Dozens of Orcs vs. One Human
"So, what do we do now?"
"First, we need to stir up some chaos."
Before I could ask what he meant, Bernard reached into a small leather pouch tied at his waist and pulled something out.
"A Magical Flame Stone Bomb, I see."
The object in Bernard's hand was a stone fragment etched with strange runes, glowing with a faint red light. I'd heard of Magical Flame Stone Bombs before. They were strategic weapons costing ten gold each, a type of magical tool enchanted by mages from the Magic Tower, second only to enchantment scrolls in production. Specifically, the Magical Flame Stone Bomb...
"Speak the activation word and throw it, and after three seconds it unleashes a massive explosion within a ten-meter radius. At the same time, compressed flames spread outward, turning everything nearby into a sea of fire in an instant."
Just as Bernard described, it was a single-use magical tool capable of creating a huge blast and flames.
"I purchased it with my own savings in case something like this ever happened."
Moreover, this expensive tool had been bought with Bernard's personal funds, not the territory's treasury.
"Once the chaos breaks out, half the orcs will probably rush to put out the fires in the village, while the ones still able to fight will scatter to hunt down the intruders who started the blaze."
"So while I draw the attention of the remaining orcs, you're planning to slip in and take out their leader, Bernard."
"Exactly."
With that, our plan was set.
"Then let's begin. Cover your ears."
"Right."
Anticipating what was about to happen, I covered both ears as Bernard instructed.
"Fire in the hole!!"
A moment later, the instant Bernard uttered the activation word, the Magical Flame Stone emitted a brilliant red glow far brighter than before and shot into the village without the slightest delay.
BOOOOOOM!!
The moment the stone left Bernard's hand and cleared the fence and wooden gate surrounding the village, a spectacular explosion erupted. The entire front gate was blasted away and shattered into pieces. In no time at all, the orc village descended into utter chaos. The two orcs who had been standing guard at the gate rushed inside, leaving the entrance completely undefended.
"What did that phrase you shouted mean?"
"The mage who gave me the Magical Flame Stone said it was a phrase from another world, used to warn allies."
I'd asked out of mild curiosity just before we moved in, and Bernard kindly answered.
"Come to think of it, he once mentioned in passing that his master was someone summoned to this world through an otherworld summoning experiment at the Magic Tower."
A world with an entirely different culture and environment, neither the Carnea Continent nor the Eastern Continent... Even in this situation, a spark of curiosity flickered within me. But I pushed it aside for now. I still had my own task to complete.
"I'll leave the rest to you. While you're drawing their attention, I'll go sever that chieftain's head."
Bernard said this and slipped back into the forest, heading toward the rear of the village. He was likely planning to sneak his way to the chieftain's location. After he departed, Elsid, now tasked with drawing the orcs' attention, shouted at the top of his lungs:
"The crazy swordsman of this district is me!!"
It was the best attention-grabbing line he'd learned from his grandfather for charging into enemy lines. Three seconds after Elsid committed this mad act and leapt over the gate into the orc village...
"Kraaak!"
"Kralak!!"
"Krrrak!"
The orcs all roared with hostility. They had guessed that Elsid was the human who had reduced their village to this state. There were easily dozens of them, each one larger than Elsid himself. At least half were busy putting out fires, so the number directly in front of him had already decreased. The roaring orcs moved to surround him from all sides, blocking every direction. Facing them, Elsid coated the wooden sword in his hand with blue aura. The already steel-like wooden blade transformed into one of ultra-high-strength steel.
"Come at me."
"Kraaak!!"
Provoking them by pointing his wooden sword forward, one of the orcs in front lunged and swung its fist without hesitation. But Elsid wasn't about to take a straightforward attack from an agitated orc.
"Too simple."
He tilted his head lightly to the side, dodging the incoming fist, then swung his wooden sword at the arm connected to it.
Crack!
The sound of bone shattering rang out.
"Krak!!"
The orc whose arm bone had been destroyed clutched its limb with its other hand and dropped to its knees. Elsid used the kneeling orc's back as a stepping stone and leapt with all his might. Using the rebound, he performed a tumbling maneuver, spinning two or three times through the air before breaking free of the encirclement. Now dozens of orcs stood only in front of him instead of surrounding him on all sides.
"And die."
This time, Elsid charged toward the orcs. The lead orc reflexively swung its fist. Elsid ducked under it at the last moment, closed the distance, and drove his wooden sword into its abdomen with full force.
"Kuhk!"
One orc groaned from the blow. But it didn't end there.
"One! Two! Three!"
Head, shoulder, knee... Elsid pounded the orc as if tenderizing meat on a summer day.
"Final blow!"
Thud!
"Krrgh..."
With a final strike to the skull, the orc drew its last breath.
"Alright, whoever wants to become stir-fried orc, step right up! I'll cook you nice and tasty!"
Elsid openly taunted them beside the fresh orc corpse he'd just created.
"Kraaaah!!!"
In that instant, the remaining orcs, their hostility transformed into murderous intent, charged at Elsid like madmen. But as he'd said before, Elsid wasn't about to take straightforward attacks from enraged orcs. Moreover, the orcs in front formed a wall that blocked those charging from behind, so the actual number Elsid had to face wasn't that high. Rolling through the dirt to dodge attacks or striking the orcs' unspoken weak points that no man should ever hit, Elsid created openings and then shattered skulls or snapped cervical spines, sending orc after orc to the afterlife. A half-baked swordsman whose weakness was his inability to cut enemies, Elsid fought the orcs without the slightest retreat.
"Kralak!"
Yet the orcs kept charging despite their kin's deaths. Thwack! Thud! Smack! Though he was clearly swinging a sword, only the sounds of blunt impacts rang out. Sometimes using charging orcs as shields to take hits meant for him, Elsid continued the fight without taking a single blow himself.
'Hoo... This might get a little rough.'
After sending about a dozen orcs on their way to the afterlife, the fires in the village were gradually dying down. It wouldn't be strange if more orcs started arriving soon. The number of orcs remaining in front of him totaled around twelve. Since they hadn't formed proper ranks, he could still manage by taking them down one by one, though it would be tough.
'Bernard needs to take out their chieftain...'
Was it because things had gone too smoothly? He'd let his mind wander. Thinking about something else on the battlefield was no different from letting his guard down. An orc's fist closed in right before his eyes.
"Damn it... I don't have much aura left as it is..."
A moment of carelessness that should never happen during a fight. Yet just as the blow was about to land, Elsid concentrated his aura into his feet and instantly boosted his mobility, retreating at a speed he'd never shown before and dodging the attack.
"Kraa?"
The orc looked puzzled when its target, whom it had been certain would be hit, suddenly evaded.
"That was close."
Elsid let out a sigh of relief, putting some distance between himself and the orc. The technique he'd just used was called Turyeongbo—Aura Phantom Steps—named because the user moved as if possessed by a spirit, displaying movements completely different from normal. Normally, only swordsmen of Tugwi level or higher who had reached a certain level of mastery could use it, but Elsid had learned it through an unorthodox method. The principle involved gathering aura in the soles of the feet and releasing it to dramatically increase mobility while the aura was deployed. Thus, Tugwi-level swordsmen could use their excess aura for this mobility technique in addition to coating their entire body in Tugap—Aura Armor—to boost defense. However, Elsid had achieved acceleration by concentrating and explosively releasing aura that should normally be expelled, focusing it all at once into his feet. That was the shortcut. Because of this, while ordinary swordsmen were limited by time, Elsid was limited by the number of uses. Moreover, each activation consumed a great deal of aura, so he only used it in moments of crisis like this.
'One, two, three...'
Elsid resolved not to let his guard down again and steadily whittled down the orcs. Even as he felt his aura and stamina nearing their limits, he forced his body to move and swung his sword. Before long, only five orcs remained.
"As expected of orcs..."
If they were ordinary human soldiers, seeing dozens of their comrades reduced to nothing but five survivors amid a field of butchered corpses would have shown at least some fear. Yet the orcs before him continued to radiate murderous intent, their eyes burning with rage. Ah, but "butchered" was an odd word... Not a single one of the dead orcs was covered in blood. Whatever the case, it was time to end this. Without hesitation, Elsid plunged into the midst of the five remaining orcs. He struck the shin of the nearest one with his wooden sword.
Crack.
The orc's leg bone snapped at the same moment. Unable to support itself on its remaining leg, the orc collapsed. Coincidentally, its fallen body became an excellent obstacle, tripping the other four charging orcs and sending them all tumbling to the ground.
"Thanks. And now, let's finish this."
Praising the orc whose broken leg had so effectively entangled its companions, Elsid seized the perfect opportunity before him. Before the fallen orcs could rise, he mercilessly swung his sword. Head, cervical spine, head, cervical spine, and one final head!
"Hah, hah... I barely managed to take them down."
After finishing off the orc whose leg he'd broken earlier, Elsid let out a long breath he'd been holding while defeating the five orcs. Only after exhausting every last bit of aura in his body and pushing his stamina to its absolute limit was he able to barely defeat the dozens of orcs surrounding him.
'I need to get out of here fast.'
But it wasn't over yet. Even exhausted, he had to force his body to move. If the orcs who had been putting out the fires returned and surrounded him, that would truly be the end.
BOOOOM!
Just as he tried to flee, another explosion rang out from afar—not as large as the Magical Flame Stone Bomb, but still quite significant. Wondering what had happened, he had no choice but to run toward the sound with what little strength he had left. And then Elsid saw it. Upon arriving at the source of the noise, he found a massive hut that was clearly the chieftain's dwelling, and beside it, Bernard—whose one arm's muscles had completely ruptured, turning from red to purple. Grimacing in pain, Bernard raised his sword once more with his remaining arm.
"Inga~~aaan!!"
And on the opposite side from Bernard stood the creature that had reduced him to such a wretched state—a red orc, its entire body dyed crimson unlike ordinary green orcs, gripping different weapons in each hand and letting out a roar-like cry. The red orc's eyes glowed red, just like its own skin.