Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: Wendigo 4
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"Alright, it's a crisis, so let's deal with those things first!"
Azadin patted Zebec on the back while nocking an arrow.
Thanks to Scott scattering the Wendigos with his magic first, it had become easier to shoot. The Wendigos looked like beasts on the outside, but their true nature was essentially undead, so arrows alone couldn't kill them. That was why Azadin, Midiam, and Ismail had decided to target the Wendigos' knee joints with their arrows to hinder their movements.
As the Wendigos closed in, Sir Zebec, Sir Brock, Guillaumevolt, and Brand stepped up to the front line. Sir Zebec swung the steel sword Azadin had given him, slicing through the approaching Wendigos.
Dealing with Wendigos whose leg muscles and joints had been torn by Azadin's arrows, leaving them unable to move properly, wasn't all that difficult. Even Guillaumevolt managed to take one down.
The defeated Wendigo was then controlled by Scott's necromancy, becoming a meat shield to fend off the incoming ones.
"You damn orc! You think you can cross the line just because I'm standing still?!"
Zebec was furious at Scott for openly using necromancy.
"But Wendigos are already undead!"
Scott said that as he continued casting his necromancy.
'There's a bit of discord, but it's working well enough?'
That was Azadin's assessment of the situation. The Wendigos before them were definitely monsters whose swipes could crumple armor and kill a person outright.
But with systematic ranged attacks slowing their movements, Sir Zebec's swordsmanship and Brand's brute strength leading the charge to repel them, and Scott covering the dangerous spots with necromancy, they had formed a pretty solid team.
On the other hand, Guillaumevolt and Sir Brock were utterly useless. Azadin had even advised Guillaumevolt to use a spear instead of a sword, but he barely swung it a few times before a Wendigo's forepaw snapped it right in two, leaving him empty-handed.
Sir Brock did a little better than Guillaumevolt. He tried to support him with his shield, only to take a forepaw strike head-on and go tumbling across the icy floor.
There were these minor issues, but even so, the Wendigos were steadily falling before the group.
However...
"Isn't it getting too cold? How about you warm-blooded folks?"
The naga Shati asked.
"Hm?"
Azadin had also been feeling a chill steadily seeping into his body. They were in the midst of intense activity, which should have raised their body temperatures, but the drop in ambient temperature was outpacing it.
He soon understood why. The Wendigos that hadn't yet entered the confluence were blasting cold breath from afar, lowering the temperature throughout the entire chamber.
"This is..."
"Impressive."
They were undead, but their tactics were cunning. Even without taking a direct hit from the cold breath, if they kept dropping the overall temperature like this, it would become dangerous.
"W-what do we do? Warm-blooded?! I can't take much more of this!"
The naga Shati, vulnerable to the cold, was clutching her head.
"What do you mean? Like this!"
Azadin stepped forward, baiting a Wendigo's attack. He lightly leaped over the one charging with cold breath spewing from its maw, then back-kicked it toward where the orc and Lady Liz's powers clashed.
-Zzzt!
As the Wendigo's body reached the point of collision between the two mages' powers, electric sparks erupted across it, and its fur began to burn. Amid the acrid smell of burning hair, flames erupted on its body.
"One more!"
Azadin charged at a limping Wendigo that had taken an arrow to the knee, delivering a low kick that severed its leg entirely. He grabbed the fallen beast, spun it like a windmill, and hurled it. Once again, the Wendigo crashed into the mages' clash and burst into flames.
"Ugh! The smell!"
"Wait just a minute! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Walter cried out in horror.
"Y-yeah! Burning them doesn't get rid of the chill! Hurry up and kill that orc, and I'll take care of the Wendigos!"
Lady Liz was flustered too.
'Hmm. What now?'
If the Wendigos kept spewing cold breath like this, Azadin's group would be in real danger. But between the two—which one to choose?
The orc mage Walter, who had been employed by the naga empire? Or Lady Liz, the witch from the Bthuma who wielded nether magic?
Both were problematic.
'If it were just up to me, I'd save the orc mage.'
He could get information on the naga empire, and he already harbored some resentment toward Lady Liz for deliberately harming others. But wouldn't that mean killing a wife right in front of her husband, Sir Brock?
Moreover, the orc's solution involved destroying the New King's Chart.
'Do I have to kill one of them? There must be another way, but no time.'
Just then, Sir Brock grabbed his sword and approached the orc mage.
"I'm going to kill this orc! No matter what, I can't let him harm my wife!"
"Oh? Nice! For once, I'm glad I married you! I'll clear a path—strike!"
Lady Liz was delighted that Sir Brock was taking her side.
"You fool! I knew your kind was stupid, but to make such a stupid choice!"
The orc mage Walter gripped his axe-spear.
'That's a magic staff.'
Azadin realized Walter's axe-spear was a staff with an axe head fitted onto it. In essence, it was just a staff with a large, heavy, pointed steel ornament attached.
"This is no time to fear gaining muscle!"
Walter gripped his staff(?) and swung it down.
-Kack!
Sir Brock went tumbling across the ice again. After sending him flying in one blow, Walter pulled a copy of the New King's Chart from his bosom and clutched it.
"No! Magical power release!"
Scott screamed.
Sure enough, the light charged in the New King's Chart copy burst forth, and the tense standoff between the two mages' powers instantly tipped to one side.
"Kyaa!"
Lady Liz was flung back.
"Things have come to this! You followers of Yaegas can deal with the Wendigos yourselves!"
The orc mage Walter shouted that and charged at Lady Liz.
"Damn it!"
Zebec stepped up to protect Lady Liz, but Walter swung his staff—essentially an axe-spear—with terrifying momentum.
Zebec parried Walter's attacks with his sword, carefully deflecting so their weapons never clashed directly. It was obvious that pitting weapons against the brute strength of an orc with such bulging muscles would result in being overwhelmed by raw power.
But that meant he had to hold his ground while dodging the enemy's weapon. Even a sword master would struggle against a total novice just starting out. And the opponent wielded a polearm, no less?
Yet...
-Thunk!
At the moment Walter swung down, Zebec pressed the back of the axe-spear, forcing its head to strike the frozen sewer floor. Then, stepping forward, he unleashed a swift slash aimed at Walter's throat.
"Hmph! Vajra God's Rite!"
Walter cast a spell that hardened his body like steel, deflecting Zebec's blade from his throat.
"Die, holy knight!"
He then unleashed a colorless magic bullet from one hand toward Zebec's torso. But Zebec blocked it with a white magic shield.
It was astonishing. Normally, after slashing an opponent's throat, one would naturally let their guard down. The moment you inflict a fatal wound, the taut thread of tension slackens.
That was why the orc mage Walter had deliberately absorbed the throat-slashing attack with a spell at that instant, creating an opening in Zebec to counterattack. Yet Zebec hadn't released that tension even for a second and responded perfectly.
Walter switched his magic-bullet hand into a fist and smashed at Zebec, but Zebec caught it with his palm, flipped backward to absorb the orc's immense strength, and landed safely.
'Impressive.'
Azadin was surprised to realize Zebec was a true expert. He'd known Zebec had some skill among holy knights, but he couldn't fathom why someone like this was unknown.
'Well, he was Jekt's disciple.'
Azadin recalled the inquisitor Jekt who had given him so much trouble.
"Hmm."
In the end, though, it was Walter's victory. He'd forced Sir Zebec aside and opened the path to Lady Liz.
"Good work. I'll take it from here."
This time, Azadin blocked Walter's path.
"A Herald, huh."
Walter tensed his body. With a creaking sound, his clothes tore at the seams as massive muscles bulged, veins popping across them.
"You lot have shortened my lifespan! I'll kill you!"
"It was an accident—do we really have to do this? I don't want to kill you."
"Nonsense! You think inferior races like you can stand against we who are blessed by the orc god Kanak!? You're ignoring my ironclad resolve to fight without fearing muscle gain!"
Orcs, it seemed, feared gaining muscle more than losing a fight in close quarters. Azadin gave a wry smile.
"No interest in compromising at all?"
"None! I've always been a devout follower of the Kurt Pantheon. Since it's come to this, I'll kill you all!"
"Saying it like that does make it easier on my conscience."
"You—!"
Walter lunged at Azadin, swinging his staff. He wielded the massive axe-spear-like thing effortlessly with one hand while forming a seal with the other to unleash a colorless magic bullet.
Azadin dodged the attack with ease and drew a traditional arrow to intercept the incoming magic bullet.
"？!"
How could a slender arrow deflect a magic bullet that would cause serious injury?
It was because Azadin was spinning the arrow in his hand. He deflected the bullet while managing the impact so the arrow wouldn't snap. It was no ordinary feat of sense and control.
Walter inwardly flinched at the sight.
'The holy knight earlier was impressive, but this guy's on another level.'
Then Azadin kicked something up with his foot. An ice chunk.
"Still no interest in talking it out?"
"You bastard!"
"Too bad."
Azadin hurled the ice chunk—not at Walter, but at the ground.
-Splack!
It hit the floor, sending ice shards spraying toward Walter.
"Urk!?"
Azadin swung his sword, shaving more ice from the frozen surface and flinging the shards at Walter.
"You little shit! What are you—cough!"
Walter charged at Azadin, but Azadin kept evading direct confrontation, chipping away at the ice and pelting Walter with shards.
"...Grah?! Cough!?"
The air was already laden with chill. As Walter moved about inside it, he felt his airways gradually freezing, triggering coughs. Above all, without careful breathing, the ice particles would seep in and make him cough uncontrollably.
"Cough, cough... Th-this...!?"
With his breathing disrupted and oxygen dwindling, his physical performance plummeted. His enormous muscles became dead weight, anchoring his feet.
"Urgh!"
-Thud!
Azadin lightly stabbed Walter's thigh with his sword tip. It didn't pierce the thick muscle, but the short, precise thrust was enough to draw blood. He followed up targeting Walter's wrists and forearms, turning the orc bloody in seconds.
"Aaagh!"
The orc Walter collapsed to the floor. Already feeling short of breath like oxygen deprivation, the bleeding made his heart pound wildly, overwhelming him.
'Trouble!'
Bleeding raised the heart rate and quickened breathing. With his respiration already restricted, Walter felt like he was drowning.
"Grah?! Heugh, you bastard. So sneaky!"
The orc Walter realized what Azadin had been aiming for with those ice shards and was aghast.
"Not bad for a human, huh? So, is destroying the New King's Chart really the only way to deal with the Wendigos?"
A murderous aura leaked from beneath Azadin's mask.
But the orc mage Walter bared his crooked tusks beyond his lips and smiled.