Chapter 177 – Dancing With Orcs
After listening to Winia’s explanation, orcs were like crows living in a tribal society. Exactly like that in that they like shiny things.
Hearing this, you might think they’re cute monsters, but at the same time, they also like flashy things, so they adorn their entire bodies with intensely colored feathers and objects that reflect light.
Although they’re not bright, they’re strong, so the orc tribe always follows the strongest orc. And the stronger the orc, the more shiny and flashy accessories they wear to show off.
“So, if you raid where orcs live, you’ll find a shitton of valuable stuff.”
More than anything, because they have intelligence, they often kill people and take their equipment to use themselves. Naturally, they sometimes obtain valuables in the process, and these are either kept intact in their settlements or used as decorations.
Orcs were starting to look more and more attractive as monsters.
“Ooh. I’ve learned a lot, Winia-nim. Thank you.”
Copson, who had been listening to the explanation, exclaimed in admiration and expressed his gratitude. As expected, there’s nothing more valuable than information from a senior adventurer. Copson burst into a hearty laugh.
“Then, are there strong orcs in the settlements?”
“If the standard of strength is you, Unni, then no.”
While chatting like that, we went up a hill to survey the surroundings. Copson, who went up first, looked down the hill, paused, and quickly lowered his body.
Did he find something?
I bent down and approached Copson.
“Barbarian. This is amazing. Look down there.”
“…This is fucking amazing.”
The bottom of the hill was like a cliff. Below, orcs who had lit a fire were huddled together, roasting something and eating it.
There were a total of five orcs.
As Winia explained, one orc wearing a feather-decorated hat was sitting on a rock, three orcs wearing rags were squatting on the ground, and the smallest-looking orc in the group was cutting up the corpse of a beast-type monster.
“Look, those bastards are eating.”
“I can tell that just by looking. More importantly… those bastards are holding swords, right? Something made by humans.”
“Looks like it.”
The orc wearing the feathered hat and two other orcs. A total of three orcs were holding iron swords that appeared to have been made by human blacksmiths. Did they kill some unfortunate soul and steal it…? First, we came down from the hill.
“Winia, Claudia. There are five orcs down there, right? One of them is wearing a feathered hat. They’re holding swords, probably stolen from someone they killed.”
“Then that bastard wearing the hat must be the leader. Down there? Let’s go around.”
We needed to go around to get down. Looking at it, smoke was now rising. We decided to use that as a guide to find our way.
“Katt. The leader is mine.”
Claudia, who had drawn her curved sword, said. It seemed she wanted to kill the strongest orc with her own hands. Then, let’s leave the leader to Claudia and we’ll take care of the rest.
“Then if Unni takes on the leader, that leaves four. I’ll burn two of them, so the rest will be Blackie and Blackie’s friend, right? Blackie seems like he can handle it, but what about Blackie’s friend?”
“Well… I think I can manage.”
Copson said confidently.
In my opinion, instead of individual battles, we should quickly take down one bastard by surprise, and then gang up on the remaining one.
I shouldn’t underestimate him.
Copson is my friend and comrade, and almost the only bastard among the shitty adventurers I can trust and rely on. I know from the duel with Bulverza. The orc’s strength will be overwhelming, but fighting isn’t just about strength.
If I think back to when we took down the cultists in the waterway, it’s definitely possible.
ㅡRustle.
We hid behind a tree.
The sight of the orcs gleefully tearing at the meat while making strange noises came into view. The smell of burning is reaching even here… They should be burning their very lives right now, but they looked so carefree.
Originally, hell comes at the most enjoyable moment.
When happy comfort is torn away as if plunged into a swamp, one is seized with horror and a terrible feeling like vomiting one’s intestines. Killing the enjoying orcs is nothing short of forcing this upon them.
“Didn’t you say they have a good sense of smell? Aren’t we going to get caught?”
“Judging by how they’re so engrossed in the smell of meat, it seems we’re still okay.”
Even though we were spying on them from almost right in front of them, the orcs were just happily tearing at the meat. Looking closely, the monster they were eating was a rather rare monster, a [Tentacle Hog].
As a beast-type monster, it looked similar to a boar, but the fact that its snout was made of four-pronged tentacles was a disgustingly shocking sight. More than anything, the fact that it had six eyes was fucking annoying.
“What should we do? Attack right away?”
Claudia, her eyes gleaming, took a stance as if she was about to run out. Her eyes were as fierce as a vampire eager to see blood.
“Unni, wait. I’ll attack first.”
Winia stepped forward and said.
“Okay, everyone listen carefully. If I burn one bastard first, then Unni will take on the one wearing the hat, and Blackie and Blackie’s friend will mark the guys running towards us until I cast the spell again.”
Winia, who had given the instructions, glanced at us.
There were no objections. We silently agreed to do so and nodded.
“Good. Then let’s start.”
Winia began chanting. An ominous current of fire gathered at the end of her staff. It’s a Fire Bolt with a short casting time.
I also tensed my muscles, taking a stance. I couldn’t help but feel nervous. It was the first time fighting a real orc like this.
But the experience with Bulverza instilled confidence and courage. In the end, orcs are also made of bones and flesh. If you stab them with a sword, they die. That’s inevitable. We attacked first, so we’ll definitely win.
ㅡWhoosh!
“Unni!”
A ball of fire was shot, and Winia called out to Claudia sharply. ㅡSwish! Claudia, who ran out like a wolf, raised her curved sword.
ㅡBoom!
The fireball engulfed the orcs who were happily eating.
The happy mealtime instantly transformed into something like the entrance to hell, sending close comrades to the other side of the abyss.
ㅡScreeeeeeeeeech!!!!!
The orc who had been squatting was engulfed in flames and rolled on the ground.
The remaining orcs, realizing they were under attack, drew their weapons and stood up. ㅡClang! At that moment, Claudia and the leader orc clashed swords. ㅡShwing! And the two warriors began to exchange blows.
“Copson!”
“Got it!”
I advanced with Copson. The remaining three orcs seemed hesitant whether to join their leader or stop us from approaching.
Thenㅡ
“ㅡScreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech!!!!!!”
The leader orc, roaring loudly, knocked Claudia back.
That.
That fucking bastard dared to hit Claudiaㅡ!!!!
“Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!”
In an instant, my head went blank, and I roared louder than the orc leader and ran out! “Ba, Barbarian!” Copson, flustered, chased after me. I saw Claudia, who had landed lightly, rushing at the leader again.
Was she hurt?
Whatever the case, I have to stop the other orcs from joining the leader! Whether that will was conveyed or not, the orcs, burning with fighting spirit, rushed at me.
ㅡShwick!!!
ㅡScreeeech!
ㅡShwit!
“You fucking bastards!!”
The orcs, who were just rushing at me with weapons, seemed to have the same level of intelligence as other monsters. Fierce cries and high viscosity saliva splashing as they gnashed their teeth. Jiggling belly fat. Rising dust… The bastard in the front!
ㅡClang!
My attack was faster. My reach was also longer. Imbued with the essence of the swordsmanship I had learned so far, I quickly slashed down with my blade.
“Shwick!”
But it was blocked.
Not a technical defense, but simply raising his sword, but due to his superior strength, my slash was broken.
“…Shit!”
I tightly gripped the handle of the sword that had been bounced upwards and retrieved it. So, it can’t be done with strength alone? Two more came running from both sides. Of course, it was impossible to deal with them simultaneously, so I swung my sword horizontally to create distance.
Copson, who had followed, stood next to me and took his position.
“Barbarian! I’ll help!”
“Comeㅡon, you fucking bastards!!!”
Copson slashed his sword, and I stopped the approaching one. ㅡWhoosh! A fireball flying from behind collided with the head of the orc farthest away.
ㅡScreeeeeech!!!
The orc, his face burning, became Ghost Rider himself and began to run across the earth. ㅡScreeeeeech!! It was an unrealistic sight, like watching Thomas’s friends, the runaway locomotives.
He disappeared from our sight as he was.
Is he crazy?
“Copson! You mark the small bastard!”
“Got it!”
The small orc was of a similar build to Copson. Naturally, if their physiques are similar, their strength is also similar. Trusting his experience and skill, I entrusted him with the small orc.
“Uoooooo!!!”
Copson, shouting, charged towards the small orc. Unsystematic but fierce sword strikes poured down on the small orc.
ㅡScreeeech…!
My opponent was an orc of a similar height to me. No, am I a little taller? That awakened my inner courage. I can’t lose to a dwarf bastard!
“You’re fighting me!”
ㅡSwish!
At the same time as the orc raised his sword, I dug into his gap and thrust my sword in. ㅡShwick! The flustered orc twisted his body greatly and tried to knock my sword away. If he knocks it away, he’ll be able to block it. But!
“Idiot!”
When it comes to swordsmanship skills, the orc was just a stupid monster, and I was a master of the Siljang Swordplay that I had honed to the extreme! With such a clumsy stance, no matter how much strength you put into it, you can’t deflect the sword!
Believing that, I put strength into the sword I thrust out.
ㅡSwoosh!
ㅡThwack!
“This fucking bitch blocked…!”
My blade, which must have been aiming for his neck, grazed his shoulder. Blood splattered from the wounded skin. The attack worked, but it wasn’t what I intended. The orc deflected my sword with a clumsy stance.
The overwhelming difference in strength covered the difference in skill!
“Screeeeeeeeeech!!!!”
The guy, excited to see his own blood, abandoned his defense and swung his sword violently. If that was a person, they would have counterattacked, but an angry monster doesn’t care about his own body!
“You shiㅡthead!”
I strained myself a little and swung my sword to defend against the attack. ㅡClang!
“Kuhk?!” My hand vibrated for a moment. The difference in strength is bigger than I thought! I almost lost my balance, but I knew I would die if I did, so I forced myself to take a step… This might be fucking over!
“Damn it!”
I thrust the twisted sword out in a straight line. I may lack strength, but my skill is superior. In that case, I had to use a sword mixed with technique to constantly pour out continuous attacks. “Shwick!” Clang! The orc’s shout and the sound of metal clashing crossed at the same time.
“Die!”
He was weaker than Bulverza.
“Yi!”
His skill, agility, and sense were all inferior, but his absolute strength overwhelmed Bulverza. Keeping that in mind, the sword I swung fell like a guillotine on his shoulder.
Will it be a effective hit!
“You orphan bastard!”
“Screeeeeech!”
ㅡPachut! Sparks flew. Metal and metal intersect. The attack was blocked. But! What I shared with him was not strength.
It was skill!
“Kuaaaaaaaa!!!!”
I twisted the blade upwards. It was a sword that I swung, expecting it to be blocked in the first place. Then, wouldn’t there be a next move? The end of the blade that had cut through the air cut the orc.
ㅡShwick!
As expected, it was shallow.
Blood splattered, but there was no evidence that it had severed his life. What I cut was his cheek and jaw. I couldn’t cut his neck because it was caught on his protruding fangs. Indeed. Were the fangs there for that purpose?
At that moment, the guy kicked off the ground and rammed me with his shoulder.
“Keuhk!”
I ended up falling from the impact of the human missile that hit my chest.
This is fucking bad…
“Winiaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Blackie, you fucking idiot!”
ㅡWhoosh!
At that moment, the fireball that flew attracted the orc’s attention. Perhaps because he was in a state of extreme tension due to the battle, the orc agilely avoided the flying fireball. Nice! I, who was about to die, burst into exclamation as it was.
Still, thanks to that, I was able to buy time to get up.
“This fucking bastard dares to try to kill me!!!”
A crazy rage churned my brain.
