<h4>Chapter 54 54 A warrior''s defeat</h4>


    [OP: ]


    -Swish...!


    -nk! nk nk nk nk nk!


    -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiish!


    -Click!


    -Boooooooooom...!


    Lucy and the troll hero Gurak. They were in a world of their own now.


    The speed they were fighting at was on a totally different level from what they had started with and, the ground, the sky, the very surroundings witnessed this shift of tempo when the harmony of the sh and the melody of shing weapons became a symphony of two determined hearts.


    One was having a unique kind of fun for the very first time aftering to this world, and the other burned his very life to achieve this result.


    He wanted to save his family, he wanted to win so that they can at least have the divine blessing of life, he was burning his very life force to boost his abilities to this level, and while he was doing it, even though he was able to contend with the relentless attacks from his opponent, he, for the first time in his life, was understanding what it actually meant to fight an opponent so strong you would feel inferior to them even after having more than enough strength to stand above countless others.


    It was like a creature that lived atop a sky-piercing mountain that although knew it was above many others, also knew how it could never reach the true endless sky.


    He was fighting a sky, and even his entire lifeforce wasn''t going to be enough to put a scratch on that sky.


    He was matching him, their weapons were shing, and he was sessfully avoiding his attacks, but in all the unknown time that had passed until now, forget a scratch, he hadn''t even seeded in pushing this person back with all his mighty strength.


    It was too strange, he couldn''t understand what could be the reason for this strange happenstance.


    He was stronger, the opponent wasn''t using anyplex techniques or fighting methods, and everything he did was simple, too simple to understand actually, and still. why was it so… beautiful?


    He had fought his countless brothers and uncles, creatures of this great forest, strong creatures that had almost destroyed their home, and he had also fought many humans. But, never in his life had hee across someone as unique as this person.


    He was losing, no. He had already lost, he knew it at this moment, but he was still continuing.


    He possessed an unbreakable resolve, he knew it the best, he would continue till death for his family, but that resolve, in the face of a power like this…


    He didn''t want to, but probably, against the will of his entire being, he would have to give up at some point. He would have to let go of the stubbornness and ept his fate… or do the most foolish thing and use hisst resolve.


    -nk! nk! nk!


    -Clung…!


    The thrill of this battle was something both of them were feeling but, Lucy was holding back quite a lot. He wasn''t using his magic or the stronger skills. He was just enjoying this moment where he was able to fight someone on this level.


    He didn''t expect it at first but this troll, this creature had more potential than some of the other awakened creatures he had in mind.


    He was good, his strengths were great, and his stubbornness, his resolve to win this battle, was a greater aspect of him than even his amazing learning ability that grasped Lucy''s basic movement pattern and the ability boosting skill that, at the coast of all the energy he possessed, allowed him to match his (x2) speed.


    "Bastard..."


    Lucy was impressed. This little troll impressed her Lucy. She could feel it as she watched this pretty good confrontation. But she knew the end of this little fight was here.


    Even Eva knew it.


    She knew Lucy was having fun, she also knew the creature before them was using his total energy to power a unique ability-boosting skill right now, and if continued for longer, he would die. And Lucy wanted him, so he wasn''t going to let him kill himself just like that.


    And Lucy knew it all too. He wanted to go on for a little longer, fight him like this a little more, maybe step up the intensity and see if he can match him there too… but he knew the limitations of his opponent, and even with all his desires, he couldn''t go on. At least, not in this fight. Or he would be losing on a charcoal-like diamond.


    -Swish…!


    So, while the confrontation was still ongoing and he was about to block one of his stabbing attacks, Lucy changed his form midway, elerated suddenly and vanished from their imaginary elerated world too, and took another stance for a horizontal sh.


    And after all that, which took ce in the blink of an eye…


    -Click.


    A solemn clicking sound reverberated throughout the surrounding and Lucy, who was invisible to the eyes of other remaining trolls all this time, reappeared with his hand on the handle of his sword.


    -Shkiiiiiiiiing… thud!


    And just after him, their hero also reappeared, but instead of standing like his opponent, he fell to the ground, his weapon, the strong artifact passed down from their ancestors that lived in this very ce, smashed and cut in half, and the worrier that was the only strong enough person to wield it in all of their viges, in all of these years, nowy on the ground, with a deep cut on his abdomen that wasn''t healing right away like the way it should.


    A strange red me same as the one his opponent''s sword contained, was burning this wound, and the warrior thaty on the ground, helpless, only looked at the back of his opponent with anger, admiration, and resentment-filled eyes.


    "You are a great warrior, Gurak." Lucy looked back at him with a smile, and without needing the trantion of these words, the feeling behind them was conveyed to the opponent that nowy on the ground.


    [ "The winner of the sacred battle is my warrior, the remaining trolls of this tribe. Thus, the fate of all of you, your lives, and the lives of the future generations that woulde, now belongs to us." ]


    El announced with an excited smirk on her face. And this could have been the moment she went ahead and killed all of the remaining trolls.


    Or, if not for the barrier she had already put to block any outside creature''s interference, there could have been a new problem greeting them.


    And, if this wasn''t an actual official duel that they set up with the Worldline system, the bastards watching all of this with bittersweet feelings could have interfered with this situation and manipted their troll hero into something unwanted.


    Lucy wanted him so he made sure there was no fucking outside interference like thest time. So, as always, he overprepared this time too.


    He knew there was a very, very solid chance that some demon or god would offer a contract to this special awakened troll, and as unfamiliar with the system as all the awakened creatures are, if he were to even identally ept their offer, there could have been a disaster!


    He would either have to kill all of them, the troll hero and his family, and he would have to do it all by himself since he used a ''wish'' and asked her not to kill them, or they would have had to face an opponent of a level they were still not ready for.


    Lucy had been in a simr scenario in the past before...


    He had found a capable awakened creature, battled with it for control over his life, and he won, but the creature unknowingly ended up epting the contract from a high demon''s underling.


    The demon took over him and, after a lot of devastation and unexpected loss, he had to bitterly kill it, losing a capable talent that could have grown far stronger.


    But it died, and it was because of those jealous bastards. And something like that could have happened here too… so, he was prepared.


    They had done what was needed to be done and thankfully, they now possessed a little manpower to farm unique resources of this rtively unknown area of the great forest.


    And they also had a good meat shield now that could grow to be a meat shield that could cut down the enemies blocking their path.


    So…


    This was the end.


    "You are strong." Lucy walked toward the troll hero and helped him get up.


    "Guraaak…" and the defeated troll hero that lost fair and square against a strong, and capable opponent, epted the seemingly small yet unbelievably strong hand of his new master, with little resentment of course, which wasn''t going tost much longer.


    "Then let''s go get the treasure~!"


    Oh right. The rewards after a quest were the main driving force of the whole ordeal.


    And, after going through all these fun things, the rewards they would get would obviously be…


    Well, what do you think?