Chapter 10
While we were descending the stairs, the man going down in front of me came to an abrupt stop.
He took the potion bottles from his pouch and held them out to me.
“Take them. They’re potions the captain told me to give you.”
There were five potions in total.
“If you run short, come find me while you’re still alive, or make your own way back into the city.”
“Understood.”
Unlike Risellin, the leader of the Lukerna Mercenary Band, the man spoke informally without hesitation, but it didn’t bother or offend me. He simply seemed to be taking the current situation very seriously.
[NPC - ‘Lukerna Mercenary Band Assault Captain’ Ed]
Ed handed me some bandages as well.
I opened my mouth.
“Do you think we can drive those bastards back?”
Even at a rough glance, there seemed to be at least 150 orcs.
Ed, whose scar above his right eyebrow stood out, spoke indifferently.
“The fact that they advanced with forces that size means the Orc King wants Kykleve to fall completely. He isn’t just testing the waters and planning to do a little pillaging. In this situation, completely driving out the Orc army isn’t our job.”
Ed continued in a low voice.
“Our role is to strike and fall back while holding out. It’ll be the knights arriving soon who kill those bastards and behead the Orc King.”
I couldn’t fully agree with him.
Because I alone knew what Ed and every other soldier in this land did not.
That this was Pandemonium difficulty.
We were fully armed.
Beside me, I heard the voice of Risellin, the leader of the Lukerna Mercenary Band.
“Our role is to hold out. As we always do. Yoo-seong, let’s hold the line and defend it together.”
Ed’s words had been very similar to Risellin’s.
It was a rational choice.
“I’m sorry.”
But that choice wasn’t the right answer for me.
“I’ll handle it myself.”
“Pardon?”
I passed by the bewildered Risellin.
The answer I had reached was a fight to the death.
I planted my foot firmly.
Thankfully, the ‘Sparring Golem Mk. 2’ had given me more than just pain.
My fear of this situation was dead.
My hesitation had vanished.
I took a short spear meant for throwing from my Inventory and held it in my right hand.
Kwoooar!
I swung my arm toward the head of the orc at the very front.
The short spear pierced the orc between the brows. Its body toppled face-first to the ground. Instant death.
One down, for now.
Srrng!
I drew my straight sword and ran.
I ran so fast I could hear the wind brushing past me.
[Focus Enhancement Lv.2 - Activating skill.]
Shwaaak!
I twisted my body aside to evade the orc’s axe as it came crashing down vertically.
I slipped beneath its chin and saw its startled eyes. Then I drove my sword straight into its neck.
Skuuuck!
I kicked its abdomen and pulled out my sword.
Shraaak!
Drops of blood scattered in a wide horizontal arc.
Two down.
Every nearby orc’s gaze focused on me.
I circulated the small amount of mana settled at the bottom of my Mana Heart throughout my body.
Two charging orcs came into view at the same time.
Thick legs and forearms rippling with muscle. Their prominent pectorals were completely unarmored. Monsters.
I had to hunt down every one of those monsters.
[Mana Body Enhancement Lv.1 - Activating skill.]
Strength surged throughout my body.
There was no reason to conceal that strength.
Woooooaaah!!
Cries burst from the two orcs’ mouths as they charged. The path of a spear and the arc of an axe came tearing toward me.
Kkwaak!
I twisted my entire body in an instant, pivoting on the balls of my feet.
A charge made possible by Mana Body Enhancement.
It was a charge that briefly exceeded the limits of my physical abilities.
A blind spot (死角).
I entered the gap where the two orcs couldn’t prepare themselves.
I extended my right arm, holding the straight sword.
Dragon-Slaying Sword (龍殺劍).
Second Form.
Hjartagnyr.
The straight sword plunged into the abdomen of the orc slightly ahead of me and to one side.
As I pulled out the sword, I swung it horizontally.
A diagonal slash was carved into the orc whose abdomen I had pierced,
while the head of the orc beside it launched into the air along with its right arm.
Four down.
Kwoaaaargh!
Another orc had approached in the meantime.
I hadn’t seen it.
I had poured all my attention into the two I had just killed.
A streak of flashing light obscured my vision.
Kkwojijik!
An axe had bitten into the back of my right shoulder.
Even through my armor, pain struck deep.
The strength drained from my right arm.
My body moved on instinct.
Our positions crossed. The orc’s body staggered, then reeled to the side.
I instantly switched the straight sword to my left hand and managed to land a horizontal slash.
I twisted my body backward and drove the sword toward the orc’s heart.
Then I pulled it out.
[Level up!]
[Lv.4 → Lv.5]
[‘Strength’ increases by 5.]
[‘Agility’ increases by 4.]
[‘Vitality’ increases by 6.]
[‘Mana’ increases by 2.]
The accumulated fatigue
vanished in an instant.
The pain in my shoulder that had been building until just moments ago completely disappeared.
When you level up, all wounds on your body are healed.
This was the moment that rule was confirmed.
Whew.
I steadied my breathing.
The corpses of the orcs lying on the ground and the red blood flowing from their bodies caught my eye.
The thin pools scattered around me were all made of red blood.
“……”
The orcs surrounding me had stopped moving.
What, had they gotten scared?
* * *
Risellin, the leader of the Lukerna Mercenary Band, was dumbfounded.
Ever since arriving at Kykleve Castle, an autonomous city of the Ermaine Empire, one absurd situation after another had unfolded.
The first was that proper reinforcements still hadn’t arrived.
The second was that the enemy orc forces numbered nearly 150.
The third was when the man who had smashed orc heads and pierced their hearts by throwing short spears told Risellin he would participate in the frontline battle alongside them.
He could die very easily.
Yoo-seong.
The young man who looked to be around twenty had introduced himself to Risellin by that name.
A bizarre name that sounded like an alias the moment she heard it.
Since he seemed capable of pulling his weight by calmly throwing short spears from the castle wall and piercing the orcs’ hearts and heads, Risellin set aside the absurdity of his name and welcomed him.
But then he left the formation from the very beginning and started killing orcs on his own.
And quite skillfully, at that.
The orcs that had initially charged recklessly had now suddenly stopped moving, as if time itself had stopped.
‘They’ve been cowed by Yoo-seong’s momentum.’
Risellin swallowed hard and tightened the grip on the sword already in hand.
Kwooooooaar─!
The silence was shattered by the booming cry of a huge orc.
It wasn’t the Orc King, but it was clearly the commander of the orcs on this battlefield.
‘Orc Legion Commander.’
Risellin knew him.
The orc carried a red flag wherever it went, earning the name Red Legion Commander.
When the legion commander shouted loudly enough to rupture eardrums, the orcs came to their senses and started charging Han Yoo-seong again.
As if he didn’t tire, Han Yoo-seong clashed with them, holding a sword in his right hand and the short spear Risellin had given him in his left.
“Everyone, join in! Chaaaaaarge!”
At Risellin’s cry, the mercenary band rushed toward the Orc army, each holding their own weapon.
The mercenaries had no intention of engaging in a true all-out battle.
They only planned to hold out until the knights arrived.
But Yoo-seong had stirred things up far more than expected.
Maybe it was possible after all.
He had caused such a stir that even that crazy thought seemed possible.
Meanwhile, the war began.
【 Transcendent Gallery 】
Many in the Transcendent Gallery were still floundering in a debate over ‘Who became Delisa’s husband?’
Title : Surely the man Delisa married wasn’t Corbin?
Author : ㅇㅇ
-There’s no way I lost to some worthless knight bastard like that, ㅇㅇ
└ Absolute Sovereign) Surely it wasn’t Corbin… It must have been one of the Seven Heroes. Voltas or Greven, perhaps?
└ No, Sovereign-hyung. If she married one of the Seven Heroes, would she make her daughter a mercenary captain? Let’s think rationally.
└ Spear King) That’s a very plausible analysis. It really could be Corbin or Podran….
└ Can you really stand watching the story of a Sovereign who was NTR’d by a mere knight, not even a hero?
└ Fuckㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ If he were at least a knight, I could accept it. I can be grateful it wasn’t Villager A.
└ Swamp Sword Saint) No, no. The more I think about it, the worse I feel, and all the progress I’ve made seems meaningless, so let’s stop. This pointless debate has no value.
└ Looks like the Spear King got hit with a massive reality checkㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Ah, let’s stopㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Pioneer) It really does look pathetic, so let’s stop.
└ Climberㅋㅋㅋㅋ Anyway, I’m curious after seeing this post, so make sure to ask.
└ If the answer isn’t revealed, speculation will pile onto speculation and then onto more speculation.
└ We need a superhuman to end this endless cycle of delusional speculation, for real.
There were posts on other topics as well.
Title : What It Takes for the Climber to Take First Place in the Floor 2 Stage Rankings.
Author : Great Mage
-Setting a new time record is practically impossible since it’s Pandemonium difficulty. So I guess the only option is killing as many as possible.
└ Light’s Sword) Yeah, going by kill count might work.
└ These lunatics are talking about first-place scores when this is a matter of life and death.
└ You can’t try to understand hardcore conquerors’ thinking with an ordinary person’s mind.
└ 天魔) More importantly, I think we should decide in advance who the climber’s next trade partner will be once the cooldown on his cross-dimensional trade is over. First come, first served. Since I brought up the topic, I get top priority.
└ …Wow, is this really the Heavenly Demon? Isn’t this an impostor Heavenly Demon? He looks so pathetic.
└ Shaman) Hawawa, I don’t think trades are possible only in the floor waiting room. The cooldown will probably reset after the Exchange ends. I think it would be best to go to the Floor 3 stage and give him what he needs then.
└ 天魔) …Why are you suddenly spouting logical things so fluently? It doesn’t suit you. I said we should do first come, first served.
└ Great Mage) We can do as the Shaman says.
└ Ice Queen) Freeze! I’ll be keeping an eye out for my chance, too! A chance to help the climber…!
└ Dragon Demon King) Whew, Beltui—I woke up from hibernation (冬眠). Did something happen…? The gallery has gotten lively.
└ Light’s Sword) Go back to sleep.
└ Dragon Demon King) Beltui—Light Sword, I’m so happy to see you, but you’re so scary. I’m not going to sleep.
└ Light’s Sword) Die.
The gallery’s time continued to flow peacefully today as well.