Chapter 169: The Dying Ones, Part 2
DOOOOM!!!
A deafening roar echoed as, at last, the thick castle gate was breached.
“GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Let’s go!”
“Yeah!” they all roared in agreement.
Meeting the Orcs, whose faces were alight with joy as they tried to pass through the gate, were eleven wounded men. The Orcs’ smiles deepened further.
“Hyaaaah!”
The Lumberjack at the forefront delivered a blow with his axe to an Orc’s right leg. The axe tore through the Orc’s thick fat and broke its bone. That was the fruit of his diligent labor as a lumberjack.
“PIGYA!?”
The Orcs were caught off guard by the unexpected attack power.
“Charge!”
“Uooooooooh!!!”
The men, having seized the initiative, charged the Orcs with spears in hand. They slayed one Orc, then another, and riding their momentum, succeeded in pushing the Orcs out from the castle gate.
“Now! Barricade the gate!”
Achim’s command rang out from behind the men.
They must have been instructed beforehand. The craftsmen, tears welling in their eyes, barricaded the gate. With this, the men’s escape route was cut off.
The eleven men were left alone amidst the Orcs. Their fate was already sealed.
“All that’s left is to buy time, eh…”
“Don’t you go dying easily, alright?”
“You ask the impossible, don’t you?”
However, there were smiles on the men’s faces.
“Buying time is fine, but would it be alright if we just wiped them all out?”
“Talking big, aren’t we! That’s the spirit!”
The men’s expressions turned sharp, like hunters stalking their prey. In this desperate situation, it was as if they were declaring that they were the hunters, not the hunted.
“UGAAAAAA!”
Provoked by the men’s insolent attitude, the Orcs attacked all at once.
The men grouped together and fought back with their spears, but the Orcs charged, paying no heed to the spears.
However, several of the Orcs stopped, as if reluctant.
“The eyes! Aim for the eyes!”
The information was shared instantly, and the men swung their spears wildly to buy even a little time.
“Woah!?”
However, the Lumberjack, who didn’t have a spear, was caught by an Orc. The Orc lifted him and tried to strangle him. From the other men’s positions, the Lumberjack was in the way, preventing them from aiming at the Orc’s weak spot—its eyes. The Orc was likely using him as a shield.
“Pierce it, right through me!”
“Right!”
However, the Orc had misjudged the men’s resolve.
In an instant, the men pierced the Orc’s eye with their spears, right through the Lumberjack.
“Gofu!”
“PIGYAAAAAAAA!?”
The Orc released the Lumberjack and covered its eye with its hand. The Lumberjack then lopped off that Orc’s head with his axe.
“Sorry, you saved me.”
“Don’t get caught again, you hear?”
“Well, we took it down, so I guess it’s all good in the end.”
The Lumberjack stood there laughing, despite having been dealt what should have been a fatal wound by his comrades. They no longer had the luxury to care about every single wound. They were soldiers prepared for death—death-seeking soldiers.
At this sight, the Orcs and Goblins stopped in their tracks, trembling with fear.
◇
“Kuh!?”
“Ptooey! Tastes awful…”
A Goblin whose throat had been bitten out convulsed and fell. A man, using a broken spear like a cane, pushed himself up. How many times had this scene repeated itself? The men’s numbers were dwindling, but they stood as if it were a matter of course.
Their bodies were battered to the point where not a single spot was unscathed. Some had legs torn off, arms ripped away, or their innards spilling out. It was a wonder they were still standing, still alive.
Even those who could no longer stand refused to let go of their swords, their fighting spirit showing no signs of breaking. However, their numbers had dwindled to only five.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“GUGYAAAAAA!?”
Another man was trampled by an Orc, becoming an unmoving corpse. But, as a final act of defiance, the man had stabbed his broken sword into the sole of the Orc’s foot.
BOOM!
An explosion of fire enveloped the immobilized Orc. It was supporting fire from atop the castle walls.
Receiving support from the castle walls, the remaining four men fought desperately. Their movements were slow, almost zombie-like. However, they could not be underestimated, for they had defeated many monsters in this very state.
But that, too, did not last long.
“Mom…”
Another man fell. Then another, this time collapsing from an arrow to the crown of his head.
The monsters no longer approached the men. They finished them off with ranged attacks.
The last one, the Lumberjack, also fell to a monster’s magic. Finally, all the men who had been defending the castle gate were defeated.
Even so, the monsters shot arrows into the corpses, confirming they were dead, before timidly advancing. Even the Orcs, known for their boldness, advanced while making sure to crush the men’s heads underfoot.
That was how deeply the terror instilled by the men lingered in the monsters.
The time bought by the eleven men amounted to a full thirty minutes. For the monsters, to be delayed this much was unexpected.
Looking, despite the enormous sacrifices made, stacked bricks were visible through the hole in the castle gate they had supposedly destroyed. Now, they would have to start by breaking down the castle wall all over again.
Harboring gloomy feelings, the monsters resumed their attack on the castle gate after a thirty-minute interval.