Chapter 59

"Bang, bang, bang."

The sound of weapons slicing through flesh was completely drowned out; all Kosa could hear was the dull thud of bodies being knocked away by the warhorses. Screams of agony echoed one after another. Kosa took a step forward, intending to help, but found himself utterly useless—such a swift attack left the orcs, who lacked worgs, with no means of defense. In their field of vision, the knights appeared and disappeared in less than three seconds!

The darkness, which was the greatest obstacle for the orcs to counterattack, became the best cover for the human raid.

"Quick, find the worgs! Hurry!"

Kosa tried to calm himself and shouted orders. Not far away, several orcs were cut down by the cavalry, and three more were thrown back with their chests caved in, spitting blood, and completely out of the fight. The orcs who were still emerging from their tents heard his command and immediately ran toward where the worgs should have been. But after only a few steps, they discovered another group of seven humans in the darkness!

In a neat line, the cavalry maximized their impact and killing power. As they charged past, the orcs had no time to even defend themselves, let alone counterattack. Horses swept by, and four or five more orcs were cut down.

"How can this be... How can this be..."

Kosa's hand, gripping his curved sword, was trembling. He had never imagined that a proud group of thirty-three worg riders would suffer such a blow. Although the enemy seemed to consist of only two squads of seven, he knew that in the night, with their vision limited, the mounted humans were a nightmare for the orcs!

"Tell me where the worgs are! Damn it, who's in charge of the worgs?"

As he cursed, the orcs around him ran about in panic. They wanted to find the worgs but, due to their poor night vision, couldn't see the animals sleeping just a hundred meters away. Eventually, one of the orcs remembered how to call the worgs, mimicking their howls. Only after receiving a response did they confirm the worgs' location.

But by then, they realized the worgs were much farther away than expected.

The fire from the burning tents gradually illuminated the surroundings. Kosa saw that the area around him was a sea of flames. He roared in anger, but for a moment, he didn't know what orders to give—should he have his subordinates gather, or should they rush to the worgs to mount a counterattack?

After a few seconds of thought, he finally pointed to the distance and shouted, "Run! Run to the worgs! Don't stay here!"

He then called two of his subordinates to guard him as they prepared to charge toward the worgs. But before they had taken a few steps, a splash of blood unexpectedly hit his face.

The warmth and the distinctive salty, metallic smell of blood filled his nostrils. Kosa, who was running, felt his back hairs stand on end in an instant. The sense of extreme danger made him raise his curved sword to defend himself—

"Clang!"

The sound of metal clashing made his ears ring. The force of the blow nearly knocked him off his feet. Despite his bulky build, Kosa was agile. He rolled on the ground and, upon rising, held his curved sword in front of him, squinting at the attacker who had appeared out of nowhere.

In the split second it took to raise his head, Kosa first saw the body of one of his subordinates falling to the ground—his neck was completely severed, and blood was gushing out, creating a bizarre scene.

Next to the corpse stood the attacker, a short and slight figure.

To the orcs, this human in black leather armor was truly "small" and "slender," shorter than Kosa by a head, with shoulders half as wide and a waist thinner than Kosa's thigh. His appearance offered no visual impact to the orcs, and Kosa felt he could crush him with a single step.

"Kill him!"

As Kosa shouted, another subordinate had already swung his sword at the slender attacker. Kosa aimed his strike, using all his strength to deliver a horizontal slash, blocking all possible defensive angles!

In his mind, humans could never withstand the full force of an orc's attack. If the human resisted, he would be cut in half along with his sword!

Wait... sword?

In the dim light, Kosa noticed that the human was not using a longsword, as humans typically did, but two gleaming curved swords!

A sense of danger rose in his mind, but Kosa's attack was already in motion, leaving no room for hesitation.

Across from Kosa, Rody made a decision that the orcs could not have anticipated—he raised his two curved swords, one in front and one behind, in a defensive stance.

This posture left Kosa momentarily stunned. Not only himself, but even his subordinate was incredibly strong. A single strike like this would, by "common sense," at least break a human's arm...

But the next moment shattered this "common sense."

"Clack, clack!"

Two sharp sounds echoed as the force of the curved swords meeting was entirely pressed onto Rody's body. His hands' tiger mouths instantly split, but with his enhanced attributes, Rody managed to withstand the attack that would have crushed any other scout!

The "Hunter's Set" gave Rody twice the strength of Kosa, and although his body looked far less robust than an orc's, in terms of power, he was indeed the strongest being on the battlefield at that moment!

"Ha!"

With a roar, Rody lifted his hands, forcefully pushing the two orcs back. In the moment of their stunned rigidity, Rody, with his swift steps, lunged forward, swinging his two swords in rapid succession, delivering four strikes to the closer orc!

Kosa, who was forced back by the force of Rody's push, watched in shock as the scene unfolded before him—Rody's two curved swords, wielded with his arms, were striking his subordinate's weapon one after another!

He watched in horror as his subordinate's curved sword was knocked out of his hand, followed by a gaping wound in his chest and a half-severed neck. The brutality of the attack made Kosa tremble with fear!

After all, "attributes" were something the "natives" of the continent could not comprehend, just as no one had expected Rody to easily kill orcs before—no one understood that the "piercing" damage from his bow had a 25% bonus against unarmored orcs, nor did they understand how terrifying Rody would become with his Hunter's Set!

Kosa found himself with no choice but to charge forward, but before he could swing his curved sword, he saw Rody suddenly close the distance, and in a twist of his steps, disappear from his field of vision!

This was the "Shadow Step" that had given Soderlor so much trouble.

"How—"

Kosa turned abruptly, trying to find Rody, but saw an arm fly past his face. Before he could react, the intense pain in his left arm made him break out in a cold sweat...

It was too fast, impossibly fast.

In a daze, he saw a cold, indifferent face flash before his eyes, and then his chin was kicked, sending his body flying diagonally upward. His teeth shattered, and as he hit the ground, everything seemed to spin...

In the darkness, the figure stepped forward.

"Are you the leader?"

The standard Sabine language from the other's mouth left Kosa's numb brain unable to register shock.

The sound of hooves echoed on the battlefield, and the screams of orcs being cut down by the cavalry continued. The pain in his left arm, which was bleeding profusely, made Kosa grit his teeth. He wanted to retreat, but saw the other step forward and plant a foot on his chest.

"I don't have much time, so I'll be brief."

Rody casually sliced off the other's fingers along with the curved sword, and with a grimace, he leaned down to confirm the warhammer mark on Kosa's body, then whispered, "Tell me about your tribe's current territory."

...

The fire from the burning tents grew brighter, finally becoming a noticeable point on the horizon.

Soderlor, scanning the area from his horse, frowned, as if he had finally found his target. He led his subordinates toward the source of the flames.

The scouts behind him were silent, their faces serious and tinged with anger—Soderlor was no different, his tense expression revealing barely contained rage.

Since the evening, Soderlor had led fourteen scouts, intending to catch up with Rody and assist him, but the superior endurance of the horses and the complete darkness had made it impossible to keep up. Eventually, Soderlor decided to lead the team to check on the village of Kry. But the scene that greeted them shocked the young scouts...

Flames burned, and the ground was littered with corpses. The village, which had been raided, had no survivors.

A total of 134 people, including the elderly, women, and children, had been killed without exception. Heads were scattered on the ground, and most of the supplies had been looted, with the rest destroyed by the fire.

Many of the bodies had been cut down by curved swords, showing the terrifying impact of the worg riders. The most tragic were the female corpses in the corners—clearly, the orcs had used more than just killing to satisfy their desires.

The world was always so cruel, and when such things happened, there was no hope for a miracle.