Chapter 12. The Demon Kingdom (4) Part-1

The Gnolls' hides lit on fire. They screamed as they scattered in every direction. Due to the fleeing Gnolls, the other demons around them caught fire as well.

"Throw!"

The Orcs placed stones along with a pouch filled with poison into the catapult. When the combination was thrown, fist-sized stones rained down upon the demons' formation, causing widespread damage. The pouch of poison following behind sprayed everywhere, causing the demons' skins to turn black.

"What is this liquid that stinks like rotting meat? Also, my body! Why can't I move?! P-poison?!"

The demon began to convulse and its eyes rolled back. It collapsed on the spot.

"Shit! Don't you have any honor! We're demons too!"

The demons on Bludifer's side shouted back at the Orcs, outraged. They glared at them as they watched their kin die.

The Orcs, in response, just aimed their crossbows toward them.

"We're no different than you! Show mercy! Are you asking us to die?!"

"If you don't want to die, then turn back!"

Despite the Demon Army continuing to shrink in size, they continued to draw closer to the Orcs' fortifications. As the flames were extinguished, their charge became faster. They put down ladders to avoid falling into pits, using them as bridges, and they broke apart the spears protruding from the hill as they ascended toward the Orc's position.

"Kwooooh!"

The Orcs put down the first wave of demons that tried to rush through the barricade with their spears. Then they formed a shield wall. The ones in the rear drew their axes and swords and checked over their equipment.

"Shit! They pushed through the traps and climbed the hill!"

"Stop them!"

Gnolls jumped up and smashed their scythes against the wall of shields, but as their bodies were too light, they lacked the raw power needed to break through it.

Suddenly, a voice called from off to the side.

"Ey! We broke through over here!"

"What?!"

"Those Gnoll bastards… they must have climbed up the mountain!"

The Orcs quickly turned to their side to defend their flank.

Gnolls were dexterous and had outstanding stealth techniques. They had managed to climb up the mountain with ease and had taken the opportunity to strike where the Orcs' defense was weakest due to the lack of barricades.

Karakul looked over at them with surprise.

'Damn… they were faster than I thought!'

He believed that it would take them at least a quarter of a day to scale the mountain ridge like that, but the Gnolls had managed it in mere hours. The Gnolls' mountaineering ability and their decisiveness exceeded Karakul's expectations.

Some Gnolls, concealed in the forest, used slingshots to launch stones up to the top of the mountain. The Orcs, donned in tough plate armor, didn't receive any critical damage from this, but their movements couldn't help but be dulled by the relentless assault. Even with a helmet on, the constant banging of rocks against their heads rattled their skulls.

"Shit! Shoot toward the mountain range with the crossbows!"

The Orcs aimed their crossbows toward the forests on the mountain range, but they couldn't see their targets. Their eyes couldn't see anything more than shadows weaving between the trees.

"So fast! Shit! The movements of these damned Gnolls aren't a joke!"

"Moooooo―!"

The Minotaurs shoved their way through the Orcs' barrier with their massive bodies. Despite heavy equipment weighing them down, the Orc formation shattered in an instant and they were sent flying through the air.

"Uwack―!"

Minotaurs trampled the Orcs beneath their feet.

They were crushed beneath their hooves along with their armor.

"Shit! The front has fallen as well!"

"Commander! What do we do! Commander!"

"Shit! I think I'm going to die! I was stabbed… in the stomach!"

"Holy water! Drink the holy water!"

"How do we stop this?!"

"Commander Karakul!"

Frenzied shouts of many Orcs could be heard.

Karakul could only stand there blankly. The front, the sides, every direction had been broken through. Regardless of how good their equipment was, despite using holy water and poison… all of it was meaningless before the sheer numbers and power of the demon army before them.

He knew exactly what would happen now.

The battle was going to continue to drag on, and the Orcs, with their limited numbers, would soon become exhausted. The morning would turn into night, and soon it would be evening. At that time, the Vampires would begin to move. If they stepped in… there would be no way to stop them.

"… If you're going to just stand around slack-jawed like this, all of your kin will die."

Karakul spun around in surprise.

Tom was standing there smiling. He was wearing the white outfit and armor of an apprenticed Holy Knight. He was carrying the Holy Scripture in his hand, and the Holy Sword with which he killed Hero Ludin was hanging from his waist.

"… Is there no way for Master to step in personally?"

"I am only here to watch you command."

"… It'll all be resolved if Master steps in."

"The Vassal of Arrtark isn't omnipotent. To take its form, I must be dead or be in an unconscious state right before death. I can provide something similar to a Hero's ability or temporarily borrow Arrtark's strength, but…"

Tom pointed toward the Demon Army's formation.

"… It'll be hard to cut through that powerful army and approach Bludifer."

"… I see."

These were half-truths. Even in his current state, Tom didn't have the strength to stand against a demon army specialized for battle.

However…

'There is a way to force my way through and provide them with the possibility of victory.'

He did have a way to cut through the Demon Army and reach the palanquin in which Bludifer was staying in. However, there was no guarantee that Bludifer would die from exposure to sunlight. Even if Tom succeeded in doing this, Bludifer was different from the other Vampires, so he didn't know if it would work.

'That's right. He has strength comparable to a Demon Lord. If Bludifer stepped in himself, our defenses would have been crushed already. The fact that he hasn't…'

There were two possible reasons that he could see. First was a matter of pride. He might have decided that a fortification of his level was not worth risking the danger of the sun to deal with himself and so he chose to spectate instead. The other possible reason was that he was wary of the Devil of Lania and was waiting for him to appear first.

This would make sense because Tom found himself in a similar situation. Tom was waiting for Bludifer to show up. So both sides were in the same position waiting for the other to play their strongest card first.

Tom turned to Karakul and spoke.

"Don't try to rely on me too much."

Karakul shut his mouth.

"Try to make use of your experiences up until now. The experience that you have accrued defending against the Hero's forces. The Hero deployed by the continent had picked out incompetent members to join him, but you were still the one that fended them all off. Think about your decisions. Think about the things that were most important."

"… What is the most important?"

Karakul recalled something that happened a few days ago. The Hero Ludin had sent his own allies to sacrifice themselves in order to win no matter the cost. Because of that, even if it was reckless, Karakul and his Orcs would have been slaughtered if Tom hadn't stepped in.

'… Result oriented.'

Ludin had sold out his own kin to win, no matter the cost. Karakul had felt that he was pathetic for doing so, but he also sympathized with him. The cruelty of using whatever method for the sake of victory no matter the consequences was not easy to commit to. It might have been an act that had cost his allies their lives, but the Hero had made that decision without hesitation.

'… Just what am I doing?'

His kin were dying. The Orcs were being cut down. Despite his own words that he wouldn't show any mercy to his enemies, he was letting it happen.

"…"

Karakul stepped up with his axe in hand. He stepped on top of the barricade to look at the situation. Many Demons from the Demon Army were rushing toward the fortification. If no one stopped them, they would breach it and every Orc would die.

Kulbo approached Karakul and shouted in a panic.

"Brother Karakul! What do we do?! The bastards are pushing in! They're stronger than we thought! These bastards… they're relentless!"

"… The Magic Cannon that we took from the Hero's Allied Forces. Prep it."

Kulbo's eyes grew wide.

'Hero! The method that you employed, let me use it as well!'

"M-my god! Are you planning on using it?"

"If we don't, we'll be breached."

"B-but… that's extremely dangerous! If we fire it, everyone will be slaughtered! Especially those down there that are rushing forward, clustered together like that!"

"They are a treasonous force!"

Karakul spoke while glaring at Kulbo.