621 Submission [3]

The area went completely still when it was revealed that I managed to stop the attack with one of my fingers. 

"You…"

When Silug and the others turned to look at me, I could feel their shock. Everyone in the room was obviously astonished by how I was able to stop his attack with just a single finger—I would have also been astounded if I had been in their shoes.

It had to be noted that...it wasn't as 'effortless' as it seemed to be on the outside.

'I think I broke my finger.'

My body was strong.

Extremely strong at this point. Especially after I had been training in the martial body art that Han Yufei had given me. 

The durability of my body was still considered inferior to that of an orc, which was much more resilient than my body could possibly be.

The only reason I was able to stop him was because I had cheated.

Sort of.

'…and just when I promised myself to no use mana.'

In the end, I was forced to use it. Silug's strength was far more terrifying than I had expected.

I was even starting to think that his strength was on par with that of Liam.

Well, that was at least what I managed to make out from this short exchange.

"Alright, let's go again."

Moving my finger away from his fist I took a couple of steps back.

'It hurts.' 

I gestured for Silug to come my way with my other hand without showing any signs of pain on my face. In reality, I knew...I knew that my finger was definitely fucked. 

Without saying anything, he nodded his head. Straightening his back and taking a deep breath, he extended his hand in the direction of the other orcs.

"Bring me my axe."

His loud voice causes the surroundings to shake. 

His body was emitting an erratic, dark green color. I was astonished to see a crimson tint mixed within the green hue when I took a closer look at him. Taking note of this particular aspect, my eyes flinched wide a little.

'He's different from before.'

The aura around him…

How could it explain it? It was a lot different from before.

'Bloodlust.'

The cause of the change in demeanor became clear to me quickly. In the end, it came down to the fact that Silug's body was emitting a strong bloodlust.

It made me realize that he was finally taking this seriously. 

'No, rather than being serious. He's betting his life on this.'

The way he was staring at me…

It gave me the impression that he saw me as one of his biggest foes, one with whom he intended to contend all the way until the end of his life. 

'Interesting.'

I thought while I began stretching my legs and arms.

This might turn out a lot more difficult than I had originally anticipated.

'Well, for as long as I don't use mana that is…'

The story would be a lot different if I could use my mana. After all, with the aid of [Eyes of Chronos], I didn't fear getting hit by his attacks.

"Here you go, Chief."

An orc knelt down in front of Silug and handed him an item that was wrapped in a thick white cloth.

Grasping it with his arms, Silug brought it up and slowly unveiled the white cloth.

The air stirred with each unwrap of the cloth.

Silug posed me a question while he continued to unwrap the white cloth. 

"Are you not going to take out your weapon?"

"Weapon?"

I lowered my head and stared at my waist where my sword usually was.

It wasn't there at the moment.

Thinking for a moment, I shook my head.

"No, I'm good for now."

I was here to test the limits of my body, not my skill with the sword. 

"Are you sure?"

Silug questioned.

I confidently nodded my head back.

"Yes, I'm confident."

"Okay."

Silug removed the cover to show a single-sided, ancient, worn-out axe. It didn't appear to be anything noteworthy at first sight. However, as soon as the final piece of cloth was taken off, a menacing atmosphere swept through the square, and the scent of iron lingered in the air. 

Catching a whiff of the smell, my brows knit.

'It smells like blood.'

For a weapon to have this sort of smell...It must've killed countless enemies. 

Krr….

Tracing the axe on the ground; sparks flew in the air until Silug stopped and rested the top of his arm on the bottom end of the axe.

An oppressive and authoritative pressure slowly started to come out of his body.

"Are you ready, human?"

He asked while deeply gazing my way. 

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

[Body Hardening]

[Mind and Spirit connection]

My body began to tremble and I felt what felt like an electric current going through it as soon as I activated the two effects.

The sensation vanished as quickly as it had appeared, but just then, I noticed that my body's muscles were pulsing oddly. And if it wasn't odd enough, my body also experienced another strange sensation.

This one…

It was hard to explain, however, it felt as though I could control every single muscle inside of my body with just a thought.

It felt as though my mind and all the muscles inside of my body were one. I didn't even need to think before my muscles moved in the way that I wanted.

This was just about as close as I could describe the sensation that I was feeling. It wasn't something that could be explained with mere words.

Rather, its effect would be more noticeable during battle…which I was about to have.

"Alright, I'm ready."

I muttered under my breath as I took another breath.

Silug vanished from my eyesight exactly as my sentences ended. One could wonder how he was able to move at such speeds with such a big physique as his entire body disappeared from the spot. 

'Swing to my left.'

Despite his speed, I was able to easily read his movement as I took a step to the side.

Boom—!

Exactly as I stepped to the side, Silug appeared in the same spot I was in before. He vertically swung his axe toward the ground. 

The ground entirely crumbled beneath the orcs' full-scale assault, as one might anticipate, and a huge, thunderous sound reverberated across the area.

The sound was loud enough that anyone within a couple of kilometers could hear it. 

That only applied to the others, however. I was currently in a state where everything around me was numb.

Sort of when I was in Monarch Indifference, but with my own body in control.

The loud noise didn't bother me in the least bit as Silug was the only thing that was in my vision. 

'Take a step to the right, and back.' 

Silug followed up with a vertical swing, which was once again easily avoided by me. I felt a little sting in my head when I dodged, but it wasn't anything to be concerned about. 

It was probably the chip which was running at full throttle at the moment. 

'Step to the right again and use your left hand to slap in a downward manner.' 

Following the steps inside of my mind, I raised my left hand and blindly smacked the left side. 

Smack. 

Feeling a cold and flat surface on my hand, Silug's axe came hurtling toward the ground beside me.

Booom—!

There was another thunderous explosion. 

Sparing it a glance, I turned my neck and avoided Silug's fist which came whistling against my head.

'That was close.' 

I thought it was going to land for a brief moment. Thankfully, I was able to dodge, and this was all thanks to the [Mind and spirit connection] which boosted my reflexes to the utmost limit. 

Swooosh—!

Just like that, Silug kept attacking with his axe while I continuously dodged all of his attacks without any effort. 

"Are you not going to attack?" 

Silug asked, swinging his axe one more time. 

Booom—!

The ground quaked. 

Halting his movements he glared in my direction. 

"All you have been doing is dodging. Are you incapable of fighting back?" 

"Right..." 

He was right. I was so immersed in testing my new abilities that I had completely forgotten to attack. 

"My apologies, I'll start attacking now." 

Pressing my foot against the ground my vision distorted and Silug appeared right in front of me.

Tensing my back muscles, and gathering my strength, I punched with everything I got. In response to my attack, Silug tried to raise his axe. 

"Uh?" 

Unfortunately, by the time he attempted to raise his axe, four translucent rings had already formed on the axe's body, temporarily impeding his motions.

The amount of time was brief, but in a fight like this, every second counted. My punch smacked him square in the cheek as it raced toward his face.

Silug's face turned a forty five degree angle in the process. Shockingly, his body didn't move a single bit. 

"Not bad..." 

He muttered while he stared at me from the corner of his eyes and turned his head to face me once more. 

"However, if that is the strength of your punches, I'm afraid you won't be able to win." 

He raised his hands again and prepared to swing his axe at me again. 

I could only sigh when I saw this.

'As expected, although my body's strength is a lot more formidable than it was in the past, it's still nothing to that of an orc.' 

My previous punch...

Had it landed on a human or anyone else, it would've probably sent them crashing against the ground. 

Unfortunately, I was facing an orc. 

'Alright, let's end this.'

Realizing that there was no more point in continuing the bout, I waved my hand. A black and ghostly figure emerged from behind Silug like a shadow. Then, with a single kick toward his knee pit, Silug lost balance and his body came tumbling forward. Predicting where he would fall, I coated my leg with mana and kicked him in the head. 

Thump—!

All of this happened within the span of a couple of seconds. 

By the time everyone realized what was going on, the fight had already ended. Pressing my foot against Silug's stomach, I pointed my finger toward his forehead. 

"You've fought well."