Thwack—!
“……!”
Go Hyeon-woo cast [Clear Stream] just in time to block the attack, but even so, he couldn’t fully disperse the impact and took two steps back.
It didn’t end there—
The orc warrior closed in and began ruthlessly slamming down his axe.
Clang, clang, clang—!
Driven into a defensive position, Go Hyeon-woo kept retreating step by step.
Watching this, Hong Yeon-hwa glanced sideways at me as if to ask, “Shouldn’t we help?”
Seo Ye-in also slowly raised the barrel of her gun, which she had been pointing downward.
But I lightly waved my hand to stop them.
“Let’s keep watching.”
It wasn’t a truly dangerous situation yet, so rather than stepping in right away, it was better to let him gain real combat experience.
Looks like he’s starting to get a feel for it, too.
Clang!
Where he used to be pushed back two or three steps with each block, it soon reduced to just one step, then half a step.
Before long, Go Hyeon-woo held his ground and struck upward with his sword—
Clang—!
For the first time, he knocked the orc warrior back.
Right after, a blade-sharp gust of wind swept toward the enemy.
“Chwik.”
The warrior, driven by animal instinct, twisted his body between the winds.
Some slashes grazed his body lightly, but he ignored the pain and focused only on closing the distance again.
Clang! Clang!
Go Hyeon-woo repelled him again, and again the orc charged right back in.
After a few more cycles of this, Go Hyeon-woo’s figure suddenly blurred—
And then burst forward at astonishing speed.
[Ghost Dance]
[Rapid Current]
Slash—!
A long slicing sound rang out.
Their positions had already switched.
“Chwik.”
The orc warrior let out a nasal breath as he slowly turned his body to face Go Hyeon-woo directly.
“Human warrior… I am glad we fought……”
And with that, he collapsed sideways.
Soon, two small boxes appeared, and Go Hyeon-woo handed them to me while saying,
“It seems I’m starting to hit my limits. I had hoped to save Ghost Dance, but it felt like the fight would drag on without it.”
“You took down something meant for four people all by yourself. That’s more than enough. And you didn’t even get hurt.”
“Haha, you’re too kind.”
That said, just like he mentioned, insisting on one-on-one fights was clearly reaching its limit.
For the boss fight, it would be better if we all fought together.
With that, we resumed our journey and managed to take down one more warrior.
This one also dropped two random boxes, bringing the total to four.
I put three of them into the Glutton Box for now.
[Glutton Box]
▷ Glutton Points: 7,800 → 9,300
Hong Yeon-hwa asked cautiously,
“What about the other one…?”
“You’re asking why I didn’t use it?”
“Mhmm.”
“Because the ones that drop from the boss are a bit higher in rank. C+.”
They give slightly more Glutton Points too, so by feeding that one, we can hit exactly 10,000 without waste.
An exclamation mark seemed to pop up over Hong Yeon-hwa’s head.
“Ah…!”
“Let’s open the leftover one once we’re out.”
We kept walking, chatting lightly as we went.
How much time had passed like that?
Flash—!
A thick pillar of light shot up in the distance.
“……”
“……”
Even without anyone saying a word, everyone instinctively understood—
That aside from one last warrior, every orc in the area had been defeated.
Seo Ye-in gave a brief remark.
“Champion.”
“We’re getting close to the end. Let’s go.”
We changed direction and started walking again.
The pillar of light hadn’t moved an inch from where it had first appeared as if it were waiting for us to arrive.
As time passed, the thick and vivid light gradually became thinner and fainter, and by the time we arrived, it had nearly faded away.
There, an orc was walking around gathering hand axes.
Judging by the number strapped to its waist, it seemed to favor a slightly different weapon style from the others.
Its body was covered in wounds, likely from a fierce battle, but there were no signs of weakness.
On the contrary, it radiated an overwhelming presence, now clearly stronger than before.
Soon, sensing our approach, the orc turned around.
“Chwik. I’ve been wanting to meet you, human.”
“So the rumors reached even you?”
“Yes. None of my kin don’t know.”
“Well, they’ve been showing up from everywhere. But why didn’t you come?”
“Chwik. Strong human. We would meet eventually.”
If we were strong enough, we’d run into each other sooner or later—
So there was no need for him to seek us out.
I nodded in agreement.
“Fair point. Anyway, shall we get started?”
At those words, the rest of the party began to get ready for battle.
But then, the orc champion fixed his gaze on me and said,
“Chwik. Strong human. I want to challenge you.”
“You want a one-on-one?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Chwik. I’ve seen it for myself. I can’t win.”
Contrary to what you’d expect from a boss monster, he was showing an oddly humble demeanor.
Looks like another hidden piece related to [Monarch] had activated.
Since he had a certain level of intelligence and had even advanced to the rank of champion, it was probably an instinctive response.
I asked again,
“You want to challenge me, even though you know you can’t win?”
“Chwik. I will die like a warrior.”
It seemed he had already accepted the fact that there was no escaping death.
Go Hyeon-woo’s eyes lit up.
It was the same look he had when seeing warriors like Jo Byeok or Lee Seong-hyeon—
The gaze he reserved for those he deemed true warriors.
On the other hand, I remained indifferent.
“Not sure why I should bother. I’ve got no reason to accept.”
Beating him down together would be faster and easier—
Why go out of my way for a fair duel?
The orc champion thumped his chest with his fists.
“I gain it. A warrior’s honor!”
“Beating up someone weaker than me isn’t exactly honorable. I don’t need it.”
“Chwik?”
I held out my hand to the flustered guy.
“If you really want to challenge me, show some sincerity.”
“Sincerity? What’s that?”
“If you’ve got anything worthwhile, bring it out. I’ll decide after I see it.”
“……”
In the awkward silence, the orc champion fumbled around his body.
His clothes were half in tatters, so there wasn’t much to search through.
Other than the hand axes hanging at his waist, all he had were some worthless bone bracelets and a few carved wooden trinkets.
My expression gradually turned cold.
“At this rate, I can’t accept your challenge. Die as an orc, not a warrior.”
“Chwik, wait!”
As if something came to mind, the orc champion spoke urgently.
Then, flipping over one of his axes, he pulled out an orange gem embedded at the end.
“How about this?”
[Rough Carnelian (C+)]
The gem had been crudely embedded in the weapon, so it was covered in scratches and dents from wear and tear.
Still, it was fairly large, and with a bit of refinement, it could probably be upgraded to B-rank.
It could be used as a trade material or for statue crafting. It didn’t matter.
I took the carnelian and nodded.
“This will do. Get ready.”
“Chwik!”
The orc champion, visibly pleased, took his position across from me.
In the meantime, I casually said to Seo Ye-in,
“Pot.”
“Mhmm.”
Go Hyeon-woo and Hong Yeon-hwa exchanged a subtle glance.
“Even against that champion, you’re still looking to take your cut. Very much like you, Kim-hyung.”
“Not even using your staff, just… a pot.”
“But you know too, don’t you, Miss Hong? That pot isn’t ordinary.”
“Mhmm, that’s true. He’ll be fine.”
“Let’s step back so we don’t get in the way.”
The party members retreated to a safe distance.
Facing the orc champion, I spoke in a haughty tone.
“Come at me with everything you’ve got.”
“Here I come, strong human!”
The two axes clashed with a clang! clang!, ringing out in sharp, clear tones.
The moment his body dipped slightly, he suddenly shot forward at a terrifying speed, swinging his twin axes alternately.
Shwik-shwik-shwik-shwik!
Blue slashes cut erratically through the air.
I moved between the gaps using Feather Step, but the longer the assault continued, the fewer places I had left to dodge.
Perhaps thinking he had me cornered, the orc champion let out a roar and slashed his twin axes in an X shape.
“Krwoooaar—!”
In response, I thrust the pot into the crossing point of the axes.
Clang.
The axes, swung with ferocious force, were blocked effortlessly.
The absurdly high defense of the Immortal Pot came into full play.
Seo Ye-in who was watching from the sidelines looked deeply satisfied.
“Kim-ho, unbreakable.”
The champion on the other hand looked visibly shaken.
Against most opponents, that last strike would have ended it. But he hadn’t even managed to scratch the pot.
Even so, he reignited his fighting spirit and resumed his assault.
Just like before, he swung his twin axes in quick succession then suddenly hurled one of them.
Whoosh!
In the now-empty hand, a new hand axe had already appeared.
He had drawn it from his waist the moment he threw the other.
So that’s how it is.
Continuous attacks using twin axes, with thrown axes woven in between—
It seemed his style relied on overwhelming opponents with three axes in total.
Most average warriors would’ve had their heads split open just trying to block all that.
Good enough for slaughtering weaklings.
But that kind of tactic doesn’t work past a certain level.
And of course, I’d long since surpassed that level.
Whoosh!
Another hand axe came whirling through the air, spinning violently.
Instead of dodging, I raised the pot to meet it.
[Harmonized Flow]
The moment the pot caught the flying axe and absorbed the force, I swung the pot with the axe stuck to it right back toward him.
Whirrrr!
“Ch-Chwik?! What the—?!”
The orc champion’s eyes widened in shock at the absurd sight.
Panicked, he cut off his twin axe assault and threw himself to the side.
Thanks to that, he avoided the disaster of getting his chest pierced by his own weapon, but he left a wide opening.
“This is the end.”
My frozen index finger pointed at the orc, and a chilling stream of energy shot forth.
[Mysterious Yin Jade Demon Finger]
[Chain Explosion]
Boom!
The orc champion’s entire body was covered in ice.
Even the A-rank Shadow Lord couldn’t withstand it. There was no way a C-rank boss could.
And there was no way he had any means to dispel the debuff.
So he ended up frozen solid in an awkward stance.
Crack-crack,
I gestured for the party to come over.
“It’s over, guys.”
“That was an excellent application of Harmonized Flow. I’ve gained deep insight once again today.”
“Grandma Sword Queen taught me a lot.”
Thanks to her, I’ve been putting it to very good use.
I sent my deepest gratitude to the Sword Queen, wherever she might be.
After waiting a bit longer, a few more cracking sounds rang out, and then thunk….two random boxes dropped from the completed ice statue.
[Land of the Warriors Random Box (C+)] ×2
“As expected, it gave a bonus.”
Fitting for a boss monster-level champion, the rewards were at least a bit better than from a regular warrior.
There was a 25% chance of getting one more, but unfortunately, luck didn’t seem to be on my side this time.
“All right, let’s feed it.”
With the party watching, I opened the Glutton Box and placed one of the C+ random boxes inside.
After closing the lid, there was a squirming movement inside, and then the number on the scoreboard increased by one.
[Glutton Box]
▷Glutton Points: 9,300 → 10,000
Immediately afterward, a notification message appeared in one corner of my vision.
[Event Quest: Drop Rate 1.5x] (Complete)
▷You have reached the maximum Glutton Points.
▷Reward: Sylphid (F)
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