Chapter 45
Fast.
Too fast.
By the time I perceived his attack, it was already right in front of my eyes.
It was a different kind of strength from Keltuk's.
But it didn't carry the same sense of despair as back then. It wasn't that I had no leeway.
Instantaneous dangers chained together moment by moment, but as the exchange of attacks continued, only one thought arose in my mind:
'I can do this.'
No, rather, I was slowly getting used to it. I was starting to adapt to his speed.
Kaaang!!
I block the axe crashing down from a diagonal angle.
The moment I block it, with a screech! I deflect his blade and strike his jaw with my pommel.
Thud!
His head snaps up.
At the same time, Callius's body spun swiftly.
His red cloak fluttered magnificently, and between its folds, he swung his sword down.
Slash!
Whoosh! Thud!
The Great Warrior's massive body flew through the air before landing on the ground.
"The one you spoke of, it's you."
Slither. The Great Warrior muttered as he licked the wound on his left cheek.
So the guy he spoke of was you.
Interpreting the accent as a characteristic, Callius curled his lips.
"Looks like you're an acquaintance of Keltuk."
That's actually good.
Callius's sword brimmed with the Sword Qi of the Silver Flower Scatter Sword.
A bizarre Sword Qi that looked like flower petals packed tightly together. The profound essence of the Silver Flower Scatter Sword began to manifest from his blade.
"If you're his comrade, let's skip the petty skirmishing."
The Great Warrior seemed to understand roughly, raising his momentum even higher.
Soon, a much faster and sharper exchange of attacks began, incomparable to before. Callius circulated all his Divine Power throughout his body without reserve, blooming the bud reaching the Second Peak of the Ten Thousand Flower Peaks and raising his physical abilities to their limits.
Orc Great Warrior.
An opponent worthy of pouring everything into.
Kaang! Slash!
Against Callius's continuous strikes pouring down like a storm, the Great Warrior agilely dodged or blocked.
However, he couldn't block them all.
Silver petals pouring down like waves embroidered the surroundings.
And fiercely rushed at the Great Warrior like an enraged bull.
Until then, the Great Warrior thought it was doable. Without even realizing the ever-increasing number of petals.
Along with Callius's quiet murmur, the Great Warrior witnessed the silver petals embroidering the night sky.
"Pahwaro."
Silver Flower Scatter Sword - Pahwaro.
That moment.
The path of silver petals swelled in an instant, surging like a massive tidal wave to engulf him.
The scattered silver petals of Callius formed a single path.
Silver Flower Scatter Sword First Stance - Pahwaro (Path of Breaking Harmony).
Its true nature was an extremely fast swift sword technique.
The essence of a swift sword, created by pushing the ever-increasing speed of the sword to its limits.
It was an exquisite manipulation of Divine Power.
Scraping off the opponent's Sword Qi and simultaneously adding it to his own Divine Power to engulf like a wave—the swiftness and variation of a certain-kill strike.
On top of that, the second stance unfolded like flowing water.
Silver Flower Scatter Sword - Baekmyo (White Vastness).
Chajajajajajak!
Pure white Baekmyo—like a snow country blooming, shapes resembling ice particles covered the area.
As a type of sword formation, the Sword Qi that secretly flew in from under his feet within the enemy's domain inflicted fatal wounds.
Pahwaro and Baekmyo, connected naturally, threatened the Great Warrior's life in an instant.
Becoming covered in blood in an instant, the orc's green fresh blood splattered in the air.
Keureuk!
But he was a Great Warrior.
He proved he was no ordinary orc with his agile movements.
"I will give my life to the Gray Warrior!!"
"Huaaaaaah!!"
Sword Qi in the shape of fluttering petals.
Along with it, he dodged and deflected Callius's sword strikes that surged like waves.
His continuously accelerating speed.
A speed that was already fast accelerated even more the more he was wounded.
The bizarrely bent axe, the large and long arms unlike a human's, and the elastic muscles and solid bones supporting them formed an impossible attack shape.
'Crazy.'
A bizarrely twisted axe trajectory that could only be called crazy.
The speed backing it up.
The axe blade reached before he could even blink, slicing off the tips of Callius's hair.
"Yes, it should at least be this much!"
But as the guy changed, Callius's sword also sped up.
Faster. Faster! Even faster!
Without being able to take a single breath, he only swung his fast sword again and again.
Accelerating speed? It was rather what he wanted. Pahwaro disrupted the opponent's Sword Qi, scattered it into the air, and made it his own to strike back.
The more he blocked the guy's attacks.
The bigger Pahwaro only grew.
'A little more.'
Just a little more! He circulated all the remaining Divine Power into his body.
Scattered Sword Qi fragments with concentration squeezed to the very limit.
Contained within Pahwaro, creating a wave.
Kaang-!
The hand holding Roas was numb.
A stinging pain grated against the nerves of his blood-soaked hand, and his frail bones screamed from his creaking whole body.
But still.
Callius clenched his teeth and swung his sword even faster.
"What is this…."
"Can you see that right now?"
"Just shut up and watch for now. Who knows if we'll ever see it again."
The battlefield of the two fighting at a speed invisible to the eye made the watching knights burn with anxiety. Thrilling moments that made them sweat in their palms.
Hundreds of fierce battles where even a handspan deeper could be a fatal wound.
In the end, the victor was decided.
Whoosh. The scattering wind settled between the two.
The sand and dust scattered, and falling drops of blood and sweat soaked the earth.
And then.
Thud.
The falling head of the Great Warrior darkened, its final sight the silver petals and twinkling stars embroidered in the night sky.
The face of the orc, who couldn't even let out a single scream, was that of a warrior.
"Wooooooah!!"
"Lord Callius took down the Great Warrior!"
"Our victory!!"
"Long live Lord Callius!!"
"Long live!!"
As soon as the Great Warrior's head fell, the knights who had been watching with bated breath shouted at the top of their lungs, loud enough to shake the forest.
"Haa…."
Thanks to that, Callius, whose tension had finally been relieved, let out a small exclamation and breathed out roughly. The hot breath he exhaled formed white steam before disappearing.
Like the now-faded soul of the Great Warrior.
'It was doable.'
There wasn't any leeway.
Every moment was threatening, and he crossed the line of life and death by a handspan.
He was a warrior in a different direction from Keltuk.
However, the measure of his strength was similar.
If it were before, the nameless Great Warrior before him would also have been no match for him.
A strong one among the strong, whom he would have prioritized running from if he had to face them.
But.
'Not anymore.'
Not anymore.
Ten Thousand Flower Peaks rose to the Second Peak, and a sword that had reached the Spirit grade, though unsatisfactorily.
Now that he possessed the Spirit Sword - Roas.
To Callius, the Great Warrior was not a formidable enemy to flee from.
Now, he was a rival worth facing.
Yes, a rival.
Callius had grown that much stronger.
With the help of the Three-Colored Eyes, he corrected his sword path, dismantled or dodged the enemy's attacks, and unleashed a certain-kill swordsmanship utilizing all his abilities in more diverse aspects.
It was because his more purified Divine Power had elevated the level of all his physical abilities.
'I can become stronger.'
This isn't the end.
He could become stronger.
He couldn't be satisfied with this.
He had to become even stronger from here.
Feeling the potential was enough. He felt it and experienced it firsthand in the battle just now.
He would become even stronger in the future.
That was enough.
[Fatalite's Wheel]
"Ah."
The Wheel's reward had also become S-.
The lock was released because he killed the Great Warrior.
He didn't know if he could achieve a full S before this quest ended, but it was a sufficiently satisfactory result.
'Being encroached by Callius's personality isn't great, but….'
Still, the choice to come to the North wasn't a mistake.
If he hadn't come to the North, he wouldn't have achieved so much growth in such a short period.
Callius, finishing his thoughts, reached out his hand toward the Great Warrior's body.
Though inferior to the Great Warrior he had met before, Keltuk, he was still a Great Warrior.
Wasn't it a body that could become a Spirit Sword if made into a Corpse Sword?
Since it wasn't a Corpse Sword ceremony prepared formally, he couldn't expect high quality, but it was still a Great Warrior.
As the person who had directly experienced the Great Warrior's skills, he was certain that the Corpse Sword made from him would become a Spirit Sword.
Since there were grades even among Spirit Swords, he couldn't hope for high quality, but anticipation still swelled up.
Uung-
His hand shimmered silver.
The noble Divine Power, borrowing the miracle of the gods, wrapped around the rapidly cooling corpse and soon transformed its shape.
Forging a body trained for a lifetime and a noble soul into a single sword.
A sword that was the only one in the world….
Seureuk.
"Uh, uh!"
"The Great Warrior's corpse is…."
However, a scene that shattered Callius's expectations was unfolding.
The Great Warrior's body began to wither like a mummy.
Crunch! Then, with a poof sound, it crumbled into powder.
Callius nervously glared at the Predator Sword - Roas he held in his hand.
"You bastard…."
The Predator Sword flashed its blade sharply, dyed in blood-red as if satisfied.
[Predator Sword - Roas]
Grade - Spirit.
Imbued Soul - Mixed Soul.
Innate Ability - Predation.
Noble Predation - 1.
Under the innate ability, something called 'Noble Predation' was added.
Did it mean that now that it had become a Spirit Sword, demonic beasts or ordinary humans were no longer satisfying? Until now, there was no reaction from the other orcs, but such a change appeared when it took the Great Warrior's head.
If it continued like this, the Predator Sword might surpass Spirit and rise to the ranks of Illusion.
But when would that be?
When it ate a hundred? When it ate a thousand? Or when it achieved the Noble Predation of ten thousand people?
He didn't know. Rather than a vague sense of anticipation, deep irritation struck Callius's head.
"Tch. Damn it."
Clicking his tongue, Callius nervously sheathed the Predator Sword as if he didn't even want to look at it.
With a click sound, his sharp voice called Brans.
"Brans. Clean up."
"Yes, sir!"
While he was observing the situation for a moment, Emily approached and asked.
"Are we returning to the main force now?"
The original objective was the seizure of supplies.
To isolate them.
Truly, an absurd strategy.
If they failed, they would just die, and even if they succeeded, moving the supplies to the fortress was quite a tricky task.
I mean, a detachment of the defending army popping out to seize the enemy's supplies and trying to take advantage of it.
"No, we're not going."
"Why?"
"There's no way we can break through the orc army with the supplies and return to the fortress. Even if it's possible, it would do more harm than good."
A lot of blood would flow.
The orc army was blocking the front of the fortress, so how could they move it?
Impossible.
"Then what are you going to do?"
"Like this, we have no choice but to gnaw away at their numbers and supplies from the outside."
Slowly, slowly like that.
The goal was to isolate them.
Who would dry up and die first.
That was the opportunity to seize the upper hand.
'The North is prone to foul weather.'
Furthermore.
"If it's just a little at a time, there's a way to move these guys too, so it's fine."
The hidden paths of the North filled Callius's head.
"Paths aren't always just above ground."
Callius looked quietly beneath the ground, then turned his back.