Lancer did not understand the Orc language, but through the 'quest,' he knew the other party's meaning. Blackhand, in turn, knew Lancer had accepted his challenge through Lancer actions.
Blackhand greatly admired Lancer for accepting his challenge, so he chose to —————— grant the opponent an honorable fight and then kill him!
This was the highest honor an Orc could grant their enemy!
Amidst the nervous expressions of Lothar and the others and the cheers of the Orcs, Blackhand, carrying his warhammer, 'Doomhammer,' walked to the center of the clearing. Lancer also walked to the center of the battlefield after briefly reassuring Lothar.
There was no doubt that the Orc warrior in front of him with the strange arm was extremely powerful, but his strength did not make Lancer feel unbeatable. Since that was the case, there was nothing to back down from.
Blackhand seemed to want to say something upon seeing Lancer, but after speaking a few words and seeing Lancer show no reaction, he stopped the nonsense, raised his warhammer, slammed it heavily on the ground, and then charged towards Lancer.
There was no doubt that the blow was the signal for the battle to begin, and Lancer held his lance horizontally, vigilantly watching Blackhand.
Since Lancer debut, he had fought Ghouls, hunted giant beasts, killed foreign races, and battled Heroic Spirits. During this time, he had also encountered enemies who used hammers, but undoubtedly, those enemies were far inferior in strength to the one in front of him. Therefore, he decided to first defend and probe.
Lancer original plan was to use his lance to parry the opponent's attack and then dodge, but his expression instantly changed when the lance and warhammer made contact.
"Boom!!"
The warhammer struck the spot where Lancer had just stood, crushing a deep crater into the ground. Accompanied by the loud noise, Lancer was just landing from mid-air.
'Just how strong is this guy?!'
Lancer was certain that Blackhand's pure explosive muscle power surpassed even Li Shuwen, who appeared as a Servant.
If Lancer had initially chosen to dodge merely to probe, he now realized one thing: if he tried to meet the opponent head-on, he would surely die.
"Roar!!"
Blackhand, on the other side, let out a massive roar after repelling Lancer with one strike. This roar had no actual meaning; it was merely a declaration of his strength, and the surrounding Orcs were very generous with their cheers.
This undoubtedly increased the pressure on the crowd standing behind Lancer.
However, Lancer himself didn't care. After all, few of his opponents had ever been weaker than him. Even during the time he was teaching Todoroki Shoto, he had learned about All Might's 'power' firsthand. Thinking of this, he held his breath.
He hadn't encountered a powerfully strong opponent for the first time; in fact, he was best at hunting powerful monsters!
——————
Every strike of the burning warhammer brought up countless sparks, while on the other side, the ice-covered lance, although always kicking up ice shards after combat, was wielded by its master to attack the enemy from strangely elusive angles.
The original battlefield had unconsciously expanded significantly due to the fight between Lancer and Blackhand, and the direction of expansion was consistently toward the Orcs.
Lancer, being the target of the attack, unconsciously avoided the rear battle line. After all, this line was painstakingly maintained, and if it moved, who knew if it could be sustained as it was now?
As for Orgrim, on the other side, although he was also dissatisfied with Blackhand's action of giving up the advantage to duel Lancer, it was merely dissatisfaction. As the battle unfolded, he consciously maintained order, as he knew the special nature of 'Mak'gora' better than anyone. If anyone else disturbed the duel, Blackhand might do something even more insane.
Furthermore, as the battle intensified, his expression grew more serious.
Although most Orcs saw their Great Chieftain chasing his opponent around like prey, making the human look incredibly pathetic, Orgrim could clearly perceive the human's strength from Lancer calm expression and the way he repeatedly deflected Blackhand's attacks. He was definitely not weak. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to maneuver against Blackhand for so long even with his strength suppressed. In fact, Orgrim felt that even he couldn't do better than the opponent.
If Orgrim's previous dissatisfaction was merely due to his ancestors-honoring race listening to that eerie Warlock and drinking the ominous blood, without opposing the invasion of Azeroth itself, he now clearly realized that powerful warriors also existed in this world.
'The next battle probably won't be so easy.'
Lothar, on the other side, was completely relieved. Although he was uneasy about Lancer dueling an Orc with clearly superior status, he also knew that dueling the Orc bought them time, which made his feelings very conflicted. Only when he saw Lancer stabilize the battle did he completely relax.
But regardless of what the onlookers thought, Lancer and Blackhand, who were in the middle of the battle, didn't care at all.
Blackhand originally thought it would be a simple 'execution,' but he hadn't expected Lancer strength to be so great, managing to hold out against his attacks for so long. It should be known that there weren't many Orc warriors who could fight him.
But precisely because of this, he became even more excited. For an Orc warrior, a battle fought with all their might was the highest enjoyment. He was not angry that Lancer dodging had prevented his attacks from connecting. Instead, his savage smile grew wider.
Lancer, on the other side, held the ice-covered cross-shaped spear, but his eyes burned like flames.
Like the excited Blackhand, Lancer behavior at this moment was also a little strange.
He dodged the opponent's attacks with all his might.
He painstakingly attempted to bypass the opponent's defense.
With every clash between his spear and the warhammer, he could hear his heart violently pounding.
His trembling hands, his violently pounding heart, the opponent's heavy breathing...
He had never experienced so profoundly the fact that he was alive.
Although he felt bad about Lothar's concern, it must be said that Lancer was currently enjoying the battle!
He yearned to plunge the long spear in his hand into the heart of the Orc in front of him!
Lancer and Blackhand did not understand each other's language, but for warriors, the weapon in their hand was the best language.
They deeply realized the terror and power of their enemy, but precisely because of this, they yearned to kill the other party!
But there are always people in this world who cannot read the situation.
As Lancer once again dodged Blackhand's warhammer, a 'Chaos Bolt' carrying destructive power shot toward Lancer from the shadows.
By the time Lancer sensed the sneak attack, it was too late to turn around, but just at that moment ——————
"Poof~!!"
A glove that seemed to be burning grabbed the 'Chaos Bolt' and instantly crushed it. Then, the Orc spoke a sentence to Lancer in Orcish, which Lancer did not understand.
Lancer naturally didn't understand the language, but at this moment, he felt as if he understood the other party's meaning.
He raised his spear, and the battle resumed!
As for the attacker? Orgrim had already taken his hammer and personally went to execute the fool who dared to interfere with this sacred duel.
For him, this was not only his duty as Blackhand's deputy, but he was also very happy to be able to personally kill those Warlocks who used Fel energy.
There was no doubt that Orcs were extremely brutal, but their honor, which had been passed down for countless years, was not something that the demon blood could completely corrupt.