Chapter 53
The orcs did not spare their bodies. Those nearing death willingly sacrificed themselves for their comrades.
Though the light in the eyes of the dying orcs faded, they did not regret their own deaths.
Amidst the chaotic brawl, even the slightest hint of mourning was absent.
I hurled Chain Lightning toward the city’s main gate.
Crackle-!
The blue lightning streaking through the air spread in a chain reaction among the nearby red orcs, clearing a path that had been blocked.
Again, the number of fallen orcs was around ten. In that moment, a gray-skinned leader orc dashed through the path I had created.
Behind him followed his subordinates, and as the gray warriors started swinging their swords, a massive route began to open.
“Hah!”
I too joined them, unleashing swirling blue lightning from my hands as I charged towards the enemy with the Nightmare.
Having exhausted most of my available mana, what arose over my sword was not starlight but the fierce flames of Kalbain.
Whoosh!
The leader orc recklessly conserved his own body to allow non-combatants left behind in the city to escape.
He desperately opened the way; the path created became an escape route for the female and young orcs.
Of course, that was only if everything proceeded according to his plan. The evil dark mage orc leading the red orcs scattered his mana toward the fleeing non-combatants.
When black and purple mist shot out and enveloped the female orcs, a horrific event unfolded.
Their skin melted away, revealing stark white bones, and the bright red blood that fell to the ground flew toward the evil dark mage orc as if alive.
“Tukahaaa!!!”
Witnessing that scene up close, the leader orc let out a roar mixed with despair.
His spirit was fierce enough to threaten anyone standing before him, but the harsh reality was different.
Countless red orc warriors surrounded him endlessly, blocking his path.
I too found myself in a similarly dire situation. Although the orcs didn’t approach me properly as they were wary of my magic, dozens of them surrounded me, applying pressure.
When long spears and halberds flew toward me, the Nightmare had to move swiftly.
Whoosh-!
I swung the raging flames. Kalbain’s mana revealed its vicious nature, starting to burn everything blocking its path to a crisp.
At that moment, the leader orc let out a loud shout, causing all fighting to miraculously halt.
“Makutus!!!”
It was as if time had stopped. I was left bewildered, looking around.
The leader orc, having roared, fixed his bloodshot eyes on the red orc clutching a magic book.
After staring at each other for a considerable time, the two orcs began to move simultaneously.
As they started to move, the orcs obstructing them began to open the way.
An impromptu one-on-one standoff was naturally created.
Only then could I understand what the two orcs were attempting to do.
“Makutus,” which I had read in the guidebook about orc culture, began to unfold before my eyes.
The leader orc tossed aside his armor and aimed a longsword at the red orc shaman.
In response to his provocation, the shaman orc also discarded the robe covering his body.
When standing shoulder to shoulder, the starkly contrasting forms of the two orcs revealed the start of their battle.
The two orcs exchanged fierce attacks. The clash of the massive longsword and the evil mana let out silent screams.
At first glance, it seemed the leader orc had the upper hand, but as time passed, he grew weary faster.
The light in his anger-filled eyes began to dim, and the once formidable muscles covering his body started to shrink.
With each exchange, the phenomenon became more pronounced.
It was as if the shaman orc was siphoning the life force from the leader orc.
The fight continued in silence, without a single cheer.
The leader orc’s sword lost its power and sharpness, but he did not give up.
When the faint light that had started from the longsword faded, the leader orc knelt, collapsing to the ground.
Huff- huff-
Despite being afar, the ragged breathing echoed across the battlefield.
As a faint breeze stirred the blood-red dust, the victorious shaman orc from the Makutus ceremony stomped on the head of the defeated leader orc.
Squish!
That was the end.
A heavy atmosphere settled over the battlefield, and the gray orcs maintained a mournful silence.
In that moment, the shaman orc shouted out.
Drunk with the emotions brought by victory, he stood with his arms wide open, vulnerable.
“Makura! Hukemak!”
The shaman orc began spewing incomprehensible words.
He looked around excitedly, as if asking if there was anyone else to challenge him.
My heart raced. With all the Starlight Mana exhausted, the ferocious mana of Kalbain began to envelop my body.
The fragments of Kalbain blazing brightly desired the destruction of the world.
Considering all beings blocking my path as insignificant, it was a proud mana that believed itself to be the strongest.
I stepped forward from the back of the Nightmare.
My steps were light, yet the momentum extending from me felt unbearably heavy.
I had no other choice to survive. Continuing to fight would only lead to being swept away by the tide of the red orcs, meeting a certain death.
No matter how much the noble Nightmare lent me its legs.
At that moment, the red-skinned shaman orc looked at me.
As our gazes locked in mid-air, a smile appeared on the shaman orc’s face.
“Kalse!”
Now I understood. The word the shaman orc uttered meant “human.”
I tightened my grip on the sword, stepping further forward.
Before the spear could touch my cheek, the red orc warriors cleared a path for me.
The lone Nightmare watched me with rough breaths, but it seemed to understand my intent, standing patiently.
“Kalse, toka seh”
I could not grasp the meaning behind those words.
I simply aimed my sword at the red orc shaman, just like the gray orc leader meeting his end.
Did my actions offend him? He frowned and roared harshly.
“Kalse!!!”
The ominous mana surged with the emotions of the shaman orc.
It began to approach me as if it intended to envelop me.
Yet the fire of Kalbain, which burned the world, stood in its way.
The flames rejecting change burned away the evil mana creeping closer.
At that moment, a faint sound began to emanate from the gray orcs’ side.
It sounded like stomping—thud- thud-.
However, that faint sound quickly spread out, leading all surviving gray orcs to stomp their feet.
“Kalse!”
The orcs chanted the word meaning human.
Then, a new word I had never heard before began to resonate.
“Mohlabani!”
“Mohlabani!”
With each continued chant, the shaman orc’s expression twisted in displeasure.
He hurled harsh insults at the gray orcs, yet they remained unwavering.
Even the orcs whose skin had melted due to his magic joined in the chants with stomping feet.
Though the melted skin fell away to reveal stark white bones, they did not stop.
The chant soon reached the red orcs as well.
Ultimately, the orcs’ will had been conveyed. The shaman orc aimed his staff with a grimaced expression.
The staff was entwined heavily with ominous mana.
When the two warriors were ready to fight, the traditional Makutus of the orcs commenced.
There was no signal; they merely threw themselves into the struggle to take each other’s lives.
Swinging the sword enveloped in flames, I drew stars in the air.
The seven burning stars etched in the sky flew toward the shaman orc, but he effortlessly dodged my attack with his relaxed movements.
Right after, the shaman orc launched his assault.
The evil mana dealt deadly wounds with just a graze.
Though Kalbain’s mana protected my body, it couldn’t block attacks from every angle.
When it grazed my thigh, the ogre leather covering it turned black; when it brushed against my shoulder, that area’s skin darkened as well.
As a chilling wind began to blow, the blackened areas started to disperse like dust.
I steadied my breath and swung my sword in quick succession.
Unleashing seven blazing stars through seven motions, I immediately transitioned to my next action.
This time, the sword repelled a crescent moon wrapped in fire.
Though the blade lost its light in its excitement, it was filled with fire in its stead.
Whoosh-!
Continuous exchanges persisted. The red orc shaman did not solely rely on magic.
He, too, as an orc, approached the battle using his own body and forcefully punched me.
Each blow felt like a heavy strike against a metal club.
Yet I could not waver. If I lost focus, it would all end; I drove my weary body on.
As time passed, my body’s temperature began to rise.
That was because Kalbain’s mana, losing my control, rampaged freely.
The violent flames whirling began to spread throughout my body, and my skin started turning a bright red.
“Hoo…!”
The heat began to seep with my breaths as I wielded my sword.
At that moment, ominous light emanated from the magic book clutched by the shaman orc.
In the glow, the look in the shaman orc’s eyes was filled with mockery.
Crack-!
A sudden ominous noise rang out.
Right after, an unusual sensation traveled around my ankle.
Frowning anxiously, I checked my ankle, only to have a white bone fill my sight.
A white hand bone had emerged from the ground, grasping my ankle.
The movement of the bone did not end there. Like plants, the growing bones began to coil around my body.
In an instant, the sturdy bone wrapped tighter, refusing to break, even as I thrashed about.
“Kalse!!!”
As if foreseeing my end, the shaman orc prepared for a final attack.
He raised his burned arm high, gathering the ominous mana.
It was the end. I couldn’t swing my sword to hinder that attack, nor could I flee from the spot.
I launched a Magic Missile using Kalbain’s mana, but it was all blocked by the mana veil spread by the red orc shaman.
The moment I sensed impending doom, did they say I would see a light of hope?
I faced strange memories flooding before my eyes.
Like flipping through pages quickly, tremendous memories zipped past.
In that instant, amidst those fleeting memories, I recognized a very unfamiliar memory of someone else.
The memory of freely soaring through vast skies, burning everything in the world, suggested a way to escape this perilous situation.
The moment I grasped that method, the mana rampaging inside me began to race toward a central point.
The unbearable heat made me feel as if I would burn up, yet I waited as patiently as possible for the mana to condense.
As the shaman orc finished preparing, I, too, managed to finalize my preparations.
When the heat enveloping my body focused on one point, guided by instinct, I opened my mouth wide.
At that moment, the flames of destruction, which once scorched the world, resurfaced into this realm.
Kwaaaah!
The scorching flames erupted from my mouth, igniting everything in this world, causing all that couldn’t withstand the heat to begin melting.
In an instant, the upper body of the shaman orc was blown away, and the magic book he held vanished without leaving even a trace of black ash.
The swirling flames continued unabated, covering the clouds overhead.