Requiem Of A Failed Hero



Raith lunged forward, feinting with his left fist, and then delivering a lightning-fast right hook that struck the orc's exposed side with all his strength. The impact was like hitting solid metal, and Raith felt a jolt of pain shoot through his hand. But the orc staggered back, clearly caught off guard by the unexpected maneuver.

Raith seized the opportunity and followed up with a swift combination of strikes, aiming for the same spot on the orc's side. From earlier, he had suspected that every time the orc moved, it tend to favor one side, at first it was just a free observation– when the orc was trying to maneuver a counter-attack, it was sort of only the same route and the whole pressure and weight of its body would shift to that single side leaving the other side free–

From Raith's speculation, this wasn't probably the first time and if it truly wasn't the first time, it meant that point would be vulnerable compared to the rest of its body. Just like when someone is trying to build strength but is always focusing on the right hand as it is his hand of activity, the left hand is bound to have less power than the right hand.

The orc roared in agony, its defenses had finally been breached, and a crack could be seen on its side. Raith continued his relentless assault, exploiting the weakness he had discovered. He punched with all his might, his mind processing every detail of the fight in real time, allowing him to adjust his strategy on the fly.

Finally, with a final, powerful strike that blasted shockwave through the air, Raith delivered a decisive blow to the orc's weakened side.

The orc crumpled to the ground, vomiting green liquid which is supposed as its blood.

The cheering of the orc's clansmen had come to a shameful stop.

"Chekk, cheekah, chyuk ya ya(He defeated our champion)"

They said one to another and the murmuring rose.

"Chaaayyyyy!(STOP!)" A thick and vibrating voice overshadowed all their murmurs and caused them to stop, all of them became so silent and humble.

Thud Thud Thud Thud

Raith could feel the ground beneath him shake– something was coming, and he didn't need a special skill to know that this is the Orc boss.

"Wow, he is impressive! He defeated that Orc, alone, even though it seemed like he struggled a little." Shin mumbled.

Others agreed with him with nods but their eyes were on that enormous Orc that they could get a clear aerial view of.

'...struggle? He didn't even use the sword we went through so much to get.' Mok Jae-Hwa squinted his eyes, "From my one fight with him, I know Hunter Raith is more skillful with the sword, you might see that he is struggling but I think he didn't fight with all he had... that was why he looked like he was struggling."

Chong-Yol looked at Mok Jae-Hwa with an irritated glare, his eyes were sizing up Mok Jae-Hwa who had spoken that Raith could be more powerful than they just saw.

"Hype, hype, it's all hype, I doubt if he is anything much." He grunted, curling both corners of his lips downward as he looked from the cliff, '...that orc is going to kill him. It's a sad thing Jae-Hwa will want us to jump in and save him the moment he is about to die. But I will have it on cam, and show the world how weak he is.' Chong-Yol proposed in his heart and clicked the very small camera which he hung somewhere around his belt.

It wasn't an illegal thing to record gate raids, in fact, that is the profession of some people, they livestream raids to gain popularity and money. But the thing was Mok Jae-Hwa didn't like it and thought of it as unethical, 'What happens in the gate, should always stay in the gate' was his phrase anytime he talked to his guild members about it.

And Chong-Yol clearly heard those words but would do what he wanted to do anyways and so he sneakily put on the mini camera.

"Oh wow..." Those were the only words Raith could find as he is again faced with another level of horror. Even the other orcs cowered as their leader stood in front of Raith.

The average height of an orc was 179cm even Chozek the champion whom Raith had just defeated was not too far from that. But the red orc chief stood taller than that and was above 200cm, looming over the rest of the red orcs.

His massive form was imposing, with bulging muscles that rippled with raw power beneath his crimson-hued skin. His eyes glowed with a fiery intensity, and his teeth were sharp and menacing, bared in a perpetual snarl.

His shoulders were wide and hulking, and his arms were like tree trunks, thick with bulging veins that pulsed with strength. His chest was a wall of solid muscle, and his legs were sturdy and powerful, causing even the earth to dance with every step he took.

It wasn't his figure alone that was imposing, even his stance was accurate. Raith looked all around him, -with his [ultra instinct] he could tell where an attack was coming from and where an attack could easily go into, [Ultra Instinct] was the skill that [Transcendent Sense] evolved too, although it also had an effect on other sub-skills of [Multiple Cognitive Resonance].

With it, we could say Raith was capable of sensing opening but not as precise as the true ability to sense opening which is sponsored by one's perception. Raith's perception was no doubt good but he wasn't at any level when compared to the forces that exist and it was a fundamental stat he should have focused on should he want to see some growth in the sub-skills of [Multiple Cognitive Resonance] but Raith did not know this, just like how he didn't know the true reason why he has so much Intelligence stat.

What he did know is that if he wanted to take on this guy and win, he needed to do it right.

Raith looked at the Orc and smiled, '...to think I will die at the hands of an orc.' He mumbled and shook his head, dropping it.

"Chaarrraaaaaaahkkkkk!!!" The red Orc chief let out a war cry that provoked the other Orcs to some sort of ceremonial humming and screaming. It was different from when they were hailing the champion Chozek.

[You have initiated a battle for authority with the Orc chief by killing the Orc chief's champion]

[You have been challenged to a Kampf der Stärke]

[You have initiated a new trial]

[Trial Of Strength]

> You have been challenged to a test for strength by the Red Orc Chief, if you defeat the Red Orc Chief you will automatically become the next Orc Chief. But that is not how we do things here, because of your status as a Monarch, you can choose a dark soldier to represent you. The dark soldier won't be sustained by your dark energy but when the dark soldier dies they will be deleted from your army and you will receive a penalty.

'Oh, oh, will you look at that... the abyss wants to penalize me...' Raith grinned at the thought of it. '...I wonder what it will be this time.' He turned his attention to the Orc in front of him, heaving with all of its shoulders and chest and oozing hot steamy breathy from its nose with every heavy heave.

"Cheche."

As Raith called the smoke surged out of the ground he was standing on, flowed around a little, and materialize into an Orc- but with a black body and red glittering face. All the orcs paused and watched this odd creature intensively, while they were so sure that he looked like them. They were not very sure of what it was.

"Cheche," Raith called out again, the Orc turned to him with a vibrant face, full of himself- it's been a while since he has been called out like this.

"...I expect you to beat this buddy in front of you to a pulp," Raith instructed. The Orc nodded rigorously with a naughty grin on its face as it turned to the massive red orc without an inch of fear and roared.

"Raaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!"

'Where did he come from, Orcs don't roar– perhaps is this an effect of hanging out too much with Fenrir.' Raith shook his head for his monster.

Even the red Orcs were baffled at this strange orc's strange behavior.

"Cheeeeiiiaaayaah!"

The Orc leader cried out and charged at Cheche who immediately materialized his black sledgehammer from the darkness– the hammer was long and was like the same one he used when he fought Raith, only that it was all dark and shady crackling with red sparks of energy.

Thwom!!

The two of them collided suddenly, causing a massive shockwave that reverberated through the whole plain.