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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Hundreds of undead had risen and were fighting the orcs, and in between them, Athena, Kayla, and Baldur were greatly active.
More than a dozen orcs were already lying on the ground as cold corpses, and dozens of undead also seemed to be destroyed.
However, that was only a temporary sight.
‘Is it because they still belong to the land of death?’
The destroyed undead slowly rose again.
It was a sight of them being resurrected again by the magic supplied by the land of death.
‘That’s the true undead.’
That appearance of endlessly rising even if they were destroyed.
That was the true form of the undead.
It was a scene I hadn’t seen much because my power was lacking and thanks to the excellent performance of the No. 1 I had created.
Inwardly, I felt a proud emotion even though it was a situation of combat.
By the way, although I had completed the magic, at the point of completion, it existed separately from me, so even if a battle occurred, I wouldn’t notice it.
As prepared in advance, it would react if a large force invaded this place or if a small number tried to harm the land of death or the underground dungeon.
It also reacted if I gave it a separate signal.
For me to notice the invaders, I had to install a separate boundary magic, but I was planning to rest for a few days and then install it.
‘Because it interferes with the formation of the land of death if installed in advance.’
Of course, it was not that there were no regrets about the land of death.
If my level had been higher, those dead orcs would have also become undead and been resurrected, but I couldn’t reach that level.
Of course, even so, at my current level, it was the best completion, and just by looking at the current appearance, I was very satisfied.
‘If absolutely necessary, I can separately improve it after becoming stronger.’
There were ways.
The confusion and fear on the faces of the orcs were very satisfying.
“Inha! Something’s strange about them!”
Just then, Athena spotted me and shouted.
“They seem to have been driven here!”
The confusion and fear on the faces of the orcs didn’t seem to have arisen solely due to the land of death.
“There are females and young ones too!”
At her words, I quickly examined the orcs.
As she said, I could see female and young orcs packed a bit further back.
It definitely wasn’t a sight of them coming to move.
Orcs weren’t fools either.
I didn’t know if they were the medium-sized ones or the ones expected to be a branch of a large tribe, but both villages were quite far apart, although not that far.
It was not a long-distance migration, and for just this much distance, they wouldn’t recklessly leave like this without prior preparation and bringing the females and young ones.
But the fact that they came this far means…
‘Really, something must have happened to the village, and they fled in this direction…’
If there were ones who would disturb the orc tribes around here…
‘There’s no manticore. It hasn’t been seen since the wave. Bugbears alone wouldn’t be able to make them retreat… Is it really the branch? If support came from the main tribe…’
There were no other possibilities that came to mind.
However, I couldn’t just keep watching.
Whether they were fleeing or attacking, the fact was that they had come in this direction, and we had no choice but to fight them.
I quickly took out the specter and skeletons No. 1 and No. 2.
“Go and kill them.”
Thud thud thud thud.
Following my order, the two undead rushed towards the orcs.
‘Even excluding the young and females, the number of orcs exceeds a hundred.’
Still, with our forces here, we could kill them all without difficulty.
I didn’t see any proper warrior orc using mana.
Even without the undead, Kayla alone with the support of me and Athena would be able to sweep them all away, even if it took time, but this was our territory.
With hundreds of undead supporting her, there was no way we could lose even if we wanted to.
Although my stamina was drained, my magic was already fully charged.
Magic usage was sufficiently possible as long as I didn’t forcefully increase the power.
Even without particularly enhancing the power, Dark Bolt, a 3rd-class attack magic, possessed enough power.
I aimed at the back so that the undead wouldn’t be harmed, so the female and young orcs had no choice but to be caught in it.
Of course, I wasn’t one to show mercy to enemies.
‘We have to kill them all anyway.’
It was not like I could sell them as slaves.
It could help my research, but it was not necessary.
If I really needed them, I could capture them later, but I was not stupid enough to try to capture them now.
‘Before the ones who made them flee arrive…’
If the cause that made the orcs flee was still chasing them, they could arrive here before long.
In preparation for that time, we had to get rid of these guys in advance.
I poured out Dark Bolts in succession and strengthened the undead.
Of course, I could also strengthen the undead bound to the land of death.
‘For now, they’re the ones I created with my magic.’
Even if they became independent, for now, they were my undead.
It wasn’t strange since they also obeyed my orders.
“Kraaak! Kraaaah!”
When more than half of the orcs fighting us in the front line died, they seemed to have given up on breaking through here and were looking for another way.
That wasn’t bad either.
The number of orcs had already drastically decreased, and now they were only at the level of a small group, not a medium-sized one.
As long as they didn’t invade, I didn’t mind if there were other monster territories around, so I had no intention of chasing them if they ran away.
However, they couldn’t escape.
Pew-ung!
‘…That’s…’
Magic.
Magic presumed to be Air Ball and Wind Cutter fell, and the rear of the orcs began to collapse with screams.
When I looked up at the sky, there was nothing visible.
‘…Human? No, another race?’
It was not that there were no monsters that used wind magic.
A famous one was the harpy, and I looked up at the sky just in case.
But it wasn’t that, so my guess was that it was either a human or another race.
‘It’s becoming troublesome…’
If they came out from inside the forest, the possibility of them being human was low.
‘Another race. Could it be from the alliance of other races…’
Of course, the distance was overwhelmingly far.
However, if there was any possibility, it was that side.
The thought that the monster wave might have occurred because of the alliance of other races briefly came to mind and disappeared.
The orcs couldn’t withstand the pressure from our forces in the front and the barrage of magic from the back, and they quickly collapsed.
No one was able to escape.
The pressure from my undead, Kayla, and Athena, and the wind magic pouring from the back caused them to collapse.
Although they weren’t high-class magic, it was an excessive level of power for the orcs who had no mana and weren’t equipped with solid armor to endure.
Moreover, they weren’t the tough orcs with high combat power that we had been dealing with, but relatively weak females and young orcs, so resistance was even more impossible.
In that way, the ground became drenched with the corpses and blood of the orcs, and even after the orcs were annihilated, the tension on the battlefield didn’t disappear.
We were staring at the direction the magic had come from, unable to relax.
Thud, thud, thud.
A group began to reveal themselves.
“…Hornorcs?”
I couldn’t hide my perplexity at their identity.
They were a race from the Great Forest that would join the alliance of other races in the future.
I was a bit surprised to hear that they were spotted in this area a few months ago, but since they hadn’t actually appeared after that, I had half-forgotten about it.
But I didn’t expect hornorcs to appear now.
While I was unable to hide my perplexity and didn’t move, one of the hornorcs stepped forward and shouted in slightly stiff human language.
“I am Rithild, the chief of the Dolgaebaram Tribe, descendants of the great wind dragon! Who is the warlock?”
‘Wind dragon?’
They seemed to be referring to the green dragon.
‘I heard rumors that hornorcs claim to be descendants of dragons, but it seems to be true.’
I had heard it as a rumor.
Seeing them step forward like that, it seemed they had no intention of being hostile, so I slowly stepped forward.
“What brings the hornorcs of the Great Forest here?”
“…You know us? Could you be from the Black Star?”
The Black Star was a group of warlocks based in the southern Great Forest.
They were regarded as the best among warlock groups, and the overall power of the Black Star was said to be at a level that could rival one kingdom or even a level that one kingdom could not handle.
‘I don’t know if that’s true though.’
Even if it was true, it was impossible for the Black Star to go to war with a kingdom.
Warlocks were never a race that could unite.
Unless it was a small number, the more they gathered, the more they became a ragtag group.
In fact, the Black Star was also a group created for the minimal survival of warlocks, beings who were rejected throughout the continent, and they didn’t do anything separately under the name of the Black Star.
I heard that even their regulations were at a really minimal level.
If they were attacked first, they would inevitably gather and fight together, but unless there was a considerable reason, it was impossible for them to invade a kingdom with a common goal.
‘Rather, they would backstab each other before that?’
It would be more likely for a powerful absolute ruler to appear and rampage alone.
It was all stories I had heard from my past teacher though.
“I’m not from the Black Star.”
“Is that so? That’s a relief at least.”
It seemed the Black Star didn’t have a very good image among the hornorcs either.
‘Well, where would warlocks have a good image?’
There was no reason to like warlocks whose personalities were basically shattered.
“So, I still haven’t received an answer.”
“…Well, if you’ve made a nest here, you might not know. The hornorcs have abandoned the Great Forest.”
“Why?”
“We lost the war. We were defeated by the red ogres and as a result, were driven out of the Great Forest.”
The expression of Rithild, the chief of the Dolgaebaram Tribe, twisted with shame and anger.
However, he soon regained his composure and said,
“We scattered to find new lands to avoid the red ogres chasing us.”
“…Red ogres?”
“Hmm? You don’t know the descendants of the giants?”
‘Red ogres? Descendants of giants?’
I didn’t know about that.
In the first place, I knew about the hornorcs not because I’d been to the Great Forest, but because they joined the alliance of other races in the future.
Except for the Black Star, I didn’t hear much from my teacher, so I didn’t know much about the Great Forest in detail.
Most of what I knew was just rumors I’d heard.
“Hmm… You know us but not them… Interesting.”
But that wasn’t important, so I asked again.
“I understand why the hornorcs left the Great Forest. I also understand that you’re looking for a new place to settle. Are you thinking of settling around here?”
“…I haven’t thought that far yet, but… The reason I called you is to request your help.”
“…Help?”
“Yes. It was good that we escaped the Great Forest to avoid the red ogres, but we also got scattered from our tribesmen. We can’t just die, so we’ve been wandering around looking for a new settlement. But… We ended up clashing with orcs.”
Hornorcs and orcs had similar names, but they were clearly different races.
I heard that hornorcs treated orcs almost like primitives or monkeys.
In fact, even if they were of the same race, orcs fought if their tribes were different, so there was no reason for them to go easy on hornorcs.
“In that process, we lost some of our tribesmen. Moreover, their size is so large… We had no choice but to fight. They are also very persistent fellows.”
He said it was expected to be difficult to escape.
‘It seems they clashed with a large tribe.’
There was only one orc tribe around here that could be called large.
It was a bit deep inside, but it was a very big place, so its territory was also quite wide.
To be honest, the reason why the Owalan Barony didn’t go further inside from here and expanded sideways was because of that large tribe.
‘If we fight… it will be a loss. In the first place, the forces of the Owalan Barony are no match for them.’
They stopped pioneering there to avoid clashing with them as much as possible.
But he said the Dolgaebaram Tribe clashed with that tribe.
“Among the orcs around here, there was a place that was expected to be a branch of their tribe. If we were going to fight anyway, they would also be enemies, so we tried to deal with them in advance, but they seemed to have noticed us and ran away.”
He said they happened to spot us there.
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