novelraw Chapter 74 : Chapter 74
Chapter 74 : Chapter 74
Chapter 74
Tail stared at the distant sandstorm with a nervous face.
“Raise your shields!”
-Thud.
At the senior knight's shout, the knights raised their shields.
Tail's gaze, standing in the center, naturally turned to his raised shield.
Looking at the shield, which was so dented and broken that it was in tatters, he suddenly thought that this might all be a dream.
Yes, this is a dream.
A bad dream at that.
Come to think of it, there had been a sense of unreality since the Young Lord, who was called a scoundrel, had appeared.
The soldiers who used the Knight Slayer with their bare hands, the Young Lord who seemed to have come out of a heroic tale, and the Commander who had fallen for him and pledged his sword, all of it was just unbelievable.
Two knights and a maid holding off nearly a hundred Orcs, if a minstrel were to sing such a song, he would have to watch his back at night instead of getting a meal.
And the most unbelievable thing of all was…….
“Three gold on running.”
A crazy voice was heard from the side.
“Five gold on charging.”
There was another crazy bastard who answered that crazy voice.
“You crazy bastard, didn't you see him running before?”
“Then you can die, you coward.”
“Shit, call.
If that monster charges, you're dead anyway, you bastard.”
Gambling during a battle, and a battle with a Legion Commander at that.
No matter how much of a mess the Knightly Order was on the verge of becoming, there was no way.
So this had to be a dream.
For the sake of the well-being of his one and only workplace.
“Don't say such unlucky things.
Hey, chick.
You in?”
So he ignored it.
“Huh?
The chick is ignoring his sky-high senior?”
“Shit, I couldn't even have imagined that back in my day.”
He was afraid of the repercussions, but he endured it and ignored them.
No matter how he thought about it, this couldn't be reality.
As the dust storm visible between the shields grew closer, his anxiety grew, and eventually, his inner thoughts burst from his lips.
“A one-day shield-bearer experience in the middle of the forest of demonic beasts, no, that can't be right.
This is a dream.
It's definitely a dream.
An Orc Legion Commander, what an imagination.”
As he said that, a mocking voice was heard from the far left.
“Oh my, Orc Slayer, what are you saying?
This humble one only went into battle believing in the Orc Slayer!”
Shit.
That day he had returned to the fortress after holding off the Commander and a hundred Orcs.
The chick, drunk on heroism, had chirped quite a lot, and he had earned the nickname Orc Slayer.
So Tail sincerely wished this moment was a dream.
Because if it wasn't a dream, he would have to hear that even after he was dead.
Those damn people might even write his epithet on his tombstone instead of his name.
“Ah, come on!
Senior!
How many times have I told you I was wrong……!”
Unfortunately, Tail's grumbling could not continue.
“Shields!”
At the foremost senior knight's shout, the chuckling voices died down in an instant, and a tension hung among the knights who had raised their shields.
This had been repeated several times already.
If the Knightly Order that had run ahead set up a barricade, the Orc Legion Commander would jump over it.
The Knightly Order would cling to the slowed-down Legion Commander, and in the meantime, two teams would be sent ahead to set up another barricade.
Boom, boom, boom!
Every time the Legion Commander kicked off the ground, a sound like thunder was heard.
He was fast.
It was common sense that the faster something was, the stronger it was.
“Run, run, run……”
No matter how fearless Tail was, he wanted no part in being hit by a monster like that.
He wouldn't die, but it would definitely hurt like hell.
“Run, run, run……”
As he was muttering that, the beast, which had charged up to just a few steps in front of him, turned its body.
‘Damn it.’
The senior knight shouted.
“Don't block, deflect it!”
The purpose of the human barricade was to slow him down, even just a little.
If they braced themselves and held on, they could slow him down even more, but then they would inevitably be injured.
Just before the beast's shoulder hit the shields raised by the Knightly Order, Tail slightly lifted his body.
Boom!
“Keoheok!”
With a shock that made his vision go dark for a moment, the knights flew into the air.
***
Even as he was suspended in the air, flying, Tail glared at Hlyundeyrr.
‘Did he just look at me……?’
The red eyes had brushed past him, but it must have been a coincidence.
Since this bizarre run had started, the beast had never once taken its eyes off the Young Lord, nor had it even changed direction.
“Report!
One!”
At the senior's voice from a distance, the count of one, two, three continued up to six.
‘No, it can't be.’
The more he thought it wasn't, the more clearly he remembered the crazed eyes he had met in that fleeting moment just before the collision.
So he squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.
“Seven!
Tail!
Support!”
The seventh knight, Tail.
Requesting support as the opponent was chasing.
The moment he shouted, regret washed over him.
There was no way the Legion Commander would target him.
This was a monster that broke through the Knightly Order, begrudging the time it took to chase the Young Lord.
Why would such a monster target him?
Him, who wasn't even a ‘real’ knight.
“Seven!
Ignore!”
He shouted to ignore the previous answer, but.
“……”
There was no answer.
Right, they must have ignored it from the beginning.
There was an insurmountable gap of experience between him and his seniors, so figuring out a situation like this would be nothing for them.
“Heartless people.”
Muttering that, he readjusted his shield.
The shield, which was already on the verge of its limit, was dangling from the recent impact, but it wasn't broken yet.
That was enough.
“Hoo……”
His chest felt strangely tight, so he let out a breath.
He had to run immediately to join the main force or the next barricade.
Yet, the monster's eyes remained in his mind, adding to his anxiety.
“With that bastard’s speed, he would have already come and killed me.”
The moment he thought that.
“Chick, behind you!”
At the voice from behind, he kicked off the ground and retreated.
Boom!
An axe slammed down like a lightning bolt on the spot where he had been standing just a moment ago.
“Shit.”
A curse he had barely managed to quit, saying it didn't suit a knight, came out on its own.
His heart pounded as if it would burst.
He hadn't even seen the last attack, so if his reaction had been a little slower, his body would have been split in two.
His eyes followed the axe that had dug into the ground.
“Move!”
In the meantime, the senior who had saved him rushed out and blocked the beast.
-Krrk!
Ka-ka-ka-ka-kang!
The axe, swung as if annoyed by the beast with a scrunched-up face, slid along the surface of the shield.
-Krrk!
Krrk!
The beast, which had dug into the innocent ground once more, breathed even more heavily.
Even then, Tail did not take his eyes off the Legion Commander.
‘What on earth is this……’
The Legion Commander was not looking this way.
He had definitely swung his axe at him.
Was it a mistake?
Had he just been unlucky enough to be in the way?
“Chick!
How long are you going to stand there spacing out?!”
“Ah, hey, I told you to stop calling me a chick!”
He snapped back at the voice of the senior who had saved him and rushed forward.
It was impossible to block his attacks twice in a row, so he had to buy time for the senior to recover.
Hlyundeyrr, who was still looking at the place where the Young Lord had fled, swung his axe at the approaching Tail as if annoyed.
He thrust his shield at the axe that was approaching with a sluggish movement.
Ka-ka-ka-kak!
Only after seeing the sparks that flew before his eyes did a question arise.
Now that the Legion Commander had stopped, was there a need to block him?
No, more than that, why had he stopped?
“You stupid bastard!
Are you blind?!”
The moment he came to his senses at someone's sharp shout.
“Huh?”
-Roll.
His eyes met with the red eyes glistening with killing intent and anger.
***
“Roll back!”
Without even knowing whose voice it was, he rolled on the ground.
Even so, his gaze followed the axe.
Whoosh!
The axe that had cut through the empty air spun and then changed direction like a viper chasing its target.
“Raise your shield and mana shield!”
Following the command, he raised his shield.
He didn't even know what a mana shield was, but he instinctively poured all his mana into the shield.
The axe slammed down on the shield, which was enveloped in a blue membrane.
Ka-ka-ka-kang!
Unfortunately, the hastily created mana, which hadn't even been properly structured, could not block the Legion Commander's strike.
The dozens of layers of mana that had enveloped the shield shattered like sugar candy before his eyes.
Boom!
“Keoheok!”
As the shield, which was no different from a tatter, shattered, his body flew through the air.
-Piiiiiii.
Ignoring the ringing in his ears, he quickly got up and scanned his surroundings.
There was no sense of relief that he hadn't died.
Because he had definitely not taken his eyes off him, but the Legion Commander had disappeared from his sight at some point.
‘Where is he?’
At the thought that he had no shield to block an attack, he instinctively placed his hand on his scabbard and looked around.
‘First, I have to fall back……’
The enemy was not in sight.
No sound was heard.
The anxiety that an axe would emerge from the darkness and take his neck gradually consumed Tail.
-Shing.
Finally, the moment he had half-drawn his sword.
A venomous voice was heard from behind.
“Hey!
Chick!
Put away the sword!
You'll draw aggro!”
At the same time, a shadow that had appeared from behind shot forward as if launched, and the sound of a sword that had been extended in a straight line blocking an axe echoed loudly.
-Ka-ka-ka-kang!
There was no time to wonder where that axe had come from.
Or who had saved him.
“Get down!”
Following the sharp voice, he flattened himself on the ground, his belly touching the earth.
Ku-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
The forest shook violently.
***
My back aches.
Every time a chilly wind blew, as if my leather armor and back skin had been torn off completely, a pain like being pricked by a needle followed.
The arm that had blocked the axe trembled like an aspen tree, and the leg muscles, which had been pushed to their limit, wouldn't move without mana.
It was only natural, as he had been running non-stop since Hlyundeyrr had appeared.
‘I want to rest……’
It was only natural to have such thoughts.
As he slightly lifted his head to assess the situation, he saw a straight path.
The ground along the path had been overturned, and even the ancient trees, said to be harder than iron, were broken, and the sunlight that entered through the gaps illuminated the path.
And at the end of the path, a tree that had been uprooted.
‘I expected this, but……’
The Ogre that had found Hlyundeyrr had uprooted a tree in the forest and ‘thrown’ it.
Unfortunately, it seemed to have failed to take care of Hlyundeyrr.
As soon as he confirmed the fighting spirit rising from the end of the path, he took out the last remaining flare from his bosom and threw it.
The troops, upon seeing the black smoke of the flare, would retreat to the clearing at full speed as planned.
He had already used four flares on the way here, so most of the scouting party must have already escaped safely.
All that was left was to survive here.
“Run!”
With a shout, he kicked off the ground.
He could hear the sound of Tail following behind him.
Now that the two whales were entangled, the role of the shrimp was over.
All that was left was to get out of there as quickly as possible.
***
“Hmm……”
Teheki's gaze, which had been on Ian's retreating back, turned to Hlyundeyrr.
The Orc, which had blocked the ancient tree thrown by the Ogre with its fighting spirit, scanned its surroundings with crazed eyes.
It was probably looking for its lost prey.
“What a remarkable obsession.”
The crafty Orc, realizing that its prey was too close to the Ogre, had set a trap to lure it.
If he had realized sooner how much the young master of Moner cherished his knights, he would have succeeded in his hunt.
Though it was something he, who didn't even cherish his own kind, couldn't have even thought of.
“Shall we head back now?”
The Orc, still breathing heavily, remained, but Teheki turned his back without any lingering feelings and headed for his kingdom.
Because an Orc with an Ogre as an enemy was as good as dead.
“Cl-cl-cl, he would have died in a few days even if I had just left him.”
Teheki, who had lived as long as the history of Moner, knew the inhabitants of the forest better than anyone, and he had a vague idea about the species that lived in the depths.
It was by no means a coincidence that the Ogres, with their low reason and intelligence, were recognized as inhabitants of the depths.
Ogres are the fiercest demonic beasts of the forest, and they never forget their enemies.
-Guwoooooor!
And to have incurred the wrath of a ‘mother’ at that.
If it had been him, he probably wouldn't have been able to sleep.
“What on earth is the Tyrant thinking?”
The humans thought that the Orcs were attacking the fortress, but the reality was completely different.
The Orcs had made an enemy they should not have made, and they were just running away from that enemy.
Teheki remembered the Orc king he had seen long ago.
Unlike his epithet of Tyrant , the king, who was more calculating and thorough than any other, would not have risked the fate of his species for no reason.
“The forest is stirring.”
As he was wondering if this too was a curse of the forest, Teheki's gaze turned to the fortress.
He had heard reports that several marks calling for him had been left in the fortress, but he had not answered any of them.
As far as he knew, the humans had no power to stop the Orcs, and the fortress was bound to fall.
There was no reason, no justification to help the humans now.
All he had to do was follow the path the Orcs had opened and step on the human corpses.
The ‘Goblin King’ had no intention of taking either side yet.