Chapter 179: The Wolf King Bestows the Sword

As Fenrisians, Jorin's hunting party was the first to find the tribe attacked by ice trolls.

Two kilometers from the tribal camp, Jorin, riding on the back of a thunder wolf, watched in fury as the ice trolls rampaged.

Their thick right arms swung the trees they held, smashing houses, while they reached out with their left arms, grabbed Fenrisians with their large hands, and tossed them into their gaping maws.

Jorin's eyes were filled with rage, and he shouted to the members of his hunting party in the war tongue—Wogen.

"Hunters of Fenris, Pack of Wolves of the Wolf King."

"Ice trolls are invading the Fenrisian tribe, devouring our kin."

"Today we shall kill them and win the victory of the hunting contest."

The "Pack of Wolves" beat their weapons against their shields, letting out wolf howls.

"Kill the ice trolls, win the hunting victory."

Jorin clamped his legs tight, and the thunder wolf lunged forward.

The thunder wolf charged out of the camp, leaped with a running start, and pounced onto the back of an ice troll.

Jorin raised his axe, swinging the battle axe with both hands gripped tight.

The axe blade sank deep, cleaving into the ice troll's back, but it was stuck by the horny hide that was like ice armor.

Six Warriors followed closely behind; they roared and launched attacks at the sides and rear of the ice troll's spread legs.

Steel swords hacked at the ice troll's legs, making clanging sounds.

"Roar!"

The ice troll roared in anger, swinging the tree to sweep backward.

The "Pack of Wolves" immediately rolled to dodge, while the six Fenrisians who had circled to the front of the ice troll immediately launched a great charge.

They attacked from the sides and front of the ice troll's legs, their weapons smashing around its knees.

The ice troll suffered a Heavy Strike and its body swayed; it hurriedly used the tree to prop itself up so it would not fall.

Jorin commanded the "Pack of Wolves," repeatedly launching charges at the ice troll.

The heavy-bodied ice troll swung the tree, smashing it toward the Fenrisians.

The cunning "Pack of Wolves" had clear duties, either baiting the enemy or attacking.

After several rounds of charges, not a single person was injured, but the ice troll's legs were covered in wounds, and its foul-smelling blue blood dripped onto the ground, freezing into icicles.

The ice troll, having grown a bit of brain, realized it was being toyed with by the people in front of it, and it shrieked, letting out a beast-like cry.

Several nearby ice trolls heard the summons and, like wild bulls, knocked aside the Fenrisians blocking their path and charged over.

"Draw them away!"

Jorin let out a great roar, and while the "Pack of Wolves" drew the other ice trolls away, he urged the thunder wolf to leap high.

He swung his battle axe, let out a roar of catharsis, and cleaved it into the ice troll's back.

Rumble!

The massive ice troll smashed a large pit into the ice surface; upon landing on the ground, Jorin shouted to the Fenrisians.

"I come by the order of the Wolf King to rescue you all; follow me to kill these man-eating trolls."

The Fenrisians immediately gathered around Jorin and, following this renowned Warrior, launched an attack on the ice trolls invading the tribe.

Sanchez spent some effort before finding the tribe invaded by ice trolls.

He led the "Hunters" to a high slope near the tribe, overlooking the battle below.

Sanchez discovered that the Fenrisians led by Jorin held the overall advantage; they numbered over a hundred, while only nine ice trolls remained.

He did not rush to act, carefully observing the battle below and taking all factors into his consideration.

The distribution of the Fenrisians, the combat strength of the ice trolls...

The Order Shadow quickly completed a battle simulation and conveyed his thoughts to the "Hunters."

"The Gene-Father told me that ice trolls possess a certain level of intelligence; once the battle turns against them, they will flee."

"Jorin is attacking from the southeast of the camp; his team is the strongest, so the most likely direction for the Ice Troll King to flee is the northwest of the camp."

"You, you..."

Sanchez pointed to six "Hunters," "You follow me to ambush in the northwest direction."

Sanchez then said to the other six "Hunters": "There is also a smaller possibility that the ice trolls will flee from the north and west sides of the camp; you ambush in those two directions."

【Jorin, you tried to steal my prey before; this time it is my turn.】

The Order Shadows immediately took action, ambushing according to Sanchez's arrangement.

A moment later, another ice troll crashed to the ground.

The Ice Troll King was at least a head taller than all its kin; it took the lead, striding forward and swinging the tree to sweep away two pieces of food blocking its path.

The other ice trolls heard the Patriarch's howl and followed behind, striding away in a run.

The Fenrisians blocking their retreat route hurriedly dodged, and Jorin, seeing the prey about to escape, roared loudly.

"Stop them!"

The tough Fenrisian Warriors, hearing Jorin's command, immediately turned back to fight.

Once the ice trolls exerted their strength to run wildly, they were like rumbling trains, unstoppable, and the Fenrisians blocking the way were thrown aside by the violent force.

The corpses of the Fenrisians smashed heavily onto the ground, rolling several times before stopping.

Their sacrifice bought time for Jorin, and the thunder wolf caught up to the Ice Troll King, leaping high.

Jorin knew he only had one chance.

He used all his strength, raised the battle axe high with both arms, and poured his anger and the shame of failure into this single strike, cleaving the battle axe toward the Ice Troll King's back.

The Ice Troll King felt the wind behind it and instinctively shrank its body.

Because of this dodge, Jorin's battle axe only cleaved the edge of its heart.

The Ice Troll King felt the pain and backhanded the tree.

As the most excellent hunter on Fenris, excluding the Wolf King, Jorin knew the moment his battle-axe struck the enemy that he had failed to kill the King of the Ice Trolls in a single blow.

He was just about to continue his attack when a giant tree was suddenly swung toward him.

Jorin twisted his waist with all his might to dodge, swinging his great axe to hack into the back of the King of the Ice Trolls.

The giant tree brushed past Jorin's body, yet even so, he suffered a Heavy Strike and was swept flying away.

Crashing to the ground, Jorin felt as if his body were falling apart, and he watched in despair as the King of the Ice Trolls ran out of the camp.

The King of the Ice Trolls charged out of the Fenrisi Buluo camp, taking long strides toward the forest.

Just as it was about to charge into the woods, seven figures darted out from the trees.

Sanchez saw the Fenrisian who had chased out of the camp, and he certainly would not give the other party a chance to snatch the prey.

The Order Shadow turned his gaze, his "Warp Insight" capturing the weak point of the King of the Ice Trolls.

Sanchez pressed a Runic Rune and urged his mount to leap up, dodging the right fist of the Ice Troll Lord that came crashing down like a Hammer.

The Thunderwolf took a bite into the chest of the King of the Ice Trolls, and Sanchez pushed off his mount with both feet.

Sanchez vaulted into the air, avoiding the left fist the King of the Ice Trolls swung at him, and performed a flip in mid-air.

As the Order Shadow descended, he used the 17th strike of the "Osberh-Waya" to slash his sword into the wound on the back of the King of the Ice Trolls' heart.

A blue Disruption Field bloomed at the wound Jorin had caused, shredding the heart of the King of the Ice Trolls.

Staggering out of the camp, Jorin clenched his fists in frustration and said bitterly.

"I lost again."

Sanchez returned to the camp together with the Fenrisian, and the rescued tribe had just begun to cheer for their audience with the Wolf King.

They learned from others that Jorin had engaged in a hunting duel with the outsider and had lost all three matches, leaving him as dejected as the other Fenrisians.

The Fenrisians waiting for Jorin's return saw the approaching group's low morale and had already guessed the result.

Leman Russ frowned, his eyes deep.

A moment later, the Wolf King's brow relaxed, and he said to Jorin, who had walked up before him.

"Congratulations on winning all three hunting matches; you have defeated the most excellent hunter of Fenris."

"I bestow this sword upon you."

Leman Russ said, drawing the shorter of the two swords at his waist.

"This sword was forged for me by the Adeptus Mechanicus, using the beak of the King of the Gorgons that I hunted as material."

"It is yours."

The Provocateur received the longsword with both hands, and he felt something dissolve within his body.

Before he could even check, he heard the Wolf King say.

"But this sword does not yet fully belong to you; how long you can hold it depends on how much skill you have."

"After Jorin and the others are augmented, they will challenge you to win the hunt in space and take this sword back."

The low spirits of the Fenrisians instantly transformed into motivation.

Jorin shouted loudly: "I will definitely challenge you to a hunt again; the next time, the one who wins will be me."

The Order Shadow keenly sensed the intense emotions of the surrounding Fenrisians, and he thought to himself.

【Just as the Gene-Father said, the Wolf King is using me as a whetstone to temper the Fenrisians.】

The Provocateur thought of what the Primarch had said, that he could be bolder, so he raised his head and spoke.

"Since it is mine, no one can take it away."

"The one who wins will always be me!"

The eyes of the Fenrisians were filled with rage, while the Provocateur felt the stars within his body shatter.

【I am the true "Provocateur" now.】

Five Fenrisian Days after the hunting duel ended, Ninglu received news that the fleet of Horus had arrived in the Fenrisi xingxi, and he was summoned to the Bucephalus.

(End of chapter)