Chapter 29
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Battle
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What just happened?
Just a moment ago, his brother had been smiling.
*Slice!*
The moment his brother’s head flew into the air.
"...Huh?"
The world began to spin.
He saw it with his own eyes, yet it felt unreal.
It was like being in a dream.
But soon.
“Pomeeeeeeeen!”
Homen screamed his brother’s name, glaring at the orc before him.
Its black pupils gleamed with a crimson light.
Faced with its crazed appearance, his mind momentarily went blank.
“You baaaastard! My brother!”
Homen thrust the spear he was holding.
It wasn't a move he had practiced countless times in training.
Reason had fled, replaced by an attack filled with a furious desire to kill.
Perhaps that was why.
The attack, fueled by too much force, missed its intended target—the heart—and dug into the orc's shoulder instead.
*Crack!*
“Kugh!”
His body lurched.
The creature easily shattered the spear, then raised its axe to the sky.
"...Ah."
He knew instinctively.
He was going to die.
The shouts of his comrades from behind sounded distant and scattered.
As if his head were submerged in water.
But just then.
“Snap out of it! You damn fool!”
“...!”
Someone yelled right next to his ear, and his senses jolted back.
Homen came to his senses and looked forward.
It was the new recruit from the Neokalitz Unit, the one he had argued with earlier.
*Thrust!*
The man instantly pierced the orc’s neck, then turned to face him.
*Smack!*
A stinging pain shot through his cheek as his head whipped to the side.
Homen’s eyes widened as he stared at Demian.
“Your head clear now?”
*Nod.*
Homen reflexively nodded his head. The man then spoke.
“Then look around you. Figure out what you need to do and move. Now.”
Homen scanned his surroundings.
The orc horde was already closing in.
Seeing their numbers, a little over twenty, Homen startled and snatched the axe from the dead orc.
This was a battlefield.
***
Demian looked at the orc he had just killed.
The creature was dead, a clean hole pierced through its neck.
But even penetrating the skin of the neck, considered a very weak spot, hadn't been easy.
And then there was the first soldier to die.
His neck had been severed along with the shaft of his spear.
That was something impossible for an orc to do with its strength alone.
‘These things are several times stronger than ordinary orcs.’
Demian assessed the state of the battlefield.
The fortunate thing was that there were only about twenty orcs.
In comparison, the defense force numbered seventy.
They had the numerical advantage, but still.
‘This isn't an easy situation.’
It would take three or four men to hold back a single orc, and from the way things were going, it wouldn't be simple.
“Everyone, form up for battle!”
Basel shouted, drawing his sword.
“Engage the orcs in three-man cells! The rest will support any side that’s being pushed back!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Pil, Uros, Tyron! You three protect the Priestess. You are to guard her without letting a single hair on her head be harmed!”
“Understood!”
Basel issued his commands swiftly.
Even in such a pressing situation, he gave proper orders.
‘He seems to have a good deal of combat experience.’
It meant he wasn't the captain of the defense force for show.
‘In that case, I should…’
Demian turned his gaze to survey the battlefield.
A few men had been injured in the initial ambush, but under Basel’s command, a formation was taking shape.
But then.
“Aaargh!”
A sudden scream made Demian’s head snap around.
One of the soldiers guarding the Priestess had collapsed to the ground.
“Kuaaaaargh!”
“Ugh, arghhh!”
Another soldier quickly raised his shield to block the orc’s axe, but…
*CRASH!*
Overpowered, he was sent tumbling disgracefully across the ground.
‘…Crazy!’
Worse, three orcs were charging toward the Priestess.
He guessed that the conflicting power the Priestess possessed was drawing them in.
“You bastards!”
The remaining soldier desperately swung his sword, but…
*CRUNCH!*
Without putting up any real resistance, his head was crushed, helmet and all.
“Lady Priestess!”
“Protect the Priestess!”
The two remaining soldiers scrambled to their feet, shouting urgently.
But in that instant.
*Wooooooooong!*
A white aura shimmered and erupted from Claire’s body as she clasped her hands together.
Holy power.
The unique energy wielded by priests.
As the light burst forth, the charging orcs grimaced and staggered.
“Now’s our chance!”
“Uraaaaaaagh!”
The two soldiers threw everything they had into a charge toward the orcs.
The staggering orcs roared at the two soldiers and swung their axes.
*Clang! Crash!*
Sparks flew as swords and axes collided.
They had managed to block the attacks of the orcs, which had displayed such overwhelming power just moments before.
Claire’s holy power had weakened them.
“Kuaaaaaaaaaargh!”
Even so, it seemed two soldiers weren't enough to hold off the orcs.
Had there been one more, it might have been different, but he was already dead.
“Tch!”
“These bastards…!”
The soldiers’ hands, gripping their swords, trembled.
The air of the battlefield, where life and death hung in the balance, pressed down on their chests, and their breathing grew ragged.
At this rate, they would die.
Their comrades who could have helped them all had their own fires to put out.
*Screeeeeech!*
Axes and swords ground against each other as the struggle of strength continued.
But then.
*Thump! Thump!*
With what felt like a flash of movement, two of the orcs collapsed to the ground.
Large holes had appeared in their necks.
“Huh?”
“You, you…!”
Demian stood behind the fallen orcs.
The two soldiers stammered in shock, but Demian spoke first.
“Go help the others, now!”
“B-But the Priestess…”
“I’ll handle it, so hurry!”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
The two men answered with an unconscious formality.
They hurried toward their comrades in the heat of battle.
Demian looked at Claire.
“Are you alright?”
“...Ah.”
Her eyes were vacant.
Was it any surprise?
‘Is this her first time in a real battle?’
If so, it was understandable.
Maintaining one's sanity in a real fight where lives were on the line was no easy feat.
The holy power she had just unleashed was likely an instinctive reaction in a moment of crisis.
Demian bit his lip firmly.
*Grab.*
“Hey, snap out of it!”
Demian grabbed Claire’s cheeks with both hands, lifting her chin to meet her eyes.
“Are you going to let everyone here die?!”
“Wha? N-No!”
A spark of life returned to Claire’s eyes.
At her reply, Demian moved close beside her and looked at the scouting party members engaged in combat.
“Look closely. Unleash your holy power toward them, just like before, but with everything you’ve got. Right now.”
“O-Okay.”
Claire steadied her pounding heart and clasped her hands together.
Then, kneeling on one knee, she murmured softly.
“Father in Heaven, your young lambs are in peril. Please, share your mercy with us.”
With her prayer.
*Wooooooooooooong!*
The mana in the air trembled faintly.
*Fwoooooooooosh!*
A sacred light began to radiate all around.
It was a power incomparable to what she had shown before.
At the sight, Demian swallowed unconsciously.
‘What… what is this woman?’
He thought she was just an ordinary priestess…
‘She has the holy power of a High Priestess…?’
What was her identity?
But regardless of Demian’s questions, as Claire’s holy power spread, the fighting orcs staggered in agony.
In contrast, the scouting party members seemed invigorated, their eyes flashing as they pressed the attack.
“Kuaaaaargh!”
“Die, you sons of bitches!”
*Thump! Thump! Thwack!*
With a dull thud, an orc fell to the ground, and three soldiers swarmed it.
One by one, the orcs fell, and the battle quickly drew to a close.
And before long.
*Slice!*
As the last orc’s head rolled onto the ground, the soldiers gasped for breath.
“Huff… huff… huff…”
“We… got them all. Haa…”
The battle was over.
Basel immediately turned to his men and said.
“Report the dead and wounded. Are there any among the injured who cannot walk?”
The soldiers quickly reported their status.
Fortunately, there weren't many wounded.
However, in that short time…
“...Eight men are dead.”
“Recover their bodies properly. They’re coming back with us.”
“Understood.”
A bitter sorrow weighed on the soldiers’ hearts.
The death of comrades.
It was something one could never get used to, no matter how much experience they had.
They began to recover the bodies of the fallen soldiers.
Basel approached Claire.
“Lady Priestess, do we need to proceed further inward?”
The purpose of this reconnaissance was to ‘confirm the presence’ of miasma.
They were only speculating based on the corpse Tarone had brought back; they couldn't be ‘certain’.
At Basel’s question, Claire shook her head.
“No… there’s no need.”
She walked toward a dead orc’s corpse. Placing a hand on it, she said.
“It’s miasma. It’s definitely been poisoned by miasma.”
Claire gazed deeper into the forest.
What greater dangers awaited within?
“This forest seems to be stained with miasma. Something far worse must be happening deeper inside.”
Claire stood up.
And she spoke.
“We must make a formal report and form a subjugation force.”
Claire had the final say on the reconnaissance mission.
Demian watched the scene and let out a small breath.
‘Finally… is a subjugation force being formed?’
A large-scale subjugation force, with a significant number of priests, would be assembled.
And the Neokalitz Unit would be at its vanguard.
Demian thought about what would come next.
Just then.
*Step.*
Someone approached Demian.
It was the man named Homen, the one who had almost died.
“...?”
“...Thank you for saving me.”
Homen bowed his head to Demian, expressing his gratitude.
“And… I apologize for my rude words earlier.”
Ah, the guy who yelled at him about gathering herbs.
‘I wasn’t even thinking about it.’
But following Homen, the two men who had been guarding the Priestess also approached Demian.
“You saved our lives. Thank you.”
“Thank you for your help.”
“...It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”
Ugh, how embarrassing!
Demian waved his hand dismissively and looked at the soldiers of the scouting party.
Although he’d been told there were no serious injuries, he could see that several of them were wounded.
At the sight, Demian let out a heavy sigh.
“Aish…”
Demian opened the sack containing medicinal herbs.
He transferred about half of them into another sack and approached Basel.
“You ought to do something about the herbalists in Erkal.”
“…What?”
“Do you have any idea how badly they’re ripping people off in Erkal? It’s not right to sell herbs at five times the price of other cities.”
The pay he risked his life for was about to be spent entirely on herbs.
At Demian’s words, Basel looked at the bundle of herbs he was offered.
“Use this to treat the injured soldiers.”
“…Thank you.”
Basel said as he accepted the herbs.
And…
“We’re pulling out! Recover the bodies of our comrades and tend to the wounded!”
“Yes, sir!”
The smell of blood could attract more of them. Knowing this, the scouting party members began to exit the forest quickly.
And as everyone withdrew.
“…”
Claire was watching Demian with an unreadable expression.