Chapter 86 – Alive (4)
Anor trimmed off both of his ears. The dark elf’s unique ears were half cut. The appearance was straight like an elf, but it was a size similar to a human. It was a strange appearance that wasn’t a dark elf or human.
Black energy emerged from Anor’s body.
“……!”
Karmat instinctively recoiled. The black energy was an aura of death that frightened all of the living.
“This…”
He looked through his memories. Surely not. This was a strength that was said to be cut off a long time ago in the north.
“Dammit…”
Someone grabbed his feet. He looked down. The dead Nakai had risen and stabbed a dagger in his calf. Karmat dropped down.
“Kuaaaak!”
He grabbed Nakai’s head but the undead didn’t feel any pain so the arm kept moving mechanically. Puok, puok. The dagger kept on being stabbed in his calves. Karmat threw Nakai away desperately.
Nakai’s body squirmed as it hit the wall. He got up again with a rattle. The bones moved strangely due to being forced out of place from the impact, but he kept on walking back to Karmat.
“Necromancer!” shouted Karmat to his men.
He looked around.
“……!”
One of his men was hanging upside down in the air. The drake they killed got up again and was chewing on the head of an orc.
“Dammit…”
He was a warrior and a shaman. He could see the deep concentration of magic power in Anor’s eyes. It was the magic of death. How did this guy show up? This wasn’t an opponent he could match with his magic power.
“Then the way to deal with this opponent…”
He gripped his axe tightly. However, it was difficult to get rid of the undead clinging to his ankles. His body staggered. He needed to kill that guy.
Anor stared at him blankly. Karma gritted his teeth. His companions were approaching. Okay. It was possible if there were several of them.
“Come. We are both…”
But there was something more. He looked at his approaching companions. Their eyes were vacant.
“Dammit…”
Karmat’s men were slain by the drake and were now heading towards him in an antagonistic manner. Their hands lifted the axes up high.
Karmat shouted, “The rest! Retreat! Retreat! Join with the ones who are still searching!”
The orc warriors stopped fighting and moved quickly. One of them helped Karmat. The undead chased them, but their speed was so slow that they couldn’t catch up. The orc warriors stampeded out of the hall.
“……”
Once again, a dead silence filled the area. The dark elves shook in fear of Anor. They all avoided his gaze.
“Just like his mother…”
“Cursed blood…” Some of them whispered.
Anor could hear all of it. Anor turned towards the exit. He didn’t want to be here anymore.
Just before he left the hall, someone grabbed his clothing and said, “W-Wait a minute.”
“……?”
Anor turned his head. A female dark elf was behind him. She was part of Nakai’s group that always looked at him with scornful eyes. He wondered if she was coming to apologize.
“If you go away…”
“….?”
“What do we do if the orcs come back? You should stay here…”
The other dark elves in the hall nodded. They were afraid of Anor, but they still hoped he would stay here as their protector.
Anor looked up at the sky for a moment. He didn’t think for long.
He immediately kicked her in the abdomen, causing her to fall flat on her face.
Anor spat at her and said, “Get lost, you crazy bitch.”
***
Ogre Slayer broke the neck of an orc warrior trying to cross the barrier. Blood poured out. Crockta used his whole body to swing his greatsword again.
He was protecting the outer barriers of Nuridot. The dark elves were resisting. Arrows flew over the barrier and pierced an orc.
The orcs didn’t stop despite being hit by a few arrows. Rather, they gave a sharp battle cry to raise their strength. The pain turned to hatred. The hatred was infused in their axes as they jumped towards the barrier.
The orcs pushed into the barrier and the dark elves shrank back.
At that moment, a huge roar was heard. “Bul’tarrrrrrrrr────!”
The footsteps of the orcs hesitated. It was like a giant wind was pushing behind them as the fighting spirit of the dark elves rose. The enemies retreated one step like they were caught in the wind. Crockta’s shout was an excellent weapon that increased his allies’ morale.
The battlefield became stagnant in that moment. The orcs and dark elves paused at the collapsing barrier. The two sides couldn’t attack carelessly.
“You monster.”
As a barrier collapsed, an orc warrior walked towards Nuridot’s line of defense. It was the commander of the Nuridot invasion, Urok.
He grinned at Crockta and said, “You are a great warrior. Are you called Crockta?”
“Um.”
“Dark elves, thank this warrior. If it weren’t for him, you would already be defeated by us.”
Urok was overflowing with confidence. It was difficult to understand considering that the Nuridot invasion wasn’t flowing his way. Crockta looked around. Was there a tactic that he was hiding? There were obviously many orc warriors, but the dark elves were resisting. If he added his own actions, this battle would eventually lead to Nuridot’s victory. The warrior Urok had to know this.
Crockta couldn’t suppress his anxiety.
“Crockta, won’t you join our Great Clan?”
“There was someone who already made that offer.” Crockta said with a smile.
The leader of the wandering orcs had asked him to join the Great Clan. Crockta had replied by cutting him from his head to his crotch.
Urok had also witnessed this.
“He did, that is true, but I am not like that guy. I am someone who has received the title of warrior directly from the great chieftain, Calmahart. Not just you, but that gnome will also be accepted as one of us.”
The name came out again. Crockta’s eyes narrowed.
“Don’t make me laugh. The north truly is different from the continent, Crockta,” muttered Tiyo from beside Crockta.
Crockta started laughing.
“There are also some dirty bastards there.”
“Didn’t you speak to Hammerchwi?”
“There are also people like Hammerchwi. And they all died.” Crockta grinned. “There is no need to remember their names, the poor bastards.”
Now matter how strong or skilled they were, it was worthless against Crockta. Rather, the name of Caburak from Orcheim was more valuable, despite him losing all his power.
The law of the Great Clan that cut everything with force was just the calculations of a beast. It wasn’t what made an orc an orc.
“It will be the same for you too.”
“You are a dangerous person, Crockta. Kuhahahat.”
Urok laughed one more time before whispering to an orc by his side. The person nodded before pulling out a bow and arrow. The bow was a weapon that didn’t go well with orcs. Crockta watched carefully.
The arrowhead aimed towards the sky. At that moment, Crockta picked up an axe from the corpse of an orc warrior on the ground and threw it. The axe spun as it flew. However, the arrow was already too far. The arm of the orc shooter was cut off at the same time that the fire arrow flew into the sky. He screamed as blood poured out.
“You noticed pretty quickly,” said Urok.
“What did you do?”
“Don’t think that the great chieftain is blind like other orcs, Crockta. He can see everything on the battlefield. He is a true warlord among the orcs.” Urok raised his axe to the sky. “By now, a shaman of the Great Clan will be sneaking troops into Nuridot and killing its worthless dark elves.
“……!”
Crockta and the dark elves were shocked.
“Surrender if you don’t want any more meaningless slaughter.”
The dark elves were agitated. Some fidgeted like they wanted to return to the town right away. Their families were there. The morale of the militia dropped rapidly. A sense of helplessness spread, like they were already defeated.
“Stop right now!” shouted Nadia. “Let’s stop and talk. Urok! If you have a conscience, you shouldn’t kill civilians who aren’t guilty of anything!”
Urok laughed at Nadia, “Conscience? Our conscience isn’t like that.”
As Urok gestured, the orcs picked up their weapons again. The short cease-fire was over. “Inflicting a painful death or be killed, that is our conscience.”
“……!”
“The great warrior Karmat, who entered Nuridot, is a madman without a conscience. Kulkulkul!”
Urok walked forward. Dark elves aimed arrows from above. However, the arrows were shaking. Their minds were already filled with worry about the rear. The faces of their family overlapped with the orc in front of them.
“Wait!” Nadia shouted.
Crockta looked at her. Their eyes met. Nadia had an apologetic expression on her face. She struggled and bit her lips before eventually declaring her surrender.
“I surrender, so stop the attack on the rear.”
“Hoh.”
“I will surrender.”
“Then drop your weapons.”
“Once the safety of the residents…”
“Then the battle will continue. Listen to the power of weapons.”
The orcs started laughing. They were certain of their victory. The Great Clan had gained dominance by being crueler than anyone else. What they were doing now wasn’t a war, but closer to a massacre.
“Everybody…”
The moment that Urok was about to order the attack, Nadia abandoned her weapon.
“……!”
She looked around at the other dark elves. She didn’t say anything, but everybody understood her meaning. One by one, the militia started to discard their weapons. Now the dark elves had no more weapons.
Crockta and Tiyo were the only ones left.
“Isn’t this a little unfair?” Tiyo asked.
Crockta shrugged.
“What will you do, Crockta?”
“Hrmm…”
Crockta wondered if he should continue or leave Nuridot and escape. He hadn’t thought the dark elves would be so naive.
“Oh, Karmat is coming,” Urok said.
Everyone turned around. A series of orc warriors were coming from the town. Their weapons were bloody. The faces of the dark elves stiffened.
“Don’t worry, dark elves. I told him not to kill everyone, so some of your family members will be alive.”
The word ‘some’ raised hope and despair in them. It made the dark elves more enthusiastic. Now the dark elves were looking at Crockta and Tiyo like they were urging them.
‘Discard your weapon and surrender’ was in their eyes.
Crockta narrowed his eyes. He felt dirty. He couldn’t understand their minds, and he didn’t like this change of attitude. Tiyo felt the same and raised General even more. They were companions who had fought together. They didn’t even need to look at each other to know what they were thinking. Crockta nodded and was about to raise his greatsword.
Then someone said, “Wow, this situation looks absurd.”
It was a carefree voice. Everybody looked back.
The voice spoke again, “What are you looking at, you fucking bastards.”
A dark elf was walking behind the orc warriors coming from the town. The dark elf seemed weak. But the voice wasn’t coming from an orc. The orcs’ eyes were dead.
“You shouldn’t do this to guests you invited to help, you crazy bastards.”
The dark elf stood among the orcs. It was a terrible looking elf with blood coming from his cut ears. The calm voice didn’t match the curses that were being spat out. It was an awkward tone that didn’t match the threat.
“I’m playing with dogs.”
It was Anor. Somehow, his eyes looked different. He raised a hand and all the orc warriors lifted their weapons. Crockta realized that they were similar to the undead that he saw in Orcrox’s dungeon.
Crockta started laughing. He didn’t know what was happening, but,
‘I tried to live well only to be bullied like I was doing something wrong. I am the one suffering, so why do I have to change? Isn’t there something wrong with this?’
The Anor right now seemed better than the one who had once whispered whispered those words.
“You are alive.”