Praise the Orc! Chapter 164:
Chapter 164 – Empire Strikes Back (3)
Crockta rode his horse . The ‘He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy’ members followed him .
They saw a blazing fire in the distance . The imperial army had taken over a city . The battle had already ended . The only thing left behind was their traces . Espada was an area with a big cluster of cities where people gathered . This place had collapsed . There were numerous troops surrounding the city .
“……!”
“Crockta!”
He was noticed quickly because he ran aggressively . A scout blew the whistle first . The knights, who had been waiting, reversed their formation . They reacted to the sound of the whistle almost immediately . The information that Crockta appeared was quickly transmitted to the rear .
The troops moved like they were a single creature . At its heart was Rommel . He was able to see Rommel beyond the knights . He was a good looking elf, but wore heavy armor that typically didn’t suit elves .
He waved his hand and the knights started the assault . They were the Blue Dragon Lancers beside him . The White Lion Knights and Blue Dragon Lancers were the pillars of the empire .
The knights raised their lances and started charging towards Crockta and the ‘He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy’ members . Crockta pulled out his greatsword .
“Yare yare…is this the so-called ‘lance charging’…?”
Gilgamesh muttered habitually . His voice sounded the same but it was shaking slightly .
Crockta shouted, “Everyone be prepared . ”
The Blue Dragon troops were rushing towards them like a locomotive . Crockta raised the pressure around his body . The lances were coming like waves . Even if he blocked the knights, there was an army behind them .
It was absurd when he thought about it . Only five people . Five people were facing an army .
“Stay alive . ” Crockta muttered .
He didn’t worry about such things . He only thought about defeating the enemies that came towards him . Face an opponent, smash them down and repeat over and over again . It would be a line that allowed him to reach Rommel .
“Bul’tar──────!”
His battle cry rang out . At that moment, all of the soldiers here felt a chill at Crockta’s presence . He really had come .
“Come!”
The attack from the Blue Dragon Lancers was imminent . Just before the collision, Crockta jumped from his horse . The horse, that lost its master, collided with a spear and fell down . Crockta was on the ground and wielded his greatsword . He faced multiple knights at the same time .
Crockta landed in an empty gap and wielded his greatsword at the lances and horses . He aimed at the horse . As the horse collapsed, the knight rolled over and was crushed by the steel armor . Like water hitting a stone, the knights split apart around Crockta . Blood splattered from the horses caught by Crockta .
“Come on, dance with me! Open the **** banquet, my blades! Kukuk!”
Gilgamesh’s voice was heard . Crockta’s angle meant he couldn’t see the ‘He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy’ members . The knights focused on Crockta . Except for a group that dealt with the ‘He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy’ members, the rest turned around and came back to Crockta .
The assault began again . They held up their lances and shouted .
“For His Majesty!”
“For!”
Crockta raised his greatsword . The enemies were nearing . The lance’s charge was raised by the horse’s acceleration and flew with tremendous power . It would pierce a body in one strike .
“Haat!”
The lances flew towards him . Crockta responded promptly and managed to survive . If he couldn’t kill on the battlefield then he would die . Crockta dodged their attacks and broke the horses’ legs . The horses with their legs broken fell to the ground and crushed the knights .
“This guy!” A knight appeared in unusual clothing . “Orc! Let me fight with you!”
It was a middle-aged man . It was the leader of the Blue Dragon Lancers . The knights opened the path for him once he appeared . His horse started running . The horse was different from the common ones . The size was much bigger and the skin underneath the armor was red . The ground shook every time the horse moved . Fast and furious .
The leader became one with the horse as he charged towards Crockta .
“Die! Empire’s enemy!”
Crockta could feel him falling into the realm of the Pinnacle as he rode . The charge of the horse and the Pinnacle, this was the leader of a troop of knights . He leaned into the space and rushed towards Crockta .
Crockta also entered the world of the Pinnacle . However, the compressed force of the lance flying towards Crockta was so strong that it seemed hard for him to endure . Crockta gulped . He tried to avoid it but the horse’s charging speed exceeded their expectations .
Indeed, this was the empire . Adandator wasn’t the only powerhouse . Crockta surpassed the realm of the Pinnacle . The landscape changed again .
The Hero realm . The transcendent power of causality was demonstrated . Crockta’s greatsword and the knight’s lance crossed . Both bodies fell at the same time .
“Ugh!”
“Cough!”
He fell from the horse while Crockta flew backward . Crockta hurriedly got up . It wasn’t one-sided but the lance had hit him .
“That Adandator bastard, there is another person beyond the Pinnacle…”
It was different from his words . This knight had touched the edges of the Hero realm, despite not recognizing it yet .
“Cough! Cough!””
The knight’s side was split by the greatsword and he coughed blood onto the ground . Behind Crockta, the horse that lost its master was running amok . The knights gathered around their leader . He glared at Crockta as he was carried away .
Crockta grinned .
“Hoo, hoo . ” He restored his breathing . But this wasn’t the end . It was starting now . The infantry troops were advancing towards Crockta . The knights continued to fill up their numbers .
“These boring guys . ” The knights set up their formation again and started running towards Crockta . Crockta placed the greatsword on his shoulder . “Of course, what else can I expect from the name Blue Dragon Lancers?”
The force was still sufficient . The moment they were going to assault from the front…
The knights moved to the side and passed Crockta .
“……!”
Crockta looked around . There were members of ‘He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy’ who followed him . They were fighting the knights and not paying attention to this place .
“Scatter──────!”
Crockta shouted . They finally noticed the knights . However, the knights’ assault was too fierce . The members were split into two groups . They avoided the attacks, but one member was eventually pieced by a lance .
“…Keok!”
The lance pierced the user’s abdomen and he hung in the air . It was like the knight who killed the member was boasting of the spoils . The body hung high in the sky . Blood flowed down the lance . The sound of horseshoes subsided .
“Cou…gh…” He coughed up blood and soon turned into white particles .
“Hmm?” The knight muttered as he looked at the body . “What? Someone who is cursed by the stars?”
At that moment, a blade penetrated the knight’s heart .
“……!”
A sword came out of nowhere and pierced the steel armor . The knight grabbed his chest and looked back . Gilgamesh was staring at him with many swords floating around him .
“The price of touching my companion…it is ruin . Lowlife . ”
“Kuk…”
The knight with the lance fell to the ground . Then the knights flew towards Gilgamesh . Some knights fell from their horses and attacked with swords . Their weapons became tangled together . Once the knights showed their strength, the fan club members were in crisis .
Crockta tried to save them but other knights blocked it . This was the advantage of numbers .
“Coming here without any fear . You will regret it . Orc . ”
The knights laughed . Crockta wielded his greatsword instead of answering . The body of the knight who just spoke flew through the air .
“Bul’tar──────!”
Crockta wildly attacked the knights . The panicked knights kept gathering . Every time Crockta swung his greatsword, dozens of knights died . Blood and flesh were scattered .
“Shit!”
However, the enemies kept on coming . It was foolish to deal with so many enemies in an open space .
“Kuaack!”
Crockta jumped over a knight . He broke through the encirclement and ran towards the other ‘He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy’ members . The three remaining members had united and were desperately resisting .
“Where are you running to…keok!”
A knight was hit by his greatsword . Then Crockta stole his horse . The horse resisted as a stranger boarded, but Crockta calmed it down by stroking its neck . Crockta rode his horse . He roared again as he headed towards the ‘He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy’ members .
“Bul’tar──────!”
His roar rattled the eardrums of the knights . As they covered their ears, Crockta ran and called out to a member .
“Keep moving! A flat ground is a disadvantage!”
Gilgamesh nodded . He also stole a horse with Alex . They started running out of the knights’ encirclement . The knights noticed and pursued fiercely .
“The enemy is too fast!” Alex shouted .
They were knights using lances . Their competency when handling a horse was naturally different . The knights clung tightly to them . Then the swords circling Gilgamesh turned and headed towards the knights . The knights were dumbfounded at the sudden interruption .
Crockta raised his thumb . Gilgamesh grinned . However, they were still at the center of the crisis . Crockta changed the direction of his horse . He avoided the imperial forces and moved inside a gap .
It was towards the inside of the city, where the sound of screaming and fighting could still be heard .
***
“……!”
He entered to see a gory sight . The ones who occupied the interior were mainly users, the Heaven and Earth Clan members and some knights . They didn’t want to incorporate the residents into the empire like before .
They were slain immediately .
“How horrible . ”
There was the sound of knights on horseback . Crockta directed his horse and entered the city completely .
“Crockta!”
“Crockta appeared!”
The Heaven and Earth Clan responded promptly, as if the information was already transmitted . They didn’t rush towards Crockta but maintained their distance on the streets . The clan members gradually gathered . There was a lot of them .
Crockta’s eyes quickly glanced around the surroundings . Most of the soldiers and residents had been killed, with only the elderly left . They were the first to lose their lives . There was the sound of fighting in the center, as if people were still resisting, but it didn’t seem like it would last long .
“Wouldn’t it be better to retreat?”Alex asked .
“……”
Crockta shook his head .
At the same time, his momentum changed . He once again entered the Hero realm . His senses entered a different perspective .
The moment that Crockta confirmed the presence of troops around him, new infantrymen entered any gaps, directed by Rommel . At the same time, he realized the shaking of the members who entered with him .
“You can leave . It is too dangerous . ” Crockta told them . They shook their heads .
“It isn’t dangerous . We received the curse of the stars . We won’t die . But Crockta…”
“You can experience the Concrete method . ”
“……!”
Most of the people around them were the Heaven and Earth members . The clan members already identified that the enemies were users .
“No…that, no, it isn’t…”
Alex’s voice trailed off . Crockta had fought the Thawing Balhae clan . He already knew about users .
It was as he said . This was a battle involving the Heaven and Earth Clan . If there were any users who opposed them, the Heaven and Earth would thoroughly trample them using the Concrete method to prevent another attack .
The eyes of the Heaven and Earth seemed to be scanning the members’ bodies .
“…So be it,” Alex muttered with a grin .
Crockta responded in a grave tone, “I can’t protect you anymore . ”
“It’s okay . I am determined . ”
Their companionship would probably end here . No matter how this battle progressed, they would probably die or experience the Concrete method here . That battle was overwhelmingly unfavorable . It would actually be fortunate if they died .
“Fight with honor . ”
The ‘He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy’ members laughed . They came here because they admired Crockta . That choice wasn’t wrong . Crockta was just like they saw in the videos . No, he was more than that . He wasn’t a hero, but had a very human nature, so his past actions seemed even greater .
They couldn’t help laughing and crying in Crockta’s presence .
“You must absolutely never die . ”
It was okay for the users to die . Even if they received the Concrete method, they could still live in reality . But Crockta, this great warrior, wouldn’t be able to revive if he died .
He was an NPC . Everything would be over if he died . However, Crockta’s eyes were unshaken . This was why they praised and honored Crockta . The era of heroes was over . But they met a true hero in Elder Lord .
Crockta told them, “Don’t regret it . ”
They laughed .