"Show yourself, Orphin!"
Koran was stunned to hear that name. It was a famous name in all five kingdoms, a name that never brought anything good.
"Is he really calling for Orphin?" Koran thought, searching for the face of the person being called.
Truthfully, Koran didn't know what Orphin looked like. No one knew his face. All that was known about him was that he was a person with a very powerful and destructive being.
"It must be him," Koran thought, looking at a soldier in his forties, his face full of scars, with curly hair.
Even though Koran, or anyone else, didn't know Orphin's face, there was a stereotypical image of him from enemies who had fought him.
The person called the Son of Calamity had to be terrifying. His victims described him as being covered in scars without specifying any particular area, his eyes empty and emotionless. He was like a war machine.
"Don't shout so much, old man."
It was a response from Orphin, but the man Koran was watching didn't move at all. It wasn't him.
Many soldiers turned around. Among them, a young man stepped forward. Yes, just a young man, about fifteen years old, with no scars on his face.
He was a youth in his late teens, his face pale and his features lifeless and still, his eyes empty as if they weren't looking at anything. His lips were stained with blood, and a thin red line trailed down from his mouth. His long black hair hung carelessly over his forehead.
"Are you really Orphin?" Vallhim asked in a mocking tone, looking at Orphin and the soldiers gathered behind him.
All the soldiers of the Fifth Kingdom were looking at Orphin, but it wasn't a look of respect for a leader. It was more like a look of scorn. This made Vallhim change his tone from mockery to complete disregard for his opponent.
"Hahaha, it seems you can't believe everything you hear anymore," Vallhim laughed.
"Isn't the weather a bit cold, old man? You should wear something or you'll catch a cold, or worse, I'll kill you," Koran spoke in a joking yet frightening tone.
"You'll kill me? It seems you have a big mouth," Vallhim replied seriously.
Despite Vallhim mocking Orphin, he didn't lower his guard for a second. Being a warrior made him confident, but he knew not to make fun of any opponent, and the aura of the person in front of him was not ordinary.
"Forward, soldiers!" Vallhim shouted to his men.
The battle began...
The ground shook under the stampede of thousands of footsteps. Rows of soldiers facing each other advanced slowly until the armies collided. The sounds of clashing metal and screams covered everything. No one retreated; the battle was even, each army pushing the other back with equal force.
Amid the chaos, a soldier from the front lines of the Fifth Kingdom's army stood out: Orphin. He charged forward steadily, cutting his path through his opponents and taking down soldier after soldier. He didn't stop; he fought with confidence, striking precisely, until it seemed like he was an entire front line by himself.
On the opposite side, Vallhim of the First Kingdom's army fought with the same strength. He carved his way through his opponents without hesitation, knocking them down one after another, until the eyes of the soldiers around him turned towards him.
Both of them moved across the battlefield like separate forces of nature, changing the course of the fight wherever they went, until their direct confrontation became the event that would decide the balance between the two armies.
The number of soldiers had started to decrease on both sides, but the advantage had begun to tilt toward the First Kingdom's army because of Vallhim's great strength. Orphin noticed this and knew that letting the battle continue like this would mean losing many of his soldiers, or even losing the battle itself.
He didn't care about the soldiers' lives, but his mission was to conquer the First Kingdom with as few soldier losses as possible.
That's what made Orphin advance through the soldiers toward Vallhim. He cut through the soldiers as if they were dolls, easily slicing down everyone in his path until he reached him.
Vallhim turned to face him while holding a soldier by the neck, then threw him aside.
"I can't believe they sent a child to our kingdom! Do they think we are that weak?"
Orphin didn't answer with words; he preferred to speak with his actions. He threw a fast punch toward Vallhim's face that split the air.
Vallhim could have blocked it with his arms, but he quickly chose instead to draw his two swords from their sheaths to parry the blow. It looked like an ordinary punch to anyone, but not to Vallhim, who knew that Orphin wouldn't attack with just his fist if that was all he had.
The fist never touched the swords, a small distance remaining between them despite Vallhim's parry. But in that second, it started first as a vibration, like a slight tremor underfoot. Then, in a single moment, it transformed into a massive shockwave that shattered the silence of the place. The ground split with deep, jagged lines, as if shattering from within. Rocks scattered in every direction, and walls crumbled piece by piece. Dust rose thickly, covering visibility, and the air filled with the successive sounds of collapse and impact.
The very ground became unstable; chunks of earth shifted underfoot, and some people fell directly into the gaps that opened without warning. Bodies lost their balance, people fell to their knees, and they scrambled randomly in a desperate attempt to escape the crumbling battlefield. Faces trembled with terror, and breaths became ragged within the smoke and dust.
Each new tremor was stronger than the last, until it seemed the very earth wanted to swallow everything upon it. The loud noises didn't subside but grew more intense, pierced by the scattered screams of those unable to escape. This moment wasn't just a tremor; it was a full-blown catastrophe, making the earth itself an enemy that could not be fought.
Vallhim planted his feet firmly on the ground, raised his head slightly, and then smiled, followed by a deep laugh.
"Starting to use your creature's power, are you?! So this is why they call you the Calamity's Son."