Ch. 44 - Snake and Bear

The tip of a curved blade is always double-edged.

When combined with its crescent-moon arc and crafted with sturdy quality, the blade becomes even more treacherous and lethal than a straight sword's thrust.

And Black Snake struck with extreme speed—Shivana no longer had time to discern where the blade tip would land and raise her great axe before her eyes to block.

She simply used her momentum to hurl the axe skyward, twist her body sideways, and hammer her fist downward to smash away Black Snake's forearm.

The blade tip deflected three inches, slicing across her cheekbone and leaving a shallow, bloody mark.

Shivana followed through with a turn, her left fist sweeping horizontally to strike at Black Snake's face.

But the latter had already steadied himself, retreating sharply backward.

That blade tip, which should have thrust straight, pulled back simultaneously, but due to its curved arc transformed into a sharp hook—like the cunning tongue of a serpent—slashing across the half-orc's nape!

"Psshht!"

Thick blood flowed along the blade and dripped into the dirt.

The reverse edge hooked into Shivana's neck, forcing her to suppress a pained grunt.

She realized the blade tip had embedded itself quite deep—if not for her relatively tough skin, the force of this strike could have severed half her head.

Black Snake gave her no chance to catch her breath. Seeing the blade couldn't penetrate further, he simply delivered a whip kick to her ankle.

Shivana's center of gravity destabilized, and she toppled backward.

As she stumbled, those eyes capable of seeing in darkness clearly spotted a curved blade thrusting toward her skull—

Black Snake understood he couldn't take her life.

After all, once they lost a relatively civilized leader, the orcs gathered around them, watching this duel, would certainly not remain docile.

They wouldn't pledge allegiance to Black Snake, this stronger "human," just because he won the duel.

Instead, it would give other restless bastards the opportunity to seize power and command their tribesmen to hack them to death with wild blades.

Even if he escaped from that, he'd inevitably be wounded and might not survive leaving the forest alive.

"Goddammit, I really need to lose spectacularly."

Black Snake cursed inwardly, deciding to let this blade "accidentally" miss and land beside her ear.

But when the blade was still a foot above her forehead, he saw thick veins bulge prominently across Shivana's light-colored skin, and her well-proportioned muscles bunched accordingly.

"ROAR—"

The sound from her throat became extremely heavy, like a savage bear roaring in the forest, intent on asserting dominance over its territory.

The sound waves rippled, stirring up a fierce wind that exploded thunderously before Black Snake's eyes.

The repulsive force struck, blasting him back ten feet. Black Snake was forced to halt his thrust, tumbling in midair to dissipate the force rather than falling gracelessly to the ground.

When he cast his gaze back upon the female orc, he found she had clumsily risen to her feet.

Her palm closed around empty air, and the great axe she had thrown away seemed drawn by invisible strings, spinning back into her hand.

Her entire frame had expanded by a full size compared to earlier, and her face, which had been closer to human, had become fierce and savage.

Her eyes were blood-red, radiating ferocity.

"Die!"

With a wild roar, she stomped the ground fiercely. "Rumble!"—she shattered the earth beneath her feet into a shallow crater.

Immediately after, like an arrow loosed from a bow, she charged wildly toward Black Snake!

Her frame had become robust, yet her steps were extremely steady—even swifter than before!

And Tang Qi, observing from far away, distinctly saw behind her the phantom of a savage bear—

"A Barbarian!?"

Not everyone who lives far from cities, honing their skills in the wilderness, can be called a **Barbarian**.

True barbarians not only temper their bodies in harsh environments.

They're also skilled at excavating the secret of 'rage.'

They master this primal emotion and harness it, even channeling this impulse into combat.

And **Totem Warriors** are even more distinct.

They draw upon the 'rage' within those vicious creatures in nature, learning through imitation until their souls merge with them, thus obtaining nature's great power.

Now, she had summoned her totem spirit, gaining the strength of a great bear.

Each swing of her axe stirred up fierce winds like invisible air blades, scraping across the earth and leaving crisscrossing marks!

Black Snake didn't excel in strength. He had no doubt that if his curved blade collided with that great axe at this moment, it would directly rebound with enough force to numb his hands.

He could only employ his old tricks, attempting to slash two wounds across her arms with the reverse edge of his curved blade while dodging—

But this time, his blade edge felt like it was scraping across an iron plate, unable to even scratch her skin.

Her skin had become harder due to her totem.

Fortunately, 'rage' also came with a price.

Shivana's offensive no longer possessed technique.

The patterns of her axe strikes had become extremely clear and easy to discern—Black Snake found dodging much easier.

He still took advantage of her pausing intervals to slash blade-light across her body—

But this time, Shivana simply didn't dodge or avoid, trading injury for injury. As the curved blade struck her shoulder, spattering blood, she simultaneously cleaved horizontally with her axe—

Black Snake dodged as usual but was still slashed across the waist and abdomen by the violent wind blade!

"UWAAAH!!!"

Seeing their leader cleave Black Snake with one axe strike until he was drenched in blood the gathered orcs unanimously erupted in cheers.

Tang Qi watched Black Snake with lingering fear, somewhat worried whether he was falling short due to consecutive battles.

"Tssss!"

Sharp pain struck. Black Snake instinctively pressed against the scraped wound—

Blood had already dyed his silk shirt red, but he'd controlled the precision of the distance.

After he twisted his waist, the wound only looked frightening—it hadn't penetrated the skin to injure his internal organs.

And the knife wound on Shivana's shoulder, protected by the savage bear spirit, appeared similarly.

Black Snake panted heavily. Feeling the fatigue transmitted from his legs, he knew he couldn't delay any longer:

"Why do I still need to lose beautifully?

Better think about how to actually win..."

He admitted he'd underestimated the orc before him.

In terms of technique alone, he could grind her into the dirt.

But Shivana possessed advantages in bloodline and physique.

This style of trading injury for injury was somewhat too effective against nimble swordsmen like him who won through agility—

No matter how agile his movements, he inevitably exposed openings due to momentum.

As long as he took a solid hit during those moments, he'd immediately lose his combat capability.

They were like a snake and bear fighting in the jungle.

The venomous snake couldn't bite through the brown bear's flesh with its fangs, could only nimbly coil its body, leaving shallow bite marks on its limbs, torso, and neck.

Seemingly holding the advantage, yet achieving minimal results.

And the brown bear could never catch this agile venomous snake, but once it found an opportunity, its claws would be fatal to the serpent.

And an exhausted venomous snake would eventually have a day when it could no longer slither.

At that time, it would only become a full meal in the savage bear's belly.

"Drag out the Barbarian's rage duration!"

As he caught his breath, Black Snake's ears received Tang Qi's urgent reminder:

"Pain will only make her more enraged!"

Rage is an emotion.

Emotions change.

One second you feel joy from eating cake.

The next second, you feel rage because the cake fell on the ground.

The secret of Barbarians mastering rage is nothing more than amplifying this emotion as much as possible and extending its duration.

As long as you don't stimulate her further during this period, she'll naturally return to her previous calm state.

Black Snake understood Tang Qi's meaning—

He needed to end this battle after her current fury subsided, but before she rekindled her rage.

But his stamina could only support this one opportunity!

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