The intense pain and corrosion made it difficult for Utgarda-Loki to move. Although the wildfire still burning across his body continued to protect him, Utgarda-Loki could not help but let his thoughts run wild.
Utgarda-Loki roared and launched a fierce counterattack against Oligan's true body.
But every one of his attacks was almost perfectly neutralized by Oligan, who in turn left deep, bone-deep wounds across his body.
Oligan remained calm throughout. Even in this battle to the death, his face never grew ferocious.
Yet at this moment, he felt time begin to slow.
The infinite fury had left him dazed, his blood boiling and his mind muddled. But now, his mind suddenly calmed. It was as if all the noise around him had abruptly vanished, and he suddenly became clear-headed.
His experiences from the past surfaced in his mind, one after another.
--Utgarda-Loki's problem was actually similar to Oligan's.
Both were warriors, yet neither could wield the weapon they were best at using.
That was precisely why Utgarda-Loki respected this warrior--because he respected his opponent, he had used his full strength to inflict a fatal wound.
If not for the final blow triggering the wildfire's automatic protection and sending his opponent flying, Utgarda-Loki would surely have carefully and seriously crushed him into mincemeat, roasted him, and eaten him, ensuring that there was absolutely no chance of resurrection or healing.
It was a pity... he had happened to receive healing from an elf.
Now that Utgarda-Loki had been stripped of his authority by the Giant King, he could no longer wield his greatest weapon, the demonic sword "Wounding Branch." Neither this giant axe nor his bare-handed strikes were weapons Utgarda-Loki excelled at--what he excelled at was swordsmanship, specifically the swordsmanship paired with the demonic sword "Wounding Branch."
"Wounding Branch" was the