## Chapter 178 – Dancing With an Orc
Was it due to the maddening rage?
For a moment, my vision went dark.
“You.”
The world went black only for a moment.
My sight returned.
I rose, almost consumed by fury, and brought down my blade. A beastly scream, belonging to who I didn’t know, erupted, and each time, the orc unleashed a defense born of sheer strength, blocking my blade.
Solid.
Heavy.
Technique might be lacking, but the problem was indeed strength. The muscular structure of humans and orcs diverged from their very creation.
Behold those powerful muscles wrapped around its organs like a macho’s armor. The orc’s muscles were the real deal. Protein from hunting, and muscles inflated also from hunting—100% combat-ready!
Truly a macho race, a fortress of muscle!
That was the monster known as an orc!
“A macho, indeed.”
But I’m no fool.
From the fierce battle just now, I had grasped something about him. The orc likely felt the same. Consequently, our attacks became even sharper, each blow now extremely lethal.
The aspect of the battle, as if explosively evolving, was reminiscent of the brutal ancient era, the Precambrian.
Opabinia, Hallucigenia, Anomalocaris… The most brutal warriors born since the dawn of time, undergoing extreme evolution, vying for dominance of the Earth—the most violent primordial era, the Precambrian!
Dinosaurs didn’t even exist in that era!
“Precambriaaaaa!!!!”
Why did they struggle?
They struggled to survive!
All they possessed was the barbaric ancient power flowing in their blood! Yet, they fought for survival and dominance with only their physicality, and they evolved!
—Tssshhh!!!
Somehow, those ancient powers seemed to transcend time and space, seeping into my body… Ooh…! Ancestors! My ancestors! The primeval power engraved in my DNA!!!!
—Shwaack!
I swung my sword again.
The orc, matching me, adjusted its movements. If I slashed, it blocked. If the opponent slashed, this time I blocked. Repeating that process, two men in tuxedos danced to a melody.
Yes—this was.
“Dance!”
I entrusted myself to the flow.
It seemed like offense and defense, but it wasn’t. Relaxed and leisurely, like the tone of outdated jazz. The flowing swordsmanship was fierce, yet simultaneously gentle. The dance of the orc and I, standing at its center, was hot but exceedingly relaxed.
“This bastard… he’s quite skilled!”
“Human! You too!”
For some reason, it felt like the orc was speaking. Yes. In this arena of transcendent dance battle, barriers of race and language were merely the fallen Berlin Wall.
The orc and I, like East and West Germany reconciling, danced hotly! And beautifully! Exchanging swords!
Beautiful movements matched to the melody! And a dignified attire and the manners of a gentleman from the opponent! Facing each other, synchronizing our choreography! Meeting the ultimate partner, I asked his name in utmost excitement.
“What is your name?! I am Kim Katte!”
“Tsshik! Tssshiiik!”
“What was that?”
“Tssshiiiiik!!”
“Speak in a way I can understand, you goddamn bitch!!!!!!!”
Uwaaaaaaa!!!! I couldn’t suppress my anger any longer! The distorted reality surrounding me rapidly crumbled and shattered. —Chaeng! That sound like glass breaking was the sound of blades crossing!
This wasn’t the Precambrian era, nor was this Berlin.
The melody of jazz was nowhere to be heard; only transcendentally brutal screams and the sound of air being torn apart, aiming solely for each other’s throats, echoed!
“Kkyaaaaaaaakk!!!!”
This was a hellish otherworld!
The meaning of my swinging sword. It was solely for survival. Then? Then killing the opponent was the only meaning, wasn’t it?
—Chaeng!
Swordsmanship that cannot kill the enemy is meaningless.
—Chaeng!
In my thoughts, I saw sparks.
The sparks of iron created as blades clashed violently left intense afterimages that seemed to burn my corneas. The gauntlet-covered grip was throbbing. With repeated impacts pushing beyond the limit, it felt as if every joint in my fingers had been concussed.
Claudie? She’s fighting.
Copson? He’s also fighting.
Wienia? What is she doing not helping me?
I became very curious. But to know, I needed to cut down the orc before me. That was the first and last task left on Earth, and the only path to heaven!
“Tssshiiik!!!”
The guy who parried my sword roared and swung his sword mightily. There was no technique or skill, but the massive trajectory drawn with the power of muscles trained to the limit clearly seemed to possess the power to shatter my sword!
—A familiar sensation.
The situation just before the enemy’s blade severed my life.
“Chief.”
—Power surging from within.
Since when was it that, during battle, when I went half-mad and reached a state of trance, an unknown power would surge forth?
“Swordsmanship.”
It was many times.
Repeatedly, many times.
Transcending my limits, it saved my life.
Dryad.
Bulverza.
And Kobold Guardian.
The same sensation that enveloped my entire body when I fought those transcendentally powerful enemies with my life on the line—the instantaneously felt omnipotence! Soaring courage! The inner power with no known limits and the increasingly sharp blade!
“Dejaaaaaaaaat!!!!”
There was no need to evade,
—Chaeng!
Nor to block.
“Tsshik????!!!!!”
Just honestly.
I received the orc’s sword, swung with all its might, head-on. Fierce sparks flew, like a grinder trying to cut through an H-beam.
Blade met blade, releasing heat.
This power.
What on earth is it?
Precambrian, no. I stand here now. Surging power. Courage reaching omnipotence. And unbelievable fighting spirit. All of it permeated my muscles.
“—I’ll carve you up.”
I took a step.
I took a step and advanced.
I don’t know why, but the overflowing power overwhelmed the orc’s strength and exploded forth. As if the sword was receiving strong gravity, it crushed the orc’s posture. What on earth is the source of this courage with no end?
Is this even an illusion?
—Tsshik! Tsshiik!!
It wasn’t an illusion.
The orc’s screams were real.
In an instant, I overwhelmed the orc.
He seemed to be panicking at my suddenly increased power. Now, I had surpassed him in technique and strength.
Thinking that I was fighting a battle I could never lose, the frantic courage that had already been spewing out to the limit enveloped my world.
A world of courage.
“Do you”
It was a legendary world where machos were said to live. A fragment of that world I had longed for seemed to be vividly visible now.
—I reached out my hand.
“Know.”
—It felt like I could grasp ‘macho.’
At the same time, the orc’s sword was pushed back, and my blade began to dig into his shoulder. I had merely overwhelmed him with pure strength and pressed down, but because of that, hot blood gushed out.
“I asked if you know the sword.”
“Tsshiiiiiik!!!!”
The orc didn’t know the sword. He didn’t know the sword, didn’t know the language, and didn’t know about humans. That’s why he was losing to me. This world isn’t all about muscles.
“If you don’t know, I’ll teach you.”
I pulled on the end of the handle.
Due to the principle of leverage, the blade sank in a little deeper. The orc’s drool stuck to his molars and stretched. They seemed to move slowly.
Finally, I began to feel the sensation of bone at the tip of the blade.
I cut.
I cut the orc.
“This is.”
—Tsshik! The more I applied force, the more the amount of blood gushing out increased. I added more force again. I pushed the blade and just pulled it. As the bone was cut, white powder soaked in blood, like sawdust, was created like a mist.
“A sword.”
A huge scream erupted.
“Tsshiiiiiiiiiiiik!!!!!!!!!”
Flowers fall to bloom again, but what about when life falls?
Life is born, bursting with shouts of joy and delight. But the dying orc’s scream was neither joy nor scream.
Just despair.
And only pain was there.
—Kooong!
The orc’s body, already split in two down to the heart, collapsed. At the same time, I felt the power that had surged disappear without a trace.
“This power… what on earth is it?”
Just now, I transcended myself.
When I fought the Dryad, Bulverza, and Kobold Guardian, power surged in this way as well. But it was the first time today that it burned so strongly.
Just as I was about to fall into thought, I heard a familiar scream.
“Uwaaack!!!”
I pushed my worries aside.
I had to help Copson first.
“—Celestial Demon’s Forest Walk.”
Habitually, I unleashed the Celestial Demon Divine Art’s secret footwork, Celestial Demon’s Forest Walk, but this time, it didn’t have any particular power. Was it because that mysterious power had disappeared? I don’t know. But.
“Barbarian!!!! Help meeeeee!!!”
“Just hold on!!!”
I still have my muscles left.
That is Kim Katte.
—Paaat!
I immediately supported Copson, who was on the verge of dying. The small orc was practically cooking Copson, but he wasn’t skilled enough to win in a 2:1 situation. I intervened in the battle and swung my sword.
—Tsshiiiik!!!
The panicked guy burst out in astonishment.
In the urgent situation, he changed his target to parry the new attacker, me. This is the advantage of ganging up. How dare you look away during a battle?
“Copson!”
I shouted, and,
“Iryaaaaap!!!”
Copson, regaining his senses, pierced the orc’s abdomen, who had his attention on me. —Tsshiiiiik!!!! I shoved my blade into the neck of the guy who was convulsing and dropped his sword. That was the end.
“Hoo! I’m alive! Thanks, Barbarian!”
“Haa… Haa… Yeah.”
Now, there’s only one left.
The chief orc that Claudie is fighting!
I looked back at Wienia. She was guarding the surroundings to block any possible attacks from other beings, while watching the battlefield. That’s important too.
—Chaeng!
I looked at Claudie.
Her height was only slightly shorter than mine, but the orc was a giant who looked close to 2 meters tall. A mass of muscle wielding a longsword made of iron, he looked like a grand general with green skin.
—Tsshiiiiiiiik!!!!
Feathers fluttered. A slash at a speed that the eye couldn’t follow. All I saw was the blade vaguely rippling and turning into smoke. But Claudie didn’t avoid it.
She just raised her curved sword.
—Chaeng!
Sparks flew. The longsword, swung with incredible speed with the power of muscle, was simply stopped by just raising a hand and extending the sword. The orc’s already rotten face contorted even more.
The orc, bending his body greatly, jumped backward, intending to create distance.
Tremendous leg strength.
He retreated more than 5 meters without any run-up.
—Paaat!
Claudie dug into that gap. The blades crossed in a cross shape rushed to tear apart the green body. The orc was just barely focused on defense. It was truly a situation where Claudie was overwhelming him.
Should I help?
No.
If I intervened clumsily, I felt like I would be torn to pieces like a chick ground in a mixer. I formed a formation with Copson in front of Wienia.
“Sis is fighting so well.”
“Huh?”
“Look at that. She’s playing with him.”
Wienia lowered her staff, approached, and said. It was an action that seemed to nail down that the battle was already over.
“Anyway, darkie. Am I feeling wrong?”
“Feeling wrong? What are you talking about?”
“Hmm… I don’t feel anything now…”
“What?”
Wienia, who had approached, grabbed my face and looked at it, then smiled.
“It’s nothing.”
At the same time, the situation ended.
—Tsshiiiiiiiiiik!!!!!
The chief orc, with two curved swords embedded in his neck like a cross, collapsed, kneeling on both knees. Claudie kicked his chest. —Kooong. The orc fell backward while kneeling.
He was dead.
“Hmph, is this all? He was quite a satisfying opponent… slightly lacking. But it seems okay.”
Claudie, who had pulled out her sword, approached us with a relieved face.
“You guys handled the rest well? Hehe. Our Katte is amazing. He even caught an orc himself.”
“Well, yeah. I won in the end… though I did receive a little help from Wienia.”
“You received help? Augh, that’s a little disappointing. It’s okay. That’s enough for that level with your bare hands. Next time, try to catch one alone… huh?”
Claudie, whose tension had risen, continued speaking quickly in an almost running tone. While speaking, she approached the corpse of the orc I had killed and made a questioning expression.
“Katte. This corpse. Did you make it like this?”
Claudie said, pointing to the orc’s corpse, which was split from the shoulder to the heart.
