‘Anger will enhance your strength, but it will make you lose your judgment of the battle situation. If you were a Knight, you could well afford to be angry, but as a Martial Artist, the most important thing is to keep a calm mind in battle so that you don't waste the martial techniques you've worked so hard to practice.’
Yade's second lesson was teaching Ogre and Serandic how to maintain a peaceful state of mind.
He said: ‘Once a person is dominated by emotions, their martial arts will abandon them as well.’
How much of this Serandic remembered, Ogre did not know.
But Ogre himself kept this rule firmly in mind.
‘Are you angry? Then my chances will be even greater...’
With the aid of his enhanced vision, Ogre was able to repeatedly dodge every thrust, and any attacks he absolutely could not evade were deflected.
Although Ogre appeared to be in continuous retreat at this moment, he wasn't actually suffering any disadvantage.
On the contrary, the Professional goblin before him was continuously expending its strength.
‘The core of martial arts is to trade little for much, to face the enemy with intelligence. When fighting the weak, we must strike quickly to play to our strengths and reduce variables; when fighting the strong, just remember one thing—attack with thirty percent of your strength and hold back seventy, wearing down the enemy to our benefit.’
Ogre always kept this warning in mind.
When fighting someone weaker than himself, Ogre never wasted words. He struck decisively, maximizing his deterrence without exposing any vulnerabilities.
When fighting opponents stronger than himself, Ogre would choose a semi-defensive, probing tactic, waiting until an opportunity arose to launch a counterattack in a single strike!
Like flowing water, he would continuously erode his opponent.
To summarize it in a single phrase—attack like the gale and thunder, defend like mire and flowing water.
At this moment, Ogre carried out this philosophy to the absolute limit.
Faced with a thrust aimed directly at his heart, Ogre slid to the side to avoid the brunt of the strike.
When the enemy suddenly shifted their attack, striking at the spear Ogre held horizontally with both hands, Ogre actually let go with one hand, allowing the force to deflect one end of the spear!
As the spear and his wrist rotated from vertical to horizontal, the hand he had previously released came into play again.
He gripped the spear shaft once more—the body of the spear leveled out horizontally, and he swept it forward in a counterattack!
Straight for the face—aiming to strike the brow and blind the eyes!
The continuously attacking goblin Professional had not expected that this human, whom it had been suppressing all this time, would still have room to counterattack!
In a split second, its body reacted instinctively, choosing to dodge to the side.
Its mind was in disarray at this moment, completely failing to consider whether Ogre's stable, grounded strike could even break through its battle qi defense.
Of course, in reality, Ogre's hasty strike was completely incapable of harming it—if it hadn't dodged, that is.
But there were no 'ifs' in battle. This instinctive dodge yielded the rhythm of the fight to Ogre, falling right into his trap.
At this moment, the high polish of the metal on the spear miraculously played its part.
Although the goblin Professional managed to sidestep this sudden spear strike aimed at its eyes, the glaring reflection of the sunlight off the spearhead forced it to briefly close its eyes.
Seizing the opportunity to steady his footing, Ogre instantaneously transitioned his retreating steps into a solid half-bow stance.
His legs planted firmly on the ground, one in front and one behind—this was the optimal stance to generate power!
Stomping down, he twisted his waist and drove his momentum forward!
A mighty horizontal sweep!
By the time the goblin Professional opened its eyes again, the tip of Ogre's spear had already reached the critical point; in a split second, the upward sweep had transformed into a heavy, powerful horizontal swing, striking directly at its face.
Its previous dodge had already disrupted its balance; now, there was no way to evade. Fortunately, when its eyes were blinded by the light earlier, it had instinctively raised its arm, so it was not entirely defenseless.
Spear, hand, and face collided at this exact moment. The sudden impact instantly caused it to lose its balance, sending it crashing heavily to the ground and sliding two or three paces away.
Its hand, though coated in battle qi, was cut open by the sharpness of the spearhead.
No matter how strong battle qi was, it had its limits.
Ogre's full-strength blow could shatter granite, clearly reaching the threshold to break its defense.
Of course, this was limited to breaking its defense... If Ogre's physical strength had been just a bit greater, that single blow would have severed its hand entirely.
‘I was actually knocked down!’ Waves of shock crashed through the goblin Professional's mind.
What followed immediately after was an instinctual rage that could no longer be suppressed. Had it not extended its hand earlier, its eyes probably would have been blinded.
Fortunately, its usual combat instincts remained intact, allowing it to react quickly. Ignoring the pain in its left hand, it shoved off the ground with a powerful push while simultaneously opening the eyes it had shut from the impact, restoring its vision.
Taking a deep breath to calm its agitated mind, it made a silent resolve: ‘This time, no matter what happens, I will not close my eyes so easily!’
But Ogre was waiting for exactly this reaction!
‘Take some quicklime to the face!’
Ogre did not press his advantage with a continuous flurry of attacks. He knew full well that striking again at this moment carried the highest risk of a counterattack.
Senselessly pushing an enemy into a corner would only result in harming oneself.
Thus, Ogre's move was to take a step back and open up some distance.
He reached down and snatched an ordinary-looking small cloth pouch from his waist, waiting for his moment.
Just as the opponent opened its eyes and before it could process what was happening, he threw it!
‘What is that?’ The Professional goblin, still holding the short spear in its right hand, had just forced itself up using the recoil of its left hand. It had barely opened its eyes when a gray cloth pouch flew straight toward its face.
This time, it had learned its lesson. It did not dodge or close its eyes; instead, it slashed at the incoming pouch with the short spear in its right hand, attempting to swat it away.
But what it didn't know was that Ogre was waiting for exactly this move!
In an instant, a thrown pebble followed closely behind, rupturing the pouch. Dust and ash filled the air as the exploding quicklime, carried by momentum and force, completely enveloped the goblin Professional.
“Ugh! Ah!”
As it turned out, whether human or goblin, the tone of their screams was much the same when in agony—and this scream was born from the quicklime making contact with its eyes.
The moisture produced in the goblin Professional's large eyeballs from the irritation instantly triggered a violent reaction upon contact with the quicklime!
Heat!
This was an instantaneous, searing temperature that even the battle qi enveloping its entire body could not block!
Its eyes... were ruined!
Hearing the scream, Ogre knew that the deciding opportunity he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
If he didn't attack now, when would he?
“Grand Crushing Spear!” Ogre roared at the top of his lungs.
This shout was meant to mask the sound of his spear slicing through the air.
The shout drowned out its hearing—now, having just lost its vision, the goblin Professional was completely unable to judge how this focused strike would descend upon it.
In this brief window, Ogre lunged forward with his spear and leaped, throwing his arms forward with the full momentum of his charge to thrust out his most powerful strike.
The fierce wind whipped up by the spear's thrust blew away the quicklime dust before the goblin, pointing straight toward its chest, seeking its vital spot!
In that split second, the rotating spear had already reached its chest! There was no escape!
Rate on N.U.
