Chapter 205: War of the Gods (3)

The sun remained black for only a few minutes.

And during that time, everyone on the battlefield trembled in fear. Among those battling, something was prowling in the darkness where not even an inch ahead could be seen.

“Arghhhhh!”

“Eeeeek!”

Screams erupted simultaneously from all directions.

Everyone turned their heads in alert, looking for the threat in all directions, which caused them to bump into those around them or be cut by a blind sword.

The expedition's mages sent light up into the sky, but it was ridiculously insufficient to illuminate the world abandoned by the sun. Instead of providing clarity, the faint light eerily illuminated the ground, gnawing at people's hearts.

Each flicker of light only showed the faces of those in pure terror.

The face of someone looking at you, in the next flicker of light, was torn and collapsing in a bloody mess.

“Ahhhhh!”

Horrible screams continued.

'Hungryhungryhungry...'

Crockta could hear their whispers.

His eyes, able to pierce through the darkness, witnessed grotesque beings crawling up from the ground of the battlefield. Their forms were horrifically amorphous, fitting for hell.

Yet, they all had one thing in common. They all had horrendously large and ugly mouths.

'Hungryyyyyyy...'

A ghoul of hell passed by Crockta, emitting a foul stench. Suddenly, Crockta and the creature's eyes met. It smacked its lips.

However, instead of lunging at Crockta with its teeth, it turned around and tore a member of the expedition apart.

Those who couldn't see in the darkness were bitten and devoured whole by the jaws of the ghouls. In the spots they were standing, only bloodstains and parts of limbs that the ghouls couldn't swallow in time were left behind.

Such creatures were filling up the battlefield.

'Eatchewswallow...'

'Hungry...'

Tashaquil was a shaman who used to always laugh and bless the orc warriors in the training ground.

But at that moment, he was full of rage. The blessings he used to give were now the spells of demons, creating hellscapes.

"This must be what a true war is like."

Crockta looked up at the sky.

A world without the sun.

The 'Sun Slayer' Zankus. He truly was a hunter who pierced and killed the sun.

Now, with the sun fast asleep, all kinds of ghouls took advantage of the darkness to ravage the expedition. Frightened, they swung their swords wildly, killing their comrades and even stabbing themselves.

“Ahhhhhh!”

Suddenly, a sword swung out of the darkness toward Crockta.

Crockta blocked it with his greatsword.

It was a soldier of the expedition, driven mad by fear, swinging his sword in all directions.

"Arghhhhhhh!"

“Tsk.”

Crockta grabbed his neck.

The ghouls were indeed terrifying entities, and even more so when one’s vision was taken away. Imagine the terror of not knowing when and where these horrific creatures might jump out and devour you alive.

But he picked the wrong one to go mad in front of.

The light was slowly returning.

The 'death' that swallowed the sun disappeared, and the sun began to regain its strength, spreading its light once again.

A faint sunlight cast over Crockta's face.

"Ahh..."

The soldier's eyes widened.

What he faced while fleeing from the ghouls was none other than the fearsome face of Crockta.

"Aaaaaaaah!"

He screamed.

"You’re so loud."

Crockta tightened his grip.

The soldier’s neck was crushed, instantly killing him.

Dropping his body, Crockta thought that perhaps the soldier who just died was one of the luckier ones in this battle.

The reason was unfolding before his eyes.

"It's better not to see a sight like this."

The sun had half returned.

And that was enough to reveal the landscape on the battlefield.

Hellscape.

Not everyone was completely devoured by the ghouls. The ghouls wandering the formation of the expedition did as they pleased, tearing at them following their taste.

Some had only one-half of their body bitten off, lying around moaning.

Some had their head torn off above their nose, revealing the contents of their heads.

A man had only his skin chewed up to the point of resembling an anatomical model.

A soldier had his belly torn open, spilling his intestines, which then split open to spill their contents.

Such scenes filled the view.

On top of that.

‘Hatelighthatelighthatelight... hungry, hungry, hungry...'

Ghouls with eyes, noses, and mouths randomly placed, and limbs of humans and bodies of beasts irregularly sprouting, were fully exposed.

The expedition screamed in terror.

"What the hell is this!"

"Monsters!"

"Help!"

The ghouls continued their feast until the very last second before the sun had fully returned.

Even as their bodies were burning up in the sunlight, the ghouls did not stop devouring. They chewed, trampled, and swallowed.

As the ghouls made their last assault, the formation of the expedition fell into complete chaos.

“This is awful.”

Crockta stood at the forefront where orcs and humans mixed, with barely any ghoul visible behind him.

However, in the territory of the expedition, significantly more ghouls indiscriminately appeared and devoured the enemy. Each clash of their teeth tore the bodies of the enemies apart, and limbs soared into the sky as they shook their jaws.

The scene of frenzy was gruesome enough to leave even the orcs speechless.

Tashaquil was the shaman who was strong enough to create such a horrific spectacle when necessary.

"The sun is back."

Soon, the sun fully returned to its peak brightness.

The ghoul screamed their last as they completely melted away.

They had endlessly devoured and preyed upon the expedition forces, but after melting, they left no trace, turning into just a handful of ash.

If someone had just looked at this place, they would have no idea what had happened only moments ago.

But those who lived the moment trembled with the terrifying memory.

Just a few minutes before Zankus extinguished the sun. That short period led to the massacre of the majority of the expedition forces.

Even the gods turned their eyes away from the horrific scene.

"Tashaquiiiiiil!"

The old man radiating light in the sky screamed Tashaquil's name. Although his wings of radiance made him seem like an angel, his twisted face resembled that of a demon.

"How dare you summon the ghouls; out of everything you could have summoned! You will not get away with this!"

His voice roared across the battlefield.

And once again, light burst from his body, descending upon the entire expedition force. The wounds and fears from the ghoul vanished, and the expedition forces returned to being the faithful army of the gods.

However, the blessings did not reach those who had lost their limbs and could no longer participate in battle. They watched their comrades receive the light of the gods and march forward as they slowly passed away.

"These bastards, these so-called gods."

Crockta twisted his lips in a grin.

"Are no different from that emperor bastard."

The expedition forces, imbued with the will of the gods, marched with emotionless faces, ignoring their fallen comrades under their feet.

The injured soldiers of the expedition were trampled to death by the feet of their own allied forces.

In the end, the expedition forces were mere puppets of the gods.

This was a war between the gods and the orcs.

'Everyone, brace yourselves.'

Suddenly, Tashaquil's voice whispered in everyone's ears.

All orcs on the battlefield heard his voice.

'The next attack will be a dangerous one.'

As his words ended, the advancing expedition forces halted and fortified their formation with shields.

It looked as if they were blocking an escape route.

"That's..."

At that moment.

Crockta was able to see it.

Magical power began to surge from behind the expedition forces' formation, soaring toward the sky.

Tashaquil warned again.

'The Goddess of Magic has taken action.'

Crockta, although a warrior, had reached 'Introduction to Magic' through his past connection with the northern wizard Jamero. Combined with his intuition as a warrior who had reached a higher realm, he could observe the flow of magical powers more clearly than most wizards.

And even now, he could see it.

The magical power that boiled up from the rear of the expedition forces shot into the sky, penetrating the atmosphere.

And the form of that magical power.

It looked like a net.

"No way..."

It extended beyond the sky, beyond the planet's atmosphere, into the vast universe, spreading toward the asteroids floating in space.

The net of magical power drew in and captured the asteroids, solitary rocks floating in space, one by one.

The universe.

An endlessly vast space.

And the rocks floating aimlessly in that space.

The Goddess of Magic gathered them all and pulled them toward the earth.

Gradually accelerating.

Burning white hot as they passed through the atmosphere.

"Everyone, take cover————!"

Grand magic.

Meteor Shower.

The asteroids, despite burning and eroding through the atmosphere, stubbornly survived.

They then became weapons of mass slaughter.

The white-hot meteor fragments plummeted toward the orcs.

"Kyaaaaaaah!"

"Arghhhhhhh!"

"Take coveeeer!"

Flames and impacts devastated the orc formations. Craters formed here and there, and flames spread, burning the orcs.

The meteor shower continued to pour down.

Crash!!!!!!!

Aaaaaahhhhhhh!

The sounds of bombardment and screams intertwined.

"My god..."

A spell only heard through legends was cast by the hands of the Goddess of Magic.

Crockta dodged the falling meteors, but the aftermath shook the earth, tumbling him over.

The asteroid flames scorched his body. Crockta roared, shaking off the flames.

"Huff... Huff..."

Crockta's face contorted in anger. He gripped his God Slayer and glared at the enemies.

The formation of the expedition force remained completely intact.

They maintained their formation with their shields raised, coldly observing the chaos on the side of the orcs.

"You damned bastards..."

They had sent the ghouls away and were paying the orcs back with a meteor shower. The expedition force must be feeling satisfied. Crockta smirked and took a step forward.

"Are you okay, Crockta?"

Suddenly, a familiar voice followed.

"Keke, this is nothing."

It was Hoyt.

Hoyt, who had been commanding the orcs from the back of the lines, had moved up to the forefront. He found himself unable to stand by any longer.

"Is it okay for you to come out up here?"

"Keke, seeing you, I couldn't just stand aside."

Under a sky raining meteors, and the ground engulfed in flames, two warriors stood at the forefront of their army.

Hoyt shouted.

"All of you! Snap out of ittttttt!"

He shouted exactly like he did back at the training grounds.

"Are you in pain————?!"

Hoyt's roar overwhelmed the battlefield.

Then, from the flames, orcs began to emerge, one step at a time.

None were unscathed. All bore heavy signs of injury or burns, yet they held their weapons and grinned.

"Not at all."

"That kind of tickled, Hoyt!"

"I'm finally getting warmed up! Kehehehe!"

"I’m loving the heat!"

The number of following orc warriors gradually increased.

Hoyt chuckled.

"Then..."

He exchanged glances with Crockta.

God Slayer and Mountain Slasher.

A greatsword and a hammer were raised high into the sky.

"Follow me————!"

The two warriors charged toward the expedition force.

"Aaaaaah!"

"Burnnnnnnn————!"

"Chaaaaaarge!"

"I’m gonna kill every single one of them!"

The orc warriors ran after them.

A bizarre battlefield where the earth quakes, ghouls appear, and flames fall from the sky.

In that place.

The orcs, as always, charged.

* * *

An elf user named Yurika was taking a break after hunting monsters. She had heard the noise about the war and the battle between gods and orcs, but she found exploring the world of Elder Lord on her own much more enjoyable.

"I leveled up a lot today."

She hummed with a smile as she checked her status.

Suddenly, her status screen dimmed.

".....?"

Then, she realized a massive shadow had been cast over her.

Startled, she stood up and turned around.

"...eh?"

She had expected a large monster from the size of the shadow.

But it wasn’t. It was an orc.

"Uh..."

Orcs were both monsters and NPCs. They existed somewhere in the gray area between the two categories. Though they could speak and had their own civilization, at times, they were targets for quests, making them an entity hard to fit into a box.

With Crockta rising to stardom, perceptions had changed significantly, but she still found orcs unfamiliar.

"Excuse me... what..."

Moreover, this orc felt different. A powerful presence emanated from him. He was clearly stronger than her.

She calmly prepared to flee.

"......"

The orc, who had been quietly looking down at her, spoke up.

"Can I ask you for some directions?"

His voice was deep and resonant. Facing his intense gaze and aura, she was relieved she didn’t have to fight him.

"Oh, s-sure. Ask away. I’ll help you if I can."

"By any chance..."

He paused, then asked.

"Do you know which direction I have to go in order to reach... Orcrox?"

"Orcrox?"

Orcrox was currently an active war zone.

Perhaps this orc intended to join and help his kin there.

She felt sorry for him. Despite how strong this well-spoken orc may be, it seemed unlikely that his presence would turn the tide for the orcs. The expedition force was numerous, and they even had the gods on their side.

She explained in a gentle voice.

"If you keep going that way, you'll come across a road. Follow the main road, and you'll reach Orcrox. There are signs and... you'll meet more people along the way, so you can ask them if you're unsure."

"Thank you."

He scanned the direction she indicated with sharp eyes.

Then, he thanked her again.

"Truly, thank you. I'll be on my way."

He started walking in the direction she had pointed out.

Yurika watched his departing figure, quietly wishing him luck.

Then.

"...huh?"

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

There were those shadowing him from the bushes.

They emerged one by one, following the orc onto the road.

"Uh... ah..."

And they kept coming.

Her jaw dropped to the floor. Every single one of them was clad in steel armor and helmets and were carrying giant axes on their shoulders. It was an intimidating appearance.

These orcs didn’t look nor feel like the orcs she knew. The orcs she had seen were all free-spirited. She had never seen orcs moving in such an organized manner, equipped uniformly, as if they were an army unit.

Yet, they were emerging out of the bushes endlessly, marching.

"Where could you possibly have come from...?"

Where had such troops come from?

It was the forest of monsters, a land restricted by the border, not allowing anyone to advance any further.

She noticed the flags fluttering above the heads of the orc army.

The emblems varied, but the words beneath them were the same.

She murmured softly.

"Great Tribes...?"