Praise the Orc! Chapter 69:
Chapter 69 – Season of Hunting (4)
Shakan looked at Crockta and Tiyo, who were asleep, and went outside .
It was nighttime . He looked up at the night sky where countless stars were shining up high . The constellations could still be seen in this cursed place . The hunter was looking at a dragon in the sky .
Shakan gathered branches and started cutting arrows . One stroke, another stroke, his head cleared every time he carved the tree branches .
He couldn’t distinguish between yesterday, today, or tomorrow, due to the long time he spent here . The memories of those who had already left him mixed up with the upcoming hunt . His body was already broken from the inside after eating countless creatures . His brain and spinal cord were already that of a creature .
So there was only one chance left .
He aimed at the dark forest while gauging the proportions of the newly created arrows . A good hunter only needed one shot . He had to penetrate the core of the darkness .
He muttered, “A Shakan never leaves his enemies alive . ”
His head was clear . The confusion in his head was no longer important as he recalled the darkness . He shrugged everything off until only one thought passed through his head . It was as clear as day .
Kill the ‘beast . ’ The day would soon come .
The last hunt was like this . Once the day became bright, he would leave for the hunt with two outsiders . They would be his hounds .
Kill it or die . There were no alternatives . He always sought the enemy . The beast would be aware that Shakan was moving in the darkness while it came time for hunting season .
He opened his eyes and looked up at the sky again . The constellations were growing dark . The evil nature of the forest dyed the moon red, into a capricious and wicked demon . He would cut at the middle of that moon .
***
“I believe in fate,” Shakan said .
Crockta cocked his head at the sudden words .
They had left the fortress early in the morning . Shakan stared at the cows for a while before leaving . However, Shakan didn’t treat the cows as his sons . He had the cold appearance of a hunter, just like when they first met .
Tension could be seen in his whole body . Shakan never made mistakes when he hunted .
“I don’t believe in fate . ” Crockta replied .
“Just like an orc . ”
“Do you know orcs?”
“The Shakan hunt anything . ”
Shakan chuckled . Crockta’s eyes sharpened . Shakan smiled and shook his head, “It is a joke . I knew an orc hunter . ”
“Orc hunter?”
“Yes . A hunter I acknowledge . ”
Crockta hadn’t seen many orc hunters . Orcs were usually warriors or shamans . But he met one powerful hunter before leaving Orcrox . The hunter Zankus, who shot down the sun . The hunter’s eyes had glanced at Crockta like he was prey .
Shakan said, “It was someone called Zankus . ”
“……!”
“At the time, he was a fledgling, but he must’ve become quite good by now . ”
Zankus was one of the praised orcs . All of Orcrox had been surprised when Zankus had arrived for Lenox’s funeral . Shakan treated that Zankus as a novice . He looked different .
He was a hunter who could handle a Wyvern and Manticore instantly . Crockta glanced at Shakan’s movements . His mind was a little anxious but there was always something to be learned from those who have reached a certain level .
Their strength was the culmination of endless discipline .
Shakan felt Crockta’s gaze and asked, “Do you have anything to say?”
Then he pulled back his bowstring .
Piing .
His arrow penetrated the forest at dawn . Something collapsed in the distance, a creature that Crockta and Tiyo hadn’t noticed .
“Hunters depend on each other . No communication will put our lives at risk . ”
That was why Shakan started talking . As they walked through the darkness, the corpse of the creature Shakan killed appeared . Troll . But the whole body was decayed and the bones exposed . It looked like it had died a long time ago .
“An undead troll . ”
As they headed deeper into the forest, the stronger the creatures became . It was a cursed land where creatures and dead monsters fought together .
“This is the strength of that **** . ”
Shakan seemed to know the ‘beast . ’ Crockta opened his mouth, “Why do you want to hunt that beast?”
It was a question he had wanted to ask before . Crockta had a vague idea .
‘A Shakan can’t let their enemies live . ’ Shakan was like a madman when he talked about his dead sons . He had looked towards the darkness of the forest when talking about the enemy . There had to be a story .
“It is as you have guessed . ”
Shakan pulled out the arrow from the undead troll . The arrowhead was tinged black .
“My son wanted to hunt it and died . My other two sons entered the Forest of Creatures to get revenge for their brother and died . I lost my wife in the aftermath . ”
His voice was detached as he recounted the story, “I am here for revenge, but they were Shakan . More Shakan than me . ”
“I’m sorry I asked . ”
“No . ” Shakan stared into the darkness . Despite it being dawn, the dense vegetation of the forest blocked the sun . “I believe in fate . All Shakan believe in fate to a certain extent . ”
Suddenly, something was felt in the darkness . Tiyo aimed his muzzle from where he had been quietly following behind them . Crockta also pulled out Ogre Slayer and prepared for battle .
“Maybe we were destined to meet . ”
What appeared was a group of ogres . The three ogres’ eyes flashed as the group was spotted . A battle cry shook the tranquil forest . It was from Crockta, not the ogres . His momentum overwhelmed the ogres . He rushed towards the ogres with his big greatsword .
Colorful magic power supported Crockta’s charge . ‘Ogre Slayer’ tore through the forest .
Shakan had traveled across the continent and hunted everything . Sometimes he fought with orcs .
“Bul’tarrrrrrrrrr──────!”
However, he had never seen a true orc warrior . He narrowly avoided the enemy’s attacks using his battle senses and then overwhelmed the enemy with his greatsword . He seemed like a human machine that suppressed his enemies with his swordsmanship . At the necessary moment, his power would burst out against the enemy .
“Only this much──────!”
Crockta shouted as he was kicked by an ogre . He stabbed the greatsword into the ogre’s abdomen, causing blood to pour out . Crockta swung his greatsword madly at the ogre . Blood dripped down . The ogre collapsed, blood foaming at its mouth .
The **** Crockta glared at the remaining enemies . The ogres were caught by that momentum . A fighting spirit that never broke .
“Fate . ”
Was it a coincidence that a warrior appeared for his last hunt? If that wasn’t fate, then what was?
Shakan smiled and pulled back his bowstring . The orc wasn’t there yet, but he would be great in the future . The image of the hunter Zankus, whom he had met a long time ago, was superimposed over this orc warrior .
It was the duty of a veteran to give advice to the young and inexperienced .
Shakan kept pulling back his bowstring .
The two remaining ogres were forcing Crockta to be on the defensive . Tiyo’s magic bullets struck one ogre while the other one aimed its huge fist at Crockta .
Shakan let go .
Shakan had the bloodline of a dragon hunter who hunted a dragon and drank its blood . The bodies of the ogres stiffened as his arrow became invisible and pierced through the two ogres at the same time .
“……!”
There was no fuss as the two ogres fell to the ground like they were asleep . Crockta stared at him .
“A-Amazing dot . ”
Tiyo also felt admiration . Shakan just shrugged . He had just pierced the required spot with as much force as necessary . If he did that, the enemy’s breath would stop .
Hunting was a tranquil task .
***
“Do you know why the Forest of Creatures is like this?” Crockta panted as he looked up .
They advanced while killing many creatures .
Before, they had still been at the entrance of the Forest of Creatures . Once they arrived at the center, creatures such as trolls, ogres, and wyverns endlessly attacked . Crockta’s greatsword cut their necks without resting, but the creatures didn’t die as they were resurrected and caught by the party again . They attacked the trio of monsters who died, resurrected, and died again .
It was a scene like **** .
“How can a crazy place like this exist? Is it really because of the legend?”
Crockta asked . It was something that Dr . Gnome from Quantes had said in passing . There was a legend that demonic power flowed out from a wicked creature buried here . To find out more, he needed to speak to the theology professor but she was missing from Quantes .
“That’s right,” Shakan spoke while picking up the arrows .
The number of arrows was gradually diminishing due to the repeated battles .
“Is there really an ancient demon buried here?” Tiyo asked as he flopped down to the ground, holding ‘General’ with a weary expression .
“Not exactly, there is a beast that has digested the body of something buried here and became a monster . ”
“……!”
“At one time, the Shakans were interested in the Forest of Creatures as a hunting ground . They wanted to know the cause of the endless creatures emerging . They eventually failed, but in turn discovered what type of monster it was .
Shaken pulled Tiyo up . Tiyo grabbed his hand and rubbed away the dirt from his **** . It was time to move again .
“I call it the behemoth . ”
“Behemoth . ”
“It ate the legend and became a monster; however, because of that, it can’t leave this place . I’m glad . It has regular periods of hibernation . Once a year, there is a season where it will wake up . Now is that season . The north won’t open until you finally kill it . ”
They headed towards the center of the forest . The sun was up but the horizon was dark due to the lush greenery .
“You appeared in the season of its awakening . ”
“A coincidence . ”
“Fate . ” Shakan smiled . He could feel fate’s hand pushing his back .
Both of them had excellent skills . Apart from the orc warrior, the gnome also skillfully handled his artifact . This was the last season of hunting and these people would open the north .
“This time I won’t miss it . ”
An enemy he couldn’t run from .
“We’re here . ”
He could smell it . Shakan’s body became tense, but there was a smile on his face . They finally got to meet again .
Last year, he had pierced its eyes, but had been forced back . He reached the point of death but it hadn’t killed him . The fight between the two had gone on for a long time . For the ‘beast’ stuck here, he was its only entertainment .
But this was the end of a bad relationship . Either way, today, one of the two would die .
“It’s coming,” Shakan said .
Something was raising its body .
“Kill that guy if you want to open up the north . ”
Crockta and Tiyo stared at it . The two eyes of the ‘beast’ shone . It slowly raised its head . The behemoth looked down at them from a very high place .
“Oh my god…”
A giant monster . Thick limbs . It looked a hippopotamus and was much bigger than an ogre . It was a big monster that seemed the size of several elephants combined together .
It looked down at them and laughed .
Tiyo was overwhelmed by its huge appearance . “Something so large…”
Crockta forcibly moved his stiff body and grasped his greatsword . The enemy’s size wasn’t important . “Shakan . Are you willing to hunt that thing? Kulkulkul . ”
His old habit of laughing in front of seemingly impossible missions popped up .
“Of course . ” Shakan’s voice was determined .
Crockta declared, “Then let’s go . ”
“Yes . ” Shakan pulled his big bow . He pressed his mouth against the bow . “Show me that orc warriors aren’t loud and fragile . ”
Crockta joked, “Is it true that the Shakan aren’t just bluffing rabbits?”
Shakan laughed,”I’ll show you . ”
“I will do the same . ”
Just as they prepared to launch their attacks…
Bright flashes of light flew from behind them towards the behemoth .
Tiyo fired ‘General’ and shouted, “There’s too much talking . The most courageous one here is a gnome dot!”
Crockta burst out laughing . Then they rushed towards the behemoth .