Chapter 117: First Round (1)
Crockta got up. His whole body ached from the collision. Calmahart’s insides were probably a mess right now due to Crockta crashing into him at full speed. Crockta looked down at the chieftain who was as still as death.
Once the thick cloud of dust settled around him, Crockta realized that everyone’s eyes were on him. All of the orcs and dark elves on the battlefield were shocked by Crockta’s sudden appearance.
Crockta went into battle mode and raised his greatsword before the orcs could realize what was happening and charged.
The orcs quickly came to their senses and tried to intervene, but Crockta’s greatsword didn’t hold back. The Ogre Slayer plunged at Calmahart’s head.
“Ahhh!”
“Chieftain!”
The cheers of dark elves and the screams of orcs jumbled together in a cacophonous outcry.
Crockta furrowed his brows and then chuckled. Calmahart was indeed a monster. He had blocked the attack by grabbing the greatsword with his bare hands. Crockta glared at him and mustered a smile. The chieftain’s eyes were a vivid crimson.
Calmahart smiled back at Crockta; he didn’t mind the blood running down his lips and sat up.
Crockta tried to retrieve his greatsword, but it refused to budge in Calmahart’s hands. He kicked Calmahart’s rock-hard body to no effect. The chieftain’s head slowly rose above him.
“We meet again...” said Calmahart. He was now standing straight with the blade of the Ogre Slayer still in his hands. “Crockta.”
‘He remembers my name.’
Then, the chieftain swung the Ogre Slayer as he laughed uproariously, “Hahahahahaha!”
“Ugh!” Crockta held onto the hilt of the Ogre Slayer and managed to remain standing even with the chieftain shaking the greatsword left and right.
The chieftain then spun around and tossed the greatsword aside along with Crockta. Crockta flew in the air and hit a wall. “Argh!”
He managed to get back up, but his head hurt. He was trying to recover from the shock when he saw a shadow in his peripheral vision. “...!” Crockta instinctively swung his greatsword and struck something heavy.
“Uhh...” someone moaned.
A Great Warrior in his vicinity had tried to stab him with his halberd. Crockta swung his greatsword and decapitated the Great Warrior. Blood flowed from the corpse and soaked his feet. He didn’t just have one enemy. All of the Great Warriors here were his enemy.
The Great Warriors began slowly approaching Crockta. Crockta clasped his greatsword and grinned. “Yes, this is how it should be.” Life had never been easy. He had always carried out the most difficult missions in the most dangerous places. It would have been too easy if he had managed to kill the chieftain with the collision earlier.
Surrounded by Great Warriors, Crockta searched for an opening. He had to tackle the weakest warrior and rip him apart to escape. It was the way of battle.
Right then, someone shouted, “Did you forget about us?”
A swarm of iridescent lights struck the ground. The Great Warriors retreated at the sudden onslaught of magic bullets pouring down from the sky. It was Tiyo and Boro, who circled above Crockta to make it easier for Tiyo to provide support. The Vulcan cannon revolved and fired indiscriminately at the orcs. The dark elves came to their senses with Tiyo’s intervention and resumed shooting arrows at the orcs.
“It’s been a while.”
Crockta heard a familiar voice. He never thought he would be so happy to hear that impertinent voice. Life was unpredictable as always.
“Did you grow weaker? I saw you pitifully tumble to the ground.”
It was Driden. He seemed to have recovered from the fight earlier and was standing upright with his dual swords. His face was swollen all over from getting beaten up by Calmahart, but he still had a fierceness to him.
Crockta grinned. “It was quite a sight to see you take a hit and fall flat on your face.”
“What, you were watching?” Driden smiled, which was rare for him.
“He’s a monster,” muttered Crockta and Driden in unison as Calmahart approached them.
“I will take care of the rest,” said Driden. Waves of energy flowed around his dual swords. They were in battle mode. Once they were charged with murderous intent, their trajectory turned into a storm.
“What about the chieftain?” asked Crockta.
“You take care of him,” replied Driden.
Crockta laughed out loud. He was glad to be acknowledged by a prideful swordsman like Driden, but he wasn’t fond of the idea of facing that monster by himself. Nonetheless, it couldn’t be helped. Crockta raised his greatsword and exchanged looks with Driden. Their eyes met for a split second, and then they nodded in agreement. They ran out at the same time.
Crockta looked at the chieftain in front of him. He leaped up and shouted, “Bul’taaaaaaaar!”
He swung his greatsword, and the chieftain also swung his axe. Their weapons clashed, and Crockta felt a tingling sensation in his hand from the shock.
Crockta targeted the chieftain’s lower body. The chieftain retreated and zeroed in on Crockta’s head. They missed each other, and their blades sliced through empty space instead.
Crockta increased his speed. His vision grew clearer as his heightened senses picked up the fluctuations in the air currents, and he reached the peak of Pinnacle Tier. Crockta swiftly aimed for the chieftain’s opening. The chieftain also entered the territory of the Pinnacle.
Their battle was no longer just a fight but a dance between a sword and an axe. The axe aimed for his throat, and the greatsword went for the chieftain’s stomach. But right before they were about to inflict fatal injuries on each other, they twisted their bodies away with their weapons halted mid-air.
Instead of withdrawing their weapons, they charged toward each other, and their fists and kicks clashed.
Crockta was pushed back. The chieftain smirked and raised his axe again. Crockta spat out blood and raised the Ogre Slayer stirring in his hand.
“Come work under me, Crockta,” said Calmahart. “You are strong enough to join the chiefdom. I will make you my second-in-command.”
The chiefdom didn’t have such a position. The chieftain was the sole leader of the chiefdom, but Calmahart thought so highly of Crockta that he was willing to create a new position. But they both knew that Crockta would refuse.
Instead of replying, Crockta swung his Ogre Slayer.
“Hahahahaha! Good answer!” shouted the chieftain.
The chieftain leaped forward and extended his hand to parry the blow with his axe. He had overwhelming confidence that he could block the attack with one hand.
Crockta squeezed his muscles to exert every ounce of strength. Right when Calmahart was about to grab his head, Crockta’s greatsword sent Calmahart’s axe flying. The axe dug into Calmahart’s side and became stuck. Calmahart’s eyes grew wide with surprise.
“How arrogant, Calmahart!” Crockta twisted the hilt of his greatsword, driving it deeper into Calmahart’s wound. Calmahart groaned in pain. Then with a swift kick, Crockta sent Calmahart tumbling backward. As Crockta swung his greatsword, Calmahart grabbed his axe and parried the attacks. Crockta was now on the offensive, and Calmahart was on the defensive.
The warriors of the chiefdom watched in disbelief as they witnessed their leader in such a vulnerable position. No warrior had ever driven the chieftain into a corner like this. The orc’s attack earlier had been a surprise attack, but he was now fighting on par with the chieftain even though he was in a disadvantageous situation surrounded by Great Warriors. The chieftain swung his axe, but Crockta dodged it and pierced his stomach again.
“Hahahaha...” Calmahart laughed, but he was inwardly surging with rage.
Crockta’s attacks carried much more weight than Driden’s dual swords. Each cut churned his insides.
‘I can’t go on like this. I’m Chieftain Calmahart, the one who unified the chiefdom. I always have to overpower my enemies and achieve victory.’
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Calmahart’s eyes turned bright red again, and his muscles swelled up as immense power surged through him. His wounds healed in an instant, and his hands rippled with unprecedented strength; he was powerful enough to immediately tear Crockta apart. Murderous intent and madness took over him.
He clasped his axe. The axe trembled as it struggled to endure the strength of his grip.
Calmahart approached Crockta with his blood-red eyes. “Try your little tricks with me again. Hahahaha.”
Crockta’s face grew serious. Calmahart had fallen into a state of complete madness. He saw something shining brightly on Calmahart’s forehead. Crockta now knew for sure that Calmahart was borrowing powers from a higher being like Zelkyan, the leader of the dark elves, who was an apostle of the World Tree. The higher being had turned Calmahart into an unstoppable monster.
“You must be embarrassed, Calmahart,” said Crockta.
“What do you mean?”
“You didn’t earn your strength.” Crockta straightened his back and rested his greatsword on his shoulder. Then, he looked at Calmahart with a cocky expression. “Without those powers, you would have been even weaker than your subordinates. Isn’t that the case?”
“Nonsense!” Calmahart exploded. “Cut your nonsense! Shut up! You trash!” He cried out as he swung his enormous double-headed axe.
Crockta stepped back, but the axe grazed the sleeve of his shirt.
When consumed by madness, Calmahart’s strength and speed surpassed his imagination. Even when Crockta focused and slowed down the pace of the world, Calmahart’s axe slashed through the territory of the Pinnacle and charged toward him. Crockta raised his greatsword and blocked the axe, but the force of the attack hurled him into the air.
“Trash from the continent!”
Calmahart didn’t miss his chance and ran toward Crockta’s soaring body. Crockta gritted his teeth; he knew that as soon as his body hit the gates, Calmahart’s double-headed axe would hack at him. He couldn’t suddenly change direction mid-air, but he was about to die in the chieftain’s hands if he didn’t do something.
Right then, he felt something move behind him. His senses had been heightened to the maximum, and he was able to sense things beyond his field of vision. The Vulcan’s bullet was descending toward Calmahart. Tiyo was supporting him!
Even so, they couldn’t stop Calmahart with just that. Calmahart was a monster, not a regular orc. Crockta quickly calculated a way to mitigate the crisis. To him, this brief moment felt like eternity.
‘Maybe...” Crockta gritted his teeth. He came up with an idea, but it was an intuitive one, not a rational one.
Crockta swung his greatsword and threw it at the chieftain. The Ogre Slayer turned in circles as it soared through the air.
Due to his lack of a foothold, he hadn’t been able to put much strength into the throw, but the sight of the greatsword smoothly advancing toward the chieftain appeared as if the chieftain was rushing toward a still sword.
Then, the Vulcan’s bullet struck the hilt of the Ogre Slayer.
“...!”
The Ogre Slayer bounced off the bullet and began to rotate fiercely thanks to the added force. It whirled like a windmill and charged at the chieftain.
Calmahart, who had been about to swing his axe, was unable to dodge the Ogre Slayer in his face and stared blankly. The blade of the Ogre Slayer scratched his face as it went past him. Calmahart dropped his axe and wrapped his hands around his face.
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
Crockta crashed into the gates and crumbled to the ground. His entire body was tingling from the shock.
“Ahhhhhhhh!” Calmahart’s mad cry echoed throughout the battlefield.
Crockta swiftly rose to his feet and forced himself to smile. His Ogre Slayer had fallen at Calmahart’s feet, but Calmahart’s frightening face was headed toward him. His blood-covered face looked like a demon. It was an emergency situation.
“You should lighten up a bit,” said Crockta quietly.
The scowl on Calmahart’s face deepened. He raised his double-headed axe and cast a shadow over Crockta’s head.
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