Zoran Zesh the Keeper of Deadhead

As I ducked to the side, the scimitar in Zoran Zesh's left hand crashed into the ground. I thrust out the Butcher before he had a chance to do something with the other scimitar. The Keeper demonstrated a commendable agile reaction by leaping back instantly.

'Suzune and the others seem to have overcome Abael,' I thought. They will relocate here soon after. 'The situation is not exactly on our side. But we're not at a disadvantage either. It's up to them to determine the outcome of this battle.'

Zoran Zesh, the Keeper of Deadhead, was an imposing individual.

I had high expectations for him the moment I learned his name, and he did not let those expectations down.

First off, he possesses an unusually well-built physique. And unlike Death Spots, Zoran Zesh has the poise to recognize them and use them shrewdly. I had to take him more seriously than when facing the Death Spots.

I'd been to be careful with Zoran Zesh's head-on attacks. The time-lapse I needed to use while holding them off made it possible for Zoran Zesh or the orcs around to have their way with me. That'd been the reason why my actions were geared towards mobility, as well, which made it very difficult for outsiders to intervene in our battle. From Zoran Zesh's reaction while in battle, though, he didn't seem to expect outside assistance to begin with. 

'I can defeat him.' There was one thing that stood out from his movements during our fight so far. I also think it's extremely fatal and makes him easily killable in a given situation. 'Let's test it out.'

I didn't immediately attack Zoran when he retreated. Renji, who had been trying to involve himself, skillfully jumped into our fray. But his attack had been almost parried by Zoran without effort. 

"Tch!" Renji was driven back.

He was by no means weak. Compared to most, he's certainly stood out. It's simply that his skills and experience hadn't reached a point where he could fight the Keeper reasonably well by himself. Just that. He had a chance in the future.

When I helped him by attacking one side of Zoran, Renji smoothly did the other side for me. His techniques are decent. If we just talk about muscle strength, the buzz-cut guy from his party seems superior to him. Overall, he was clearly on top. Zoran Zesh had a harder time dealing with our combo. Then—

"Eryeeeeaaaaahhhhhh...!"

—the emergence of that familiar cry more or less assured me of our victory.

Kajiko and her clan descended from the last watchtower. They proceeded to kill a number of orcs, including one shaman, as soon as they arrived. Almost simultaneously—

"We've killed the last one...!" Haruhiro shouted. "Now it's just Zoran!"

"Heh!" The dread knight cackled lamely, cutting a part of the shaman's body.

The remaining volunteer soldiers regained their spirits. 'The momentum is turning nicely. We should ride through it.'

"I don't like fighting alongside men but...!" Kajiko charged at Zoran Zesh's back. "The bounty's even split!"

"!" Renji gasped.

Zoran Zesh suddenly came forward, catching Renji by surprise and thwarting Kajiko's attempt. Renji was specifically targeted. Zoran Zesh twisted his own body to the right in front of the warrior.

"Ngh!" 

Renji was carried away by Zoran's swing. He got walloped in the body. That said, Zoran didn't seem to intend to slash him to death. For a start, he was too close to the man to be able to do that. What he was aiming for was to spin Renji around while he did. Right at me.

Dodging to my right would make me crash into Renji, and so would going backward. Going left could only partially avoid hitting Renji, which isn't the best either. Attacking forward was foolish. My position basically left me with only one option and that was to let Renji hit me.

I do just that. By stepping back.

Just as I endured the collision with Renji, Zoran Zesh turned to the left and swung one of his scimitars at Kajiko's head on his right hind. "Urk!" The leader of the Wild Angels just barely dodged it with a bloodied wound on the forehead. 

"Drag her out!" 

Ken joined in. He brought his greatsword to Zoran Zesh with perfect timing. Zoran Zesh used both his scimitars to parry Ken's attack. 

I pushed Renji to the side.

"Gh," He seemed intent on moving back forward, but his leg looked like it had a bruise or something. He couldn't move freely. I myself had a cut around my finger from the impact just now. 

"Stay put, Kiyo," Kei came to my side. I was about to say it was fine, but after noticing a trivial fact, I decided to let her cure me. "O Light, may Lumiaris' divine protection be upon you!" Lights radiated, and the slight pain I felt slowly dissipated as well as the wounds. I was vaguely aware that it didn't bring back the lost blood. 'I'm still wondering how does it work...'

While all that was happening, the warrior from Haruhiro's party, Moguzo, arrived while raising his bastard sword high in the Rage Blow posture. He had a huge build, reminding me of a bear. The warrior seemed to have decent power behind his swing. 'That said, it's too obvious and playing it way too straight.'

Zoran Zesh had the same opinion as me. Before Moguzo could send the attack, Zoran Zesh sent a slash to his left torso, then one to his helmet, one to his right shoulder, and another to his right torso.

"Moguzo-kun?!" His priest was naturally concerned.

'...He's though.'

Remarkably, he somehow maintained his footing.

I watched Chiaki sneak up behind Zoran Zesh as it happened. Zoran was probably as confused as I was about why the warrior hadn't fallen. For a moment, his attention was completely distracted. Chiaki used that opportunity to use a Backstab to his back.

"—kh...!"

Zoran Zesh reflexively elbowed Chiaki so hard that she went flying. 

"Thanks!"

Responding so, which was rather odd, Moguzo swung his bastard sword down at Zoran Zesh.

'He 'is' strong.'

That was affecting the Keeper. Greatly.

Zoran Zesh quickly tried to escape from him, but Ken and Suzune were behind the orc.

Ranta forcibly pulled Moguzo back. "Don't die on me yet, partner...!"

"Please don't get too careless!" Yousuke shouted while coming towards Chiaki, with Kanji beside him.

"Kikyou?!" Kei asked urgently.

"I know!" Kikyou rushed in reply, aiming her staff at Zoran Zesh. "Jess, yeen, sark, fram, dart!"

A flash of light struck Zoran. Lighting. Zoran went stiff.

Ken tended to shout something when he was about to attack. He didn't do that this time. With a rarely grave look on his face, he struck his greatsword against Zoran Zesh's armor a few times. That is, before "Dammit!" he was forcibly pushed back, his greatsword had been deflected.

Zoran Zesh twisted his body to the right. That whirling technique. 'He's desperate.' I concluded. He intends to bring as many qualified volunteer soldiers with him to the grave. 'I won't let it happen.'

Ken clicked his tongue. "That move is a pain in the ass...! Isn't there any way to counteract it?!"

Suzune couldn't do anything with her shield either.

"—alright, you can go now," Kei pulled her hand from my shoulder. Her voice was just a tad worried. "Be careful."

"I know, and thanks for the care."

Kei gave me a faint smile. "It's my role. That was only natural."

"...Right."

"Ah, Kiyotaka!" Ken was visibly delighted to see me back. "Perfect timing— well, no, maybe not that much. Anyway, come and help us quickly!"

'I would help them, obviously.'

Without responding Ken, I dove headlong into Zoran Zesh's dual-sword spinning attack.

"?!"

"Whoa!"

Suzune and Ken were understandably surprised.

Zoran Zesh's posture was faltering by my interruption, just as I'd expected.

"Really, man?!" Ken appeared exasperated but still took a swing at Zoran Zesh with his greatsword.

Suzune dealt a number of blows to Zoran Zesh silently.

"—back off," I said as I retreated myself.

"—fucking hell!" "—hk!" 

Ken and not even Suzune succeeded in doing that in time.

Just like earlier, they were pushed back by Zoran Zesh's whirling technique. They hadn't been fast enough. After the horizontal spin, came the vertical one. It was aiming at me. I deflected it in time.

Chiaki, now healed, returned to the battlefield. She was watching the fight from the diagonal behind Zoran Zesh. For a moment, I saw her eyes widen slightly. 

That's when I changed my gear. I sent numerous blows to Zoran Zesh wildly at once. I was forcing him into a completely defensive position.

Ken and Suzune probably tried to use that opportunity to counterattack. "You two!" But Chiaki halted them. Just for a short while.

'She's already figured it out.'

After a few seconds passed, the three of them came at once to Zoran Zesh. They did so as quietly as possible as well. 

I gave an eye gesture to Kanji for a split second. He still hadn't done anything significant during this battle. Well, that was for good reason. His bow, which was his main weapon, would potentially hit his own comrades on this empty and vast floor. He was not proficient in close combat either, so forcing his hand would only hamper the other comrades. But I told him with my eyes that he could shoot.

Sure enough, he fired just a second later. Kikyou's attack will potentially hit me instead, so Kanji it is then. His arrow went right into one of Zoran Zesh's eyes. Zoran Zesh couldn't simply ignore that. 

With the appropriate timing, Ken let loose a sharp, silent, and strong sweep of his greatsword. It connected with the right side of Zoran Zesh's flank.

"?!"

The orc tried to push him away from the left instead of the right, but Suzune had anticipated that and blocked it with her shield. 'That's the Keeper's weakness.'

For whatever reason, Zoran Zesh had awkward right-hand movements. It was not as smooth as the movements of his left hand. He always tried to cover it up by twisting his body to the right with the whirling technique. Was there a scar on his shoulder causing that? I can't tell. In any case, it was a point in our favor.

Ken managed to dodge the other swing of Zoran's scimitar. Chiaki successfully clung to Zoran's back and went as far as a stab to his neck, jumping off him right after that. Zoran Zesh had a look of agony on his face. I gave him a helping hand by giving him the Butcher's thrust in the face.

Even when he was knocked down, Ken and to my surprise, Suzune, continued to batter him. Kanji followed along with Yousuke and Kei. Kikyou, too. Chiaki and I just stood aside. 'I suppose Zoran Zesh is scary to them...' They wanted to thoroughly put him out of his element, even though I had ripped a hole through his face.

The rest of the orc warriors lost their spirit after seeing the spectacle, and the volunteer soldiers, needless to say, seized the opportunity to kill them easily.

"150 Golds! Yeah!"

After a while, they've done their thorough kill. Ken celebrated it with a pump of the hand.

"Woohoo!!!" 

Despite contributing little, Kanji was as upbeat as Ken.

Yousuke and Kikyou had a dry smile on their faces. Kei and Suzune only sighed, though not at the idiot duo's behavior. They appeared relieved. That this fight finally ended.

"You're not going to join...?" I asked.

Chiaki laughed dryly. "I could ask you the same thing."