'He's right… this isn't the time to think. If my ten minutes run out… I'm finished.'
The two-headed orc bent forward with an enraged growl, grabbing the swords that had fallen to the ground one by one. The cold metal settled into his grip, and he felt his strength return—or at least forced himself to believe it had.
With a savage roar, he lunged at Lioran.
"I'll admit it—you're strong… but you've got one weakness!"
All four swords came crashing down at once—a lethal strike from every direction, merciless and relentless.
The other head burst into a confident laugh and shouted:
"That you're human!"
But the laughter died halfway.
The swords came down—
—and stopped.
Not by a shield.
Not by dodging.
Not by magic.
Lioran hadn't moved.
He stood exactly where he was.
He had activated his Iron Body skill.
Nothing about his appearance seemed different, but the Iron Body skill turned his skin as hard as iron—so resilient that no ordinary swordsman could slice through it.
Two swords were caught in his right hand,
and the other two in his left—as if he were holding not four killing blows, but four worthless pieces of scrap metal.
The two-headed orc froze.
All four eyes stared at Lioran's hands. The blades trembled, but the hands…
didn't move back.
didn't even shake.
Lioran gave him a tired look. His voice was calm and cold.
"And your weakness is that you're incredibly stupid."
The two-headed orc stared into Lioran's eyes, shock and terror filling all four of them. His hands and legs trembled uncontrollably, as if his body had stopped obeying him.
His breathing turned fast and uneven.
A trembling voice echoed in his mind as he finally understood what that strange feeling had been.
'Now… now I understand what that feeling was… that… that was fear…'
His thoughts spiraled out of control. Blurred images from the past flashed before his eyes—humans and monsters he had slaughtered, their lifeless gazes fading one after another.
'Did they… when they stood before me… feel this same helplessness… this same worthlessness…?'
His throat went dry.
His heart pounded violently against his chest.
'Damn it… I should've run the moment I felt it…
It doesn't matter…
Now… now I just have to run…'
The two-headed orc suddenly let go of all four of his swords.
The metal struck the ground with dry clangs, and without a moment of hesitation he turned around and ran, fleeing with all his strength at an inhuman speed.
After several meters, his breathing became ragged.
Suddenly, something inside him collapsed.
With panic, the right head twisted back to look behind.
Lioran was gone.
The other head frantically scanned the surroundings.
The trees.
The shadows.
The ground…
But there was no sign of that human.
His heartbeat grew even faster.
At that very moment, a calm, cold voice descended from above him:
"Looking for me?"
The two-headed orc's eyes widened in terror.
He tried to lift his head, but Lioran descended from the sky and slammed down onto him.
His right foot crashed onto the orc's right head,
and at the same time his left foot struck the left one.
A crushing force exploded downward.
The ground beneath the orc's heads cracked with a dull, heavy sound and gave way. Dirt and stone burst outward as a deep crater formed.
Only the orc's heads were driven into the pit—along with Lioran's feet.
The rest of his massive body remained outside…
Motionless.
Helpless.
A broken scream tore from his throat.
Lioran pulled his feet free from the crater.
The two-headed orc's heads remained buried within it.
He stepped forward and stood atop the creature's back.
Tilting his head slightly, he said:
"Trying to go somewhere?"
Then, slowly—without the slightest hint of urgency—
Lioran reached down and grabbed two of the orc's arms, pulling them toward himself.
The sound of tendons stretching filled the air.
The orc screamed—
But before the sound could fully escape—
Crack. Crack.
Both arms snapped in a single brutal motion.
They fell lifelessly to the ground.
And from within the crater…
The two-headed orc's broken screams echoed outward.
Anahita's voice echoed from within his body, soft but familiar.
"Lioran, don't waste time here… your mother is waiting. We should head back before night falls."
Lioran paused for a moment. He lifted his head and glanced at the sky. The sun clung to the edge of the horizon, its orange light slipping through the branches of the forest. The shadows had grown long, and the air carried the scent of dusk.
"You're right… I should finish this quickly."
At that moment, Qi flowed into his arm. The air around his right hand trembled, and a dull gray sword formed from the back of his hand, as if emerging from mist itself. The blade neither gleamed nor made a sound; it was cold, condensed, and lethal.
Lioran didn't hesitate.
With a few swift, calculated strikes, he attacked. The Qi blade fell like a line of shadow, severing the two-headed orc's arms and legs one by one. There was no clash of metal—only the wet sounds of flesh and bone, and the muffled screams rising from the pit in the ground.
Slowly, the Qi sword faded away, as if it had never existed.
Lioran stepped forward. He bent down, grabbed both necks firmly, and with a cold, emotionless pull dragged the heads out of the hole. Their screams suddenly rose into frantic shrieks, trembling with pure terror.
"Please… please… kill me…"
His voice trembled as he begged, but Lioran's eyes did not change.
He drove his right foot down hard onto the two-headed orc's back, pinning it firmly to the ground. Then he slid both hands beneath the chins of its two heads. His fingers tightened; the muscles in his forearms tensed and stood out.
Screams filled the forest. Birds burst from the branches, and the surrounding silence shattered.
Twenty long seconds passed—seconds filled with shrieks, trembling, and the sound of bones groaning under crushing pressure.
And then—
With one final motion, dry and merciless, both heads were torn from the body.
The sounds stopped instantly.
Warm blood erupted and splashed across Lioran's face. Drops slid slowly down his cheek.
The forest fell silent once again.
Lioran tossed the heads aside without a second glance. Drops of the orc's blood trickled down his face. He wiped a little of it with his finger, paused for a moment, closed his eyes, and licked the blood away.
Then he said calmly,
"Leave the rest to you. See if any of its skills can be combined with mine… and create something new."
Lioran activated one of the skills Anahita had granted him.
[Skill: Copy]
This skill is so rare that the chance of obtaining it was said to be one in a million.
However, it had one drawback.
For the skill to activate, Lioran had to let at least a single drop of the target's blood enter his body. Only then would the ability trigger, allowing him to copy the target's skills.
"Alright. And you collect the mana cores. Also, show a little more gratitude to me, you jerk… and tonight you'd better hold a celebration for a great and noble spirit like me." Anahita replied with a laugh.
Lioran, clearly not in the mood, let out a short sigh. The weariness in his voice was obvious.
"Fine… fine.You can eat whatever you want."