Chapter 85: 85 Orc Chief.

Jin’s emerald eyes flashed, and he saw the inner structure of the maw. He narrowed his gaze by the feverish roar that rang inside.

A flickering orange light blinked as the warm wind from the cave made him flinch when he saw two shadows standing by his sides.

“How was it, Jin?”.

Iris peeked ahead, her eyes gleamed in a green light and clicked her tongue after realizing the path was pretty long.

Silvia moistened her parched throat and spoke, “Jin? Your order?”.

A pair of eyes bore its glint toward him. Jin raised his katana and pushed the guard with his thumbs to check its blade condition.

The silver edge shone ferociously, but upon closer look, he faintly saw a crack running along its blade, a reminder at that time he infused it with a strange power residing within: Anima.

Jin still couldn’t grasp the kind of power and its true nature. It suddenly appeared when he was in a dire situation, like a miracle that came toward the people who chase after the impossible.

One thing was certain: the Anima came from Athena, who implanted some of it to alter his memories.

Thanks to the system’s involvement, he could release a part of it and see what had sealed deep inside, bringing another goal to achieve.

Jin pressed his thumbs to let a satisfying click with the blade sheathed and said, “Silvia, you follow my lead, and Iris, I trust my back to you”.

Silvia clenched the sword hilt in her waist and nodded.

Iris blinked for a moment to see his presence seemed to get bigger every time he overcame an adversary, just like that time.

At that time, when a storm swallowed her family, Jin casually swept it and carved a path for her to be saved from harm and protect Nina, too.

His action led her to tie a new connection with Silvia, forging their still shallow bonds and walking the future side by side.

“Leave it to me”. Iris slipped an arrow on the bowstring, “Go, I’m right behind you.”

As she saw, Jin nodded, and Silvia jumped to follow his back, running through the hard ground; Iris followed behind, her gaze sweeping over the area with glittered wary.

A light lit in the innermost part with the growling sound of the monsters that echoed carried by the wind like an echo, making their expression hardened.

Iris’ ears twitched when she detected the flow of wind shifted by the incoming sound that rang behind her.

Jin and Silvia proceeded inside while she stopped momentarily and saw three shadows of a bulky monster entering the cave.

“I’m sorry, but”. She pulled the strings and infused the arrow with her mana, letting it glow in emerald haze. “You can’t disturb my partners”.

With a flick of her fingers, a green line flew straight toward one of the Orcs that stiffened with a rabbit on its shoulder.

Blue blood spurted from its skull as the other two Orcs saw a protruding arrow that pierced its forehead.

Time stilled, and its huge body went limp, then fell with a dull thud, alarmed the other two. They looked toward the source only to be penetrated by two other arrows that aimed at their neck and eyes, killing them on the spot.

“Good, I better catch up with Jin and Silvia”. Iris glanced at the entrance and sprinted toward the inner cave with an arrow ready on her finger.

Silvia, who ran beside Jin, opened her eyes wide to see a huge space, brightened by a huge bonfire surrounded by many Orcs who shared a laugh with a wicked smile.

Her eyes swept away the area and counted over thirty Orcs gathered in the room. She stomped the ground and stood slightly behind Jin.

As they stopped, all those sharp, red, predatory eyes turned toward them, making the blood inside them boil.

Silvia reached to her chest and felt it throbbing so hard that it could burst from her chest. She inhaled deeply to calm the ragged emotion that swelled in her heart.

“Focus, Silvia! Don’t let this number intimidate you”.

Jin’s sharp voice broke through the stifling tension in the place. He drew his blade with clear intent and held the sheath in his left.

His figure, undeterred under the sky, sparked awe in her mind; his mentality, tremendous strength, and ability to wield it were truly out of the world, like at that time.

The boy stood facing an ancient calamity that could flip a mountain and devastate a town with a single breath, yet he was unfazed like a Battle God that descended to protect her.

Silvia turned to the enemy’s camp and exhaled, feeling shame creeping up her chest. ’To think I would be intimidated by such creatures’.

A memory flashed as she was bathed in the blizzard and faced that massive beast. Its mere name and shadow could instill fear in a continent. ’Truly, pathetic’.

’Get a grip, Silvia. These monsters are nothing to what you have fought before’. Silvia exhaled and then jolted, followed by the howling roar that echoed from the enemies before her, sending a tremendous chill to her skin.

However, the girl’s eyes were steady as calm water. Silvia pulled the sword from its scabbard and prepared her middle stance, imitating Jin’s posture.

*Gaaah!

A roar that shook the place came from the innermost place, and a monstrous Orc, twice bigger than the other, stood up with its rusty broadsword.

’That!?’. Silvia widened her eyes but soon turned to her forward and relayed the message. “That was an Orc Chief, a Mutant-Rank monster, stronger than regular Orcs and had a bit of regenerative power”.

“Thank you, Silvia”. Jin lowered his stance and whispered, “Be sure to kill anything that comes your way”.

The words that escaped his mouth were like a ray of flame that lit the smoldering ember in her chest, “Yes.”

Jin shot forward like a gale. His hands were blurred, like a machine intended only to cut and break the enemies that stood before him.

The billowing rage of Orcs scrambled toward Jin’s side—only to be torn apart with blue blood, painting the cave ground in violent arcs.

Silvia parted her lips in awe at the witness of Jin’s swordsmanship. His style was not for gaudy and eccentric people who tend to master a blade because of its beauty or heritage.

The style he created was only meant to cut his enemy efficiently, aiming at their vital spot and utilizing everything the blade had to offer.

“As I thought”. Silvia turned toward the approaching monster, who leered at her with a lecherous gaze, “I didn’t make a mistake in choosing his style.”

*Ghehehe

Four Orcs surrounded the girl front with a droll that dripped from their lips. As a monster with a humanoid appearance, it was not strange for them to lust over a female human or other race, which comes from their instinctive nature to mate and increase their population.

The Orc’s red eyes dimmed upon seeing the girl was unperturbed and instead gave them a look of contempt with a crumple expression.

“Let’s make this quick”. Silvia muttered, tightening her grip on the sword hilt. “Thalassa, lend me your power”.

{Your word is my command, Master}

With the permission of the Great Spirit of Water, the blade hummed in a deafening roar, and Silvia responded by pouring her mana into it.

One of the Orc howled with a raised club and charged ahead, followed by the other three. A vicious desire for the long absence of a female species clouded their eyes.

Silvia dropped her stance and dashed forward in a frontal clash. The monster’s twisted grin didn’t even faze her expression.

She slipped to the side with fluid movement just as the club tore the empty air.

One step she needed to arrive at the monster’s flank and swing her sword sideways, cutting away its torso and the lower half in two.

A hand reached to grab her, and Silvia leaped back to gain a distance and catch her breath.

The three arrived near the first Orc that stood still. It twitched, and blood started to stream down its lower half as the torso slid to the ground.

*Gaah!

Silvia raised the sword and spoke, “Khalassa, can you do something with the sword shape?”.

{Is there a problem, Master?} Replied an ancient female voice that reverberated in Silvia’s head.

“Yes, I just think it was uncomfortable when I used his technique with this sword.” Silvia swung the sword several times to match her new stance and technique.

{I see. Then, let me change the shape for a bit}

“You can do that?”.

{…}

Blue light emitted from the sword in her hand as it trembled with a constant humming that made the Orcs petrified by its majestic and oppressive power.

The sword, hilt, guard, and blade shrank in size, turning into a sword that resembled a katana in Jin’s hand, but it didn’t have a curve and was double-edged instead of one.

{Is this to your liking?}

Silvia gazed down, watching her new sword form. “Thank you, Thalassa”.

She poured a large amount of mana into the blade, creating a swirling mist that coated around the blade edge.

The Orcs snapped from their daze and marched to Silvia with expressions twisted in fury. They swarmed over her like fleas, intending to crush her limbs before enjoying her for tonight.

A looming threat sharpened by rage approached her front while the girl lowered her stance with the blade pointed backward at a level on her left waist.

[Black Heaven Style Swordsmanship – Crescent Moon]

Silvia tensed her shoulder and swung the blade horizontally, creating a compressed water jet that cut through the Orc’s bodies like butter and took their lives away.

Their bodies stopped mid-way and then separated into two parts with blood gushed out, smearing the area around her with blue.

“Fufu, that’s more like it”.

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