I Refused To Be Reincarnated-Chapter 894: The Avalanche

Adam pursed his lips even as the silver streak swiped for his neck. Twin infernos ignited in his narrowed eyes, his lips curved into a smirk, and despite the wounds weeping blood through the cuts of his shirt, his voice came out with more contempt than Ulgarath, the crowd, and the shaman had managed together.

"I win."

Before anyone could make sense of the futile taunt, a scream of pure agony rocked the arena. Ulgarath's axe clanged on the tiles. He gripped his right arm, his massive palm barely hiding muscles that squirmed in different directions, as if they tried to suppress the burning agony tearing their nerves.

Neuro-muscular junction or acupoints. That was what he had hammered the entire fight. Patiently, relentlessly, covertly. All for this moment. Of course, Ulgarath's hide-like skin and dreadful muscles protected the orc from direct damage.

Once he stacked them enough on a single one, though?

The real avalanche struck—a downpour that spread across the Luo-Connecting points, triggering a chain reaction that swallowed every other point he had struck.

The crowd, the shamans, even Grum'Thal's red eyes widened beneath the shadow of his hood when Adam raised a triumphant fist overhead. Sweat stuck his sky-blue hair to his forehead, and he breathed louder than a warg that had rushed across the gorge for a full night.

Yet, no one dared to mock him. No one could, even when he turned his back to Ulgarath.

It was by design that Adam drove Ulgarath to this corner of the arena. His gaze fell on an orc in the crowd, the one who had picked up his weapon. He stretched his palm, his hoarse voice commanding. "Don't make me fetch it myself. You won't like how it ends."

The orc flung the blade as if it had turned into scalding charcoal.

Adam caught his macuahuitl, guiding it in graceful arcs and flowing curves inconceivable for this brutal weapon. With a fling of his wrist, he let the wooden frame rest on his shoulder, then faced Ulgarath.

The muted stupor stretched for a second he used to glare at the orc.

He crouched, his lips curled inward, saliva dripping down his jagged teeth and tusks. He dug a thick thumb into his forearm, impossible sweat trickling down his forehead. Adam knew why, and it made his smirk broaden. As if self-inflicted pain could overwhelm the jolting misery numbing Ulgarath's arm.

A discordant yet genuine laugh escaped Adam's lips as he slid beneath Ulgarath. Both hands found the hilt of his macuahuitl. "Hahahaha. Let the pitiful human show you how to wield a weapon."

Without grace, he swung it like a club.

BAM

A single cute growl pierced the silence from the crowd. Bao lifted her paws, her eyes sparkling as the skull engraved on the frame of Adam's weapon crashed on Ulgarath's torso. She knew he would win!

The tiles cracked beneath Adam's feet, and his muscles groaned. It felt as if he were trying to move a mountain. He grunted through his clenched jaw, his veins bulging, his blood burning, his qi roaring.

Ulgarath growled, his good hand reaching for Adam. "I'LL KILL YOU."

"Not today. RAAAH!"

Adam stomped forward, tiles exploding, dust rising. His arms pressed forward, completing their arc. Ulgarath's feet left the ground, his body forced a single step back.

It wasn't the explosive, bloody final anyone had expected. Instead, they thought about a powerless child trying to push an adult. Yet, it was the most impressive thing they had ever witnessed. The most shameful, too. A human... Their legendary warrior...

All eyes turned to Ulgarath. He lay on his back, wide-eyed, slack-jawed, as if the pain in his arm couldn't override the ridiculousness of it all. He glared up, and Adam swung his right arm in an exaggerated bow.

Then, he waved it up theatrically, emphasising each movement hauntingly. "Oh dear heavens. It seems you've retracted your blessings on the orc tribes if a human can defeat one of their nine legendary warriors. I beseech thee, have mercy. Grant them descendants who will honor their ancestors."

"YOU DARE?!" The eight other legendary warriors leapt from their seats, knuckles white on their weapons.

"NO!" Ulgarath roared. He hoisted himself up, his eyes burning. He slammed his left fist on his right biceps, each strike reverberating. The imprint of his fist suppressed his squirming muscles, then he leapt onto the arena. "He's mine!"

"I wonder about that." Adam tilted his head toward Grum'Thal. For three heartbeats, silence. Then, his lips twisted when the great shaman shook his head from his box.

The duel would continue. He... wanted to see more of this anomaly in their fifteen thousand-year-old equation.

Since Grum'Thal didn't call the end of the duel, Ulgarath lunged like a behemoth. Spite flew out of his mouth as he caught his axe on his way to the human who dared blaspheme his species.

He closed his eyes.

As if.

When he snapped his eyes open, they burst with sky-blue mana. His macuahuitl vanished in a shower of sparks from which his chronoscar emerged.

If they didn't play by the rules, he wouldn't either.

Void qi swirled around his fingers as he gripped space between his thumb and index. He pulled up, zipping it open.

Ulgarath charged through and swung his axe down. Yet, his eyes widened. Adam wasn't there... He wasn't at the edge of the arena either, but at the center?

He spun back, only to be blinded by the radiance of multicolored lights.

Thousands of spears aimed at him. Light, frost, lava, fire, poison, wind—elements thrummed from every angle. Ridiculous. They would never wound him. Not even the three milky white spheres hovering beside Adam or his crystalline blade could.

Still, his eyes narrowed on the dark energy swirling around the human fist. That... he felt slightly threatened by it. Not much. Perhaps it could scratch him. But that in itself was an accomplishment.

"The human is cheating!" Rokhan roared from Grum'Thal's box, "Kill him!" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The spears instantly shifted toward the crowd. Tears cracked the sky open, showing the other villages from above, while more spears aimed at them.

"Do it, and I'll bring extinction to your tribe. Trust me, not even your shamans will survive. You'll be the last nine alive." Adam's eyes drifted to Grum'Thal. "Last ten. Now, give me my rightful victory and let me and Bao leave, or I swear none of us will benefit from this madness."