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―!

the battle raged on, the two exchanged blows with savage intensity. Their

"Argh!"

Prince was able to evade

"Ahkkkh!"

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

"Y... you..."

The attack was

Boom―!

ground; his

he struggled to stand up, Prince Kuzma

He snarled.

have stayed down when you had the chance,

his feet, clutching his

"Again..."

He growled.

"You talk too much."

demon laughed in a cold and chilling

"So be it."

Clank―!

Kuzma locked in a deadly struggle that seemed

be steadily heading toward a stalemate, a sudden cracking sound echoed from the

expression quickly fell, and Brutus's

C..Craack!

barrier that surrounded the city, cracks had begun to appear and were gradually growing wider with each passing second, intertwining

of thousands upon tens of thousands of orcs lined up outside the barrier with

"Karum!"

and a formidable power erupted from

Craack!

on the barrier, and the expression

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

miss his

eyes on

"Wh―"

Swoosh!

axe was only a few centimeters away from him that Prince Kuzma realized

"Eh, ah!?"

turned around and

ground, where it slammed

Boom―!

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

when he finally materialized in front of the

Swoosh!

itself around the axe,

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 body and covered

was too

BOOOM―!

ground, a cacophony of cracking

what had just happened as Prince Kuzma's body

like a

"Uhhh."

his body and began

Rumble―!

reached the Prince and

of Kuzma saw him raise his axe once more, the icy look that he gave him left a profound impression on his

"N… no."

to

was far too

Swoosh!

to land directly over his core and kill him instantly, a thin hand emerged from beneath the

Smack!