89
089 ― Not a Bird but a Wyvern
The Orcs charging at them numbered as many as five. That many Orcs had been quietly hiding in the sand dunes before rushing out.
'More intelligent than I thought.'
If they had been ambushed without any detection abilities, an average Hunter would have been wiped out without even being able to counterattack.
I had heard that Orcs weren't particularly smart and were a race obsessed only with fighting.
Perhaps that fighting instinct heightened their sense and intuition for combat.
"Kill them! We'll offer his head to our god!"
"Kheoeong!"
A beast-like cry echoed as something strange happened. The already muscle-covered Orc bodies pumped up even more, with veins bulging out.
The change that Jin-woo saw was even more dramatic - he could see the Erosion energy spread throughout this barrier, taking particle form and settling into the Orcs.
'A blessing from the God of War?'
Probably so.
That meant those Orcs served the God of War and were scheming for his descent. Though calling it scheming was rather loud for secrecy.
"Kahahaha!"
The power gained from the blessing was several times superior to their original strength.
The sound of them kicking off the ground now sounded like cannon fire, and the axes they held were imbued with vivid auras.
Whether intoxicated by power or naturally losing their minds in battle, they charged without looking back.
In front of them, Rona, with her delicate body, seemed like she would easily be blown away like a fallen leaf.
"Hmph."
The Orc that brushed past Rona was the one who collapsed instead. Unable to kill his own charging momentum, he buried himself in the sand dune and rolled around.
The Orc that finally stopped after quite a distance was already dead with his eyes rolled back. His corpse had no grand wounds, just a small sword hole pierced through his heart.
"Kraaaaah!"
The ones that came at Jin-woo met the same fate.
However, Jin-woo's sword wasn't as gentle as Rona's. The Orc's body, severed diagonally along with flames, split lengthwise and collapsed onto the desert sand like rubble.
Fortunately, even seeing their comrade's death, the Orcs showed no fear.
Thanks to that, Jin-woo and Rona were able to finish off all the remaining Orcs with just a few sword strikes.
"Whew."
Rona shook the blood off her sword and brushed her hair back.
Not a drop of blood had gotten on her body, but swinging her sword had caused more sand grains to dig in. Her discomfort level rose even higher.
"Are you okay, Jin-woo?"
"I'm fine. They weren't particularly strong anyway."
Jin-woo answered, recalling how Rona had also easily dealt with the Orcs.
No matter how much they had received the God of War's blessing and become stronger with Erosion energy, they were ultimately Orcs that had been active in the 3rd floor.
To Rona, who had faced dragons in the 5th floor Dragon Star Realm, they probably looked like children boasting about getting a bit stronger.
"Still, be careful. Recently, quite a few strong ones have gathered in the 3rd floor."
But there was no guarantee that only the weak ones would be there. In fact, before Jin-woo's return, there had been quite a few A-rank Hunters and even S-rank Hunters in the 3rd floor.
There was no guarantee that Orcs of such caliber hadn't entered as well.
Rather, if the God of War had been preparing his descent more meticulously, he might have already summoned strong Orcs. He wouldn't have tried to accomplish things with just these small fries.
Especially.
"Be careful of that guy Bertus. He's a subordinate of the War Lord."
"Bertus? That Bertus? The eccentric Orc who settled in the 3rd floor and practiced healing arts?"
"You know him, it seems."
"I was quite active in the 3rd floor back in my day. But to think he's still in the 3rd floor..."
Rona spoke while clicking her tongue. Hearing this, Jin-woo raised his guard a bit more.
If it was when Rona was in the 3rd floor, that would be quite some time ago. If Bertus had been active in the 3rd floor since then, it wouldn't be strange if he had been steadily preparing for this descent from back then.
If he had been preparing for that long, he would have definitely reinforced his forces.
'Could the timing of this happen to be because I took the God of Sky's scabbard?'
It might have just been a coincidence in timing, but somehow it didn't feel like a coincidence.
There could be reasons like the balance of the 3rd floor collapsing because he had taken the God of Sky's scabbard, or him hastening his plans out of alarm because Jin-woo had taken the divine artifact he was targeting first.
[ Be careful... You've probably already become a target. ]
'Yeah, that would be the case.'
Either way, having the God of Sky's scabbard made him prey that they absolutely had to catch.
On top of that, though they might not know it, Jin-woo also had the glass orb of Moonlit Forest inside his body. That was also part of a divine artifact, making it a perfect target for them.
[ Absolutely, absolutely must not let them take it. Absolutely not. ]
'Well, of course... But your tone sounds a bit strange?'
Something felt intuitive.
'Did they perhaps steal what was in the temple?'
There was no answer. The quiet silence became unbearable, so Jin-woo asked again.
'The divine artifact that was in the temple, it wasn't already stolen, was it?'
[ The God of Moonlit Forest turns her head away. ]
Oh my. The situation seemed worse than expected.
No wonder she had called so desperately - it seemed she was already backed into a corner.
'So if they steal the glass orb inside me, they'll completely take the divine artifact?'
[ That's right... ]
'Then shouldn't I have not come? If I stayed on Earth, there would be no chance of this being stolen.'
[ The Elves in the temple... Are in great danger. ]
It seemed she had called him not so much for the temple itself, but to protect the Elves guarding the temple.
'Alright, let's meet up first. The temple is in this direction if we keep going straight, right?'
[ The God of Moonlit Forest nods. ]
First, they needed to find the temple before they could discuss what came next. Jin-woo walked silently with Rona in the direction she indicated.
***
On the way, they encountered all sorts of things several times.
There were hostile Orc groups like the first one, and there were corpses of dead Hunters and Elves.
Not old bones scattered throughout the desert, but fresh corpses that had died just a few days ago.
They saw many sights, but none of them could hold back Jin-woo and Rona's steps.
'The God of Light made a fortress with the monsters he gathered?'
On the way, he exchanged much information with the God of Moonlit Forest.
Among them, what surprised him was the God of Light and Dawn's current situation - he had densely packed the area around the temple with monsters he had collected over time to protect the divine artifact.
It was said to be such a monster field that even the confident Orcs didn't dare think of breaking through.
'So that's why he scattered trials and gathered monsters.'
He recalled what he had heard from Bertus before leaving the 3rd floor.
Back then, Bertus had said the God of Light and Dawn was gathering monsters, and they needed to observe his movements. That he was someone who required vigilance.
But in reality, the one with ulterior motives wasn't the God of Light and Dawn but the God of War that Bertus served.
Had the God of Light and Dawn noticed his schemes and prepared in advance?
"Jin-woo! Over there, over there!"
After traveling for a while, they arrived at a place where the temple was visible.
From a high sand dune, Jin-woo and Rona lay flat and observed the direction through binoculars.
A small forest that stood out in this desert.
The leaves looked pale and weak, not appearing healthy, but maintaining a forest itself was an amazing feat.
However.
"This is serious..."
"They're completely surrounded, aren't they?"
The forest couldn't be called a good situation by any stretch of imagination.
Green-skinned Orcs surrounded the small forest, completely encircling the perimeter. They had even set up tents, seemingly prepared for a long-term battle.
"There's even order among them. That means there's a commander."
It was a sight reminiscent of an army.
Of course, it wasn't at the level of perfect ranks and files like a human army, but there seemed to be some organization and a kind of organic flow.
This couldn't exist without both a strong commander and trained soldiers.
"Getting in without being detected will be a task in itself..."
There was absolutely no route visible for sneaking in. And it didn't look easy to break through by force either.
"Is there a way to not get caught?"
"I'm not sure. Should we dig a tunnel?"
Really, aside from digging through the ground from here, no other method came to mind.
Unless it was someone like Kurenai Masato, it didn't look easy to avoid detection. And they couldn't go looking for Kurenai when they didn't know where he might be.
Jin-woo and Rona hid in the shadow of the sand dune and observed that direction for a while.
The Orcs only surrounded the forest and didn't seem to have any intention of attacking first.
"No matter how many there are, they can't defeat our Elves in the forest."
As Rona said, if a battle broke out in the forest, the Elves would win.
Everything in the forest would act as obstacles for the Orcs, while for the Elves, they would be traps that could boost their strength and be utilized.
No matter how strong and numerous they were, it would be completely useless.
Therefore, the Orcs had set up a siege and settled down. Right in front of the forest, they crunch crunch, tore at raw meat while leisurely waiting.
It was an infinitely wise method for dealing with enemies under siege.
"...It doesn't look good. Looking at the forest's condition, the Elves inside must be having a hard time, too."
"Don't Elves only need to eat about one meal to be fine?"
"That's when there's a forest around to supplement nutrition. But right now, the forest looks so lacking in nutrients that even sustaining itself seems difficult."
Elves don't rely heavily on food for nutrition. They eat about one meal a day, but don't need to eat more than that.
But that's possible because they supplement nutrition through their entire body from the surrounding environment. That's why Elves live in forests, protecting them and living together with them.
But now, this was an environment where even that forest was struggling to survive.
Even to Jin-woo's eyes, it looked pale and sickly, so how would it look to Rona? Wouldn't it seem like it was dying at any moment?
"How long do you think they can hold out?"
"Well... I'd have to get closer to know for sure, but from what I can see right now, it looks difficult to last even two weeks. Maybe if it rained..."
This desert wasn't just any desert, but inside a barrier created by the God of War. Controlling the weather would be easy for the barrier's master.
At this crucial time when Moonlit Forest was on the verge of falling, there was no way he would provide rain.
"Let's look around for now."
"Yes."
The two circled widely around the outside of the Orcs' encampment, searching for a gap to infiltrate.
Since they weren't a perfect army either, there would surely be weak points.
―Buuuuuuu!
Just then, a horn sounded loudly. For a moment, they thought they had been discovered, but that wasn't the case.
All the Orcs were looking at the forest, and from that forest, one large bird suddenly soared up.
No, looking again, it wasn't a bird but a wyvern.
"Isn't that Golong?"
It was the partner of Poldere, the wyvern knight they had been indebted to several times before.
Golong, staggering as he flew up as if he hadn't been eating properly. The Orcs began shooting elastic arrows at him.