62. Chapter 62 – The one in command
“Huh!?”
At first glance, Walm instinctively understood. The ogre before him must be one of the monster commanders that brought down the northern wall. It had short vermilion horns that rose high into the sky. Its body was a size smaller than a normal ogre, but its mana and muscular strength seemed densely compressed as if trying to fit the smaller body.
The vintage armor worn by the ogre was marked by the scratches of battles, but there seemed to be no brand-new scratches or stains.
In such a situation, the demon mask was swaying like never before. Randomly shaking, Walm inwardly vomited a curse to the mask for its no-moderation behavior.
Clearly, the golden eyes were looking directly at Walm.
In the ogre’s right hand, like Walm’s, was a blood-soaked longsword, and its left hand was grasping the hair of human heads. In addition to the lacerations, part of the skull had been bitten off to fill its abdomen. Nevertheless, Walm was able to tell who the owners of the heads were.
“……Wake, Al.”
It was the Company Commander who Walm had ordered to sweep the monsters in the northern castle, and the head of the adventurer Al. Both heads were casually thrown at Walm’s feet and rolled on the cobblestones.
Although Al was a former enemy, Walm’s heart couldn’t help but tremble at the death of those who had stood on the battlefield on the same side as him. But he had steeled himself. To not be dragged away by such feelings, especially in the middle of a battle.
While Walm was dedicated to exterminating the ogres, the unusual ogre in front of him was also exterminating the adventurer and soldiers of Highserk.
And Walm knew the name of the commander of the armed ogres that looked intellectual.
“Ogre… Lord”
The apex and commander of the race, designated as S class monster. The herd led by the “Lord” species could even bring down a big city. It might emerge as one of the main problems of a large-scale outbreak.
Such a dangerous monster, the “Ogre Lord”, certainly laughed as it pointed the sword at Walm.
Words weren’t necessary. Its action told the intention very clearly. “Next is you”, that was what the Ogre Lord wanted to say to Walm. Right, it was provoking him.
Oddly enough, Walm and the Ogre Lord’s surroundings were wiped out.
Walm’s decision was quickly made when the soldiers and people to be protected were lost. In an instant, Walm kneaded his mana. Hot air blew and a blue flame approached the Ogre Lord. But it disappeared before the blue flame could touch and engulf it.
“Ugg,rrgghh!?”
The Ogre Lord had a speed as if it was using wind magic all the time. And with a posture that was lowered as if it were crawling on the ground, it decreased the distance to Walm’s side.
The demon fire was scattered in all directions, but the Ogre Lord pushed through without dodging the blue flame.
The Ogre Lord didn’t get burned. A mighty magical barrier blocked the blue flame.
The all-around attack of the demon fire was effective for the soldiers, but those who had a certain amount of mana could withstand it to some extent or even completely. Perhaps, the Ogre Lord possessed so much mana, or its man was dense enough to block the blue flame. And judging by the red-colored horn, there was even a danger that it possessed fire-resistant “skill”.
If Walm limited the range and concentrated mana to increase firepower, he might be able to land an effective hit, but the problem was the Ogre Lord’s mobility.
Walm intercepted the blade approaching from below with a sword. With denser mana, he launched 《Strike》 as if it were a matter of course. Even if the opponent dodged it, the sword would still leave a strong impact.
Don’t be on defense, don’t give any chance.
Walm told himself as he released his attack, but the sword didn’t reach the Ogre Lord because of the delicate yet powerful sword technique.
Attacks on his feet, his throat, his wrists, his fingers, and many more unfocused blows from the Ogre Lord came soon after, making it hard for him to do anything but parry them. Even his usually reliable demon fire was blocked by the nimble reaction speed and excellent magical barrier.
Walm rolled on the ground as he was pushed through the difference in strength.
To avoid the approaching sword, Walm immediately distanced with wind magic, but blood spilled from his arm in intense pain. He was injured even though he had accelerated with wind magic. Had he not used wind magic, he probably would have been mortally wounded. The Ogre Lord was superior to him in strength, mana, and sword skills.
Still, Walm didn’t give up, he couldn’t. The enemies of his subordinates, the wishes of the girl, and his pride as a soldier drove Walm into this struggle.
Walm attacked in a wave-like manner while adjusting the distance with the blue flame, and now the blue flame was dancing on one side without doing an effective hit.
The Ogre Lord evaded by reading a slight sign of the activation of 《Demon Fire》. Even for the inevitable blue flame, it was smashed and slashed by 《Strike》 with its dense mana.
Through the sea of blue flames, the Ogre Lord jumped out. Walm switched to a thrusting attack. He quickly thrust three times at its throat, hand, and feet, but everything slipped and misaligned.
The Ogre Lord had excellent reflexes, but what was remarkable were its eyes. Unlike Walm’s muddy eyes, the golden eyes reflected the battlefield well.
After parrying the Ogre Lord’s counterblows, which were delivered continuously to the left and right, Walm launched a 《Strike》, but it deflected his upper body and dodged the attack.
Walm stepped in, but soon realized his misstep. Although he was now in close contact, the thrust to his throat was getting stronger. Walm tilted his body, but a blade that reached his blind spot rubbed violently against the sides of his helmet.
A sharp kick followed Walm, who had lost his stance. Although the attacked point was covered by the armor and magical barrier, a shock ran through his skin, all the way to his guts.
The air was exhaled and the acid of the stomach was felt in the mouth. The pursuit didn’t stop, and the Ogre Lord, holding the sword around its torso, shook the sword horizontally.
Holding the sword with both hands, pain ran over Walm’s shoulder as he tried to direct the pressure of the sword diagonally upward
Despite being protected, part of his right arm was cut together with his armor, and blood oozed out. The bleeding was quickly suppressed by the magical barrier, but further consumption of mana would make Walm’s position even more inferior.
Think, Think, Think!!
Don’t stop thinking! Keep moving! If you stop your hand, it’ll be your death!
“Ahhh, aaAAAAHHHH!!!”
With a scream, his shins, flanks and arms were slashed and bruised. His ribs also squealed and screamed, but his mind and body didn’t stop moving. Walm rolled ungracefully on the ground, picking up debris scattered on the cobblestones with the tip of his sword and throwing it at the Ogre Lord.
The Ogre Lord didn’t even try to dodge, but it was favorable for Walm.
In the blink of an eye, Walm unfastened his cloak and created a divider between the Ogre Lord and himself as he spread 《Demon Fire》.
Blue flames spread from left and right like open arms trying to wrap around the Ogre Lord. The flame on one side was repelled by 《Strike》 and extinguished. The remaining blue flame was about to slip through, considering the mobility demonstrated so far.
What a dangerous monster…
Walm even praised the Ogre Lord’s abilities. Still, it was within expectations so far. A kind of trust as an adversary made him believe that the Ogre Lord would deviate from his tactics.
Walm pierced the cloak with his sword, and it pierced the Ogre Lord at the exact spot he was running away to. Only then did Walm’s sword catch the Ogre Lord, and the demon fire flowing on the sword melted the armor and burned the flank.
Really, the mithril longsword given by Commander Gerard fitted very well with Walm’s demon fire.
Walm smiled for the first time at the sound of roasting meat on an iron plate. The long-awaited noise sounded like a gospel for Walm.
“Do you hate it being rare!?”
Contrary to Walm, who smiled, the Ogre Lord screamed in pain, but soon changed to an angry expression and got rid of the sword. Compared to the injuries he had inflicted on it, its glare felt like a reward. Not only that, Walm’s sword skills, mana, and eyesight were sharpened and raised to an even higher level in this battle
While covering the difference in strength with demon fire, Walm didn’t take a step back. The dense and large amount of mana collided with each other, peeling the stone pavement off and turning them into rubble.
Without noticing, the monsters and soldiers were watching the battle from afar.
On one side, it was the highest strength that had supported Dandurg Castle, on the other side, it was one of the Lords behind the Great Outbreak.
It was clear that the winner’s side would have the upper hand in future battles.
After dozens, no, hundreds of sword fights, Walm was about to reach a peak of concentration he had never experienced before.
The mouth forgot to swallow the saliva, and only the information and actions necessary for vision remained. The slashing wounds, inflicted unilaterally, would no longer occur. When the Ogre Lord came to attack, it was flexibly parried by sword technique and magic, and if there was a small gap, Walm would attack.
The high-pitched sound of the sword rubbing echoed repeatedly on the battlefield. It was like a duo playing a tune, and the sword was the instrument. The legs moved here and there, the body turned here and there, from a distance it was like a breathtaking dance, despite the hostility. It was death waiting for the one who chose to drop out first.
Although Walm’s left hand and organs were injured, half of the Ogre Lord’s body was burning with demonic fire. Sure, it might be a small scale, but did its job. As demon fire was a skill that consumed a lot of mana, and if Walm used it in an endurance fight, he would be outmatched very fast, especially by a powerful opponent.
Walm cast wind magic as he leaped backward, using the Ogre Lord’s sword pressure to gain some distance.
Walm’s body, accelerating rapidly, cried out.
Following Walm, who reeled backward from the side, the Ogre Lord chased with agility that couldn’t be imagined coming out from the large body, and a longsword was aimed at the landing point. Barely pulling his sword to parry, Walm cast wind magic again, despite his ankles twisting and his muscles rupturing.
The blade of the Ogre Lord’s sword cut the armor, but at the same time, Walm crossed the Ogre Lord again and wrapped around completely behind it.
Walm, who had one of his legs crushed, was left with only one option. He burned the stone pavement with a demon fire and forcibly fixed his leg there. And with all his strength he struck his sword.
The sword that the Ogre Lord pulled back was pushed away, and the tip of Walm’s sword, getting into its strong neck, burned the flesh, cut the bones, and then separated the neck from the body.
Walm was convinced of his victory, but distorted his mouth immediately.
The Ogre Lord was beheaded for sure, but it smiled at the end.
The position of Walm, who was supposed to be the winner, was about to be reversed.
The cause was an unsightly struggle of the Ogre Lord, that managed to become a fatal blow to Walm. As if in slow motion, the fingers of the Ogre Lord, which had lost its neck, approached his face. Walm realized that neither the effort to shift his upper body nor his magic was in time.
“Damn demo――”
A sharp finger approached and filled the field of vision. In the moment of darkness, Walm cried out in pain that shook his brain directly.
“Uh, GAH!! A, ah, uh, guh, ah, gah, ARRRGHH!!!”
Excruciating pain ran from the spot where his eyes were located. It wasn’t clear to Walm whether it was a pain for which it was already too late or not, because the nerve-shredding feeling was still there.
It’s gonna break! My brain, it’s gonna break!!!
Walm didn’t even have time to flutter his limbs. His whole body just began to convulse against his will.
“A, argh… argh, a…”
Like a poorly made automaton, Walm kept leaking words. Breathing was disturbed and the body was bending back, but the pain didn’t stop. He heard some words, but his brain couldn’t process them like usual.
Walm was slowly invited into the endless darkness with severe pain. He tried to reach for something, but there was nothing. He didn’t even know if his hands had lost their mind or if he had lost it completely.
“a――rgh… urgh, uh…?”
After leaking a small groan for a while, and as his voice got quieter and quieter, Walm’s consciousness was completely cut off and in contrast to the unobstructed bright blue sky, his empty eye sockets were dark.
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Can this guy catch a break. Dang now he lost his remaining eye.
Thank you very much for the chapter
Damn he fought so hard he reached the ZONE! Though seems like the battle result is not in his favor…
rip the man
The healer can heal the eyes right?
epic fight