Chapter 1087: Hesitation
The Bronze Orcs have a poor reputation among the Blazeforge Orcs, mainly due to their innate earth rune. Their most basic ability is to merge their aura with the surrounding earth, channeling any force they suffer directly into the ground.
Low-ranking Bronze Orcs can only redirect a portion of the force into the earth beneath their feet, and the range they affect is extremely limited.
Only upon reaching the Sword Saint stage can they completely redirect the force of an attack into the ground beneath them. At that point, the area of earth they can draw upon grows steadily larger.
In the Bronze Orc tribes, the proportion of force a low-rank warrior can redirect is seen as a measure of their talent. Once they reach the Sword Saint stage, the size of the earth they can draw upon becomes the most direct comparison of strength between individuals.
Because of their focus on defense, other orcs see them as cowards. Orcs are supposed to fight blood-soaked battles—scars and blood are badges of honor. Yet the Bronze Orcs treat taking damage as a shame, a sign of weakness.
This difference in mindset caused other orc tribes to look down on the Bronze Orcs. Even the physically frail Gray Orcs, when trading alchemical golems for food, would avoid the Bronze Orc tribes.
No one expected that after advancing to the Heaven-Rank, the Bronze Orcs would begin to focus on gravity magic. Combined with their extraordinary strength, they became truly formidable—their defenses against peers of the same rank are almost unbeatable.
Leon recalled that, over eight thousand years later, there was an orc known as the Earth Saint—a pure Earth Sword Saint.
He showed everyone just how terrifying gravity could be. For most, the horror of gravity was something only imagined deep within the Earth Elemental Plane, where the pressure is so intense that even space collapses. There, the river of time itself is torn and slowed by the crushing force.
Back then, as long as the Earth Saint stood on solid ground, his defense was unmatched. He could take a direct hit from a transcendent spell and remain completely unharmed. Whenever he merged his aura with the earth, he created an absolute defensive domain around himself.
Within this domain, the closer you got to him, the stronger the gravity became. No attack could penetrate the area covered by his gravitational field.
Legend had it that within a meter of his body, gravity could reach several hundred times normal.
At the time, most people thought his defense was his only strength, so they didn't pay much attention. During one ruin exploration, two Heaven-Rank mages tried to steal his findings, but he showed them the true terror of gravity—not just the gravity spell.
He crushed the bodies of those two Heaven-Rank mages with pure gravity alone. Then he personally visited their faction's headquarters—just a single walk around the place, and every building was destroyed, every person killed by overwhelming gravity.
Later, in pursuit of a way to advance further, the Earth Saint ventured deep into the Earth Elemental Plane—a place said to trap even souls forever.
After more than a hundred years, the Earth Saint became the first to ever leave that deadly region. Only later did people realize he'd spent less than a year inside.
The crushing gravity in that place slowed the river of time to a crawl—time outside flowed a hundred times faster than inside!
When the Earth Saint emerged, he was already a Ninth-Rank Heaven Sword Saint. But after that single appearance, he vanished without a trace...
Leon thought back and realized, unsurprisingly, that the legendary Earth Saint—hailed as the earth's chosen—was probably a Bronze Orc!
The torrent of spells did nothing to Shark now. The front of the barrage couldn't even reach him—before it got close, the force was twisted and pulled into the earth. To Shark, the leftover energy was nothing more than a tickle.
Even Eighth-Rank spells couldn't hit Shark head-on anymore. Without a direct hit, the spell's power was cut in half—utterly incapable of breaking through his defenses.
Leon kept dodging, even ordering his subordinates to fall back and deal with the other Bronze Orcs.
Meanwhile, Shark kept chasing Leon down. His attacks were simple and direct—the giant sword infused with pure earth aura, amplifying gravity again and again, until finally the sheer weight would crush his target to death.
Don't underestimate this kind of raw power. When Xuban fought, he relied on pure strength, and few mages of equal rank could withstand even a single hammer blow from him.
Shark's battle aura slashes were unimaginably heavy—tens of thousands of kilograms at least. Add in the earth aura multiplying the gravity several times over, even tenfold, and no spell or shield could withstand the impact.
Leon was losing ground, forced to keep dodging under Shark's relentless assault.
Shark's defense was overwhelming, his strength terrifying. But to maximize gravity's effect, he had to constantly draw upon the earth's power, making him slow and cumbersome.
Leon's specialty—spell torrents—were useless against Shark. Most couldn't even hit him, let alone break his defenses.
The stalemate dragged on. A kilometer away, on a small hill, members of the Henry Family hid their presence, lurking behind the slope and sneakily watching the battle from afar.
Arno watched the battlefield, a trace of worry on his face.
"Morgan, do you think we should help out?
Those Bronze Orc Sword Saints and Earth Warlocks aren't a match for Merlin's men, but Merlin himself seems to be getting suppressed by Shark.
Who would've thought Shark would break through to Heaven-Rank and start wielding transcendent power?
Shark's defense is too strong. Even if Merlin's men finish their fights and join in, they probably still can't take him down. Should we step in? Even if we can't beat Shark, maybe we can force him to retreat."
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Morgan used a magic item to hide their presence, then peeked out from behind the hill, his face full of hesitation.
Damn it, aren't the Bronze Orcs supposed to be the shame of the Blazeforge Orcs? How did Shark suddenly get so strong? Before entering the Blazeforge battlefield, the intel said he was just a peak Ninth-Rank Title Archmage.
This foolish orc used to be one of the weaker fighters among the orc tribes before entering the Blazeforge Realm. How did things change so drastically?
Matthew Merlin, that terrifyingly strong guy—maybe even stronger than Dida La—ended up getting suppressed by Shark. Almost none of Matthew Merlin's spells could hit Shark...
Damn it, should I go help? The orcs are so strong now, and everything on the Blazeforge battlefield is going their way...
No, no, it wouldn't do any good if we joined in. Worse, Shark might just kill us along with the rest.
Oh, right—damn, I almost forgot. I signed a contract with that sly Matthew Merlin.
Damn it, Matthew Merlin must've planned for all this. Those pseudo-Heaven-Rank magical beast cores are insanely valuable, and the contract covers every single one of them...
Damn it, now we have to hand over a fifth of the cores from all the pseudo-Heaven-Rank beasts we hunt...
Heh, wait a minute—if Shark kills Matthew Merlin, our contract is void. We won't have to give up a fifth of our beast cores anymore...
Yeah, that's right. If we win any more pseudo-Heaven-Rank beast cores, we won't have to hand over a fifth for nothing...
Right, forget it—no way I'm helping...
A rush of thoughts flashed through Morgan's mind. He chuckled to himself, then carefully peeked out again, watching Lin Yun still getting beaten down, a look of satisfaction on his face.
"Morgan, I'm talking to you—should we help out or not?"