'He's stronger now? Even in the state he's in? I don't know what that was, but it's not good. I have to use everything I've got, right here, right now,' Noah decided, squeezing the handle of his weapon.
With the village behind him, he stood between the people and the persistent monster. A single breath filled his lungs, replenishing his tired muscles.
["Heroism" Proficiency Up: +1] [1/10]
[Skill Acquired: "Vanquish Darkness"]
Like a light humming through his muscles, he felt the newfound ability integrating itself into his body. A part of him felt as if he'd received a boon from the divine, just as the orc did.
For the orc, who wielded his four blades, gifted by godly favor, one thought was clasped in steel within his mind, 'Confronting the Saint of Blades…It won't be possible if I let myself be stopped by the first obstacle in my path. My selfless kin–the life I have now, the body I have, is their very own essence as well. That's why I absolutely must avenge them.'
Redrum exhaled harshly through his nose, tightening his red fingers around each sword's handle before setting forth. A mad dash, yet intently focused on one path: the human warrior ahead.
At the same moment, Noah sprinted ahead, fully committing to meeting the orc halfway. Though they didn't exchange any words, both understood what this was: a gambit with everything on the line.
The howl of a wolf; the roar of a scaled dragon; the call of a whale; all such bestial noises hailed from the orc's divine blades. Fire born of mysticism trampled across the mud, casting violet embers that drummed against the ground. With each stride taken by the General, the drumming intensified, like the march of a band, the blades only seeming to grow larger, completely shrouded in the malignant heat.
'I feel it now; this is the spirit of Vanunalu, guiding me, alongside my kin!' Redrum thought, bringing his flaming blades back as the vibrations shuddered through the rain.
Against the great heat the orc carried, the rain that befell his blades evaporated, leaving him engulfed in a dark vapor.
"With me, brothers!" The war cry bellowed from the depths of the General's stomach, heightening the intensity of the raging fire he wielded.
Noah saw it, through that thick vapor, amidst the flames; apparitions of orcish warriors, roaring and running alongside their comrade. He pressed his right foot against the mud, cementing himself as the axe was brought back, clenched tightly.
[Strengthen]
[Enhance]
In that moment, ready to swing with everything he had, he felt the sheer heat pouring off the orc of divine favor. The rain that laid on his own skin evaporated, as the breath he took in felt like fire invading his lungs.
The wooden handle in his hand was clenched with complete resolve, infused with the young man's gambit. Just a breath ahead, the orc loomed over, bringing down the quadruple blades as the air shuddered beneath the call of a whale.
It wasn't horrifying, only majestic; the brilliance in those flames, catered for the singular act of destruction. He felt their heat as the swords approached, yet he did not dare test them.
'I was born into this world for moments like this. To protect, to save, to fight. I think this is what I was always meant to do,' the thought surfaced within his mind at that moment that glided between the tiniest particles of seconds.
The great, violet flames approached, taking the forms of calamitous beasts that fed on all things without prejudice; ever burning. He entrusted himself to his axe, swinging it forward without a trace of doubt in his mind–
[Vanquish Evil]
A fluctuation in the wind; pure and colorless. It was there yet not, fleeting in its appearance, yet it was clear as day that it existed. Like a pulse made from a rupturing sound, the enigmatic force expanded from his position.
Through the wave of burning amethyst, the ripple cast it into not embers, but dissipating heat, carried off into nothing more than a hot breeze.
For the orc, all that was witnessed was the entirety of his power being dismissed like breath to a dandelion. Once the fire was snuffed out, the pulsation reached the monster. Though Redrum sensed the anomalous force, defending himself from it was another task entirely; as if trying to shield your body from being touched by the air.
"Nrrgggguah–!" An agonized cry left the General's mouth as the pulsation reached his body.
It didn't blow the large figure away, nor cut into him, but made his body convulse as if subjected to a heaping surge of electricity. While physical pain was felt, the core of the monster's cries came internally.
All at once, emotions that were never felt surfaced; those blanketed by malice, and those new to the inhuman heart. The mystical force pried his mind open, forcing the orc to watch every moment of his life, all at once; each heinous act, every act of brutality.
A new concept surfaced in the monster: "Guilt."
He wept. For every life he took, tears strolled down his face, contorted with such confusing, fresh emotion.
["How could I…do such terrible things?"]
What felt like an eternity for the orc passed with the blink of an eye. The monster stood there amidst the rain, only able to fall to his knees, bearing the overwhelming sensations that drove his heart to clench within his chest.
"What…is this?" Redrum faintly questioned, staring blankly towards the axe-wielding man with tears that would not wash with the rain.
While none of the onlookers could make sense of the orc's state, Noah approached calmly, standing over the knelt monster. Around them, the rain fell harder than ever, muddying it all.
[EXP: +30,000]
[Level 8 Reached.] [Current Experience: 1,050/20,000]
[Body: 1000] [Spirit: 1000]
["Close-Quarters Combat" Proficiency Up +15] [50/999]
[Skill(s) Obtained: "The Snake's Eye" | "Mend"]
With the sudden emergence of experience for his system, it was clear to him that there was no fight left within the orc.
"I eradicated the evil inside you," Noah explained, resting his axe on his own shoulder. "If you were completely evil, that attack would've killed you."