Chapter 39

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

Chapter 39: Festival (1)

Amid the massive flames, meat was roasting everywhere. Dwarves, elves, and orcs gathered, indiscriminately enjoying the food.

—Chwik! This pork is delicious!

“Ah! Was it canned beer? This stuff is amazing!”

Despite nearly 8,000 people feasting and indulging to their heart’s content, the food never seemed to run out.

Kim Minwoo was also near the bonfire, munching on meat.

‘This is good.’

He had brought plenty of spices like salt and pepper, so the seasoning was perfect.

He looked over at the elves.

They were eating meat, but being a species that preferred fruits and vegetables over meat by nature, they were all holding bananas or corn.

Fortunately, they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

At that moment…

Elise, who had been chewing on some corn, met Kim Minwoo’s gaze.

She stood up and walked toward him.

“This is delicious. I feel like trying to grow some once the weather warms up.”

“Then take a look at this.”

He handed her a book detailing how to cultivate different seeds.

The gate was a fragment of another world.

Naturally, the language and script were all different, but they could still understand each other.

The same went for the writing in the book.

Except for a few special cases, most writing and language could be translated and interpreted.

Moreover, the book contained plenty of notes to make the text easy to understand. Elise opened the book and nodded.

“This is fascinating. There are many seeds I’ve never seen before.”

“They come from another world, after all.”

“Is your world peaceful?”

“More or less.”

“That’s something to envy…”

“It’ll become like that here, too. Because I’ll clear it.”

At his words, Elise’s expression darkened slightly.

“You might be able to defeat the Apostle. But the witch and the ice dragon… those are different classes of beings.”

“I know.”

“Can you really win against such beings?”

“In the world I come from, there’s a saying: Nothing is impossible.”

He meant it.

There is a way to clear the gate. And the path isn’t necessarily a single one.

—The ice dragon wants cold lands. The wicked witch wants fresh corpses. The ice dragon freezes them. The witch gets her corpses.

He recalled what Bektar had said in the past.

The witch wants corpses.

The ice dragon wants frozen lands.

Sharing benefits like that, how could they not get along well?

They must have been inseparable.

‘Until now, they were both in a win-win situation.’

But now?

In a situation where the land is completely frozen and living beings are dying out, could the witch really be happy?

If the cold continues, all life will be wiped out.

‘The balance of benefits is tipping.’

The ice dragon is still coming out on top.

But the witch will start to lose interest.

Since the supply of corpses will begin to dwindle.

‘That’s probably why she’s started disposing of things.’

With no more corpses to spare, she was likely making a last-ditch effort to savor them.

Desire is the starting point of all discord.

And the current situation is:

‘There’s a chance to stir up the witch’s desire.’

The witch and the ice dragon.

If the two of them team up, things will undoubtedly become very difficult.

But if you only have to face one of them…

‘It’s a much more doable task.’

The first step is to defeat the apostle.

* * *

“Wh-what is this?”

Velitas blinked.

He was that surprised.

He was confident in victory after hearing about the festival.

Velitas meticulously fortified the stronghold.

On the third day, he thought they must be running out of food by now.

On the fourth day, they should surely come today.

On the fifth day, the festival was still going strong?

On the sixth day, there were already over 15,000 gathered orcs? At this point, if he went out, he’d be surrounded.

On the seventh day, ‘How long are they going to keep this festival up for!’

They were insane.

News came that there were over 20,000 orcs now.

And they weren’t exactly being frugal with their food supplies.

The voracious orcs were being fed until they were completely stuffed.

Despite this, the festival continued on!

With each passing day, the orc horde was growing at a maddening rate.

‘Now I can’t even go out.’

Velitas was sweating nervously.

Even though the orcs’ level was significantly lower compared to the stronghold’s forces, numbers were a different story.

Without the stronghold’s protection, they would be defeated.

‘If the festival lasts just two more days… we can’t stop this.’

Now, they were gathering at a rate of five to six thousand a day. If the orcs exceeded 30,000, even with the stronghold, it would spell doom.

Damn it!

Seeking help from the other apostles was problematic. They were all competitors trying to win the witch’s favor.

Even if he swallowed his pride, there was no guarantee they’d offer substantial help.

‘There’s no choice.’

He needed to request help from the witch at the center. That was far better than seeing the fortress fall.

He lifted the crystal orb he had in his possession.

As he infused it with dark magic, it began to emit light.

“Gr-great Witch! Your humble servant Velitas contacts you to report a matter.”

―What is it?

The playful questioning in her voice made him tremble.

The witch’s temperament was unpredictable.

In other words, erratic.

She would laugh while chatting and suddenly snap the neck of a subordinate without warning.

Thinking of that, he really didn’t want to report what he had to say.

Clenching his eyes shut, Velitas spoke.

“The orcs are acting out. Their number has already reached twenty thousand, making it impossible to venture out and suppress them.”

―What have you been doing all this time?

“I apologize deeply. It’s all my fault. If you could spare just a little strength…”

―I’ll send the Death Knight Order. That should be enough, right?

The Death Knight Order.

One of the witch’s most elite armies, it was said that nothing but corpses remained in their wake. They were a formidable, highly trained force.

Velitas’s eyes lit up with hope.

“Yes! That will be more than enough! I’ll sweep away the orcs and offer the witch a glorious victory!”

―Disconnect.

The connection in the crystal orb was cut.

Only then could Velitas breathe a sigh of relief.

“If the order rides all night, they should arrive in about three days.”

Even if there are many orcs, holding out for that long shouldn’t be an issue.

Finally, a smile appeared on Velitas’s lips.

* * *

[The number of commanding orcs has surpassed thirty thousand!]

[The title ‘Baby Commander’ has been upgraded to ‘Professional Commander’!]

The title of commander.

This title emerges when leading a large number of subordinates, and it has the effect of boosting the morale of the troops under one’s command.

‘Not bad, I guess.’

Morale boost by 15%.

This title would shine in large-scale battles.

The changes weren’t just limited to that.

[‘Takunda’ has been appointed as the 30,000th Chief!]

[Takunda has evolved from an Orc Chieftain to an Orc Grand Chieftain!]

Whenever ten thousand orcs gather, a chieftain grows into a Grand Chieftain.

This growth happened in order of seniority.

First was Urkan.

Second was Dekum.

Third was Takunda.

All of them had grown larger and their muscles had become more menacingly swollen.

Among the chieftains, Urkan, the only boss monster, showed remarkable growth.

He was practically a fighting machine.

Preparations were complete.

“The festival is over! Now, we attack the fortress!”

―Orc! Orc!

The orc army, having eaten to their heart’s content and received plenty of equipment, had morale through the roof.

An army of thirty thousand orcs.

And there was also some, albeit minor, support from the elves.

A hundred archers had joined.

Boom boom!

Several orcs, holding drums, beat them powerfully.

The large army moved towards the fortress.

The journey took six hours.

In the distance, a massive fortress could be seen.

The height of the fortress walls was approximately 15 meters.

Atop the walls were swarming chimeras, phantom knights, dark mages, and necromancers.

An encampment was set up temporarily, allowing for a look at the composition of their forces.

‘The total number is around three thousand.’

However, this figure did not include the forces summoned by the opposing necromancers.

If that were added, the fortress’s defense forces would easily exceed five thousand.

In terms of quality, the other side had an overwhelming advantage.

This was because the average level of the orcs was currently only 151.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

Victory without sacrifice is not possible.

They came prepared to bury around ten thousand in the ground for the siege of the fortress.

The orcs, holding ladders in large numbers, were exhaling strongly through their nostrils.

They appeared ready to charge into fire at any given order.

Then…

“Vile creatures! Do you think you can defy the Witch and still live?”

A booming voice echoed from above the fortress walls.

An old man with a long white beard shouted with a powerful voice.

“That is Velitas. A wicked necromancer who has killed thousands and earned the Witch’s favor.”

Elise whispered as she drew near.

“So that’s what he looks like.”

He seemed just like a regular old man at first glance.

Perhaps he was a necromancer with some tricks up his sleeve.

He soon shouted proudly.

“You pests must have at least heard of the Death Knights! Soon, the Death Knights will come to take your heads! Hahaha!”

Despite his words, the orcs remained unfazed, simply snorting in response.

However, the elves reacted differently.

“The Death Knights…!”

“The Death Knights are coming?”

The elves’ pupils widened in what seemed like fear.

Only Elise managed to maintain her composure.

“Are the Death Knights powerful?”

“They are one of the Witch’s direct knight orders. They often participated in challenging battles, and no one has ever survived their blade.”

In other words, they are a formidable foe.

He chuckled.

‘This is getting interesting.’

The difficulty of the gate varies.

Especially for hidden gates, it was even more pronounced.

The difficulty of the gate often shifted with every decision.

If the Death Knights were as strong as they say, then the difficulty level of the situation should change the moment they arrived here.

However, the difficulty level of the gate remained at B-rank.

Even the alert level remained steady at 31.

‘It could be one of two things.’

Either the Death Knights haven’t even started their journey yet, or they are on their way but have no intention to fight.

Either way, one thing was clear.

The Witch planned to use the apostle as a sacrificial pawn.

Until now, he couldn’t be sure about how close the relationship was between the Ice Dragon and the Witch.

But now he had his answer.

These two weren’t as close as it seemed.

Thinking about what it means to give up the stronghold made the situation clear.

If the stronghold was surrendered…

The north would warm up.

The Ice dragon’s power would wane.

Life would start to flourish again.

There would be opportunities to replenish the supply of corpses.

If their alliance was genuinely strong, there would be no reason for them to act this way.

It indicated a relationship formed from loose mutual interests.

That’s why they could easily backstab each other without hesitation.

‘Even though they are keeping to certain boundaries, it seems they are being cautious.’

They hadn’t withdrawn the stronghold’s troops.

They were also sending reinforcements.

This seemed like an excuse to the Ice dragon’s side.

They could say they tried to defend it but couldn’t help it.

Something along those lines.

‘This could be a perfect opportunity for some sowing of discord.’

No matter what.

Sadly for the currently triumphant Velitas, there was a very high chance he wouldn’t be receiving any support.

“Set it up!”

―Orc!

They took out the equipment they had prepared in advance.

The orcs started assembling the catapults, which were hand-made by the dwarves according to the schematics.

Five large catapults appeared on the battlefield.

They didn’t necessarily need to bring down the stronghold with these.

Just draining the defense’s mana would be enough.

“Fire!”

Large boulders were launched towards the stronghold.

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]