The Siege of Zabyaba
The village of Zabyaba, located by the riverside in the Virgo Barony, usually housed about a hundred soldiers. While the standing army had previously been limited to around fifty, Baron Virgo had recently dispatched reinforcements to the villages and towns within her territory. The sudden doubling of the garrison left the villagers feeling deeply uneasy.
"Could a war be breaking out? Seeing as the war with the Demon King's army hasn't ended yet, maybe it's finally our turn..."
"Or maybe a dungeon appeared. Adventurers have been coming and going quite a bit lately. Isn't it related to that?"
"Don't talk about such bad omens. She's probably just throwing her weight around. The new Baroness is just feeling insecure because people look down on her for being a woman."
Amidst a flurry of speculation, the soldiers did their best to fulfill their duties. The Baroness had been shrewd enough to staff the units primarily with men who hailed from those very villages.
"Hey, do you really think something like that would happen?"
"If any monsters show up, we'll take care of them! Haha, don't you worry!"
While being too familiar with the villagers could have been problematic, their motivation to protect their homes was undeniable. The moment rumors began to circulate that forty adventurers from the Blue Lion Guild had been wiped out, the guards began monitoring the movements beyond the wooden palisade from their watchtowers. It didn't take long for them to spot the Orcs setting up camp on the hill.
Sharp-eyed young men detected the anomaly on the hill, and the swiftest among them returned from a quick reconnaissance.
"It's Orcs! A horde of Orcs! Nearly a hundred of them!"
Although one youth had suffered a severe wound with an arrow piercing his knee, a force of a hundred Orcs was an undeniable threat to the village.
"You! Get on a horse and head to Spica Castle immediately! Tell the Baroness about the Orcs' presence!"
The captain of the guard hurriedly sent a messenger. If only they had a communication crystal, they could have relayed this news in real-time, but unfortunately, such high-end magical tools were not available in a remote village like this.
"What is the composition of the Orcs?!"
"They were all carrying wooden clubs! There didn't seem to be any high-ranking units like Orc Riders; they were all common soldiers with crude equipment. Some didn't even have leather armor."
"......? Are they insane?"
The captain tilted his head in confusion at the state of the Orc horde.
"Even if this is the rear, Orcs appearing without a single piece of armor, carrying nothing but clubs?"
"Yes. A few were armed with iron swords or axes, but almost all of them looked like the slave Orc soldiers you see in the arenas."
"......I see. It's a scouting party. It couldn't be anything else."
Drawing on his experience, the captain gauged the identity of the Orc unit.
"It's certain there's a dungeon nearby. It might even be a high-level one. A dungeon that throws away a hundred-strong Orc unit like trash... Tsk, this place is going to become a battlefield now."
No sooner had the captain finished speaking than the ground began to tremble violently. The entire earth shook as if an earthquake had struck. But the rhythm was steady. Thump, thump, thump, thump!
"These bastards...!"
The Orcs had begun to stomp in unison. The resonance, like the beating of a war drum, carried over the palisade, and the people were gripped by terror.
"Don't worry! We will handle everything! Knights will be coming from Spica Castle!"
The guards calmed and reassured the panicked crowd. The commotion was quickly suppressed, and the guards cast nervous, mocking glances at the Orcs marching down the main road toward them.
"Look at those idiots. Do they want to be turned into honeycombs by our arrows?"
"I heard that if you roast Orcs, they taste like pork."
"Really? We're going to feast tonight, then."
Since the war with the Demon King's army had dragged on, humanity had succeeded in processing monster byproducts into food. Orcs, in particular, were monsters whose flesh, when roasted over an open flame, lost its toxicity and tasted like pork.
"...They're still walking toward us?"
"Are they crazy? Are they dying to get an arrow in the head?"
Thump, thump, thump. The guards swallowed hard at the sound of the Orcs marching in step. Even the veterans who had faced Orcs before felt a chill at the sight of these particular ones.
Thump, thump, thump! The Orcs' marching speed was actually increasing. As the robed Orc at the lead quickened his pace, all the Orcs behind him began to move in sync.
"...What the hell are those guys?"
The captain scanned the area where the Orcs were walking—no, running toward. It wasn't the main gate of the palisade, but a section where thick logs had been driven deep into the ground, making it sturdy enough not to collapse easily.
"Are they trying to bash their heads against the fence and die?!"
That was a possibility. Monsters often exhibited a madness that defied human common sense. Sometimes, dark mages would drive monsters into a frenzy, causing them to charge blindly.
"Damn it, intercept them! Fire your arrows!"
"WROOOOOOOO—!!"
The Orcs began to charge, letting out a war cry. They rushed forward like angry bulls, as if the thick fence didn't even exist.
"Damn it!"
They seemed intent on charging the palisade even if it meant being crushed into meat. At the captain's shout, eight guards standing in the nearby watchtowers hurriedly raised their bows.
"Fire—!"
*Snap!*
The bow of a guard who was just about to draw it shattered. It split in half, and he wasn't the only one experiencing this anomaly.
"Captain! It's a sniper!"
"Damn it, just fire!"
Since the fence wasn't a proper stone wall, once the guards in the watchtowers were neutralized, there was no way to intercept the charge. A few guards still had their bows, but the sniping continued relentlessly.
"Damn it, where are they shooting from! Crazy!"
It was only one person shooting, but their position couldn't be pinpointed. And because of that one person, all the watchtowers near the palisade were neutralized.
Thump-thump-thump-thump! The Orcs were sprinting at full speed. The captain could only pray that the palisade would hold firm as it always had. And then, at that moment.
*CRACK!*
The sound of wood snapping echoed. The Orcs hadn't even arrived yet, but the sound definitely came from the palisade. And of all places, it was the exact section the Orcs were charging toward.
"......What?"
Why was the palisade tilting right now? The captain's mouth went dry at the chilling coincidence.
It couldn't be a coincidence.
"Damn it! Everyone, prepare for combat!"
The guards gathered near the palisade hurriedly raised their swords and shields. Because the charge was coming from an unexpected location, it would take time for the soldiers near the main gate to arrive.
*Scritch, scritch.* A sound of wood being gnawed on, grating against the captain's nerves, reached his ears. A sinking suspicion made his grip tighten, and the palisade slowly began to tilt inward.
*Crunch!*
Something red emerged from beneath the base of the palisade's pillars. He didn't know what it was, but those monsters had definitely tampered with the wooden pillars from underground.
*Vwooooom—*
The wooden pillars began to lean slowly. And then, a robed Orc leaped high into the air above the tilting palisade.
*THUD-THUD-THUD!!*
The Orc began to run, stepping on top of the tilting fence. If the palisade hadn't been tilting, he would have likely smashed right through it. In the Orc's hand was a thick tree trunk he seemed to have just uprooted.
"LA-SH-CRUSH-STRIKE!!"
The Orc, with red tattoos glowing on his face, slammed the tree trunk into the ground.
*BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*
The very world seemed to tremble.
* * *
Tunneling with the Slime Dragon had many risks. And I needed to show the overwhelming power of our legion. So, I had set up several operations in advance. I had sent the Slime Dragon under the fence beforehand to gnaw away at the base of the wooden pillars. To ensure they wouldn't notice the vibrations of the Slime Dragon burrowing underground, I had the Orc unit march forward noisily, stomping their feet from a certain point.
The guards aimed their arrows at our noisy advance. Ryun, who had been hiding among the Orcs, sniped the most threatening ones. Ryun neutralized the archers with precision even while Eila was carrying her. And at the perfect moment, the moment the Slime Dragon gnawed through the inner side of the fence and it began to tilt, I ran toward it.
I leaped off the edge of the tilting palisade. A charge against the fence? I suppose I did. I advanced in a straight line, and it just so happened that the fence tilted and fell at the perfect timing. The Slime Dragon? I know nothing about that. Anyway, the jump, fueled by the weight of my entire body, caused the fence to collapse to the ground, and I slammed the tree trunk I had uprooted earlier into the ground, layering it with a Strength Enhancement buff.
The name of the technique didn't really mean anything. I just shouted whatever came to mind to draw the guards' attention.
*CRUNCH!*
The log shattered and scattered in all directions. I let go as I slammed it into the ground, and as the earth shook, the guards' formations crumbled. I performed a landing roll and immediately sprinted forward.
"Fire, fire!"
The one who looked like the captain ordered them to fire at me. But once their stance was broken, firing immediately at a moving target was something no human could do.
"WROOOOOO!!"
With a roar, I swung my arm behind my shoulder. The target I intended to smash with my fist was the guard captain. I had to take out the leader first.
"You bastard!"
The guard captain, who must have seen his fair share of combat, raised his iron shield. He seemed to think he could block my fist with it, but he was a fool. The shield was a tower shield that covered almost his entire body.
'That shield looks just like Forneus's ugly mug.'
Anger welled up from within. I extended my leg forward, twisted my waist, and threw a punch.
*THWACK—!*
My fist slammed into the steel shield. Although I failed to pierce it, my punch crushed the guard captain beneath the shield itself.
"Gaaah!"
The fact that he didn't let go of the shield was commendable. But if he had dropped the shield, his hand wouldn't have been shredded. The one who hit was fine, but the one who got hit had blood bursting from his hand.
"It's a difference in physical specs, you puny human!"
I extended my leg toward the guard captain hiding behind the shield. He collapsed to the ground, and I stomped my raised foot onto the floor.
*BOOM!!*
"Kuh-ack!"
The guard captain screamed and coughed up blood. He had endured my kick while hiding under the iron shield.
"Kill him immediately—!!"
At the captain's desperate cry, the guards thrust their spears at me. They were well-sharpened, enough to hurt if I got poked. I couldn't let them get damaged. I immediately climbed onto the guard captain's shield.
"Guaaaah!!"
The guard captain was crushed by me standing on his shield. Standing on the shield, I held the wooden club from inside my robe with both hands. The club, whittled down like a baseball bat, was thicker than my forearm.
"Where do you think you're going!"
I twisted my body to dodge the thrusting spears. Then, using the momentum of the dodge, I swung the bat diagonally downward. I struck one guard's temple precisely, and he collapsed, blood spurting out limply.
"You bastard!"
"Who are you calling a bastard, you bastard!"
I swung the bat into the path of the guy trying to swing his sword from behind. The guard dropped his sword, and I thrust the blood-stained bat into his face like a spear.
"Face-crusher!!"
"Kuh-ack?!"
I thrust the bat into the guard's face like I was crushing garlic with a pestle. His already crooked aquiline nose was pulverized by my bat-swinging. The guard fell backward, blood streaming from his nose.
"Come at me if you dare, you lot!!"
I jumped around in place, swinging the bat wildly. Jumping around like a shaman performing an exorcism looked just like I was dancing a mask dance.
"Heave-ho!"
"Kuh-ack!"
I jumped high, putting all my weight into my toes to stomp on a shield. It felt like blood splashed from below, but I had no choice but to jump to avoid the sword aimed at my ankle. I brought the bat down onto the neck of the guard who had tried to cut my ankle.
*Thwack!*
The guard tried to raise his shield to block my bat. But because he raised it too late, I struck his temple with a glancing blow, and his head snapped to the side as he toppled over.
"Y-you crazy monster!!"
The guards surrounding me began to back away. Having seen me crush one person into the ground and beat three others to death in an instant, they seemed to realize that their skills weren't enough to handle me.
WROOOOOOOO!!
My subordinate Orcs rushed toward the guards. To boost their morale, I stepped down from the tower shield where I had been standing over the guard captain.
"Kuh-uuuugh...."
"Still alive? Did you reinforce your body with mana? Heh, then let's see how much more you can take."
I let the bat hang loosely over the tower shield. I wanted to sit down, but I couldn't bring myself to do that. I grabbed the bat and kept the beat with my legs.
"Ah, this is what you call a drum solo."
The rhythm was Hwimori (a fast-paced traditional Korean rhythm).
"You are today's bass drum."
I began to strike the tower shield with the bat. And the red light of the tattoo on the back of my hand began to flow down into the bat.
Oh.
'I just tried it, and it actually works.'
WROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—————!!!
A thunderous roar erupted from my subordinate Orcs. A red aura began to rise from their bodies.