NOVEL WEB Chapter 37
Kreee!!
First things first.
I headed towards the male orc I spotted coming down the hill.
I deflected the blood-stained wooden club flying towards me and swung my sword, separating its head from its body.
Thud!
The orc’s massive body collapsed like that.
Thinking it was a familiar sensation, I dashed further inside.
Before I knew it, orcs were crawling out of the hastily built wooden houses, having heard the commotion.
Despite the foul stench, I felt a bit of excitement.
After all, even bad connections are still connections.
Memories of endlessly watching them in the Coliseum came flooding back.
Well, that much was expected.
Whoosh!!
I’ve mastered dealing with orcs.
I spun my body, slicing through the necks of two orcs with a single strike, then lowered my stance to dodge the incoming club.
Swipe!
I slashed through the chest of the orc who swung the club at me and pulled back.
Kreeek… Thud!
The orcs fell, pouring out blood.
By now, the strong smell of blood was more noticeable than the orcs’ stench.
Of course, even this smell was familiar.
I regained my stance and looked around.
Behind me, the mercenaries who had just descended were clashing with the orcs, while orcs from the sides and front were charging at me.
There must have been dozens of them.
But they were just small fry.
Amid the charging orcs, I spotted a lone orc standing in the distance.
An orc noticeably larger than the others, wearing a hood and holding a staff.
That one must be the Orc Shaman.
I’ve fought Orc Warriors before, but this was my first time seeing a shaman.
Shamans don’t fit well in the Coliseum.
Who knows where their spells might go?
More importantly, is that the only higher species?
Whoosh!
Dodging an attack from an orc that had gotten close, I leaped high into the air.
Kreeek?
I stepped on the surprised orc’s face and jumped again.
Now, my body was noticeably higher.
From that position, I looked down.
I overlooked the shoddily built wooden houses.
A place where a higher species might live… Hmm?
I saw a cave that wasn’t visible from the hill earlier.
…Something must be there, right?
Thud!
After landing back down.
Whoosh!
I swung my sword again at the orcs now surrounding me.
‘Rush.’
Of course, this time with a bit of aura infused.
Boom!!
With a loud explosion, the orcs close to me were injured and staggered.
I passed by those orcs.
I ran straight towards the Orc Shaman, who was raising his staff and casting something.
But then.
Kreee!!
An orc burst out of a wooden house in front of me.
It was large, carrying a massive, albeit worn-out, greatsword.
Must be an Orc Warrior.
Was it hiding?
Thud!!
I dodged the downward slash and used the momentum to leap up.
Even for an Orc Warrior, its height was just over 2 meters.
A small jump was enough to match its eye level.
Swipe!
I slashed through a significant part of its neck.
Thud!
Hearing the sound of the massive body collapsing behind me, I ran towards the Orc Shaman pointing his staff at me.
But then.
[GAZRYN UURLAL-!!]
With an incomprehensible shout, light emanated from the staff.
Immediately after.
The ground where the Orc Shaman stood shook, and rock fragments shot towards me.
Hmm, so that’s how it is.
Fast and sharp, but not impossible to deflect.
Thud thud thud.
I deflected the large fragment aimed at my vitals and blocked the smaller ones with a guard.
The impact was significant, but the thick leather of my buff coat held.
Once I got close.
I swung my sword with full force.
But then.
Clang!!
The bastard blocked it with his staff.
Even a rotten fish has its uses.
Seems like this orc has some experience in close combat.
In fact, its momentum seemed better than the Orc Warrior earlier.
But.
‘Fleet.’
An orc is still an orc.
Thud!
In the blink of an eye, I was behind it, stabbing its heart.
Kreeek! Thud!
The Orc Shaman collapsed with a deflating sound.
“Huh.”
That was easier than I thought.
Considering the reward, this was practically a freebie.
I pulled my sword from the Orc Shaman’s body and looked at the orcs charging at me.
With their shaman dead, they came at me with bloodshot eyes.
“Let’s keep going.”
It didn’t take long to finish off the remaining orcs.
*
“Jeven, how’s it going over there?”
“Just minor injuries.”
After dealing with the orcs around me, I joined Jeven’s mercenary group.
They had also taken down a significant number of orcs.
As expected, they handle orc hordes with ease.
“I noticed some orcs with cleanly severed limbs…”
“Yes, the new recruit did that.”
“Impressive.”
These orcs have thick limbs, so cutting through them like that must be exhausting.
Glancing at Hagu, he only seemed slightly out of breath.
Either he has great stamina or is very efficient.
Well, the cleanup is mostly done.
“Where was that screaming coming from earlier?”
“It was from the house in the center.”
“Go rescue them. The rest, grab the shaman’s accessories and staff.”
“Yes, understood.”
I sent the mercenaries to handle the follow-up tasks.
It’s already evening, so we’ll finish up quickly, spend the night at the base camp, and head down the mountain tomorrow.
And so.
“Boss! We found a man and a woman here!”
“We got the accessories!”
We managed to retrieve the bloodied, unconscious mercenaries and the mission objectives.
“The staff?”
“Here it is.”
“Hmm, good.”
I also took the staff.
The rate at which we’re gathering materials is impressive.
If this keeps up, I might be able to commission a sword sooner than expected.
The rental sword I’m using now is already good, but I’m excited to see what a custom-made weapon would be like.
“Boss, about these people…”
“What?”
“They’re the Silver Wing Duo.”
“What? Really?”
But.
The expressions of the surrounding mercenaries were strange as they looked at the unconscious duo.
“Do you know them?”
“Yes… They’re famous in the capital.”
“Why are they famous?”
“They’re gold-ranked adventurers who work as a pair…”
“What? Seriously?”
Gold rank? And adventurers?
I glanced at the unconscious duo.
Sure enough, I saw gold badges with winged boot insignias.
“It’s true.”
How did gold-ranked adventurers get captured by orcs?
“Wake them up.”
“Is that okay?”
“Just splash some water on them. They’re not missing any limbs.”
Though there were many orcs here, these two were captured in the forest and brought here.
There must be a reason, so I had water splashed on them to hear their story.
“Cough! Hack!”
“Cough! Gasp!”
They woke up immediately.
Both had silver hair, explaining the “Silver Wing” name.
“Hey… uh, where are we?”
“Huh?”
The duo looked around and noticed the fallen orcs and us.
“The Slashing Jeven?”
“Jeven, is that you?”
Surprisingly, they recognized Jeven right away.
“The Slashing Jeven is indeed famous.”
“…Our areas of activity overlap.”
Anyway.
I pointed around and asked the fallen duo.
“You were captured by these small fries. Why?”
“You are… no, never mind.”
But then.
The male of the duo quickly stood up.
“Th-thank you. We’ll express our gratitude later. Let’s get out of here first.”
“Yeah, that’s the plan. But first, tell us why you were captured.”
“Th-there’s a strange orc among them.”
“A strange orc?”
At least there was no such orc here.
I wanted more details, but their expressions were growing pale.
“It’s… a monster, different from the other orcs…”
“Ah, I see.”
A mutant orc, perhaps?
Or maybe the chieftain here.
Then its lair would be… over there?
My gaze turned to the cave between the hills.
It hadn’t shown itself even as its tribe was being slaughtered.
Or maybe it was out hunting.
Whatever the case.
“Let’s get out of here. We have a base camp.”
They seemed to be panicking, so I gestured for the mercenaries to help them up.
“Let’s head up.”
And so.
As we were about to climb the rocky hill to return to the base camp.
Thud…!
The ground shook.
“Eek!”
“That’s it! That’s the one!”
And then.
The adventurer duo started having a near breakdown.
Are these guys really gold rank?
They must be too injured to think straight.
“Take the injured and get up the hill.”
“Yes, yessir!”
I had the injured taken up the hill first.
“Those in good condition, stay here.”
“Huh?”
I told the remaining mercenaries to hold their ground.
Because…
Thud!
“Seems like there’s more to deal with.”
The most valuable one must still be here.
Inside the cave.
The silhouette of a figure making loud footsteps emerged.
Probably the one the adventurer duo mentioned.
I wondered how terrifying it must be to make gold-ranked adventurers panic.
And then.
Grrr…!
The figure squeezed out of the cave entrance, its form illuminated by the setting sun.
It was an orc, but its size was excessively large, wearing worn-out armor.
And.
“What… what is that?”
“Looks like an Orc Champion…”
With three arms on each side.
Six arms in total, each holding a weapon.
“Since when do champions have two extra arms?”
Mine doesn’t have that, huh?
What the hell is that?
With a body nearly twice the size of a normal orc and six arms, it looked like a monster.
First the Chief Wolf, and now this. Why do I keep running into these things in the mountains?
Actually, the whole mountain range seems to be going crazy.
Come to think of it, Lowell warned me about the Kaine Mountain Range.
And I heard during a lecture that mercenary casualties due to orcs have been increasing.
Well, with something like that around, it’s no wonder.
Anyway.
Grrreee!!
Seeing the orc corpses around, the monster roared and charged.