Chapter 10 ~ VS Orc King

When we are departing from the Orcs settlement, Sati sense someone is approaching.

The only people that will come to this kind of place will only be adventurers like us. After waiting for a while, we heard a voice calling to us.

I saw several adventurers walking towards us.

“As I thought, it is adventurers. They might have mistaken us for monsters.” Pg. 144

While waiting for the adventurers to approach us, we took down our weapons. Though, the other party are still holding onto their weapons.

We have never seen the other party before. They have equipment like us adventurer, but theirs aren’t smeared with blood.

They are just few meters from us now. Over all there are 4 people. All of them are still young. Makes me wonder if they really are adventurers.

Some of the crews look very tired. There are 3 men and 1 women. We’ve never seen their face around before. One of them comes forwards.

“We’ve come back to check because we have heard very loud sound.”

“That’s right. Are you guys aiming for the Orcs too?”

“We just happen to find it before too. We are still wondering what to do. As you can see, there is only 4 of us. With this much persons, we don’t think that we can take on the whole settlement alone.”

“Is that so. Then I’m glad. Are there anything that I can do for you guys?”

“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Alvin, leader of the party [Cagoule].”

Saying so, he shown us his guild card.

“I’m Masaru, leader of [Samurai].”

Me too, shown him my card which I’ve always hang around my neck. My current rank is C.

Alvin look a bit surprised. Perhaps he never thought that my rank will be that high since I’m quite young just like him. Even Lazard san is C rank. The difference between each rank is pretty big.

“That’s pretty much about our situation. Are you guys going to Gorbas Fortress too?”

“That is our plan.”

“If you don’t mind, can we go together? There are lots more monsters than I thought.”

I see. When I look carefully, seems like all 4 of them are worn out.

According to him, even though he managed to drive off all the enemies, the fatigue has taken toll on their body. When they discovered the Orc village, they’ve decided to turn back to the guild and report about it, only to heard a loud roaring sound mid-way and came back to check. There they met us.

“We are going to discuss about it first.”

Ellie said so, and distance ourselves from the adventurers.

“What’s now. If we are regrouping with them then we can’t possibly reach the fort by today.”

She starts giving off her opinion.

“We can’t just leave them here. Let’s bring them back.”

Ann insists so.

“We need to camp outside then.”

“Still better than the cellar. Besides, this kind of thing happens from times to times. It is better to practice it now.”

Ellie, who seems to be the one against this idea the most, suddenly give her approval.

Do you hate sleeping in the cellar that much?

“On the other hand, it is good when other get indebted to us. We don’t know when we will require  help in the future.”

Indeed, mutual benefit is important. I thought that the parallel world is more about being savage, but it seems that I’m mistaken. Or is it because they are pure blood adventurer?

“Then it should be okay for 2 days. What do you think, Tilika?”

“I detected no lie, there is no objection.”

“Please keep in mind to check for anything suspicious first.”

Following Ellie, Tilika cover her head with the hood attached to her magician like cloaks.

If you didn’t look carefully at her then there is no way that you will know that she has Evil Eye.

“Alright.”

We return to the adventurer which are waiting at some distance from us to tell our conclusion.

“We have decided, let’s go to the fortress together.”

“For real!? I’m glad…”

Right after I told him, Alvin give a relief expression. I guess his journey has really been painful and tiring before we found him.

“Umm, I hope we can help each other when we are in trouble.”

Since their baggage’s are nearby me, I decided to take it. I heard that they are not capable of using the Item Box, and it is a trouble because they have too much baggage’s. Even though they tried to keep their luggage to bare minimum, the amount of prey that they managed to hunt are quite a lot. There is no problem for me to take care of it all, but for now I divided it between the other four. Our travel is going to get tiring after this.

When Ellie suggested to put all his prey inside her Item Box, he looks really relieved.

“As I expected, the journey will be different with an Item Box user around. I think I’m going to try memorizing it, but there is no guarantee since Space Magic is very difficult. I envy you to have such an incredible mage as a member.”

Ellie gave a wide grin after getting praised. Everyone are capable of magic in our party, but in term of Item Box I’m still superior, but seems like the notion will get overturned soon. This really is bad for my status.

“I’ve seen you guys before during the defensive battle at the fortress wall. You were at the second wall, weren’t you?”

Alvin start talking to me while we are walking. They are groups of adventurers from another town, but it seems that they noticed both Ellie and Sati. Well, both of them are super cute after all.

Me? During my time at the fortress wall, I’ve tried my best to hide my presence, maybe that’s why he doesn’t noticed me. My equipment also greatly differs from that time. Perhaps he will notice if I were to introduce myself as the mage that has crushed the ladder, but I couldn’t be bothered to tell all this.

They said that they remained even after the arrival of the Kingdom Troops, and that they helped to suppress the remaining Demons at the surrounding area. So that means there are quite some monsters left, even though we don’t encounter much inside the woods.

“We’ve heard before that the forest are dangerous, but it is truly more than what we expected. Especially when it is nighttime. We’ve been deprived from sleep since there are more raid during that time. Compared to us, you guys who journeyed through the forests are really amazing.”

Currently they are D rank. They are far cry from what you call as novice.

They mentioned that nighttime has been rough, but they must possess some skill to be able to come out of it unscathed.

They are capable of some beginner magic.  I listened to the story of their difficulty eagerly, since it is somewhat interesting. Well, that is because every day I return back home during night and have a nice sleep.

Throughout the forest, they were thinking whether to proceed or return back, and finally they decided to proceed. The idea of a D rank party manages to capture the forest is tempting for them. This task might cost them some of their time, but if they were to reduce their sleeping time then it seems that it’s going to be fine.

Even so, this guy really love to talk. I wonder if this guy is aware of our formation.

Right now, our formation is my party at the front and their party following suit from behind. Sati is leading us.

Those guys are wary to be placed at the back, but there are no actual dangers of getting ambushed since we have people with detection skills.

Of course, Taiga and Hawk are not summoned this time, and we are walking without a Golem.

I thought that having a Golem around will be nice, but Ellie remind me sternly to show some dignity as a higher-level adventurer.

The point is it is bad to depends on Golem all the time. As for Hawk reconnaissance, it should be able to observe all the way outside the forest by now. We can get back safely this way to the way they have come inside earlier.

Summoned beasts are a bother to explain. Since we don’t want to unnecessarily stand out, there is no other way.

“The Orc settlement was destroyed by magic, isn’t it? There is not even a trace left.”

“We have an excellent mage in our party. But make sure you guys do not spread this around, okay?”

“Of course. It’s just that I’ve never have much opportunity to witness such a large-scale magic before.”

There is a need to conceal this matter as much as possible. We don’t want a scout or referrer to come chasing after us later. Furthermore, Ellie is originally a B rank magician before joining our party. Thing will truly get troublesome if this goes out.

From the looks of it, seems like Alvin would like to hear more, but, when he opened his mouth next, he no longer talks about stuff related with magic, he is talking about another thing instead. Trying to be considerate to them, we walk in slow pace. And then the topic shift to the current situation of the fortress.

The 3^rd wall construction of the fortress is progressing nicely, but since the perimeter is quite large, it will take some more time before it is completed. There is no sight of movement from the demonic side too, therefore the Imperial Army is withdrawing slowly.

People who had escaped before are slowly returning, and the manpower is increasing now to rebuild the wall. It is only the matter of time before the fortress returns to its original state.

While we are walking and chatting cheerfully, Sati who is leading at the front stopped. Everyone else also stopped. Sati ears twitched and she is focusing straight at our front.

“Something are approaching us. There are lots of them. Perhaps, it is a group of Orcs.”

“Are they the one belonged to that Orc settlement?”

“Might be, since they are heading back. Do you know the number?”

“Around 20 to 30. It is not confirmed yet, there might be more.”

Sati answered Ellie’s inquiry.

“30!? We must get away from here ASAP!”

Hearing that there are about 30 of them, Alvin get panicked. The other 3 too, got alerted and start getting wary with the surrounding.

“They are still quite far away, so it is fine.”

I didn’t detect them yet, so it is true that they are still far away.

“Really?”

“Sati is capable of detecting enemy from far away, since her ears are very good.”

“But what are you planning to do? There are about 30 of them.”

“Defeat them of course. That’s a given.”

I thought that this group always went inside this forest.

Now I get it, why many people advised against me going inside the forest when I was just starting. Without a good preparation, there is no way to survive in a forest.

“I know. Everyone is going to wait for a chance to ambush. Our party will deal with long range magic attacks, and if there are any survivors, I want you guys to take care of it.”

“You seriously want to do it?”

“Didn’t you saw that Orc settlement? It will be fine, I tell you.”

“O-okay…”

Since we are just facing a herd of Orcs, it should be okay to take them down quickly.

“I’m counting on you, Tilika.”

Tilika nodded to my instruction. Worse comes to worst, she can summon Drago to help us.

First of all, I’ll create myself 3 meter Golems.

I can’t control more than 4 Golems at the moment. I can still make it bigger, but it is not suitable here in this terrain. Anymore bigger than this, they will get their movement restricted.

“What now? Looks like there are quite a lot of Orcs. You guys can go into hiding now, we alone are enough.”

It will be easier for us to fight if they are not around, is what I’m thinking right now.

And there is no way I can involve bystanders that I’ve just met earlier today in a battle against group of Orcs.

Dealing with more than 30 Orcs at once with this much of numbers are suicidal for normal adventurers.

“Aren’t there lots of Orcs? Won’t it be better if you have more fighting forces?”

Alvin said, worried. As expected, they won’t back down that easily. Then I’ll let them help however they can.

“Understood. Then use this Golem as a shield when you’re fighting the Orcs.”

While preparing for the upcoming battle, they’ve finally reach my range of detection.

This might be worse than expected.

There are large numbers of them, and it is still growing. Might be because they don’t have a concept of scouting first, they are just moving forward without stopping or checking.

“Ellie, there seems to be more of 50 of them. Plus, they are spreading up more on the end vertically. It’s going to be hard to one shot them.”

“More than 50, you said. But since it’s just Orcs, then it shouldn’t be a problem. As long as we manage to reduce it to some extent, then we can deal with the rest.”

“Yea, that’s what I’m thinking too.”

“Let’s try to finish them all out. Will the same magic formation that we use for the settlement be sufficient?”

Ellie level 4 magic will be used alongside the others level 3 magics. It is a water and wind hybrid attack. As usual, there is no place for Fire Magic this time too.

First, we observe the movement of the monsters. Based on that, we decide where is our attacking location. If the enemy moves within our expectation, then we should be able to ambush them from the side.

Silently, we hide ourselves within the bushes and wait for the arrival of the demons.

“They will reach here soon.”

With a nervous looks on his face, Alvin readied himself for the upcoming battle.

Even though Alvin and his companions had heard that the number of Orcs are around 50, they still remain here to help us fight, after listening to our strategy. I’m sure they put faith on us since the same strategy that we are about to use are capable of destroying the Orc settlement.

We can see the group of Orcs are marching on the road.

Counting again, the number are actually 70. This is far more than the one at their settlement. Is this the main force? Due to their large numbers, the surrounding is full of noises coming from them roaring.

Apparently, they really did pass through the expected way. They don’t seem to notice us either.

We are patiently waiting for a good timing to launch our attack. The marching Orcs are vulnerable to us right now, but they still have a very long formation towards the back. We should start preparing our spells soon.

Ellie slowly raised her hand and lowered it. That’s a sign for us to start chanting.

We start chanting in order. And all the 4 magics are invoked in the same time.

A roar reverberates in the forest, a storm of wind and ice rolls up, and the trees collapse.

Some of animals survived the attack, and they can be seen scampering around. Unfortunately, the forest trees received the full blunt.

We slowly finish off the survivor with magic attack. Even the arrows shot by Sati and Alvin party are finishing off many Orcs too.

The rest of survivors finally realized our location. They raised a loud howl and tried to charge toward us.

The Orcs from the back side of the group are not included inside the magic explosion, and many of them survived the attack. I crouch and let the Golem stand at the front. But it seems that is not necessary. Ellie’s wind magic managed to split up the Orcs.

Did it end?

Looking around, I saw an Orc with a large axe coming towards me.

Too close. It managed to get close to me without me noticing.

I moved the Golem so that it block the approaching Orc. Already aware with the approaching Orcs, Alvin take up his sword and followed closely behind the Golem.

The Golem finally stand in front of the Orc.

Controlling the Golem, I tried to hit the Orc, but it managed to dodge the attack. Instead, it launches a counterattack at the Golem torso.

However, the Golem is an entity without life. A little scratch won’t stop it. Raising up the other hand, I tried to launch the second attack. But just like before, the Orc simply brushes it off as if nothing.

Its agility is immensely different from the other Orcs that I’ve encountered before. And then, the Orc swept the axe it’s holding vertically, and torn my Golem apart.

This time, the damage it received is fatal enough that it is now turned back into earth.

Still, the time bought by the Golem is more than enough. Someone shot an arrow to the Orc shoulder, and my Fire Lance managed to hit its torso.

“Did we get him!?”

However, the Orc, seemingly unamused sprint forward and blow Alvin away with its axe.

The Orc turns to me who is the closest to it right now, and start his barrage of attack.

It closes the distance between us instantly.

Crap, this guy is hella fast!

It has a larger body compared to the other Orcs, and it is holding an axe as big as his body as a weapon. Although it torso should have taken a direct hit from my Fire Lance, there seems to be nothing more than a brown scratch left. Several arrows already stuck on its body, but it seems to not mind it and start swinging its axe.

“Air Hammer!!”

The air bomb directly hit its torso.

Receiving it full blunt, the Orc staggered for a moment, but then he continues to swing around his axe.

I parry it attack with my sword, and dodge sideways.

I aimed for its arm, but it managed to dodge it by pulling back its waist. The cut that I landed is too shallow.

The Orc sidestep and throw a punch with its huge fist as a counterattack. It can attack from over the edge of my sword, it has a long reach indeed.

Dangerous!? That one is really close……

I managed to block the Orc’s fist with my shield, but as per repercussion I was blown away and hit my back at the tree. I can’t stand up, as I feel that my consciousness is slowly fading…

Right now, there is a huge Orc in front of me.

That guy has a large axe.

To avoid his large fist, I was sent flying while shielding myself. The impact that I received when I banged the tree is still there, rendering me unable to move. This is bad. If this continue, then I might die……

But the Orc in front of me, while holding its axe, blood start spurring out from its neck and it’s collapsed.

“Masaru sama!”

Sati stood beside the fallen Orcs, her hand is holding the bloodied sword.

“It’s Sati……I’m saved…”

Sati supported me who is about to fall again.

“The enemy?”

“Some of them managed to escape. This guy is the last one.”

I take a look at the fallen Orc. Its head is clearly severed.

Golem, they really are not that much useful. I wobble my head while thinking such thing.

It is useful to buy us some time, but that is the extent of its usefulness. Rather than trying to control the Golem, it is better to just cast some magic. Even with level 3 explosive magic, this guy can be easily get destroyed.

But if that is the case, then won’t the time bought up by the Golem be gone……

“Are you okay, Masaru?”

Ellie is now here too. By the way, my back which had bumped with the tree is hurting and my arms now feels numb.

Ah, Alvin! Is he okay!?

Looking around I saw Ann is at his side. He can raise his body halfway. I’m glad that he is alright.

I’m glad. I thought I’m going to die for a moment there. Since Ann is looking this way, I waved my hand to show that I’m okay.

“Here, I’m going to heal you.”

My head slowly getting clear after Ellie has healed me. The fatigue finally hit home, and I fall on my butt.

“This guy, he must be the upper echelons of his species.”

“I wonder if this is the one they called the Orc King.”

“He is goddamn strong. The Golem was cleaved through by him in seconds.”

“As expected, the Golem is not suitable after all……”

That might be the case. Golem has power, but it has no speed. It couldn’t cope with the Orc King speed at all.

“Let’s collect the carcasses for the time being.”

“I’m going to get them all, so Masaru take a rest. Got it?”

“Okay.”

Sati gives a worried glance from my side.

“Thank you, Sati. My life will be lost if not for you. Anybody else injured?”

“No, except for Masaru sama everyone is fine.”

Like this, isn’t it just me who always get injured every time? Sure, this is better than my wives getting injured instead, but maybe I should revised my battle tactics after this……