“Guboooooooah!”
The Orc Soldier with the bow, struck by the poisoned arrow, collapsed while clutching his face and screaming. His face, centered around the left eye where the arrow had pierced, turned a bluish-black, and his life was already extinguished.
The Orcs, who had been clamoring, fell silent at the sight of his gruesome death. This poison was something I received from my master with a stern warning when I returned to her place once, but with this potency, I can understand why.
If I misuse it, I might die before the enemy does.
“Gugaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
The Orc General roared, bringing the Orcs, who had begun to cower in fear, back to their senses, and glared at me standing on the roof.
A giant Orc over 3 meters tall, with countless metal rings adorning his bare upper body in place of armor, and armor made from the shell of a giant insect on his lower body.
By killing the higher-ranking species, the “Orc General” regarded me as an “enemy.”
[Orc General] [Rank 5]
[Mana Capacity: 173/190] [HP: 347/710]
[Overall Combat Strength: 883/1457 (Body Enhancement in Progress: 1234)] 39% down
[Condition: Weakened]
Flipping my skirt, I drew a knife from the holder on my thigh and shot it, aiming at the still-confused Orcs. Two Orcs, pierced through the eye and throat, screamed.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
The General, reacting instantly to my attack on his subordinates, charged at me, sweeping me off the roof with his black hexagonal rod.
A jet-black hexagonal rod over 2 meters long. Judging by the feel of it, it’s Demon Iron-made… With this, not only is weapon destruction impossible, but even deflecting it is out of the question, but sorry, I don’t intend to fight you head-on.
Having already started to disengage the moment he charged, I rode the shattered rubble flying through the air and leaped towards the other side of the abandoned house, using the muscles and joints in my legs as cushions to land.
Dogooon!
“Guooooooooh!”
Immediately after, the General chased after me, crushing the remaining walls.
But “I” was no longer there. Using a Shadow as a decoy, I left that place and rushed back to where the Orcs were, and with that momentum, I thrust the Black Dagger into the face of an Orc whose face was contorted with terror.
–Forty-second.
Powerful poisons not only kill the target but also instill fear in those who witness it. The reason I targeted the bow-wielding Orc first was not only because it was a higher-ranking species, but also to make an example of killing the strong individual in a gruesome manner, binding those who were terrified.
As I pulled the Dagger from the Orc, I did a cartwheel, kicked the jaw of the Orc next to me, and pierced the exposed brain from the empty jaw.
Finding the Orc whose eye I had pierced with the knife earlier, I threw the Black Dagger at the back of its head, piercing its neck. I leaped onto it, stabbing the Dagger in deeply to finish it off, then used its head as a stepping stone to jump even higher, plunging the Dagger to the hilt into the crown of the head of an Orc whose neck had been pierced and was looking up in fear.
–Forty-fifth.
“Gugaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
The General returned, shaking the ground and scattering Rank 5 Intimidation. An Orc, shaken out of its confusion by the sound, raised a stone axe and attacked.
I felt that the timing was almost simultaneous, though the distance was different, and I cast Dark Magic while using Stealth.
“–Shadow–”
Shadow is Dark Magic that deceives Night Vision, not just deceiving the opponent’s eyes. The Orc, dodging the General’s attack and chasing after the “Shadow” I had retreated, had its head crushed by the hexagonal rod swung down by the General.
–Forty-sixth.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
The General roared in anger as his subordinates were killed one after another. But at that moment, I was already running into the densely packed houses of the settlement with obstacles.
Orc groups are not opponents to fight alone or stall. In any situation, the correct course of action is to wait for the Adventurer’s Guild to summon reinforcements or for the lord’s army to arrive.
But if you’re alone, there’s a way to fight alone. If you can ignore the terror of being tortured to death if captured, then stealth types like me have a unique way of doing things.
One of them is to poison the drinking water from the start. And the other is this guerrilla warfare.
As soon as I entered the dense area of abandoned houses, I matched my Mana Particles to the atmosphere, used Stealth, and melted into the Darkness. Even the Orc General shouldn’t be able to find me easily in a place where visibility is obstructed, let alone in an open area.
The next moment, a roar was heard from the house next door, and the wall of the house next door, visible from the window, was blown away sideways. The General was probably destroying the abandoned houses because he couldn’t track my presence.
I released another “Shadow” and ran it across the roof of the abandoned house, and as the General moved to chase it, I threw a knife from behind.
The General, catching the slight sound of the wind being cut, turned around and deflected it with his hexagonal rod, but the other knife, which had been flying in its shadow, pierced the General’s shoulder.
Perhaps because my Status had decreased due to being weakened, I was able to confirm that even a knife could pierce him.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
The General’s hexagonal rod shattered the wall of the abandoned house where I was hiding.
I dodged it by jumping out of the window just before it hit, landed on the ground with a forward roll, stood up, and jumped into the window on the opposite side.
Dogon!
The next moment, the abandoned house I had been in was crushed by the hexagonal rod, and the General, who had come out onto the road, lost sight of me and began to destroy the surrounding houses in a frenzy.
As expected, even if his combat strength has decreased, his skill and senses are another matter. Even if it’s not poison, if I use even a small amount of chemicals, my location will probably be identified immediately by the smell.
I moved away from the rampaging General, crept up behind an Orc who was searching for me alone, and assassinated it by piercing its neck straight through.
Forty-seventh…
In this state, it’s better to dispose of the other Orcs without attacking the General recklessly.
If I continue to dispose of the Orcs little by little and continue to inflict even a small amount of damage on the General, I might see a chance of victory, or so I have to believe now.
(!)
At that moment, I sensed Killing Intent and Mana and jumped out of the window of the abandoned house.
Doooon!
A huge mass of Mana passed over my lowered head, and I myself was blown away like a leaf in the wind.
“…Guh.”
What happened…? As the impact passed and the dust, which looked like noise in Night Vision, cleared, most of the abandoned houses, which had numbered about ten, had been blown away, leaving only the foundations, and it looked as if the area had been cleared.
…Probably, it’s a Combat Art of Rod Technique Level 5 that I don’t know about. The Combat Arts I know up to Level 4 should only have the power to increase normal attacks several times, but does it change this much when you reach Level 5…?
“Bumooooooooh!”
The remaining five Orcs, wary of me kneeling in the place where only the foundations remained, surrounded me, keeping their distance so that I wouldn’t escape.
The General, carrying his hexagonal rod on his shoulder, approached me leisurely.
So this is Rank 5… In Grave’s battle, I could only run away, but even weakened, I didn’t think there would still be this much of a difference.
“Gaaaaaaaaaah!”
Whether it was the余裕 of a strongman or to avenge the killing of his comrades, the General gave the order to attack to his subordinate Orcs.
“Bumooooooooh!”
“Buooooooooh!”
The Orcs attacked all at once. The terror of the poison was almost meaningless with their ruler, the General, nearby.
I deflected the thrusting rusted spearhead with the Black Dagger and dodged the stone axe attacking from behind by doing a forward roll.
“Eh!?”
A lump of metal flew at me as I drew my throwing knife, piercing the ground I barely dodged and sticking into it, and in that gap, the Orc’s club that had been approaching from behind sent me flying.
“Guh!”
I was able to guard with the gauntlet on my left hand at the last moment, but my HP had decreased by about 10%.
The thing that flew… was the metal bracelet that the General was wearing. It seems that the General doesn’t intend to let me attack.
Should I use Dark Magic? But, can I really deceive them if I use an illusion that deceives the five senses while being observed?
Even if I could manifest several “Shadows,” without being able to switch places, I wouldn’t be able to evade all the attacks, and I’d just waste my meager Mana.
The Orcs attacked again. I dodged the descending club and aimed my Dagger, but at that moment, the General’s bracelet came flying.
“Tch!”
My concentration was split, and my half-hearted attempt to dodge resulted in the bracelet grazing my side, and a Spear from behind grazed my shoulder.
“——【Shadow…”】
Even if it’s a waste, I have no choice but to use it. But the moment I tried to use magic, the General’s bracelet flew at me, and as I dodged it, another Orc kicked me, scattering the magic’s composition.
Further, I could only roll on the ground to avoid the attacking rusty Spears, forced to crawl like a cat.
The Orcs surrounded me again, wearing cruel smiles. I wasn’t even allowed to stand, let alone attack.
…Come to think of it, when I first met Viro, I was cornered too, clawing at the ground on all fours. What was that for again…?
That’s right…
“…There’s no need to stick to two legs.”
『BumoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!』
One of the wary Orcs thrust at me with its Spear as I spoke.
But I’ve stopped trying to stand up forcibly.
From a prone position, I kicked off the ground with one leg, shifted my position using the Weight of my hips, and rotated, sliding across the ground using one hand as a pivot, dodging the Spear’s tip. Like a cat tearing with its claws, I wrapped the Pendulum’s thread around the Orc’s leg.
『BooOOOOOOOO!!』
The Orc, momentarily stunned by my bizarre movement, thrust its Spear, and the General’s bracelet came flying. But it was too late.
“——【Weight Up】——”
Using magic in that brief instant, the Orc, tangled in the thread around its leg, pulled back, and I sprang up with that momentum. I then plunged the Black Dagger into the Orc’s brow.
——Forty-eighth.
The Female Thief I fought before used her flexibility to surprise with her evasions and attacks. For a Scout with limited destructive power, confusing the enemy is crucial.
『GaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!』
The General leaned forward and hurled the bracelet at me. At the same time, I dodged the Orc’s club by ducking low.
While still in that position, I shifted my position by rotating with my kicking leg and the Weight of my hips. Using the effect of 【Weight Up】to change the direction of the Weight, I slipped between the Orc’s legs, and kicked the Orc’s groin with the Blade hidden in my boot, all while wrapping the thread around its leg.
『GaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!』
Finally, the General jumped out, wielding a Hexagonal Rod.
I pulled the thread hard as I fell backward to avoid the sharp Hexagonal Rod attack, causing the kicked Orc to stumble and have its head pierced by the Hexagonal Rod.
——Forty-ninth.
I dodged the General’s foot, which was trying to crush me as I crawled on the ground, by pulling the thread that was still tangled around the two Orcs, sliding away.
Using the effect of 【Weight Up】and the taut thread, I drew back all the muscles in my body like a bow, and my body, released at high speed like an arrow, surpassed the General’s dynamic vision, and slashed across the General’s face.
Next time: Conclusion of the Orc Arc.
The General, his face and pride wounded, unleashes a fierce attack on Aria.