"I'd rather die than become your subordinate!"
This roar of anger resonated in the surroundings as Morgazar firmly held the Warbow in his hand like a sword, ready to strike at any moment.
The Orc Hunter's encampment was easily subdued due to the strategic trickery that Tanabur had suggested to Barca. Since the Orc Raiders often visited the camps of the other Orc Warlords, Morgazar and his subordinates automatically assumed that this was just part of their regular inspections to ensure that everything was in order.
Unfortunately, Barca had already subdued Tanabur and the latter used this method to sneak Barca inside Morgazar's Orc Encampment and trap the Orc Warlord, forcing him to fight Barca one-on-one.
Although the Orc Hunter was capable of fighting like a rogue when it came to close combat, his true specialty lay in ranged attacks. It didn't even take Barca two minutes to completely subdue the Orc Hunter, who was now glaring at the Half-Orc with fury.
"Just kill me!" Morgazar shouted. "I will never recognize you as our Chieftain!"
—-
< Morgazar's Fate >
The Orc Hunter had no intention in joining Barca's rebellion. He would rather die than allow himself to serve someone who didn't earn his respect.
– Option 1
Kill Morgazar.
Reward: Receive one random Pseudo-Mythical Equipment that belongs to him.
– Option 2
Try to convince Morgazar to join Barca's faction.
Reward: ???
—--
Lux frowned as he looked at the two options. The fastest way to deal with this matter was to kill Morgazar, which would reward Lux one of the other party's Pseudo-Mythical Equipment.
However, after sparing Baronar and Tanabur, the Half-Elf had gained lucrative rewards. Having considered this, he was more inclined to have Morgazar join Barca's side, so he would get an unexpected bonus as a reward for his troubles.
'The reason why Morgazar refused to become Barca's subordinate is because the Half-Orc wasn't able to gain his respect,' Lux thought. 'So, I need to make him respect Barca?'
The Orcs were a race that followed the strong. As long as they acknowledged you as stronger than them, they were willing to listen to your words and consider them seriously."
Barca had already glanced at the Half-Elf's direction, asking Lux how he wanted to deal with the Orc Hunter, who refused to submit no matter what.
Lux shook his head as he approached the Orc Warlord who stood arrogantly in front of them. Since he had no other choice, the only thing he could do was do his best, and take the chance to see whether he could salvage the current situation in their favor.
"I challenge you to a duel," Lux said. "You are free to choose what type of duel you want, and I will be the one to choose who your opponent will be. If I win, you will join Barca's side and support him to become the Orc Chieftain. If you win, we will leave this place peacefully, on the condition that you will not intervene with our fight for the seat of Orc Chieftain."
"You? Challenge me?" Morgazar snorted. "A mere half-blood? But, this is indeed intriguing. Are you sure you want me to be the one to choose what type of duel I want?"
"Yes," Lux replied. "That way, you will have no excuse when you lose."
The Orc Hunter growled as he eyed Lux menacingly. "Trying to rile me up? Very well, I want to see how you try to beat me at my own game. The Duel I want is simple. It will be a point-blank range battle!"
The Orc Hunter raised his bow. "My opponent and I will fight in our stronghold's special arena. We will only be fifty meters apart from each other, and whoever gets hit by an arrow first loses."
"Can the two combatants approach each other?"
"Of course. It doesn't matter if we fight each other in close quarters, using only an arrow. The important rule is that the first one to get hit by an arrow will automatically lose. Anything goes!"
Lux nodded his head in understanding.
"Very well, I accept this duel," Lux replied.
"So, who will be fighting on your side?" Morgazar asked. His voice was filled with arrogance and confidence. Clearly, he didn't think that he would lose to anybody.
"Ishtar, come forth," Lux ordered.
A Skeleton Hunter materialized beside the Half-Elf.
The moment the Skeleton appeared, Morgazar narrowed his eyes as if sizing up his opponent. Surprisingly, Ishtar did the same and the golden glow in her eyes burned brighter. It was as if she was looking at a worthy adversary who specialize in the same profession as she did.
"Good!" Morgazar said. "This is more like it!"
Ten minutes later…
Morgazar and Ishtar stood fifty meters from each other in a closed arena inside the Orc Encampment.
The arena was a special training ground where the Elite Orc Archers under Morgazar trained on a regular basis. This helped the Orc Archers improve their close combat fighting skills whenever their opponents managed to close the gap between them.
"Are both of you ready?" Lux asked.
Isthar and Morgazar nodded at the same time.
"Let the battle begin!" Lux shouted.
Immediately after that, the two proud hunters unleashed a barrage of arrows at each other. They were first testing each other's abilities to have a better grasp of their opponent's strength and weakness.
Both of them dodged, and fired arrows at an amazing speed that made Lux wonder if the Orc weighed like air. Although he was quite big, Morgazar was able to perform incredible maneuvers of dodging and counter-attacking despite his size.
Ishtar on the other hand, side stepped, jumped, rolled, and performed other feats in order to evade Morgazar's deadly arrows that seemed to have a life of its own.
"Morgazar is stronger," Barca muttered.
Baronar, Tanabur, and Lux nodded their heads in agreement. Just like Barca, Morgazar was a Rank 4 Alpha Beast.
His expertise and skills far surpassed Ishtar's. The only saving grace was that when the two dueled, the settings of the Dungeon lowered his rank to match Ishtar's. This was perhaps the consequence of Lux's choice to give the Orc Hunter the right to choose which duel he wanted.
Because of this, Morgazar found it was beneath him to bully someone that had a lower rank than him. This then prompted the changes of his current rank, making him on the same level as his opponent.
Although his rank had regressed, his skills and expertise remained the same. Just as Lux was wondering how Ishtar would be able to overcome her opponent, the Orc Hunter shot a barrage of arrows that had forced Ishtar into a corner.
"This is my win!" Morgazar declared as he fired a flaming arrow, merely twenty meters away from Ishtar, who had stumbled on the ground due to his earlier arrow barrage.
Just as the flaming arrow was about to hit Ishtar's body, the Skeleton Hunter summoned a steep trap in her hand and used it as a shield.
A metallic rang reverberated inside the arena as the arrow was deflected by the trap in Ishtar's hand, surprising everyone that was watching the duel.
The Skeleton Hunter didn't let the opportunity slip by, and threw the Steel Trap towards her opponent.
Morgazar was forced to use his arms to block the unexpected ranged weapon that was thrown at him at close range with his arm.
After blocking the steel projectile, the Orc Hunter was about to do a counterattack when he saw the Skeleton Hunter standing ten meters away from him, holding two steel traps in each of her hands.
Just as he expected, Ishtar threw the two Steel Traps in his direction, forcing the Orc Hunter to block them with his arm once again.
The next time he laid his eyes on his opponent, the Skeleton Hunter was almost upon him. In Ishtar's left and right hands, three icy arrows—that resembled claws of a certain superhero from Lux's world—could be seen.
Without saying a word, Ishtar thrust the arrows that were firmly held by her bony fingers towards her enemy's chest.
As a last resort, Morgazar used his bow to slash down on Ishtar's right hand, shattering it completely. Unfortunately for him, the Skeleton Hunter's decisive attack was far from over.
The Orc Warlord felt a stinging, ice-cold, pain as the arrows in Isthar's left hand, embedded themselves into the side of his body.
Everyone watched with bated breath as the battle ended in a way that none of them expected.
"Ishtar, was it?" Morgazar said as he looked at the Skeleton Hunter with a complicated expression on his face. "Too bad you are already dead. If you were alive, I would have made you my wife. I accept my defeat. This is your win."
Isthar rattled her jaws as if telling her opponent that he wasn't too shabby himself. After the two combatants exchanged their words. The adorable blonde Dwarf raised her hand from the stands and shouted.
"Huzzah!" Colette raised her hand in happiness. "We won!"
The Orc Warriors also raised their hands and shouted their war cries to honor the two warriors that had fought with honor and dignity. Even Lux who was trying to keep his expression calm could feel his blood from boiling due to the incredible performance that he had just witnessed.
He never thought that he would get this much excitement and inspiration from a battle between two Hunters. It made him realize that his second Named Creature, Ishtar, could do something awesome when pushed into a corner.
—--
Morgazar's Fate (Completed!)
< Rewards >
One Rank Up for Ishtar
One Elite Orc Warlord Set Equipment
+4 Summon Skeleton Grand Archer
(Summon Four Additional Skeleton Grand Archers)
(Elite Orc Warlord Hunter Set)
Pseudo-Mythical Armor Set
Requirement: Only for classes that specialized in range weapons
+200 to Defense
+ 30 to Dexterity
+ 30 to Agility
+ 30 to Vitality
20% Physical Damage Reduction
20% Magical Damage Reduction
< Bonus Reward >
You gained 500 Orc Archers under your command.
Morgazar became your ally!
+500 Blackrock Reputation Points
—--
Lux whistled at the unexpected reward that he received from clearing Morgazar's Side-Quest.
Right now, he was short on resources, so he couldn't level up his minions willy-nilly. Fortunately, Ishtar received a free rank up after defeating Morgazar, which boosted her overall stats, and added a few skills in her ever-growing deadly arsenal.
But, that was not all. Lux could now summon four additional Skeleton Grand Archers, bringing their total number to eight.
'It was more than worth it.' Lux couldn't stop the wide smile that appeared on his face. Now that there was only one more Warlord that they needed to deal with, the Half-Elf was looking forward to the next batch of goodies that was waiting for him.
