The shock that I felt lasted for a while.

The Adamantium Sword was still in my hand, and other than the fact that I was outnumbered, there wasn't really an issue.

As long as I had this sword, it didn't matter how many of them there were because I was confident that I would be able to take them down.

"Do you think we just waited for you without preparing anything?"

A human with a prideful expression pushed his way through the crowd.

He must've been really satisfied by how successful the plan was because the smile on his face didn't go away.

"You're curious as to how we knew, right?"

When a person is surrounded by their enemy, it's only natural for them to be curious about how they got into this situation.

But, for some odd reason, I wasn't all that curious.

I felt the cold wind blowing down my neck and I just took it all in.

"Not really."

"…What?"

He must've not expected it, because he seemed agitated.

He probably expected me to kneel before him and beg him to spare my life.

After looking at his expression, that was probably the case.

"Before you came, the Orcs were in a bad situation. Since they were afraid of losing their life, we obtained a couple of spies at our base. Ha ha. Do you understand?"

"Who's the Orc that betrayed us?"

"…Huh? Why would I tell you that?"

"Because I might die and I might as well die by resenting them."

This was a lie.

The man couldn't say the Orcs name easily.

"I can't tell you that!! The spy is useful and we plan on using them for a while longer."

His voice became hoa.r.s.e while he complained.

It seemed like he raised his voice to hide his nervousness.

"Oh, really? Ha ha."

I looked at him with a scornful smile.

His face kept on contracting and relaxing, making it look like his face was going to blow up at any moment.

"Tsk!!"

After clicking his tongue, he stopped himself from saying what he wanted to say.

The fact that an Orc betrayed them could be shocking news.

However, this is the first time that I met him and on top of that, hearing that from an enemy without showing any proof made me doubt him.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Even if he had guts, it won't change the outcome."

His stern face relaxed.

He had a superiority complex, which made him think that he had the upper hand.

For me, buying time like this was good, so playing along with him wasn't a bad choice.

"I heard about the power you showed at Ericsson. You've been given the nickname, Incarnation of Mana, because of the ma.s.sive amount of power you put into the sword."

Ericsson was the name of the base that we stayed at before coming to this one.

It seems like the ones that survived my attack from the previous battle told everyone about me.

"Did anything change?"

"…I can't feel the mana."

"You're good. That's correct."

I started concentrating a while ago so that I could gather mana, but my sword wasn't emitting the blue light.

This base blocked the mana.

"If you don't have mana, you won't be able to use the same skill as before."

He was right.

The reason why I was able to use that skill was because I gathered all the mana and released it all at once.

If I can't use mana, then I can't use those types of skills.

"Within this base, there are three towers with devices that blocks mana. With this, you'll lose your power."

I didn't retort because what he said wasn't wrong.

Without mana, I was weak.

"This is ridiculous. Okay. If I had that kind of power, I would've gone to the Elf's side so that I can clear the stage with ease."

"Right? It's all over the forum that the fifth stage is all about the Elves. That guy is an idiot. Ha ha ha."

I was able to easily obtain information about the fifth stage from the forum.

I read that the people that volunteered to help the Orcs were killed because the enemy outnumbered them.

They were almost sure that the Elves would win and they declared that this stage would be over within two weeks.

Efficiency was important to me and if I was given the choice, I would've decided to support the Elves as well.

"That idiot picked the wrong side."

The comment came within the group and an aggressive expression appeared on my face.

As the sun s.h.i.+ned onto the blade, it s.h.i.+ned brightly and I held my breath in.

"If I win, that means you guys are wrong."

If I was a bit more serious here, I would be able to buy more time for the soldiers that were trying to break in through the gate.

I couldn't control the sword because my weight was leaning against it.

"Ack!!"

When the sword pierced through his weak skin, his scream filled the based.

"Ahhhh!! Wait…wait…wait!!"

He was starting to panic and all he could say was the word, wait, and begged for me to take the sword out.

Swoos.h.!.+

I declined and slashed his body.

His strong armor shattered into pieces and it fell to the ground after it flew into the air.

He kneeled and his body fell forward.

His blood painted the ground and red blood flowed out of him like a river.

The people behind him took this as a sign and started charging towards me.

Over 10 swords were above my head.

I started gathering my energy.

While I was dodging the swords that were attacking, I took down the enemy one by one.

They couldn't use their mana either.

Which meant that I only had to be careful of their swords.

Swoos.h.!.+

No matter how many of them I took down, more would appear and it caused my heart to beat faster.

The only thing I heard was the sound of my heart beating fast.

There was one thing they didn't know.

During the third stage, I focused more on training myself with a sword than mana.

Concentrating for hours was difficult, but using a sword was different.

Whenever I took a worn sword to the shop for repair, the condition of the sword improved every time.

Because I enjoyed it so much, I slashed and pierced different things every day.

All I did was slash and pierce repeatedly, but doing that for three years was effective.

My confidence level increased every time I held the sword.

"You crazy…this guy."

After three minutes, a man with a lance was filled with anxiety and it could be heard when he spoke.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing and couldn't understand how this could happen.

All the blood that was flying in the air belonged to the enemy.

There were a couple of people that were on the ground begging for mercy.

"Get away!! We'll use the archers."

The man that was commanding the crowd yelled at them to step away.

The archers that were on standby shot their arrows at me.

Fwoos.h.!.+

I created a large circle with the sword.

The strong wind blocked the arrows that were flying towards me and fell to the ground.

"Is that possible even without mana?"

They all had a blank expression and observed my skill.

"We don't stand a chance. He's a monster!!"

"Run. If this continues, we'll all die."

Like they had mentioned, this was the same as a slaughterhouse.

The ground was filled with dead bodies and body parts.

If someone from outside looked into the base, they would think this was a place where they kept all the corpses.

I waved my sword instinctively and slashed the last enemy.

There was no one here anyways.

It felt like I fell into a sewer that reeked of blood.

I placed the sword on the ground and closed my eyes.

"…Brothers."

Kalax's soldiers broke through the gate and arrived at the scene.

"I'm…I'm really sorry."

I wasn't sure what he was apologizing about, but a tear rolled down his face.

Staff :

Jen (TL)

Kuhaku (PR)