Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Betrayal at the Orc Fortress
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A cool breeze blew in. Darkness had fallen across the entire continent, but the stars pouring down from the sky brightly illuminated it.
The thick scent of damp earth wafted through the air, even though no rain had fallen.
The smell of oil and wood burning from the torches held by the dwarf and elf soldiers spread around.
A quiet tension lingered in the forest as we headed toward the orc fortress.
We moved as silently as possible for tactical reasons.
Ma Jeongwoo asked Michael.
“Are all the orc positions mapped out?”
“Yes, there’s not a single orc visible around here. They’re all waiting inside the fortress.”
“The orcs aren’t visible...?”
I had expected some orcs to be lying in ambush beforehand, but there was no one until we arrived at the fortress.
Would powerful orcs who excelled at hit-and-run tactics really abandon forest combat?
Unexpected.
By the time we reached the front of the orc fortress, the orcs were already fully prepared for battle.
The gates were wide open, with orcs waiting inside. It was as if they were openly declaring they’d dug a trap.
The dwarves and elves halted in front of the fortress.
Warriors moved to the front, while archers and mages fell back.
Dnirro said to the elf queen.
“Let us enter first.”
Charlotte waved her hand.
“No, it’s clearly a trap since they’ve left the entrance open. Let’s attack without entering.”
“......How?”
Charlotte clasped her hands together as if in prayer.
White smoke poured out from the forest. It gathered behind her into a massive form that took on her exact appearance.
Like a genie from a lamp, but gigantic in size.
The smoky Charlotte advanced toward the orc fortress.
As if waiting for her, the orc tribe’s giant, Orkus, stepped forward from the entrance.
Thud—thud—.
The ground shook with every step he took.
The orc soldiers parted to both sides, clearing a path for him.
Orkus, arriving at the entrance, asked Charlotte.
“What’s the reason for coming all this way?”
“To see the end.”
“The end? Of us?”
“......Yes.”
Orkus burst into roaring laughter. He let out a guttural laugh as if something was hilariously funny.
Kekekekeke—.
“Fine, let’s see that end.”
Orkus swung his massive fist, striking Charlotte’s face. The smoke scattered in all directions before reforming.
“Such simple attacks won’t work on me.”
An orc in robes standing on Orkus’s shoulder replied.
“......Indeed. This kind of attack wouldn’t work on you.”
“You must be Kabata. Where is my daughter?”
“Your daughter?”
A smile crept onto Kabata’s lips. As he smiled, Charlotte furrowed her brow.
“Sylvia, where are you?”
“......Did you bring all these forces just to save your daughter?”
Charlotte showed a resolute expression.
“Yes, and if she’s been harmed, I’m prepared to wage war.”
“......What to do? She has been harmed.”
“......Pardon?”
Kabata shook his staff. At his signal, several orc soldiers raised a long log.
Don Vito’s head was impaled on the end of the first log.
Dnirro ground his teeth and gripped his axe tightly.
“You damn bastards!”
Charlotte watched their actions with a bewildered expression. When the second log was raised like a utility pole, she couldn’t hold back her shock.
“......S-Sylvia?”
Sylvia’s head, eyes closed, was impaled on the sharp end of the log.
The shock was too great; Charlotte’s smoky form scattered like cigarette smoke and vanished. Her real body then collapsed, unconscious.
Kabata burst into laughter toward the elf lines.
“Puhahaha! Weak elf queen, fainting on the battlefield just because her daughter died.”
Unable to contain his rage, Dnirro hurled his axe.
“I won’t forgive you!”
A double-headed axe wrapped in white aura flew toward Kabata, slicing through the air.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—
Thwack!
Orkus casually reached out and blocked it. A glance at the health bar above his head showed it had barely budged.
Kabata scoffed.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
Dnirro checked on Charlotte’s condition, then began directly commanding the troops.
“Duval! Blant! Full army advance!”
It looked like a trap, yet they were charging right in?
‘Hmm......’
Duval nodded and led the elite soldiers toward the orc fortress.
“Today, we—the great warriors of the canyon—reclaim the dwarves’ glory!”
Blant also led his elite soldiers at his command.
“Fix bayonets! Everyone, follow me!”
Nearly a thousand troops moved at once. The sharp clanking of their iron armor echoed fiercely.
The wolves ridden by the elf elites howled loudly.
Awooooo—!
The elite soldiers, each twice as strong as regular troops, arrived at the orc fortress.
Step. Step. Step. Step.
As Duval and Blant, leading the vanguard, reached the fortress, they suddenly shouted.
“Everyone, fall back—!”
Clank—clank—thud!
Huh?
Suddenly, the elf and dwarf elite soldiers turned their backs to the fortress.
What was going on?
The orc soldiers inside the fortress began laughing loudly, as if watching a comedy show.
-Puhahaha! Look at those guys’ faces!
-They don’t even know what’s happening?
-Poor things, so clueless they don’t even realize they’ve been betrayed.
Betrayed?
Elf Helm’s knight commander and Charlotte’s adjutant, Blant’s expression changed.
To one of utter vileness.
“Kuhahaha! The day has finally come.”
Duval laughed along.
“Oh dear! Our king Dnirro still hasn’t grasped the situation.”
Dnirro wore a bewildered expression. The other soldiers, unable to comprehend, looked around in confusion.
Blant stepped forward and shouted at Dnirro.
“Dnirro, still haven’t figured it out?”
“......A betrayal, perhaps.”
“Betrayal.... Call it a coup. Right, Duval?”
Duval tossed his helmet aside and looked at Dnirro with a calm expression.
“Right, a coup against the tyrant who treats soldiers like ants.”
“......Duval, you dare...”
“Dare? Watch your words. Do you know how many elite soldiers follow me now?”
All the dwarf and elf elites had joined hands with the orcs.
I let out a hollow laugh and lit a cigarette.
Ma Jeongwoo lit it for me.
Suck. Puff—.
“Jeongwoo, things got a bit messy.”
“Not just a bit. Do we have to fight all of them?”
“......Yeah.”
I knew there were traitors, but I never imagined the adjutants of each faction would all fall for the demons’ temptations.
The traitor I knew was just some ‘nameless soldier’ in Elf Helm.
‘The timeline’s shattered, and the story’s flowing all over the place.’
As Dnirro’s rage boiled over, time suddenly froze.
[System Message]
[Activating a fragment from ‘Blant’s’ memories to replay the story video.]
I waved my hand dismissively.
“Ah, I don’t wanna watch this!”
Ma Jeongwoo vented his frustration too.
“Why show us that bastard’s memories? Just proceed.”
Outcries erupted from other players here and there.
-Ah, fuck! Why play that asshole’s story video!
-Just proceed, you crazy devs.
-Fucking hell.... Let’s just fight!
Our opinions were, of course, ignored. Our bodies stiffened, and a pure white fog curtain draped before our eyes.
I blinked, waiting for the screen to pass.
‘Why force us to watch that damn traitor’s memories?’
The fog curtain parted to the sides. It was Elf Helm’s past, though I didn’t know when exactly.
Young Blant? A child who looked just like him gazed at a man who seemed to be his father with eyes full of admiration.
“Father! You’ll teach me swordsmanship after work, right?”
“Yes. Once princess duty is done, I’ll come right back. Help your mother until then.”
“Okay!”
Little Blant clapped in delight. His father, apparently the knight commander, wore epaulets on his shoulders.
His father ruffled his son’s hair, then buckled on his sword and stepped outside.
Two soldiers saluted him.
“Commander, the princess went into the forest again....”
“What? Alone?”
“Yes. Seems like she went to meet that dwarf prince.”
“I told her the forest is dangerous so many times.... Have you reported to the queen?”
“Not yet. Thought I should report to you first, sir....”
Blant’s father pressed his lips tight and nodded.
“Skip the report. Let’s go find the princess.”
What the system showed next was gruesome. Blant’s father, heading to the World Tree to find the princess, encountered orcs.
“Princess, run!”
“H-How—”
“Don’t look back, run to Elf Helm! Hurry!”
His unit was annihilated.
Only the princess survived. An orc cleaved down at Blant’s fallen father with an axe.
Crunch!
“Damn, did the princess get away?”
The head in his hand—Don Vito. The familiar face of the orc we’d seen before.
Kabata.
‘......So that’s how it happened.’
The princess who fled to Elf Helm informed the queen of the orcs’ presence.
The beacon of peace was lit, and dwarf warriors and elf knights gathered to hunt orcs near the World Tree.
But it was already too late.
The day Blant learned of his father’s death, malice took root in his heart.
The fog curtain fell.
I sighed.
When the next scene appeared, I was startled.
[2 Years Later, Elf Helm]
The system indicated just ‘2 years’ had passed.
Yet Blant, who’d looked like a child, was already an adult strolling through Elf Helm.
‘What the hell?’
Young Blant, wearing a knight squadron badge, approached the princess playing a leaf flute in front of the World Tree.
“Princess, we’ve been searching everywhere.”
“Huh? Blant! How’d you know I was here?”
“You always come here on nights when the stars pour down.”
“Oh....”
“It’s late. Even with the watchtower nearby, the forest is still dangerous. Shall we head back?”
“Okay....”
He draped a cloak over the standing princess. Under the escort of knights who’d followed Blant, she safely returned to Elf Helm.
At that time, everyone in Elf Helm saw Blant as a heroic figure.
Thanks to his father’s actions elevating the family’s honor.
After safely escorting the princess, Blant ventured back into the dark forest.
“You all head back. I’ll take a stroll and join later.”
-Yes, sir.
Blant wandered the forest alone. Soon, a waterfall appeared.
He took a sip from the lake-like pool, wiped his lips, and said.
“You’re here.”
“......You’re late.”
“Sorry, the princess wandered off again.”
An old orc in robes emerged from behind a tree. One with extremely long white eyebrows.
“Did you take the elixir I gave you?”
“......Yes. Thanks to it, I feel about thirty years old now.”
“Good. Then let’s proceed with the next plan.”
Blant approached the orc.
“Kabata, I don’t understand why you’re helping me this much.”
“......I accidentally killed your father. Think of it as atonement.”
“Aren’t you orcs our enemies anyway?”
Kabata shook his head.
“No! Our enemies are the elf queen and the dwarf king. Not mere soldiers like you.”
“......Why do you hate our queen?”
“Isn’t it obvious? We just want to enter the World Tree. She’s blocking the way.”
Blant tilted his head.
“Why do you want to enter?”
“......We want to move to the human world. I can’t use the power I created here.”
“The power you created?”
Kabata gave Blant a meaningful smile.
“Yes. Ah—extremely powerful, but unusable here.”
“......Whatever. If it can’t be used here, it doesn’t concern me.”
“Exactly! So help us get inside the World Tree. I’ll help you avenge your father, who died because of the princess.”
At the mention of his father, Blant turned his back.
“So my father died because of the princess?”
“Of course. If she hadn’t acted unexpectedly that day, your father would still be alive.”
“But your orcs killed him.”
“The elves attacked first. It was self-defense.”
“......”
Blant’s head drooped.
Kabata approached from behind with a wicked smile and kneaded his shoulders.
“Duval, the dwarf formation’s adjutant, has joined us too. I promise, when it’s all over, Elf Helm will be yours.”
“......”
“Then you can avenge your father’s meaningless death. The princess and queen will be gone.”
[Story video ends.]
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