously, another gust of wind came from behind. While Karl was occupied with deflecting the arrows, four ferocious wolves attacked from the rear.
Karl's expression remained impassive. He raised his hand and swung his sword, the blade flashing before him. The three arrows struck the sword, but instead of bouncing off, they reversed direction along the same trajectory with even greater speed.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!" Three muffled impacts sounded, and the three orcs, who were nocking their second arrows, jerked violently. The first arrow pierced through a throat, the second through a chest, and the third through an eye. They were thrown from the backs of their wolves by the force of the arrows, crashing to the ground, twitching a few times, and then falling still.
When the four wolves attacked from behind, Karl swung his left hand back sharply, the edge of his palm like a blade, striking the first wolf's neck. With a spinning right kick, he struck the second wolf squarely in the abdomen, then delivered a sweeping left kick that sent the third wolf flying sideways. Finally, his sword pierced through the fourth wolf's jaw and out through the top of its head.
"Thud! Boom! Boom! Thud!" Four wolves died almost simultaneously. The first was decapitated, the second's abdomen was completely caved in. The third was sent flying several metres before crashing to the ground, and the fourth was impaled through the head by the longsword and pinned to the ground in mid-air.
Karl then relaxed his grip, allowing the wolf's carcass to fall to the ground, and reached out his right hand to grab the neck of a fifth wolf attempting to ambush him. "Crunch!" In an instant, Karl crushed the wolf's neck and casually tossed the still-twitching body to the ground. The two wolves sent flying by his kicks landed at that moment, their bodies nearly folded in half from the abdomen.
In just a few seconds, more than half of the ferocious wolves brought by the orcs were killed or wounded. Over a dozen wolf carcasses were scattered across the ground, their blood staining a large patch of grass red. At this moment, the surviving wolves let out terrified howls and began to retreat, no longer daring to approach. The orcs on their backs were also pale, their hands trembling as they gripped their weapons.
The scarred orc at the head of the group had been watching the battle intently, but had not rushed to attack. His pupils narrowed. This was definitely not a dwarf... the height didn't match. And since when had dwarves become this strong? In just a few seconds, more than half of their wolves had been killed or wounded. The man had not even been injured, and his breathing hadn't quickened.
When they had closed to within a few metres of Karl, the scarred orc raised his hand, signalling his two companions not to attack. He slowly urged his wolf forward, stopping five metres in front of Karl. He sat atop his wolf, obvious wariness in his eyes, and began to study the man carefully. Then he did something strange: he twitched his nose and took several deep breaths. In the next moment, he froze. No scent? This man had no smell at all?
Leaving aside the scent of those short, shaggy creatures, there was no body odour or sweat that a man should have... nothing at all. The air was filled with the smell of blood, dust, grass, and the dead wolves and their kin. But there was no human scent, as if... this man didn't exist.
The scarred orc pondered for a few moments before speaking in broken but understandable Human tongue: "Strange, man, you have no smell." His voice was hoarse and unpleasant, like sandpaper scraping against the face. He looked into Karl's eyes, trying to read something in them. "Are you a mercenary among men? Did you take the dwarves' money to protect them?"
Karl did not answer, merely staring at him in silence, the point of his sword angled diagonally toward the ground. The scarred orc continued: "You saw a group of dwarves? You're not the one we're looking for. Tell us where the dwarves are, and we'll leave. There's no need to become enemies."
His words sounded very "reasonable," but Karl could see calculation and wariness in his eyes. Before Karl could answer, one of the orcs beside him spoke excitedly in the Orcish tongue: "Captain, why are you letting this man go? Don't forget Lord Azog's orders! Anyone who helps that dwarf must die!"
"He's killed so many of our wolves! We should use his skull to make a drinking cup!" another orc chimed in.
The scarred orc pointed at the corpses that nearly covered the ground, then turned and shouted insults in Orcish. "Idiots! Use your thick skulls and learn to think properly! This man turned half our wolves into meat without a single scratch and without using any magic! We can't even hit him with arrows, so how can we defeat him? Why don't you two go first, hm?"
The two orcs fell silent, their faces paling as they saw the carnage on the ground. The scarred orc lowered his voice and continued to curse: "Don't forget, our main target is that dwarf bastard, Thorin Oakenshield! Lord Azog wants his head, not this strange man's head! There's no need to provoke an enemy who clearly won't be easy to deal with. If we all die here, who will report the dwarves' location?"
He turned to Karl, spoke again in the Human tongue, and his tone became more "sincere." "Man, there is no enmity between us. Step aside and tell us where the dwarves are, and we will leave immediately. ...We could even offer you rewards — gold coins, gems, weapons — whatever you want?"