Chapter 59: The Hero and the Warchief (Orclands Final Part)

  The battle raged on. Bloodlust from the Orcs could be felt on the battlefield, even if the observer is far away.

  But you cannot deny the tenacity of the Paladins, who are doing their all to hold on.

  Hero did not wait for the warchief to react, and he went straight to attack.

  !

  Wings made from holy energy appeared on his back. His dash turned into a tackle and sent the warchief flying away from the battlefield.

  They landed in the middle of a forest. Here, the two will not be disturbed.

  Warchief: "Don't tell me that's your best attack."

  Hero: "Not even close."

  The Warchief was not able to hold his ground because of the speed of that attack, but he did not receive much damage.

  !

  Hero focused a lot of his energy on the tip of his spear. He wants to end this with one strike.

  Warchief: "You said you wanted to have some fun, but now you plan to end it?"

  Hero: "Hmm.."

  Warchief: "But I don't think that will be enough."

  ! ! !

  The warchief buffed himself with defensive spells.

  Hero: "Once upon a time, this skill even killed a dragon. You won't be able to block this attack."

  Warchief: "Try me!"

  Hero: "Yahhhh!!!!"

  He made a quick step towards the warchief and activated the skill.

  The warchief activated one more spell.

  !

  A wooden totem appeared in front of the Warchief, and he used it to block the attack.

  Hero: "GGRRRRHHHAAAA!!!"

  It appeared that the totem had blocked it, but after a few seconds, it went through.

  So the attack still hit the chief directly.

  BOOOOOMMM!!!!

  A massive explosion of holy energies and dust from the ground covered the entire area. The hero could not see the warchief.

  Hero: "Maybe it vaporized him."

  Warchief: "Hah! It's a good attack."

  The warchief survived, but the damage was visible on his body. He was wearing enchanted plate armor, but the part where the skill connected was heavily damaged.

  Blood was coming out of the dent. It seems like the armor pierced his body, too.

  Hero: "If you died from that, then this would not be fun."

  .

  .

  .

  (Paladin Lords POV)

  Yob, Yobob, and Yobab were making steady progress in breaking the enemy lines so that they could break out of the orcish encirclement.

  However, the arrival of the warlords stopped them.

  They healed themselves while the hero and the chief fought.

  Warlord: "We won't let you ask for help from your brothers in the fortress."

  Yob: "Looks like we need to go through you; is that right, you big oaf?"

  Yob was always the one who taunted and pissed off his enemies.

  Kran Warlord: "You stupid worm. I'll take him."

  The Warlord of Kran will fight Yob. The Warlord of Krodog will fight Yobab, and the Warlord of Berk will fight Yobob.

  Yob was never fond of fighting huge and fierce enemies, but this does not mean he can't beat them.

  His sword was made to kill a lot of squishy and weak targets.

  The Kran Warlord made his first move by swinging his battleaxe towards the legs of Yob.

  Yob: "You just made your final mistake."

  Yob was able to avoid that and jump on the battleaxe's blade. He was about to cut off the warlord's head with his sword, but he was sent flying away with a kick.

  Yob: "Ugghkk!!"

  That may look like a regular kick, but coming from someone of the Clan Kran, it causes devastating damage.

  He was spitting blood, and he might have a few broken ribs. If not for his armor, his body would have been crushed.

  Kran Warlord: "Ridiculous, isn't it? I killed a giant sea monster with that kick."

  Yob took some health potions and was able to regain some of his strength.

  Kran Warlord: "I know nimble fighters like you would take advantage of the huge swing of my battleaxe. That's why it always works."

  Yob: "You think that's going to work twice?"

  Kran Warlord: "No, but it's enough."

  Now it's the Yob going in for the attack. He's making a downward swing with his scythe.

  The warlord made a move to catch the attack, but it was not there.

  !

  The scythe appeared from behind.

  Kran Warlord: "Guuhhh!!!"

  A spray of blood came out of the back of the warlord.

  Kran Warlord: "You think this will kill me?"

  The warlord was not fazed, even after being mortally wounded.

  Kran Warlord: "Take this!"

  A simple, straight punch went directly to Yob's face. The force was enough to cave in his face, but once again, it was not there.

  !

  A well-timed blink and a finishing move settled the fight.

  .

  Yob: "If I can't kill you physically, let me just take your soul."

  Kran Warlord: "HAhhhhhhh!!!!"

  Yob: "..."

  .

  .

  .

  It's the fight between the Krodog Warlord and Yobab.

  Yobab has always been seen as the most reserved Paladin lord. He rarely fights, but he has a beautiful form.

  Yobab: "Not a lot of monsters see me fight. And no one lives to tell the tale."

  Krodog Warlord: "No more talk. Time to die!"

  !

  The Clan Krodog has always been focused on magic. They've bred legendary mages in their golden age. Orc mages that fought dragons and decimated heroes.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Yobab: "All in? Got it."

  

  Numerous chains that protruded from the ground ensnared the Mage Warlord as flames engulfed the Paladin.

  Krodog Warlord: "You're done for."

  Yobab: "This flame of yours cannot beat me."

  Krodog Warlord: "What!?"

  Yobab walked slowly towards the Mage Warlord, who couldn't move an inch.

  Krodog Warlord: "But how!?"

  Yobab: "Pure elemental resistance is my forte. You've met your worst match."

  Krodog Warlord: "This can't be!"

  ! ! !

  Yobab: "Get ready to die."

  Yobab hit the Mage Warlord so many times with his flail that he forgot that he was already dead.

  Yobab: "So much for your legendary mage history."

  .

  .

  .

  The Warlord of the Berk Clan and Yobob were the last to face off.

  The Berk Warlord loves his double battle axe combo. Usually, you cannot wield battleaxes with one hand, but this monster is just too strong.

  Yobob: "I like your muscles. You must work out very often."

  Berk Warlord: "For a human, you're not bad too."

  Yobob visibly had more muscle than the other Paladin Lords except for Ganz.

  Berk Warlord: "Let's do this the old way."

  Yobob: "Smash for smash?"

  Berk Warlord: "You know the Orc tradition."

  Yobob: "Let's get started!"

  Yobob swung his huge Ancient Hammer with ease, and it hit the Warlord in the face.

  Berk Warlord: "Not that good, but this is enough to get me going!"

  !

  The warlord struck the Paladin with inhuman speed. Yobob had a hard time deflecting the blows, so he had to take some of them directly to his face and body.

  Yobob: "You can't hurt my muscles like that!"

  Damage from these attacks usually cuts off the heads of regular orcs, which are stronger than normal men. However, in Yobob's case, he was only receiving small wounds.

  Berk Warlord: "Not enough? How about this!?"

  ! ! ! !

  The Warlord is abandoning all of his defense by casting Berserk multiple times, but he has unmeasurable attack power.

  Berk Warlord: "Until one of us falls, we keep hitting!"

  Yobob: "You got it!"

  ! !

  Yobob also activated his best buffs.

  They hit each other with blows powerful enough to make shockwaves and send anything close to them flying.

  Berk Warlord: "RARHHHHH!!!!!"

  Yobob: "DIEEEE!!!!!"

  Fifteen minutes have passed, and there's already a clear winner.

  The Berk Warlord lies down dead, with its body totally destroyed.

  Yobob: "The power of this ancient hammer is incomparable to mere brute force."

  It might be the strongest weapon in the Circle of Light.

  Yobob: "Might be..."

  .

  .

  .

  The final duel for the Orclands has begun.

  ! !

  A combination of blows was sent to the warchief, but he stood his ground. He was blocking the attacks with his bare hands.

  Warchief: "Grrr..."

  He uprooted a nearby tree and threw it at Hero.

  Hero: "What are you plotting?"

  Undoubtedly, the warchief knew that the tree would not hurt Hero.

  He destroyed the huge tree easily, but the warchief was behind it already.

  Warchief: "Got you now."

  !

  Hero blocked the attack, but he was the one sent flying this time. He quickly regained composure because of his wings.

  However-

  Warchief: "I won't let you run."

  A combination of quick punches sent Hero to the ground, and the Warchief kept pummeling him.

  Hero: "You know this won't do any damage, or are you that foolish?"

  !

  The hero released a substantial amount of energy and pushed the warchief away.

  !

  A huge beam came down from the sky. It burned with holy flames.

  Warchief: "Damn it..."

  He was taking damage this time; even his can't protect him entirely from this much damage.

  The warchief was forced to back away even more.

  Hero: "What? Are you giving up already?"

  Warchief: "You're cocky, but I get it. You're young, and you think you can beat anyone in the world."

  Hero: "Prove me wrong, then."

  Warchief: "You know why I didn't use weapons up until now?"

  A smile appears on the warchief's face.

  Hero: "Why?"

  Warchief: "Because fights get over quickly and it was boring me. But I guess I can make an exception for you."

  He took out some sturdy-looking knuckles from his pouch.

  Hero: "How much do you think is going to change if you put on those?"

  .

  When a being is fast enough, he can imitate the spell by using Quickstep. However, you cannot use it to pass through objects.

  The warchief closed in the distance quickly.

  Warchief: "See for yourself."

  !

  The hero intended to take the blow and not fly this time. He planted his feet on the ground and stood firm.

  However,

  BOOM!

  Hero: "Guuuuhah!"

  The blow sent him a few feet underground and caused a massive shockwave. It destroyed the trees that surrounded them.

  Hero flew out of the hole that he was buried in and noticed something disturbing.

  Hero: "He shaved some of my Spear Saint armor."

  Warchief: "I guess your defense was not that great, after all?"

  Hero: "It's time to end this false hope that you have."

  Warchief: "Do you still think I'm inferior?"

  Hero: "I know you are."

  !

  Warchief: "Hmm."

  The warchief remained calm and composed. Never giving in to Hero's provocations.

  !

  The hero was now matching the speed of the warchief and exchanging blows. But this is not like the messy slugfest that Yobob and the Berk Warlord had.

  They're blocking and dodging while sending out attacks at the same time. An average person cannot observe this.

  Shockwaves were sent in various directions. It cleared anything; it hit instantly.

  !

  The hero made a spear from holy energies and threw it at the warchief.

  Hero: "Yahh!!"

  The warchief punched the holy spear and disintegrated.

  Hero: "Enchanted knuckles, right?"

  Warchief: "Good guess, but no."

  They continued this exchange for some time until Hero was able to deal with a severe wound.

  A trap that Hero had earlier set caught the Warchief just as he was backing away from an exchange.

  !

  A cage made from holy energies trapped the warchief, and Hero did not let him get out of it.

  Hero: "It's over."

  ! !

  The warchief tried to break the prison with his fist, but he was not able to do so in time.

  He took the skills directly with his body.

  Warchief: "ARRGHHHHH!!!"

  Multiple vital points are hit. Life was quickly leaving his body.

  Warchief: "You think... I'll let it end here!?"

  The Orcs were always considered stronger than humans. This was true for a lot of generations.

  However, as time passed, humans trained and learned techniques that allowed them to beat the orcs. Additionally, humans studied the magic that orcs were unable to acquire.

  But the bodies that these orcs had were not in their original form. Ancient Orcs had risen up and fought the gods in the past.

  They were not much different than humans in appearance; however, their strength cannot be compared. The Ancient Orcs were the primary race back then.

  No other race could fight them head-on.

  This did not last, though. The Gods were eventually tired of the Ancient Orcs trying to attack them and insult them, so they cast a terrible curse on the entire race of Ancient Orcs.

  They would become beast-like humanoid creatures, and their power would be limited. They can only use a fraction of their power from that moment onward.

  The line of warchiefs and clans of orcs did not give up. They searched for a way to reclaim their lost power.

  The search was a failure, and only a few of the orcs kept at it. And the warchief was one of them.

  And just recently, he found the answer.

  Awaken .

  The warchief quickly changed form, and his wounds healed instantaneously. His shape was that of a human now.

  Warchief: "This is what a true orc looks like."

  Hero: "You're an abomination."

  You could feel the warchief's power just by looking at him. He is emanating this terrible aura of power.

  Warchief: "I had to kill a lot of orcs to reach my goal. And I finally found it."

  !

  He created a shockwave by hitting the air in front of him. It was so fast that the hero could not block or dodge.

  Hero: "AGGHHHHH!!!"

  His entire cloak of holy energy from wore off, and he took a lot of damage.

  Hero: "Gah...gah....hah..."

  He is coughing blood now and is almost out of energy. Good thing he has a lot of high-level potions.

  .

  He drank the purple-colored potion, and his health was instantly filled. He also felt his mana return very quickly.

  Warchief: "You could drink all the potions that you have, and the end would still be the same."

  Hero: "Yes, it will end with your defeat."

  Humans were always inferior in more ways than one. They had to come up with ways to catch up with the other races. The mastery of alchemy was one of them.

  ,

  ,

  ,

  ,

  ,

  ,

  ,

  ,

  , etc.

  He drank a lot of stat-enhancing potions and activated his form again.

  Ordinary people are very aware of these potions' effects, but heroes can briefly enter the realm of the gods if they use them.

  Warchief: "You done now?"

  Hero: "Let's go."

  !

  !

  This time, Hero was faster. He was already in position, while the warchief was still on his way.

  By the time the warchief gets in position, Hero has already released his skills.

  ! !

  These empowered attacks were blocked, but the Ancient Orc Warchief was taking damage.

  Warchief: "How could you even damage an ancient being like me? One who can fight the gods!?"

  Hero: "There is something in humans that you orcs will never have."

  Warchief: "Damn you. What am I? Are we lacking!?"

  Hero: "Determination to succeed and tenacity like no other."

  They exchanged blows at godlike speeds, which cleared a large area of the forest.

  One could call it a natural disaster if viewed from afar.

  Still, it was not to last. Hero wanted to finish it as soon as possible.

  

  The Sun Spear glowed with a light so bright that one would think it was a second sun.

  It blinded the warchief, and he couldn't see a thing.

  Warchief: "Damn!!! You will not take me down!"

  ! ! ! !

  He used everything to enhance his defense, however.

  Hero: "I never liked it whenever I used this spell. It's a holy spell, but it leaves no one alive. It almost seems to say that nothing can withstand the might of the Holy Elements."

  He threw the Sun Spear at the blinded warchief.

  Hero: "Goodbye."

  BOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!! VOGUSHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  For a moment, it felt like the space where the Sun Spear had it was broken. Like it was warped.

  After that, it was just utter destruction.

  No life was left. Everything behind the warchief was decimated.

  Hero: "Hah...hah..."

  The hero was exhausted, but the battle was already over.

  Ganz: "What!? You already beat the strongest!?"

  Ganz was now at the scene.

  Hero: "What... are you doing here, Ganz? I thought you were resting your bored ass."

  Ganz: "I was, but I kept feeling these intense shockwaves coming from your direction, you know. I was finally going to be in an exciting battle! But once again, you hogged it all."

  Hero: "You idiot."

  Ganz: "The rest of the army also came; you were taking your sweet time securing this clan base, so we thought you had come across some trouble."

  Hero: "That we did..."

  The remaining Orcs were no match for the reinforced Paladins. Their reinforcements came from behind the Orcish battlelines, so they were the ones who were surrounded now.

  Ganz: "I know you did this to remove the Orc threat once and for all. But was this all you needed from this land? I could have easily done this for you."

  Hero: "You know I'm searching for something. It has got to be here, or at least some clues."

  Ganz: "The Orcs got swept away in the process, huh?"

  Hero: "They were planning to attack Haven anyway. We can't face an enemy from two fronts."

  (The continent where Idmon and the others are right now is called Haven.)

  Ganz: "You think those undead weaklings would pose a threat? They're just some weaklings that should be wiped out when we get back."

  Hero: "I don't know, Ganz. I've always felt something dark and powerful in the southern regions."

  Ganz: "It's just some concentration of negative energies. Those mindless fools wouldn't know how to use it."

  Hero: "Yeah, you're right. Let's get back to base."

  The Paladins won this war, but they lost around 3000 men; however, all of the Orcs in the Orclands were wiped out.

  The place is now called New Haven. Another extension to humans' growing empire.

  Colonists arrived on the island a week after their victory.

  .

  .

  .

  Hero spent weeks searching, but he was not able to find what he was looking for.

  Hero: "It's not here... Where could it be? The artifact that would let me, a human, be at the peak of all races."

  ??? "You would not find me here, human."

  Hero: "Huh!?"

  The hero was completely surprised because he did not feel his presence.

  A mysterious, cloaked figure was in front of him. This happened inside Hero's tent, so there are no other people present.

  Hero: "Who are you? What do you want with me?" Hero said while he pointed his spear towards the mysterious figure. "

  ??? "My identity is not important. You seeker of power will not find what you seek."

  Hero: "You madman. Take this!"

  His spear went through the figure, but he felt nothing.

  Hero: "Are you an illusion!?"

  ??? "Your little toys won't hurt me. I just came to give you a hint on what you're searching for."

  Hero: "What is it?"

  ??? "You will not find it by searching! Hahahahahaha! Only death and destruction await you here."

  He disappeared into a small black hole, where he appeared to be sucked in.

  Hero: "Damn, could that prophecy be a fake one? Or some spirit is playing tricks on me?"

  The hero was confused and kept thinking about it all night. When he finally had some sleep, he had a terrible dream.

  It was about his dead brother.