Chapter 145: Harvest Day (12)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 145: Harvest Day (12)
Annihilate the enemy.
Considering a single orc warrior was a match for two knights, it was an absurd command.
An order that was tantamount to suicide.
And yet, for some reason, they felt no fear.
The knights tightened their grip on their swords and shields.
Marietta and Ophelia began to pray.
[Divine Blessing]
[All Bless]
A golden light and a white light mingled, enveloping the Knight Order. It was a strange phenomenon, two blessings overlapping. The two saint candidates were astonished, but those who received the blessings paid it no mind.
They were simply grateful that their bodies felt so much lighter.
Grateful that they could now avenge their families.
Grateful that they could follow the hero they had come to admire.
It was Cloud who signaled the start of the battle.
In an instant, he plunged into the midst of the orcs, literally butchering those nearby.
“Annihilate the enemy!”
United under a great war cry, the knights' morale soared to the heavens. They charged bravely at the orcs, who were half a head taller than them.
The orcs were not afraid either.
Though their morale wasn't particularly high, they were valiant warriors. They did not turn their backs and flee, but stood and fought the Knight Order.
A thin sword pierced an orc's chest.
Its heart was untouched. The orc swung its axe down. Clang! The shield that blocked the axe crumpled. As the orc grinned and raised its axe for another strike, another knight rushed in and stabbed it through the neck.
The orc collapsed with a thud.
The knight who had killed the orc extended a hand to his fallen comrade.
“Are you alrigh—”
He was sent flying by a mace from a newly appeared orc.
The orc turned its gaze to the knight still on the ground. The knight scrambled to get up, but the mace was faster, shattering his head.
Crack.
The knight's head burst under the mace's blow, his brain and fluids splattering across the ground.
The sensation of slaughter at his fingertips thrilled the orc.
“Uwooooaaaargh!!!”
Overcome with excitement, he let out a great roar. Just then, someone brushed past him. It was so natural that he thought it was one of his own kind.
He only realized his mistake when his intestines began spilling from his sliced side.
The orc clutched his side and turned to look at the one who had just passed him.
A woman with vermilion hair.
She exuded an aura completely out of place here.
In a battlefield of life and death, she stole life with a sword dance that pulsed with vitality.
The disoriented orc stared blankly at her sword dance, forgetting this was a battlefield and that he was wounded.
The price for his distraction was steep.
Slice—
Neria cut off the head of the dumbfounded orc. Then, she glanced at Katarina with a dissatisfied expression. It wasn't that Katarina was slacking, but for some reason, Neria found it irritating.
As Neria watched Katarina, an orc charged at her exposed flank.
“Your attention is elsewhere!”
Just as the orc was about to swing its broadsword, the mane of the Lion King's Helm Neria wore trembled up and down.
Two white lions sprang from the mane, one biting the orc's neck and the other its ankle.
The startled orc tore off the lion at its neck and sliced it in two with its broadsword. The bisected white lion dissolved into white particles and returned to the helm's mane. Then, it was reborn as a white lion once more and charged the orc again.
Kill one, and a new one appeared. Kill it, and another took its place.
In this war of attrition, it was the orc whose strength gave out first. He met his end when a lion tore out his throat.
While the white lions were busy, Neria parried another orc's attack with her shield and stabbed her sword into its heart.
Squelch—
As she flicked her sword to shake off the blood, she felt a sudden, ominous sensation. She quickly twisted her body, pulling her shield up to defend, but…
“Neria?”
Reflected in her eyes was not a vicious orc, but Mars with a puzzled expression.
“…What, you have time to chat in the middle of all this?” she said curtly, feeling awkward and a little hurt in her pride. Mars, unfazed by her attitude, asked.
“Do you know where Cloud is?”
“Cloud? He’s…”
Neria turned her head, scanning the battlefield. It went without saying that he would be wherever the commotion was loudest.
But…
“Huh…?”
While there were pockets of fighting, no single area was significantly more chaotic than the others.
“Wh-where did Cloud go?”
“…I asked you first.”
Mars sighed.
*
While the orcs and the Knight Order were locked in fierce combat, Octan and his shaman were in the lord's audience chamber, performing a descent ritual.
“Are you certain He will be pleased with this place?”
“He instructed us to prepare the ritual in a place that would not compromise your dignity. Therefore, this is the most suitable location.”
“Is the ritual proceeding as planned?”
Octan gazed at the bloody formation spread out around the throne and the haphazardly scattered chunks of flesh.
This was the altar to summon a lich.
He had done it because the shaman insisted, but now that it was complete, it looked rather shabby. Octan doubted if this could really summon one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
The shaman, however, was full of confidence.
“It is proceeding well. We began at dawn, so it won't be long before He responds. Please, just wait a little longer.”
“Who is He?”
“Pardon? Why, it’s… Who goes there?! I told you not to let anyone in until the ritual is over!”
Hearing a voice from behind, the shaman spun around, shouting. A human covered in blood stood at the entrance to the audience chamber.
The human was a rather familiar figure to the shaman.
“The Hero? Why are you here… No, more importantly, how did you get in? This castle is guarded by great warriors—”
“Don't ask stupid questions. You dishonor the tribe.”
Octan snapped at the shaman, his eyes fixed on the bloodstains on Cloud's armor.
“Did you kill them all?”
Cloud nodded, wiping the blood from his sword with his sleeve.
“…Without leaving a single one?”
“Was there any reason to leave them alive?”
Grind—
Octan gritted his teeth.
“A reason to leave them alive? Yes, you're right. There's no need to leave survivors who might cause trouble later.”
He gripped a giant twin-bladed axe in each hand. He slammed the axes, glowing with green sword aura, against the floor. Thump! The floor where the axe blades struck cracked, and the audience chamber shook.
“You will die today. So will your companions. All of you will die. Expect no mercy from me.”
Cloud's hand, which had been wiping his sword, froze. His eyes widened, and then he burst out laughing as if he'd heard the funniest joke.
“Have you ever spared anyone? Rich words coming from a bastard who slaughtered even the children.”
The laughter didn't last long.
Cloud's expression turned ice-cold.
“Who is that altar for? A witch? Or a demon?”
“A witch? A demon? I don't know what you're talking about.”
“I’m asking who you’re trying to summon by melting human souls.”
“Ah, so that’s what you meant. That would be…”
Octan glanced back. The shaman signaled that the altar was fine. He grinned and took a great step forward.
“None of your business!”
He threw both twin-bladed axes.
The axes spun like discs, flying toward Cloud. Cloud watched the two green discs hurtling toward him.
They both flew in an outward parabolic arc.
In other words, the middle was open.
He kicked off the ground and ran straight for Octan. But then he noticed the corner of Octan's mouth curl up and put his guard up.
He felt Octan's two axes flying toward his back.
Why were the axes, which should have collided and fallen to the floor, flying at his back?
‘They can't possibly have a homing function…’
Cloud leaped high and did a somersault in the air.
Sure enough, the axes flew not at Cloud, but back toward Octan.
‘A recall, then.’
When Cloud landed, Octan was grinning triumphantly, the retrieved axes back in his hands.
“I don't think you had that function last time. Or did I just not know because I beat you before you could use it?”
It was a taunt designed to get under his skin.
Octan didn't take the bait.
On the contrary, he answered with clam.
“Just as you say, I didn't have this power in the past. To be precise, not until last night.”
“Last night? Did you call for a special prostitute?”
“A prostitute? Kuhahaha! In a way, I suppose you could say that. He was a bastard who was always wagging his tail at you humans, going on about the Empire.”
“The Empire? Ah… so that's what happened…”
Cloud finally noticed.
The tattoos on Octan's body had changed.
And they were remarkably similar to the ones Lugar had.
“You killed Lugar.”
Whether the tattoos could be stolen was another question, but all the circumstantial evidence pointed to him.
And he didn't deny it.
“Finally figured it out? I thought you'd notice right away. It seems your bond wasn't as deep as I thought.”
All the tattoos on Octan's body began to glow.
The muscles that were already huge grew to their limit, and his body and weapons were engulfed in black flames. Within the flickering black flames, a red glint shone from his eyes.
“…I have to admit it. The Great Chieftain was the greatest warrior. In a duel, there might not have been anyone on the continent who could match him. No, I'm sure of it.”
The vitality coursing through his body exhilarated Octan.
“But… to have such power and do nothing but walk on eggshells around humans. Power aside, I can't help but be disappointed. Lugar was weak. He was not worthy of the title of Great Chieftain.”
Octan performed a True Stomp.
KUUUUUNG!!!
Just one heavy step produced a deafening roar and a powerful gust of wind.
“I am different. I will not be weak like Lugar.”
“You think you're better than Lugar?”
“That's right. I am different from the weak Lugar. With this power, I will raise the orcs and become a mighty Great Chieftain—”
Octan couldn't finish his sentence.
Cloud had closed the distance in an instant and brought his sword down vertically. Octan crossed his two axes to block the attack.
“Kuhup?!”
The first thought that came to his mind as he blocked the attack was, ‘Heavy.’ This wasn't just his personal impression. His feet, sinking into the floor in real-time, proved it.
Looking down at the trembling Octan, Cloud muttered softly.
“I don't know about that.”
*
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Lv.67
Strength: B(441)+(88)
Agility: B(488)
Endurance: C(385)
Magic Power: C(377)
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[Active]
-Temporarily doubles Strength
-50% Armor Penetration
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Lv.67
Strength: SSS(882)+(176)
Agility: B(488)
Endurance: C(385)
Magic Power: C(377)
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