Return of the Woodcutter

Curious, Aito turned his gaze to see Krugan riddled with wounds. His armor was dented and his shield had deep markings. It took the orc all it had to get here. Braving the Khül's air blade was no easy feat. 

All around, soldiers were forming a circle-shaped barricade to block any crazed orcs from entering the "death zone." 

Aito took advantage of this small respite to grab a ball from an inventory bag. He kept all his boom and flash balls in this one with a few spell beads.

He didn't exactly have the time to see if it would be the right one and just hoped his luck was decent enough—not that it brought him anything good recently.

"'Our people?'" The Khül chuckled, his voice low and filled with madness. "YOUR people. I've lost my people long ago, fake boy. You all are just copies of a glorious past! Do not pretend to be otherwise!" 

Krugan shielded himself in time to block a powerful strike. The orc leader was sent high up the air and traveled far before crashing on the horde. 

Was it alive or dead? No one knew. 

"Abominations. Fakes. Copies," The Khül said, appearing to lose his mind the more time passed. "Fakes, fakes, fakes, fakes! Copies created by those despicable beings…. I should have killed you all a long time ago!"

"EKÄ!" These were the last words of soldiers who accompanied Krugan as they fell prey to the Khül's strikes. 

"Die! Die! Die! " The Khül repeatedly shouted, killing orcs by the dozens in one swing, "Die! Die! Die!" 

Aito frowned. That raging monster's capabilities were beyond anything he had seen. Certainly beyond a challenger's level, even that of an ascender. 

It could not compare to Gwen who would have been capable of obliterating every orc in blow. Aito did not have a clear reference to gauge the Khül power, but if he had to take a guess, it was probably at the level of an Awakened. 

The realm above Ascender.

Aito's gaze was glued to the creature's mouth, kept wide open to yell "DIE!" at all times. It reminded him of something his father told him when he had been a child. 

"Close your mouth when you eat, boyo. You don't want a fly venturing in there, do you?" 

He wanted to chuckle, but the Khül hold on him was too strong. Thinking about a new plan, instead of trying his luck with one item, he grabbed everything he could get with his broken hand. 

"DIE! DIE! DIE!" 

Despite being dragged around like a dirty sheet, Aito tried to keep his cool and prepared to infuse his aura into the four items he held, then waited for the right opportunity to strike. 

The gallery was practically empty now. Thousands of orcs laid dead on the sand while barely a thousand still stood with crazed looks on their faces.

A hundred soldiers were gathered in one area with a few more joining them. They were forming a shield wall, protecting something, someone. 

"DIE! DIE! DIE!" 

Suddenly, they advanced like one orc, braving the air blades that crashed against their defenses. The first line of shields was sliced in half and immediately replaced by a new one. Three air blades later, the second line crumbled, and a third took its place. 

When they finally got close enough, they barely numbered a dozen. The orcs opened their defenses and a wounded Krugan rushed in, ax in hand. 

Aito's lifted his brows in surprise. He would have never thought the orc leader would be alive, less so that it would actually attack his own ancestor. 

"Foolish fake! DIE!" A grayish energy coated the Khül's hand as it caught Krugan's ax. The Khül exerted a strong pressure on it while crazily shouting "DIE!" before shattering Krugan's blade, halting his attacks for but an instant. 

Just enough for a certain someone to take advantage of this opportunity. 

'Perfect angle,' Aito thought. 

He immediately infused aura with the four items in hand and hurled the balls at almost point-blank. With his current level 6 strength, they traveled almost at a speed comparable to a modern weapon's bullet. 

"DIE—Urg." 

The four balls entered a giant mouth wide open and traveled down the Khül's throat. Even at such a speed, they weren't able to pierce the orc's mouth, however… that wasn't the goal. 

"Bonne… appétit," Aito said mockingly, dropping his hold on the Khül's fingers to place his shield in front of him. 

The giant orc barely had time to say "What…," that his throat burnt from the inside and bulged weirdly, as bubbles bloated on the surface of his skin. 

BOOM! 

Stones thrust out of the giant orc's mouth, followed by pieces of frozen blood. Aito dropped down on the ground, strangle marks on his neck, heaving, struggling for breath but alive. 

The Khül wavered, grabbing his own neck, eyes filled with blood. His ax fell heavily on the sandy ground with a thud as it stared madly at the cause of his current pain. 

It could shield its body from the outside, but his insides were vulnerable. Nonetheless, with his physique, the giant orc surprisingly didn't explode to bits. 

'A ridiculous monster to the end. His body was strong enough to contain the boom and the spell balls. Just ridiculous,' Aito thought, panting, using Pneuma repeatedly to recover faster. 

[That… was unexpected. Well done, mortal.] Valinar said, [The Grey Sun is disappearing. It is finally over.] 

In the fake sky, the two suns progressively separated, regaining their original colors. The sand slowly turned yellow again. Grey corpses and blood colored black. Everything seemed to regain life, albeit… death covered the arena. 

'No, it's not over, yet,' Aito replied, walking over to the Khül's ax with the intent of finishing the monster off.

[No! Don't!] Valinar warned. 

"Human warrior! Do not touch the sacred weapon!" Krugan shouted. 

He seized the giant ax, gripping the bone shaft tightly with both hands, wondering what those two were talking about.

Nothing ominous happened as he infused it with his skills. Measuring 2.5 meters, the weapon was too tall and large for him, but it mattered not. 

The Khül fell to his knees, then vomited blood mixed with stones and ice. It then turned towards Aito, who could read different emotions in his eyes. 

Rage, pain, frustration, anxiety, envy, and one that overwhelmed the others, sadness. He felt a slight sense of kinship. 

He knew at this instant that the orc desired one thing. Not vengeance. But peace. Eternal rest. And he granted him this wish. 

Aito hacked down, easily decapitating the monstrous orc. It did not smile, nor resist his fate, and accepted his execution. 

As the mighty Khül dropped dead, a ball of light shot out from his body, entering the sacred weapon's jewel, encrusted in the pommel Aito was gripping. 

[Foolish mortal… Truly foolish. Why didn't you heed my warnings?] Valinar said. [Why do you have to be so stubborn?] 

'Shut u—' Aito tried to reply. But a horrible headache seized him as he fell headfirst on the sand, next to the Khül's corpse that was transforming back into a more feminine figure, that of the Khan. 

Feeling the rough touch of the sand on his cheeks, his eyes progressively closed on the image of crazed orcs running towards him. 

The last thing he heard was Krugan's order, "Shield Wall!"