Praise the Orc! Chapter 78:

Chapter 78 – Orcheim (3)

“I have traveled around the world . I wandered to the northernmost part of the continent and saw the most beautiful lands,” Caburak said .

They walked from the hot spring towards the Holy Land of the orcs hidden deep in the forest .  The ecology of the forest gradually changed . There were strange plants that he saw for the first time . The green forest gradually became white, silver and a mixture of other colors .  Flowers and plants with a strange beauty that couldn’t be seen anywhere else stood in front of them .

“Wasn’t the land of the dark elves in the north?”

“At that time, such limits didn’t apply to me . Kyulkyulkyul . ” Caburak laughed .

“Did you change your appearance?” Crockta asked .

“Kyulkyul, something like that . ”

It was said that changing his appearance and deceiving others was very difficult magic . Crockta nodded . Caburak was certainly a mighty shaman .

“I found an ominous presence in that place . ”

Caburak recalled his memories . It was the presence of a demon . It had been sleeping a long time to regain its strength, and its power was so strong that the fallen beings of that land were raising themselves into undead .

“I asked for support from the dark elves but…they didn’t believe me . ”

“Um…”

“The demon was soon about to wake up . I had no choice but to get rid of it alone . ”

He was a great demon who called himself the demon king . He still hadn’t recovered his strength but his undead army made him the worst to face alone .  If left alone, he would be resurrected and not just the dark elves, but the orcs and most of the north would be devastated .

That’s why Caburak faced him alone .  He used the treasure of his family, the artifact called ‘Constellation Staff’, but it was destroyed during the battle .

Caburak was determined to die to stop it .  He fought using everything he had .  Thus, after using all his powers, he succeeded in killing the demon .  The price was his magic power, the Constellation Staff and…

His life force .

“I won’t be able to live for a long time…kyulkyulkyul!”

“……!”

Caburak laughed like it didn’t mean anything .  

“Since I lost my strength and couldn’t freely move around the north like before…I tried to return to Orcheim . I had just barely reached the territory of the orcs when I was captured by the Great Clan and sold as a slave . Then we met, Crockta!”

His eyes were telling the truth .  Caburak omitted a lot of the story, but Crockta knew of his hard work . Caburak, the orc shaman who sacrificed his life to save the world .  But his story wouldn’t be remembered by anyone in history . His noble sacrifice wasn’t recorded anywhere .

Now Caburak didn’t look like a normal orc to Crockta .  Crockta asked, “How can you laugh?”

“We’re here . ” Caburak pointed to the front instead of answering . Crockta turned his head .

There was a cave .  An unknown, refreshing feeling was felt from it . It was the opposite of the demonic energy of the Forest of Creatures .

“Something feels good dot . ”

“Kyulkyulkyul, follow me . ”

Upon entering the cave, Crockta felt a sense of deja vu .  Yes, it looked similar .  It resembled the path that he walked towards the Hall of Fame in Orcrox . The cave was artificially cut, like someone had touched the wall .

They walked through the darkness . Caburak created a light at his fingertips to light up the way .  They kept walking .  Finally, there was a large space at the end of the cave .

A monument stood there .

“This…”

It was the same as the monument that had the warrior’s laws carved on it . There was writing in the ancient orc language that he couldn’t understand .

“It is a unique object from our god,” said Caburak .  “We don’t believe in the gods . The Goddess of Benevolence, God of Light, God of War, etc . They aren’t gods, they are just stronger than we are . ”

Tiyo nodded . Gnomes traditionally didn’t have a religion . They were usually atheists .

Caburak laughed . The sound of his low laugh rang through the space . He raised the light to reveal the words written on the monument .  They were different from the warrior’s laws .

“Crockta,” Caburak called out .  His eyes were clear . It was no longer Caburak’s voice .

“The world is like dust that runs into the void . ”

Crockta’s eyes widened .  He heard a similar story somewhere before .

“If you look at the universe, the world is empty and all living things will eventually sink into the void . ”

“……”

“Some people believe in heaven after death, but it is inevitable that they will sink downwards . ”

It was the story told by the demon when Crockta obtained the Demon’s Belt . Crockta touched the belt . It didn’t respond .  Caburak was talking about the same nothingness, but his voice was somewhat gentler .

“In this tiny world, is your Bul’tar meaningful?”

“……!”

“I killed the demon and saved the world . That was my honor . But Crockta, in a world that will sink anyway, is our clamoring meaningful? Don’t you think?”

Caburak was still laughing .

Crockta couldn’t answer .  If he hadn’t obtained the Despairing Demon’s Mouth, he might not have considered his answer .  But he had been infused with the idea of the voice by the Demon’s Mouth .  He witnessed it, making this question too difficult .  In the end, everything would die .

Caburak kept laughing as he looked at Crockta .  “What do you think, Crockta?”

Crockta looked at Caburak . The face of this broken orc seemed to already have its own answer .

Crockta replied, “It doesn’t really matter . ”

“Hoh . ”

“No matter what meaning it has, I will do what I believe . I’ll just do what I have to . Even if it doesn’t make sense, I will walk along my own path . ”

“Even if no one acknowledges you? What if no one understands, or if the world is against your beliefs?”

“It will be the same . ” Crockta also laughed as he looked at Caburak .  “If the road is solitary, I will be a little lonely . But that is it . ”

Caburak’s expression changed .  His eyes grew larger and he started to laugh out loud .

“Only loneliness…you really are an orc . Crockta . ” Then he pointed to the monument .  “His voice came and he looked at us . He promised us only one thing . ”

Caburak cried out loudly, his voice echoing throughout the cave .

“We will look so that you aren’t lonely . ”

He also heard this somewhere before .  A familiar face popped into his head .

Lenox .

‘God, please acknowledge me . See that our honor won’t be lonely . ’

Lenox had said this before passing on the warrior’s laws .

Caburak’s voice continued, “He who we don’t understand or can’t understand . He who builds the world and supports the world . And he who always watch us . ”

Crockta and Tiyo listened . Caburak’s voice sounded like a spell in their heads .

“He who blows the wind along our back when we walk the road alone . ” Caburak’s eyes turned towards the monument .  “This is our god… no, our pathetic belief . ”

“……”

“I sacrificed my life to save the world . But nobody knows . If this was meaningless, how lonely would I be?” Caburak hit Crockta’s shoulders .  “So I desperately hoped . Someone is watching . That is why we walk through life with a sense of honor . ”

“That is the case . ”

“We believe in the forgotten **** of the orcs, the nameless **** . ”

Silence filled the space .

Tiyo spoke like he wanted to break the atmosphere .

“We are the same dot . We gnomes are atheists . One gnome said that if there is something they can’t understand, it isn’t worthy of their faith . If they couldn’t understand, there is no reason to believe in it . But we gnomes sometimes pray for salvation . Orcs are like gnomes . ”

“Then Tiyo, you also believe in our nameless **** . You can shout Bul’tar nicely . ”

“Bah, people who preach are disgusting dot!”

“Gnomes too . Kyulkyulkyul!”

They left the Holy Land .  It was called a Holy Land, but it was just a cave and monument .

He asked Caburak, “Well, the reason why… it is the only relic left by our god, so we call it the Holy Land . ”

“I see . ”

Crockta looked up at the sky .  There was no difference from the sky in reality .  If he kept on playing Elder Lord, he would forget that this is a game . Once he heard about the orc’s beliefs, he felt like this world was more realistic .

Looking at the smiling Caburak and straight-backed Tiyo, he could hardly think of them as meaningless existences .  The nameless **** .

As Caburak said, he was watching over them .  Crockta was locked in his thoughts .  And at that moment, an arrow flew out from among the bushes .

“Again?” Tiyo rolled his body and cried out like he was tired . Caburak ran towards the place where the arrow had fallen, while Crockta lowered his position and grabbed his greatsword .

“This isn’t an arrow from a dark elf . ”

“Then who dot?” Tiyo asked .

“It is from a gnome’s crossbow . ”

“What?”

Tiyo’s eyes widened . Arrows flew again . Crockta’s group flung themselves down .  Then a voice was heard, “This is the Holy Land of the orcs . ”

An alluring female voice .  “We can get rid of all of them . Kill them all . ”

Crockta looked for the source of the voice and saw a gap in the bushes .  A female gnome wearing armor was commanding the unit . She was small but she looked like a beautiful woman .  The gnomes followed her order and advanced quickly . They were all carrying crossbows .

“Gnomes…

Tiyo’s expression changed . He immediately seized General on his back .

“Tiyo?” Crockta called out to him but Tiyo got up from the ground and fired General towards the front .

“The ones who have forgotten the honor of the gnomes, die dot!”

Colorful flashes hit the gnomes . There was a rain of magic bullets and due to the small size of the species, the gnomes couldn’t endure the hit and collapsed .  Other gnomes tried to aim their crossbows but Tiyo moved quickly and disturbed them .

Crockta plunged in with his greatsword whenever there was a gap .

“Be careful!”

Crockta blocked the crossbow arrows with his greatsword . The gnomes shouted and tried to reload the arrows . However, giving such a moment to an orc warrior was a precursor to a slaughter .  A few gnomes held up shields and spears to stop Crockta . But it was clearly the difference between David and Goliath .

“There is a gnome with an artifact . ”

The gnome commander gritted her teeth .  She shouted in Tiyo’s direction, “You are a gnome! A gnome joining forces with those hostile to us, you should be ashamed!”

“Stop talking nonsense dot!”

Tiyo jumped up .  Then Tiyo flinched and stopped as he was about to shout . He was at a loss after seeing the commander’s face .

“A tremendous beauty dot…”

Tiyo muttered . The commander was embarrassed .

“…S-Shut up . ”

Tiyo soon regained his spirit .  “I-In any case! Gnomes who are linked with trafficking slaves are shameful dot!”

“Bah, how old-fashioned!”

Their eyes flashed as they glared at each other .  At that moment .  The bush next to Tiyo started shaking .  It was the enemy . A gnome soldier jumped out and aimed a spear at Tiyo .

“…Tiyo!” Crockta shouted .

The spear was heading towards Tiyo’s chest .  It was only for a moment .

“Stupid child . ”

Tiyo skillfully dodged the attack and placed his arm around the enemy gnome’s neck .

“…K-Keok!”

Tiyo seemed hesitant, but he soon put strength in his arms .

Crunch .

The gnome’s neck was broken and he fell down .

“……!”

An outstanding body! Tiyo truly was like Bruce Lee .

“Hoo . ”

Tiyo let go of the dead and stared up at the sky .  He never killed his own people .  He was a gnome of the Quantes garrison . He protected gnomes and never imagined that he would kill another gnome .

But the time had come for him to do so .  He killed the gnome with his own hands .

‘We walk our lives with honor . ’

He remembered Caburak’s words . Then Tiyo nodded .  He would just believe as well .  His path was right .

Tiyo turned his head . The gnomes flinched . In addition to the powerful artifact, they were afraid of his ability to kill a soldier in a flash .

Tiyo met Crockta’s gaze .  Crockta nodded . They were eyes that seemed to understand everything . Tiyo smiled at him .

He was a reliable colleague .  If so, there was nothing to hold him back .

“Let’s go, Crockta!”

“Yes!”

Tiyo shouted as he rushed forward with General .

“Bul’tarrrr!”