The Price of Arrogance
Flames erupted in the east. As black ash billowed high into the sky, Gei let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the trap he and his soldiers had risked their lives to set the previous night remained undiscovered, serving as a perfect bridgehead for the adventurers' surprise attack.
Now, it’s our turn.
He wondered how the enemy forces would react. If they continued with their madness, they would be helpless. Gei clenched his fists, keeping a sharp eye on the enemy's movements.
Creak, thud.
Other than the one Orc who had jumped down after making the initial declaration, there was no significant movement. If anything, the humans who had fainted after finishing their "business" were simply being carried down one by one by the Harpy Angels, while the Orcs shook themselves off and descended from the platforms.
"Haa... haa..."
With the last man, who had been drained by four Harpy Angels in succession, finally being released from the pillar, the spectacle mocking the punitive force from atop the walls came to an end. The soldiers of the punitive force let out sighs of regret and emptiness.
Now. This moment, when morale had hit rock bottom, was the perfect time to rally them back up. Gei raised his sword high into the sky.
"Warriors of the Virgo Barony! Now is the time to cross the wooden fence and reclaim Jabiya-ba!"
The soldiers were dumbfounded by Gei, who had suddenly jumped forward to make his declaration. But Gei didn't care and continued.
"Do not abandon your humanity! Think of the wives, children, and lovers waiting for you at home! Think of how they are waiting for you!!"
The soldiers hung their heads, looking stung. Even if the bachelors didn't care, most of the mobilized soldiers had wives as cunning as foxes and children as cute as rabbits. How could they face them again if they showed such weakness in front of them?
"You are humans! Not monsters! Do not be seduced by the provocations of these wicked demons! They are merely monsters in human skin! Yes, monsters! How else could they commit such insane acts!"
Gei pointed his sword toward the wooden fence.
"Therefore, we must rescue the prisoners held captive by those monsters! We must save them before they are truly devoured, before our own families are eaten and subjected to such humiliation! Men of Virgo, raise your swords! And do not forget! Do not become those who succumb to lust and abandon the laws and ethics ordained by the Goddess! All troops, prepare to charge!"
Gei took a step forward. The soldiers raised their swords and followed him, taking a step forward.
"Chaaaaaarge!!"
Gei and his soldiers ran toward the wooden fence. They carried ladders made in the forest, held shields over their heads to block arrows, and the archers in the rear raised their bows to keep the Orcs on the watchtowers in check.
"Woooooooh!!"
Only Gei shouted with vigor as he ran forward. The soldiers followed him reluctantly, their morale nearly non-existent. Their minds were filled with only one thought:
- I want to do it too.
- If I can't, I'd rather finish one off before I fight.
With morale at rock bottom, the soldiers eventually gave up and followed Gei, setting up ladders to climb. The platforms where the monsters had engaged in intercourse with the humans hadn't been dismantled, making it far too easy for the punitive force to hook their ladders and climb up.
Thud!
Gei stepped onto the platform. Thick wooden planks connected each platform to the rooftops of the two and three-story houses. Gei suspected a trap, but he was relieved to see the Orcs waiting on the other side, weapons in hand.
"""Las!!!"""
The Orcs shouted in unison. The soldiers following Gei hesitated at the sight of the planks. It was a height that would cause serious injury, if not death, if they fell. But the Orcs walked onto the planks as if they felt no fear at all.
"We've been waiting, you human scum!"
The Orc standing at the lead with a greatsword shouted at Gei and his soldiers. The muscular Orc pointed his greatsword at the punitive force and curled his lips into a smirk.
"I'll catch every one of you and let you Las with the Harpies!!"
"""Woooooooh!!!"""
The Orcs rushed forward, weapons raised. It was a height that would surely break a leg if one fell, but they didn't care. It was a head-on collision on the tightrope-like planks. Gei raised his sword and charged forward.
"Die, you monsters!"
The soldiers followed Gei. Just as they were about to clash, the Orcs suddenly jumped off to the side. The Orc with the greatsword kicked off the plank, performed a massive backflip in the air, and returned to the rooftop.
Gei gasped.
"What—"
No sooner had the Orcs on the planks cleared out than Orcs dressed far more elaborately than the others appeared, raising massive weapons. There were already as many as twenty men on the planks.
"Th-this—"
"A message from the Legion Commander."
The Orc lowered the edge of his greatsword toward the planks, mocking the humans.
"He said if you idiots try to cross the planks, show you the basic spec difference between an Orc and a human."
Slash, thud.
The planks were severed, and the soldiers fell. Gei steadied himself and performed a landing roll. His ankle stung a little, but it wasn't enough to stop him from fighting.
"Cowards! You acted like you'd fight us head-on, only to pull this trick!"
"A message from the Legion Commander. He said if you whine about cowardice, tell you this."
The Orc jumped down, greatsword in hand. Landing with a twisted smirk, he snorted, tapping the broad blade against his palm.
"If you don't like it, win."
"Y-you damn trashy monsters!!"
Gei lunged at the Orc again. Blue mana surged through the sword he held high—the 'Aura,' the symbol of a skilled knight.
"And this is something I want to say."
The greatsword Orc slung his blade over his shoulder.
"You might be stronger than me, but you're not my father."
"What?"
No sooner had he heard the incomprehensible words than a searing sensation flared on his shoulder. Gei nearly dropped his sword as his strength momentarily failed him. Turning his head, he saw his shoulder pauldron pierced, and a chill ran down his spine. If he had reacted a second later, his shoulder would have been run through.
"This is—"
"If it's hard alone, do it in pairs; if it's hard in pairs, do it in threes."
The Orc shouted as he stepped forward.
"This is a battlefield! What we're doing isn't a duel, it's war, you moron!"
The Orc slashed his greatsword diagonally toward Gei.
* * *
"Ugh, idiots. They really crossed it."
I ran along the alley, laughing at the reports from the Harpies flying in the sky. To think they couldn't make a rational judgment just because their crotches were filled with rage. They were hopeless in every way.
I'd rather have the adventurers who smashed through the fence; they'd be much more useful.
I wondered how they had managed to break through the fence with only a hundred men. I exited the alley and circled around the plaza. The Ghoul unit that had been waiting there was gone, likely off to intercept the adventurers. In the plaza, the Andras, who could be called the final defensive force, saluted me with spears in hand.
"Andras, protect the portal at the cost of your lives!"
"""Understood, Las!!!"""
I didn't have time to argue whether the Andras were speaking formally or informally. Following the Harpy Angel flying in the air, I headed to where Harsus and Rastuzard’s undead unit were holding the line.
The sounds of clashing weapons, blades piercing flesh, arrows flying, and fireballs erupting—the battlefield, filled with all those noises, was only two alleys away.
"Wooooooh!"
I burst out of the alley, iron pipes in both hands. The battlefield was already a scene of carnage, and Harsus, the High Ghouls, and Rastuzard’s Ghouls were holding a thick defensive line to buy time.
Ughhh! The Ghouls commanded by Rastuzard flailed about, threatening the adventurers. The adventurers parried the Ghouls' attacks with ease. Harsus and the High Ghouls were each taking on the skilled fighters.
[Rise, Minion of Wrath!!]
No sooner had Rastuzard given the command than the adventurer whose head had been severed creaked and rose to his feet. Rastuzard was replenishing his forces in real-time by turning the adventurers defeated by his Ghouls into his own. But their numbers had already fallen below thirty. The rate at which Ghouls were being consumed was far faster than Rastuzard could replenish them. The adventurers were combat specialists. It took only three seconds to realize that.
The moment I reached Rastuzard’s side, I bent my knees and leaped high into the air.
"Come in through the front gate, you bastards!!"
The adventurers' gazes converged on me as I shouted from mid-air. I brought the iron pipe down toward the head of the young man Harsus had been fighting.
"Pay for the repairs, you trash!!"
The young man, who looked like a priest, emitted a silver aura and retreated with a massive leap. Seeing the light, I realized he was a priest of the Goddess. I shook my tingling hands and feet a couple of times and raised the iron pipe.
"Heh, this is the one I pulled from the prison—"
My heart sank. My red-tinted vision returned to normal, and in the restored world of color, I could clearly see 'it' with my own two eyes.
"Are you the leader?"
"What the fuck are you, you bastard?"
Curses spilled from my mouth. But I couldn't stop. Regardless of the young man's hardened expression, I pointed the tip of the iron pipe at the flail he was holding.
"Fuck, where did you get that?"
"...I have no reason to tell you!"
"Ha, look at this little shit not answering. Fine. Let's get straight to the point."
I interlaced my fingers and rubbed them together. My vision turned red again. A slight fatigue washed over my entire body, but for now, capturing that priest and asking him the source of the flail was more important than anything else.
"I'll just beat it out of you until you answer."
"You monster!"
The priest raised his flail high. It would be hard to block with an iron pipe that, while thick, was much thinner than a flail. So, I had to avoid the attack first. I twisted my body and rolled to the side.
Kwah—ang!!
The priest slammed the flail into the ground. Dirt splattered onto my face, but I rolled quickly and swung the pipe horizontally. Using the momentum of the roll, I struck the priest's calf with the pipe.
Puh—uck!!
He must have had a protective barrier up; even with my full-force blow, the priest didn't lose his footing. I performed a landing roll and stood up. The tip of the iron pipe was bent into a circle.
"Receive the Goddess's divine punishment!!"
The priest began swinging the flail at me indiscriminately. I stepped back, ducked, and tilted my body, dodging by a hair's breadth. The priest was properly enraged, and I waited for an opportunity.
"Die—!!"
Now. I clashed my iron pipe against the flail swinging diagonally. The blunt end struck the bent part of the iron pipe exactly, and the pipe snapped at an angle of over 90 degrees. Even so, the flail didn't lose its momentum.
"Wh-what?!"
"Keuk."
It was expected. I threw the iron pipe at the flail. It was obvious that a cheap iron bar couldn't withstand that flail. No matter how dull the tip was, it was clearly a master-crafted item painstakingly made in a top-30 dungeon.
Puh-uck.
I grabbed the end of the flail like a rugby ball. The pain was like my palms being torn apart, and because the force was stronger than I thought, I took a heavy blow to the chest. The impact of the flail, piercing through the defense of my robe and the hardness of my tattoo-strengthened body, was enough to make my vision go white for a moment.
"Let go, let go!"
But I didn't let go of the flail. The priest pulled on the handle and cursed, rotating the shaft as if to scrape the skin off my palms. The more he did, the tighter I gripped the flail. Drops of my blood, scraped from my palms, dripped onto the flail.
"Hehehe, I'm never letting go. You're not going to die easily now."
I lifted my leg with all my might. The priest's eyes widened in panic, but he couldn't let go of the flail until the end. If he had let go earlier, he might have been able to dodge my attack and launch a counter-assault, but unfortunately, it was too late.
"Kuh-uck!"
I kicked the priest in the side. The kick, aimed precisely at his ribs, sent the priest stumbling back, coughing up blood-mixed saliva. I spun the handle of the flail I had snatched from the priest. A smirk naturally formed on my face.
"Hey. You better talk well from now on. Otherwise, I might really snap and beat you to death."
For the first time in a long while, I rested the flail on my shoulder and beckoned to the priest with my blood-stained hand. The sensation of beating down the army Eila once led was still alive within me.
"Where did you get this?"
My voice was so excited that even I was startled.