Chapter 31
I poisoned the well and all the food left in the village.
And now, after quite some time has passed.
No matter how savage they are, they wouldn't be able to safely digest the deadly poison Callias possesses. And right now is the opportunity to slaughter them.
"If you won't go, I won't stop you. It just means that's all you amount to."
Callias ignored them and drew the Predatory Sword—Roas.
Perhaps because it has devoured a lot of blood these past few days, the broken part has grown significantly, so now there's no trace of it ever being broken.
‘Not much left.’
Once this quest is finished, Roas will smoothly become a Spirit Sword.
The innate ability won't make a huge difference here, but it's better than nothing.
"I'll go first."
Callias left the hesitating knights and headed toward the village.
Brans, who followed him, shouted.
"Hmph! Shameful bastards. Is there anyone here who doesn't owe their life to my lord? To think knights who came seeking honor and pride are lying on their asses like that."
Tsk, tsk.
"Even a guard dog knows how to fight in its own yard, so what the hell are you! The title of knight is wasted on you, wasted! If you're going to be like that, just throw away your swords!"
Hearing such words from a mere squire, a few knights stood up in a fit of rage.
Brans was startled and stuck close to Callias.
"Get lost, Brans."
"Yes, yep!"
A moment later.
"Hey, are you going to keep sitting there? After hearing words like that from a squire who isn't even a knight, I don't have the confidence to keep holding my sword. It's too embarrassing."
"I'm going too. He must have something he trusts to act like that."
"I'm going too. If the North falls, there's nowhere to stand anyway. This is my hometown. Besides, he saved my life, so he must have a plan."
One, two.
Looking at the knights standing up, Emily stared at Callias with a strange look in her eyes.
Sreng.
Emily drew her sword.
And she followed the path Callias had taken with long strides. Even a child who had just turned twelve drew her sword and headed toward where the orcs were. The knights' faces burned with shame.
"Ah, damn it!"
"I'm going too, fuck!"
Emily's action acted as a detonator, and all the hesitating knights rose up. Some were swept up in the tide and followed involuntarily, but most were also captivated by Callias's sword at the forefront.
Just as Brans said, they had all incurred a life debt to him.
There was no other choice.
And the very person who ended up leading such knights. Callias's eyes shone as he looked at the orcs stationed in the village.
‘There are quite a few intact ones.’
There are also orcs standing guard, perfectly fine.
But the village didn't look entirely peaceful.
It's quite noisy.
Callias quietly closed his eyes.
Soon, the sounds from inside the village, far away, reached his ears on the wind.
As he concentrated his holy power near his ears, it intertwined with the Bard's Blessing trait, allowing him to hear the sounds from inside, if only slightly.
-Uweeeek!
-Kreuuuurrr!
Slowly lifting his eyelids, he soon curled the corners of his mouth.
"I will carve the path."
Glancing back, Callias immediately circulated the holy power in his dantian throughout his entire body.
The bud of Manhwabongyuk quietly bloomed, stroking the fatigue-laden body and filling it with divine power.
Tat!
His figure shot up toward the village.
"Dushman!!"
The orc standing guard shrieked as if to burst his eardrums.
But because of that.
Swish-!!
It couldn't block Callias's single strike.
"Chaaarge!!"
Brans abruptly shouted.
"Ch-charge!"
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
The orcs panicked at the sight of the knights charging in, throwing caution to the wind.
But they soon raised their axes.
‘Broadcasting a surprise attack.’
I'll have to scold Brans later.
"If you're alive until then!"
Kaaang-!
* * *
"Die!"
Crunch-!
Swinging his greatsword, Aron guffawed as he killed an orc.
His body was tired and his muscles ached all over, but he didn't feel bad.
Strangely, it wasn't difficult to deal with the orcs compared to before.
"These guys have no energy at all! Hey! Isn't that right, kid!"
Slash- Thud!
"I'm not a kid, I'm Allen."
Resting his greatsword on his shoulder, Aron grinned as he looked at Allen, who was only about waist-height to him.
Allen shook off the blood on his sword and panted lightly.
"But I agree with you. Their movements have grown dull. As if they've been poisoned or something."
He didn't know what exactly happened, but this surprise attack was successful enough.
To win against this many orcs with less than half the knights.
It was more than enough to be considered a great merit.
"After today, Lord Callias's name and the story of us knights will be spread through the mouths of bards in the North!"
"Hahahaha! That sounds good!"
Bang! Crunch!
"Hey, hey! Die! Die! My name won't spread widely unless you die!"
Slash!
Another orc fell, and as Aron caught his breath, he saw the man sweeping away the orcs at the very front.
"As expected, should I say it's because of Zerban?"
"Well. You shouldn't be unaware of the rumors about Lord Callias."
"But rumors don't seem to be that trustworthy. Right now, to my eyes, there is no knight more brave and honorable than him!"
Beside him, who was slaughtering the invading orcs with his red cloak fluttering, only the corpses and flowing blood of the enemies remained.
"He might not have needed our help..."
"Nonsense. Look closely, kid. No matter how strong a knight is, their stamina isn't infinite. Look at Lord Callias."
He was dealing with two, three of them at the same time and gaining the upper hand.
Of course, their condition wasn't normal, but there was no knight here with such agility and swordsmanship.
But even he sometimes lost his sword to unexpected orc ambushes, rolling on the ground and fighting fiercely.
When he lost his sword, he hastily made a sword out of the surrounding corpses, or drew a spare sword, fighting without even catching a single breath.
"Lord Callias is overworking himself. He must be in a hurry. Even if he doesn't show it, he's leading us."
"Is he overworking himself like that for our sake?"
"Then why would he stand at the front and swing his sword like a madman?"
It was then.
"You bastards! If you have time to chat like that, at least kill one of them! Do you not realize that our lord is overworking himself to save even one more of you? He poisoned them and set the stage, and instead of being grateful, you're just chatting!"
"P-poison? Really, poison?"
"While you guys were messing around, my lord poured poison in the well! You idiots!"
Tadadadak!
Brans, who spat out the curses, hid behind Emily.
"He's right. Our time isn't infinite! If you have the leisure to chat, kill at least one more."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"I see... Understood, Lady Emily."
Allen and Aron, gripping their sword hilts tightly, glanced at Callias at the forefront and swung their swords faster than before.
‘I thought he was reckless, not knowing that...’
‘As expected, it was all planned.’
An indescribable emotion bloomed in the chests of Allen and Aron.
Kaang-!
Iron sparks flash once again.
Swish-! Slash-!
The sensation of cutting them down is exhilarating.
Roas seemed to feel the same, growing sharper the more it cut.
Having absorbed plenty of blood, Roas became sharper and lighter than originally.
Kaaang-! The knack of blocking axes was gradually getting into his hands.
‘It's definitely easier than at first.’
The unique muscular strength of orcs.
The trajectory of swinging axes.
Stalwart movements.
Such things were now quite familiar.
Thus, if they swing their sword like this, they find it hard to block, and if they do that, they charge in without holding back.
Having roughly grasped their combat style, cutting them down was much easier.
Thud.
Leaving the bleeding, fallen orc behind, Callias looked back.
"Hoo-"
He left dealing with the orcs who couldn't properly move due to the poison to the knights.
He mainly cut down the vigorous ones.
"They're doing well."
Looking back, Brans and Emily were joining forces to take down an orc.
Brans held a heavy dagger, using quick movements to gradually inflict wounds on the orc's limbs, while Emily deflected the orc's axe with excellent swordsmanship.
‘Their coordination is quite good.’
Brans's swordsmanship was completely hopeless, but he was quick-witted, and Emily was creating gaps for him to jump in.
Emily drew the orc's attention, and Brans stabbed deeply whenever he saw an opening.
The dagger Brans was holding had a blue-tinted blade; it was a masterwork-grade sword forged from a corpse that Callias had created by killing an orc warrior. Thus, regardless of his swordsmanship, if he stabbed with force, it went in deep up to the hilt and gouged out the orc's flesh.
Callias nodded slowly and calmly observed the surrounding situation.
The tide of battle had already turned.
The remaining knights joined forces to take down the groaning orcs.
It seemed even the villagers could kill the orcs who were dying from the poison.
"At this point, they should be running away."
But the orcs didn't do that.
Whatever the case, they threw their bodies and strained every nerve to kill even one more.
No, they struggled as if they wanted to die fighting, since they were going to die anyway.
‘If I must die, on the battlefield.’
It was one of their tenets.
Under the belief that only by dying on the battlefield could they enter the embrace of their god.
The orcs swung their massive axes, hoping to die in the midst of battle.
They desire high honor.
That had its own sort of aesthetic, but...
"Rather, it's good."
The more he killed the orcs rushing in like moths to a flame, the higher the tier of the dropped rewards would be.
"Hoo-!"
After catching his breath once, Callias threw his body toward the charging orcs again.
* * *
Same time.
"Wow, he fights really well. This time he even drew another sword and held one in each hand!" "...Is that so."
Orphin tightly clenched his hand, which kept reaching for his sword hilt.
Unable to resist Linny's persistence, he moved a little from their original hiding spot.
He came close to the place where he would be, alone with her. Because Linny's eyes were special, landscapes that wouldn't be visible with just a little movement were visible to her.
Even in the dark dawn, it was the same, so Linny and Orphin held their breath and watched the battle of the pilgrim of the battlefield with the fluttering red cloak and the knights.
"It's all over now. It's Callias's victory. He really wiped out the orc army that vastly outnumbered them with those motley crew!"
Linny, who had been watching with sweaty hands, shouted as if exhaling a breath.
"That's... amazing."
Orphin couldn't believe it at all.
But there was no reason for Linny to lie to him.
Because if they had lost, they would be in immediate danger.
"But the orcs didn't look so good. They were really weak and kept throwing up even before fighting. It was gross."
"...Is that so."
"Yeah, it's not like orcs would get a stomach bug all together. Maybe Callias did something in advance?"
"No way. They couldn't have had the time for that."
"But even in a situation where they had no choice but to be pushed back, Callias challenged them to a fight and won."
Unless he had some certainty, he wouldn't have been able to move like that.
Especially not with wandering knights who hadn't even been properly knighted.
Moreover, they all had large and small injuries, so if they fought the orc army, the outcome would be obvious.
‘But he still went ahead with it.’
Something he wouldn't have done unless he had some certainty.
Combining the orcs' condition and the situation, naturally, methods Callias could have used in advance came to mind.
"It might really be poison."
No matter how much he thought about it, the only way to make them unable to fight properly was poison.
"Not just swordsmanship, but also strategy? He's handsome and smart, so how did he become Zerban's ruffian?"
‘That's what I want to ask.’
At Linny's muttering, Orphin laughed quietly. Who would think he was Zerban's unprecedented ruffian after seeing that brave figure?
"What is he doing now?"
"He's sitting on a pile of orc corpses and raising his sword with the knights. If you stay quiet, you might hear it?"
When he closed his eyes for a moment, he could hear it.
The faint cheers of the knights flowing on the cold forest wind.
The shout of victory echoing across the battlefield.
‘Ah.’
Orphin hugged his own arm.
Desire bloomed in his eyes.
The soul of a knight boiled over.
He too wanted to taste victory on a blood-spattered battlefield.
He wanted to shout the cry of victory boiling up from his dantian at the top of his lungs.
"Ah..."
But unlike the pleasant cheers he heard, he was in a pitiful state, facing the cold winter wind of the North.
Despite being a knight of Zerban, he couldn't even swing his sword freely.
Orphin's fist clenched tightly.
Why couldn't he draw his sword there?
Why couldn't he step forward against the magical beasts and orcs, the enemies of the North!
Orphin suppressed the urge to rush out and draw his sword right away.
Creak.
Orphin's grip on the sword hilt caught his burning emotions.
"We must leave now. If dawn breaks, Lord Killavan might come."
"Uh, yeah!?"
It was then.
Linny's pupils dilated.
"What is it?"
"Red head!"
Orphin's eyes grew as wide as lanterns.
"Is that true!"
"Yes! R-red head. Red head means... Orphin!"
"Why is a Grand Warrior..."
Orc Grand Warrior.
The elite among orcs, possessing strength dozens of times that of a normal warrior.
"W-what do we do!? A Grand Warrior is incredibly strong! I know from reading books. Callias is going to die... Orphin!!"
Despite Linny's cry for help, Orphin's face was filled with despair.
"A Grand Warrior..."
Even if he went, nothing would change. It was nearly impossible for them, who had just finished a battle, to escape from a Grand Warrior.
Orphin spoke with a shadowed face.
"They will all..."
"...die."