The Author's POV

Brutus and Prince Kuzma stood facing each other, their eyes locked in a deadly stare.

The air around them crackled with tension as the two of them prepared to engage in battle.

Brutus gripped his massive battle axe tightly, feeling the weight of it in his hand as he eyed the demon warily.

He had thankfully managed to recover his axe moments prior, and without it, things would've been extremely difficult for him.

Fwap!

The Prince spread its wings wide, revealing its imposing height and lanky build. Its eyes glinted with an eerie light, and its lips twisted into a wicked grin.

"I have to admit, I severely underestimated you, Brutus."

Prince Kuzma sneered.

"But that's still far from enough. You'd be delusional if you thought that my city would fall to the likes of you orcs."

Brutus said nothing, but he felt a surge of anger rising within him.

He was already aware of how insidious and scummy demons were, but having experienced them firsthand, he could barely keep his emotions in check.

He knew that the battle ahead would be a difficult one, but he was determined to let him pay the price of trampling all over his honor.

"Khhhaar!"

Without warning, the orc charged forward with a fearsome roar, his axe held high above his head.

Prince Kuzma watched him approach with a look of amusement on his face.

"Don't think that because I previously didn't fight you head on that I'm weaker than you!"

Clank!

A pressurized wind gale formed from the point of contact between the two powerful beings as they fought each other in a fierce battle that resulted in a shower of sparks and a thunderous clash of their weapons.

The loud sound of their clashes was heard all across the land.

BOOOM―! Staggering back a few steps, Brutus felt a rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

Swoosh!

He swung his axe with all his might, but Prince Kuzma was too quick, dodging the blow and counterattacking with a flurry of claws that were as hard as his axe.

Clank―!

"Ukh."

Brutus barely managed to block the demon's strikes with his arms, which creaked under the force of the onslaught.

"I noticed this before, but your skin is a lot tougher than I thought!"

Prince Kuzma taunted, his voice dripping with contempt.

Brutus gritted his teeth, his jaw clenching in anger.

He growled.

"You talk too much."

Clank―!

He swung his axe down, and sparks flew in the air.

Claaaank―!

savage intensity. Their

"Argh!"

Prince's midsection. The Prince was able to evade the blow, but not before Brutus managed to graze his

"Ahkkkh!"

roared in pain, his black blood spilling onto the ground. Touching

"Y... you..."

demonic energy. The attack was

Boom―!

the ground; his armor dented, and his bones

Kuzma approached

He snarled.

stayed down when you had

his feet,

"Again..."

He growled.

"You talk too much."

laughed in a cold

"So be it."

Clank―!

Brutus and Prince Kuzma locked in a deadly struggle that

to be steadily heading toward a stalemate, a sudden cracking sound echoed from the distance, and the two of them came to

Kuzma's expression quickly fell,

C..Craack!

to appear and were gradually growing wider with each passing second, intertwining with each

of thousands of orcs lined up outside the barrier with

"Karum!"

and a formidable power erupted from within

Craack!

on the barrier, and the expression

the barrier and looked back at Prince Kuzma, who seemed to be

miss his

your eyes on

"Wh―"

Swoosh!

axe was hurled in the Prince's way, and it wasn't until the axe was only a few centimeters away from him that Prince Kuzma

"Eh, ah!?"

and brought his wings in

the ground, where it slammed

Boom―!

his feet came crashing against the ground, and he ran toward where Prince Kuzma had crashed

when he finally materialized in front of the bewildered Prince, he raised his axe once more

Swoosh!

air tore itself apart and twisted itself around the axe, which shone

sheer force that was applied to the axe was unlike anything else, and at the same time, Prince Kuzma's expression changed drastically, and demonic energy erupted out of his

it was

BOOOM―!

crashing to the ground, a cacophony of cracking sounds

it to know what had just happened as Prince Kuzma's body flattened

legs, or his arms… They were all broken, and like a

"Uhhh."

energy encircled his body and began to slowly heal his wounds; however, it was

Rumble―!

Brutus reached the Prince and was able to

raise his axe once more, the icy look that he gave him left

"N… no."

tried to struggle,

was far

Swoosh!

it was about to land directly over his core and kill him instantly, a thin hand emerged from

Smack!