Chapter 6

No matter how many times we struck it, the orc’s ferocity never waned. If anything, it seemed to grow even larger and more vicious.

That pressure. That despair.

“Aaaah…”

Do Gyeong-su took a step back, his face drained of color.

“Get a grip, you bastard!”

Mukuru kicked him in the rear to push him back into formation while firing his bow.

Ping! Ping!

Thunk! Thunk!

Still, perhaps because it had lost an eye and suffered from consecutive explosions, the orc’s defensive abilities seemed to have weakened.

Two arrows pierced its thigh and shoulder.

The one lodged in its shoulder was Yuria’s, while the arrow that pierced its thigh was Kallin’s.

Thunk!

Belatedly, my arrow also struck the creature’s forearm.

But the orc wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.

With arrows protruding from various parts of its body, it gazed at us once, its increasingly intense red light dripping down, and then—

KABOOM!

It charged again.

Gravel flew into the air,

Snap-

I heard Teacher Sena snap her fingers, but…

This time, no explosion followed.

Crunch, squish!

Before I could even react, two horses were flung into the air with sickening sounds of crushing and mangling.

The children who had been in formation behind the horses collapsed like bowling pins struck by a ball.

The ground turned red.

ROAR-!

The orc roared.

Dripping its hot red eyelight, the creature had ignored Teacher Sena and charged straight through our formation, shattering it.

+ – + – +

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

“Eeek! Die… we’re going to die! No!”

Panicking, Do Gyeong-su threw down his bow. He started to flee, shoving other children toward the orc.

In the commotion, Miri was grabbed by her clothes and thrown toward the orc.

Suddenly finding herself in front of the monster, she stared blankly up at it.

The orc stared back down at her.

A black orc over 2 meters tall and a small orange-haired girl not even 150cm.

Growl.

The orc’s eyes curved.

“Ah…”

As a gasp escaped Miri’s lips,

Crunch!

Miri’s head disappeared.

The orc had grabbed her waist with its massive hand and bitten off her head with its grotesquely wide mouth.

Chomping like it had a candy in its mouth, the orc then spat out something. Plop! A round orange object bounced and rolled across the ground.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

The orc swung its iron club wildly, instantly crushing horses and children.

Suddenly, my eyes met the orc’s.

Its black magical energy seemed to envelop the entire world.

‘So this is the Calamity of Night…’

Had I been rejoicing over absorbing just that little bit of mana earlier? In a world where such calamities hunted us?

Just as I was about to be completely overwhelmed by the black magical energy that seemed to cover the world, a red magical energy pierced through the darkness like the dawn breaking.

“Get away from my student! You monster!!”

Teacher Sena charged like lightning and swung her longsword at the orc’s arm.

Slice!

Having noticed the attack, the orc flexed its muscles, and Teacher Sena’s sword got stuck halfway through.

With her sword completely caught in its muscles, Teacher Sena couldn’t pull it out. But she didn’t stop. She lowered her stance and tackled the orc.

Thud!

The orc’s heavy body crashed to the ground.

Teacher Sena’s magical energy had many colors, but the most prominent was red.

Her magical energy boiled and expanded dramatically.

The superhuman strength of a Mana User grappled with the orc as they rolled on the ground.

Enraged, the orc tossed aside its cumbersome iron club and engaged Teacher Sena in hand-to-hand combat.

Thud! Thud!

Teacher Sena’s small fist drove into the orc’s head,

Boom!

The orc’s large fist hammered down on Teacher Sena’s small head.

Crack. Teeth flew out of her mouth, but Teacher Sena didn’t close her eyes.

“Scatter! Mount your horses and scatter, then aim for the orc!”

Even in this situation, she didn’t give an order to retreat.

The orc had already caught our trail, and we were all covered in its red eyelight. Escape would be meaningless.

In the end, we would only be hunted down one by one.

To survive, we had to kill it here, no matter how slim the chances.

The two combatants rose from the ground and continued fighting.

Teacher Sena’s red magical energy was incredibly powerful, but compared to the orc’s pitch-black energy, it seemed diminutive.

The physical difference was substantial too. Yet she threw her entire body into the fight to keep the orc away from her students.

Teacher Sena’s ear was torn off.

One of her eyes was smashed, oozing fluid.

Next, her fingers were ripped away.

Even as the orc tore her apart piece by piece, her fighting spirit didn’t diminish in the slightest.

Protecting students was the duty of a School Nomad teacher. She was faithful to her duty.

Though I had pulled away on Heukseom to maintain distance from the orc, I couldn’t tear my eyes from this desperate battle.

Ping!

An arrow flew and struck the orc’s head. It was Yuria.

Thud!

Though the arrow merely bounced off its skull, Teacher Sena seized that momentary opening. She drew a dagger and stabbed the orc’s abdomen.

ROAR!

But this only served to further enrage the orc.

In that split second, the orc’s fist explosively struck Teacher Sena’s stomach.

Thud!

The sound wasn’t particularly loud, but

“Kuhak…”

A spray of blood burst from her mouth. Wobble! Teacher Sena’s legs gave way.

‘At this rate, Teacher Sena will die!’

The moment I realized this, my reason flew out the window.

“You… you monster bastard!!”

I don’t know what came over me.

Before I knew it, I was charging forward on Heukseom. I threw away my bow and completely entrusted myself to Heukseom.

As I synchronized my breathing with him, once again that black and white world unfolded before me.

The orc, Teacher Sena, myself, and Heukseom all appeared as gray lines, and I could see myself and Heukseom charging toward the orc.

Just like before, the lines making up Heukseom and me intertwined to form a single pattern.

But it was slightly different.

Unlike earlier when I had unilaterally adapted to Heukseom, this time Heukseom adapted to me.

He followed my will and charged at full speed toward the orc.

Thud!

With a massive leap, Heukseom twisted in mid-air. His hind legs extended straight out and kicked the orc’s chest.

Urrgh!

The 800kg giant horse’s full-power kick sent the orc flying.

ROAR!!

But its enraged roar remained vigorous. It pounded the ground as it rose, glaring at Heukseom and me.

That killing intent froze me solid.

‘I’m going to die…’

It seemed inevitable.

Ah, so this is how I die.

But the orc’s mistake was focusing on Heukseom and me, letting Teacher Sena slip away.

She had somehow circled behind the orc and was now swinging her dagger toward its temple.

“This is the end! You beast…!”

Snap-

BOOM!

A massive explosion erupted from the hilt of her dagger as she swung it.

Amplified by the explosion, the dagger shot like a bullet and penetrated the orc’s temple.

Clang!!

It sounded like metal being pierced.

Grrr…

The orc’s low growl lingered, and then

Thud!

Its massive body crashed to the ground.

“Ha… haha…”

Thump.

Teacher Sena collapsed to her knees.

Her right arm was shredded and bleeding from using an explosion on her dagger.

In that wretched state, she muttered in disbelief.

“Ha… impossible. We actually won… Only after my Circle broke did I finally subdue a calamity, I…”

Her voice was filled with regret.

Around her, an incredible amount of magical energy began to gather.

Whoosh!

The sound of wind was audible.

Defeating a calamity was an incomparably grand achievement. An unimaginably vast amount of magical energy swirled around.

And part of it… headed toward me.