“It’s not possible.”
Whoosh!
The man didn’t do that.
“You’re too broken to be of any use.”
The man’s hand pierced Kinra’s chest.
It was the end.
Thud.
Kinra, like the other candidates who aimed at the man, fell limp.
“I roughly understand how it feels.”
The man, who had flung Kinra’s body like a rag, spoke in a quiet voice.
Gradually.
Oomph!
Dark pieces began to rise from the bodies of the deceased candidates.
Fragments of blessings.
As the man reached out his hand, they were sucked into the drain as if being sucked in, concealing their traces.
“I roughly understand why you still can’t use them.”
The harvest was quite plentiful.
*
*
From Noble mtl dot com
*
They were intimidated by the name Dark Orc, yet emboldened by the name Demorus.
Daughter of a noble, son of a blacksmith, offspring of a villager, they were intoxicated by the newfound power.
And this was the result.
“Ah…. Aaargh!”
The Dark Orc enclave rushed in without proper preparation.
Though their numbers were fewer compared to regular orcs, the name Dark Orc carried something surpassing it all.
They were candidates who initially thought they had the upper hand.
“We need to flee….”
As the battle continued, some time later.
“We have to run…! Help!”
True terror gripped their throats.
It was understandable, for there were even those who had never killed anything.
In a world saturated with blood and flesh, they were inexperienced novices who didn’t even know what it meant to kill and be killed.
“Save me…. Save me….”
Thus, only able to stiffen when faced with monsters that only thought of slaughter, chewing on the flesh of comrades.
Swoosh!
At that moment, Roberta struck down another Dark Orc.
Kwaaang!
Sis’s Hellflare shattered several Dark Orcs into pieces.
“Snap out of it!”
Sis’s voice echoed.
“If you stay put, you’ll die anyway!”
Sis, clad in bloody armor.
As if not satisfied with just Hellflare, she raised a long sword and deflected the Dark Orc’s glaive, shouting and shouting again.
“Do something!”
Strike and strike, kill and kill.
That was the only way to survive.
“Kill them, you idiots!”
Sis raged, shouting.
It was a situation where total annihilation was imminent if they continued like this.
A choice had to be made.
To face death with determination and resist to the end, or to flee.
Choosing the former would likely cost the lives of most candidates.
Considering the latter.
Distant.
It would be followed by a sense of bitter defeat and scorn.
Arrogantly behaving, they suffered immense losses from the first mission.
If that happens, the fellows who didn’t show up at this place would gain the upper hand.
“Sis.”
Roberta spoke again as she slew another Dark Orc.
“It’s time to make a decision.” “……”
Sis gnashed his teeth.
“Ha….”
In the end, he thought it was better to aim for the next opportunity than to lose everything.
“It’s a mess here too.”
His head naturally turned at the familiar voice.
And the one who did such things on the battlefield.
“Krooo!”
He didn’t realize he had to strike hard.
A glaive flying towards Sis’s face.
Sis hurriedly moved his sword to deflect it, but it was too late.
The Dark Orc, darker and stronger than expected, swiftly swung Sis’s sword.
Thud!
Their blades clashed, and Sis was knocked back, losing strength.
When the rusty blade came close to his nose.
“Well, it’s lucky there’s still much left.”
The voice heard earlier resonated near his nose again.
He should have heard the sound of his face being distorted.
Clang! The sound came not from himself, but from the opponent.
A hand glowing blue was smashing the Dark Orc’s skull.
“Sein… Demorus.”
“Why am I so glad to see you?”
The smiling madman’s face.
He revealed himself on the battlefield.
*
*
*
“Fall back.”
Although a soft voice, it was heard clearly.
“You, you, you. Stick together.”
It was a rash behavior to think of him as a commander, yet.
“You idiot. Put more strength into your index finger.”
The immediate change triggered by that rash remark was evident.
The candidates, who had just been lagging, finally began to move forward.
Just like at the beginning.
“Move. You idiots.”
A change began to occur under Sain’s command.
“We can do it.”
It was the common thought in the candidates’ minds.
“We can survive.”
Hope.
They were individuals who already had the ability to face Dark Orcs.
Regardless of their origins and growth, the power gained by awakening their blood was a blessing.
Thud!
It was truly a cheat-level ability.
They just got nervous and couldn’t demonstrate their true strength.
Swoosh!
They possessed enough skill.
Sain only needed to draw it out with a few words.
So, there was something else that gave the candidates the greatest hope.
“I wish they’d give us more experience points.”
Sain.
“Let’s go check out the Kuma Altar after a long time.”
The one standing at the front, wielding a sword.
With what seemed like a casual swing, several Dark Orcs were cut down at once.
It might not have been grand or excessive, but the power was so formidable that it could not be compared to a blessing.
Thud!
Standing at the front, facing the greatest danger.
Swoosh!
Sain was there, leading the charge.
“Die, you bastards!”
The candidates could advance, feeling a sensation close to madness.
They were not afraid even when Glave rushed in.
Bang! There was another candidate to block it.
“Raise your swords.” Moreover, Sain’s voice, piercing their ears at the right moment, was like the voice of an absolute god.
Bang! By following just that command, they could block the enemy’s attacks.
“Swing.”
The enemies fell, cut into pieces.
“….” And there was someone watching everything from the rear.
“Sis… ” Sis gazed at Sain with a complex expression.
“… Sain is different.”
It was already known that Sain, not even twenty yet, had taken control of Chichiron’s back alleys.
No matter how remote the village was, it would be nearly impossible.
And the behavior seen upon finally leaving Chichiron.
And.
“….” Guardian.
‘Witch.’
He definitely heard it, but it was hard to believe.
That the witch had moved and made a choice herself.
However, looking at the scene in front of him now, there was no choice but to accept it.
‘There was a reason for the choice.’
That’s a monster.
“It’s like that witch.” Or maybe even more than that.
The thick darkness, the gray light filling the sky, was becoming more intense.
The darkness didn’t retreat, but beyond it, the sun was rising.
It meant that the dawn was breaking.
And.
“Ah, refreshing.” It was over.
Dark Oak Black.
Over two hundred Dark Oak beings had emerged, and they were now being sorted by the candidates, no, by the Saints.
The many Dark Oaks were now writhing on the ground, turned into corpses.
A few of them could destroy a small village if they gathered, and if there were more than ten, they could turn a lower city into chaos, those were the Dark Oaks.
“Kroo….”
Now, what remained were a few wounded Dark Oaks resembling fallen soldiers.
“Kroooo!”
The largest and fiercest of them all, the Dark Oak Warrior Chief, still burning with fiery eyes, one.
They were wounded and exhausted, but such morale was not exclusive to Dark Oaks.
“Hoong…. Hoong….”
Candidates who seemed possessed, fighting through the night.
“Kkuuuh.”
They survived, resembling Dark Oaks in their resilience.
Yet, in the eyes of the candidates, flames were burning.
The sense of accomplishment from achieving victory.
It was a strange desire felt since the first slaughter.
Among them, only one stood in a particularly good state.
“Well, this is the end.”
Saint.
He smirked and ordered the candidates.
“Take care of the dying fish on your own.”
Saint was also intoxicated by the hunt.
Yet, amidst it all, there was a main dish he had spared.
“I’ll take care of that one.”
The massive figure, the Dark Oak Warrior Chief.
Alone, displaying a combat power reminiscent of dozens of Dark Orcs combined.
Kwung!
A fellow truly embodying the characteristics of a Darkling.
As the fellow once again drove the glaive into the ground.
Kukukukung!
The ground trembled, and cracks began to form on the surface.
It was the fellow’s ‘blessing’ that had, until now, repeatedly put candidates in difficult situations.
Rocks and gravel.
Countless shards of the ground began to expand as if swelling in an instant.
Kwaaang!
Explosions erupting among the candidates.
The candidates had to dodge it on their own.
“Kkuueuk!”
Once again, the candidates, already wounded, groaned.
But as mentioned.
“Once you use this, you can’t use it properly for five minutes, right?”
Sein spoke, completely blocking the Warlord’s blessing.
Chaeng!
The longsword he made had already lost all its teeth due to the shoddy materials used, and it had been rusted for quite some time.
So.
Sreung.
Sein slowly drew Bastion.
Hwaak!
The energy emanating from the Holy Sword made the candidates widen their eyes.
For some reason, they felt energy surging throughout their bodies, yet at the same time, they felt like their movements were slowing down.
The only one free from all of that was Sein.
Jebuk.
Sein began to walk slowly.
The long-awaited and revered moment.
“The last words to leave behind.”
It was time to put the Main Decree in his mouth.
“Kuoogessji?”
“Kuoogoo!”
The Dark Orc Warlord pulled out the glaive stuck in the ground and swung it towards Sein.
Although the glaive flying horizontally towards him emitted a powerful wind that seemed to lift Sein, when it clashed with the Bastion and Sein head-on.
Thunk!
Forcibly deflecting the glaive, Bastion and Sein stood firm like steadfast stakes.
The clash of intense power and the resilience of the stalwart.
The result was.
Jjeojjeojeok-!
The gold started to appear on the Glave of the Dark Orc Commander.
And finally, when the corner of Sein’s mouth lifted ever so slightly.
Crack!
The Glave of the Dark Orc Commander shattered miserably, turning into scattered fragments.
In the midst of it all, the Commander swung his fist.
However.
A faint sound of cutting.
A minuscule crack forming.
