Read Novel Full Chapter 85
Chapter 85
VS Orc General
With Ralf’s [Roar of the Guardian] all three Orcs turned their attention to him.
I used that chance to move behind them, and attack the Orc general who was hiding behind the knights.
Our aim was to first split these 3, not to deal damage, and so I basically needed to attract its attention as quickly as possible.
While thinking that I thrust my sword at the Orc general, and it pierced its hand——not. Before the sword could reach its skin, the orc noticed me and parried it with the axe he was holding.
The gold fur on the Orc general fluttered in the wind.
Its size was about the same as normal orcs but it had enough strength to swing around a one meter tall axe with runes inscribed on it with a single hand.
Also judging by how easily it cancelled out Ralf’s skill, it’s instincts were at another level as well.
This might be a tougher monster than I imagined.
While I was unable to land the hit, I did succeed in getting its attention.
The Orc knights who had been separated from their General didn’t realize it and continued heading towards Ralf like moth to a flame.
With this, there was no one else around me and the general, and it was true 1 vs 1 fight.
We intentionally created this situation but……
Let alone show panic, the Orc general’s face was smirking as if ridiculing me.
I was only half its size and had a thin sword in hand no less.
The Orc general was giving off this feeling that it was sure it wouldn’t lose no matter what.
It’d be nice if it was simply underestimating me but, it wasn’t exactly like that.
What it had was raw confidence based on years of experience, and judging by how quickly it repelled my earlier attack, it was definitely not being careless.
Finally facing an enemy as strong as the bear-like monster in peixa forest, I too unconsciously broke into a smile.
Under this tense atmosphere where you could forget to even breathe, the Orc general slowly approached me step by step.
Being wary of the length of its arm combined with the length of its weapon, I kept the distance in check and waited for the Orc General to make its first move.
Since it’ll have to raise that Axe before it swings down at me, as long as I pay attention to its movements I should be able to dodge it——-or so I thought but as if it was wielding some flimsy one-handed sword, it swung the axe freely aiming straight to lop my head off.
I bent my body just in time somehow to avoid it and quickly stepped backwards to create a distance between us once again.
I felt something warm on my forehead, I was slightly bleeding.
It was very shallow but looks like I got a cut on my forehead.
The cold sweat only increased, but this battle of life and death was truly the best.
…….if it can swing the axe that fast, the best way to fight was to remove the distance between us and fight at extreme close range.
As I made my resolve, I quickly rushed in to close the distance.
Seeing me try and close in on it, the Orc general showed no panic and simply swung its axe horizontally to repel me.
I rolled on the ground to dodge and then kicked the ground again to step to the left to avoid the Orc’s next attack as it swung the axe down from above.
I moved towards the Orc’s right side, since he didn’t hold any weapon in this hand, and rushed in finally succeeding in making it right in front of him.
Seeing it this close by, the pressure it gave off really was nothing to joke about.
I worried whether my thin sword would even get through its tough skin but I did possess boosted strength thanks to the Lizaf fruit.
I slashed straight at its belly but it dodged it by using a back step.
It was more agile than it looked, as it took another back step and thrust its axe at me like a spear this time.
I somehow managed to divert it with my steel sword, and avoided the thrust but still…….this Orc general has quite the variety.
Looking closely now, it seemed the top of the axe had a sharp spear like attachment to it, making me realize that what it used wasn’t an axe but a halberd.
Physique, weapon range, physical ability.
The Orc general had an upper hand in every field, and my chances of winning looked low but—–the Orc general stopped and lightly touched it belly with his right hand.
His right hand got stained with his red blood, showing that my slash had in fact reached it.
Just like the scratch on my forehead, it did barely any damage but the fact that I was able to wound it even slightly brought some surprise to the General, and I didn’t miss that change in expression.
The orc general stabbed the halberd into the ground and invoked some kind of skill making its entire body get covered with red aura.
Judging by the increase in its movement speed, it must be a physical ability enhancing skill as he began swinging the Halberd around almost twice as fast as before.
Its movements were rapid and its strength must have increased as well.
But—–even in front of such a powerful attack, I felt no fear.
Because if I had to compare, it was like when I faced Ralf during the start of our training, the dull moves of an amateur.
No matter how strong or fast its attacks may be, if I can read its movements there’s nothing to be afraid of.
I focused my brain on only reading every little movement its body made, and began dodging the Orc generals fierce rampage.
It was monotonous in both movement and pace, should have at least changed the tempo every now and then to make it harder for me but at this point, I had seen through every attack this Orc general made.
First came the down smash…..then came the upswing.
And, the moment I gets close enough—–it will without fail, switch to thrusting attacks.
I matched that timing to go straight in front of it, avoided the same old thrust attack, and instead countered with me own thrust attack.
My thrust pierced through its right shoulder and unlike the slash from before, this was a clean strike.
“UGUGUGGU! GURUAAAAAA!!”
Pain, and the frustration of not landing a single hit of its own.
As these emotions exploded, the Orc general roared loudly.
……..but a mere roar won’t change the flow of battle, if it did, everyone would be doing it no?
For a second I thought that it had finally changed its attack patterns but the main part was the same——-a horizontal slash after which came the down swing, while managing its right shoulder.
I matched that big swinging motion, and this time stabbed straight into its left flank instead.
This was another clean strike, as I could instantly see blood gushing out of the injured point.
Yet, the orc general didn’t fall back, and continued the halberd around recklessly.
Since it was a completely random barrage of attacks, there was no real patter to it for me to read but…….
It could only make 7 swings in a row before resetting.
I focused on purely avoiding the first 6 swings and on the seventh swing——I moved in thrust my sword into its right thigh.
“UGAHH! UGAAAAH! UGURAAAAH!!”
The orc general roared again refusing to learn, but unlike the previous roar that was aimed at me, this was more aimed at itself as if trying to motivate itself.
The red aura had already dissipated, and thanks to the three big wounds……I could tell it had begun to fear me.
The mocking smirk from before was nowhere to be seen and that was most certainly the face of one that knew it was about to be hunted.
One would relax in a situation like this, but make no mistake, the Orc General was still above me in terms of raw strength.
Remembering that, I decided I need to use this moment and put an end to this long battle.
Having finally realized that swinging madly was not going to help it land any hits on me, it held the halberd under its armpit and waited to see how I move next.
Probably thinking of attacking with the speartip?—–Or perhaps it had switched to reacting and countering my attacks instead.
……..Well I’m glad its my enemy but that is really the worst decision it could have made in this situation.
Since the axe portion would reduce the speed of its movement no matter what, using a halberd as purely a spear was basically a less than efficient way to fight to say the least.
The main part of an Halberd was the axe part, the speartip was an extra attachment to provide variety.
I took my stance, and slowly began closing in on it.
Since I don’t know when it might attack, I showed no gaps or openings.
And If I don’t attack, it can’t counter.
I continued walking towards it. One step, two, three——
Unable to control itself any longer, the Orc general panicked and launched a thrust attack but it’s aim was so clearly obvious that I it never had a chance to hit me………
Avoiding the thrust, I rushed straight in front of it and repeated the first slash that it had originally avoided with the back step.
Because of the thrust, the Orc general’s body was pitched forward, and could not switch into making a back step so suddenly so this time, I got a clean hit.
The moment I slashed it, blood spurted out and the Orc made an almost sad loud cry—-but I didn’t stop attacking.
Continuing my slashes, I but it from down to up again, and when its arms fell limp, I aimed for the heart and thrust my sword.
The steel sword went straight through to its heart.
My slashes before had already fatally wounded it but this final stab delivered the killing blow, and I pulled my sword out——-
And with that momentum, the Orc general fell to its back.