"Get away from me, all of you!"
Batu Skullsplitter roared toward the heavens, swinging his greataxe in sweeping arcs like a violent tempest, crescent arcs of bloody radiance swirling around his body.
"Careful!"
Rhea beat the black wings upon her back with violent force. Her body encased in silver armor condensed from divine power, she vaulted into the air from the ground, dodging attack after attack.
Ed gripped his warhammer horizontally, conjuring thick, tortoiseshell-like stone before him to ward off Batu's strikes. Splintered rock flew in all directions, cleave marks scoring its surface.
But the other dwarves and orcs were not so fortunate. Unleashing indiscriminate attacks on everything around him, the orc chieftain was like a mobile meat grinder. Wherever he passed, slaughter followed, and bloody light surged into the sky.
Orcs wailed, begging their chieftain to spare them, yet the frenzied Batu made no distinction between friend and foe. Dwarf, elf, or orc—all were hacked into minced flesh.
With each death, the totemic patterns across Batu Skullsplitter's flesh grew ever more hideous, his aura climbing higher and higher, as though an invisible maw were devouring the blood and souls of those slain by his axe.
Before this crimson tempest, the dwarven warriors were powerless to resist, falling one after another.
Witnessing this, Ed's eyes turned bloodshot, an endless fury boiling within them. "Orc! I will end your ugly life with my own hands, no matter the cost!"
The dwarven king leapt into the air, swinging his warhammer with all his might toward the skull of the rampaging orc.
As he moved, the sand and dust on the ground billowed violently, countless sharp stones hurtling forward like arrows.
Unexpectedly, Batu's current strength far exceeded Ed's estimation. Just as the warhammer was about to strike, the dwarven king's pupils shrank in shock.
Clang—!
The metallic shriek was deafening enough to split a skull, kicking up yet another violent wave of dust and grit from the earth.
A massive axe cleaved through the air. Ed's full-force blow was deflected by Batu with a single-handed parry of his greataxe, sending Ed flying backward through the air.
*How is this possible?*
Terror seized the dwarven king's heart. The sheer brute force numbed the web between his thumb and forefinger, rupturing blood vessels in his palms and spraying out crimson droplets.
Sharp stones pelted the orc chieftain like a dense hail of arrows, carving cuts of every size across his massive, burly frame.
Yet Batu Skullsplitter ignored them completely. Raising his greataxe, he leapt with a savage grin, intending to press his advantage and end the dwarven king's life.
Just then, a sharp female voice rang out from the heavens, echoing across the battlefield like a judgment delivered from Mount Celestia itself.
"Orc, you have slaughtered innocent lives and invaded the dwarven homeland. Your sins are beyond forgiveness!
"In the name of the Knight of Vengeance, no mercy shall be shown to the wicked—"
Everyone looked up in unison. Even Batu raised his head in shock as the mark of the Oath of Vengeance materialized above his brow.
High in the sky hovered the half-elf paladin, black wings spread wide. She gripped the hilt of her sword with both hands, nothing remaining in her eyes save for an emotionless, shimmering gleam.
Wrath etched upon her face, she raised the silver sword high with both hands and pronounced the final condemnation:
"Abjure Enemy!"
In an instant, twilight radiance surged behind her, dyeing half the sky in orange-red hues like a setting sun.
At this moment, the true might of the "Twilight Blade" was finally revealed in full!
A Sword of Damocles woven from boundless radiance plunged from the clouds, skewering the airborne orc and pinning him straight back to the ground.
At the same time, Ed tumbled several times along the dirt before scrambling back to his feet, warhammer in hand, excitement blazing in his eyes.
"Hahaha! What an opportunity! I'll end this orc's life right now and avenge my people!
"Die!"
With a thunderous bellow, Ed leapt high with his warhammer, conjuring a massive rock spike over ten meters tall and slamming it violently down toward the falling orc.
The orc chieftain was first impaled to the ground by the sword of judgment, and then crushed head-on beneath the rock spike.
Boom!
The earth trembled and split, webs of fissures spidering across the ground as shattered rock sprayed out and clouds of dust billowed into the sky.
Veiled by sand and dirt, onlookers could only discern the silhouette of the colossal rock spike through the murky haze, unable to see what had become of Batu Skullsplitter.
"Pant, pant... That bastard... must be dead as dirt by now."
Ed knelt on one knee, gasping for breath, gripping his warhammer tightly as sweat pooled in his palms.
"No, he isn't dead."
Rhea's voice was grave as she hovered midair, looking down at the earth, her gaze locked upon the churning dust.
Rhea warned, "My oath against my foe has not dissipated. That orc still lives!"
And Rhea showed no hesitation or mercy. Brandishing her silver sword, a breathtaking light flared in her eyes.
Divine Smite!
Sword light shimmering with the hues of twilight swept through the air, cleaving the earth.
Immediately after, the spectral souls of countless dwarves, humans, and even orcs who had perished by Batu's hand surged forward, eyes blazing with the fury of vengeance, rushing toward the enemy who had slain them in life.
Those were the Spirits of Vengeance!
"Damned orc! If that's the case, I'll make sure he's crushed into dust!"
Ed's face darkened. Leaning on the haft of his hammer, he stood back up, then raised the warhammer high once more, pounding down repeatedly like a blacksmith forging iron.
The earth groaned and the mountains shook.
Visible hammer indents appeared across the ground, each blow sinking several feet deep and spiderwebbing cracks across the surrounding terrain.
Next, boulders plummeted from the heavens, dense as falling rain, nearly burying the entire area until a small hill formed over it.
Finally, raging flames surged up from deep underground, incinerating everything above—the Soulforge Fire of Moradin!
Boom!
The continuous onslaught from the two epic paragons, Ed and Rhea, bombarded the area without pause, reshaping the terrain at will.
By the time the smoke and dust cleared, the ground had become a debris-strewn, crater-pocked ruin, eerily silent.
"Is he dead?"
"Under an assault like that, not even a dragon could survive..."
"Impossible! Lord Batu is immortal!"
The dwarves, elves, and orcs present all stared tensely at the ruins. Holding their breath, they spoke in hushed whispers, waiting for the outcome of this battle.
If Batu fell here, the fates of countless orcs, dwarves, and elves would shift forever.
Crack...
Just then, a faint noise stirred within the mound of rubble, several loose stones rolling down from its peak.
Then, a low, rasping voice rumbled from deep beneath the ruins, echoing across the chaotic battlefield.
"Hahaha..."
"What does not kill me will only make me stronger!"
With an enraged roar, countless rocks were blasted outward, kicking up a storm of dust as a monstrous figure burst from the rubble, causing the mound to collapse in an instant.
By now, the orc's body was covered in countless wounds; not an inch of intact skin remained, washed in rivers of flowing blood.
Yet this had instead helped him complete a bizarre ritual. The scarlet blood gradually coagulated across his flesh, forming countless savage totems.
Eye of Gruumsh—Ritual Scarring!
"Kill... Kill you all!"
The totems across his body seemed almost alive, scalding steam venting from his pores, while his single eye was consumed by frenzied, bloodshot veins.
Batu Skullsplitter raised his greataxe high, his own dripping blood having completely coated the weapon.
Immediately, a gale of bloody stench surged forth, an overwhelming pressure washing over the area and making every heart tremble.
A phantom dozens of meters tall materialized behind Batu Skullsplitter—a colossal orc clad in black full plate armor, covered in battle scars, with a single, central eye.
"Praise He-Who-Never-Sleeps!"
"Praise the great All-Father!"
The orcs let out feverish shouts. At this moment, they were witnessing the avatar of the Father God with their own eyes!
Though this was not a true divine avatar, but merely a phantom summoned by the artifact Blood of Gruumsh, its unrivaled might still plunged the dwarves and elves into despair.
Ed felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss, his face pale. "By Moradin, this damned orc really is a god's favored one!"
Rhea was utterly undaunted. Holding her sword in one hand, she dove downward. "Villain! Even if your deity descended in person, he could not save your life!"
Whoosh—
Another arc of twilight radiance flashed, yet Batu raised his greataxe and effortlessly parried this all-out strike from the Knight of Vengeance.
Ed gritted his teeth, planting his warhammer against the ground as he roared, "Pay for my people with your life!"
Boom!
Boom! Boom!
Spikes of jagged stone erupted violently from the earth, threatening to skewer everything on the surface.
Yet Batu Skullsplitter looked at ease. Stomping fiercely onto the ground, crimson totemic energy coiled beneath his foot, crushing the stone spikes into powder.
Torrents of subterranean fire surged up from the fissures in the earth, but the orc paid them no mind, standing bathed in flames with a cruel smirk.
"I told you—what does not kill me only makes me stronger! Such is an orc!"
Batu clenched his fist. A storm of crimson rose into the air, hurtling toward the Knight of Vengeance and butchering every creature caught in its path.
Upon the walls, watching Rhea dodging in battered disarray as she flew through the air, the elves wore expressions of anxious dread.
Seymour gritted his teeth and raised his staff. "Aid Lady Rhea! She has an even greater mission to fulfill! She must not die here!"
At once, the elven wizards raised their staves to cast spells in unison: Hold Person, Contagion, Blindness, Greater Elven Curse... Rays and auras of magical light of every color struck toward the orc.
Yet Batu Skullsplitter simply stood his ground, taking every spell head-on without the slightest effect, even baring his teeth in a mockery of a grin at the elves.
"Heh heh. Fragile long-ears, the magic you pride yourselves on is useless before a warrior of Gruumsh!"
This was the trait of an Eye of Gruumsh—millennia of blood feuds granting them the ability to resist spells cast by elves through sheer physical might alone.
"And you long-beards! The sturdy fortress you rely on to survive is nothing more than a joke before the great One-Eyed God!"
Batu Skullsplitter raised his greataxe once more and brought it down in a cataclysmic cleave.
Yet this time, his target was neither Rhea, nor Ed, nor any of the epic champions present.
—It was the towering, stalwart walls of Evindeldan, which had stood unbroken for thousands of years.
As he moved, the phantom of Gruumsh behind him raised its colossal greataxe as well, bringing it slowly down beneath the watch of tens of thousands.
Boom!
Space trembled; the mountains roared.
As the axe blade carrying the divine might of destruction and strength descended, the sturdy masonry forged of metal and stone disintegrated in an instant.
The dwarven and elven soldiers garrisoned upon the walls panicked, scrambling to evade, yet were still torn to shreds by the ferocious tempest.
At that moment, the walls of Evindeldan, which had not fallen in thousands of years, were cleaved with a breach dozens of meters long and several meters wide, threatening to collapse entirely!
Yet the greataxe's force did not stop. It cleaved the walls, cleaved the ground, and tore straight toward Evindeldan's solid foundations.
This was a fortress built against the mountain; if its foundations collapsed, everything within the city would crumble into ruin, and the Mountain Kingdom's millennia-old legacy would be reduced to rubble.
This orc chieftain was mad!
He was not content with conquering Evindeldan; he sought to utterly destroy the city and shatter the dwarves' spirit!
"No—!"
Watching the walls crumble before his very eyes, Ed let out a gut-wrenching roar, fire practically bursting from his gaze.
"Orc, I will never let you destroy the Mountain Kingdom's thousand-year foundation!"
Ed had lost all reason. Raising the warhammer in his hands, he charged forward in near madness.
Blood boiled within him as the dwarven king became enveloped in shattered rock and leaping flames, resembling a molten giant.
"Arrogant wretch!"
Rhea cried out as well, clutching her silver sword in one hand, spreading the black wings behind her, and swooping downward.
Above the clouds, the gold dragon locked in combat with the colossal rotting orc noticed the fierce battle below and poked his head out to look.
*What a commotion!*
*According to the original plot, King Ed would sacrifice his life, fusing himself and his warhammer into one to shatter the orc's defenses.*
*Then Rhea would slay the orc chieftain, ending this war and securing the dwarven nation's full support,* the gold dragon—or rather, Cassius—thought to himself.
Smack!
The gold dragon flattened the rotting orc's head with a single swipe of his talon, remarking with a light chuckle, "Sorry, done playing around with you. Time for me to harvest the battlefield!"
"Roar—"
A resounding draconic roar echoed from across the horizon. The colossal gold dragon spread his expansive wings and plunged down from the heavens.
"Orc!
"That hideous monstrosity has already been slain by my hand, and the next sinner to face retribution is you!"
Cassius mused inwardly: being part of a righteous gang beating up a boss was indeed far more exhilarating than being the boss yourself, even if he usually ended up playing the latter.
In an instant, three epic-tier paragons—dwarf, half-elf, and gold dragon—surged in from different directions, all sharing a single objective:
—The chieftain of the Red Blood Tribe, favored of Gruumsh, Batu Skullsplitter!
"Come at me!"
"Through thousands of years of suffering, the orcs will finally claim the land to live upon—a blessing from the All-Father!
"And you sanctimonious paragons of justice will be slaughtered to the last, buried beneath orc soil as restless ghosts!"
Batu Skullsplitter felt no fear. Raising the Blood of Gruumsh in his grasp, he bellowed toward the heavens, unleashing all the fury in his heart.
Yet at that very moment, the god-granted sight of the blinded eye activated, and through the eye he had lost, Batu saw the instant of his own impending death—Unblinking Sight.
Chapter 579