I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents

I realized it.
That the orcs I had been cutting down until now were close to weaklings.
As their bodies grew larger, or the number of white tattoos covering their bodies increased, their combat power rose.

It reached a point where they wouldn’t die even after three or four sword strikes.
The smell of blood numbed my sense of smell.

They didn’t die even when I swung my sword horizontally. They didn’t die even when I slashed at their abdomen with my sword.
At that point, I pulled out the black javelin and thrust it into their necks, twisting it.

“Kuaaaaargh!”

The soldiers’ screams echoed in my ears.

My gaze and senses had long since moved away from the orc whose life I had just ended.

A large orc glaring at me from a distance.
Despite being an orc, it had attendants carrying red flags.

That one had been drawing my attention for a while.
It had been watching me since I threw the javelin from the castle wall.
That one probably intends to kill me.

But I’m in a position where I have to kill you too.

I severed another head and shifted my gaze.
Ricelin, the commander of the Lucerna Mercenary Group, was indeed no extra.
She was fighting fiercely, covered in red blood from head to toe.

The shield in her left hand.
The spear in her right hand, both were covered in blood and flesh.

She approached me with a cool expression after ending an orc’s life.

“Yuseong.”

Ricelin stood next to me, raising her shield up to her upper body.

“It’s better not to approach the orc with the red flag behind it. That’s the Orc Army Commander.”

Army Commander.
I wondered who she meant, but it seemed to refer to the large orc I had just exchanged glances with.
The problem is that I had already made up my mind to face that one.

“I’ll kill the Army Commander, so could you help me reach that point? There are quite a few pigs in the way.”

Ricelin looked at me with a slightly furrowed brow.

“…Did you hear what I said?”

I continued in a low voice.

“Does it look like reinforcements will arrive in this situation?”

Ricelin sighed.

“Of course not. If they were coming, they should have arrived earlier… The fact that they haven’t come yet means something must have gone wrong.”

“If we kill that Army Commander, won’t it end the current situation? It seems like we could buy at least two days of time.”

“That’s true, but… it’s absurd how you say it like you’re going for a walk.”

Ricelin clicked her tongue and thrust her shield forward.

“Are you serious?”
“I am. Do you happen to have a mana potion?”
“Yes.”

Ricelin didn’t seem surprised that I could handle mana. Maybe she thought I must be using mana given how much I’ve been fighting.

As she handed me a potion containing blue liquid, Ricelin’s expression was more like looking at a strange person than being bewildered. Consistently.

“I know you’re strong, Yuseong… but I don’t think you’re strong enough to kill the Army Commander?”

Hmm.
It was a coldly rational judgment to the point of being quite hurtful.

“You’re right. I’m just going to try.”
“People don’t usually risk their lives just to try…”

If we stay still, the rest of the army’s forces will pour in. And we’ll be swept away by that wave of troops and die.
If I kill the Army Commander before that, the second floor stage might end.
Of course, my instinct was telling me that wouldn’t be the case.
Unlike when I faced Queen Anstrotrope, no text appeared above my head this time.

It meant there was a possibility of a higher-level monster above this Army Commander.
I looked at the 80 or so soldiers fighting desperately. They were barely holding back the orcs’ invasion like waves at the edge of the sea.

The shields they were holding up were long and vertical in shape.
Numerous spears protruding between the shields.
The spear tips stretched out towards the orcs but failed to deliver fatal blows.

The people at the front were dying one after another.
Screams.
The sound of flesh tearing.
NPCs.

I had no idea what would happen when we moved to the next floor.
It was uncertain whether we could even clear this second floor stage in the first place.

But even if the story of this floor didn’t continue and ended here, I didn’t want to see more soldiers dying.

I admit it.
I’m in an extremely emotional state.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been with these lively, breathing people after seeing only dead and dying NPCs until now.

Gulp-

I downed the blue mana potion.
Player level 6, reached after killing one more orc just before.
My mana stat increased by 4, bringing it to 16.
Perhaps due to that influence, my Mana Body Enhancement skill also reached level 2.

I could barely remember how many orcs I had killed by now.
It took killing over twenty orcs to move from level 5 to level 6.

“Are you really going to do this?”
“Yes.”

After confirming my intention once more, the mercenary commander Ricelin arranged fifteen more people around me.
They were all members of the Lucerna Mercenary Group.

Ricelin spoke in a calm tone, contrary to the current situation.
When giving orders as the mercenary commander, she spoke informally, just like when she ordered the departure.

“Form a charging formation and move forward. The main target of protection is Yuseong.”

Following Ricelin’s words, the gazes of all fifteen gathered turned to me.
Attack Captain Ed, with whom I had briefly conversed earlier, was among those gazes.

“I don’t intend to be protected. I’ll be at the very front.”

Everyone wore blank expressions at my words.

“He says his goal is to kill that Army Commander. Quite a bold declaration, isn’t it?”

Ricelin gestured with her chin towards the front.

“Let’s give it a try. If we continue this standoff any longer, we’ll have no choice but to suffer a major defeat and retreat. Let’s make this reckless choice once.”

The Lucerna Mercenary Group simultaneously raised their shields and formed a formation.
I swung my sword at the front of the mercenaries, advancing like a needle piercing through the orcs before us.

“Everyone will return alive! Raise your shields high and completely block the enemy’s approach! Then thrust your spears into the gaps!”

Attack Captain Ed’s voice rang out loudly.
The systematically trained charging formation. The orcs were pushed back helplessly, spraying blood.
I had just finished cutting off the breath of a fierce-looking orc that appeared in front of me.

A huge shadow suddenly fell over Ed’s body as he stepped forward to kill an orc approaching diagonally.

A face.
A very fierce face.
— Orc Army Commander.

The Army Commander, who had been standing still at the back until just moments ago, had suddenly reached right next to me.

Kwaaaang!

The Army Commander’s fist struck Ed’s upper body.
Ed’s body was half-crushed as if crumpled.

I heard Ricelin’s scream calling out Ed’s name.

All my nerves were on edge.

Hwaaaak-!

I grabbed Ed by the scruff of his neck, pulled him back, and pushed him away as if throwing him.
It was to save his life first and foremost.

From then on, only the Army Commander was visible in my sight.

Massive build.
Overwhelming pressure.
Orc Army Commander.
Standing in front of it, I had serious doubts about whether I had injured my head somehow.

[Concentration Enhancement Lv.3 – Activating skill.]

The feeling rising from the tips of my toes was because I thought I’d give it a try.

[Mana Body Enhancement Lv.2 – Activating skill.]

The Army Commander’s arm moved slowly.
The Army Commander, raising a huge battle axe, charged forward, stomping the ground.
With a chilling red glow in its eyes.

The rush of power emanating from its massive body was unimaginably fast.
That’s probably why Attack Captain Ed ended up in that state.

The axe was brought down vertically. It was a brute force attack with the Army Commander’s weight behind it.

I withstood the pressure of the axe with my sword that clashed against it.

Dragon Slaying Sword Libra.
Sword Defense Technique Form 1, balancing the sword and body to block the attack.

The ground where I stood cracked, but the sword remained intact.
The Army Commander raised the axe handle with both arms.

Kwuooooooooooo──!

And with a thunderous roar, it began to indiscriminately bring down the axe.
Gray trajectories densely covered the air.

Attack is the best defense.
Rather than blocking the Army Commander’s attacks with sword defense techniques, I responded with counterattacks.

Hair cut off by the axe blade scattered in the air.

Diagonal line.
If I had twisted my head even a little less, my head would have been severed and fallen to the ground. This situation repeated.

I unleashed all the basic techniques of the Dragon Slaying Sword.
Blood spurted from the Army Commander’s neck. But it didn’t fall.

Its neck was too thick.
So was its waist. The leather and chest muscles protecting its heart were the same.

In contrast, my body was still weak. Even deploying the sword defense technique Libra, I was barely managing to block fatal blows.

Kagagagagak!

I twisted the trajectory with a straight sword. However.

Sseugeok.

Even twisting wasn’t enough.
Pain beyond throbbing spread from my left shoulder. Blood flowed fiercely.

Kakang!

Even in the sensation of consciousness fading away, I swung my sword to deflect the axe.

[Abnormal Status – Bleeding!]

Am I dying?
Dying like this seems too absurd.

Perhaps from losing too much blood, the pain evaporated instead.
In a state close to unconsciousness, I followed the trajectory and deflected another attack.

If I allow even one more attack, I’ll die.

[Skill ‘Composure’ level increases. Lv.3]

Just one more.
Just one more chance.

I’m not hoping for luck.

[Skill ‘Fighter’s Movement’ level increases. Lv.3]

What I’ve built up.

[Skill ‘Fighter’s Movement’ calls for a linked skill.]

I just wanted to show that it wasn’t meaningless.

[Doombringer Lv.1 – Skill acquired.]

It’s here.

[Due to the Abnormal Status – Bleeding ‘Critical’, Doombringer is activated.]

[The body temporarily breaks through its limits.]

One of the reasons why ‘LightSword’ wrote that acquiring ‘Fighter’s Movement’ was necessary in the appendix of the swordsmanship manual.
Special condition activation skill, Doombringer.

– LightSword) It’s the last struggle, and the best struggle.

A skill often seen in other games, especially fighting games, where you get stronger at low health.
That’s how I understood this skill.

My joints creaked, not listening to my commands.
But my mind was clear.
More than ever before.

I’m aware. At most, 20 seconds is the limit.
If I exceed that time, it will be my life that goes out.

I swung the straight sword.
Horizontal slash, Þursahǫgg.

The sword strike that hadn’t been effective until now penetrated the Army Commander’s armor and struck its upper body.

Hjartagnyr.
Drakabani.
Tres Punctura.

I unleashed all the sword paths that my body remembered.

Again, Þursahǫgg.

A flash of light sliced through the Army Commander’s waist.
The Army Commander’s body began to tilt sideways.

— Thud.

The Army Commander’s body sprawled on the ground.