Crack!
The deadlock continued as the iron sword slowly carved into the thick wooden club.
Eventually, the club in the orc's hand reached a disadvantageous angle and was cut apart by Saelran's iron blade.
The broken end flew off and fell some distance away, scattering dirt everywhere.
The orc's ferocious face stared at his broken weapon. His expression showed not only confusion and disbelief but also an unconscious step backward.
With intelligence only slightly higher than a goblin's, he could not understand why this weak human prey was stronger than him.
While the orc stood frozen, Saelran's eyes flashed when he saw the orc's exposed chest. Ignoring the numbness in his arm, he gripped the hilt tightly, angled the blade upward, and charged forward, driving the sword into the orc's chest.
Thud!
The sharp tip of the iron sword pierced the orc's festering chest wound. The force of the impact and the upward thrust drove the blade deep toward the left side of its heart.
"Pain, pain, hurts!"
The intense agony almost drove the orc insane.
"Food, human food!"
Even after taking a blow like that, the orc still had the strength to forcefully raise both massive hands and grab toward Saelran's chest.
The two of them were so close that Saelran barely had any room to dodge.
But…
"Instant Reflex!" A pale blue light enveloped Saelran's entire body.
In the next moment, Saelran's body seemed to rewind time. He rapidly retreated within the flickering blue light, returning to the position he had been in before delivering the strike.
Bang!
The orc's hands crashed together with a muffled thud, his thick arms grasping nothing but empty air.
As Saelran activated "Instant Reflex" to retreat, his iron sword was pulled free, causing blood to gush from the orc's wound.
In a situation like this…
The violent pain made the orc roar and pant like a wild beast.
Even though his heart had been pierced, his overwhelming vitality did not kill him instantly. Instead, he staggered, repeatedly reaching out to grab Saelran, until he finally collapsed.
Thud!
Dirt rose into the air.
Even then, the orc's body on the ground twitched and writhed slightly.
Seeing this, Saelran did not step forward to finish him. He refused to repeat the mistake made by Dalron, captain of the Guard team.
"Food can also fight back. So you can die now." Saelran watched the struggling orc coldly.
Once the battle ended, relief washed over him.
Hiss—
Saelran took a slow breath. The pain and numbness in his hand and arm spread, and his entire body began to throb.
This was clearly the side effect of using "Instant Reflex".
The martial art "Instant Reflex" forcibly resets the body or an unstable posture to its previous position right after delivering a strike.
It is extremely effective for avoiding an opponent's counterattack.
However, the unnatural and forceful restoration puts a heavy strain on the body.
He glanced at his HP on the status panel.
His HP had not decreased.
A serious look appeared in Saelran's eyes.
It seemed the physical strain caused by "Instant Reflex" did not reduce his HP… no, it simply had not reached the threshold that would reduce it.
『Buzz—』
『Gained 320 Experience points!』
The notification appeared on the status panel.
"Dead?"
Saelran shifted his gaze away from the orc's corpse when the message reappeared on his status screen.
[Experience Points: 1271/1500]
Defeating the small goblin tribe, plus one orc, had significantly increased his experience.
Saelran rested for a moment. The numbness in his arm gradually faded. He then walked toward the orc and the goblin corpses, cutting off their little fingers.
At the same time, he began searching through the small tribe.
As a former player, how could he forget about loot?
Unfortunately, after thoroughly searching the area, Saelran found nothing valuable except a large pile of bones and rotting scraps of meat.
He was not too disappointed. He had not expected anything valuable in the first place.
He walked over to the two remaining human corpses.
He paused for a moment, sighed, and turned away.
He did not bother digging graves to bury them because it was pointless.
Not only would it waste energy, but in a forest environment, burying corpses would simply attract wild beasts who would dig them up.
The only option was to burn the bodies to ash.
However, lighting a fire in this dim forest would stand out too much and pose a serious risk to Saelran.
He needed to understand that the real danger in this area was not the goblins and orcs, but grunnfangs and Ogloo himself, the true ruler of this territory.
Night gradually fell.
Even during the day, the dense foliage of the forest blocked most of the sunlight. Only fragments of moonlight managed to slip through the gaps between the branches.
The entire forest became pitch black, and the roars of beasts suddenly grew clearer.
In a place where human visibility was extremely poor, and without night vision or any nighttime movement skill, Saelran would not act recklessly.
He chose a relatively dense tree.
Saelran climbed the sturdy trunk, pulled out the black cloak he had bought earlier, wrapped it around himself, and leaned against the tree to settle in.
To be honest, it was uncomfortable.
The branches were hard and prickly, and the constant chirping of insects and roars of distant beasts made him restless.
"This is finding happiness even in hardship," Saelran muttered, wrapped in his cloak as he gazed at the starlit sky and bright moon filtering through the leaves.
In the eastern part of Arkenwald Forest, the only troublesome creatures were goblins and orcs. After fighting them earlier, Saelran had a basic understanding of their combat style and strength.
They were troublesome, but clearly not a threat.
So although slightly tense, he was not overly anxious.
Instead, he calmly admired the moon of this other world.
"Compared to my previous life, where I was a burden to others, this life filled with power, even though dangerous, gives me a sense of security."
"At least I know what I must do each day and what may happen in the future."
These thoughts crossed Saelran's mind.
However, the looming shadow of the approaching "Nine Gate of Helldusk" immediately wiped away the brief good mood that had just risen in his heart.