Can't Beat Them

"Look at that! This guy is as slow as a turtle... If Kaldara had a weapon in his hand just now, this guy's head would have been trampled into the mud by us!"

An orc mocked Malone's clumsy movements without restraint.

Malone ignored the mockery and focused on his opponent.

Kaldara's face remained expressionless; he simply gave Malone a slight nod, signaling that he could continue his attack.

Damn it... Malone cursed in his heart—this was exactly what he had been worried about.

Although Malone possessed great strength, he had no idea how to fight; in front of a Burning Blade Blademaster like Kaldara, who was born for combat, Malone was being toyed with like a child.

After all, fighting was not the same as arm-wrestling; it took more than just raw power.

Malone knew that Kaldara could never withstand his fierce attacks; if he landed just two punches, the Blademaster's combat effectiveness would be severely compromised. The problem was that Malone couldn't even touch a single hair on his opponent.

I still have spells—the spells of a Death Knight.

Malone stepped back slightly, intending to put some distance between himself and Kaldara.

As the rune beneath Malone's left wrist flashed briefly, a dark green light erupted from his palm, rushing rapidly toward Kaldara's face.

Malone did not think Kaldara could dodge this strike.

Kaldara indeed could not dodge it, but he had his own methods.

As the wave of shadow surged toward him, Kaldara began to retreat rapidly. While backing away, he reached behind his back and drew his blade.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. By the time the shadow wave struck, his blade had arrived in time to meet it.

With a soft "shing," Kaldara used the slender edge of his sword to cleave the shadow wave in two.

The split light clusters grazed Kaldara's toned arms and flew behind him, slamming into the canvas hanging from the shed amidst the terrified gasps of the other orcs.

Two holes the size of human heads appeared in the canvas, while the two light waves vanished, disappearing into the distance.

"Warlock... Shadow Bolt," Kaldara said, gripping his blade tightly, enunciating each word.

Malone said nothing—the spell he had just used was called "Death Coil" in Warcraft, while the "Shadow Bolt" Kaldara mentioned was a Warlock skill. However, for the first generation of Death Knights, they were essentially a fusion of Warlock and Warrior.

Malone did not know if there were any restrictions on casting such skills, but at least for now, he felt none.

However, it seemed this shadow wave could not inflict substantial damage on Kaldara; the blade in his hand... seemed to possess some kind of power that could negate magic.

"You are a Warlock... since you are not fighting bare-handed, I shall get serious as well."

Kaldara raised his blade, signaling that their previous agreement was void—from now on, he would use his weapon.

Malone roared and charged at his opponent again. Since neither pure combat nor magic could hurt Kaldara, he would use both!

For a moment, Malone didn't have time to familiarize himself with his other spells, but the "Death Coil" that would trigger from his hand at unpredictable intervals was already giving Kaldara a headache.

At first, Kaldara only wanted to defeat Malone without killing him, so he tried his best not to use his blade to strike Malone's vitals.

But soon, Kaldara found Malone's moves to be... how should he put it? Vicious or underhanded?

Kaldara admitted that in a one-on-one duel, one could use unconventional combat techniques to defeat an opponent, but...

Why did this Death Knight keep attacking his crotch?

The more Kaldara thought about it, the angrier he became. He stopped avoiding using his blade to harm Malone's body; however, his opponent was very agile, even faster than him, and his attacks were heavy and powerful. In most cases, Kaldara remained on the defensive, so Malone only suffered a few scratches on his arms.

Malone also felt his attacks were indeed a bit cheap—but there was no other way; was he supposed to go head-to-head with his fists?

Malone discovered that only when he attacked Kaldara's balls did the man dare not block with his blade, so he grew increasingly fond of that target—oh no, rather, his attacks grew increasingly fond of that target.

However, this underhanded fighting style was not a long-term solution. Soon, Kaldara changed his combat strategy against Malone.

The Burning Blade Blademaster was indeed skilled in combat, and this did not just refer to technique; they often thought more than their opponents during battle, and their tactical shifts were more frequent.

Noticing that Malone always targeted his crotch, Kaldara began to use this trait against him.

Gradually, Malone found it difficult to pose a sufficient threat to Kaldara's vitals. Instead, because he kept focusing his attacks on the same spot, he ended up neglecting other areas.

More and more wounds appeared on Malone's body. As time passed, the pain caused his movements to slow down, and once he lost his agility, Kaldara's blade began to make contact with other parts of Malone's body more frequently.

Everything fell into a vicious cycle. When Malone's thigh was pierced by Kaldara's blade for the umpteenth time, he finally could no longer support his body and fell to one knee with a thud.

"You lost." Kaldara rested his blade against Malone's neck.

Yes, he had lost—Malone felt he had grown quite a bit in this battle. He didn't know if it was the talent of this body or his own.

If he could fight this battle again, Malone felt he might have had a slight chance of winning, but he was not a Bronze Dragon; he could not turn back time.

With the sharp blade resting against his neck, Malone could feel the fine hairs on his skin standing on end as they touched the cold metal.

The edge was so sharp that Malone could even feel liquid slowly flowing from the point of contact—the scalding blood and the icy blade formed a stark contrast.

Perhaps he would die here without needing Nozdormu—Malone closed his eyes with a bitter smile—did Death Knights have a resurrection skill?

It seemed they did... but Malone wasn't sure if this skill, called "Purgatory," was in his currently activated rune list.

Malone didn't dare to check his left wrist—he didn't know if he would lose his head the moment he moved.

I hope it's there... Malone could only wish silently in his heart—although he had been chosen by a one-in-a-billion probability to endure "Divine Punishment," that shouldn't have used up all his luck for this lifetime!