novelraw Chapter 65 : Chapter 65
Chapter 65 : Chapter 65
Chapter 65
Sitting astride the fallen Great Warrior's body, Ian looked to the other side and chuckled.
"Wow.
They're really running fast."
They could have run much faster if they had abandoned their armor.
Was that the last shred of a knight's pride?
Anyway, I just couldn't understand these creatures called knights.
To cling to pride even in a life-or-death mission.
"Well, I guess they're just being cautious."
Even if they are a little stupid, a kind person like me should try to understand.
I turned my head and observed the hundreds of Orcs chasing the two knights.
“One in front… ah!
There's one more over there!”
As planned, the Legion soldiers and both Great Warriors had followed them.
The forces remaining at the old castle should be insignificant.
A smile crept onto my lips unknowingly.
In a fight, the dirtiest trickster is the one who calls their friends, and in war, isn't the dirtiest trickster the one who raids an empty house?
"Isn't that right?"
I asked the Great Warrior lying at my feet, but the already dead Great Warrior was silent.
"See, it's all useless once you're dead."
You, of all people, should know how meaningless death is.
Glancing at the Great Warrior, Ian hurried towards the old castle.
***
Approaching the old castle, I rushed towards an Orc standing guard by the crumbled wall and held my sword to its neck.
-Krrk?
To the creature that blinked, as if unable to comprehend the sudden approach of the sword, I asked.
“Where is the Ogre?”
The moment I saw anger and hostility in its panicked eyes.
Thud.
I cut off its head.
As expected, threatening an Orc is probably futile.
I was severely short on time to find the Ogre before the main force ran out of arrows.
Hoodwock would be checking the outskirts of the old castle, but hearing it directly from an Orc would be the fastest way.
“I should have asked that guy earlier.”
The Great Warrior, who had been unusually talkative for an Orc, might have told me.
I clicked my tongue and ran towards the inside of the old castle.
***
I ran swiftly through the crudely stitched tents.
The stench from the unidentifiable meat hanging here and there was enough to make my head spin.
‘Ugh……!’
No wonder they had so many things hanging from their noses.
If they lived in a place like this, those big noses of theirs must be purely for decoration.
Among the tents, which were so closely packed that it seemed hard for even a single Orc to lie down, I saw some that were two or three times larger than the others.
That was probably where the Great Warriors stayed.
‘Should I go there?’
It wasn't a bad idea, but I ran past the huge tents and continued on.
No matter how stupid Orcs were, they wouldn't build their tents near an Ogre.
'If the Ogre isn't there, I can look around then.'
“Aargh!”
Distracted for a moment, a piece of meat hanging on a rope brushed against my face, and I screamed involuntarily.
I was genuinely several times more scared of that meat on the rope between the tents than I was of the Great Warrior's axe.
From the fact that its identity was unknown to the foul smell that pierced my lungs.
"Ugh, no wonder they have such foul tempers eating things like this."
After wiping the sticky mucus from my face, I proceeded more cautiously into the interior.
I tried threatening a few Orcs I encountered, but they all refused to yield, even with a blade to their necks.
Rather, even at the moment of death, they didn't hide their hostility, brandishing their swords, axes, and teeth.
After cutting them down and entering the interior of the old castle, I caught a glimpse of the ruins of the inner castle.
“Huh?”
Even without anyone telling me, I knew instinctively that the Ogre was there.
The fear of an irresistible being, etched into my genes, was warning me, raising every hair on my body and sending shivers down my spine.
"What is this……?"
The problem was that there wasn't just one.
“One, two, three, four……”
I could feel at least four or more Ogres here.
Even as I ran towards the closest one, I couldn't understand.
If it was one, I could have considered it lucky, but the Orcs had captured four Ogres?
‘If that were possible, a master of the forest would have emerged long ago.’
Even for Moner, they were debating whether to send the Knightly Order or have the Sword Master Count go himself for a dozen or so Ogres.
And Orcs?
Rationally, it was absolutely impossible, but my heart pounded.
If there really were four Ogres…….
"Heh……!"
That meant there were four treasures to loot from this empty house.
***
“Hah, hah, hah.”
A sweet taste rose from the breath I exhaled like a vomit.
Are we still not there yet?
I'm sure it wasn't this far.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
The maid I was carrying on my back twisted her body again.
The first few times I had shouted at her to stop, but now I didn't even have the strength for that.
This was really the limit.
Various thoughts flashed through my mind like a kaleidoscope.
Tail finally realized that when a person truly faces their limit, they can't think of anything at all.
But whether it was the limit or the limit of the limit, he couldn't stop.
The moment he stopped, an axe would fly at him from behind.
Clank, clank, clank, clank.
As he ran in time with the rhythmic clashing of his armor, his vision began to darken.
Tail, looking ahead with resentful eyes, mustered up his last ounce of strength and shouted at Vergil running ahead.
“I told you, you should have been friendlier with the soldiers, you bastard!”
Just how badly had he treated them that the arrows still hadn't started flying!
When they were killing Goblins, they had shot until their fingers were raw!
He felt better after shouting out of frustration, but as his breathing became ragged, his body felt a thousand times heavier.
At least if he had swung his sword once, he wouldn't have felt so wronged.
Was he not going to be able to swing his sword once, last time and this time too?
“Shit, I'm a knight……”
The faces of his parents, who had been as happy as children, saying that a treasure had been born into their family, flashed by.
Mother, your unfilial son is leaving first.
Eventually, Tail came to a stop.
He had overused his mana while running in armor.
He had to make a decision before his mana was completely depleted.
“Commander!
I'll hold them off, so take Lady Reina and……!”
The moment Tail shouted with a voice full of determination.
“Ah!”
The girl, drenched in green blood, blinked her eyes while gripping her flail.
“How rude.”
A 5-circle knight unleashed his aura and stood beside Tail.
“Commander, this is no time for jokes!
We don't know how far the soldiers are, so we must return immediately……!”
Shing.
As if completely oblivious to Tail's urgent feelings, Vergil, who had nonchalantly drawn his sword, pointed to the ground.
“You fool, I question how you ever received your knighthood.”
Where Vergil pointed, a long sword mark he had left before their departure was deeply carved.
“Ah!”
“If we had gotten a little closer, it would have been much easier for the soldiers to shoot.”
“I-I'm sorry!”
Inside his helmet, Tail's face turned beet red.
If this was the farthest mark they had left, the soldiers' arrows might not reach…….
Just as Tail was about to fall into self-reproach at the thought of having failed the mission, Vergil's sharp voice woke him.
“We’ve already passed two marks.”
There were a total of three marks left according to Vergil's orders.
If they had already passed two, the last one remaining was…….
“This is the spot where the troops were confident they could hit even with their eyes closed.”
-Kuaaaaaaaaaah!
The Great Warrior, who had finally caught up, let out a roar.
Ping!
Thwack!
An arrow that appeared out of nowhere pierced the Great Warrior’s shoulder.
“From now until the arrows stop.”
Vergil, who was watching the scene with satisfaction, raised his sword and said.
“They will not pass here.”
One 5-circle knight.
“Yes!
I will not let a single one get through!”
One 4-circle knight.
Shing.
“Aah!”
And one maid swinging a flail.
The three of them raised their weapons against the legion of hundreds.
***
Now, let's think.
If I release and treat a beast caught in a trap, will it bite me or not?
Wouldn't a smart beast be grateful?
But, still…….
“If I use a Stimpack, it will probably try to kill me.”
I rested my chin on my hand, pondering, then looked at the Ogre again.
The Ogre was so battered that it was a wonder it was still alive.
Dozens of black spears were embedded in its limbs, and the blood that flowed from them had soaked the entire ruin.
“Is there no way to just pull out the thorns?”
Knowing it was impossible, I still muttered it out of regret.
“Of all things, thorns of an ancient tree.”
The thorns of an ancient tree could only be found in one place, just once in the game.
And that was from a dragon's corpse in the northeast of the forest of demonic beasts.
The thorns of an ancient tree, which had sucked dry even the Mana Heart, said to be an overwhelming source of mana, and the dragon bone, said to be harder than any substance in the world, were closer to an ancient tree than to thorns.
“Tsk.”
It was a pity, but it couldn't be helped.
No wonder it was hard to find for an Ogre.
At least three of the four were probably in this state or already dead.
Still, there was the one that was rampaging until yesterday, so I should at least try to save that one.
Just as I thought that and was about to move towards the other Ogre.
-□□□!
The fallen Ogre let out a roar of fear.
No, that wasn't a roar of fear.
It wasn't a roar that suppressed the soul, like the ones I had felt from the Great Warrior who had raised his fighting spirit and shouted, or from the demonkin Ajiyog's laughter, but a pitiful cry closer to a scream.
“Are you asking me to kill you?”
The Ogre was begging me for peace.
The Ogre, who hadn't given up until the very end even when facing hundreds of Orcs, was trembling with fear and crying pitifully.
But a monster's circumstances were none of my business.
“Sorry, but I’ve got my own problems.”
There was nothing to be gained by killing it.
Since it was pierced by thorns, its hide, bones, and sinews would all be damaged.
Rather than waste my strength killing such a creature.
“I can’t kill you, but I’ll try to save you.”
So, no blaming me even if it hurts like hell, okay?
***
“One, two, three!”
Crunch!
Drip!
After pulling out the thorn embedded in its heart, I sprayed a Stimpack into the wound and quickly ran back.
If I had time, I would have treated each wound one by one, but I didn't know when the main force's arrows would run out, so I had to hurry.
Besides.
-□□□□□□□□□!!!
I know from experience, that really hurts.
“Hang in there.
It’s all over if you die.”
I didn't know if it would live or die.
Leaving the other thorns and only pulling out the one in its heart, the chances of it dying were probably higher, even after spraying the Stimpack.
I had only acted out of the selfish desire to save it if I could.
-□□□□□□□□□!!!
As I left it behind, its screams of agony, writhing in pain, echoed once more.
If it survives, will it resent me?
I rubbed my arms, which had goosebumps, and ran towards the next Ogre.
***
Except for the first Ogre, the other two were already dead.
As I was looking around at the Ogres, which had bled so much more than the first one I had seen, that the blood pooled around them.
“Groar!”
An uninvited guest appeared.
“Get away from me!”
“Groar!”
I shouted at the baby Ogre that was grabbing my foot and squirming, but the annoyed creature only grabbed my foot tighter and clung to me.
Its eyes weren't even open yet, it seemed to have just been born, but it was incredibly strong.
Even with mana wrapped around my leg, it felt like my leg would break.
“Ah, come on!”
When I put it down on the ground, it would grab my foot like a ghost and showed no intention of letting go, so I had no choice but to grab it by the scruff of its neck and run towards the last Ogre.
“I'll introduce you to a nice Ogre, so you can cling to that one.”
I didn't know if the one I had fought during the day was male or female, but it would be better than me, who was of a completely different species.
“Groar!”
I chuckled at the creature that even answered as if it understood.
By the way, are all Ogres this heavy?