Odin felt the rush of energy as hot blood spread through his veins. His heart beat in tandem with his footsteps and it gave the vague feeling of being in sync with nature.

Despite charging against the mighty orcs and their wild rides, Odin appeared to be the one in lead in this confrontation.

The orc champion saw this with furrowed brows. He knew more than the normal dimwitted orcs and therefore he felt it, his instincts screamed at him to charge at the puny human and kill it.

He frowned as he couldn't make heads and tails of his situation. Even though he was able to think in battle, it didn't mean that he liked it.

It was quite the opposite. He wanted nothing more than to give into his primal urges but he couldn't because of his duty. He was in charge of protecting the caravan and that's what he'll do.

Unfortunately for him, his hesitation would cause the destruction of their caravan and much..much more…

Meanwhile, Odin had already reached the first wolf rider. He held one axe in his hand and strapped the other on his back. He changed the formation to attack like a scorpion instead of the sickle.

He saw the wolf’s gaping mouth coming to bite his neck and without hesitation, he put the handle of the axe in its jaw.

Grrrr

The wolf obviously didn’t like that as it growled at Odin.

‘Brush your teeth damn it!’

It was a comical sight as Odin hugged the wolf’s neck with his legs while his defensive swords blocked the attack from the orc rider. If Odin had another hand, he would’ve placed that on his nose as well.

The orc looked at Odin with disdain but in the next moment, his face turned to that of horror.

He saw the tip of the sword aiming for his glabella. Just like a viper’s stinger, it was fast and precise.

The tip of the sword pushed through the orc's head as brain matter splattered on the wolf.

‘Got him!’ thought Odin as he swung his legs around and sat on top of the wolf.

The wolf, obviously, was not at all pleased with the human riding it.

It howled and jumped madly trying to get the handle out of his mouth.

Odin knew that using the axe handle as a leash wouldn't work, but he had better means to make the wolf obey him.

He concentrated on his surroundings and ignored the orcs hitting him. He let the swords deflect their attack as he used deception on the wolf.

In just a second, the wolf’s eyes glazed and drool gushed out from his mouth. Odin took out the axe to parry a coming blow. The orc who expected the block from swords was caught off guard and as a result, he got a bloody gash on his stomach.

Just because the swords were in the defense formation didn’t mean that they couldn’t attack. They can swap the position with another sword at any time.

Odin then ordered the wolf to run towards the outpost and lo and behold, it obeyed.

Both the orcs and the wolves were confused by this and that gave Odin enough time to avoid encirclement.

The wolf leader was infuriated as one from his pack had become ride for a puny creature. It howled at the wolf with a glaring eye but nothing happened.

The wolf that once acted meekly in front of him now treated his order as a fart.

The wolf leader wanted nothing more than to charge at the disobedient wolf and tear both it and Odin to shreds, but the orc champion didn't allow it.

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The champion too looked at Odin in bewilderment but he still didn't feel a personal threat from him.

His instincts were still warning him but their target was like a shadow, He could perceive its existence but couldn't touch it.

The orc's confusion lasted only for a moment as they charged after Odin once again. By now he was faster than his pursues as he was much lighter than orcs.

‘I'll have to whittle down their numbers, only then would I have a chance to win’

But he couldn't be too obvious about it. Once he killed a significant number of them, they'll surely group up and then it'd be impossible for Odin to succeed in the mission.

‘Besides my target is the caravan’

With a plan in mind, Odin used deception on one of the orcs following him. As the level difference between them was miniscule he succeeded on the first try.

Odin made him behave just like any other orcs, but all of a sudden instead of running forward he charged back at that orc.

The other orcs noticed that and they too changed their direction. In doing so they had lost the momentum they’d built so far, a crucial mistake in a life-and-death battle.

Odin changed targets and hurled one of his axes at the orc approaching him from the side

*Thwoop*

Krraaghh!!

It screamed and dropped down dead which made the other orcs mad with rage. Normally it would be unwise to leave the front open as he could be attacked but since he was in control of the orc in front of him, Odin could easily pull that off.

Grraahh

The orc champion screamed in fury at the orcs, blaming them for not using the opportune moment to strike.

The orcs didn't dare reply as they squirmed and channeled all their anger and humiliation on Odin

‘Heh idiots, this'll make it much easier for me,’ Thought Odin as he looked at the orcs who were coming at him with bloodshot eyes.

He then used deception on one more orc and charged in the opposite direction

‘I can control one more with my current capacity,’ thought Odin as he made his wolf slash forty-five degree sideways

*Slash*

Awooo!!

The wolf which had a meter-long gash on its ribcage howled in pain and went out of control.

Odin Made use of this opportunity and jumped from his wolf to finish off the orc rider.

*Thunk*

Caught off guard, the orc took the blow straight to its heart and fell off. Odin too jumped back at his wolf, but by this time one of the orc had caught up to him.

*Swiish*

Odin dodged the sharp edge by a hair’s breadth. His wolf too was exhausted at this point but he still made it charge ahead.

‘Apart from the ones in my control, there’s still three left,’ thought Odin as he concentrated deeply on one of the orcs

The orc champion also noticed that something was wrong in this situation. The weak creature had somehow managed to kill three of his subordinates.

As he felt a sense of foreboding, he wanted to abandon his duty and trust his instincts. But alas, it was too late.

Odin barely managed to control one more orc and at that very instant, he ordered all the orcs under his control to attack the remaining two orcs

*Slash*

*Swish*

Of the two, one orc was caught off guard and was killed instantly. Odin relaxed a bit as it was now a three vs one scenario, but his happiness was short-lived.

Seemingly mortified by the death of his comrade by his own hands, the orc rider frowned and struggled from deception.

Under mental stimuli and instinct, it somehow managed to escape Odin’s control

‘Fuck..!’

By this time the orc champion was also charging at Odin with a bloodthirsty aura.

‘If I don't deal with these fodders soon I won't be able to fight properly against the orc champion’

In this life-and-death situation, Odin’s potential was dug out and despite his mental exhaustion; he used deception once again to make the remaining two orcs fight.

*Slash*

Krraaghh!!

*Clang*

Odin breathed in and out to relax his nerves. Time seemed to slow down amidst the slaughter as Odin sat on his wolf like a monk under a verdant tree.

10 seconds.. 20 seconds… 30 seconds…

Slowly, the orcs that Odin controlled had an upper hand and when one minute passed, there was only one orc remaining on the bloody field. One that Odin controlled.

It wasn't in a good shape though, one of its arms had been cut off and it had suffered a blow on one of its knees. It limped sideways and barely managed to ride his wolf again.

Odin finally opened his eyes again and looked at the orc champion which was now only a hundred meters behind him.

His senses became sharp; showing him a vivid and detailed landscape like never before. Every breath he took made him feel a rush of energy. As he used world resonance on his array formation, he truly felt the world resonate with him.

‘Just a bit more and I'll break through to the world essence,’ Odin thought with excitement as he charged ahead while using deception and stealth.

50 meters…30 meters…10 meters…

*Thump*Thump*

Odin's heart beat with thrill as the orc champion approached him. On the precipice of death he felt more alive than ever before

The orcs in the caravan looked at the silver-haired human who was charging at them with grim expressions.

The swords that flew around him were dripping with blood while he held an axe that was disproportionate with his size.

What scared them the most were his purple and blue eyes, they looked at them with a gaze that was unfamiliar to them.

They were glad that the champion was still alive and charging at this fiendish attacker, but fate was cruel to them today.

The orc champion passed by Odin, and he ran after the last orc raider as if it had killed his parents.

“Hahahaha….”

Odin laughed manically as he charged at the orc constructs or rather, carts filled with supplies in front of him.

The orc's nightmare had truly begun at this moment.