So sorry for the lack of updates! Stuff happened. But here it is~

We observed the Great Priest's actions.

He didn't have s.h.i.+ning gold hair like the other Elves, but had white spiky hair and beard.

Unlike Kalax, who became the leader of the Orcs at a young age, the Great Priest maintained his position for over 10 years, which would explain his elegance.

The natural beings around them greeted the Great Priest and moved as if they were dancing.

"Let's go!"

They lost the lead due to the Orcs running out all of a sudden.

Kalax and the other soldiers ran out with all their might, but I didn't run with them.

The Great priest had a smirk on his face as if he knew.

A cold wind blew around him, which froze everything that was around them.

The magic was similar to the Elf that I previously fought, but there was a difference between the activation time.

During that time, the temperature within the area dropped and that's when the magic was activated.

"d.a.m.n it. It's too fast."

Tapping the floor with just their staff was enough time to prepare everything.

Even though it was the enemy that was performing the magic at a fast rate, it was impressive.

Among the soldiers, the sorcerers that's been chosen out of them have been defeated many times by the Great Priest's magic.

They were stuck within an ice pillar and they managed to move their eyes, asking the others to save them.

Thankfully, the clan leaders were completely frozen and were enduring it.

"Gah, I can't seem to move."

All of the clan leaders' legs were frozen.

They moved violently to break free, but the Great Priest commanded his underlings to use their bow and arrows.

"Mother Nature has informed me. That you guys were near here. I'm not sure how you savage Orcs found out that I was going to be here today, but it all worked out. I'll finish you off for good."

The Great Priest had a boring look on his face, but his comment gave me chills.

"It's not over yet."

There was a reason why Kalax was the leader of the Orcs, because he was the only one that dodged their magic.

He attacked the Great Priest with his axe, but it didn't touch him.

It seemed like the Great Priest calculated everything perfectly, because unlike the ordinary sorcerers, he dodged it with ease.

"You're still young. The leader of the Orcs. You aren't as skilled as the previous leader."

The Great Priest was holding a ball of fire in his hand and when he released it, it looked like a dragon was spitting it out of its mouth.

Kalax missed his chance to dodge, so he tried to endure the fire, but it looked like he was having a hard time enduring it.

Swoos.h.!.+

I threw my sword from afar and as it landed beside the Great Priest, a small crack was formed on the transparent s.h.i.+eld that surrounded them.

"Who was that? It was a pretty impressive wind magic."

The Great Priest used his magic again and sent Kalax flying when he noticed Kalax was still in front of him.

And then he quickly turned his attention towards me.

He must've been angry about cracking his s.h.i.+eld, because he had a serious look on his face.

"It's not wind magic. It just cut your s.h.i.+eld."

"Cut it? Stop joking."

He looked like he didn't believe what I said, so I threw another sword to show him.

The sound of the wind cutting could be heard, which could make one think that I used wind magic.

Crack!!

The same thing happened to the s.h.i.+eld.

The Great Priest's calm and serious expression changed.

"Is it that surprising that a sword can cut the s.h.i.+eld?"

"It is. I heard about what happened at Ericsson. You must be the human that helped take back the base. Ha ha, it seems like you're skilled with the sword, but you still lack a lot."

I didn't say anything and instead, I focused on closing the distance between us.

The soldiers behind him were ready to shoot their arrows as soon as the Great Priest gave them the signal.

"Stand down. You could get caught in my magic. It's been awhile since I had to use my power."

When he rolled up his sleeves, he had bulky muscles, despite of his old age.

The Great Priest waved his staff around and was consuming the mana from Mother Nature.

Because of that, trees that haven't been fully grown and the gra.s.s suddenly changed colors.

"Elves love nature, so this is something that an Elf shouldn't be doing."

"They understand how I feel, so they're helping me. Ha ha. But, it's surprising that there's still a human that's willing to help the Orcs."

"Is that so?"

"…Interesting."

The Great Priest had a disgusting look on his face.

It seemed like he was unsatisfied and was trying hard to remember something.

"Something like this happened before. It's odd that during a battle, when one side has the advantage, the other side somehow is able to turn the table around. If that didn't happen, this war would've been over a long time ago. One side would've won."

"I really don't understand. Let's end the conversation here."

The Great Priest mumbled to himself and despite of feeling unsatisfied, he entered the fight.

After raising both of his hands, a ball of fire formed above him.

He put together two fireb.a.l.l.s into one, which created a large ball of fire.

"A swordsman will never be able to perform this kind of skill."

Like he had mentioned, there were a lot of things a swordsman couldn't perform, but it was possible with magic.

There were many sorcerers that obtained their confidence from that.

However, that wasn't a reason for a swordsman to lose.

"You're not running away. I'm sure you know that you'll die if you get hit."

Of course if I got hit with that, it'll be difficult to stay alive, even for me.

If that ball of fire hits me, then everyone within this stage will be busy retreating.

However, I didn't run away.

"No matter what you do with the sword, the result will be the same. I'll encase you in an ice pillar just like the other Orcs."

"If you keep looking down on me like that, you'll get hurt. Great Priest."

He must've thought it was all over because I saw a lot of openings.

The fire ball moved at a faster rate than I expected, but that was it.

I noticed a small dot inside the magic and cut it.

Then, the spell lost its form and naturally dispersed behind me.

The Great Priest's expression changed.

Cutting through a spell was something he's never heard of.

Spell Breaker.

It seemed like I was the only one within the stage that succeeded in learning this skill.

Using a skill that could cut through spells was the worst skill for a sorcerer.

"You cut through it using a sword? That's not possible."

If he was a bit calmer, he could've used his fast casting ability and prepare the next spell.

However, despite of gathering all the mana from Mother Nature, I was able to cut through it easily, so it's obvious that he would panic.

In order to stop me from approaching closer to him, he chose to extend his staff out towards me.

A special spell was used on the Great Priest's staff, so it was stronger than steel, but it wasn't enough to go against my sword.

The staff was cut and due to losing his concentration, the s.h.i.+eld around him weakened.

"Wa…wait."

Humans, Elves, Orcs displayed the same expression right before their death.

He started shaking and his expression was asking me to spare him.

'How unfortunate.'

No matter how skilled someone was, if they become careless, they won't be able to use their power to their full potential.

It was his fault for looking down on me because he thought I only knew how to use a sword.

If he used the information he received from his underlings regarding the battle at Ericsson, he might've been more careful.

He probably thought about different excuses regarding why he lost, but it was already too late.

He wasn't going to be given a second chance and my sword was seconds away from slicing his head off.

Clank!!

There was something that was blocking my sword.

I thought it was the Great Priest's magic, but that wasn't it.

Someone with wings managed to block my sword with just one finger.

"Your main mission was to take back the bases and create a balance between them. Did we ever ask you to take the head of the Great Priest?"

Their overwhelming presence intimidated me.

I felt the same overwhelming feeling before and it was when I met the Manager during the third stage.

"You really are an unpredictable human. You even stole an item from Aris before, right? This is the first time I've seen your type."

I sheathed the sword that was near the Great Priest's neck.

And spoke to the presence that was in front of me.

"You'll need to give me a reasonable explanation regarding why you blocked my sword. You're a different manager. If you don't, then I'll use this sword to cut you down instead of that old Elf over there."

End.

Staff :

Jen (TL)

Kuhaku (PR)