Chapter 188 – Kill the Thunderbird (1)
Crockta gripped his newly acquired sword.
Zakiro called it ‘New Slayer.’ A sword that could kill a god. Crockta didn’t think this was an exaggeration. He felt like he really could kill a god with this sword.
The shape was similar to the previous sword. Ogre Slayer was a huge greatsword that seemed too big to be a sword. However, the feeling in his hand was different from before. The weight was familiar to Ogre Slayer, but an unknown heat was coming from it.
The blade was dark but every time he swung it, there was an unknown gold glow and a red energy rose from it. He wanted to swing it.
“Crockta! The arrangements are ready dot!”
Of course, he would soon have a chance to wield it. Crockta’s group decided to leave Geherad immediately after obtaining New Slayer. The road to Hedor was in the north and the orcs were also in danger from the divine message.
Tiyo had shouted while carrying the luggage.
“You’re going now. Thank you for the support.” Zakiro said while watching Crockta. Crockta nodded at him.
Zakiro was unbelievably healthy despite striking iron for so long. His body was a little weak, but it would recover when replenished with the right nutrition. Rather, he said he felt stronger than before.
Crockta ask, “When are you going to leave?”
“I will stay here a few months to watch the skills of the blacksmith. Then I will decide if I want to go back to the clan or explore the world.”
Zakiro was calmer after making New Slayer. It felt like his weapons could reach a new level.
“You should stop by Orcrox if you have time. It is full of warriors you can make weapons for.”
“I’ll think about it.” Zakiro laughed. He no longer thought about the weapon and user as separate. Crockta placed New Slayer on his back and went to Tiyo. Tiyo handed the backpack to Crockta. It was heavy.
“T-This?”
“Maybe it is because of the last forge, but these things were really cheap dot.” He opened it to see various types of steel products such as a pot, a set of small knives, and other various materials. “You should take advantage of the special treatment when possible dot!”
“I see.”
A trip wasn’t possible with just a sword. Various tools were needed. Anor also carried a backpack. His face was grouchy. Crockta laughed.
“Then shall we go?”
Crockta’s group said goodbye to Zakiro.
“Zakiro! Next time, make me a nice one as well dot!”
“You already have General.”
“I can daydream dot!”
After parting from Zakiro, they stopped by the temple to say farewell to the priest. The priests prayed for them to receive the blessing of the sun god. In particular, he made a meaningful remark as he watched Crockta carry New Slayer.
“The power of the sun will burn away all unclean things, be careful of being corrupted so that you don’t get burned by it.”
Crockta nodded. They left Geherad.
***
Aklan recruited an army for this expedition. The target was Crockta and the orcs, the objects of the gods’ anger.
The reaction was explosive.
Aklan promised to distribute the benefits of the orc conquest mission fairly to the volunteers. Numerous nobles who believed in the gods supported them. Regular people gathered under the flag of the god. Whether it was due to faith in the god of war or Aklan’s fanaticism, the number of volunteers for the expedition continued to soar.
It wasn’t just Aklan and the war god. All priests on the continent were embarking on their own expeditions. The number of people participating was incredible. It was an unexpected response for the emperor and Crockta.
The expeditions tried to attract all those who believed in the gods.
“The envoy has arrived.”
Guardi, the mayor of Katalu and leader of the Free Cities Alliance, was no exception. Guardi looked at the envoy from the empire with a fierce expression. He had nothing to say to the empire.
“Mayor Katalu, now is the time to put down the weapons.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know that there is a divine message. All gods are saying the same thing.”
Guardi knew it. Espada also had temples, and the divine message was the same everywhere.
“You were once enemies with the empire, but that was the work of humans. Now it is time to join together for a bigger task. It is the gods’ work. The expeditions are aiming at Crockta and the orcs. Together, let’s stop them.”
Guardi looked grim. Then he looked around. When the empire’s envoy arrived, he had gathered the high-ranking bureaucrats responsible for managing Katalu, as well as representatives of the citizens. All of them had a similar expression.
“You mean…wipe out Crockta and his species?”
“That’s right.”
“We should do it together?”
“Yes!”
Guardi sneered.
“If this is true…” Then he apologized. “I’m sorry but I’m really busy. I thought it was something big because you came from the empire.”
“Hahaha, the people from the empire have bad heads.”
“They are trying to say something like this to us. Hahaha.”
Guardi and the other representatives of Katalu burst out laughing. The face of the envoy became red.
“Are you saying that you won’t participate in the expedition?”
“Oh, now you understand? You are a little slow.”
Guardi burst out laughing. The envoy formed a fist.
“After this expedition, all those who don’t take part will be enemies. This isn’t our work, but a mission from the gods. Aren’t you afraid of the wrath of the gods?”
“Gods?” Guardi laughed. “What did the gods do when your empire invaded us?”
“Once again, humans..”
“It wasn’t your gods who saved us, but Crockta. Crockta is our benefactor and his friends were our saviors.”
“……”
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“You won’t participate, I understand,” replied the envoy through his thin lips.
Katalu’s defense chief, listening quietly next to Guardi, said with a smile, “The gods can do the work of the gods themselves. We will take care of our own work. Isn’t that right? Emperor’s dogs?”
“……” The envoy glared at him. He suppressed his emotions and bowed to Guardi. “Your will, I understand it. I will tell the emperor and the gods. In detail.”
“Uh, yes. Tell the emperor to be careful when walking at night.”
“……”
After hearing the emperor being mocked like he was a neighborhood thief, the envoy couldn’t take it anymore and quickly left. Before he left through the door, he turned and said to them.
“The expedition will depart soon. Volunteers will keep joining until we reach Orcrox. Think carefully about what will happen to you once the expedition is over.”
Then he left the room.
Guardi shrugged. “The imperial people, you are all insane. Good luck.”
***
They headed north through the great forest. The terrain was harsh and monsters kept appearing to interfere with their course. But Crockta was eager to have opponents to test his new weapon against.
Right now, his opponent was a drake. It was reminiscent to the drakes he met in the north. The drake, that resembled a dragon, watched Crockta. But before it could bare its sharp teeth, the shimmering golden sword struck its body.
“Kyaaaak!”
The drake screamed and stepped back. However, Crockta didn’t stop as he kept wielding his greatsword. Blood and flesh scattered. The drake swung its paws.
Kakang!
The claws and blade met, causing sparks to fly. However, the drake couldn’t resist because it had already been damaged by the greatsword. The drake withdrew. Crockta jumped and sliced at the drake’s head. Cutting it in two with one stroke of the sword! The drake’s head split apart and it died instantly.
“Huhu, good.”
“What is good dot? It has already been many times!”
Crockta was glad about testing out his new weapon, but the rest of the group were tired of all the creatures appearing. In accordance with the reputation of the great forest, many creatures emerged to annoy them.
“It can’t be helped. We are deep inside the forest.”
The map showed the best path, but the long distance to their goal was apparent. Therefore, they chose to go straight through. Now they were already too far to go back.
“Uh…based on these circumstances, an ogre wizard will soon appear dot.”
Ogre wizard. A rare ogre that could use magic, they hardly ever appeared. Just like the goblin shaman, they played a key role in their clan. But since it was an ogre, the risk far exceeded the goblins. The presence of an ogre wizard meant that an enormous number of ogres were present.
“Don’t worry. I will never be cut with New Slayer!”
Crockta laughed as he admired at New Slayer. Suddenly, the flesh and blood covering New Slayer started to burn and dissipate. This was one of the strange functions of New Slayer, who had the power of the last fire.
Crockta smiled at the sight of the cleaned blade.
“Ah, hot!” Crockta was surprised and threw the sword. “I forgot, hot hot hot!”
“…Didn’t you say that warriors shouldn’t treat their weapons like lovers dot?”
New Slayer seemed desolate from its place in the ground. Crockta coughed as he calmed down. He carefully checked the temperature of the blade and picked it up again.
“Hrmm. My mistake.”
“How many times has it been dot?”
“The third time today. Monsters have appeared three times.”
“……”
Crockta dropped his head.
Tiyo complained, “Anyway…ohh…where is a city? A gnome doesn’t like this type of living style dot.”
Tiyo gathered some twigs. It was preparation to start a fire.
“Really…I want to go to a beautiful city like Quantes… where you turn the faucet and water comes out dot…” He complained while his body prepared to start cooking. They would camp here today. “Drake meat is tasteless but we have to eat it dot…”
Tiyo used a dagger from Geherad to dismantle the drake. He didn’t need to disassemble all of it, so only a part of the belly was cut.
“I have to use spices…”
He used the spices gathered from the various cities they visited. Tiyo’s cooking skill was the best — he had the two stage charm, consisting of a handsome face and good cooking skills.
Crockta and Anor nodded as they watched him work.
“I’m glad Tiyo is here…”
The moment that Anor said this, something blocked their view.
“……!”
It filled their vision for a moment before disappearing.
“Ehhh…?”
The body of the fallen drake had also vanished. Crockta’s party stared at the place where the drake had been with wide eyes. Where did the massive drake corpse go? Fortunately, the slice of drake meat was still in Tiyo’s hands.
“What was that?”
“Bird…” Crockta continued, “It was an enormous bird.”
Crockta saw it, the huge bird that had descended before flying off with the drake’s body. The bird had a dark colored body and its wings seemed to slightly change color with every flap. A beautiful bird. The whole body was shining, the beak aimed at the targets were sharp and the eyes were bright blue.
The size was big enough to be a drake. It was incredibly fast. It appeared, grabbed the drake and disappeared in the blink of an eye. The speed was so rapid that it instantly caused confusion on the ground.
“Enormous bird…”
“There are many uncharted areas in the great forest, so it isn’t strange for an unknown monster to appear. Tiyo explained. He continued to cook calmly.
“The bird, I didn’t see it. How big is the bird?”
“Bigger than a drake.”
“What does it look like?”
“Well…a dark blue colour…a beautiful bird.”
“I want to see it. What is its name?”
“The thunderbird.”
“How do you know?”
“I have been tracking it.”
At that moment, a flash went through Anor’s head. He thought the voice was Crockta at first, but it wasn’t. Crockta was already pointing New Slayer in the direction of the voice. Anor slowly turned his head. A huge shadow covered his body. It wasn’t a human.
“It has been a while. Newbie.”
“Do I still look like a newbie?”
“Kulkulkulkul, you’ve become slightly bigger.”
It was an orc with a huge bow. Crockta placed the sword on his back again and said, “This is the first time since then. Are you alive?”
“Of course. I heard your news as well. I am alive.”
He extended his fist. The two fists touched.
“Bul’tar! It has been a while. Zankus.”
The hunter who shot the sun, Zankus.