Orcium stood in the middle of the exit, patiently waiting for the arrival of his opponents.
"Are you a bit slow for Semi-Transcendents, huh?"
Far from being afraid, the orc warrior was worried; not about the fierce enemies that lurked, but about the explosive that stood before him. Orcium was not as versed as a mage at analyzing ether; however, he could sense the geomantic magic coming from the explosive.
"The artifact is, without a doubt, tremendously powerful, but the explosion will be buried under the stones."
At that moment, he remembered how the geomancers had opened the earth, allowing his legion and Victoria to descend.
"Mmmmh? So that's what this is about? The geomantic energy I feel is meant to collapse the ceiling and allow the explosion to strike with full force. It's a shame the geomancer who accompanied us died against the spider-woman; perhaps he could have been of help in this situation."
His worry slowly grew, and Orcium became angrier by the second. Losing is one thing, but allowing his friends to die without doing anything, having failed his mission, was something else entirely; for the orc, it was unbearable. He felt useless, and for a proud warrior like him, feeling useless was unforgivable.
At that moment, in the distance, two shadows approached slowly. One of them was the giant spider-woman, carrying the curved saber.
The other woman, Orcium did not recognize, but she had to be the one Victoria had mentioned.
"Two Transcendents. If this were my homeland, the shamans would write stories about this and tell them to children for ages: the orc who fought against two Transcendents."
Orcium laughed at the fleeting thought that crossed his mind.
"Well, actually, 'fought' is far too ambitious a word for the beating I'm about to receive."
Orcium knew it well: he had no chance of winning or escaping. The only thing that awaited him in a few moments was death. At least it would be a glorious death for a race that lives by and for war.
The orc berserker summoned his hand axes, walking toward the same direction from which his opponents came.
"CREATURES OF THE DEPTHS, MY NAME IS ORCIUM, CHOSEN OF THE GOD OF WARR—"
Before he could even introduce himself to his opponents, the spider-woman, from afar, spat a massive amount of venom, which rushed swiftly toward Orcium.
"Oh, that's right: I threw her the corpse of that bastard scarab; she must not be very happy to see me."
Orcium did not stop. He let the venom touch his skin, which, upon contact, began to melt. The berserker felt how his flesh, how every nerve ending in his body, burned as it melted away; it was a grotesque sight to see how the once fierce warrior turned into a bloody mass.
The spider-woman and the insect-woman turned away, thinking the job was done. The venom flooded the area, and they had seen with their own eyes how their opponent melted before them; no one could withstand that.
But suddenly, a surge of fury energy burst forth amidst the venom, which was violently pushed back by the clash between the two types of energy.
"WRRRRRAAAAAGHHHHHHH!"
A ferocious roar echoed where only a disfigured corpse should have lain; and, amid all the venom, the orc they thought dead shot out with a fury in his gaze that would strike fear even into the most terrifying monsters.
The very figure of the berserker was fearsome: pieces of flesh from his body kept falling off, but at the same time, where the flesh detached, the energy of fury restored his body back to its original state, preventing him from dying of his wounds.
As long as Orcium had the will to fight and the thirst for battle, he would not die: he would continue fighting despite his wounds; even if his body fell apart and shattered, he would rebuild it with sheer fury and willpower.
The insect-woman unleashed her chants once again.
Suddenly, Orcium felt his body become extremely heavy; every step required an unimaginable amount of energy and willpower. It felt as though the world itself was crushing down on him, but with each passing second it became more bearable, and thus Orcium took one step, then another, and after several steps he once again launched into a relentless charge toward his enemies.
The insect-woman seemed surprised that the berserker was moving with such freedom; her eyes were wide in disbelief.
Orcium could imagine what she was thinking: how is it possible that someone of Legendary rank is resisting the power of a Semi-Transcendent?
And so, the orc reached his two enemies, leaping toward the spider-woman with his two hand axes raised high to tear apart her body. However, the spider-woman swung her giant curved saber, slicing both the orc's body and his weapons clean in half; and yet, the body that should have lost all mobility, the body that should have died the instant the blade split it, rejoined quickly even in midair, as if it had never been cut, at an incredible speed.
But before Orcium could cut his opponent in any way, his body was lifted upward without stopping, as if wings had sprouted from his back and he had decided to soar endlessly by sheer will.
The berserker, filled with indignation, let out a deafening roar as his body crashed into the ceiling of the underground chambers; yet it did not last long. Orcium's body once again adapted to the conditions imposed on it and hurled itself down with all its might, once again.
The berserker aimed for the insect-girl who would not stop chanting her songs; she had become annoying enough to prioritize her as his target to kill.
As he descended, the spider-woman did not remain still and expelled a giant web meant to trap the orc; but before it touched his skin, the web was dissolved by the energy radiating from Orcium.
The spider-woman decided to split the warrior's body once again, readying her sword; but her surprise was immense when, upon striking the orc again, she could not divide him. On the contrary, her attack was stopped cold.
Orcium, now back on the ground, faced the spider-woman, seeking to inflict a wound on her massive body with his axes; but she was far superior to him, in fencing, in speed, and in strength. As the clash dragged on, Orcium was brutally cut, barely able to stay on his feet, unable to do more than respond defensively against the fierce swordsmanship of the spider-woman, who used her agile body to move across the battlefield.
An arm of the berserker was cut off, but it rejoined instantly; his leg was severed; his stomach, gutted; even at one moment his head was cleanly decapitated, yet none of it stopped him: his body reassembled and rebuilt itself as quickly as it was wounded. This situation dragged on until, against all odds, Orcium began to catch up with the spider-woman: Orcium's body was becoming faster and stronger each time.
At that moment, he felt a massive amount of vox energy gathering where the insect-woman stood; without a doubt, they were preparing a great attack to destroy his body in one go.
For that brief instant of distraction, the spider-woman punished him, slicing off both of his legs and causing him to lose balance. The orc berserker fell to the ground, and the spider-woman, using her arachnid limbs, pierced his chest with one of her legs; then she poised another, seeking to tear him apart from the inside. But at that moment, Orcium grabbed the limbs that were embedded in his chest and spoke.
"You've hurt me enough. Let's see if you like receiving as much as giving, damn spider."
At that moment, Orcium smiled triumphantly, and all the areas where he had been wounded began to glow with the energy of fury, which began to transfer into the spider-woman's body.
The spider-woman let out a bloodcurdling scream as multiple cuts, the same ones she had inflicted on Orcium, appeared across her own body all at once. Though they were not enough to destroy her, they were enough to make her lose her battle sense for a moment; a moment that Orcium seized, taking his axe and cutting off the spider-woman's legs.
Then he turned toward the insect-woman, who was a far greater threat at that moment. In any case, he could not aspire to kill the spider-woman, who was a born warrior; after all, the damage inflicted on his body —damage that had killed him multiple times— had only done moderate harm to the spider-woman. Orcium believed he had much better chances trying to kill the insect-woman.
And he ran with a gaze full of wrath and eyes glowing red with the energy dripping from his entire body, keeping him alive.
But the insect-woman showed no sign of fearing her opponent; her gaze was as cold and assured as if she were convinced that Orcium could not reach her.
"Let's see if you can keep that face when I'm standing in front of you."