Chapter 107: The Great Northern War (3)

Earlier...

When Crockta reached Ameranyan, the first thing he saw was a city on the verge of collapse, and a large army of orcs surrounding it. Crockta had arrived first by speeding up his karuk, so Tiyo and Anor were still behind him in the distance. He got down from his karuk and ran toward the battlefield.

By the time he arrived, the arrows flying in the sky were decreasing in number like streams drying up during a drought. The orcs climbing up the ladders had already reached the top of the city walls. The walls protecting Ameranyan were about to crumble from the constant beating of the battering rams against the city gates.

Crockta looked down at something by his feet. He saw the lifeless eyes of a dark elf’s corpse looking up at the sky. Then he looked at the dark elf’s smooth hands. They were extremely pale and seemingly soft as if she had never held a weapon before. On one of her fingers was a ring.

Crockta kneeled, closed the dark elf’s eyes, and placed his hand on top of hers. He then noticed the engraving on her ring.

[A L Y A.]

He didn’t know whether it was the name of the dark elf or her lover. Crockta moved the dark elf’s hand from her stomach to her chest.

Then Crockta suddenly heard a sound. It was coming from the corpse. He looked at the corpse’s shut eyes.

‘Is the sound from the wind or her voice?’

Crockta closed his eyes to focus and activated the skill Introduction to Magic to awaken his five senses. He resonated with his surroundings and listened to the hearts of the leaves and the calls of the wind. He had taken the first step of the miracle called magic.

Then Crockta opened his eyes again. He had certainly heard a mysterious voice coming from the point between the sky and the earth where the merciless sun rays beat down on the dark elf’s corpse.

Was it really just the wind? Nevertheless, it didn’t matter.

Crockta raised his sword.

“Don’t worry,” he said.

The wind rose again, and the grass flattened against the ground.

He continued, “Just watch me from here.”

Crockta walked forward.

The city looked like a sand castle on the verge of collapse due to an army of ants. The orcs relentlessly struck Ameranyan’s city walls. Their goal was to capture the city, and slaughter was imminent.

However, a soft breeze gently pushed his back. How could he ignore its soft urging?

Crockta raised his sword in the direction that the breeze was blowing and walked toward the army of orcs. He saw the injured orc sorcerer and his group of soldiers protecting him. Then he looked up at the city walls where skilled dark elf archers were present.

The chiefdom orcs shouted at him and asked him a few questions.

‘Who am I? Where am I from, and where am I going?’

Crockta thought about their questions for a moment.

Without answering, he smirked and swung his greatsword. The world slowed down, and the air trembled. The world’s energy moved according to his hands as it transferred and reconfigured power.

The Ogre Slayer sliced through the world, cutting the sorcerer and his guards in half. Blood burst out like a fountain. This was his reply to their questions.

Crockta proceeded to move quickly. He approached the enemies silently while they were fully engrossed in the battle in front of them and left their backs exposed. Crockta promptly pierced their backs, split their spines, and then chopped off their heads. He killed them in succession as if they had each been waiting for their turn.

To overcome the vast difference in numbers, Crockta needed to effectively carry out all of his attacks. He needed to kill his opponents in a single blow and do a thorough job. He had to finish his enemies off cleanly, so there would be no need to deal with them a second time.

“Ackkk!”

While Crockta ended the lives of his enemies, the rain of arrows from the dark elves gradually died down. He wondered if they had run out of arrows. By this time, some of the chiefdom orcs had noticed his presence and had turned around to face him.

Crockta smirked and exchanged blows with them.

Thud!

Bam!

As Crockta slashed his enemies, the city gates collapsed. He saw the devastation that the chiefdom orcs’ attack on Ameranyan had caused as well as the dark elves’ despondent expressions. The orcs did not miss this opportunity and rushed toward the city’s entrance in a frenzy, charging inside Ameranyan like a rising tide.

The dark elves set up barricades and swung their spears to block the orcs, but the orcs forged ahead, stepping on their comrades’ corpses to attack the dark elves. The area surrounding the entrance quickly became dyed red with blood, and the orcs were now moving further inside like a violent wave.

Crockta stopped. The wind blew toward him. He took a deep breath and let the air sink to the very bottom of his lungs. The air condensed inside the deepest core of his energy center as his steely body sucked in as much air as possible.

Then he shouted, “Bul’taaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrr!”

His battle cry sent a ripple of soundwaves through the air and caused the earth to tremble. The chiefdom orcs blocked their ears and turned around to look at the source of the sound. Crockta glanced at them one by one. They probably had no idea what the word he had just shouted meant, but after this war was over, everyone in the northern region would understand the meaning behind it.

Crockta grinned and stated, “Calmahart is a crook.”

The chiefdom orcs’ expressions changed. They looked confused, as if they didn’t understand what they had just heard.

Crockta continued, “Calmahart is a pussy, and he will die in my hands.”

The orcs tightly gripped their weapons. Crockta wanted to provoke them to the extent that they would forget about entering Ameranyan.

He grinned and taunted, “Do you have a problem with what I’m saying?”

All the orcs on the battlefield could hear Crockta’s voice clearly, and their hostility switched from Ameranyan to Crockta.

An army’s worth of murderous intent and hostility, which was enough to seize a fortress, now headed toward Crockta, and he gladly received them. All of the hairs on his body stood up. He couldn’t stifle the laughter that was escaping his mouth. The gazes of all the orcs standing in front of him were burning with the desire to kill him. Yet, instead of feeling afraid, Crockta felt thrilled at the sight of this scene.

The orcs raged; they shouted and exploded with insults at Crockta.

Crockta nodded. “You guys seem to have a lot of complaints, then....”

He raised his hand. The eyes of the thousands of orcs and dark elves on the city walls were focused on him.

Crockta beckoned to the orcs and said, “Come.”

That word served as a signal. The orcs immediately swarmed toward him like a burst dam from all directions. They stepped over their comrades and charged at him like a tsunami. Axes, spears, and swords filled his vision. The world grew slower. Blood splattered with each slash of the lone orc’s blade.

‘Blood, the source of life.’

Crockta gazed intently, not missing a single movement.

‘Are you alive?’

The tattoos all over his body were burning up. He clasped his greatsword.

‘Or are you just breathing?’

The swarming orcs slashed at him with their swords and all of the hatred and rage they felt toward him.

Why were they so angry about such trivial things?

‘Honor.’

Crockta swung his greatsword for the things that they should be truly angry about.

***

An arrow struck a fleeing orc’s back. He was the last chiefdom orc on the battlefield.

The battle had ended, but none of the dark elves in Ameranyan cheered. They just looked at Crockta in awe.

“What is that...”

A multitude of orcs were sprawled on the ground in a heap like a dam made of corpses, and at the center of it all was a blood-covered orc propping himself up with his greatsword.

The lone orc had faced a huge army on his own and had survived. The dark elves had been able to shoot and slaughter the orcs with ease as if they were aiming at training targets because Crockta had received the bulk of the army’s attacks.

There wasn’t a single part of Crockta’s body that had been left uninjured. He was covered in bleeding wounds, and there was a broken spear stuck in his side, and an arrow stuck in his shoulder. He had wounds so deep in his shoulders and thighs that it was hard for him to continue standing. Nevertheless, he had won. It was the feat of a one-man army.

“Hey, what are you doing?” questioned Caska.

A dark elf beside her was aiming his arrow at the orc.

“We don’t know who he is,” the dark elf said.

Caska’s face crumpled into a scowl. “Didn’t you see him receiving the orcs’ attacks on our behalf?”

“He’s just another orc. Anyway—ouch!”

Caska, who was wearing military boots, kicked her comrade’s shin fiercely, causing him to clutch his leg in pain. She tried to slap him too, but the dark elves around them held her back.

“You’re a fucking spy, right? Did you receive money from the chiefdom?” asked Caska.

“What! What are you saying?”

“Then why are you shooting at someone on the same side, you asshole!” Caska shouted.

Her comrade lowered his head sheepishly.

“Send medics to treat that orc!” Caska yelled.

The dark elves came to their senses at her command and ran outside.

They carried the orc and his greatsword inside on a stretcher. The orc wouldn’t let go of his greatsword, so they had to carry them both. Numerous dark elves swarmed to his side to help bring him into the city.

Caska sighed as she looked outside the city walls, and all she saw were corpses.

“I’m so sick and fed up with it all,” Caska voiced.

One of her comrades laughed. “It will be like this in the future too.”

“I know...” Caska leaned back on the railing and watched the dust rising beyond the horizon. “They say that the orcs are advancing in hordes. They will come again.”

“It won’t end until the chieftain dies,” said her comrade.

“I know...”

Caska glanced behind her. The orc was being taken to the medical corps. He still had some consciousness and occasionally exchanged words with the dark elves attending to him. A crowd of dark elves huddled in a corner and kept glancing at him.

“So tiring...” Caska muttered.

She felt as if all of her energy had been drained during the week that they battled the orcs. However, they had ultimately defeated their enemies thanks to that orc, so they would be able to take a brief break until the next battle. Other cities near Ameranyan were still engaged in a bloody siege.

As Caska gazed at the scenery beyond the walls, she suddenly noticed a cloud of dust approaching the city.

“...!”

She instinctively grabbed a bow.

‘Are the chiefdom’s reinforcements already here? But the scouting team said we still have time.’

Upon seeing Caska’s reaction, her comrade’s face stiffened. The two of them gazed at the horizon and saw a karuk running toward them while kicking up dust. Riding on it was a small gnome.

“What... What is that?”

“Hmm... He’s not an enemy, right?”

“He’s kind of... cute?”

The gnome was kicking the karuk forward with a fierce expression on his face. A frightened dark elf, who was holding onto the gnome’s waist, was shouting at him to slow down.

Before long, the gnome and dark elf arrived at Ameranyan.

The gnome looked up at Ameranyan’s city walls and shouted, “Don’t worry! I’m here now!”

The dark elves on the city walls looked silently at each other.

“I will stop the orcs! My name is Tiyo!”

No one responded.

Tiyo shouted again, “Come, lead me inside the city!”

“...”

Caska turned her head. “What’s that?”

“He said he’s... Tiyo?”

“Tiyo? What’s that?” wondered Caska.

A soldier interrupted their conversation, “Tiyo seems to be one of the travelers from the continent.”

“From the continent... Then, that means he’s one of

them

?”

“Yes, I heard there are three of them. An orc, a gnome, and a mixed dark elf who recently joined them... I think the orc warrior from earlier is called Crockta.”

“That guy’s Crockta?” Caska uttered, opening her eyes wide in surprise.

She had forgotten the name, but she remembered now. She had heard that travelers from the continent were making waves in the northern region and that they had traveled from Mount Luclan to Nuridot, Nameragon, and then Spinora. Everyone had said that their leader, the orc warrior, was completely different from the orcs here. It was rumored that he was stronger than all of the other orcs and that he did not commit unjust acts.

Caska had heard that he was an orc who followed a code of honor—a kind of orc that did not exist in the northern region. He was the orc warrior Crockta.

“Tell him to come inside,” said Caska.

The dark elves let Tiyo and Anor inside. The gnome named Tiyo acted all cocky and shouted commands at the dark elves, but after that, he quickly headed to the medical corps to see Crockta.

While watching Tiyo, Caska nodded and remarked, “So, the rumors were true...”

Caska had witnessed Crockta’s courage firsthand as he faced countless soldiers on his own without looking back. He also possessed formidable skill and slaughtered enemies with a single blow. Caska’s tension disappeared from her face.

Her comrade laughed. “Look at your expression. Did you really mean it?”

“What?” Caska looked at him.

“Are you really going to give him your first kiss?”

Caska smirked. “Why, you don’t think I can?”

“I could totally see you try... but that orc might reject you.”

“Haha, what are you saying?”

Caska pointed at her face and gestured at her body.

Her face looked haggard from the battle, and she was exhausted and covered in dirt. Nevertheless, her deep blue eyes did not lose their spark and shone brightly. She had a straight nose, scarlet lips that looked like flower petals in bloom, and a voluptuous body that was toned from rigorous training. She was a beauty who stood out even among dark elves.

Caska propped her face on her hands and grinned. “Unless he can’t get it up.”