Chapter 154
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 154
The warhorse had withstood the attacks of ordinary Orcs, but it couldn't survive the impact of the hammer. Its front legs shattered, and it collapsed to the ground.
The force of the blow threw Sturman from his mount, sending him rolling across the dirt. It was a shock that would have knocked an ordinary man unconscious.
"You fought well."
Quickly regaining his footing, Sturman raised his hammer over the defenseless Thousand-Man Commander.
Crunch!
Blood sprayed. The armor of the Orcs watching the duel from a few paces back was splattered with their commander's gore.
Sturman brought his hammer down upon the Thousand-Man Commander's body once more.
Thud! The ground shook violently. The Orcs flinched, retreating a few more steps. Sturman swept a fierce gaze over his surroundings, then glanced back.
Battle cries echoed, growing closer. The vanguard had begun its clash.
Though the Orc forces had once again closed the path Sturman had carved, it would soon be reopened. The other members of the subjugation squad would break through.
"Bring out your chieftain."
Loosening his neck, Sturman raised his hammer and addressed the surrounding Orcs. It didn't matter if they didn't understand. If the chieftain showed himself, it would simply make things easier. That was all. He intended to slaughter every last one of them anyway.
The Orcs exchanged bewildered glances.
Hostility burned in their eyes, but they lacked the courage to act. They were nothing but cowards.
Standing calmly amidst the Orcs, Sturman reached into his coat, pulled out a scroll, and tore it. The magic of <Light Feathers> enveloped his sabatons.
Crunch!
He kicked off the ground and lunged forward once more. Charging straight into the heart of the enemy tribe, he swung his hammer relentlessly.
Orc blood sprayed wildly. The path behind him was littered with the mangled corpses of the fallen.
He slaughtered countless Orcs, occasionally taking minor wounds from stray attacks, yet he pressed on, swinging his hammer without pause. Then—
Claaaaang!
His strike was finally blocked.
Sturman smiled. He had meant to keep it contained, but seeing no reason to hide his satisfaction, he let a broad grin spread across his face.
The grin of an old veteran on the front lines was a truly grotesque sight.
"Found you at last."
The Orc who had blocked his strike—the gatekeeper—stood right before him.
*
The Annun Plains, the front lines of the battlefield.
Graumitz Rainmay.
—The living must go on.
"..."
It was what Kart had always said.
Given its size, the Nixir Red Dragon Subjugation Squad often lost members during dungeon raids. As the captain, Kart had to bear the weight of every single one of those deaths.
—If your shoulders are too heavy, you don't have to carry everything. Just shake it off.
He wasn't suggesting they disregard the lives of their comrades. On the contrary, he meant the survivors had to shake off their grief so that those deaths wouldn't be in vain. That was why Kart always told her: if he were to die, she must shake off his death. If her shoulders were too heavy, she wouldn't be able to move forward—and she had to move forward to lead the remaining members.
She understood his words intellectually.
But.
Her gaze was locked on Kart's armor. On the Orc wearing it.
According to their intelligence, the Orc belonged to a tribe called the Woldur. However, his appearance differed greatly from Gakundar, the gatekeeper they had expected.
Well, it didn't matter.
To Rainmay, the battle cries of the imperial soldiers, the shrieks of the Orcs, the blare of horns, the crackle of fire, and the wet crunch of shattering bone were nothing but distant murmurs. She cared nothing for the Empire's war.
Only…
"That… that is not something a filthy Orc like you should be wearing."
She couldn't bear the sight of that monster in Kart's armor.
"We must take it back."
Behind Rainmay, the members of the subjugation squad drew their weapons.
*
It was a brutal clash.
"Kill every last Orc!"
"Brothers! Annihilate the humans!"
Spears and swords pierced green flesh while axes and massive hammers crushed human armor. Blood sprayed wherever the two forces collided.
Amidst the chaotic melee, the Nixir Red Dragon Subjugation Squad charged straight through the enemy lines.
Every member who bore the name of Nixir was a top-tier warrior of Riaze; the Orcs blocking their path were carved apart effortlessly.
"Aaargh!"
But they were not unscathed.
The screams of their allies rang out from time to time. The squad members struggled to adapt to the chaos of a massive battlefield, where enemies swarmed from all directions. The Orcs were simply too numerous, and worse, Centurions and Thousand-Man Commanders lurked among the common soldiers, waiting to ambush. Every one of them fought with suicidal resolve.
Yet, the Nixir Red Dragon Subjugation Squad did not hesitate, nor did they stop. Even as they fell one by one, they steadily pushed the Orcs back.
Carving a path through the bodies of her comrades, Rainmay finally found him.
"...Foolish humans who have lost all fear."
The Orc wearing Kart's Fire Dragon Armor stood before her.
Rainmay's eyes widened. She bit her lip so hard it nearly bled, fighting to keep raw instinct from overpowering her reason.
"...Hold."
Halting the Nixir Red Dragon Subjugation Squad members behind her, Rainmay glared at the Orc.
Seeing him up close confirmed her suspicions. His appearance was completely different from Gakundar, the Woldur chieftain described in their intelligence reports.
Yet, there was no doubt this creature was the gatekeeper—the crowd of elite Orcs surrounding him made that abundantly clear.
"Vice-captain, your orders."
The squad member waiting beside her spoke.
He still addressed her as vice-captain. It wasn't out of disrespect; it was because, in their hearts, Kart was still the captain.
And in Rainmay's heart, he was too.
"Kill them."
A brief, absolute command.
"Kill them all!"
"Avenge the captain!"
"Even if we die, we die here today!"
The members of the Nixir Red Dragon Subjugation Squad charged the Orc horde in unison.
Instantly, the deafening clash of steel echoed from all sides.
Rainmay raised her staff without hesitation, her mind racing.
They had defeated the gatekeeper Gorgo during the Siege of Rubhem only because Kart had been by her side. Now, she was alone. If asked whether she could win this fight, the answer was grim. The chances were slim.
Her unique magic, <Salamander’s Blessing>.
She had to go all out from the very start.
Intense heat enveloped her body. It was a unique spell only she could cast, one that forcibly flooded the caster's body with fire mana. Naturally, it ravaged the user's body. Without immediate medical attention, the spell was fatal.
She had to fight with the same suicidal resolve as her enemies.
Charging the gatekeeper in the Fire Dragon Armor, Rainmay unleashed three fire spells simultaneously. Though momentarily taken aback, the Orc raised his sword and deflected them all.
That sword, too, had belonged to Kart.
"That is not yours to wield…!"
Magic clashed against steel.
Explosions thundered around them.
Thanks to <Salamander’s Blessing>, which would last for a few minutes, she could cast spells almost instantaneously. Yet, the Orc did not yield. Above all, the Fire Dragon Armor he wore was her greatest obstacle.
Most of my fire magic is just bouncing off.
It had been so reassuring when worn by an ally, but against an enemy, it was a nightmare. She needed to land a single, devastating blow. With that thought, Rainmay lunged inside the Orc's guard.
"Foolish human!"
As if waiting for that exact moment, the Orc raised his sword high.
Thwack!
But it was the Orc, not Rainmay, who was pierced.
He wasn't the only one with a blade.
"..."
Slipping a dagger through a gap in the armor, Rainmay channeled her fire magic directly through the steel. No matter how powerful the armor, it was useless if she could incinerate the flesh beneath it. That was her plan.
"Barely a tickle."
Yet, the Orc didn't even flinch as he swung his massive arm.
"Ah!"
She was blown away by his overwhelming strength before her spell could detonate, sent tumbling across the dirt. Seizing the opportunity, the Orc gatekeeper lunged after her.
Ah.
She had no time to recover her stance. The charging Orc was too fast.
Am I going to die? Just like this?
"Hyaaaah!"
Suddenly, a squad member leaped from behind her, screaming as he swung his sword.
Clang!
The gatekeeper spun instantly, blocked the strike, and cut the warrior down in a single motion. The squad member collapsed, blood spraying from a mortal wound.
As the gatekeeper turned back to finish Rainmay, the dying warrior used his last ounce of strength to grab the monster's ankle.
"I won't… let you…"
Squelch.
The hand gripping the gatekeeper's ankle went limp.
Another squad member charged the gatekeeper, but before his spear could connect, another Orc intercepted him, sending him flying with a brutal blow.
Just as Rainmay managed to push herself up, the gatekeeper raised his sword to strike her down, only for another squad member to slam his weapon against the monster's armor.
Clang!
The armor didn't even dent. The warrior, momentarily stunned by its resilience, glared with renewed fury and muttered, "For a monster like you to wear this…!"
Before he could finish, the gatekeeper's blade cut him down.
"Ah… no…"
Her mind was in chaos.
She had plenty of spells left. If she pushed herself to the brink, she could burn her own life force to cast high-tier magic almost instantaneously. But the problem was whether she could actually damage him.
It was a reality she had never fully grasped while fighting alongside Kart, but a gatekeeper was monstrously strong. If she made one more mistake, she would die.
She would die.
She was going to die anyway.
If I'm going to die anyway…
Then I'll use my trump card now.
She gripped her staff with one hand.
Caressing the tip of the staff with her other, Rainmay released the sealing spell she had placed upon it. The tip clicked open like a lid, and a small, brilliant gem fell into her palm.
This was the treasure—and her ultimate trump card—obtained after slaying the Fire Dragon.
Kart had forged his sword and armor from the bones and scales of the Fire Dragon. But the heart itself could not be processed into a mana stone. The only thing they could do was extract the essence of flame from it.
This tiny gem was that very essence.
Captain…
Kart had forbidden her from ever using it. A human body could not withstand the mana of a Fire Dragon. Forcing it would cause a violent backflow of mana. Her body would catch fire, burning far more painfully than Kart had when he sacrificed himself. This was the pure, unadulterated flame of a dragon.
Kart had told her never to use it, but…
"There's no one left to stop me."
Rainmay swallowed the essence of flame.
"Ugh…"
She gagged instantly as her body violently rejected the foreign power. It felt as though her internal organs were being incinerated. The heat was absurd; no human body could endure it.
She battled the searing pain for several agonizing seconds.
"Graaaah!"
The Orc gatekeeper, finding his sword cumbersome against the remaining Nixir members, tossed it and the man he was fighting aside before charging Rainmay. He thrust his fist forward, punching straight through her abdomen.
"Cough!"
A torrent of blood erupted from her lips.
"Too late…"
The Fire Dragon's essence had already taken root.
Her body erupted into flames.
Even with her abdomen impaled, she refused to let go of the Orc.
The Orc tried to wrench his arm free in a panic, but Rainmay held on with desperate strength.
No matter how powerful the Fire Dragon Armor was, it could not protect its wearer from the true flames of a dragon forever—especially not an Orc who possessed no affinity for fire. The dragon's flames instantly spread to him.
"Human! Humaaaaan!"
The Orc shrieked, his face twisting in agony.
This was it.
The end of the road for the Nixir Red Dragon Subjugation Squad.
"Let's die together."
In her final act of defiance, a pillar of flame erupted, soaring dozens of meters into the sky.
*
The Annun Plains, the Orc camp battlefield.
Sturman von Hattendorf.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Pant, pant…"
His body was battered.
Though he looked fine on the outside, concealed by his silver armor, his internal injuries were severe. He wondered if he would ever fully recover. Judging by the pain, he had at least three broken bones and had ruptured several organs.
But…
"I thought I'd grown old and rusty, but it seems there's still some fight left in these old bones."
Sturman had won.
"Gurgle… ugh…"
The Orc chieftain lay sprawled on the ground, groaning. His face was a grotesque ruin, caved in from repeated hammer blows.
Sturman raised his hammer once more. He brought it down with all his might onto the Orc's face. With a sickening crunch, the Orc chieftain, who had been twitching until the very end, went completely limp.
"Pant, pant…"
The pain made it hard to breathe, as if his lungs had been punctured. Forcing his battered body upright, Sturman swept a fierce gaze across the battlefield.