Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: I've Made It (5)
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Rangfin Haime's expression transformed.
The incessant whiner was gone.
In his place stood a high knight, his lofty station on full display.
Drawing his sword, he turned to face the enemy.
“How dare you, honorless remnants of a beaten army!”
The sudden outburst wasn't directed at his own men.
Coincidentally, the enemy was the remnant force that had fled the previous battle.
A perfect target for the knight to unleash his pent-up fury.
BAM!
Rangfin Haime kicked off the ground.
“All units, assemble!”
He barked out orders while swapping his gear.
He took off his cumbersome, maned helmet.
He sheathed Baegya, slinging it onto his back along with his shield.
“Battle directive: prioritize troop preservation! Focus on ranged harassment with projectile weapons, and maintain distance! Close-quarters engagement is not permitted!”
Then, he drew Barisada and loaded a rapid-fire cartridge.
“Over-ten Quentin, take command!”
“Yes, Centurion!”
Leaving the senior Over-ten's reply behind, I started running.
Rangfin Haime was already far ahead.
CRUNCH.
The earth screamed each time he kicked off the ground.
A fearsome momentum that would make any ordinary man piss his pants in terror before he even got close.
But his opponents were neither ordinary nor human.
“KRAAAAAAAH!”
The orcs roared fiercely and picked up their pace.
The distance between them closed in an instant.
Without breaking my stride, I raised Barisada.
And fired bolt after bolt.
THWACK-THWACK-THWACK-THWACK-THWACK.
The five-bolt rapid-fire cartridge was emptied in a flash.
A few orcs at the front, struck by bolts just as they were about to throw their axes, screamed and dropped their weapons.
Rangfin Haime had now reached the orcs.
A knight in full, heavy plate armor.
A tribe of naturally burly orcs.
The victor of the first clash was the former.
CRASH!
The orc vanguard crumbled.
“Guuuhhhk!”
A moment later, a sound like a stuck pig erupted.
It came after Rangfin Haime had already plunged into the orc ranks.
I gritted my teeth, trying to follow the knight's form, now hidden among the dark green hulks.
“He just can't give up that damned charge!”
I could see why that squire I saw back then had died in his first battle.
A charge unique to knights, with absolutely no consideration for those following behind.
It was the biggest reason squires died in battle.
CLANK.
I holstered Barisada again.
I drew the shield and sword I had slung on my back.
I picked up the pace I had briefly slowed.
The orcs' ugly faces were right in front of me.
A few orcs, carried forward by the momentum of their charge, bared their teeth at me.
The closest one reached out for me.
An empty hand, holding no blade.
He's underestimating me.
Muttering softly, I thrust Baegya forward.
The pure white blade grazed the orc's forearm.
SHINK.
The startled orc snatched its hand back.
But it was already too late; unfortunately for him, he couldn't achieve his goal.
You can't retract something that no longer exists.
“Gack!”
The orc, its forearm completely severed at the elbow, let out a belated scream.
I twisted Baegya, which I had thrust out.
SLICE.
The scream cut off abruptly.
For no creature can scream once its vocal cords have been severed.
THUD.
I heard the sound of a heavy body collapsing behind me.
Regardless, I kept moving forward.
The orcs had turned inward to deal with the knight who had broken their ranks.
I dropped my stance low.
SWOOOSH.
And swept my blade across the backs of the orcs' knees.
“Guhk!”
Their tendons suddenly severed, the orcs staggered.
Even while losing balance and stumbling, one orc swung a sword at me.
A sword far too short for its massive frame.
Offering a moment of condolence to the unknown soldier who must have been its original owner, I...
SLICE.
...sliced through it, sword and all.
There was barely any resistance.
At most, it felt like cutting through cheese.
“Combat is all about the gear!”
A cheer escaped my lips.
The orcs, finally noticing me, turned around.
But by then, I was already past them.
I dove between the dark green hulks.
My vision was instantly obscured.
Orcs were everywhere.
But I felt not a shred of fear.
I had done this countless times in my past life.
I'd broken through enemy lines following Roman dozens, no, hundreds of times.
I scanned my surroundings.
I could see it clearly.
The shortest path through the mass of dark green bodies was perfectly clear to my eyes.
TAP.
I pushed off lightly.
Two steps forward.
“Grwoh?”
An orc, noticing a small head flitting about at its waist level, flinched and brought its fist down.
Dodging was easy.
I ducked low and took a step to the side.
WHOOSH.
A fist the size of a pot lid grazed just over my head.
STEP.
I took another step.
This time, four steps diagonally forward.
And then two more.
Sometimes between two orcs standing side-by-side.
Sometimes under an orc's legs.
I continued to press deeper.
I don't know how long I weaved through the orcs like that.
The dark green mass obscuring my vision disappeared.
A wide clearing appeared before me.
A large circle formed by the orcs.
“KRAAAAAH!”
“Hah!”
In the center, Rangfin Haime was fighting like a madman.
His opponents were five massive orcs, a head taller than the others.
Surprisingly, the battle was evenly matched.
They didn't yield an inch, even against a 5-Star Knight.
At the center of it all was an orc a head taller than even those massive ones.
An orc with grotesque tattoos covering its entire body.
A chieftain-class orc.
Rangfin Haime swung his sword.
A strike like a flash of lightning, almost too fast to see.
Instead of retreating, the orc chieftain brought down a ridiculously large battle-axe.
BAM.
Blood spurted from the orc chieftain's body.
But that was all.
Rangfin Haime's strike had failed to sever the chieftain's limbs or inflict a fatal wound.
It had merely deflected the axe and left a small gash in its flesh.
Considering the chieftain's blow had struck empty air, Rangfin Haime had the advantage.
And yet, he was the one who came out worse for wear.
His opponent wasn't just the orc chieftain.
The other orcs, seeing an opening, thrust their spears and swords.
Most didn't even get close, but one managed to strike Rangfin Haime's plate armor.
CLANG!
With a heavy thud, Rangfin Haime stumbled back two steps.
All this happened in a single breath.
The pattern continued.
Rangfin Haime would unleash a flurry of light-speed strikes, and the orc chieftain would absorb them with its body.
Seizing the opening, the other orcs would launch a fierce assault on him.
I knew it the moment I saw it.
Rangfin Haime wasn't in his prime condition.
He was unleashing a continuous barrage of strikes too fast to see, but their power was far from what a high knight should possess.
They were fast, but that was it.
The movements connecting one strike to the next were somehow unnatural.
It felt somewhat... clunky.
The faint smell of blood I had caught in his tent a while ago flashed through my mind.
Just as I'd suspected, Rangfin Haime must have been injured in the last battle.
I had thought it was strange.
The defense of a knight in heavy armor was no exaggeration to call a moving fortress.
*'This rain and these clouds, they're not natural...'*
*'They weaken the Blessing...'*
The stars' warning had been wrong.
The clouds covering this area didn't just weaken the Blessing.
They were powerful enough to completely block the manifestation of the Blessing at its source.
The proof was right before my eyes.
Rangfin Haime was unable to use even a fraction of the Blessing's power—the very foundation and source of a knight's strength.
What a foolish knight!
I couldn't help but curse his recklessness for plunging into enemy lines in such a state without any countermeasures.
Of course, I wasn't surprised.
See enemy, charge enemy.
For a knight, it was the most natural principle.
If I left him like this, he'd be surrounded by orcs, fight a desperate battle, and die a dog's death.
That was an undesirable outcome.
I hadn't even had a chance to properly use the card that was Rangfin Haime.
I couldn't afford to lose him in a place like this.
I quickly surveyed the battlefield.
The orcs didn't even think to look my way.
They were just watching the fight between their chieftain and the human knight.
Thanks to that, I could watch the battle at a leisurely pace.
Rangfin Haime, with his most crucial power—the Blessing—cut off.
On the other hand, the orcs were strangely brimming with power.
It was a rather strange situation.
Even without the Blessing, a high knight's caliber was not to be underestimated.
Taking those sword strikes with a bare body was abnormal.
As I narrowed my eyes, sensing something was off, a bizarre sight caught my attention.
Every time the tattoos on the orc chieftain's body glowed faintly, the wounds on its flesh healed rapidly.
The moment I saw that artificial and unnatural scene, I knew.
A being adept at drawing out its race's potential to the absolute limit.
There had to be a shaman somewhere.
My task was set.
I melted back into the horde of orcs.
***
“Annoying!”
Rangfin Haime swung his sword irritably.
The orcs that had been clinging to him like flies hastily retreated.
But the price for driving back the annoying orcs was taking a blow from the chieftain.
CRACK.
The pauldron struck by the orc chieftain's axe shattered.
The pain, as if his shoulder was being crushed, made him swing his sword convulsively.
The sensation that traveled through the hand gripping his sword was alien.
It felt like he was hacking at a frozen slab of meat.
A sensation he had felt several times already.
“Why!”
He was growing tired.
The outcome of the battle loomed before his eyes.
It would be in a way he had never imagined, nor ever desired.
Realizing this, he could no longer maintain his composure.
It wasn't that he was afraid to die.
It was just the bitter regret of failing to annihilate the enemy.
“Kugh.”
He took another blow.
An attack aimed squarely at his tattered pauldron.
The only silver lining was that the blow wasn't from the orc chieftain.
But that alone was enough to render one of his arms useless.
In truth, Rangfin Haime could have broken the stalemate if he had chosen to.
He still had a card he hadn't played.
The problem was that if he played that card, he could never go back to the way things were.
He hesitated, but the answer had been decided from the start.
Instead of playing his hidden card, he switched his sword to his left hand.
And he waited.
Enduring the enemy's attacks until his fine plate armor was reduced to rags.
He conserved his final strength.
To inflict a fatal wound on the enemy.
“You, at least...”
He gritted his teeth and watched for an opening.
After waiting until his entire body was battered and bruised, an opportunity finally came.
“Haaap!”
He squeezed out his last bit of strength and swung his sword upward.
But unfortunately, he had already endured too many attacks, and his stamina was depleted.
The strike was far weaker than intended.
When even his full-powered attacks had failed, there was no way this would work.
At this rate, it would only add another small scratch to that hide.
And yet, though that should have been the case...
SLICE.
The sensation at his fingertips was unfamiliar.
“Krrrrr?”
A sound, whether a groan or something else, reached him.
THUD.
Followed by the sound of a heavy chunk of meat hitting the ground.
“KWAAAAARGH!”
A belated scream erupted.
The orc chieftain's forearm had been cleanly severed.
He didn't know what had happened, but this was clearly an opportunity.
With the enemy's attention completely focused on its severed arm, he could surely land a fatal blow.
But unfortunately, his opponent wasn't just the chieftain before him.
The chieftain's honor guard, who had been circling nearby, moved to block his path.
The orc chieftain scrambled back.
Rangfin Haime sighed faintly.
He had endured and endured until an opportunity finally came, but he lacked the strength to seize it.
The regret was palpable.
But to stand idly by and meet his end was not in his nature.
He ignored all the incoming attacks and stepped toward the orc chieftain.
Of course, he knew.
He was well aware that the honor guard's attacks would tear his body to shreds before he could reach the chieftain.
Nevertheless, he moved forward.
A step that disregarded all defense.
The last of his strength was reserved solely for the enemy leader.
He had no energy to waste on rabble.
In that moment.
BAM!
Something shot out from the side and slammed into the orc honor guard.
“Knight! I shall open the way!”
It was the insolent brat who had claimed to watch his back, a task he'd never been given.