Chapter 30: Resistance Army (2)
After finishing my conversation with Thuron, I gathered all the orcs in one place.
I spoke to the orcs standing there blankly, as if listening to a lecture from the school principal.
“We’re going to join hands with the dwarves.”
―Chwiik! Why! Orc strong! Dwarf weak!
A fierce backlash erupted.
But this was a situation I’d already anticipated.
I continued on calmly.
“They’ll protect us and give us food, too.”
―Chwiik! Big Bro crazy!
―Must be sick!
―Chwiik! Orc hungry! We got no food!
Thud!
I stomped the ground.
“Orc no equipment. Body weak. Already two hundred dead.”
―Chwiik! Die in fight blessing!
“No! Not blessing!”
―…?
I spoke to the orcs cocking their heads.
“Die fighting weak enemy blessing? That just weak! Real strong enemy—die fighting that make brave warrior!”
I continued to the silent orcs.
“Apostle and witch torment you! Shove axe in their skulls and die—that real blessing!”
―…!
“Dwarf give equipment! Orc get strong! Kill apostle and witch!”
―Chwiik! Kill apostle and witch?
―Chwiik! Dwarf gear good! Possible!
Even with dwarven gear, doubtful if they could cleave an apostle’s body, let alone a witch’s skull.
But that wasn’t the point.
‘Dreams and fantasies.’
Or in other words, a vision.
Implanting that was the goal of this speech.
“Join dwarves, become true brave warrior! Any weak coward oppose?”
―Chwiik! Orc no coward! Get gear!
―Orc get strong! Crush apostle skull!
―Chwiik! Big Bro genius!
From the chieftains to the regular warriors.
The orcs’ enthusiastic cheers continued.
And so, the dwarven group slipped smoothly into the meat feast.
―Chwiik! Dwarf, eat meat here! Give gear!
“Haha, alright. Whoa! Ease up on stuffing your faces!”
Thanks to their boisterous racial temperament, the dwarves blended in with the orcs in an instant.
The mood heated up fast.
Soon after…
[532 dwarves join the Resistance Army!]
A message appeared.
Perhaps a sign that the orcs had finally opened their hearts and accepted the dwarves as family.
I gazed at the message with a warm feeling. Thuron sidled up and tapped my arm.
“Not just your fighting skills—your oratory’s impressive too. I see why the orcs follow you. Simple folk, but far from stupid…”
“You overpraise me.”
“But why the sudden formal speech? Doesn’t suit you.”
“We’re allies now.”
I flashed a grin.
There was plenty to gain from the dwarves.
Unlike the orcs’ reckless all-in style, they were just hearty souls at heart.
No need to spit half-hearted insults when they weren’t enemies.
For conquest’s sake, Kim Minwoo could switch up his speech a hundred times over.
“Haha. A young man who knows his manners.”
“It’s nothing.”
Thuron and I shared a few chunks of cockatrice meat.
“So, what’s the scale of the force heading for the Black Rock Tribe?”
“… It’ll be a tough fight. According to the refugees, there’s about ten wraith knights and twenty or so chimeras.”
Wraith knights—corrupted souls coalesced into form. Each one a monster stronger than a chimera.
‘Tricky to handle.’
Their bodies were spiritual essence, so normal weapons barely worked. Without holy water or silver plating, damage got cut by over thirty percent.
And twenty chimeras to boot.
‘That’s a lot.’
It wasn’t hard to understand.
Dwarves were no match for orcs in combat, true.
But they excelled in construction and weapon forging.
They were experts at fortifying settlements and shoring up defenses.
So it wasn’t strange for them to dispatch far more troops than the orcs.
“We need gear.”
“Thought so. Head to our tribe.”
We wrapped things up and followed Thuron.
* * *
The entrance leading underground.
Step inside, and a massive cavern came into view—complete with a sturdy fortress.
“Bring out the gear!”
At Thuron’s command, the gates opened, and several carts rolled out piled high with equipment.
Armor, gauntlets, boots, greaves, helmets.
Steel gear gleamed.
[Dwarven Steel Armor]
[Grade: Magic+]
[Level Limit: 110]
[Armor hammered from steel. Crude in appearance, but its performance is solid.]
[Effect 1. Impact reduced by 20%.]
[Effect 2. Strength +20, Vitality +20]
[Dwarven Steel Axe]
[Level Limit: 110]
[Grade: Magic+]
[An axe with a brutal edge. One hit feels like it’ll split your skull.]
[Effect 1. Downward strike damage increased by 20%.]
[Effect 2. Strength +30]
Kim Minwoo’s eyes lit up at the sight.
‘Plus-grade items. Dwarves live up to the name.’
Plus-grade items.
A special trait mostly on crafted goods, letting them outperform others of the same grade.
They rarely appeared even on the finest craftsmanship.
No surprise coming from dwarves.
“Ahem! What do you think?”
“Dwarven craftsmanship is legendary. Impressive. Shame there aren’t more sets, though. Looks like enough to arm about two hundred orcs.”
Thuron nodded.
“I know. But that’s everything we’ve got. Refugee gear included, down to every last piece in the tribe’s stores.”
Kim Minwoo nodded.
‘Fair enough.’
Five hundred dwarves had joined. That included elderly, women, and children. Able-bodied fighters might not even hit two hundred.
Impressive they had this much gear at all.
“How many sets can you produce per day with gear like this?”
“… Even with refugees, we’ve only got about fifty smiths. Materials are plentiful, but… running the forges nonstop, over a hundred sets would be tough. These take extra care even for us.”
“You saw it on the way here—stray orcs kept joining us.”
“… We did.”
“The more we crush the witch’s forces, the more will join. This won’t cut it.”
“Sigh… What can we do? Short on hands. If we had enough apprentices for the grunt work, maybe, but right now it’s impossible. Just not enough bodies who can work.”
Thuron let out a sigh and glanced at the orcs.
“But handing apprentice duties to those orcs… I trust you know how that’d end.”
Kim Minwoo smirked.
He’d seen this conversation heading this way.
“What if you had plenty of excellent apprentices? How much could you produce then?”
“… If apprentices were plentiful? Two hundred sets a day wouldn’t be a pipe dream. Our bodies’d grind to dust, but that’s not the priority now…”
“I have them. Apprentices like that.”
“… You do?”
“Yes. They work twenty-four-seven without a peep of complaint, leap into fire with undying loyalty, and have the will to learn.”
“If you’ve got ones like that, introduce me! Back in my day, we were swimming in them, but these days’ kids…”
That was when.
A scout came dashing up, panting, and urgently spoke to Thuron.
“Chieftain! They’re coming! Probably an hour out!”
“… Already this close?”
Thuron turned to Kim Minwoo.
He grinned and nodded.
“I’ll introduce the apprentices in a bit.”
Battle came first.
* * *
The horde of wraith knights and chimeras approached the dwarven fortress.
Walls and gear gave an edge, but poor fighting still meant death.
They’d already wiped out three tribes outright.
Their advance was fearless.
That was when.
A bizarre sight unfolded before the fortress.
Teeming orcs!
Over a thousand strong.
The wraith knights’ faces stiffened. One or two orcs? No big deal. But over a thousand? Different story.
―Orc! Orc!
Their savage roars echoed thunderously through the cavern.
―… The dwarves roped in orcs, huh…
But that wasn’t all.
Orcs who’d been scraping by in tattered villages had banded together.
A unique individual must’ve emerged as their rallying point.
One cunning enough to ally with dwarves!
Orcs—the race that once dominated this continent. The witch had poured resources into shattering their power.
All because their momentum when united was terrifying.
‘Orcs stirring in this backwater…’
Leave them be, and it’d balloon to ten thousand, a hundred thousand in no time. Plus, orc leaders grew explosively stronger with more underlings.
‘Dangerous. Can’t let another Mutakta emerge.’
―… Aldren. Take five chimeras. Get out of here. Report this.
One wraith knight called Aldren nodded.
He started exiting the cavern with the five chimeras.
―Brothers! Second Urkan commands! Kill them!
―Kraaa!
A massive orc led the charge, followed by steel-geared orcs. The wraith knights drew blades of ethereal energy.
Just get the messenger out.
Their job was to buy time.
They steeled themselves for death.
But that resolve proved pointless. Right as Aldren and the five chimeras neared the cavern exit.
“Where you headed?”
―… A human?
A lone human blocked the entrance.
Moments later, nearly a hundred orcs appeared behind him.
―Chwiik! Big Bro genius like always.
―Chwiik! I kill those guys!
And that wasn’t even the full force. Hundreds more skeletons lurked in tow.
‘… An ambush.’
Aldren and the chimeras’ faces hardened.
The human flashed a sly smile.
“Off to report? Can’t have that.”
―… Break through.
“Welcome to your grave.”
―Orc! Orc!
The six monsters plunged into a morass of bones.
* * *
[Level increased by 3!]
The battle ended amid a flood of messages. Every wraith knight and chimera that had come here lay dead. Orc losses? Under a hundred.
The armed orcs had held the front line like a solid shield.
‘Gear carries life, after all.’
I eyed the corpses.
A force this size would draw the fortress’s attention.
A few days without word, and they’d come sniffing.
From here on, it was a true race against time.
I gathered the chieftains.
“Pick your fastest. Spread the word—recruiting brave warriors to fight the witch.”
―Chwiik! Got it!
Before the enemy could mobilize in earnest, we had to use this golden window to swell our ranks and consolidate our forces.
After sending the orcs off, I met with Thuron.
“You’ve really been through it!”
Maybe because we’d overcome the crisis.
Thuron’s shoulder pats carried even warmer camaraderie than before.
“I said I’d introduce you to some apprentices.”
“You did.”
“Time to see them.”
I gulped down a mana potion.
Feeling my mana surge, I extended my hand.
“Come forth, my apprentices.”
[1,064 skeletons summoned!]
Mana cost half that of mages—these boneheads were a bargain. Over a thousand appeared.
“…?”
Thuron glanced back and forth between the skeleton horde and Kim Minwoo.
“These skeletons… they’re the apprentices?”
“Exactly. Perfect ones. Trust me—give ’em a shot. What’re you waiting for? Greet your master.”
Clatter!
The skeleton horde snapped salutes toward their new master.