Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Chapter 45

But the orcs didn’t stop. They pushed through, closing the distance despite the shadow assault.

Urgak swung his war axe in a devastating horizontal arc. The blade cut through the air with enough force to decapitate a horse.

Vegeta ducked under the swing, then countered with a shadow blade that appeared in his hand. The dark weapon clashed against an orc warrior’s sword, and to everyone’s surprise, the shadow held firm against the steel.

"Surprised?" Vegeta laughed. "My shadows aren’t just darkness. They’re solid when I want them to be. Versatile, aren’t they?"

He twisted his wrist, and the shadow blade changed shape, becoming a whip that wrapped around the orc warrior’s sword. With a sharp yank, Vegeta disarmed the orc, then drove a shadow spike through his chest.

The fighting became brutal.

Orcs swung weapons with all their might, managing to land hits on Vegeta that would have killed normal humans. But shadows wrapped around him like armor, absorbing impacts. And every time an orc got close, shadow tendrils would lash out, cutting, stabbing, crushing.

Urgak fought like a demon, his single arm wielding his war axe with deadly precision. He managed to land a solid hit on Vegeta’s shoulder, the blade actually drawing blood.

Vegeta looked at the wound in genuine surprise. "Well. That’s new. First time in months anyone’s managed to cut me."

He smiled wider. "I’m going to enjoy breaking you for that."

The shadows intensified. Multiple constructs attacked Urgak simultaneously from all angles. The chieftain blocked, parried, dodged, his years of combat experience allowing him to survive attacks that would have instantly killed lesser warriors.

But he couldn’t keep it up forever.

A shadow tendril wrapped around his ankle. Another caught his weapon arm. More tendrils snared his torso, his legs, until the massive orc was completely immobilized.

"No!" Lyra screamed, loosing arrow after arrow at Vegeta.

He batted them aside with casual waves of shadow. "Your turn’s coming, little archer. Be patient."

Urgak struggled against the shadow bindings, his muscles bulging with effort. For a moment, it looked like he might actually break free through sheer strength.

Then Vegeta clenched his fist, and the shadows tightened.

Bones cracked. Urgak roared in pain as his ribs broke, as his arm was twisted at an unnatural angle.

"You’re strong," Vegeta acknowledged. "Probably the strongest opponent I’ve faced since that demon duke three years ago. But strength alone isn’t enough against someone like me."

He walked closer to the immobilized chieftain. "Want to know the difference between us? You’re just an evolved orc. Stronger, sure, but fundamentally the same. I’m a hero. Blessed by gods. Given powers that transcend the normal rules of this world."

Vegeta’s hand wrapped in shadows formed into a blade. "And that means you never had a chance."

The shadow blade plunged toward Urgak’s heart.

A Hobgoblin warrior threw himself in the way, taking the strike meant for his chieftain. He died instantly, but his sacrifice gave other warriors time to reach Vegeta.

Three Hobgoblins and five orc warriors attacked in perfect coordination, their weapons coming from six different angles simultaneously. It was the kind of teamwork that only came from training together for months.

Vegeta’s shadows exploded outward in all directions. The attacking warriors were thrown back by the concussive force, several slamming into buildings or hitting the ground hard enough to break bones.

"Admirable," Vegeta said, surveying the fallen warriors. "Pointless, but admirable. You actually work together like a real military unit. Satou trained you well."

He turned his attention back to Urgak. "But it’s not enough. It was never going to be enough."

The shadow blade descended again, and this time, there was no one to interfere.

The blade pierced Urgak’s shoulder instead of his heart. Vegeta smiled cruelly. "Not yet. I want you alive to watch what happens next."

He released the shadow bindings holding Urgak upright. The massive orc collapsed to the ground, alive but badly wounded, unable to rise.

The settlement’s defense was broken.

Remaining warriors tried to mount desperate counterattacks, but they were exhausted, wounded, and facing an opponent they couldn’t hope to defeat. Vegeta moved through them like death personified, his shadows killing with surgical precision.

Lyra kept firing arrows, tears streaming down her face, refusing to give up even as her quiver emptied and her fingers bled from the bowstring.

Vegeta appeared behind her in a blur of shadow.

"Persistent little thing, aren’t you?" he said, grabbing her by the head before she could turn around.

Lyra struggled, tried to reach for the knife at her belt, but shadow tendrils wrapped around her arms, holding them in place.

"I think I’ll save you for last," Vegeta decided.

He lifted her off the ground by her head, her feet dangling in the air, and walked toward the center of the village square. Shadow constructs formed beneath his feet, creating a platform of darkness that elevated him above the carnage.

Around him, the settlement burned. Vegeta had set fires with casual waves of his hand, shadow constructs carrying flame from building to building. The beautiful structures Satou had carefully created with earth magic crumbled under the assault. Wooden buildings constructed by orc craftsmen became funeral pyres.

Bodies littered the square. Some dead, some dying, some clinging to consciousness through sheer willpower.

Vegeta stood atop his shadow platform, holding Lyra like a trophy, and surveyed his work with satisfaction.

"Not bad for twenty minutes of effort," he mused. "Though I expected more resistance. Satou’s reputation made it sound like this place would be more challenging."

Beneath his feet, trapped under shadow constructs that held them like iron chains, Urgak and several other high-ranking warriors lay pinned and helpless. The chieftain’s single eye burned with fury, but his body refused to obey his commands.

The settlement that had taken weeks to build, that had represented hope for two species that had never worked together before, was destroyed in less than an hour.

And Vegeta hadn’t even broken a sweat.