Chapter 28: Winter Kingdom (3)
Chimeras' eyes turned ferocious.
—Necromancer. You've made a foolish judgment. You will be disposed of as well.
Their pincers clacked menacingly.
At that moment.
[Orcs witness a hero!]
[Orcs are greatly impressed by your courage!]
[Released from learned fear!]
[Resistance stirs in their hearts!]
—Chwik! Urkan won't abandon his brothers!
Urkan was the first to stand by his side.
The hefty axe blade gleamed coldly.
One by one, the orcs raised their axes.
Soon, every orc in the village glared fiercely at the chimeras.
—Chwik! Great warrior! We follow!
—We are not bugs!
—Evil monsters! Kill them!
—Kill them.
The chimera pack clacked their massive pincers. Their elongated spider legs stepped onto the snow-covered ground.
The chimeras began charging.
“Let's go! Brothers!”
—Orc! Orc!
Kim Minwoo and the orc pack charged forward as well.
Just as the distance closed, he summoned skeletons at their feet.
Dozens of pale hands grabbed the spider legs wildly.
The charging foes' speed slowed slightly.
‘Take out the commander first.’
He summoned Cedric and the mage group. The chimera with the largest bulk.
Its pincer swung wide.
It dug into the ground like a slide.
His body slid under its torso.
A torso covered in eight legs stuck haphazardly.
He raised his sword high above it.
[Title, 'Strong Slayer' activates!]
[Damage increases by 10%!]
Damage boost against monsters over 200 levels higher.
As the effect triggered, the sword plunged into the vulnerable underbelly, slicing straight through the torso.
Purple bodily fluid burst out.
—Kraaak!
The chimera screamed in agony from the pain below.
Before it could recover, Cedric thrust his spear.
[Uses Dragon Strike (S)!]
The massive energy gathered on the spear tip smashed into the chimera's arm.
Boom!
Its suffering didn't end there.
—Chwik! Die!
Urkan, eyes bloodshot red, slammed his axe down repeatedly.
A B-rank chimera versus a D-rank orc.
Normally, the chimera should dominate.
But Urkan was different.
He was a boss monster.
Even against the chimera, he displayed his full might.
Each ferocious axe blow dented the pincers.
Cedric and Urkan's pincer attack.
Added to Kim Minwoo's slashes targeting the underside, and the mages who had positioned behind, unleashing spells.
The commander's body turned to rags in an instant.
Kim Minwoo, who had slipped back, stepped on the chimera's torso.
He leaped high, landing on its back.
He plunged his sword into its neck.
Kwek!
The chimera clutched its spurting neck, staggering before crashing to the ground.
It collapsed with a thud.
[Level up!]
[Skeletons' combat experience…]
[Skeleton mages' combat experience…]
He looked at the remaining chimeras.
Orcs and skeletons swarmed from all sides, attacking.
The chimera pack didn't sit idle. Orcs and skeletons caught in massive pincers were bisected side by side.
Thanks to Death Lord's effect, skeletons revived, but orcs did not.
Even revived skeletons were in bad shape.
One leg kicked a skeleton away, canceling its summon.
“Urkan! Cedric!”
—On it.
—Chwik! Kill!
Man, undead, and orc rejoined the battle once more.
* * *
“Hoo.”
Chimera pack sprawled with limbs torn apart.
Even using skeletons as meat shields, the orcs' sacrifices were heavy.
Nearly thirty orcs shredded in one battle.
‘Three levels up in one fight.’
Even sharing experience with the fighting orcs, that was the result.
A testament to the chimeras' strength.
Then.
Urkan approached.
Scratching his head, he spoke.
—… Bro. Thanks. Without you, we'd all be dead. Thanks to you, only this many died.
“Same here. You gave us courage, Urkan. That's how we survived.”
If they hadn't mustered courage, he'd have chugged doping potions like water. Stack that a few times, and poisoning sets in. Preventing that beforehand made the orcs' role huge.
As he patted the guy's shoulder.
[Urkan's favorability greatly increases!]
[Urkan now regards you as a 'true brother'!]
[Now, Urkan will charge into fire at your command!]
Loyalty test passed.
He gazed warmly at the messages. Soon, orcs began dragging chimera corpses to the bonfire.
—Chwik! Tasty meat! Meat!
—Wanna eat quick! Hungry!
Orcs drooling as they started roasting the chimeras. As omnivores, chimeras were just a meal to them.
Sizzle!
They roasted the chimeras like meat.
Urkan then cleaved off the chimera leader's head with his axe.
—Chwik! Bro! This is the tastiest! I yield it to you!
Urkan's eyes brimmed with reluctance as he offered it, clearly meaning it.
—… Chwik! Then I'll eat this!
Orcs devoured the chimera meat ravenously.
They looked oddly pitiful.
‘Can't exactly share my rations.’
That could last a month. He'd stocked plenty in sub-space.
But that wasn't a fundamental solution. Eventually, they'd starve amicably.
Unless desperate, better to save it.
Fortunately, chimeras were large.
Enough for over a hundred orcs to eat heartily.
This would fuel them for a day or two.
Meanwhile, he checked the new titles gained.
[New Title List]
[1. Brother of the Ice Forest Orcs]
[Became brothers with the Ice Forest Orcs.]
[Effect: Orcs' favorability rises a bit faster]
[2. Walker of the Hero's Path]
[Chose the ordeal-filled option. If successful, true effects may reveal.]
[Effect:???]
‘Not bad.’
The title boosting orc favorability faster was useful now.
Walker of the Hero's Path seemed jackpot if successful.
Next, he checked the gate's updated difficulty.
‘B-rank…’
Jumped two stages from D to B. B-rank gate monsters average levels 251-350.
Difficulty where orc guards from Death Lord's trial swarm like dogs.
Aligning with orcs likely changed the clear objective inside the gate.
A signal of that much harder.
‘S-rank would be something.’
S-rank gates start monster averages at 500.
Even as world's top gamer, impossible is impossible.
Know the line between confidence and bravado.
If S, he'd head straight to mid-zone.
Escape first, think later.
But B-rank was different.
Tough, sure, but manageable with twists.
Doable.
‘Now, decide the direction.’
Luckily, a sage to guide.
He approached the old orc with grease on his lips.
“Bektar. At this rate, we'll starve. Any way to get food?”
Bektar, crunching spider legs, replied.
—Chwik. Two options come to mind.
“Tell me.”
—First, hunt. Monsters survive this cold. Hunt them, no hunger for a while. But dangerous.
He nodded.
If easy, orcs would've eaten them already.
Likely far stronger than orcs.
Temporary, but one method found.
“Second option?”
—… Chwik, resolve this cold's cause.
“Cause? What's that?”
—Ice Dragon gave witch winter's essence. Witch split it, planted across continent. Built fortresses atop.
[Acquire keyword, 'Winter's Essence'.]
[Acquire keyword, 'Fortress'.]
“If we handle the essence in the fortress, this weather clears?”
—Chwik, yes. At least northern region's cold ends. Land of life returns.
“Tell me everything about the fortress.”
—Fortress guarded by witch's apostle subordinate. Apostles' power terrifying. This north… Apostle Belitas's domain.
[Acquire keyword, 'Apostle Belitas'.]
“Besides apostle, lots of minions?”
—Many. Corpse collectors, dark mages, necromancers, wraith warriors… Fortress brims with death aura.
It clicked.
‘Apostles are mid-bosses.’
Break through fortress packed with minions, extract or destroy hidden essence.
Weather clears, gate clear condition met maybe.
Then.
Bektar scraped his teeth with spider claw, spoke.
—Chwik. Great warrior. Corpse collectors dead. Soon, apostle's minions sense anomaly, come.
“You're calm for that.”
—From facing them, we accepted death. And…
Bektar's eyes grew solemn.
—Don't think great warrior like you dies easily here. We follow you, resist witch. Until lives end!
[Acquire keyword, 'Resistance Army Founded'!]
[Now, you can raise a resistance army.]
[Resistance army fights witch and Ice Dragon with you.]
[But beware.]
[As resistance grows, witch and Ice Dragon watch you more.]
[Current Resistance Army Status]
[Leader: Kim Minwoo]
[Members: Human 1, Orcs 102]
[Level: Clumsy Primitives]
[Average Level: 121]
[Food Situation: Not great]
[Morale: Burning with zeal]
[Enemy Alert: 0 (Unaware of resistance even)]
Gate's clear method clear now.
‘Faction war?’
Grow resistance, raise average level. Then clash with apostle.
Overcome periodic minion attacks.
One certainty.
‘102 orcs achieve nothing.’
Numbers are power.
Need bulk-up.
“Any other orc tribes nearby besides yours?”
—Chwik. Small tribes, a few. Always compete for food.
He watched orcs finishing meals, sucking bones wistfully.
Shouted at them.
“Food done? Grab weapons! Raiding neighbor orcs!”
—Chwik? Fight?
—Chwik! Me too!
Orcs' eyes lit up as they seized axes.