Praise the Orc! Chapter 152:
Chapter 152 – Cataclysm (1)
Crockta got up and said, “Let’s go . ”
Tiyo and Anor were waiting .
Gridori was a beautiful resort . However, they couldn’t enjoy it properly as they weren’t in the mood to enjoy a resort . As soon as they arrived in Gridori and prepared to sleep, they heard the news that the kingdom had attacked Alaste and devastated it .
They were angry about the defeat in the duel and destroyed everything . Then it became a territory of the empire . At the forefront were Adandator and those cursed by the stars, the Heaven and Earth Clan .
Alaste’s knights fought to the end but were wiped out . Galadin, Vigo, they all died . Therefore, Crockta’s group decided to leave Gridori .
“We must fight!”
There was a disturbance on the street . Crockta’s group looked over and saw a man standing on top of a box, emphasizing his thoughts to the gathered people . Every time he yelled, people nodded .
“We have no king! He can’t oppress us! Gridori is a free city! Fight against the kingdom, no, the empire!”
When he shouted, people applauded . However, those who didn’t agree with him shook their heads .
“How are we going to fight the empire?” Someone yelled back .
The mood sank . It was like the person said . Everyone agreed . The empire’s military power was overwhelming . The moment they declared their resistance, the empire would dispatch troops to destroy them .
Many cities had already been trampled and ruined by them, just like Alaste was . They didn’t even follow the agreement .
“We must risk our lives to fight!” The man on the box yelled through clenched teeth . His voice was choked from all his emotions . He shouted with a red face . “This isn’t freedom! Fight for it!”
“You fight alone!”
“The empire will conscript you for war…”
“Don’t talk nonsense!”
His remarks were countered one by one . He shouted again but his remarks were gradually buried, with no one caring .
Gridori would belong to the empire . There was such an atmosphere . Everyone changed after the empire trampled Alaste . They didn’t want to end up like Alaste . The empire’s power was overwhelming .
It would be difficult to defeat their military power, even if several cities combined their forces . Making up the vanguard was the Heaven and Earth Clan, the ones cursed by the stars . They swung the weapons without fear of death . Monster soldiers who lived again after dying .
Rommel, their leader, was called the ghost of war . It was a fight without any chance of victory .
Crockta, Tiyo, and Anor smiled bitterly as they saw it . After Alaste was lost, they became aware of the true nature of the empire . However, they had yet to feel the actual empire . An evil existence that treated human beings as consumables, without caring about the gods watching .
Crockta’s group left Gridori . Those who knew Crockta started to murmur, but the group ignored it . The users who grasped Crockta’s activities followed them, but Crockta didn’t respond . Several users followed Crockta’s party . They only knew that Crockta was a named NPC . Crockta knew this and left them alone .
“Where are we going dot?”
“Um…”
They still didn’t have a destination . They wanted to stop the empire, but how could they do it? They were already enemies of the empire . Entering the territory of the empire was risky and reckless . However, they didn’t plan to leave the empire to its own pace .
Crockta thought for a moment before saying .
“It seems like the empire is aiming for the Espada area .
Espada was a plains area that stretched from the beginning of Alastair and several cities were built there . They were free cities who would never follow a king . In particular, they would never recognize the position of an emperor .
Numerous species suffered whenever a human emperor appeared . Those who remembered the past continued the tradition of thinking that a human emperor was the enemy .
“The Espada area . Let’s go dot . ”
The Espada area wasn’t far from Gridori .
An ambassador of the empire had already reached Gridori . They demanded thorough obedience from Gridori . Gridori would become a bigger city under the empire, but the citizens would become soldiers and be sent to war .
The emperor’s laws were no different from the northern chieftain .
“Was the king originally like this?”
“He was originally a wise boy…people change . ”
Crockta thought that maybe a divine presence like the ‘Tribulation’ interfered with him .
***
The south was in an uproar due to the emperor . Crockta’s party decided to go to the Espada area . As they moved away from Gridori, their followers signaled to each other .
“Crockta is leaving Gridori . ”
“What do we do?”
“Keep following . Determine the location first . ”
They were Crockta’s fans who tracked his movements as soon as news of Crockta appearing in the south spread, members of ‘He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy . ’ Now that Crockta was famous and due to his actions as an NPC, people started to track his movements like he was a celebrity .
People were looking forward to his adventures . On the fan club’s forum, there were constant reports of Crockta’s location . Fan club members from all over the world listened to news of him and posted it, allowing people to directly follow Crockta .
“Crockta was in a one-on-one duel with the empire and won…”
“I want to see it . ”
As the rumor spread that Crockta became Alaste’s representative and had a duel with the empire, all the members of ‘He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy’ were disappointed . No one knew that Crockta was involved in the battle due to the uproar from Yellow and the Heaven and Earth Clan’s agreement . Crockta had been spotted nearby but nobody guessed that he would be at the center of the situation .
“But won’t he continue to fight in the future?”
“Yes . Don’t miss it from now on . ”
The empire had broken the agreement with Crockta and Alaste . Crockta would be burning with anger . He implemented justice all over the continent and went to the north alone to kill the great chieftain .
Now his sword was aimed at the southern emperor . It wasn’t a drama . If this world was reality, Crockta was truly a hero . They followed Crockta because they wanted to see this . They saw that Crockta was heading to Espada and knew that he was going to challenge the emperor in earnest . It was exciting to imagine how Crockta would resist the empire .
“I don’t like the Heaven and Earth Clan, so I hope that Crockta will implement justice . ”
“Indeed . That is a good idea . ”
The Heaven and Earth Clan had signed a memorandum with the Alaste Love users . However, they broke it . The memorandum was just a promise, so it had no effect . However, since they were all users, they had trust in each other . The Heaven and Earth Clan had betrayed that trust .
Then they said, ‘It couldn’t be helped since the emperor ordered the attack . ’
However, the emperor also said, ‘Those who are cursed by the stars were the ones who attacked . ’
They laughed as they handed responsibility for Alaste over to each other . Everyone could see that they had plotted together . Now the Heaven and Earth Clan were the emperor’s hounds . It was a tremendous achievement for users to be in that position, but they were turning that sword towards fellow users .
‘The Heaven and Earth Clan will receive any complaints . If you have the power then bring it on . We are the Heaven and Earth Clan . ’
There was already a precedent where they defeated the large American dominated clan, Metatron . Metatron’s leaders lost their achievements they had accumulated in Elder Lord and quit the game .
The Heaven and Earth had begun walking the path of destruction, using their strength .
“Let’s watch . ”
“Yes . Believe in Crockta . ”
The moment that they were about to follow Crockta’s path…
Someone suddenly appeared .
“Did Crockta go this way?”
The users looked around .
It was a woman who wore clothes that clung to her body . Her appearance was familiar, as if they had seen it many times . The ‘He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy’ members thought for a moment as they looked at her .
She said, “I heard your conversation . You are members of He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy?”
“Yes . ”
“I’m also a member . ”
“Are you perhaps a famous person? I think I saw you somewhere before…”
She smiled . “I’m famous because of Crockta . ”
Youvidser Laney . She was the one who got a chance to shoot Crockta’s fight with the user hunters in the early days . The users were shocked to see the orc’s wild fighting style and his talk about honor after killing the user hunters . Later, she had taken the video of Crockta’s desperate fight against the clans in Chesswood, breaking the Youvids record .
The members of ‘He’s an Orc, yet still Praiseworthy’ greeted her after realizing her identity . Laney was their most famous member . She was the first person that people told about Crockta’s location .
“Don’t miss it this time . Crockta seems like he is going to fight properly against the emperor…”
“If you shot the video of his duel with one of the empire’s knights, it would’ve been a huge jackpot . It’s too bad . ”
Laney shrugged, “It isn’t too bad . ”
“……!”
The members’ eyes shone at her words .
“Perhaps?”
“That’s right . ”
Laney struck her chest and declared, “The duel scene, I filmed it . ”
“Wow!”
“I have been following Crockta since he returned from the north . It is a type of project . I knew Crockta would definitely do something nice . ”
Photographers said that they would wait all day for a great photo . But Laney didn’t have to do that . There was always a wonderful scene when she followed Crockta . Crockta’s very existence was a scoop .
“Show me!”
“Huhuhu, wait a bit . ”
Laney looked in the direction that Crockta had disappeared in and said, “I will be making a movie . ”
***
Crockta met with travelers and inhabitants of the south as he left Gridori . All of them were concerned about the emperor’s invasion . They were also a group who decided to leave the south .
“We don’t have an emperor . We will never follow the emperor . ” A middle-aged man said to Crockta . “It is the same for Crockta . ”
“Yes . Orcs have no king or emperor . ”
“There used to be an emperor in the past, but that position disappeared after the war was over . We know that if we follow such a person, we will lose our freedom and have to shed blood . The emperor is such an existence . Now an emperor has shown up again . He has failed to learn anything from the past . ”
They were leaving the south and moving to the area of the elves .
Those who met the orc Crockta, who fought against the emperor’s knight, spewed their resentment towards the emperor . Many regions had already become colonies of the empire and suffered from all kinds of tyranny . If their departure was a little late, their area would be incorporated into the empire and they wouldn’t be able to leave .
“I don’t know how the situation will end . I just want my family to be safe . ”
Behind him were his wife and children . The middle-aged man had convinced his friends and relatives and was moving towards the north .
Tiyo was playing with the bright children who didn’t know anything .
“Crockta, are you going back home? Or are you going to fight against the emperor?”
“I will fight . I just don’t know what to do yet . ”
“Great . There should be more warriors like you . Not the fakes who shake their tails towards the emperor . I am asking you to help the south . It is shameful that I am saying this when I am leaving . ”
“Everyone has their own path . ”
They walked down the road together . At that moment, the sound of horse hooves was heard and knights appeared, blocking the road in front of them . The residents were shaken . The mark of the empire .
“Where are you going?”
The middle-aged man talking with Crockta came forward . “We are leaving . ”
“Leaving…uhh?” The knights discovered Crockta standing next to the middle-aged man . “Crockta?”
Crockta matched the description going around . The leader turned around and talked to the other knights before approaching Crockta .
“There is no need for us to fight . His Majesty is eager to meet you . ”
He made Alaste into a ruin and now he wanted to see Crockta .
Crockta’s face became dark . Crockta replied, “I have no intention of doing that . Why did you stop them?”
“That…”
The knight looked at Crockta . If Crockta wanted to fight, they couldn’t stop him .
The knight declared, “His Majesty has issued a decree that all inhabitants of the south can’t leave the south without permission . ”