Chapter 145: Dirty South

The knights clad in steel armor had a cocky air about them. It was unusual to see individuals fully clad in armor in the lands of other species.

They looked down at the villagers from atop their horses as if the ground was too dirty to tread upon.

“The emperor is merciful. We will give you one more chance.”

The villagers trembled in fear, recalling what happened the last time the knights were in the village.

When no one replied, one of the knights in the back came forward and drew his sword. His blade flashed brilliantly as it reflected the sunlight seeping in through the lush forest.

“Is everyone mute here? Answer!”

The villagers retreated with hesitance. Their eyes were fixated on the knight’s blade.

That sword had trampled their homes and killed their families, and they had come again to demand that they follow the self-proclaimed emperor while holding the blade at their throats.

It was obvious what obeying the emperor meant. They faced the grim fate of becoming enslaved with their lives dedicated to erecting the walls of the emperor’s fortress, ascending ever higher into the sky.

Worse, they could be conscripted into war against their will because that’s what emperors did.

Hans pushed Crockta and his friends away, signaling them to hide. He hesitantly placed the gold coins he had received from Crockta back into the palm of Crockta’s hand.

Crockta, swept away by the urgency of the situation, accepted them.

Hans whispered, “Run!”

He then approached the knights as the representative of the village.

“I will speak, sir.”

Hans bowed in front of the knight, and the knight raised his sword over Hans’ head.

“Speak.”

“We are...”

The knight interrupted Hans with a smirk on his face.

“Before you speak, look around at the villagers and think carefully.”

Hans shut his mouth and looked behind him. All of the villagers’ eyes were headed toward him.

He saw the wrinkled faces of the elderly, the nervous expressions of young men, women scared out of their wits, and the innocent, wide-eyed children.

Hans closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing.

“I don’t know anything because I grew up in a small village. I don’t know much about the world, but...”

The blade touched his head and then drew back. Hans paused his breath.

“...after you came, we transported the village and lived as bandits in the forest. We did our best and even attempted hunting, but we were prone to failure because we aren’t accustomed to fighting.”

“You are talking too much.”

“...we are just simple folks. If you place the blade at our throats and take us, then we have no choice but to obey since it’s better than dying, but...”

Hans raised his head. Although the light reflected by the knight’s helmet blinded his eyes, he stared at the knight straight in the face. The knight had the face of a young man.

“...we want to know what kind of person the emperor is. We are not people who belong in the emperor’s world. Can you please just let us go?” implored Hans.

The knight nodded. “Is that so? Understood.”

Hans lowered his head again.

The knights exchanged looks among themselves. After a brief discussion, the knight began, “Since you are not people suited for the emperor...”

The knights raised their swords.

“...then you should go to a world that suits you.”

The villagers screamed.

The first target was Hans who was facing the knights. The sword descended toward him.

Clang!

The sound of weapons clashing rang throughout the village.

The knights flinched.

What blocked them was a huge greatsword that was far too heavy for any of them to lift.

“Bul’tar, how could you call yourselves knights?”

As the frightening orc with fierce eyes swung his greatsword, the knight staggered.

The tattoos all over his body strangely rippled as murderous intent rose from his body.

The knights’ horses retreated in fear.

“Who are you?”

The knights faltered because they instinctively sensed that this orc wasn’t an easy opponent.

Crockta pushed Hans, who was utterly dumbfounded, away from the scene. Then, he straightened his back and proudly said, “My name is Crockta.”

“...!”

Crockta. They had heard that name somewhere.

The gods at the temple had whispered that name. They called him the Conqueror of the North, the hero who stopped the crazy chieftain’s rampage.

But all they knew about him was that his name was Crockta and that he was an orc. They couldn’t immediately assume this orc was him.

The knight sneered. “Do you even know whose name that is?”

Crockta, who didn’t intend to borrow the prestige of his own name, paid no heed. With the greatsword resting on his shoulder, he asked, “If you guys are really knights, then you guys must have sworn by something when you became knights.”

The code of chivalry was not too different in the world of

Elder Lord.

Knights swore to practice the code of chivalry when they received knighthood, and it wouldn’t have been too different from the warrior’s commandments Crockta swore by.

“Do you remember what you swore by?” asked Crockta.

The knight’s face fell. “What gibberish are you spouting? You trash orc. Everyone, attack!”

“Yes, sir!”

Right then, Crockta stomped the ground and let out a thunderous roar, “Bul’taaaaaaaaaaaar!”

His aura exploded, and the horses flailed and turned around as if something was in their way.

“Woah!”

“What’s going on?”

The knight in the lead knew that the orc in front of them looked like a giant— no, like a monster, to the horses because that’s what he looked like to him as well.

The strands of murderous intent that rose from the orc’s back pointed toward the sky.

The knight broke out in a cold sweat.

Even though he was much higher up than the orc because he was on a horse, he felt as if the orc was staring him down from a towering height. Moreover, the orc’s sword was large enough to slice mountains.

The orc’s immense aura had a hallucinatory effect on his opponents.

Was this orc really Crockta– the one who murdered the crazy chieftain and conquered the north by himself?

Had he returned to the continent and traveled south?

“Speak!” As he stared fiercely at the knight, Crockta asked, “What was your oath?”

The orc’s oppressive aura bore down on him.

“Did you swear to persecute the weak? Is that your code of chivalry?”

“Such things are...!”

“Or does an oath mean nothing to you?”

Crockta’s murderous aura engulfed him.

The knight, feeling threatened, swung his sword frantically. “Shut up!”

The knight’s aura surged from his body. He wasn’t just a regular soldier. He had received the title of a knight through rigorous training.

The knight broke free from Crockta’s trance and chuckled as he dismounted his horse.

“Code of chivalry? Hahaha. Cut your nonsense.”

He knew that he couldn’t rely on his horse when facing this orc. His horse couldn’t even take a step forward due to the orc’s ferocious aura. He could feel the horse trembling all over.

“Everyone, get off your horses and face this orc. He’s not an easy opponent.”

Crockta remained calm. He was used to fighting alone against many.

The knights began to surround Crockta.

“Code of chivalry? It’s hilarious that an orc speaks of chivalry, but I will respond to your question.”

The knight smirked. No matter how strong this orc was, even if he was the Conqueror of the North, he couldn’t win against all of these knights surrounding him.

He shouted, “What’s the use of protecting the weak and fighting against injustice? The world comes down to the survival of the fittest in the end. Even you will die at our hands today! Hahaha!”

All of the knights’ blades were pointed at Crockta.

“The emperor’s command is more important to us than a mere oath! For the emperor!”

“For the emperor!”

The knights’ cold blades charged toward Crockta.

In the midst of the forest of swords, the Ogre Slayer stirred.

“How shamelessly you speak,” said Crockta.

Clang!

Claaaaaaaaang!

The dozens of blades clashed against the lone Ogre Slayer, which repelled all of the blades in a single move.

The knights clutched their numb hands from the shock and retreated.

They couldn’t understand what was going on. What had just happened?

With a singular motion, that one sword had deflected all of their swords at the same time despite each attacker coming from a different angle. In that split second, the sword clashed against theirs as if it had multiplied into dozens.

Crockta uttered, “For breaking the oath.”

“What?”

“You broke the oath.”

Crockta bent his knees to lower his stance.

“That’s your cause of death.”

Crockta suddenly leapt forward with an explosion of energy.

The knights raised their swords, but the Ogre Slayer effortlessly shattered their blades.

Dismembered body parts and broken blades splattered in the air with a fountain of blood.

As he picked out the entrails stuck to his blade, Crockta grinned. “When the king of the underworld asks why you died, cite that as your reason.”

The knights’ morale dropped after experiencing Crockta’s tremendous power. Their formation broke down.

Crockta didn’t miss a beat and slashed the ring of knights around him in succession.

“Ahhhh!”

“Ahhhhhhhh!”

Pitiful screams echoed throughout the forest as the horses fearfully watched Crockta slaughter their owners.

The scene of the greatsword slicing through flesh and spilling blood was reflected in their huge eyes.

Crockta speedily resolved the situation and drove his Ogre Slayer into the stomach of a knight putting up a fight.

Soon, the knights were sprawled on the ground as indistinguishable hunks of flesh.

Crockta kicked aside a head that was in his way and walked toward the last remaining knight cowering on the ground. He trembled as he backed away.

“M-monster...!”

“Monster?”

Crockta kicked his shoulder. The knight rolled across the ground.

“You guys are monsters.”

“...!”

“How many villages did you get rid of before coming here?”

When he didn’t answer, Crockta pointed the greatsword at his throat.

The knight hurriedly answered, “We didn’t kill e-everyone. We didn’t kill people who followed our orders...”

“So how many did you kill?”

The knight nervously licked his lips, but he couldn’t make any sounds. Instead of answering, he suddenly dropped on his knees and pressed his forehead against the ground. “P-please spare my life.”

It was a pitiful sight.

“I couldn’t help it because the emperor ordered it. Please spare my life. I’ve worked my whole life toward becoming a knight. I can’t just die like this when I finally achieved my dream...please forgive me just this once!”

Crockta was silent.

The knight began to slowly raise his head at the continued silence.

“...Huh?”

The greatsword was right in front of his face.

With a swish, it severed the knight’s right hand.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

He clutched his mutilated arm and rolled across the ground as he bled profusely. Crockta ripped a piece of cloth from a corpse and tossed it at the knight.

“Tell the man who calls himself emperor.”

The knight stopped the bleeding with the torn cloth and attempted to retrieve his right hand. If he was fast, he could attach it back to his arm.

But Crockta kicked the severed hand far away.

The knight groaned in despair.

“I, Crockta, killed and got rid of the crazy chieftain of the north because he killed many innocent people and plunged the world into chaos to satisfy his greed.”

Crockta grabbed the knight by the neck and raised him up. He then walked up to a horse and hoisted the knight onto it.

The horse trembled.

Crockta whispered into the knight’s ear, “Tell the emperor he could end up in the same boat.”

***

Crockta and his friends departed from Hans’ village.

After witnessing Crockta’s power, the villagers began to serve Crockta like a god. Crockta gave them funds for traveling and sent them to the Rebirth Brotherhood in Maillard with a letter entrusting them to their care.

Hans and the villagers repeatedly bowed and gave thanks and quickly went on their way since the emperor’s subordinates could come again. The emperor couldn’t encroach on Maillard because it was the territory of elves.

“The south is a bit weird,” said Tiyo.

They were now riding on the knights’ stellar horses. The horses obeyed them without resistance after they saw their owners die at Crockta’s hands.

Crockta gave the rest of the horses to the villagers.

“You mean the humans here are weird.”

The south retained the vestiges of human hierarchical structures, which was unfamiliar to them.

“Yes, that’s true, but look over there. Isn’t that weird too?” said Tiyo as he pointed at something in front of him.

Crockta looked forward and was surprised at what he saw.

“What’s that?”

“I’m not sure.”

“I think that’s a knight,” said Anor.

“That’s a knight?”

As Anor had said, the strange creature was indeed a knight, but he wasn’t like the knights they had just met.

“Save me! Please save me! Help!”

He was running on his hands and feet while being chased by bandits.

“You can’t escape! Give us everything you have, knight!”

“Noooooo!”

He noticed Crockta’s party and began running toward them.

“Orc! Orc! Please save me! Orc!”

“Stop!” shouted the bandits.