Chapter 185: Returning Home

“Tell me about the oracle,” Crockta asked the man.

The man refused to speak, but as Ogre Slayer drew closer to the back of his neck, he turned ghastly pale and opened his mouth, “God has ordered your death.”

“God? Why?”

“I don’t know. I just listen to God’s commands and execute his will. God commanded your death and lent me a sword and his strength. I am only here to kill you as he has ordered. That is all.”

“Who is your God?”

“My God is an Old Mountain God who collects what he sows and takes away as much blood as he sheds.”

Crockta tilted his head. He had heard of the Old Mountain God before. It was a small religion spread in some mountainous areas of the continent. It was mostly worshiped by mountain dwellers, but it had a brutal doctrine compared to its serene image.

Still, why did the Old Mountain God suddenly want to kill him?

The man went on while Crockta was thinking, “Accept your fate. Others will come for you, even if I don’t.”

“Do you mean to say there are others?”

“You know nothing, huh? It’s not just us. All the Gods of the continent have whispered your death. I mean, even the benevolent Goddess of Mercy wishes for your death.”

Crockta’s face crumpled, “Why on earth do they want me dead?”

“We do not know the affairs of the Gods. You must have done evil deeds worthy of the wrath of the Gods without realizing it. Repent, Crockta. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and blood for blood.”

“I don’t understand.”

Crockta withdrew his greatsword.

The man shouted spiritedly, “We may have failed today, but eventually, God’s iron club will find you! In the end...! Kuhk!”

Crockta kicked him in the abdomen, causing him to curl up on the floor.

Crockta looked down at him and shook his head, “You’re too noisy. You should run your mouth only after looking at the situation at hand.”

“Kugh...!” The man sprawled on the ground was in agony.

“In the end, you orcs will not survive the wrath of the Gods!”

“What did you say?” Crockta lowered his posture and stared down at him.

“You orcs?” Crockta continued.

“That’s right! The Gods wish for the death of all orcs, not just you! Total annihilation!”

“...”

Crockta raised his head and glared at the hooded group of Old Mountain God devotees. Everyone flinched at his ferocious gaze. They took a step back, unable to even muster the thought of lifting their weapons.

Crockta roared, “Is it true?”

“...”

When they kept quiet, Crockta grabbed the fallen man by the neck. He could not breathe and gasped for breath.

“Kuhkk! Gasp...!”

“Answer me. Did the Gods really tell you to kill all the orcs, and not just me? Was that the oracle delivered by your Gods?”

Crockta stood back up. The man’s body was held up in the air. He was suffocating and grabbed Crockta by the wrist, struggling. The devotees were left with their mouths open seeing the man in pain.

“Tha-, that’s right. What he said is true. So, quickly let him go!”

“The Gods told you to kill all the orcs?” Crockta reconfirmed.

“Yes, that was what they said. They said to kill all the orcs and make them a forgotten species.”

Crockta nodded and threw the man toward the group of zealots. They crashed into each other and rolled on the ground. Some had their hood taken off by the chaos. They were all ordinary human beings. They were the faces of ordinary mountain dwellers, living in the mountains while farming and hunting.

Crockta murmured, “The Gods want the death of me and the orcs?”

What was going on?

After recovering the man, the zealots began to falter and retreat. They were wary of Crockta.

Crockta said with a sigh, “Get out of here.”

As soon as Crockta allowed them to, they hurriedly ran away. There was only one blade left on the ground, which was the one that the man dropped. Crockta picked it up. It was an ordinary sword. However, when it was imbued with God’s power and enveloped by a white light, it exuded a force that even Crockta found difficult to handle.

Beings possessing such powers were aiming for him and the orcs. It was not just him, but all the orcs.

“What a pain in the ass.”

Why wouldn’t they let him live in peace? He could not stay still since he had gained information that all the orcs were being targeted, and not just him.

“Why the hell are the Gods doing this? Did you perhaps curse at them?” Tiyo said after witnessing the scene.

Crockta shrugged, “Well, if I really did so, it wouldn’t feel so unfair.”

“My God. We climbed over a hill only to face yet another hill.” Tiyo murmured.

“From the chieftain to the empire, and now the Gods... Are you going to be fine?” Anor looked at Crockta with worried eyes.

“Even if it’s not fine, there’s nothing I can do.”

“Then, shouldn’t you go to the other orcs quickly? They’re aiming for the orcs, aren’t they?”

“Yes. Let’s quickly go. I can look for my father later, so we should fight alongside Crockta’s friends! Those God bastards!” Tiyo cursed.

“Erm...” Crockta pondered.

Since the orcs were the targets, the first place that came to mind was Orcrox and Basque Village. There was also the land of the orcs located in the northwestern region of the sea of forests.

There was also a possibility that those who borrowed God’s name would invade there. Maybe they were already on their way there. He would need at least one more person.

“Should we...” Crockta murmured.

At that moment, someone stepped in, “Stay a little longer before going.”

It was Jakiro.

“Jakiro.”

“No one is crazy enough to go to war with the orcs right away just because the Gods have delivered an oracle. This is no longer the era when the Gods were running wild.”

“Are you implying that we don’t have to care about it?” Crockta asked.

“I mean that you don’t have to be in a hurry. There is still time left even if something does happen. They, too, will look at their own interests and circumstances. They will take their time trying to get in sync.”

Even while speaking, Jakiro was not looking at Crockta. Crockta followed Jakiro’s gaze and confirmed what he was looking at. It was the Ogre Slayer he was holding.

“If you really have to fight the Gods, you will need to be prepared, too, Crockta.”

“Prepared?”

Jakiro raised his eyes and looked at Crockta. Crockta flinched at Jakiro’s gaze. A fire that he had never seen before was blazing in Jakiro’s eyes. It wasn’t anything like a small ember. It felt like a furnace that could even melt iron.

“So, I will fix Ogre Slayer.”

***

“Kyahahahahaha!”

A clear burst of laughter resonated.

“So, you tried to kill us? You guys? Really?”

She grabbed the hair of the human she was sitting on and pulled on it. A tower built of human corpses was below her feet, and the man on the very top was still not dead.

He trembled and begged for forgiveness, “Please... Stop...”

“Stop?”

She pulled on his hair harder. The man, whose neck was bent backward, couldn’t speak anymore and coughed. She pushed her face close to his ear.

“If, you know, if you guys would’ve won and we lost, and if we told you to stop, would you have stopped then?”

“Kuuugh...”

“Where did your confidence from earlier go, huh?”

She raised her axe, hanging by her waist. It was a throwing axe, which wasn’t that big. She pushed the tip of the axe close to the man’s eyes.

“Say it again.”

“Please...”

“I will forgive you if you say it again. Tell me what you said to us the first time we met.”

“Forgive me-...”

She was irritated.

“Say it again and I will forgive you!”

She stabbed the man’s eyes with the throwing axe. The man’s eye burst and blood trickled down, causing him to scream.

“Now, say it before it becomes more painful. What did you say when you first came to us?”

“Kuhk, ugh... When we fir-, first-...”

“Yes, when we first what?”

“Go-, in the name of God...”

“And?”

“Cro-, Crockta and the orcs-... Ki-, kill...”

“Wrong.”

She pulled her axe out and swung it again. It stabbed his nose, splitting his nose bone. The man’s desperate scream resonated. Blood foam formed in the man’s mouth, causing the man to choke up blood.

She hummed to herself.

“Should I tell you?”

“Kugh...”

“You said you would kill the dirty rat bastard Crockta and the trashy orcs, and that you would cut up our bodies and hang it on the castle gates.”

She hummed and swung the axe again. Every time the man’s arms were bludgeoned, blood splattered from the man’s face. Gradually, the man was reduced to a disfigured appearance, not resembling a human being at all.

“Should I kill you, should I not?”

“Kil-... Please kill me...”

“Then, I will keep you alive.”

She stood up.

Then, she grabbed the man by the scruff of his neck and pushed him down. The man rolled over the pile of corpses and wriggled on the floor.

Her subordinates, who continued to slaughter the enemies around her, asked, “Captain! What should I do with this guy?”

“Make him wish he was dead, save him.”

“Kekeke, that’s a good idea!”

They swung their weapons excitedly. Blood splattered and screams resonated.

Suddenly, a man was seen crawling away from the distance. She held the throwing axe at her fingertips, spinning it round and round. Then, she grabbed it and threw it in a single motion.

The axe flew through the air and split the man’s head in two. The man’s skull was cracked and the contents flowed out.

“Kill those who want to live.” She grinned.

“It’s over, Captain Anya!”

“Good job.”

She was a warrior who gained notoriety for her crazy massacres. She was Anya, the mad slaughterer.

Declaring to avenge the murderer of Lenox, together with her group she went looking for the ringleader—the human Count. She tortured him before finally killing him. After that, she even murdered his family members, painting the castle with blood. She was the mad warrior, Anya.

She smiled as she looked back at the carnage, which was now coming close to an end.

“Kahaha. Crockta, you brat, you’ve become a big shot.”

Anya recalled the first time she saw Crockta. When Lenox passed away and she entered Orcrox to attend Lenox’s funeral, there was an apprentice warrior who said he saw Lenox’s final moment. His movements and actions were clumsy, but his eyes were burning hot as if he had inherited Lenox’s fiery gaze.

“That brat conquered the north, stopped the empire, and now he is fighting against the Gods?”

Anya’s eyes shone.

“He’s better than expected...” She chuckled again.

It was then. The air around her fluttered.

Anya frowned, “What is this all of a sudden?!”

An orc slowly emerged from there. He looked at Anya with a translucent body and his figure soon became clear in shape. It was a bald man holding a strangely bent staff and wearing a necklace made of bones from all kinds of animals. He also had a skull adorned on his shoulders.

It was Wallachwi, the abyss shaman—a sorcerer who pursued the void.

“Following Lenox, is it Crockta this time-... Kehe... Holhol...”

“Shut up.”

“I thought you preferred old hens... But you like young chicks too huh... Kelholhol... Holhol...”

“You’re really an unpleasant man. When did you start following me?”

“Who knows...? Kelhol... Holhol!”

Anya swung an axe that was hung around her waist. However, it did not reach Wallachwi, and instead passed through his body.

“It’s useless. Kelhol... Holhol!”

“Your spell is also extremely unpleasant.”

Anya’s lips twitched, and she hung the axe around her waist again.

Anya’s men, who finished cleaning up, recognized Wallachwi and greeted him, “Wallachwi-nim! It’s been a while! Kehaha!”

“You’re alive!? Bultar!”

“Have you heard the news?! Crockta did something interesting! Kekeke!”

“There will be another festival again! Kehaha!”

“It’s a fight, a fight!” They laughed while shouting.

It was befitting of the mad warriors who followed Anya.

Anya, grinning at the sight of them, asked Wallachwi, “You’re going too, right? To Orcrox?”

An oracle was made against the entire orc species. They always traveled around the continent doing their own thing, but given the current situation, they had to return to Orcrox. It was like the time when all the great orcs of the continents returned home for Lenox’s funeral.

“Of course. Kelhol... Holhol!” Wallachwi grinned.

Anya nodded in response and asked another question, “What about Zankus?”

“He said he will come after he is done with hunting... Keholhol...!”

“What is he hunting this time? Pervert bastard.”

“We’re done!” her men shouted.

“Okay. Then, let’s go!”

Anya and her group began walking toward Orcrox after they were done with the massacre. The semi-transparent sorcerer was also walking beside her, waving his staff.

It had been a long time since Lenox died. Since then, the north opened up, and the kingdom became an empire. The inexperienced apprentice warrior became a great warrior, and now, the Gods wanted to eradicate the orc species.

The legendary orcs began to gather again.