Life Seed

"Two steps to the right." The mechanical voice still echoed in his mind.

Arthur swiftly retreated to the right, barely dodging the Orc's heavy blow.

He continued circling this Bloodthirsty Orc, and at this point, he could only rely on the Chip in his mind to keep dodging. He had no way to fight back at all.

The opponent's strength and constitution were simply too powerful. Although he was much less agile, he was still no worse than Arthur in that regard.

This was suppression in every aspect. Arthur could only keep evading the opponent's attacks. If he was struck even once, he would be severely injured.

But as the stalemate continued, Arthur's stamina was also being rapidly drained.

In a crushing battle where the two sides were completely mismatched, maintaining the situation demanded far too much concentration and physical strength. One moment of carelessness, and he would be caught. Then there would be nothing but death.

His entire body was soaked in sweat, and his movements were no longer as nimble as they had been at the start. They had become somewhat sluggish.

Across from him, the Bloodthirsty Orc's movements still appeared just as fierce and violent. After such a prolonged deadlock, his attacks had not slowed in the slightest. Instead, they were growing even faster.

Bang!!

A dull crash rang out as a massive sword struck the ground, carving a deep furrow into it.

Arthur narrowly avoided the blow when an intense roar suddenly sounded beside his ear.

Not good! The thought flashed through his mind. Before he could think further, he swung the shield in his left hand fiercely toward the direction he sensed.

A fist thicker than an ordinary man's thigh slammed into the shield with a thunderous boom.

Roar!!!

The Bloodthirsty Orc let out a low roar that was deafening.

Arthur felt a terrifying force crash into his hand, then his body was sent rapidly backward beyond his control. He was nearly knocked flying.

His left hand hung limply at an unnatural angle. The collision had sprained it, and it could no longer withstand that horrifying strength.

"Damn it!" Feeling the weakness in his arm, Arthur struggled backward. Once he steadied himself, he did not hesitate for a moment before rolling to the side.

The instant he left his original position, a massive sword swept through it and smashed heavily into the ground once more.

"This can't go on!"

After barely avoiding another attack, the thought flashed through Arthur's mind.

The gap in their physical abilities was too great. The opponent not only completely overwhelmed him in strength, but also possessed far greater stamina.

If this continued, he would eventually be worn to death by this Orc for nothing.

With that thought, Arthur gritted his teeth, clamped his sword between them, and quietly pulled a short sword from his waist with his right hand.

The short sword was a faint black, mixed with a sickly hint of green that made it look rather unsettling.

Arthur had deliberately crafted this short sword earlier, and it was coated in a potent toxin.

Using Green-eyed Snake venom as its primary ingredient, along with several toxin formulas derived by the Chip, the poison on it was absolutely terrifying.

Arthur had secretly tested it on several bandits before. A strong adult man would die of poisoning within three minutes after being grazed by this short sword. The sight had chilled Arthur to the bone at the time.

With that thought, his gaze immediately sharpened, his deep eyes fixed tightly on the tall Orc before him.

A shadow rapidly expanded as a massive sword swept toward him again.

Arthur barely dodged the strike. In that instant, he quickly adjusted his body and seized the brief chance while his opponent was catching his breath, charging forward instead of continuing to evade.

"Block to the left with the shield." The Chip's mechanical voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

Hearing the whistling wind beside his ear, Arthur charged ahead without looking back. He used all his strength to block left with his shield.

Roar!!

Another terrifying collision rang out, accompanied by the Bloodthirsty Orc's dreadful low roar.

In the distance, Arthur was sent flying. In the collision, the immense force directly broke the bones in his left hand, leaving it dangling helplessly. It was clearly unusable for some time.

Arthur felt aches throughout his body, as if he had just been struck by a speeding car. He barely managed to rise, looking weakly ahead. There, a tall Orc was roaring.

The towering Bloodthirsty Orc remained standing in place, wailing in agony as if he were suffering unbearable pain.

A faint black short sword had sunk into his waist, piercing the spot not protected by his armor.

The poisoned short sword had entered his body, and the toxin coating it immediately took effect, spreading rapidly through the Orc's body with his blood circulation.

As weakness gradually overtook his body and intense pain kept crashing over him, the Bloodthirsty Orc's already hideous face became even more twisted and terrifying.

He stood there, his body over three meters tall and imposing. He kept letting out low growls, frozen in place as the small muscles across his body trembled continuously.

Arthur struggled to his feet, picked up the Cross Sword that had fallen to the ground with his right hand, and fixed his deep eyes on the front.

The tall Bloodthirsty Orc in the distance occasionally let out painful growls. Seeing him like this, Arthur understood that the toxin on the short sword was beginning to take effect.

As the one who had formulated the poison, he knew better than anyone how powerful it was. It was not something an ordinary person could withstand.

Although the Orc before him had a slightly different bodily structure from humans and possessed physical abilities far beyond ordinary people, enough to fight a knight head-on, he was still flesh and blood. Once poisoned like this, he would react as well.

Before him, the tall Bloodthirsty Orc's body kept trembling, as though he were enduring terrifying pain every moment.

Yet even so, under Arthur's watchful gaze, he still did not fall. His massive eyes remained fixed on Arthur, filled with rage.

To Arthur's astonishment, he used a trembling arm to pull the short sword directly from his waist and throw it away.

Blood trickled from the wound. Infected by the poison, it had already turned blackish-red, looking utterly disgusting.

"Si... Meng..." An inexplicable murmur came from the Orc's mouth.

He glared furiously with both eyes. His body, which looked ready to collapse at any moment, somehow seemed to summon new strength. Carrying the massive sword in his hand, he began walking toward Arthur.

"Ding! Target has activated bloodline talent: Bloodlust!" At that moment, the Chip's familiar voice sounded in Arthur's mind.

Bloodthirsty Orcs were rare among Orcs, with only a very small chance of being born. The reason humans called them Bloodthirsty Orcs was because their bloodlines possessed the talent of Bloodlust.

In intense combat, Bloodthirsty Orcs could awaken the talent hidden in their bloodline, awakening amid battle and rage to enter a Bloodlust state.

Orcs who entered this state would not only gain greatly increased strength and constitution, but would also ignore all negative conditions. They would no longer feel pain or exhaustion and would fight forward without hesitation until they died in battle.

The Bloodthirsty Orc before Arthur had undoubtedly entered the Bloodlust state.

Bloodlust increased the Orc's strength and constitution, even temporarily suppressing the damage caused by the toxin.

His body, already over three meters tall, swelled further. Empowered by Bloodlust, he reached a height of four meters. The wound at his waist also healed directly, leaving not a trace behind.

Watching the Bloodthirsty Orc steadily approach, Arthur let out a quiet sigh.

He did not panic. At this point, his eyes were instead extremely calm. His right hand tightly gripped his Cross Sword as he looked at the Orc ahead.

His left hand was nearly useless and would need a long time to recover, so it could not help him now. Both legs had suffered serious injuries after striking a large rock when he had been sent flying earlier. Though he could still move them, they could no longer keep up in battle. Arthur's entire body was wracked with pain and exhaustion. Only the arm holding his sword in his right hand still retained its strength.

Holding the long sword in his hand, a ruthless resolve rose in Arthur's heart.

He stared fixedly at the tall Orc approaching him, gripping the sword in his right hand tightly as he prepared to step forward and fight him to the death.

Before him, the tall Orc's eyes were filled with a deep blood-red hue and fury. He carried a massive sword in his thick arm as he walked toward Arthur.

Perhaps affected by the earlier poison, he moved slowly, but he still advanced toward Arthur with unwavering determination.

As he drew closer, a terrifying bloodthirsty aura and oppressive force surged forth, bringing with them an intense sense of danger.

The nearly four-meter-tall Bloodthirsty Orc exuded immense pressure. Looking down at Arthur from above, he swiftly raised the massive sword in his hand.

Sensing the terrifying aura before him, Arthur's eyes instantly turned blood-red.

A dreadful sense of oppression enveloped his heart. It was the Bloodthirsty Orc's bloodthirsty aura, a violent and overwhelming pressure.

Arthur forced his eyes open, trying desperately to raise the Cross Sword in his right hand, but no matter what he did, he could not muster any strength.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Time seemed to freeze. At that moment, Arthur felt as though all the blood in his body had been frozen solid. Everything was silent around him, leaving only the sound of his own powerful heartbeat.

A new power suddenly emerged, spreading continuously from his heart through his body and limbs, granting new strength to his previously powerless body.

The next moment, the world returned to normal.

Before Arthur's eyes, the massive sword slowly descended, growing larger and larger in his vision.

When the massive sword was still half a meter from his head, a glint flashed through Arthur's eyes.

He gathered every last bit of strength in his body, clenched the sword in his right hand, and prepared to slash down fiercely.

A huge shadow suddenly fell. The Bloodthirsty Orc's towering body collapsed abruptly, crashing heavily to the ground. The massive sword he had been swinging also veered off course and struck the ground elsewhere.

After hitting the ground, the frenzy and Bloodlust in the Orc's eyes rapidly faded. His huge eyes became dull and lifeless, while his swollen body quickly shrank back to its original size.

"Has... the Bloodlust duration ended?"

Arthur stared blankly at the scene before him. The sword in his right hand had not even had the chance to swing down, while complicated emotions suddenly rose in his heart.

He had already prepared himself to die in battle, but the situation had suddenly taken such a turn that he was left speechless, not knowing what to say.

Only then did the mechanical voice in his mind sound again.

"Ding! An unknown active force has been detected developing within the host's body. Similarity to the activated Life Seed state: 91.4%..."