As the two warriors clashed with neither taking a step back, it was as if two elephants were fighting in the meadows to decide who would reign king. Before anyone knew it, the goblins and humans near them were charmed.
Though the standpoints of the soldiers were different, their respective kings, whom they believed in, were fighting each other. It would have been stranger had they not been charmed. Gradually, silence overtook the area surrounding the two kings.
Within that silence, only the sound of their battle cries and the clashing of steel could be heard.
The guardian sword of the giants (t.i.tan dagger) that the Goblin King swung carried with it powerful winds as the Goblin King sought to slash Brandika diagonally down from the shoulder. King Brandika met that attack from the opposite direction with his Long Double-Edged Axe (Valdis). As axe and sword met, they bounced off each other, and then another attack came.
When the great sword was deflected, the Goblin King brought it back and swept against Brandika from the right. In response, Brandika sprung up his axe and swung down with it. Neither one was willing to yield as they continued to fight at point blank.
As the Goblin King glared at Brandika, the latter smiled like a beast.
“What’s wrong, monster!? Is that all you’ve got!?”
“GU, NU…”
It was just a little, but without a doubt, the scale was leaning. Perhaps it was fatigue or perhaps it was because he had used too much ether, but Brandika was starting to put out a little more power than the Goblin King.
Weapons locked, as they each tried to crush the other dead, the G.o.d Cla.s.s weapons cried out. As they put enough strength to crush the molars they grit, the two kings separated, then clashed once more. The attacked they released when they separated cut the air, and the shockwaves from their attacks crashed into the surrounding soldiers, causing them to bend.
“Die!”
“Don’t look down on me!”
They both held the sword above their heads and cut diagonally down with their respective weapons. The trajectory their weapons followed was almost the same. As such, the two weapons were bound to clash. When the G.o.d Cla.s.s weapons clashed, it was as if a small bomb had exploded as the resulting force looked for an exit.
“Ohh, so you can do it if you try!”
“Keep prattling!”
The Goblin King used his will to silence the thoughts within seeking to rage, then he swung his great sword. As he tamed the power bestowed upon him by the G.o.ds, he transformed it into his own and swung his sword.
“Turn me into a blade (Enchant)!”
As the king used Third Impact (The Third Chant) along with his burning black flame of ether, the flames of the underworld quickly expanded.
“Come!”
Nothing was imbued within Brandika’s battle axe. One could tell from his bulging muscles that all he had was pure power, but those bulges were not ordinary. For the vessels along Brandika’s bulging muscles were pulsating.
That great power was coupled with a G.o.d cla.s.s weapon – said to be the strongest weapons in the world – and unleashed itself against the Goblin King’s great sword. The sound of the impact was like that of a cracked bell ringing throughout the world. It caused the hipparion Brandika was riding upon to panic.
But the same held true for the Goblin King’s Sui, forcing the two kings to back off and dismount. There was a distance of 10 steps between them. As the two kings confronted each other, after that flash of silence, without any signal, they took a step.
“URAa!”
“NUu!”
As the two powers clashed, the air shook and the atmosphere was cut. The earth cracked under the step of the two kings as they continued to swing their weapons.
As the Goblin King’s great sword was deflected to the right, he allowed the impact to pa.s.s through, then he took another step forward. Like a dance performance, the Goblin King nimbly moved; like a spinning top, the Goblin King turned his back on the enemy and shifted his center of gravity. As that happened simultaneously, the Goblin King swept with his great sword from the side.
But Brandika had also measured the distance when his weapon was deflected. Having decided that he was a little too close to the Goblin King, he moved back a little. At the same time, he put his entire body’s strength into his battle axe and intercepted the Goblin King’s attack.
As he let out a battle cry and struck down the Goblin King’s great sword, he glanced at the Goblin King’s great sword that struck the ground and his own battle axe. In a flash, he took a step, and swung his battle axe at the Goblin King’s neck. With his animal-like instincts, Brandika could tell that the monster in front of him had terrifying regenerative prowess.
Although that was something he sensed partly because of his experience in hunting monsters, he was indeed correct. Dealing a little damage to the foe before him would only spur him even more. What he needed was a powerful blow that would instantly kill the enemy before him.
The Goblin King looked at his great sword that had been struck into the ground and immediately released it, expecting that Brandika would follow up with a strike of his own. Just as he expected, Brandika took a step forward. In response, he took a step forward himself and swung his fists. No matter how strong Brandika might be, in the end, he was only human. His body was much weaker compared to the Goblin King; hence, if the Goblin King hit him with his fist, the only result would be his face caving in, his bones breaking, and his life ending.
Because the Goblin King knew that he unhesitatingly chose to fight in super close combat.
But Brandika’s resolve went above that. The Goblin King’s mighty fist. Even though both of them knew that he would die as soon as that fist hit him, Brandika pushed his head into the trajectory of that fist without hesitation, and at the same time allowed his battle axe to finish its swing.
“KA!?”
“GU!?”
Both warriors staggered.
The Goblin King’s fist managed to hit Brandika’s head, but what was unexpected was that Brandika’s weapon had strengthened his physical abilities. A defensive power that not even the Goblin King could penetrate. But even then the Goblin King was still able to damage Brandika’s face, as could be seen by him staggering in front of the Goblin King.
Compared to that, however, the damage the Goblin King incurred was far greater. The magic battle axe had buried itself into his shoulder and broken his bone. That blow that entered from his collar bone to his shoulder blade had indeed left a heavy wound. The Goblin King could no longer feel his right arm.
But the Goblin King still got back up first. Brandika, who had been hit in the head with a punch, needed a little more time to collect himself. The Goblin King used that opening to kick Brandika.
“GAHA!?”
After moving Brandika out of the way, the Goblin King checked his unmoving right arm, then picked up his Guardian Sword of the Giants (t.i.tan Dagger) with his left arm. As the Goblin King felt black ether pouring out of his wounds instead of blood, he could tell that his wounds were regenerating. He wielded his great sword once more as he walked toward Brandika.
Despite breathing heavily and blood flowing out of his mouth and several of his organs being damaged, Brandika smiled fearlessly as he stood up.
As the Goblin King gradually regained use of his right arm, he thought of saying something to the enemy before him, but in the end, he decided not to.
“…Words are meaningless, huh.”
The Goblin King had thought of asking Brandika to surrender, but after seeing the pride behind that fearless smile of his, he dropped the idea. Could the proud man who claims himself as king of the humans surrender here? The answer was no.
The moment they named themselves king was also the moment they cursed themselves to keep that name till death.
Presently, humans and monsters yet lived in two different worlds, but the Goblin King wants to rule them both.
If the king of the people were to be introduced into the equation, then wouldn’t the monsters and the humans only hate each other? As the Goblin King fought with the man before him, such a question beckoned him.
That was another reason why he took a step forward.
“My sword shall crush you!”
“…Monster, you think I could possibly lose to the likes of you!?”
As Brandika brushed aside the air with his battle axe, he forced his unmoving leg to step in as fast as he could.
“NUUoAAAAAa!”
Blood poured out from Brandika’s veins and forced his muscles to bulge abnormally. Blood infused with ether [1] poured to every corner of Brandika’s body as he moved, from his heart to his liver to all of his muscles.
Brandika’s battle axe was literally an iron hammer that could crush the earth.
“GUuRURUuUUuUAaaA aaA AA!!”
But the Goblin King met that iron hammer with his great sword.
He took a step, and the ground was crushed, then with his right arm that shouldn’t have been able to move, he gripped his great sword. Finally, as he usurped power from the servants of the G.o.ds, he released a blow.
Two powers, each carrying everything their respective masters possessed, met each other and released a storm of power. In the next moment, Brandika’s battle axe was deflected, and the sword that was used by the t.i.tans to claim heads bore itself into the body of the human king.
The guardian sword of the giants (t.i.tan dagger) tore through his blessed defenses, bit off his trained muscles, crushed the bones that supported his body, and severed the pride that may or may not be inside.
As the Goblin King’s sword crushed the top of Brandika’s shoulders, wrecked everything until his collar bone, and then severed the heart from the rest of the organs, the journey of the southern king came to an end.
“…”
Without so much as a word uttered, Brandika fell. And by the time he’d fallen, already he was dead.
One king looked down from up high, while the other prostrated himself down low.
And yet, for some reason or another, it seemed as if a hint of satisfaction could be seen on Brandika’s twisted lips.
◆◆◆
“Impossible…” Muttered a voice after about a breath after the Goblin King killed Brandika’s.
That voice echoed throughout the area, reaching the spectators that have been charmed by the battle of the two kings.
But the goblins were still watching. They stared so hard at the Goblin King it was as if they were waiting for something.
And then… The Goblin King did it. He took the human king’s sword and lifted it up high, and then he said.
“Shout out the cry of triumph! Let our victory resound throughout the world!”
“King! King! King!”
The goblins zealously called out the name of the king. They struck the ground with the b.u.t.t of their spear and knocked their shields and made merry.
It was at this moment that the humans turned around and screamed.
It was also at this moment that – for the first time – the world came to realize that the goblins were indeed opposing the humans.
“Trample our foes underfoot! Wipe them out! Already, there is none left who can impede the path to our dominion!”
The Goblin King once again mounted Sui and gave orders as he wielded his Black-Red-Speckled Great Sword.
“After me!”
In order to save the fortress that was yet fighting, the Goblin King rode northwest. Though busied with giving orders, Pale could clearly see that the Goblin King had turned around.
She commanded, “Open the castle gates and pursue the enemy. a.s.sume the Arrow-Point Formation! Lord Rashka of the Gaidga and Lord Gi Go Amatsuki shall take the lead!”
“Finally! I was dying waiting!”
As Rashka hit his club on his shoulder, he bellowed and let loose a roar that has long been waiting for a release. As soon as the castle gates were opened, the human soldiers were crushed.
In the blink of an eye, word of the Goblin King’s victory spread throughout the entire army. After all, Brandika’s stronghold was destroyed by the Goblin King. There was no hiding it. The various units that gave out orders fell into panic.
And even the more chaotic mixed army immediately started retreating as soon as they got word of Brandika’s defeat. As a result, a part of the goblin forces was suddenly left with nothing to do.
“Lord Gi Zu, bring your platoon in front of the castle gates!”
When Pale saw that, she immediately revised her tactics and gave orders to Gi Zu’s platoon, which was about to pursue the enemy.
“NU… If I must!”
Gi Zu gave up on the pursuit, turned around, and provided support for Gi Gu, who was fighting in front of the castle gates.
Gi Zu’s brawler goblins launched an attack toward the flanks of the human platoon fighting with Gi Gu Verbena. The fists of the brawler goblins brought much pain upon the humans. With Gi Gu’s army and Gi Zu’s army crushing upon them, the Red King’s army had no choice but to break formation and flee.
As the human army broke formation and fled, the demihumans started attacking from outside the battlefield. Fanfan led a swarm of ants, and regardless of whether the humans were alive or not, they swarmed into the jaws of the humans. As for the humans that crossed the river and tried to run away there were met with the swords of the lizard men.
“Lord Gi Gi, release the monster army!”
Just to be doubly sure, both Gi Gi’s monster army and the demihumans’ monsters were released and sent after the humans. By the time most of the enemies had been driven away, the battlefield was already dyed with the light of the setting sun.
Pale walked through the blood-stained and corpse-filled land.
“…Vengeance is done.”
Within the empty meadows, where no living creature was left, Pale cried alone.
And so, the battle that would decide the ruler of the south was won by the goblins. And after Brandika and Carlion’s death, the Red King quickly lost its momentum, and just like that, the unprecedented kingdom that appeared out of nowhere vanished.