Ambush (2)
The command rang out like thunder across the camp. “Burn everything! Kill every last human! Chrrk!”
In the literal blink of an eye, flames erupted from every corner of the encampment. At the same time, the sickening sounds of lives being violently cut short echoed from all directions.
“It’s an orc ambush! Sound the alarm!”
The belated clanging of bells finally brought knights and soldiers rushing out of their tents, but by then the entire base had already descended into pure chaos.
“What the hell were the sentries doing?! How did you not notice the orcs climbing up until they were on top of us?! What are you all standing around for?! Why are you running to the rear?!”
Knight Lennon—no, the user Shin Jjau—bellowed at the failing guards as if ready to swing his sword at them, grabbing soldiers who were trying to flee toward the back lines. But the soldiers had their own grievances.
“There were no orcs coming up from below! We were watching the lower slopes properly! The fires started first in the rear encampment!”
After listening to them and taking a proper look, Shin Jjau realized they were telling the truth. The path leading up from the base of the mountain was eerily quiet. On the other hand, flames were roaring behind the main camp. There was no way to tell where the orcs had even come from.
“Everyone, follow me!”
Shin Jjau rallied the soldiers and charged straight at the orcs. While the troops and commanders in the encampment stumbled about in confusion, unable to pinpoint where the attack was coming from, the orcs and goblins were busily scrambling up the mountain toward the mid-slope caves.
The goblins’ tunnels stretched from the foot of the mountain all the way to the middle slopes. When orcs and goblins began pouring out of them, the soldiers sleeping in the rear tents suffered the worst casualties. Several commanders, including Shin Jjau, gathered their men and tried to fight back, but the ever-growing swarm of orcs quickly began pushing the humans back.
“Your Excellency, we must at least save the cavalry. If we stay packed together like this in such a cramped space, the horsemen will suffer even heavier losses.”
“He’s right. The cavalry must survive if we are to have any hope for the future.”
“If the cavalry breaks out, the orcs will likely split their forces to chase them. Or we could use the opportunity to strike directly at the orc stronghold.”
The spreading flames and clamor of battle had the horses panicking and rearing wildly. The suggestion was to pull the cavalry out and put them to use. Even Marquis Holvolt found the logic sound and personally led the horsemen down the mountain. At the same time, he judged that they should trample the supposedly empty orc encampment and inflict as much damage as possible.
“Change direction! Head for the enemy’s camp!”
“Uwooo!”
These cavalrymen had entered the Akran Mountains without once tasting a proper battle. Their first real fight had ended in a humiliating ambush that forced them to turn tail and run. Their pride was understandably wounded. So when they heard they would now trample the enemy’s base in return, their fighting spirit surged. They spurred their mounts harder than ever.
But just as the horses galloped forward with excitement at the thought of crushing orcs beneath their hooves, the lead animals suddenly lost their balance and pitched violently forward, as if swallowed by the earth. There was no sound of the ground collapsing, yet the terrain simply gave way beneath them. The entire front line of horses and riders plunged straight down and vanished into the ground.
The riders behind them tried to slow down, but the momentum of those pushing from the rear drove them forward. They too toppled headlong into the same trap. “I-it’s a trap! Go around!”
Hundreds of horses and cavalrymen had fallen into pits dug in the dark of night. Fewer than half the riders who managed to avoid the traps survived. The agonized screams of men and horses dying at the foot of the mountain reached even the soldiers still fighting in the main encampment.
The troops had been clinging to the hope that if they held out, they could still win. But the shrieks of dying men and beasts severed that last thread of hope. Already reeling from the surprise attack and losing momentum, the soldiers were pushed back down the slope despite the desperate resistance of a few commanders.
“We’ve been completely played by those orc bastards.”
“Where is His Excellency the Marquis?”
When the sun finally rose, they thought the worst danger had passed. Yet among the surviving cavalry, the most important figure—Marquis Holvolt—was nowhere to be found. The horsemen turned back toward the mountain to search for him, only to discover a mountain of corpses already piled there.
The soldiers who had been driven out of the encampment had been forced down the slope and straight into the same deadly traps that had claimed the cavalry. They had been annihilated together. Staring at the towering pile of bodies, the surviving riders lost all will to fight.
The orc riders wanted to pursue the retreating cavalry, but Orchan stopped them.
“We already have more than enough food. If we leave them alive, won’t they just fatten up for us later? Let them go!”
At the reminder that they could harvest the humans whenever they wanted, the orcs burst into raucous laughter and began desecrating the corpses. Even as they watched this horror, the cavalrymen could do nothing but flee in terror.
The user from India, Tirita, and the user from China, Shin Jjau, have died.
Yasuke Yamashiki watched the two testers die on his monitor. If he had truly wanted to save them, he probably could have. But he did nothing. He simply reported their deaths to Elon Busker and Major General Michael in a mechanical voice and dispatched the response team.
“Two of our Navy SEALs will be inserted in their place. Are there still three more users participating in this war?”
“Yes. However, since Patrick has other uses, we are excluding him. The remaining two are involved in the war between the Horde and the Alliance.”
“Then when do you think those two will die?”
“…That is impossible to predict.”
Yasuke felt a surge of disgust at Major General Michael, who was practically praying for the users to die quickly. Wishing for them to die as soon as possible… And he couldn’t understand why Elon Busker simply stood by and allowed the military to act this way. The initiative had completely shifted to the armed forces, yet both Changing Group and Elon Busker remained silent. Yasuke wondered what exactly they hoped to gain from this. Still, he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.
Marquis Holvolt has been killed in action.
The news of Marquis Holvolt’s army’s defeat and his death in battle reached Marquis Marcel, who had withdrawn to the fortified rear lines.
“Given the distance, they couldn’t have been fighting the same orc army we faced.”
“Then you’re saying that, in addition to the twenty thousand orcs and monsters we fought, there are tens of thousands more?”
Not only Marquis Marcel, but everyone else in the room stiffened. The combined forces of orcs and monsters were far larger than anyone had anticipated. Having already lost tens of thousands of soldiers, they now worried whether they even had the strength left to stop them.
“We must urgently request reinforcements from the other kingdoms and begin emergency conscription within the Splain Empire.”
“First we need to gather the surviving troops from Marquis Holvolt’s defeated army.”
As various proposals flew about and confusion mounted, Marquis Marcel assigned Patrick the task of informing the imperial family of the situation and requesting emergency conscription. He sent another man to reorganize Holvolt’s remaining forces. While they were handling these matters one by one, a priest of the God of Balance, Tablon, entered the conference room.
“Your Excellency the Marquis. I know you are busy, but would you hear what I have to say?”
The sudden appearance of the priest left Marquis Marcel and the others puzzled.
“While fighting the orcs, did you not notice something strange?”
“Strange? Hmm. Their fighting style is different from any orcs we’ve faced before. It’s almost as if…”
“As if they were fighting humans, yes?”
“Exactly. The usual orcish savagery and impulsiveness is gone. It feels like we’re fighting an army that actually uses proper tactics. Is there something behind this?”
“Yes. There is. The current Orc Lord is no ordinary orc.”
“What do you mean by ‘no ordinary orc’?”
“The current Orc Lord is not a being of this world. He is a puppet of the evil gods, summoned from another world.”
At the claim that the Orc Lord was a being from another world, everyone first thought it was nonsense. But after a moment of reflection, they were forced to reconsider in shock.
“D-don’t tell me the Orc Lord is actually a Demon King from the demon realm?”
If a Demon King had descended, this was no longer a simple war.
“I cannot say for certain whether he is a Demon King, but it is undeniable that the Orc Lord does not belong to this world.”
“Is this information from a divine oracle from Lord Tablon?”
“It is not an oracle specifically about this Orc Lord. Several years ago, we received a prophecy that beings from another world were coming to this realm through the power of the evil gods. Do you remember the string of murders and rapes that occurred in the capital Hayden last year?”
The nobles were confused why the priest was suddenly bringing up incidents that had once thrown the capital into uproar.
“Those criminals who sowed chaos throughout society were also puppets brought here by the power of the evil gods.”
“Then you’re saying this Orc Lord was also summoned by the evil gods to throw our world into turmoil?”
“Correct. Before the orcs could gather their full strength, our priests and paladins sensed the evil gods’ power and searched the Akran Mountains for their puppets. Only recently did we learn that the being in question is the Orc Lord.”
“Hmm. So that’s why their fighting style changed. But even if we now know the Orc Lord is not of this world, does that give us any actual way to defeat them?”
“There is a way.”
“…”
At the words “there is a way,” Marquis Marcel shot up from his seat. Even if the priest’s story about another world was true, he had assumed it would offer no practical solution—only a shift in mindset so they wouldn’t underestimate the orcs. But hearing there was a real method to turn the tide of consecutive defeats made his blood burn with excitement.
“What is this method?”
“The evil gods do not simply summon beings from another world as puppets. They summon only the soul, which then possesses a body already present in our world. That summoned soul maintains a constant connection to its original world.”
“Then… that soul…”
“Yes. The method is to sever that connection or expel the soul entirely. If we drive out the summoned soul and make it disappear, what do you think will happen?”
“Then… only the body would remain. In that case, it would revert to a typical orc.”
Only now did Marquis Marcel fully understand what the priest meant. The reason they had suffered repeated defeats was precisely because they were fighting an orc army that didn’t behave like orcs. If they could cut the thread connecting the evil god’s puppet or expel its soul, the Orc Lord would become a proper orc once more. And against a savage, impulsive orc driven purely by desire and emotion, a disciplined human army had no reason to lose.
“Tell me how to sever that evil god’s connection.”
“First, we must lure the Orc Lord out into the open. To begin with…”
***
As Priest Pablo left after speaking with Marquis Marcel, he stared intently at Patrick, who was returning from handling the conscription matters. When Patrick noticed the priest’s piercing gaze, he offered a polite greeting and entered the conference room.
“Priest Pablo. What do you plan to do with that puppet called Patrick? The priests who have been observing him say he is an exemplary official.”
“I have heard as much. For now, we will leave him be. He seems different from the other puppets we’ve seen. However, if he begins inciting chaos or shedding blood, we will deal with him immediately.”
“Understood. Also, a letter has arrived from Cardinal Etuan.”
Pablo opened the letter bearing Cardinal Etuan’s seal. After reading its contents, he stood frozen in silence for a long time.
“Your Eminence? What does it say? Please, get in the carriage.”
“I was simply surprised. It is astonishing that one of the evil gods’ puppets has formally requested a meeting. He says he wishes to speak with us.”
“What? What does that even mean?”
“I don’t know either. That’s why I’m so shocked right now.”