Completely Blown Out

"There are at least a thousand Death Knights in this camp now, and as the war progresses, that number will only grow. I don't know if they enjoy infighting as much as the orcs do, but if their tradition is unity... what do you think Orgrim would choose between a stupid swine like you and several thousand Death Knights?"

Kaldara's explanation left Malone stunned; he hadn't expected this orc to be capable of such complex reasoning.

Perhaps orcs aren't as stupid as I thought?—a thought flickered through Malone's mind.

Wait... Malone suddenly realized he had overlooked something from Kaldara's previous words.

This guy just said they had already had their fun out in the wild... what did that mean?

"You... you already..." Malone looked at the human girl behind Kaldara, who was curled up and sobbing.

Could it be that these orcs had already violated this girl in the wilderness?

At the thought, Malone's anger flared; he glared at Kaldara, waiting for the other to give him an answer.

"Oh no, no, Death Knight, you've misunderstood," Kaldara said, shaking his head.

"There wasn't just one woman among those humans, there were three. We caught two of them, and the other ran away. Out in the wild, we had already tasted that human woman, but Talrama got a bit too excited at the end and strangled her... so we only brought one back."

Kaldara's explanation brought Malone no relief; instead, he trembled with rage, unable to speak for a moment.

Kaldara, however, seemed to have misinterpreted the reaction. At his signal, the orcs sheathed their weapons and helped up the orc Malone had just sent reeling.

"Then, Death Knight, please feel free to do as you wish," Kaldara said, walking up to Malone and nodding.

"But don't kill the woman. Everyone has been pent up for quite a while since leaving Stormwind. Even though she'll be finished off sooner or later, it's better to let more of the brothers vent before that happens."

Kaldara said this as he brushed past Malone.

More orcs?—Malone's body shuddered violently; he realized this human girl was not out of danger.

That was a given, of course; no human was safe in an orc camp.

But Malone was referring to Kaldara and his group—they had no intention of leaving; they had simply misunderstood his actions. They were just waiting for him to finish venting on this human girl as they had, before swarming in, and then...

"When I said let her go, I meant forever." Malone spun around abruptly and grabbed the shoulder of Kaldara, who had just passed him.

"From now on, forever, you are not to bother her," Malone said, enunciating every word. "Whether it's you or any other orc, if you want to vent, you'd best go find some swine in the wild."

"Death Knight, what... did you say?" Kaldara turned around slowly, his eyes burning as if with flames.

"Kill him! Kill him!" The orcs dropped the one they had been supporting and grabbed their weapons, roaring loudly.

"I said..." Malone started to speak, but was cut off by Kaldara.

"I heard you quite clearly, Death Knight." Malone noticed the other had dropped the respectful title.

Kaldara shook off Malone's hand from his shoulder and took a few steps back.

"You are provoking us, Death Knight," the Burning Blade orc said with a cruel smile. "This is a provocation against the orcs."

Malone said nothing more; he knew Kaldara had already made a significant concession, even if it wasn't out of personal respect.

But Malone still couldn't be satisfied—the gap in values between humans and orcs was too vast.

Perhaps the orcs came to this world only to find a new home, and humans only wanted to live in peace within their own.

Neither side was wrong, but their pursuits conflicted, and thus, there was war.

Now, this is my own war—Malone stared fixedly at Kaldara—it has nothing to do with the Bronze Dragon, nothing to do with any gods, and nothing to do with the Alliance or the Horde. It is just a war between me and these few orcs.

Although he had encountered the most powerful Blademaster among the orcs immediately upon arriving in Azeroth, but...

The current position was just right; the orcs were all gathered together, so at least he didn't have to worry about an attack from behind—Malone comforted himself with this thought.

"Let us duel," Kaldara said suddenly. "You and I, one on one. Since you want to challenge the orc tradition of freely distributing spoils, then at least respect our other tradition—whoever has the bigger fist makes the rules."

"That suits me perfectly," Malone replied. "But you have the advantage in numbers; do you intend to just give that up?"

"The Burning Blade Blademaster disdains such things; it has always been the enemy who swarms us. The name of the Burning Blade was not earned by relying on superior numbers."

Kaldara said, shaking his head.

This orc... perhaps he isn't all that bad—Malone thought—in a certain sense.

"Are you not using your weapon?" Malone pointed to the long, slender blade behind Kaldara.

"You are also empty-handed," Kaldara replied simply, then nodded at Malone, signaling him to begin.

Taking a deep breath, Malone stepped back, then lunged fiercely toward Kaldara.

As he leaned forward, Malone threw his right fist out with force. It was the same move he had just used to knock down an orc; he believed that even a Blademaster could not withstand his raw power head-on.

Kaldara did not take the punch head-on, or rather, he didn't need to.

The moment Malone made his move, the Blademaster's feet slid slightly.

When Malone swung his fist, he was astonished to find that Kaldara was no longer in his original position.

Although the Blademaster had only shifted a small step, it was enough to dodge the punch.

Malone tried to change the direction of his swing, but he had put too much force into the blow, and he hadn't yet mastered control over this immense strength.

Kaldara's foot reached out at some point, tripping Malone's path.

As if rehearsed in a martial arts play, Malone lost control of his body. Despite struggling to maintain his balance, he fell helplessly toward the ground.

With a loud thud, Malone's large frame crashed at Kaldara's feet. Although he scrambled up quickly, the arrogant laughter erupting from the other orcs left Malone with a sense of embarrassment so profound he wished he could die.