The Mad Orc's Pursuit
About a month ago. That is, the day I escaped Forneus's dungeon. I had no weapons. However, I was aided by my cherished favorite, a flail crafted with the ingenuity of dwarves. To be precise, I was aided by Tural, who had been running wild while carrying my weapon. One hand held his own axe, and the other held my flail. I still cannot forget the back he showed me as he shattered the skull of Forneus—who had tried to kill me—with that flail.
Yet, that very flail is now held in my own hand. That means only one thing: This human bastard knows where Tural is. I hope he is alive, even if he has become a slave; if he is dead, I will at least build him a grave in my dungeon. Tural was my savior, and I had to do the bare minimum for his sake. Therefore, I must capture this human alive. I will capture him and find out how he obtained this flail. If he just picked it up, where did he find it? If he bought it at an auction, which auction house did he get it from? If he took it from the man himself, where is that person now? ...And if he killed him to take it, there is only one thing I will do. Revenge.
"Wooooo!!" I hurled the flail at the priest. The priest rolled on the ground to dodge the weapon flying toward him. As I charged, I drew the twin axes hanging at my waist. The priest, having rolled on the floor, had not yet managed to get back on his feet.
"I'll cut off your legs so you can't run!"
"Aaaargh!" The priest screamed and rolled to the side again. But my axe aimed precisely at the hem of the priest's robe.
Thwack!
"Tch!" A miss. The edge of the robe was sliced off, revealing the priest's ankle. A scratch appeared on his fair leg, drawing a bead of blood. It didn't seem like a deep cut. It appeared the priest's robe had acted as armor.
"Heh, you run well. But I won't let you get away!" I held the axe horizontally and threw it like a boomerang. The arc of its trajectory flew toward the priest's stomach. Perhaps the priest hadn't expected me to throw my weapon twice; he failed to dodge in time.
Thud.
"Ugh!" The priest barely twisted his body to avoid the blade of the axe. Instead, he took the handle to the elbow, and the blade grazed the sleeve of his robe. Genuine panic was evident in the priest's eyes.
"W-what is this...?!"
"Hey." I picked up the flail again. I threw the hand axe I had been holding in one hand toward the priest's leg once more. The priest grabbed the axe that had embedded itself in the ground beside him and threw it back.
Clang—!
The two axes collided in mid-air. They fell powerlessly to the ground, and I ran over the debris, raising my flail high. The priest was breathing heavily, his face flushed bright red.
"W-what...?!"
"Heh. Poisoning your weapons is basic, you know." At my words, the priest's heart seemed to sink. He wouldn't have had time to check the wound on his leg, but the fact that his heart was pounding much faster than before, his nerves were frayed, and his body was heating up was clearly a reaction to the poison. It was a lie. It was an aphrodisiac. I had simply smeared the slime's bodily fluids onto the axe blade. The priest was flushed not with pain, but with pleasure, preventing him from exerting his full combat potential.
"Shall we start by crushing one of your legs so you can't run away?" I raised the flail high. The flail that had beaten hundreds of humans to death was now in my hands, ready to crush the legs of a human priest. I would catch this bastard and beat the truth out of him to find Tural's whereabouts. The priest was so blinded by fear that he couldn't make a proper judgment. But I was just as blinded by the sudden turn of events.
BOOOOM!!
Suddenly, the back of my shoulder burned. I rolled on the ground from the aftermath of the explosion felt behind my back. I wasn't wounded, but the attack had failed. Looking back, it seemed one of the mages among the adventurers had fired a fireball at me.
"Protect the priest!"
"Catch that bastard!! He's worth at least 10 gold coins!!"
Waaaaaah!!
The adventurers began to rush toward me, spears and swords in hand. The priest stood up with the help of a female adventurer, and I had to deal with the adventurers who were diving in like moths to a flame, blinded by the prospect of gold.
"Kehehe, krup." I swallowed the dry saliva in my mouth. From the sturdy-looking warrior to the fairly decent-looking female adventurer, none of them caught my eye right now. The only one I saw was the pretty young priest running away in the back.
"If you had just let yourself be caught, I would have only broken your legs and dug for information." I checked the grip of the flail again and steadied my breath. Anger was surging, but I had to fight while keeping my cool.
"It seems you'll only come to your senses once I've breached your rear."
The male adventurers rushing toward me flinched and stopped in their tracks. And I charged toward the adventurers, flail in hand.
"Move—!! If you don't move—!!"
I raised the flail high. The adventurers, while flustered by my charge, raised their shields and braced themselves. There was a sense of confidence that they could sufficiently block my charge. But if they wouldn't move, I would just move around them.
"Wooooo!!" With a shout, I leaped into the air. I used the top of the lead adventurer's shield as a foothold and vaulted over the human wall of adventurers. It was obvious they were panicked, and as I landed with my legs tucked, they recoiled in horror.
"Y-you!" A heavily armored adventurer raised his kite shield and threatened me with his sword. If I landed as I was, I would be in a position to be stabbed, so I twisted my body slightly to the side, dodging the sword that aimed for my feet.
"Aerial double axel!" Like a figure skater dancing on ice, I narrowly dodged the sword and, though it was a waste, used the heavy-armored adventurer's shoulder as a foothold. My weight caused his stance to collapse, and the armor on his shoulder dented into the shape of my shoe.
"Orc jump!" I vaulted off the adventurer and soared high into the sky. The adventurer's body, unable to withstand my weight, collapsed downward, and I tucked my legs to find my next target. The adventurers screamed and scattered left and right.
"That's right! If you don't move, you die!"
I performed a roll to cushion my landing in the empty space. Using the momentum of the forward roll, I sprang forward, and at the end of the wide-open path was, of course, the fleeing priest.
"Stay right there! If you stop now, I'll end it with just two broken legs!!"
Despite my persuasion, the adventurer carried the priest and fled. He even carried him on his back. The priest was unconscious on the adventurer's back. It seemed the slime's mucus I had coated on the axe blade had caused an aphrodisiac effect, leading to shock. I chased after them, steadying my breathing. 'Save even the strength to speak and chase with everything I have.'
I squeezed out every ounce of strength I had and ran across the field. ...At least for that moment, I forgot that this place was a battlefield.
"Three, two, one—!!"
Snap!
The soldiers holding axes struck the bottom of the wooden barricade all at once. As they delivered the final blow to the spot already deeply gouged by axe marks, the pillar of the barricade tilted and fell outward toward the outside of Zabyaba.
"Get back!" Following Knight Faize's shout, the engineers quickly pulled away to the side. The barricade, tilted outward, fell very slowly, and the soldiers caught their breath, avoiding the radius of the collapsing structure.
K-thoom!!
The wooden pillars fell limply. Although the cut-off stumps were still embedded in the ground, knee-high wooden pillars could be crossed easily enough. Faize led the soldiers and charged into Zabyaba.
"Sir Gei!!"
"Ohhh!!"
Knight Gei was struggling alone, facing the orcs. Gei, who had been fighting a wheel-battle against three of the orcs that looked quite strong, let out a cheer at the appearance of Faize and the soldiers.
"There are those who are severely injured in their legs, ugh!" Gei leaned back to dodge a greatsword. Faize grasped the situation at a glance and personally lifted the soldiers who were limping.
"You, you, you! Your unit, transport them to the rear! The rest of you, block the front!"
"Yes!"
Following Faize's command, the soldiers moved in an orderly fashion. Faize ran to Gei's side and swung his sword at the orcs blocking the path.
"For the vengeance of Sir Ramatio!!"
"Ugh!"
With the reinforcements who had broken through the barricade with axes, the orcs were gradually pushed into a defensive position. The officer-class orcs who were diligently swinging their weapons in the front also saw their wounds increasing, and the fresh soldiers and orcs clashed with spears and swords.
"Aaaargh!"
"Gaaah!"
The human soldier and the orc soldier stabbed each other's vital points simultaneously. It was a fatal wound for the human, and a serious injury for the orc that would lead to death by excessive bleeding if not healed.
"Fall back—!!"
"Haaah!"
The orc who had been fighting Gei spat blood and shouted, but the surrounding soldiers mercilessly thrust their spears. The orc was stabbed by spears from his shoulder to his stomach and legs, vomiting blood. However, the orc, with bloodshot eyes, raised his sword and sliced through all the spear shafts.
"Laaaas!!!!"
The orc let out a monstrous cry and charged at the soldiers. He lunged at the soldier who had stabbed him with a spear, twisted his neck with the strength of his arms, and pulled out the spearhead to thrust it into another soldier's throat. If the last soldier hadn't raised a dagger to stab him in the back, the orc could have killed all three.
"Wooooo!"
"Kraaaa!"
The human soldiers and orc soldiers were desperate to kill each other. As the battle continued, casualties increased, and the orcs, who had formed a defensive wall with their bodies, began to be pushed toward the main road.
"Break through!!"
"Block them!!"
Once they broke through the narrow alley, they could reach the main road and surround the orcs. At the forefront, Gei and Faize swung their swords like a twin-engine carriage. If they continued to push forward like this, they could escape to the main road and utilize their numerical advantage. And just as they had almost grasped victory, a strange scream began to be heard from the rear.
"Aaaaaargh!! It's a mad pig!!"
"What?!"
Gei kicked the orc with the greatsword and created distance. Beyond the collapsed barricade, the state of the soldiers who should have entered Zabyaba was strange. They were facing east, holding their swords and shields, and were extremely tense.
"Sir Gei, that robed orc is...!"
"Tch, you guys keep breaking through the alley!"
Leaving the offensive to his subordinate soldiers, Gei pushed past the soldiers and came out beyond the barricade. A massive cloud of dust rose from the east, and Gei almost lost his mind at the sight before him.
"W-what...?"
A life-or-death chase was taking place there. A female adventurer was carrying the priest Francis, whose face was flushed bright red, and running away. Behind them, the robed orc who had stolen Francis's flail was chasing them, his red tattoos glowing fiercely on his face.
"I F Y O U G E T C A U G H T Y O U D I E E E E ! !"
The orc's booming voice shook the entire city. It was a furious voice, distinctly different from when he was violating the captive woman on the city wall.
"Chase him! Protect the priest—!!"
And behind that, adventurers were chasing the orc, and behind them, a massive horde of ghouls and bird-headed creatures, far outnumbering the adventurers, were rushing in. Bird-headed creatures?
"Such monsters... I've never heard of them...?"
"""Laaaas!!!!"""
The ghouls were running on all fours, and the bird-headed monsters were rushing with their beaks snapping, their arms crossed behind their backs. Gei snapped to his senses. The composition of the enemies or the identity of those bird-headed soldiers didn't matter. If they were to ambush from the rear, they would be the ones surrounded from both sides. Gei was at a crossroads. Should he break through the orcs to open a path, or should he regroup outside the barricade?
"Tch...! First, protect the priest!"
The primary task was to save the priest, who appeared to have been hit by the enemy's poison. The adventurer ran into the middle of the soldiers, and the orc with the flail was quickly surrounded between the soldiers and the adventurers.
"Shhh, shhh."
The robed orc looked around, venting his rage. It was a perfectly circular encirclement, and the soldiers were ready to throw their ropes. Suddenly, the war situation shifted, with Gei's lord and Francis's adventurer detachment joining forces, while monsters were confronting them from the south and east. And in the middle of the soldiers, the one who could be called the leader of the monsters was surrounded.
"Heh, I only need to catch that mad pig bastard!"
"Phew, I never intended to do something this crazy again...!"
The orc gritted his teeth and shouted toward the sky.
"Commence indiscriminate fire—!! Target toward me!!"
"What?!"
Whoosh.
The orc archers, who had been holding their breath and waiting on the watchtower, simultaneously fired arrows at the human soldiers. Toward the area around the orc presumed to be none other than their leader.
"Hahaha! Dodge it yourselves, you human bastards!!"
"T-this crazy bastard!!"
And as soon as Gei let out a curse, a rain of arrows began to pour down over the encirclement.