Morning Light

{Meer Calendar, March 13, 2 Years of Demon War}

{The Morning}

The morning sun shone through the dense leaves of the Bog Forest. The shimmer of the sun's rays was reflected from the dews that were trapped on the leaves. The bog forest seemed to shimmer like green pearls. The birds were chirping and calling each other in the clear blue sky that morning. 

They greeted the beauty of the morning. The wind from the east brushed the thick leaves of the Bog Forest, revealing the horror behind the beautiful scenery. The sounds of iron clanging against each other. The sound of monsters' roars and cries of human pain competed with each other to determine which was louder. 

These voices came together to form the tone for the orchestra of death.

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Bold saw his comrade thrown far away after being hit by a blow from the green monster's club.

*Bleekk!

That was the sound he heard as his comrade's iron armor collided with the green monster's club—not the sound of wood meeting iron, but the sound of pounded soft meat. 

That green monster's club didn't feel the resistance of human iron armour. With a height of 2 metres, a green body, and muscles that were as hard as iron. This green monster was one of the species that ruled the Bog Forest, the orcs.

After the demon declared all-out war, the Human, Elf, and Warbeast Alliance focused all its attention on confronting them, which made them not have enough troops to deal with these monster pests.

The orc is known for being a warlike race, they attacked like a hurricane with their powerful bodies and rapid regeneration, this made them advance into enemy formations without fear.

It takes more than 5 ordinary soldiers to kill one orc without casualties. If they were less than that, there was a possibility that the soldiers would suffer severe injury or even death. If only half of that number fought an orc, then the deaths of all the soldiers were confirmed. If someone still lives after that, then he is a very lucky person.

Even so, with good preparation and formation, orcs are easy enemies to deal with. Their still primitive weapons and armor make them vulnerable to hit-and-run tactics. With long spears and shields possessed by warriors, they only needed to surround the orcs and take turns attacking, causing the orcs to die from stab wounds. A strong body and rapid regeneration were not enough to make them avoid death from blood loss. 

If there was a mage in an army, then the orcs would easily be disposed of. The way they attacked without fear allowed the mages to kill hordes of orcs with a single [Fireball] or [Lightning Chain] spell. 

"Orcs are stupid creatures who only know how to attack", that's how historians' books describe them.

But this morning Bold wanted to strangle and piss on the historians who recorded that.

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{Last Night}

Bold was staring at the bonfire. Waiting for the boiled potato soup to finish cooking. The light from the bonfire shone on his face.

Bold was an ordinary soldier. He had neither mana flow nor good swordsmanship. The war forced him, who was only a farmer, to join the fight. 

He was young and unmarried. He had a simple face. Although he was not handsome, he wasn't ugly either; he was just plain and simple. 

Bold pensively stared at the bonfire. 

A boisterous voice suddenly sounded in his ears, and when he turned. A red light shone from the center of the camp, and Bold's face turned serious. The light came from the food carriage. 

The Alliance wanted to hold the demon army outside of their territory's borders. For that, they made a defensive line at the foot of the Wolf Slopes mountain. But to achieve this, a long journey had to be undertaken from the human kingdom. Therefore, they were divided into several logistics troops. 

This small number of troops would take a much closer route, namely the Bog Forest. And this camp is one of those logistic troops. 

Their job was to bring food to the front line. So when the food carriages were burning, the soldiers immediately panicked, they didn't have time to put on their armour as they immediately rushed to put out the fire.

The commander looked pale, then his face turned red, "What are you guys doing!? Water! Water! Get some water! GET IT QUICKLY OR I WILL CUT OFF YOUR LEGS!" 

The commander shouted angrily. If the fire was not immediately extinguished and the food carriages burned down, then the commander's career would be over. 

Being homeless was the best possible scenario, and the worst scenario was that he would end up on the gallows. 

Campsites were made so that the most important things were close to a water source. Therefore, the route the soldiers used to fetch water was very close to the food carriages, but the fire that burned the dry rice and wheat was too great. 

The carriages were arranged in a row of five adjacent rows, and the soldiers' tents were built around it. There were more than ten food carriages on fire, the flames spread rapidly and engulfed the nearby carriages. 

Bold was one of the soldiers who rushed to put out the fire. Drops of sweat kept dripping from his forehead. He had gone back and forth eight times to fetch water. 

Their troops were required to rush to the defensive line. However, the uncertain condition of the Bog Forest hampered the journey. One of them was the road that was cut off due to landslides. They were forced to dig it, they did not choose another way because of the steep hill on their right and the ravine on their left. 

It was evening when they finished digging. The night was a dangerous time in the Bog Forest. This was not only due to the abundance of wild animals but also because fog covered the path. 

The commander decided to set up camp in this place. He didn't want to lose the food carts by falling into the ravine.

'Is this an enemy attack? But who can attack without the guards knowing?' Bold thought while running. 

There was the sound of hurried footsteps. The direction of his arrival from the guard post."orcs... enemy attack!! Orcs are attacking!" The guard reported with still hurried breaths.

"Damn it! How many?" The commander asked.

"There are only five of them, sir!"

"Only five??" The commander looked astonished because if the burning of the Food carriages was the enemy's plan, the five orcs attacking the soldier-infested encampment camp would be a foolish strategy.

"Just keep the guards against them, report if anything strange happens. The other soldiers stay here and put out the fire!"

The commander only thought that this orc was only interested in seeing the fire and started attacking without thinking about anything else. Prioritising the food carriages over eliminating five orcs was the right decision. But something happened that gave Bold a bad feeling. 

When the fire was almost extinguished, there was still no word from the guards about the five orcs. The commander's forehead wrinkled, and he also felt that something was strange. But seeing that the fire that was burning the food carriage was about to go out, he ignored that feeling. 

A few minutes later, from behind the fog, Bold saw a silhouette walking towards them.

'Who is that? Why is he walking from that direction? Bog's anxiety was getting worse. 

The silhouette came down the steep hill. He walked as if he were on level ground, like he could walk on walls. 

The silhouette drew closer. He didn't walk alone, another, much bigger silhouette appeared, and Bold's face paled.

The face of the first silhouette appeared. It was a young orc. 

"Orcs are attacking from the hill!!" the other soldier, who also saw it, shouted in a trembling voice.

"Make a for—" before the commander could give the command, the young orc had lunged forward with a large sword in each hand.

"UUUURHAAAAA"

The other orcs behind him joined the attack with clubs, logs, bones, or whatever they could find in this forest. 

The people in front of them were thrown flying. Screams and broken bones were heard. Things became chaotic, and the orc hordes rampaged through the crowd of people. 

Human skin, flesh, and bones were unable to withstand the blows of the orc power. It was a massacre. 

The young orc swung his sword nimbly. His movements were not like ordinary orcs, who only used their strength when they attacked, as he used sword techniques that were not inferior to elite warriors. 

The twin greatswords that he swung were like tornadoes that slaughtered his enemies. There was no mercy from those swords. Every time he swung his sword, one warrior's head was cut off. His precision and speed made the soldier who had time to pick up his weapon unable to parry before losing his head. 

The commander's face turned red when he saw his troops being slaughtered. He was furious, his army was crushed, and his food carriage was burned by pests like orcs. He wanted to attack, but the crowd of soldiers blocked his view. The commander was a mage. He had an attack that could inflict massive damage. 

But this spell had a wide attack area. If he cast it in the crowd, the soldiers would be killed along with the orcs. 

He didn't want a shortage of soldiers who could help him carry the food carriages. 

"Retreat! Retreat! Pick your weapon, you dumbass!" He shot angrily. 

The orcs began to push forward into the crowd of soldiers. These orcs didn't attack individually but entered slowly in an orderly formation. No orcs came out of formation and were finally surrounded, they were like the elite troops of Stonhold Kingdom. 

Even so, they were only eleven. They were not able to slaughter dozens of soldiers quickly, but in the end, the other soldiers managed to retreat. 

As the human army retreated, the orcs did not catch up. They also retreated neatly. 

Seeing that, the commander charged forward. These orcs are very smart; they can read the situation and know that we are no longer easy to kill. But the commander would not allow this horde of pests to retreat just like that. 

They had to pay for the soldiers' lives they took. 

"[Reinforce Speed]" The commander cast a spell. His speed visibly increased and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of a horde of orcs. 

The commander looked into their green eyes, they looked astonished. The commander smirked, thinking that this stupid creature was afraid of meeting a mage. 

"It's too late, you idiots! Die! [Fire Ball]" The commander opened his arms and announced the death of these pests.

A fireball the size of a human head formed in front of his chest. The fireball shot swiftly towards the orc horde. Even though it looked small, the fireball from the [Fire Ball] spell would make a big explosion when it hit its target. 

The explosion would burn everything within five metres of it. The heat from the explosion could even melt iron. The target of this spell will not be able to dodge a fireball that shoots as fast as an arrow released from its bow. The only way to defend against this spell is to use a spell from the [Wall] faction or block the user before casting this spell. While the orcs, who are creatures without mana flow, will end up turning into ashes. 

The commander smirked as he waited for the burning orcs' screams of pain. But the young orc at the very front did something that made his eyes widen. The young orc slapped the fast-moving fireball with his greatsword, and that slap made the fireball turn to the left. 

His movements were so fast that the fireball seemed to turn on its own. The commander gasped. The soldiers gasped. The crickets stopped creaking. The wind stopped blowing. The fireball hit the hill and exploded. 

The explosion shattered half the hill and made a deep hole. The heat that was felt from the effects of the [Fire ball] spell made them aware that what had happened wasn't an illusion. Their eyes rolled from the exploding hill to the young orc's figure. 

The young orc made a throwing stance. Then he waved his hand. The sword in his left hand shot out at the speed of sound. 

*Syiuuu

The commander felt a hot feeling on his chest. He looked down, and there was a hole in his chest. 

The hole was as big as a human head. His heart, lungs, ribs, and all the internal organs that should have been there were gone. 

All that was left was blood dripping from the ceiling of the hole to the bottom of the hole.

*Brak! 

Then he felt his back hit something hard.

"Eh?" The commander was confused. Blood dripped from his mouth.

"Eh? Eh?" his brain was trying to process what had just happened. His body gradually became stiff.

"Eh?" His voice was getting quieter.

The commander closed his eyes, he didn't realize what had just happened until the end of his life. Maybe even when he arrives in hell he won't even realize that he is already dead.

Bold saw what happened, when the young Orc threw the sword in his right hand, the ground on his left footstep cracked.

Then in the blink of an eye, the commander's chest disappeared along with the heads of three other soldiers behind him.

The commander continued to sound 'eh?' until his body fell to the ground, and the light in his eyes faded. The soldiers were confused by what had just happened. 

Their brains still hadn't processed this strange and miraculous occurrence.

Their commander was a Mage. From a noble family, he has a bright future. With his status as a mage, his noble blood, and his achievements during this war, the Commander would probably become a famous mage.

But he ended up pitifully, killed with just one hit from a young monster.

"Petjah!!" The young orc gave the signal.

The other ten orcs behind him moved forward. They split into three groups. The first group attacked from the right side, the second group attacked from the left side, and the young orc naturally took the center position.

He threw away his last greatsword and pulled a small knife from his waist. The knife curved into a crescent moon and was sharp on both sides, with a pointed tip, the small knife was like the claws of a beast.

"AJJJAARE!!!" The young orc gave the signal. 

The orc army surrounded the human army. The commander was the only mage of this army. The human army that had no command, confusion, and fear turned into panic. They fought in panic. 

The massacre started again...

{The Morning}

More and more human casualties. 

The orc army was patiently killing humans one by one. 

The human army that was continuously retreating arrived at the guard post.

When Bold saw the deserted guard post, his feeling got worse. The smell of blood wafted everywhere, and the bodies of the guards lay lifeless. The wounds on their bodies indicated that they died from blunt objects and arrows.

Five orcs were seen standing waiting for their arrival. Behind the five orcs, a herd of no less than 30 goblins aimed their arrows at the sky.

"eggaang…!!" a goblin command voice

"appeh!!"

*wuss! *wuss! *wuss! *wuss! *wuss! *wuss! *wuss! *wuss! *wuss! *wuss! *wuss! *wuss! *wuss! *wuss! *wuss!

Hurled arrows filled the forest ceiling.

Even so, the rays of the morning sun still shone through the sidelines. 

The sun's rays hit Bold's face, which was covered in mud, sweat, and blood. 

The human army was very tired; for almost half the night they were slaughtered, and they ran as a way to live. Until finally, they realised that getting out of this forest alive was impossible. 

Bold just pensively saw the dozens of arrows that were approaching. 

He was so tired. 

He wanted to return to his village.

How was the field?

Is his crush married? 

Or did she become a noble concubine? Bold missed her smile.

He wished his body could make it home. 

The arrow pierced Bold's forehead and punctured his brain. 

In a split second, the pain disappeared along with his consciousness. 

Bold felt lucky to have died so quickly. 

At least he wasn't groaning in pain. 

The sun shone through his fading blue eyes. 

Bold breathed his last in that forest.