Surviving as a Knight in a Trash Game

Chapter 148

“Kururururu. The great Uruk god… Baltara has answered our call. Fight honorably… and die to enter Baltara’s hall!”

“Kurururururu!!!”

Over approximately 3,000 Uruks beat their chests violently and shouted.

They had crawled out from deep beneath the Aldern Mountains, just above the Arthur Domain.

Already, numerous Uruks across the continent who had heard Baltara’s message would be starting their advance towards the human world.

Blue Fang, the Uruk chieftain leading the Blue Fire Uruk tribe, a force in the northern part of the West Continent, let out a tremendous roar as he looked at his tribe members.

The Uruks present each beat their chests, responding to Blue Fang’s roar.

And a short while later, the Uruks, though somewhat poorly armed but exuding an immense aura befitting their massive size, set off to trample the human cities.

These Uruks, consisting of roughly six groups, split off in various directions and attacked human settlements.

Not long after setting out, they began to plunder the northern villages.

“Capture all healthy humans.”

In the past, when Uruks held sway over this land, they had used humans as slaves.

Whether male or female, as long as their bodies were strong, they were useful to them.

Events previously only found in records were once again becoming reality in the West Continent.

“Blue Fang. There is a large castle ahead.”

Human castles were tricky obstacles for Uruks.

Relatively weak in siegecraft, they opted for a strategy of plundering and scorching the surroundings without touching the castle itself when they encountered one.

“Attack the villages first.”

Thus, the Uruks began to indiscriminately plunder the area around Elberum Castle, located further north from the Arthur Domain.

One such Uruk group, plundering the surroundings in units of roughly 10 to 20, encountered what appeared to be human knights.

“This is human territory. Withdraw immediately. If you wish to negotiate, send an official envoy.”

One of the human knights spoke to them, but the Uruks had no intention of listening to their words from the start.

When the Uruks first rushed at the knights, a faint light flowed from the human knights’ swords.

“Human knights… strong, but our tribe is much stronger and many. You all die.”

Those were the last words of the Uruk who faced the Knight of the Lighthouse, the guardians of the north.

Thus, the Uruk’s head fell.

***

Andre delivered the news of the Uruk attack to the information post Karl had established and immediately turned back towards where the 10th squad was.

“Hey, chick, you go back. I have to return to my squad members.”

“The entire area is full of Uruks. I will go with you.”

“This is no place for a chick like you. Go back.”

“I will help even a little. It will be better than one less hand.”

Watching Grant speak with a determined expression, Andre recalled himself in his fledgling spearman days.

It was a situation where even one more hand was needed; Andre agreed with Grant’s words.

“…Don’t die, and stick close to my side.”

Thus, Andre and Grant rejoined the 10th squad at high speed.

“Andre, I told you to go, why did you come back?”

“Squad Leader, I am also a member of the 10th squad. I came to where I belong.”

“Hoo… These squad members, not a single one of them listens.”

Gary grumbled like that, but inwardly pleased, he patted Andre’s shoulder.

Andre was a high-level Expert, a significant asset.

“There’s Hammerstead village nearby. If these Uruk things have appeared here, that place will be dangerous too. We’ll go around the nearby villages, gather the residents, and evacuate them to Elberum Castle.”

Elberum was one of the most renowned fortresses in the north for its sturdiness.

The northern region had suffered many barbarian raids in the past, so many castles there were built taller and stronger than others to deal with them.

The 10th squad of the Knight of the Lighthouse, moving diligently, arrived near Hammerstead village.

“Squad Leader….”

They tied their horses a short distance from Hammerstead village and stealthily approached the village outskirts on foot.

The Uruks had already swept through the village, and many of the people were dead.

In the center of the village, women and able-bodied men were kneeling, bound.

Around them stood approximately 30 Uruks.

“Can we do it with just us?”

“If I say it’s impossible, will you not try to save them?”

In Gary’s view, ordinary Uruks were less skilled than low-level Experts.

The ones who seemed to be squad leader-level Uruks leading them were roughly low to mid-level Experts.

Considering the strength of the 10th squad, mostly composed of mid-level Experts and above, it was a fight they could certainly attempt.

However, unlike before, there were quite a few squad leader-level individuals on the other side as well, so it wouldn’t be an easy fight.

“First, if we rescue the villagers… you there, chick, you will lead the people to Elberum. Understood?”

“Yes! Understood.”

“Let’s charge them on horseback.”

A mounted charge would surely be effective against them.

After Gary made his decision, the members of the 10th squad mounted their tied horses and charged towards Hammerstead.

Dudududududu.

Just as the Uruks, reacting to the sound of horse hooves shaking the earth, raised their weapons, the blades of the 10th squad pierced the Uruks’ necks first.

Thanks to their persistent targeting of the Uruk squad leaders, confusion arose in their command structure.

The Uruks’ movements became noticeably disorganized.

Gary and the 10th squad members, not missing that small change, slaughtered the Uruks.

Meanwhile, Grant, who had separated from the squad members, untied the villagers and led them.

“Is there anyone who knows the location of Elberum Castle?”

“I know, Sir Knight!”

When a figure who appeared to be a hunter raised his hand, Grant nodded and entrusted him with leading the group.

“You must move cautiously. The surroundings are full of these monsters. Avoid all nearby villages so you don’t get caught by them.”

“Thank you, Sir Knight! We will not forget your kindness.”

As the hunter led the people away, Grant drew his sword.

“Well done! Chick!”

It was a good display of initiative to think of using a hunter familiar with the local paths to lead them.

Grant, encouraged by Gary’s praise, let out a kiai and charged at an Uruk with his sword.

He thought that no matter how strong the monster before him was, he could surely subdue them.

Hwoooong! Kaaang!

However, after just one clash, Grant easily realized how foolish that thought had been.

The Uruk, a head taller than the others, easily parried his qi-infused sword with its club and swung the club towards his head.

Hwoooong!

With a chilling whoosh of wind, Grant barely dodged the club flying towards his head by rolling on the ground, cold sweat streaming down his back.

“Shit…”

Grant, who had cursed unknowingly, gripped his sword again and lunged towards the massive Uruk’s torso.

He had, after all, undergone harsh training under his knight father since childhood.

His talent wasn’t outstanding, and he had experienced real combat working as a mercenary in his youth due to lack of money.

The grit from those days, struggling to survive, instilled a small courage in Grant.

Chwaaaak!

Grant’s sword, lunging at the Uruk’s chest, slashed diagonally across its torso.

“Got him!”

Just as he was about to shout in joy that the attack had landed, the Uruk’s club struck Grant’s shoulder squarely.

Crack.

With a feeling of bones collapsing, Grant’s one shoulder caved in.

“Uwaaaaak!”

Grant collapsed on the spot, experiencing for the first time the agonizing pain of his left shoulder being crushed.

“Chick!”

Just as the Uruk’s club was about to strike Grant again, Andre’s sword lopped off the injured Uruk’s head.

Chwaaak!

By the time Andre severed the large Uruk’s head, the remaining Uruks had also been dealt with by the Knight of the Lighthouse.

“Are you okay? Chick?”

By the time Andre spoke, Grant had already fainted from the pain.

“Squad Leader, the chick seems to be quite badly injured.”

“It’s not a fatal wound, so splash some water on him to wake him up. We’ll check a few more villages and then rendezvous at Elberum.”

Andre nodded at Gary’s words and took care of Grant.

The members of the 10th squad then set off towards the next village.

***

While the knights of the 10th squad were fighting fiercely against the Uruks north of the Arthur Domain, a dispatch arrived at the Lord’s castle.

“Uruks, you say….”

Elves, dwarves, and now Uruks.

He hadn’t thought monsters wouldn’t appear, but he hadn’t expected to see them so soon.

Judging by the contents of the dispatch, they seemed closer to demi-humans than monsters, though.

In the first place, if one looked at the ancient texts of this world, everything from demons, elves, dwarves, demi-humans, to monsters was recorded.

After all, the first thing Karl had done to obtain quests here was to read all the books on this continent.

He had already sensed for a while that the system was changing as the progression rate increased.

He didn’t know what other things might happen in the future.

However, what Karl worried about was the safety of the people belonging to the domain, more so than himself.

[Quest: Halt the Uruk Invasion of the Continent (Ongoing)]

Karl had also anticipated that a mission would be assigned with the Uruk invasion.

The problem was one word in that mission.

‘Continent, huh….’

It meant that it wasn't limited to just the Arthur Domain.

If the Uruks had invaded the entire continent and stopping it was the mission, it was not an easy problem.

“We need to grasp the approximate scale of the Uruks first. The Uruks wouldn’t have appeared only in the north. Anne, I’ll need you to put in some effort.”

“Leave it to me.”

Karl, having entrusted Anne with gathering information, stared intently at the map while considering the available military power in the Arthur Domain.

“Divide the Knight of the Lighthouse and the Knights Hospitaller into two groups and have them move. Also check the north-central region, and if there are no Uruks there, request reinforcements from Count Vito. Inform Duke Ellenhower as well and proceed with joint training. As for the Holy Knights, speak to Sir Daniel and request their cooperation to advance northward from the west of the Arthur Domain.”

Karl, looking at the map, began to issue orders in rapid succession.

Thanks to his swift decision-making, the Arthur Domain quickly prepared for a military expedition.

And that evening, a contingent of knights led by Karl departed first for Elberum, from where the 10th squad had requested aid.

Following them, a second contingent led by Duke Bastien moved to the east of the Arthur Domain, and the 3rd Holy Knight Order led by Daniel Lugetti began to move to the left of the domain.

***

“Grant! Evacuate the people!”

“Squad Leader, we also need to retreat! There are many of them this time!”

“No… We hold them off here while the people evacuate.”

It was already the fifth village.

Gary, who had initially planned to rescue only one or two villages and then rendezvous at Elberum, continued the work of rescuing people while going around the nearby villages.

By the time they reached the fifth village, word about them seemed to have spread among the Uruks, as over 50 Uruks were swarming towards the village.

The last village they arrived at had not yet been attacked by Uruks, but before they could even evacuate the people, Uruks were already appearing on the other side of the village.

Gary, whose 10th squad was suffering from accumulated injuries and hitting their physical limits after several battles, agonized over it repeatedly, but ultimately, holding them off here and then moving was the best course of action.

Fighting a battle with villagers in tow was even more dangerous.

“Squad Leader….”

“We hold! If the Commander were here, he would have held them off here until the very end, even alone.”

Firm eyes.

A tightly gripped sword.

Gary was unwavering.

And the squad members, seeing their squad leader’s back, stood beside Gary with the same look in their eyes.

“Never fear in the face of the enemy.”

Faced with the fear of the approaching Uruks, Gary recited the knight’s oath as if hypnotizing himself.

It was an old sentiment, an oath that, for reasons of being pretentious and showy, was no longer recited even at knighting ceremonies, but to him, it was like a spell to overcome fear.

“Always act with courage and righteousness.”

As Gary recited the first line, the rest of the squad members, as if by prior agreement, recited the next line.

“Speak the truth, risking your life.”

In front of the Uruks, who had by now come within close range, the eleven knights, including Grant, held their swords upright.

“And always protect the weak with goodwill.”

A faint light began to emanate from their swords.

Lumentia Swordsmanship, which Karl had painstakingly devised, was itself a swordsmanship imbued with the noble will of a knight.

Light shone from the swords of the Knight of the Lighthouse, who wished to be a beacon of light for the people, and the Uruks’ black bodies lunged forward.