“Cough.”
Blood spilled onto the ground as his exhausted body finally collapsed.
Before fully collapsing, Helkrai barely managed to catch himself, his dimd eyes scanning the surroundings.
Everywhere he looked, the scene was filled with nothing but tragedy.
The battle that had created this tragedy was fiercer than ever, and it ant that the mont he had been pursuing had finally arrived.
He had always believed that fierce battles were the ans to achieve what he sought.
He had denied his birthright, abandoned his kin, and joined the Demon King’s army in pursuit of power and status.
“Cough, heuk…!!”
Yet, what was this weight lodged in his chest?
Despite achieving feats impossible for a re orc, why could he not find satisfaction in this mont?
‘Is this really…?’
He knew the reason.
He didn’t feel like he had attained what he had long desired from this battle.
No matter how many greedy demons, full of nothing but scorn and selfish ambitions, he killed, there was no way he could obtain sothing like honor from them.
‘Is this truly the mont I had been hoping for?’
Had they survived, they would have scorned and forgotten him. Killing them all was nothing more than cleaning up trash.
If there was no one present to give value to his actions, no matter how hard and grueling the process was, it would leave no aning behind.
‘Did anything I did really have aning?’
Of course, if he had pride in himself, that too could be considered honor.
Even if not, he could leave this place and hope that the mont he sought would co later.
But he was strong, not invincible.
He knew better than anyone that he wouldn’t be able to rise again after this battle, as his body, riddled with pain, made clear.
-Drip, splat!
The blood that poured from him soaked the ground.
Even the regenerative powers granted by the demon blood had reached their limit.
His vision gradually darkened, and the sensation in his hand gripping the weapon faded, telling him that his ti was almost up.
An orc who had defied his birth and kin, in the end, would leave nothing behind and et his death.
‘Truly… nothing…’
As the hollow realization filled his heart, the demon blood running through his veins began to boil as if it was trying to take over.
Even his dying body thrashed in desperation.
It paralyzed his rational thoughts, which beckoned surrender, driving his ragged body to struggle pathetically.
‘Even after living so fiercely, do I truly have nothing left?’
The hollow feeling gradually turned to rage.
That rage converted into strength, forcing his broken body to rise, and his dulled senses flared violently back to life.
Even through his torn ears, he strained to listen, and he sniffed out the faint traces buried within the bloody stench of the battlefield.
-Kwaaarng!
With a single violent swing, the upper part of the ruins was blown away, revealing everything hidden beneath.
A human woman, who had hidden herself in a place out of the Demon King’s army’s sight, silently waiting for the battle to end.
“Kyahhh!”
The mont the woman saw him, she scread and curled up, and Helkrai felt the desire that swallowed his reason spiral even stronger.
It was an instinct inherited from his species.
Since breeding was their thod of preserving their species, this desire, this hunger, only grew stronger in the face of death.
‘Female.’
He, too, was no exception to the call of this instinct.
No matter how much his goals differed, the demon blood only intensified his species’ instincts, unleashing uncontrollable urges.
‘Female… woman…’
Once his desire-driven hand touched her, her fragile body would beco nothing more than a tool to release his hunger.
No matter how much her body was broken or her dignity shattered.
Driven solely by the desire to spread his seed, he would bury everything in that one goal.
-Kuuung!!!
But the hand that should have sought her ended up slamd into the ground, his body suppressed as he tried to advance.
At that mont, the terrified woman froze once more.
Facing her directly, Helkrai spoke.
“Get… lost.”
As an orc, as a demon.
And suppressing the instincts of a dying creature with sheer conviction alone.
“If you’re not here to fight, get out of the battlefield!!!”
What he sought was always a duel with the strong, and his blade should never be pointed at those who were not warriors.
Hearing the fierce determination in his voice, the woman let out a wail and began to flee.
“Waaah, aaahhh!!”
Her cries grew fainter, and soon her figure completely disappeared from his sight.
As the overwhelming urge faded, exhaustion washed over him, and he lowered his head, staring at his empty hands, lost in thought.
‘In the end… nothing remains.’
No matter how fiercely he fought, he had grasped nothing.
Perhaps he had kicked away what might have been his last chance.
What was he trying to achieve with such an act?
‘…aning?’
At that mont, a realization dawned upon him.
‘Why have I been clinging to sothing like aning?’
It was akin to denying everything he had built up until now.
Even the fear of death, which he had co to understand through countless dangers faced alone…
And the passion to leave behind sothing more than just his species’ survival, to resist inevitable fate—all of it was aningless?
‘To live is to die.’
The corpses strewn around this place were proof of that.
No matter how long one had lived, no matter how fierce the struggle or how much they had gained, it could all crumble in vain.
Even the strong who brought them down were not free from that fate, as this final battle had taught him.
‘What the living leave behind will soon disappear as well. In the end, nothing remains…’
By accepting that, perhaps the hollowness he felt at the end would ease just a little.
Accepting that everyone would eventually vanish into the void could serve as so comfort for his end.
‘Is life truly this fleeting?’
With those thoughts, it was ti to let go of life.
Until he heard the sound of footsteps approaching.
-Step, step.
In the place where the fleeing woman had vanished, another presence appeared.
Before Helkrai could lift his head, sensing the unusual aura, the figure began to speak.
“So, the one who did this… it was you, after all.”
A familiar voice…
No, it was a voice he couldn’t ignore.
The owner of this voice had the power to leave an impression on his target, and it had built anticipation for the day they would et again.
“You…”
Yes, in the past, he had made a promise with this person.
Though he had been weak at the ti, he had drawn strength from the determination he had seen then.
He believed that if he continued to grow, he would beco soone he could be proud of.
“I’ve heard the rough details. You betrayed the Demon King’s army and protected the people…”
As soon as he sensed the presence of a formidable warrior, strength returned to his limp hand.
That hand slowly reached for the weapon lying on the ground.
“For that, I wanted to thank you…”
Before the words were finished, a heavy strike sent his body flying.
But he wasn’t crushed.
He managed to absorb the impact in that fleeting mont, landing squarely in the spot where he was thrown, glaring back at his attacker.
“…Helkrai.”
“Why did you block my attack?”
Just eting his gaze made Helkrai’s heart race.
The life that was supposed to fade soon now flared even stronger, ignited by the force of their clash.
“Answer . Why did you block my attack?”
He could feel that his long-pursued desire could be realized.
The mont he beca aware of that fact, his body, which should have collapsed, stood up on its own, preparing for what was to co.
“Because if I don’t… I’ll die.”
“That’s why you blocked my attack?”
To regain the balance of a body that could collapse at any mont.
“Because I want to live…”
The determination that flared within him was aid directly at the one standing before him.
“Even if what awaits you at the end of this life is sothing you do not desire… you blocked my attack to cling to that life?”
The earth shook violently with a loud thud as the hamr struck the ground.
As the ruined buildings, crumbled by the fierce battle, continued to collapse one by one, the man before him calmly answered, gripping his weapon.
“Yes.”
In order to survive in this harsh world.
No matter what dangers lay before him, his resolve to push through and extend his life was clear.
“Then you must know what you must do here and now?”
Yes, this man would never give up.
If he could continue to survive, he would fight to the end to leave his mark on this world.
And a battle with soone with such determination would be fiercer than any other. At the end of such a fight, what he had been seeking would surely be there.
“……”
Before the orc, who had found his resolve, the human warrior quietly pointed his spear and began to steady his breath.
He, too, rembered their promise.
Now was the ti to finish the unresolved battle.
“Woo Hyo-sung, warrior of humanity! At this mont, I will carve your na into my soul to fulfill the promise we made in the past. You, too, rember my na clearly!”
The warrior, who should have fallen, stood tall, filled with determination, and shouted at him louder than ever before.
“My na is Helkrai! The one who sought honor and stepped onto the fiercest battlefield!!!!”
Reviews
All reviews (0)