TAK!
CRACK!
The massive centaur chief stepped forward, his hooves cracking the ground below him with his heavy step.
"..."
His eyes landed on Verc, who was standing out like a sore-thumb in a village full of centaur. He was the only one with a pair of human legs, after all.
Then—he saw his warriors a few meters away from Verc.
The centaur warriors were scattered across the dirt road, their long weapons dropped carelessly into the dirt. They were on the ground, their legs bleeding.
They were injured, but he quickly realized that none of them were badly hurt.
The cuts were clean, surgical, and placed with such extreme precision that they had only incapacitated the motor functions of the limbs without severing any major arteries or destroying the bone structure.
No one had died.
The complete absence of lethal casualties among seventy incapacitated frontliners was a statistical impossibility in a regular raid, showing an absolute, terrifying level of restraint from the attacker.
Realizing this, the centaur chief shifted his eyes back at Verc, and finally—
He let his dark iron war axe rest slightly against his massive shoulder, his sharp gaze narrowing as he re-evaluated the threat level of the individual standing before him.
"Who are you, and what are your intentions on coming here?"
The centaur chief spoke, asking those questions.
His voice was low, carrying strong authority. His eyes were cold, assessing Verc and preparing if he ever try something or lie.
He watched the minor shifts in the intruder’s posture, his grip on the long handle of his weapon perfectly steady as he waited for a response.
"My name is Verc."
Verc introduced himself.
He spoke casually, his voice cutting through the heavy, tense silence without any visible effort.
"I rule the land at the south-east from here. And the reason I came here—well, that is to take the centaurs under my wing."
Then with a casual smile, he stated that.
He shrugged his shoulders slightly, delivering the massive declaration of war with the exact same lightness he would use to greet an old acquaintance on the road.
"..."
The centaur chief’s face remained still, showing no emotion. His expression was like carved stone, his ancient features refusing to grant the pale man any indication of anger, surprise, or irritation.
Though—
The silence didn’t last for more than a second before the surrounding environment erupted into a collective roar of pure fury from the newly arrived guard units.
"WHAT KIND OF BASTARD ARE YOU?!!"
"DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH?!!"
"GO UNDER YOU? YOU MUST BE OUT OF YOUR MIND!"
The centaurs that arrived with their chief were full of disbelief after hearing that, they started shouting and cursing at Verc.
Their deep voices clashed against each other, creating a chaotic wall of noise that filled the entire central perimeter of the fortress.
There were five of them, the elitest group under the chief.
They stood in a neat, crescent formation right behind their leader, their massive upper bodies rippling with dense combat mana as they raised their polished weapons toward the crater.
Through the shoutings—Verc and the centaur chief just ignored the noise around them.
Neither of the two allowed the chaotic background yelling to break their absolute focus, their gazes locked onto each other in a cold, silent contest of wills. They were both assessing the strength of each other, the grip on their weapons were tightening.
The subtle shift in their internal mana signatures was invisible to the naked eye, but the ambient air between them was rapidly growing heavier by the second.
"You’re really arrogant, huh."
The chief centaur said.
He finally broke his silence, his lips parting slightly as he delivered the observation with a cold, analytical tone.
"Hmm, I guess I am."
Verc replied casually, waving his sword.
He tilted his blade slightly to the side, letting the residual light bounce off the edge in a clear display of unbothered confidence.
Doing that, the other centaurs with the chief got even angrier.
The casual flick of his weapon was viewed as an absolute insult to their entire lineage, causing their heavy front hooves to stomp aggressively against the cracked stones.
The centaurs behind Verc were just staying still—The crippled vanguard hunters remained flat against the ground, their breathing ragged as they watched the tense standoff from the ground.
With their condition; they knew that they were just going to be burden with the new arrivals, after all.
They understood that any sudden movement on their part would only disrupt the movements of the elite group, forcing them to remain as passive spectators in their own home.
Anyway, the chief centaur then looked at the elite group under him—
He didn’t even turn his upper body, merely shifting his golden eyes slightly toward the broad shoulders of his personal guard.
"Deal with him."
Then with a cold voice, he just ordered that!
The command was absolute, containing zero doubt that his chosen five would easily erase the pale trespasser from the center of the square.
"Huh... I guess the chief doesn’t have any plan on facing me himself."
Verc said, joking a disappointed tone.
BOOM!
Then in the next moment; five centaurs—bigger than the ones he was dealing before but smaller than the chief—appeared before him, just a few meters away!
Their massive physical frames completely blocked out the light, their long weapons extended in perfect unison.
The five of them jumped off and faced Verc at their chief’s order.
They landed with a synchronized impact that kicked up a fresh layer of dust around the perimeter of the crater, their golden eyes locking onto Verc’s small frame with absolute contempt.
"The chief doesn’t need to fight himself just to deal with someone like you. If you want to fight our leader; then you have to deal with us first."
One of them then said that to Verc.
The speaker was positioned at the absolute center of the elite group, his heavy broadsword resting casually against his iron-plated shoulder.
That centaur was smiling while looking down at Verc—an arrogant and pissed smile on his face.
His nostrils flared with every breath, his entire posture radiating the supreme confidence of a warrior who had never experienced a single defeat on the western plains.
It’s not just him—the other four were clearly underestimating Verc even after seeing the centaurs injured behind him.
They glanced briefly at the fallen vanguard units before dismissing them entirely, viewing their failure as a simple result of poor discipline and lack of personal strength.
Like they were saying that they were different from those bunch.
Their long weapons were held with a loose, relaxed grip that suggested they expected the upcoming execution to require minimal effort on their part.
"Is that so?"
Verc replied to that centaur, looking up.
He tilted his head slightly back, his expression completely blank as he met the gaze of the towering personal guard.
"Then, I’ll just have to kill the five of you and he’ll fight me?"
He asked.
The question was delivered with an innocent, matter-of-fact curiosity that made it sound like a simple logistical query rather than a lethal threat.
"Ha! try it if you can."
The centaur replied to him.
He let out a short, mocking laugh, his large chest expanding as he adjusted his stance to prepare for a heavy forward thrust.
And at his answer—
"Haha, I will even if you didn’t say so."
Verc smiled and said that.
The dark amusement returned to his eyes, his physical frame instantly dropping into a low, compressed stance as his internal energy reached a critical density.
FWIP!
The movement was incredibly swift, his silver blade tracing a rapid vertical line before settling into position.
He raised [Moon Blade] and placed it near his neck—like he was going to launch an attack horizontally.
The cold steel was held perfectly parallel to the ground, his fingers wrapping tightly around the leather hilt as he stabilized his stance.
Verc ignored the five massive centaurs in front of him, and instead; looked at the centaur chiefs tens of meters away from him.
"..."
The centaur chief was looking back at him as well.
The monarch maintained his unyielding posture, his sharp eyes observing the unique positioning of the youth’s sword with a sharp, analytical focus.
’So he was trying to see my strength before facing me himself, huh.’
Verc concluded after seeing the assessing look on the centaur chief’s face. He understood the tactical logic behind the order, realizing that the chief was using his personal guard as a gauge to measure the exact parameters of his speed and power.
’If you want to see it that bad, then have a look.’
He followed, smiling internally.
The corner of his mouth twitched upward, his core releasing every single ounce of suppressed mana directly into his primary arm pathways in a single, unyielding burst.
Then—SWISH—!
He swung his sword horizontally!
The air around the blade completely imploded as he initiated the swing.
The physical trajectory was a perfect, clean arc that cut across the empty space between himself and the personal guard.
And in between of doing so—SWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!
The surface of the [Moon Blade] turned blindingly bright, the sheer volume of energy being forced through the metal structure creating a high-pitched, deafening screech that drowned out all other ambient sounds.
Verc forcefully injected a massive amount of mana into his blade in one go!
The dense, compressed power couldn’t be contained within the steel itself, erupting outward in a massive, horizontal crescent of white light that tore across the courtyard.
The strong mana exploded from his sword and flew toward the five centaurs—
S L A S H—!!!
Cutting all of them in half in one go!
The immense physical bulk, the reinforced iron breastplates, and the defensive mana barriers they had erected were completely ignored by the overwhelming density of Verc’s attack!
The five didn’t even know what hit them!
Their expressions remained frozen in their previous arrogant smiles, their long weapons still extended forward as their upper torsos slowly slid away from their lower equine bodies, collapsing heavily into the mud in ten separate pieces.
And it didn’t stop there—SWOOOSH!
The residual energy of the crescent didn’t dissipate after destroying the personal guards, maintaining its speed and power as it continued its path across the place.
"?!!"
The centaur chief’s stone-like composure completely broke, his eyes widening in a sudden, sharp panic as he realized the true scale of the incoming strike.
The mana that exploded from Verc’s sword continued flying toward the centaur chief!