Bartus Vs Emmanuel and Arthur

On top of a hill, under the watchful eyes of the stars, two orcs sit together with barrels of alcohol in their hands.

The Orc King and Mongul drank merrily as they looked back at all the battles they had fought together.

"Do you still remember the city of Mighgrin?" The Orc king asked as he drank a mouthful of beer.

"Hahahaha." Mongul laughed. "How can I forget those stupid midgets?"

"They spend all their time boasting about their impenetrable fortress but it only took a couple of poorly made wine to take it down."

The Orc king hoists his battle-ax made of myrtle. "Say what you have about them but they made pretty fine weapons."

"I drink to that, they really help us a lot in our conquest of the elven realm," Mongul said.

The orc king remembers something and stops drinking for a second. "Tortum is something else though."

"Yeah," Mongul said, touching an old scar near his heart.

"It's really a pity what happened to the elf queen." The Orc king said, shaking his head with regret.

Mongul looked at the star reminiscing. "There's nothing we can't do about that."

"I know that I just don't get why she would choose to do that."

"Everyone is entitled to make their own decision, even slaves," Mongul said, emptying his barrel of beer.

Sensing that his big brother doesn't want to talk about this any longer, the Orc king decided to change the topic. "Your apprentice got sentenced today. His mana's been sealed by the great shaman using python's magic. I don't think even you can dispel that." He said apologetically.

"Don't worry about that, I already know that I'm not that well versed in mana compared to that snake and predicted that this would happen," Mongul said nonchalantly.

"But why did you still allow him to get trialed? With your status, they wouldn't be able to do anything if you just say something." The orc king asked, puzzled.

Seeing the other party's expression, Mongul just smiled. "The kid needs it, he relies too much on his mana, and sooner or later this is going to bite him."

"Plus I need an excuse to cleanse this kingdom. If I just start killing people, they might think I'm a bully. I have a reputation to maintain you know that. Hahaha," Mongul grabs another barrel of beer and drinks it.

The orc king looked at Mongul and shook his head. "Even though we have been through a lot of life and death together I still don't get you."

"I guess you're living soon right?"

If there is one thing that the orc king knew about Mongul is that he liked to do something big every time he was going to leave. Last time when he retired from the Demon King's army he'd killed a dragon just to make a point.

"This place is getting kind of boring for my taste so I think I'm going to answer the Demon king's call" Mongul answered.

"Can you still serve him after what happened between you two?" The orc king asked, concerned.

"Why not? There are always fun things going around when I'm following that guy." Mongul smile."Let me give you a piece of advice, stop messing around with the humans and start seriously conquering this place. Our race doesn't need a farm. We are born warriors, what we need to grow is a real battle."

After contemplating for a while the orc king answered: "Alright brother you did always know what's best."

He then raises his barrel of beer. "If you ever need someone in your back, this kingdom will be there for you to command."

"Hahahaha I'll drink to that"

The Orc king didn't know why but he had this feeling that this would be the last time that he would be able to see his big brother.

…..

"Bang! Bang! Creee! Creee!"

"What is the f*ck with all that noise? Barktus!" Mongul roar! His head was still hurting from all the alcohol he drank last night.

"Sorry master, I'm just making some preparation." After his mana got sealed by the great shaman, Baktus felt that the mana inside of his body was being eaten by the snake tattoo on his back. Although he can still manipulate some mana, every time he does so, the snake would react and eat it a lot faster.

This is the first time since he learned about mana that he felt powerless. If not for his willpower he would already fall into despair.

Steeling himself he started to think of a way he could move forward. He was already close to being a Gobakji and only needed a couple of kills. He can't give up now.

Although he knew without his ballista killing a tier 1 human wouldn't be so easy, he had a plan. He predicted that based on what happened in the previous battle there would be a couple of humans that would come for his life so he just needed to lay down a trap.

Barktus starts rigging his Archer tower for that purpose without his ballista it was useless anyway.

"Just quiet down I'm trying to sleep and what's that smell it's disgusting," Mongul said covering his nose.

'Oh! I guess it's ready'

''It's nothing master, just something I'm making. Just go back to sleep."

.....

Back in the present day.

"Shall we?"

"After you"

Arthur used mana augmentation focusing his mana on his feet. He disappeared in his current position and appeared behind Barktus.

He already knew how strong Barktus is so he had to end it quickly before something unexpected happened.

Focusing one-fourth of his mana in his blade he used [slash] aiming to cut him in half.

Barktus however is no pushover without even looking he bent his body sideways successfully dodging Arthur's attack. Although his mana is sealed it doesn't mean his sensitivity towards mana is gone by tracking Arthur's mana, he can pinpoint every one of his moves.

Not giving Arthur time to react, Bartus thrust his arrow through his stomach.

Arthur is caught off guard, seeing that he has no time to dodge, he uses mana augmentation in his body hoping to at least soften the blow.

When Barktus/arrow was about to hit Arthur and Ax hurl toward it, redirecting its trajectory to barely miss Arthur.

"Don't forget I'm still here" Emmanuel said dashing toward Barktus.

Seeing this Barktus picks up the ax that Emmanuel threw at him and tosses it back.

Emmanuel using his greatsword easily blocked it. 'Huh?'

After the ax made contact with his great sword Emmanuel was surprised, it was a lot weaker than he was expecting.

He arrives at Bartus and swings his greatsword at him but Bartus grabs Arthur and tosses it to Emmanuel.

Barktus already realized Arthur's weakness, everytime he used his mana technique there would be a slight pause in his movement. With his acute sense in mana, picking the right timing is easy.

To avoid hitting Arthur Emmanuel halted his attack and caught him.

"What's wrong with you?" Emmanuel Asked.

"I don't know?" Arthur answered, stabilizing his form. He already realized that there is something wrong with his senses and besides that, he is finding it more difficult to control his mana.

He looked at Barktus "Did you poison the drink?"

Hearing Arthur, Barktus smiled. "No, I know you're smart enough not to fall for that."

"Then wh?" Mid-sentence Arthur pauses, realizing something.

Seeing that the other party had figure it out Barktus continue. "What I poison is the air."

With Barktus's answer both Emmanuel and Arthur froze.