Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Storming the Orc Hideout
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Whoaaa!
The knights drew their swords in unison and charged into the orc lair.
Rumble rumble rumble—
The sudden shaking of the ground threw the orcs into a panic.
One of them spotted the knight order and shouted.
“Gruk! Humans!”
“Gruk gruk! Humans are attacking!”
“Gruk! Fight!”
The orcs charged back at the knights.
Skevin, leading the front, swung his sword at the massive door.
A blade of blue aura shot forward like an arrow.
Boom!
The door shattered into pieces.
“Assault team!”
Helot bellowed from behind, charging into their habitat alongside the knights.
They unleashed merciless attacks on the orcs.
“Grahhk!”
“Gurk!”
“Guhhkk!”
The orcs fell helplessly one after another.
The Phoenix Knight Order dispatched them as easily as if they were hunting goblins.
They were far weaker than the orcs they knew of.
“What’s this?”
“Why are they so weak?”
Every swing of their swords sent orcs crumpling without resistance.
Orc attacks flew in from all directions, but dodging them effortlessly drew exclamations from their lips.
“What the hell? Why are their attacks so slow?”
“Wait! What if they’re not slow—it’s us who’ve gotten stronger?”
“No way?”
One knight swung at the log fence surrounding the orc habitat.
Crash!
“...!”
The struck section exploded, leaving a gaping hole.
“Gasp!”
His eyes went wide.
“...We’ve gotten ridiculously stronger.”
As his comrades watched the scene, they began to realize they’d grown beyond their wildest imaginations.
The ground shook again as orc warriors charged from within like a herd of enraged bulls.
“Orc warriors! Pair up, two per team!”
At Skevin’s shout, the knights formed pairs to face them.
Yet even these were orc warriors—they felt no different from regular orcs.
“I could handle one alone just fine.”
“Yeah.”
Having gained confidence in their pairs, the knights switched to soloing the orc warriors.
They cut them down like a massacre.
As the Phoenix Knight Order and Devil Squad pushed the orcs back unilaterally, a certain group began to move.
It was the Devil Squad.
Mullan cleaved a path with brutal swings of his massive two-handed sword, while Latel blocked incoming orc attacks with his enormous shield at his side.
The squad members stuck close behind, handling flanking orcs from the sides.
The seven moved like perfectly meshed gears, without a single misalignment.
Especially the three lithe ones—their movements against the orcs were too fast to follow with the eye.
“Who are those guys?”
“They’ve gotten insanely strong in such a short time.”
“It has to be that Young Master taught them some special training method.”
The trainees watching the Devil Squad’s prowess wore expressions of awe and envy.
While the Phoenix Knight Order and Devil Squad overwhelmed the orcs, Arthur watched silently alongside Millerph.
“It’s working.”
Unlike Arthur’s calm reaction, Millerph couldn’t hide his astonishment.
“We didn’t do anything but cast weight spells—no special training—and yet they’ve gotten this strong. It’s unbelievable.”
“During training, they pushed past their limits multiple times. It’d be weirder if they hadn’t grown stronger.”
“Even so, this is...”
To Millerph’s eyes, most of the veteran knights had reached Sword Expert level.
Even the newly minted knights from the trainees were solidly mid-tier Sword Actor.
With this level of force, they could go toe-to-toe with Yarve Count.
“Impressive. I never dreamed you’d grow them this much.”
“They’ll get even stronger once they awaken.”
“...!”
As Arthur loaded a bullet into the Cheytac and took position, Millerph’s eyes locked onto the barrel.
Arthur peered through the scope.
“They’ll surpass their limits once more.”
He acquired the target and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Bang!
The sharp gunshot echoed through the mountains.
Millerph quickly cast Hawk Eye to track the bullet’s path.
“Y-Young Master...”
It hadn’t hit an orc—it struck Helot’s shield.
Helot, mid-battle with orcs, startled at the sudden impact, whipped his head around searching.
“His panicked look is kinda cute.”
Arthur smirked, reloaded, and took aim again.
Bang!
This time, too, the bullet hit Helot’s shield instead of an orc.
The shield shattered beyond use.
‘Is this really the best way?’
Millerph’s face twisted.
They were dominating unilaterally, but situations could turn anytime.
With the knights’ momentum at its peak, the right move was to support them and wipe out the orcs.
Even if it was for awakening...
Training methods and awakening were fundamentally different.
“Young Master! Awakening doesn’t come from forcing it.”
Arthur replied coolly, eyes fixed ahead.
“Humans have an instinct to grow stronger when cornered. When it reaches its peak, a new world opens before their eyes. That’s what people call awakening.”
“How do you know that, Young Master?”
“Just watch quietly.”
Arthur stared intently through the scope, steadying his breathing.
He was utterly focused this time.
A moment later.
Bang!
It struck Helot’s sword. The blade shattered, shards flying everywhere.
Including toward Helot’s face.
A life-or-death moment!
Helot’s movements to dodge the shards suddenly accelerated.
“This!”
Millerph’s eyes bulged at the sight.
Spotting Helot with his broken sword, the orcs swarmed like a pack of dogs, swinging axes.
Helot dodged nimbly and slammed his shoulder into an orc.
The hefty orc flew into the air and crashed backward.
He then faced the incoming orcs with bare-handed fisticuffs alone.
Each punch landed with a dull thud, drawing screams from the orcs.
Arthur curled his lip at the sight of Helot smashing orcs barehanded.
“His fists look stronger than his sword now. Brutal.”
“Ah...”
Millerph stood dumbfounded, mouth agape.
Were orcs monsters you could beat barehanded?
Even seeing it with his own eyes felt like a dream.
“To think something like this could happen...”
“Shall we pick the next target?”
Arthur smiled faintly and peered through the scope again.
He spotted several knights’ performances.
Target locked—he pulled the trigger without mercy.
Bang!
Bang!
To the targeted knights, Arthur’s attacks felt like lightning from the heavens.
Fear surged alongside the shock.
Tense to the extreme, they battled the orcs.
Time passed, and they crossed into uncharted territory.
Instinctively defending and attacking without respite, the wall called ‘limit’ crumbled bit by bit—then collapsed entirely.
They had awakened.
Their strikes were incomparable to before.
One swing felled orcs.
“Now, shall we poke that guy?”
As Arthur searched for Skevin through the scope, Millerph’s eyes lit up.
“The Devil Squad has infiltrated command.”
“Yeah?”
Arthur swung the barrel toward the command tent.
As planned, Dark and Cassan slipped inside, while the rest held off the gathering orcs outside.
Surely, inside the tent: the orc shaman and his orc warrior guards.
He wondered if Dark and Cassan would fulfill their roles.
With their skills, it should be fine.
But variables could arise anytime, so he kept his tension high.
All focus through the scope, ready to intervene if they got cornered.
“Show me what you’ve got.”
***
“Damn! Why are there so many?”
Cassan’s face twisted.
Dozens of orc warriors with glaives blocked the way like an iron wall.
Dark spotted the one gripping a staff behind them.
“That’s him!”
He charged toward the shaman.
The orc warriors attacked immediately.
Glaives flew from all sides.
But Dark didn’t flinch.
Freed from the weight spell, his body felt light as air—confident he could evade any attack.
Sure enough.
Their strikes only cleaved empty air.
Meanwhile, Cassan, the aggressive assault knight, swung wildly.
Orc limbs flew in all directions.
“Gruk! Don’t retreat!”
“Gruk gruk! Protect the shaman!”
Far from cowering, the orc warriors bravely charged Cassan and Dark.
As they guarded him, the orc shaman raised his staff and chanted.
“Gruk gruk gruk! Die!”
The staff glowed deep green, hurling a fireball at Cassan.
Cassan, swinging furiously at the orcs, spotted the incoming fireball.
“What?”
Instinctively, he thrust his sword at it with full force.
The moment blade met fireball!
Boom!
The explosion sent Cassan flying backward.
“Arrrgh!”
“Cassan!”
Dark’s face contorted.
Mullan, holding off orcs outside, heard the shout and rushed in.
“Cassan!”
Rage boiled at the sight of his burned face and upper body.
“You fucking bastards!”
Mullan glared and swung his two-handed sword mercilessly.
He bellowed at full volume so his comrades could hear while assaulting the orc warriors.
“Cassan’s hit!”
At the same time, Foshe—the eldest of the Light Brothers—rushed in.
“What? Cassan’s down?”
“He’s there! Hurry and get him out!”
“Got it!”
As Foshe dashed to Cassan and tried to hoist him over his shoulder.
Cassan shook his head and stood on his own.
“I’m... fine...”
“Hey! What do you mean fine? Shut up and get out.”
“I said I’m good!”
Cassan snapped, shoving Foshe away.
The searing pain of his charred skin was excruciating beyond words.
But he gritted his teeth, gripped his sword with burned hands.
“Even if it kills me, I’ll complete the mission.”
“Cassan...”
Murderous intent poured from Cassan’s eyes.
“Hold your position. The Devil Squad’s first mission can’t fail because of me!”
“Mm...”
He understood—the most responsible squad member’s feelings.
“Don’t die, no matter what.”
“Listen...”
Cassan clenched his sword tight.
Pain surged like blood boiling backward, but he bit his lip and continued.
“I’m going to become Young Master’s direct knight!”
Radiating ferocious killing intent, he charged the orc warriors.