What Do You Wish For With Murky Eyes: Record of Highserk War - Chapter 66

Kicking up the cobblestones, breathing shallowly, blood and magical energy circulated confusingly through Walm’s body. The lungs craved oxygen, and the taste of blood welled up from the depths of the stomach. The quasi-commander, or so-called High Ogre, had rallied some of the monsters and shifted to a large offensive several hours ago.

Walm was fortunate. The humans besieged in Dandurg Castle were on the brink of total annihilation, and whether it was complacency or a lack of centripetal force, the movements on the side of the monsters had become reckless. If Walm hadn’t succeeded in beheading the heads of the group with the first strike, it would have been overwhelmed by the well-coordinated numerical superiority, and Walm would have faced death for the second time.

“Fuu, ha, ah, ha, fuu—”

Without fixating on a specific location, Walm continued to move, killing only the approaching monsters. When surrounded, Walm deployed «Ignis Fatuus» to delay the inevitable, even if it didn’t completely burn them alive, it could still inflict significant damage to their combat capabilities.

Supported by a colossal physique, a troll endured the weak azure flames with half of its body scorched, and it slammed the support pillar of a collapsed barracks onto Walm. Tilting his upper body, Walm slid the soles of his feet on the ground, slipping into striking range. Despite the approaching pillar, it passed by without the body being caught.

Taking advantage of the sliding momentum, Walm swung his sword, grazing the ankle’s fibula and ligaments. The posture of the troll collapsed without support.

The troll managed to avoid falling flat on the ground by putting its hands on the floor, but it couldn’t prevent the follow-up thrust. Feeling the resilient sensation of piercing the Adam’s apple, Walm, without turning back, prepared the sword.

Blending the sword with a lizardman’s war hammer strike, Walm shifted the trajectory of its body. The pleasant high-pitched sound of metal momentarily touching resonated in its ears as it swiftly slashed its wrist.

The lizardman’s throat froze as if time had stopped, splitting wide open, and fresh blood gushed out like a fountain.

A Goblin, emerging from the shadow of the troll’s corpse, hurled a pile of scrap metal that could hardly be called a weapon at Walm. Safely dodging by shifting half of its body, Walm smoothly passed right by.

Seizing the head with one hand, Walm pulled it down and kicked it up with its knee. The Goblin, whose consciousness was lost as its brain shook, was slammed onto the ground, and Walm crushed its head underfoot. However, Walm sensed monsters closing in from all sides.

Consuming magical power, the explosively heated air spread, and slightly delayed, «Ignis Fatuus» invaded the surroundings. The Horned Grizzly, enveloped in azure flames, seared its eyeballs, and even with closed eyes, it swung its powerful arms. While tracking the wildly swinging claws with his eyes, Walm brought down the sword at the top, cutting through the skull of the Horned Grizzly.

A wolf, with its fur burned off and exposed skin, lunged forward relying on its sense of smell. Walm thrust the longsword into its mouth, piercing through its throat, and stopped the wolf in mid-air. Clearing away the corpse, Walm raced through the remaining frenzied monsters, keeping an eye on them.

Walm repeated slashing, sweeping, thrusting, crushing, and burning – how many times had it done so? A slime that attempted to entangle and apply digestive fluid had its liquid body seared, dissipating into the void.

The werewolf, enduring «Ignis Fatuus», wore a fierce expression as it attempted to pursue Walm. Sharp claws, easily tearing through skin, extended, but without ripping apart muscle and bone, they sliced through the air.

The werewolf closed the distance, attempting to embrace Walm like long-lost lovers, but Walm’s response was rejection. Before both arms could grasp its body, a sharp blade severed the torso into two halves. The lower half from the waist down met a tearful separation, and the werewolf, now half its former self, desperately clawed at the cobblestones.

The rampage felt like an endless ordeal, but as Walm continued the engagement, it became aware that the influx was slowing down, and the number of monsters had drastically decreased.

It felt as if he had glimpsed the end of a struggle resembling the hell depicted in the The Agama Sutra scriptures, where sinners continue killing each other endlessly after death¹.

Limbs felt as heavy as lead, internal organs screamed, and the eyes trembled with dull pain. Since becoming aware of the end, Walm’s movements lost their precision.

From behind, a lizardman thrust a short spear. Walm crossed its legs and reversed, but its legs got slightly entangled.

Deflecting the spear tip, Walm slammed a «Heavy Strike» from a lower trajectory. Both arms and the head were severed, and blood spurted from the remaining torso and arms.

Avoiding the blood splatter, Walm noticed a creeping shadow. The jaws were split up to the cheeks, and the head and chest closely resembled a human, but the lower body took the form of a large snake.

Two pairs of short swords gleamed mysteriously. A kris dagger, with a wavy blade similar to flamberg, was thrust forward. By blocking it with the sword’s belly, Walm’s hand was slightly numb. Unnecessary thoughts arose, and swordplay became sloppy.

“Ha, haa, Haa, fuu――”

Switch, focus, exhale briefly, keep the eyes on the monster in front, Walm somehow managed to shift its consciousness.

The other kris dagger approached from the side, and a tail extended towards the feet. Reflexively blocking the kris dagger with the vambrace, Walm lifted the tail trying to entangle it and severed it with the sword. The Lamia attempted to overwhelm with the number of attacks while hissing menacingly. In response, Walm, taking advantage of the longsword’s range, stepped in with one foot and performed a reverse diagonal cut, slicing from the waist to the shoulder.

The Lamia, with thick snake blood, didn’t die immediately but was no longer a threat.

Without delay, a poison spider leaped from the rubble debris, and the Orthros, a two-headed creature, rushed in as if flying from the ground.

Walm, impaling the poison spider that descended from above, lifted the convulsing body and, swinging the sword, threw it at the two-headed wolf.

The Orthros took a small step to the left, directing its two jaws towards Walm, but taking one evasive action left an opening for a counterattack.

Walm, retreating backward, swung the sword horizontally. The upper jaws of Orthros were neatly severed, and the disoriented main body slid across the ground.

Seizing the opportunity against the slowed Walm, three orcs lunged at him. The leading orc approached, covering vital spots with a round shield, but to Walm, it seemed like an easy match.

Cutting off the knee from the shield’s blind spot, the orc fell forward. Walm slid a finger into the orc’s eye socket and unleashed «Ignis Fatuus».

In an instant, the eyeball burst, and the brain boiled like popcorn. The second orc thrust a spear, but Walm shattered the spearhead with «Heavy Strike» and slashed the defenseless throat.

Attempting to stem the bleeding by holding the throat, the orc couldn’t achieve hemostasis through magical membrane it could only gain a few extra seconds of life.

Without pause, the final orc approached. Walm changed his grip, supporting the bottom of the hilt with one hand. Fixing the sword on the path, he awaited the orc’s advance.

Feeling the sensation of the sword penetrating the heart with the orc’s own strength, Walm withdrew it with a twist. The dying orc spewed copious blood from the stab wound and its mouth, leaning against Walm as it collapsed to the ground.

Walm turned his gaze around as if twisting his neck. There were fewer than 30 monsters surrounding him. Although there were several hundred remaining in the entire castle, the seemingly endless torrent of monsters felt like it was coming to an end.

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