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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Thanks to the Wind Dragon’s Fang they obtained, Athena was able to arrive without being late even with Kayla’s high-speed movement.
She immediately activated mana and coated her sword with a thin aura.
The orcs who were targeting the zombies were swept away by Kayla’s sword strike.
Athena wasn’t idle either.
She supported Kayla by blocking the side of the orcs trying to surround Kayla, allowing her to escape easily.
The zombies that were saved for a moment went a bit more berserk, and Kayla moved along the front line of the orcs, cutting them down one by one.
Thanks to the zombies, Kayla, and Athena’s performance, the orcs’ attention became focused on them.
In the meantime, Inha and the hornorcs safely left the battlefield, and Athena, who could have a relatively leisurely moment even in the midst of the fierce battle, shouted to Kayla.
“Teacher! Inha has escaped!”
Kayla responded with action.
She immediately left the battlefield, and Athena quickly started running away on the planned escape route.
‘Slightly off from the direction Inha went.’
Even if some of them came to their senses and chased them, they wouldn’t be caught since traps were set up there as well.
“Kwaaaaah!”
Just as she thought that, an orc that was a head taller than the ones they had seen so far appeared.
“…A true warrior. He uses mana.”
At Kayla’s words, Athena swallowed her saliva.
The difference in spirit was definitely palpable.
‘I’d like to fight him at least once, but… luring comes first for now.’
Kayla hid her regret and followed Athena, who was running ahead.
The warrior let out an angry roar at their escape, tore apart the zombie orcs, and followed them.
“…He’s slower than I thought?”
He was faster than the other orcs.
But honestly, compared to the two of them, his speed was nothing special.
If he wasn’t at least that big, they could have left him behind instantly.
Even at the current speed, it wasn’t difficult to outpace him.
“It’s a good thing for us. Adjust the speed. We need to lure other orcs too, so clash with him once in a while.”
As a bonus, she also gauged his skill level.
Since he was an opponent she wanted to clash with at least once, it was killing two birds with one stone.
However, things didn’t go as desired.
“Teacher! In front!”
This was the orcs’ territory.
At the same time, there were also ones who had gone out hunting to search for the hornorcs.
Judging by their appearance, they seemed to have just returned from hunting…
“…Humans?”
“Teacher! Aren’t they people?”
Surprise was etched on their faces.
“I can’t believe there were still humans left.”
They wouldn’t be from the Count’s side.
Even though they clearly knew this side had turned into a mess due to the monster wave, there was no way people would come in this direction.
“…It seems they were survivors of the territory who were hiding and got caught.”
“…Saving them is…”
“The mission comes first.”
Athena also nodded at Kayla’s cold words.
“I feel a bit sorry, but it can’t be helped.”
For Kayla, Inha’s orders were priority, and for Athena, her sister and the group she belonged to were much more important.
Therefore, they ignored the people shouting for help and cut down the monsters blocking their path.
“…This performance is seriously amazing…”
The words of her teacher Kayla not to rely on items were immediately understandable.
While Athena cleared the way, Kayla was blocking the warrior orc that was chasing them.
Kwang!
The orc rolled back at Kayla’s shield strike and let out a roar full of humiliation and anger.
“…He’s not much compared to what I thought. As expected…”
She seemed very satisfied with her physical abilities.
Seeing Kayla like that, Athena felt a bit of envy.
Although their paths were different, she couldn’t help but want to catch up to her teacher.
She was both a teacher and a comrade.
She also felt a subtle sense of rivalry.
A competitive spirit stemming from her desire to be more helpful to Inha, who had bestowed kindness upon her.
Of course, she had no intention of crossing the line.
It was a purely innocent feeling.
Kayla, who had defeated the warrior orc, escaped along the path Athena had secured and said,
“You did well.”
A smile appeared on Athena’s face, seeming pleased with her praise.
One of the angry orcs tore apart the captured human and joined the other orcs in pursuing them.
In the ensuing chase, the two continued to lure them by adjusting their speed, and in the process, orcs who used mana gradually joined.
“The number is more than I thought?”
Indeed, befitting a place of scale, the warrior orcs exceeded five.
It was hard to predict how many more would join.
Two more warriors joined after that, and after exceeding five, Kayla stopped deliberately clashing with them to match their speed.
If they delayed their steps even for a moment, there was a possibility of them being surrounded.
However, there were no major problems once they left the orcs’ territory.
The traps and snares made by Mutre hindered the seven leading warrior orcs, so their movement speed began to match the ones behind.
Moreover, the orcs’ stamina wasn’t infinite, so their speed gradually decreased, and from then on, they continuously lured their attention by provocatively using throwing weapons.
“At this point, wouldn’t they have noticed that we’re luring them?”
“But they still absolutely won’t back down. I knew about their unique vengeance, but at this point, it’s almost at the level of madness.”
“They must be confident. Even though they broke through the territories of who knows how many other monsters, there was no interference. They believe in their strong forces.”
Athena nodded as if she understood Kayla’s words.
“They’re increasing their speed again. Let’s also increase our speed.”
Athena spoke as if she was disappointed, licking her lips.
“If possible, I wanted to reduce the number of warriors by at least one before arriving…”
“No matter how tired they are, they’re still ones who use mana. Given the characteristics of orcs, they’ll have a lot of combat experience. Moreover, you’re not a long-range specialist. The throwing weapons aren’t infinite either.”
It was true that she was currently focusing her training on daggers and body movements, although she was receiving training in handling bows and some poisons.
“Tsk. I don’t know how long Inha’s undead will be able to hold out.”
“It’ll be fine. You saw it last time too. Even if they die, they rise again. Master supplied additional magic over the course of two days, so as long as we deal with the warriors well, there won’t be any problems.”
“I hope so. I’m worried since we’re fighting in our front yard.”
Kayla nodded in understanding at Athena’s concern.
“The firepower of the hornorcs is also decent.”
“…Do you trust the hornorcs, Teacher?”
“No.”
Athena showed a slightly surprised expression at Kayla’s resolute words.
“That’s unexpected. You didn’t seem to be very wary of them…”
“I’m not showing it because Master decided to form an alliance with them. I’m constantly on guard. Just as you worry about Thea’s safety, I worry about Master’s safety.”
There was no reason not to be wary of unpleasant fellows.
Kayla said so.
“They are the ones who brought a direct threat to us. There’s no reason not to be on guard. At least now, we have a common enemy, and Master has their weakness in his grasp, so I’m a bit less wary.”
If it weren’t for that, she would never have left Inha’s side, Kayla said.
“…I also value Inha’s life. He’s our benefactor… and I decided not to betray him.”
“It has nothing to do with the oath of mana. I’m just worried about the one I serve.”
“You really cherish Inha.”
“I can’t help it. He’s the one who gave me hope again.”
Kayla said to Athena,
“I don’t know how they’ll act after the common enemy is gone. I’m seeing them for the first time. Even if there are no unusual actions, don’t let your guard down. Especially that sword. It’s not an ordinary sword. They handed it over because the situation was urgent, but who knows how they’ll act once the urgent fire is put out. Be on guard.”
Having grasped its value through combat, Athena didn’t ignore Kayla’s words.
Tension was etched on Athena’s face.
Perhaps because they were lost in other thoughts, the two noticed something a bit late.
“…By the way, Teacher.”
“What is it?”
“Their pursuit seems to have become a bit more organized? Until now, it felt like they were just rushing recklessly…”
Kayla’s eyes widened slightly as she belatedly examined the orcs at Athena’s words.
“It’s taking longer than I thought.”
“Because we have to take a roundabout route. The orcs’ stamina isn’t infinite either.”
She was not worried about their stamina.
Athena had the Wind Dragon’s Fang, and Kayla had mana that couldn’t easily be ignored even with equipment.
‘The leg strength too.’
Since they took the fastest route back, they had already arrived at the land of death and were taking a break.
It was not that they didn’t encounter orcs at all along the way.
However, they were only at a level that could be dealt with without difficulty, and they were able to quickly arrive at the land of death while also dealing with some monsters that had invaded their territory, underestimating them because of their small numbers.
‘Even though they couldn’t even touch the main tribe…’
She wondered if it was because their numbers were small, but they attacked them without fear.
‘After this battle is over… they won’t even dare to attack.’
“Since mana recovery was completed long ago, everyone seems to be relaxing a bit.”
The hornorcs were no different from humans.
They also felt boredom and got tired when they were tense for a long time.
“They’ll have no choice but to get tense when they see the ones directly coming anyway. Everyone must have seen the scale of the main tribe.”
“That’s true.”
“Tell them not to slack off. And if my calculation is correct, it should be soon. Just don’t let them relax too much.”
“Got it.”
After instructing Rithild to control the hornorcs, I silently stared in the direction the two would come from.
After staring in one direction for about ten minutes, there was a movement on a large scale that could be noticed from afar.
“…They’re really coming.”
“They must have said it would be soon.”
Rithild hastily lined up the hornorcs.
My undead would block the front.
So they could freely cast magic until their mana ran out.
‘We’ll take the front, and they’ll provide the firepower.’
The hornorcs demanded the front line after seeing my undead, and I thought it was sufficiently possible.
In the distance, Kayla and Athena came running.
Glancing at the hornorcs, they all had serious faces staring in the direction the orcs were coming from, seeming to have regained their tension.
I stepped forward to greet the two.
They seemed to have maintained a precarious distance from the beginning, but as soon as they saw us, they must have thought there was no need for that anymore, as they accelerated and approached me as soon as they confirmed me.
“Good work. You must be tired, but I’ll have to ask you to take the front line.”
“Yes. We conserved our stamina well, so you don’t have to worry.”
“However, there are many of them who use mana. At least nine that we confirmed. They kept joining.”
“That many?”
Indeed, there was a reason they were the strongest force in the area.
“Yeah. And… I don’t see the chief. Given the force of that size, the chief must also be strong…”
In most cases, the strongest one was the leader among orcs.
In other words, there were at least ten orcs who used mana.
“The chief is probably among them. Several groups of orcs joined along the way, and at some point, I felt their pursuit became a bit more organized.”
At least ten.
On top of that, even if they couldn’t use mana, there were over a thousand adult male orcs who could easily kill an ordinary low-ranking mercenary.
At this point, it was understandable why they were the strongest force in the area.
They didn’t stop even after seeing hundreds of undead and hornorcs.
Rather, they only let out ferocious roars as if asking if the hornorcs were here too.
‘There’s no strategy or anything.’
Well, even if there were hundreds of undead, there were over a thousand orcs on their side.
There was no reason for them to be afraid.
As they charged, the ground collapsed, and some orcs fell into the pits.
“Kwaaaaah!”
Of course, it was a trap prepared in advance by Mutre’s skill.
There were sharpened wooden pillars stuck inside, so they wouldn’t survive.
Even as the leading ones fell into the traps, there were those who managed to crawl out.
‘It’s those guys.’
The warrior orcs who used mana.
Even though most of them fell into the traps, they came out as if nothing had happened.
They didn’t care even if there were traps.
Rather, they only revealed more ferocity.
That wasn’t all.
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