Chapter 93


    [Trantor – Kie]


    [Proofreader – Kawaii]


    Chapter 93: Orc expedition (1)


    ***


    The sound of hooves pounding the ground echoed incessantly in the ears. The wind brushed past faces and clothing.


    The orcs, who were once far away, suddenly drew closer. Damien shouted towards the knights.


    “Do not spare a single one!”


    “Yes, sir!”


    All the knights responded with resounding voices to Damien’smand.


    “Wow! Let’s go! Let’s kill them all!”


    Except for one, Veronica. She was already excited before swinging her sword.


    “Barbaric…”


    Michael looked at Veronica with a disapproving face.


    Meanwhile, Damien, who was at the forefront, reached the orc group. He immediately swung his holy sword.


    The holy sword shed through the air with a sickening *swoosh*, carving deep into the flesh of the orcs. Blood sprayed in crimson arcs, painting the ground in grotesque patterns as severed heads rolled and lifeless bodies crumpled to the earth, leaving a gruesome scene of carnage in its wake.


    Kwaaah!


    Gwaaah!


    With each swing of Damien’s sword, the orcs’ lives were extinguished one by one. He ughtered the orcs, clearing the way.


    “Don’t fall behind! Assist Sir Damien!”


    “Haha! Their flesh is so thick, it’s satisfying to cut through!”


    Michael and Veronica followed closely behind Damien, providing support.


    “Follow Sir Damien’s lead!”


    “Strike down these savage monsters!”


    Following them, the knights finished off the remaining orcs. The orc group began to split apart.


    Uwooo!


    Woooo!


    The orcs sensed danger btedly but it was toote. Damien and the knights had already broken through to the other side.


    Damien pulled the reins and turned the horse’s direction. The knights acted in unison.


    Damien and the knights charged towards the orcs again. The orcs wailed upon seeing the approaching enemies.


    Cheee!


    Uwooo!


    Although the first assault briefly faltered their formation, the orcs’ momentum didn’t diminish. If anything, it seemed to strengthen.


    “They seem to be well coordinated. The leader must be quite formidable.”


    Orcs possessed a characteristic where theirbat abilities varied depending on their leader.


    Not only did their ferocity increase, but their physical strength also seemed to enhance.


    “Breakthrough!”


    Nothing changed. Damien charged at the orc group again.


    Uwooo!


    Chaaaa!


    The orcs blocked Damien’s path. Their determination not to yield was palpable.


    But it was in vain. As Damien swung his holy sword, the orcs fell apart without resistance.


    “Hyaaah!”


    “Haha! Die! Die!”


    Michael and Veronica also yed their part effectively.


    Before the Middle-ss knights, the orcs were helpless.


    The second breakthrough was much easier than the first. Damien and the knights emerged on the other side of the orc group.


    Having been prated twice, the orc group was nearly disarrayed. Damien realized it was time to finish them off.


    “Disperse! Completely annihte the orcs…”


    A sound of wind splitting was heard. The sound grew rapidly.


    Damien raised his holy sword to shield his face. Just then, a hand axe struck the holy sword.


    Despite the increased strength from Allecto’s Royal Jelly, his arm trembled uncontrobly.


    Damien nced in the direction where the axe flew. Far off, a particrlyrge orc was ring at him.


    “You wanna fight me?”


    Damien looked at the orc with an amused expression, or rather, at the greatsword the orc held.


    The surface of the greatsword shimmered with a constant crimson glow.


    “Didn’t expect to encounter an orc warrior here.”


    Orc Warrior.


    There was a reason why they were given the title “warrior,” born from the qualities of a true fighter among orcs.


    Orc Warrior referred to an orc who had awakened to the aura.


    Combining the orc’s robust physique and ferocity with the aura made them even more dangerous. Their threat was beyond measure.


    “Yeah, if you’re from the Monstrum sect, you should handle this easily.”


    As a dark mage of the Monstrum sect within Pandemonium, creating an Orc Warrior should be a simple task.


    “Michael!”


    “Yes, brother! What do you need?”


    “From now on,mand the knights.”


    “What? All of a sudden?”


    Damien said, looking at the Orc Warrior.


    “I’ve got a bastard to deal with.”


    Before Michael could respond, Damien rushed towards the Orc Warrior.


    Dhum! Dhum!


    The Orc Warrior also charged at Damien. With each pounding of the ground, the distance between them rapidly closed.


    ‘Directly confronting it would be suicidal.’


    The horse Damien rode was not like a unicorn, just an ordinary warhorse.


    Facing the Orc Warrior’s strength head-on could seriously injure the horse.


    Damien spurred the horse, leaping off its back as the Orc Warrior charged. He swung his sword towards the charging Orc Warrior.


    The Orc Warrior quickly raised his greatsword to block Damien’s sword. With a loud ng, both Damien’s and Orc Warrior’s bodies were pushed backward.


    ng!


    As soon as Damien was pushed back, the Orc Warrior leaped forward again. He wildly swung its greatsword towards Damien.


    While the swordsmanship itself was crude, the orc’s instincts and wildness made the swordy surprisingly sharp and threatening.


    Damien parried all of the Orc Warrior’s attacks. Meanwhile, he assessed the Orc Warrior’s skill level.


    ‘This Orc could easily defeat a Low-ss, but…’


    He wouldn’t match a Midss. Of course, even this level of skill was sufficiently threatening.


    ng!


    Annoyance flickered on the Orc Warrior’s face. Despite his relentless attacks being blocked, he seemed to be growing increasingly furious.


    Woooo!


    The Orc Warrior roared, his eyes turning bloodshot with rage.


    The muscles all over his body swelled up taut. The aura entwined around his greatsword grew denser.


    Woooo!


    The Orc Warrior swung his greatsword towards Damien. His intention to kill was clear in the strike.


    Damien raised his holy sword to block the greatsword. The holy sword shed with the greatsword in mid-air.


    At that moment, the direction of the greatsword suddenly changed. Its trajectory, which was descending vertically, abruptly shifted to the left.


    As a result, the Orc Warrior lost his grip on the greatsword.


    Ch-Ch…!!


    Even the Orc Warrior seemed bewildered, even forgetting his primal instincts.


    Without pause for the Orc Warrior to regain hisposure, Damien’s holy sword descended with unrelenting force, it tore through the Orc Warrior’s neck, sending a spray of blood and gore sttering across the battlefield.


    The headless body staggered momentarily, a fountain of crimson gushing from its severed stump before copsing in a lifeless heap. Damien stood amidst the carnage, his hands stained scarlet, the air thick with the metallic tang of blood and the sickening scent of death.


    In his dying moments, the Orc Warrior’s eyes widened in shock, his mouth agape in a grimace, before life drained from his now lifeless corpse, painting the ground with a pool of gore.


    After confirming the Orc Warrior’s death, Damien surveyed the battlefield.


    “Don’t let your guard down until theypletely lose their morale!”


    Under Michael’s leadership, the knights were performing admirably in battle, cutting down the orcs with efficiency.


    “Haha! Die! Die!”


    Meanwhile, Veronica was fighting the orcs in her own way.


    But due to her exceptional skill, the orcs were being effortlessly cut down.


    “It should be over in 10 minutes.”


    Damien’s estimation was wrong.


    The battle ended in less than 5 minutes.


    It was a victory for the humans.


    ***


    After the battle with the orcs ended, Lord Walnut came out of the castle gate to greet Damien and hispanions.


    “Prince Oliver, how can I express my gratitude!”


    Lord Walnut was almost prostrating himself. It was a natural reaction given the situation just before the castle was about to fall.


    “Toe just before the castle fell! It truly felt like seeing angels sent by God to save us!”


    Lord Walnut praised Oliver profusely.


    “I have never seen such courageous knights in my life! To mercilessly trample the orc horde with so few in numbers!”


    Lord Walnut praised not only Oliver but also the knights.


    “In particr, when I saw you swiftly defeat the Orc Warrior in one stroke, I doubted my own eyes! If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to know your name!”


    Looking at Damien, Lord Walnut asked.


    “I’m Damien Haksen.”


    “Damien Haksen… Could it be… that you killed the Corpsey alongside the Church…?”


    Damien nodded. Lord Walnut’s mouth widened in astonishment. It was as if he might lose his jaw.


    “Indeed… As expected… It wasn’t an exaggeration at all! You’re truly remarkable!”


    Pointing to the castle gate, Lord Walnut said.


    “Come inside quickly! I’ll prepare a banquet today to honor you and the knights!”


    At the mention of a banquet, Oliver’s expression brightened instantly.


    But soon, he lowered his head with a serious expression.


    “We appreciate the suggestion, but we don’t know if there are still some orc left. It seems too early to hold a banquet.”


    Standing behind Oliver, Damien couldn’t help but admire.


    Until recently, he would have thought of him as nothing more than a trash who would go crazy for alcohol and meat.


    “Crown prince’s words are correct. Indeed, you’re wise…”


    “More importantly, please exin about the orc horde. When did they appear? What’s their size? The more detailed, the better.”


    “Oh, I see. ording to what the scouts found…”


    While the two were conversing, Damien called Michael and said.


    “Michael, have you given the items I requested for distribution among the knights?”


    “Oh, are you referring to the antidotes?”


    “Yes, distribute them to everyone right away. But is it really necessary?”


    Michael asked with a puzzled expression.


    Orcs do use poison, but it’s not particrly threatening. Most people didn’t worry about poison; they worried about how to block orcs’ attacks.


    “Better to be cautious in advance, isn’t it?”


    Damien shrugged. But deep down, he was sure.


    ‘It’s obvious they’ll spread poison tonight.’


    Here, alongside the Monstrum sect, there were also dark mages from the Venom sect.


    During his Death Knight days, Damien had witnessed many times how the Venom sect’s dark mages behaved.


    The Venom sect was a sect with weak directbat capabilities. Thus, they pressurized enemies with very cunning tactics in unexpected situations.


    “Don’t forget to instruct the knights to patrol the surroundings. If there’s any orc showing even the slightest suspicious movement, track them down and kill them without fail.”


    ***


    “What? Why have those fuckers arrived already?”


    A woman with messy hair, gazing at Walnut Castle from afar, eximed incredulously.


    “Even if they rushed from Apple Kingdom, it shouldn’t take less than a week, right?”


    “It’ll take more…”


    The woman, with sunken cheeks due to extreme leanness, said. Her voice was very soft and feeble, almost as if she were sick.


    “Ugh! We were nning to smash Walnut Territory before the expedition force arrived and iste them… But now the n is ruined from the start!”


    The woman with messy hair vented her frustration, punching the air fiercely.


    “Geez, I can’t stand it. I’m calling all the kids! I’ll bring them all here and crush those guys to pieces!”


    “Noctis, calm down. You just saw it. They’re not ordinary.”


    The woman with messy hair, Noctis, said with a frustrated expression.


    “Marina! But they’ve ruined the npletely! If this continues, we’ll get scolded by Sister Leona!”


    “No need to worry. Sister Leona sent me to prepare for this kind of emergency.”


    Marina lowered the backpack she was carrying on her shoulder. When she opened it, numerous vials filled with suspicious liquids were revealed.


    “Sister Leona prepared plenty of poison with the ingredients she gave me. If we use this, those guys won’t stand a chance.”


    Noctis reached out curiously towards the vial but withdrew his hand promptly at Marina’s warning.


    “If you touch it wrong, your hand might rot away.”


    At that, Noctis quickly retracted his hand.


    “Noctis, prepare the orcs.”


    “Why the orcs?”


    Marina whispered something in Noctis’s ear. As the conversation went on, Noctis’s eyes widened.


    “Marina, you’re really smart! I’ll prepare them right away!”


    ***


    [Trantor – Kie]


    [Proofreader – Kawaii]