Chapter 73 – Northern Orcs (2)
“I refuse,” Crockta answered bluntly. There was no hesitation in the answer, which caused Tiyo to laugh.
The face of the Kapur chief reddened. Then he yelled in a threatening manner, “Kuwaaaaaaaack!”
The Kapur Clan orcs trembled. The chief looked around with ferocious eyes. The tribe members avoided his gaze. He lifted the big axe that was leaning against the tribe chief’s chair.
“I am Kapur, the Kapur Tribe’s chief! This is your final warning. Kneel down!” He screamed with red eyes towards Crockta.
It felt like he was going to run out right now.
‘Inexperienced warriors reveal their emotions on their faces.’
The words that Hoyt told him in the past popped into his head. It was as he said. Now that the chief had been insulted in front of his tribe members, he needed to show off his power and regain his authority. It was as good as displaying his weaknesses.
It was a waste to even call him an inexperienced warrior. He was no different from the monsters that the orcs handled. Crockta felt ashamed as an orc.
Crockta spoke again, “I refuse, Kapur.”
“You!”
The moment that Kapur was about to run out with his axe.
Crockta roared. It was the skill, Army Crushing Roar. The battle shout that emanated physical force tore through the sky of the north.
“Bul’tarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr──────!”
The atmosphere shook while the Kapur orcs were pushed back. In the front, the Kapur chief blocked his ears and took a few steps back. He dropped the axe. Once Crockta’s shouting stopped, a dead silence fell over the tribe.
“…Gulp.”
Someone gulped loudly. Kapur regained his spirit and hurriedly raised his axe again. Then he tried to imitate Crockta’s shouting. But he couldn’t speak and just gasped for breath.
“Kapur, I have no intention of fighting you,” Crockta said.
Kapur’s face distorted. “That isn’t up to you to decide! Die!”
He charged with his axe. The other orc was much larger so a shadow covered Crockta for a moment. However, Crockta remained still. He was grasping the movements of the opponent.
He had experienced a great number of fights in Elder Lord. The enemies he met weren’t any weaker than orcs. Even if he just remembered the behemoth, how many times had he almost died under its terrible feet? Then he had fought with the great hunter Shakan.
An axe swung randomly wouldn’t be able to harm him. The axe descended in a straight path. Crockta stepped back. Kapur used the recoil to swing the axe from the other side. At that moment, Crockta swung his greatsword.
Kakang!
The axe didn’t break but Kapur’s hand bounced back from the reaction. He stiffened from the pain. Crockta jumped up and kicked his face.
“Keuak!”
Kapur collapsed. He rolled on the ground before getting to his feet.
Then he looked around again with ferocious eyes. The tribesmen watching the fight avoided his gaze again. Crockta’s eyes sunk. He was able to see how the orc called Kapur usually acted.
Respect could never be gained through force.
Crockta advanced. Kapur fell back until his heel touched the chief’s chair. There was no room to back down. Kapur rushed again. He was still the chief of an orc tribe. He jumped towards Crockta with a fearsome momentum.
“Aaaack!”
He swung the axe down vertically. Crockta turned around and avoided the attack. Ogre Slayer gained some rotating power. Kapur was unable to escape and receive the greatsword with his body.
“Kaaack!”
He was cut from under to armpits to his hips. Blood poured out. Kapur lowered the axe and grabbed his wound. He leaned over and gasped, “T-This guy…!”
He swallowed back the pain and moved the axe to the hand of his good side, but slipped on all of the blood. Kapur fell and started stuttering. “T-This…”
Crockta held his knee to Kapur’s temple. Kapur started screaming from shock. Crockta looked around. The Kapur tribesmen were watching with fearful eyes.
“Unbelievable…”
The bodies of the warriors waiting behind the chief flinched. They were conflicted about whether to run out or not. Crockta turned his head.
“Once again, I have no intention of fighting you.”
The stunned Kapur’s body started twitching. It seemed like he was about to recover his spirit. Crockta kicked his head. Relentless kicking! Kapur’s tusk was broken and he was stunned again.
Crockta looked down at the fallen Kapur. Then he gazed at the Kapur warriors avoided his eyes.
“Your words and deeds don’t match dot…” Tiyo said.
Crockta shrugged. Crockta pointed to the Kapur warriors who originally brought them here. They were looking at each other with amazement. “Aren’t you the ones who called us here as guests?”
“T-That…”
“I just wanted to rest and talk here.”
They became embarrassed at Crockta’s words. They hadn’t realized that he could overcome this tribe’s chief. “T-Then…”
Tiyo shouted at them, “I’m hungry dot!”
Then another Kapur warrior came out. It seemed like he was the leader when there was no chief. “I understand. Shelter and food. Follow me.”
Thus, Crockta and Tiyo became guests of the Kapur tribe after defeating their chief.
***
The Kapur Tribe had finally welcomed guests after a long time. Crockta didn’t know if they were welcoming or terrified, but he accepted it.
“Is Kapur okay?” Crockta asked.
Rakuta, the warrior treating Crockta, replied, “He is recovering.”
The warrior was calm, unlike the other orcs he met in the north. He served Crockta directly. It seemed like he wanted to hear about the south from Crockta. Crockta swallowed the meat. It was a little tough but it had the flavor of the south. It was the first time he tasted meat like this.
“You want to go to the Temple of the Fallen God?”
“That’s right.”
“I don’t know why you would want to go to those ruins but it won’t be easy.”
Crockta stared at him.
“That is the realm of humans and dark elves. You will be attacked.”
The relationship between species was bad on the continent where he lived, but they didn’t attack other species out of the blue. But the north was different. According to Rakuta, the different species clashed and fought with each other. There were even cases where the same species were divided in two.
“Can you explain about the North?’
“The North…”
Crockta felt his head hurt at the description.
This was the outskirts of the northern wilderness. If he went a little further up, the real orc area would appear.
Several tribes were gathered around the Great Clan’s chieftain. The tribes led by the clan chief were militant, going around butchering, plundering and slaughtering. They were always hoping for war and provoking other species in the north.
The slavery that was forbidden on the continent was active here. The north was more narrow than the rest of the continent, but there were many conflicts with various species.
“I get it.”
Then Tiyo’s voice could be heard from outside the tent. “So I just lifted my gun and fired dot! Then the big monster started talking dot! I’m surprisedddd~ My ‘General’ fired relentlessly at his eyes and pabababat!”
“Wow.”
“Amazing!”
Due to being a small gnome and carrying a magic rifle from the continent, Tiyo attracted the attention of young orcs. Tiyo was telling them a story. Tiyo poked his head through the entrance of the tent.
“Crockta! Come out and tell the story! This is why I am a wonderful gnome!”
Crockta laughed.
At that moment, one orc went past Tiyo and entered the tent. He nervously said to Rakuta, “Rakuta, there is trouble.”
Then he looked at Crockta. He was afraid of Crockta, who had knocked down their chief.
“What’s going on?”
“All of a sudden, a messenger has come from the great clan chief. Today…”
Rakuta frowned. Crockta didn’t know what he was talking about. Rakuta explained.
“Like I said, there is a great clan chief. Originally he wasn’t involved in this area, but the Kapur chief wanted to become a sub-tribe under his control. We recently sent a tribute and the clan chief said there would be an answer soon…”
He thought about something.
“Please stay here. Your friend as well. You should absolutely not leave this place.”
Then he left the tent. Tiyo entered the tent, lamenting, “Ah, I was interrupted at the important part dot!”
Crockta smiled and placed more meat in his mouth.
***
Hammerchwi looked around the Kapur tribe on a caruk.
It was a desolate land.
“Sending me to this place…”
He was an old orc warrior. He was a warrior who took down dark elves in his youth, but now his body wasn’t the same. However, his hammer missed the battlefield. He still had enough strength to trample his enemies.
‘It can’t be helped.”
The new clan chieftain didn’t like him. It couldn’t be helped. Young people always found the advice of the elderly uncomfortable. Especially someone holding power at a young age. So he kept sending Hammerchwi to different places.
He met with various tribe chiefs who wanted to go under the great clan chief, and now he came to this small tribe that was near the wall of darkness. But the atmosphere was weird. The tribe was strangely messy. There were blood stains in the central lot where people would gather. Hammerchwi got down from his caruk.
He discovered something on the ground. An orc’s broken tusk.
“Hrmm…”
His eyes narrowed. Then he asked one of the Kapur tribesmen serving him.
“What happened?”
“Ah, nothing.”
However, there were signs of panic. Hammerchwi smiled.
“Where is the chief?”
“He should be coming soon.”
A large tribe warrior standing behind Hammerchwi opened his mouth.
“Don’t make Hammerchwi wait for any longer,” someone said in a desolate voice. The Kapur orcs froze.
Ten great tribe warriors were escorting Hammerchwi. They had steel weapons and high-quality armor that couldn’t be seen in the wilderness around here. They weren’t like the small tribe who couldn’t make weapons and had to rob other species.
“There is no need to threaten them. I have a lot of time,” Hammerchwi scolded.
“I understand.” The warrior bowed his head.
Then Kapur hurriedly came out of his tent. He was a big orc that could match the size of the great clan chief. He was big even in comparison to the clan warriors. However, his movements were strange.
Hammerchwi narrowed his eyes. There were cloths wrapped around the orc’s body. They were soaked with blood. The swollen face wasn’t the end of it, though.
“……”
The tusks protruding from his mouth were broken.
“How interesting,” Hammerchwi laughed.
Kapur approached and bowed his head. “You came a long way. I am Kapur.”
It was a totally different attitude from how he treated his tribesmen. Hammerchwi confirmed the bloodstains on Kapur’s side.
“What happened?”
“Nothing! Nothing happened.”
“No?”
Hammerchwi bent his knees and looked at the face of Kapur who was still bowing. He flinched.
“Tell me what happened.”
“Nothing happened…”
“Are you lying to me right now?”
“……”
Kapur rolled his eyes. Then he said, “Actually, something did happen.”
“Describe it.”
“An orc suddenly came and threatened us. I fought him but he was holding a weird weapon and I couldn’t resist. He said he wanted to kill me and become the chief of this place.”
Hammerchwi touched his chin. “Hrmm…”
“He didn’t even care that the great clan chieftain is behind me. Please defeat him!”
Hammerchwi nodded. He didn’t know the exact matter but there were two certain facts.
One. This chief lost to someone. Two. The orc was stronger than the chief.
“Interesting.” Hammerchwi stood up. It had been a tedious task but suddenly something different had happened. Hammerchwi said as he looked around the Kapur tribe. “So where is this orc?”
He glared fiercely at the Kapur tribe members. They pointed to a tent. Kapur spoke in an earnest tone to Hammerchwi. “That tent over there.”
Hammerchwi nodded.
“I will see him.”
He walked towards the tent. The inside of the tent wasn’t visible because the entrance was closed.
“Be careful! He is big, has a terrible belt and tattoos all over his body!”
A person who could knock out the over sized Kapur chief wasn’t normal.
Hammerchwi’s mouth rose. Would this fearsome orc entertain him? Excitement at the battle in front of him filled his whole body. The orcs in the outskirts weren’t properly trained but there were still those who showed a rough wildness. This guy was probably one of them.
He led the other clan warriors into the tent. Then Hammerchwi finally saw the opponent.
There.
“Who are you?” A cute little gnome cried out.