The night air didn't just turn hot; it turned heavy.
Reine watched from the shadows as the Orc's massive shadow loomed over the barrels where the child hid. The creature's tusked snout was inches away from sniffing out the boy's hiding spot.
'Isokinetic Torque: 60%. Pulse Retraction.'
Reine didn't think; he detonated. He exploded through the window frame, the glass shattering into a thousand diamonds in the moonlight. Aurelian was still in its scabbard, but with the Pulse Retraction technique, the sheathed blade became a piston of pure kinetic energy. Thud-thud-thud! The strikes were a blur—it felt like using a heavy iron rod, but the recoil vibrated through Reine's marrow. The Orc's internal structure couldn't handle the frequency. It collapsed, bones shattered into dust, dead before it hit the cobblestones.
"What happened here?" Morgo rushed out, eyes wide at the heap of green flesh. He saw Reine, hair messy and eyes glowing with a cold light, gently patting the terrified child's head.
More roars echoed from the square. Morgo's demeanor shifted instantly. He wasn't just a grieving old man—he was a Mage. He began to move his hands, not in jagged gestures, but in a lethal, rhythmic dance. It looked like he was pulling invisible silk threads out of the atmosphere. His fingers traced the "Ley Lines" of the air, his palms cupping the oxygen itself.
Whoosh! A massive wave of fire exhaled from his palms, incinerating a line of charging Orcs. "I will take all of them out!" Morgo's voice boomed. His robes billowed as he took flight, a sun in human form, soaring above the rooftops to hunt the horde.
Reine watched in awe. So this is how Mages fight.
"Hey, what happ—ORCS?!" Argol arrived, skidding to a halt. He looked at the mangled, bone-shattered corpses Reine had left behind. "Did you... did you do this?"
"Perfect. Take this kid inside and don't do anything stupid," Reine commanded, his voice sharp.
"T-thank you, mister..." the kid whispered, clutching Argol's leg.
Reine froze. For a second, the cold logic in his brain stalled. He gave a rare, stunned smile to the child, then leaped toward the rooftops.
The Dance of the Ghost
Reine found a group of four. The first Orc swung a heavy axe—Reine didn't parry; he danced. He moved into the blind spot, a swift snap-kick to the jaw sending teeth flying. The second Orc aimed for his torso. Reine intercepted the axe handle with Aurelian's scabbard, using a Redirection Flow to slide the energy away. No damage.
He moved so fast it looked like teleportation. Snap, snap, snap. Three Orcs down. The fourth Orc dropped its weapon, its eyes wide with a very human terror. Reine felt a flicker of pity, then snuffed it out. A single, merciful swing ended the creature's fear.
Then, the Pressure hit.
It was heavy, like being underwater. Reine sprinted toward the center of the village. There, he saw Morgo struggling. The old man was surrounded by a circle of Orc Mages in tattered robes, their hands glowing with dark mana. In the center was the Orc Leader, a mountain of muscle wielding two menacing axes that pulsed with purple energy.
Reine arrived like a lightning strike, cutting down three Mages in one fluid motion. The Leader roared, an axe aimed at Reine's skull.
Flowing Movement Technique: Active.
Reine slipped the blow, but the Leader anticipated the move, swinging the second axe in a horizontal arc. Before it could connect, a fireball from Morgo forced the Leader to block.
Reine skidded to a stop next to the old man. "The kid?" Morgo panted.
"With Argol. What are we looking at?"
"The Orc Leader," Morgo said, his hands moving like water waves as he charged a fire spear. "The Mages are blessing him. He was a low-Advanced rank... now, with that mana, he's a true Advanced threat."
"I'll kill the mages," Reine shouted, his body blurring into the wind. "You take the Leader!"
The Final Calculation
Reine ran faster than Morgo's fire spear, his hair streaming back in the gale. He struck the Leader once to distract him, then veered off toward the remaining Mages. One Mage threw up a Mana Shield. Reine didn't hesitate. He unsheathed Aurelian.
The blade screamed as it touched the shield. Aurelian didn't just break the barrier; it drank it. The feedback hit Reine like a physical punch, draining his own mana stores to fuel the blade's hunger. He felt exhausted, but he didn't stop until he was sitting on a pile of robed corpses in a cool, defiant pose.
The Leader, oblivious that his protection was gone, charged Morgo, shaking the very ground. Morgo's eyes glowed a piercing blue. The wind pressure skyrocketed, flattening the grass and moving Reine's hair wildly. He concentrated the fire into a single, blinding point between his palms.
"VANISH!"
The fire blast wasn't a roar; it was a supersonic shriek. The Leader tried to cut the beam with his axe, expecting his mages to shield him. But there was no shield.
The beam tore through the Leader's axes and his body like it was parchment. The giant fell to his knees, half his torso melted away, as the silence of the night returned.