Chapter 185 – Homecoming
“Tell me about the divine message.” Crockta asked the man. The man didn’t want to talk, but he opened his mouth the moment Ogre Slayer approached his neck.
“God wants your death.”
“God? Why?”
“I don’t know. I am just following the will of God. God has commanded you to die. I borrowed his power and came to kill you according to his words. That is all.”
“Which god?”
“The elder god of the mountain, where you will reap all the blood you sowed.”
Crockta was confused.
He had heard of the elder god of the mountain. It was a small religion spread over the mountain areas of the continent. Those who lived in the mountains mainly followed it, but in comparison to its rustic image, the religion had a cruel doctrine. However, why did the elder god of the mountain suddenly want to kill him?
While Crockta was thinking, the man continued speaking,
“Accept your fate. Other people will come…”
“There are others?”
“You really don’t know anything. That isn’t all. All the gods on this continent have commanded your death. Even the goddess of mercy desires your death.”
Crockta’s expression distorted. “Why?”
“We can’t know the minds of the gods. You must’ve done something bad to incur the wrath of the gods. Repent, Crockta. An eye for an eye, blood for blood.”
“I don’t understand that reasoning.” Crockta raised his greatsword.
The man shouted, “I have failed today, but in the end, the gods will find you! In the end…! Kuheok!”
Crockta kicked the man’s belly. The man curled up on the ground. Crockta looked down at the man, and laughed.
“You are too noisy. I just want to find out the situation.”
“Ugh..!” The man sprawled out on the ground. “The orcs will not survive the wrath of the gods!”
“What did you say?”
Crockta lowered his posture and stared at the man.
“The orcs?
“Yes! The gods desire not just your death but the death of all the orcs! You will perish!”
“……”
Crockta raised his gaze and stared at the group of hooded men, followers of the elder god of the mountain. They flinched from his murderous gaze. They couldn’t even think about raising their weapons as they stepped back.
Crockta growled, “Is that true?”
“……”
They couldn’t open their mouths, causing Crockta to grab the neck of the collapsed man, who was shouting about the will of the gods. Then at that moment, the man couldn’t breathe.
“Keeok! Ke….!”
“Answer me. Do the gods really want to kill the orcs as well as me? Is that the divine message of your god?”
Crockta got up. The man struggled. He was breathless and clutching at Crockta’s wrist. Looking at the man’s pained appearance, the other followers and cried out,
“Y-Yes. The words are correct. So, let go of him quickly!”
“Kill all the orcs?”
“Yes, the gods said so. To make the orcs a forgotten species.”
Crockta nodded. Then he threw the man. The man flew towards the other followers, causing the group to fall and roll across the ground. In the turmoil, some of the hoods fell off. They were all ordinary humans, ordinary people who looked after the fields or hunted in the mountains.
Crockta muttered, “Why do the gods want the death of me and all the orcs?”
What was going on? The followers edged away helplessly. Crockta noticed them, but he then said with a sigh,
“Get lost.” It was like giving permission. They ran away hastily as soon as Crockta’s words ended. Only the man’s weapon remained on the ground. Crockta grabbed it. It was an ordinary sword. However, when the light of divine power surrounded it, the sword emitted a force which was hard for Crockta to deal with.
Beings with this power were aiming at the orcs… Not just one orc but all of them.
“This is definitely a headache.”
Why couldn’t they leave him in peace? It wasn’t possible for him to stay still after hearing that the gods were aiming at all the orcs.
“Why are the gods doing this dot? Did you speak ill of the gods?”
Tiyo asked after watching the scene. Crockta shrugged, “I don’t know. It would be really unfair even if I did.”
“That is true. There is always a mountain after crossing a mountain dot.”
“Great chieftain, empire, and now the gods… Will everything be okay?” Anor looked at Crockta with trembling eyes.
“It can’t be helped, even if it isn’t okay.”
“Then shouldn’t you head quickly to the other orcs? They are aiming at the orcs.”
“Indeed dot. Quickly. I can find my father later, so let’s fight with Crockta’s friends dot! Against those gods!”
“Um…”
Crockta thought about it. If orcs were the target, then Orcrox and Basque Village came to mind. There was also the land of the orcs in the north. However, those who borrowed the power of the gods couldn’t invade it. Perhaps the gods’ followers were already moving.
In that case, even one more person would help.
“Yes…” Crockta muttered.
Then someone interrupted. “Stay a little longer.”
It was Zakiro.
“Zakiro.”
“There is no one crazy enough to fight all the orcs immediately after the gods have sent the divine message. The present era isn’t a time where the gods can run rampant like before.”
“So, there is no need to worry?”
“No, there is no need to hurry. Even if things will happen, there is still time. The followers have to look at their own interests and circumstances. They will gather the forces slowly.”
Zakiro wasn’t looking at Crockta while talking. Crockta followed Zakiro’s glance and confirmed what he was watching. It was Ogre Slayer in Crockta’s hands.
“You need to be prepared if you really want to fight the gods.”
“Prepared?”
Zakiro raised his gaze towards Crockta. Crockta shrank back from the look in Zakiro’s eyes. There were flames blazing in Zakiro’s eyes, and they weren’t of a small fire. It was a furnace that could melt iron.
“I am going to fix Ogre Slayer.”
***
“Hahahahat!” Someone was laughing. “So, you tried to kill us? You? Really?”
She tugged at the hair of the human she had captured. She was sitting on top of a tower of human bodies. The man at the very top wasn’t dead yet. He shivered and begged for forgiveness.
“Please… stop…”
“Stop?”
She pulled the hair with more strength. The man’s neck was pulled back, and he couldn’t talk anymore. She pushed her face against his.
“Say it again, again. If you won and we lost, would you stop if we told you to stop?”
“Keooook…”
“Where is your confidence from earlier? Huh?”
She grabbed the ax at her waist. It wasn’t big and looked more like a throwing ax. She raised the ax to the man’s eyes.
“Say it again.”
“Please…”
“I might forgive you. Tell me again what you said when you first saw us.”
“Forgive…”
She looked annoyed, “If you say it, I will forgive you!”
She pierced the man’s eyes with the ax. Blood flowed from it. The man shrieked.
“Now, tell me before it becomes more painful. What did you say when you first found us?”
“Heok, kuheok… First, first…”
“Yes. The first thing.”
“I-In the name of the gods…”
“And?”
“K-Kill Crockta and the orcs, k-kill…”
“Wrong.”
She wielded the ax again. The man’s nose was split. The man screamed, and blood burst out.
She started humming, “What did you say?”
“Keoook…”
“Kill the dirty and rodent-like orcs, mutilate their bodies, and hang them at the gates.”
She hummed and swung her ax again. Every time her arm moved, blood splattered on the man’s face. More and more, the appearance of a person was becoming less visible.
“Kill, did you say?”
“Ple…please…”
“Then I will take your life.”
She rose from her spot. Then she grabbed the man’s neck and pushed him down. The man rolled down the pile of bodies and fell to the bottom. Her followers, who were continuing the massacre, asked her, “Captain! What should we do now?”
“They want to kill us, so we can’t let them live.”
“Kulkulkul, good!”
They wielded their weapons, and terrible screams were heard. Suddenly, she saw a man crawling on the ground in order to run away. She threw her ax. It was aimed accurately at the man. The ax tore through the air and split apart his head. Brain matter flowed down.
“Kill those who want to live.”
She smiled.
“It is over, Captain Anya!”
“You did well.”
She was an orc warrior known as the mad slaughterer, notorious for being a crazy berserker. The ‘mad slaughterer’ Anya… She had declared revenge on the noble who killed Lenox, torturing him and killing his followers. That was the berserker Anya.
Anya laughed as the slaughter finished and muttered,
“Kuhuhut. That Crockta, he has become a big man.”
Anya remembered when she first saw Crockta. She had come to Orcrox for Lenox’s funeral and seen the apprentice warrior who had been the last one to speak with Lenox. His behavior was awkward but the willpower burning in his eyes seemed like something he’d inherited from Lenox.
“Conquering the north, thwarting the empire, and now fighting the gods?”
Anya’s eyes shone.
“His skills…”
She laughed again. Then at that moment…
The air near her distorted.
Anya frowned, “What, all of a sudden!”
The figure of an orc slowly appeared. He looked at Anya with his translucent body, and his shape gradually became clear. He was a bald male orc without a single stitch of clothing, while necklaces made of all types of animal bones and skulls were hanging around his neck. Additionally, a strangely bent staff was held in his hand.
It was the shaman who pursued the abyss, ‘Abyss Seeker’ Wallachwi.
“Lenox and Crockta… Kuhul…hulhul…”
“Shut up.”
“I thought you had a strange taste… You also like the young… Kuhulhul…hul…”
“You really make me feel bad. How long have you been here?”
“I don’t know…? Kuhul…hul!”
Anya grabbed another ax from her waist. However, it couldn’t touch Wallachwi and passed straight through his body.
“It is no use. Kuhul…hul!”
“Witchcraft is really nasty.”
Anya licked her lips and placed the ax back on her waist. Anya’s subordinates finished their work and greeted Wallachwi.
“Wallachwi! It is great to see you after so long! Kuhulhul!”
“I am alive! Bul’tar!”
“I heard the news! Crockta is doing something fun! Kulkulkul!”
“There will be a festival again! Kuhahat!”
“Fight, fight!” They laughed while shouting. Indeed, they were the berserkers who followed Anya.
Anya smiled at them before asking Wallachwi, “Are you going? To Orcrox?”
A divine message had been passed against the entire orc species. They always wandered around the continent, but since this had happened, they needed to return to Orcrox. Just like when all the great orcs on the continent had returned home for Lenox’s funeral.
“Of course. Kuhul…hul!”
Wallachwi smiled. Anya nodded.
“Zankus?”
“He will go after finishing a hunt… Kuhuhu…!”
“What is he hunting? That abnormal bastard.”
Her followers shouted, “We’re done!”
“Yes. Then let’s go!”
After completing the massacre, Anya’s group started to head towards Orcrox, and next to Anya was the translucent shaman shaking his staff. It had been a while since Lenox had died. In the meantime, the north had opened, and the kingdom had become an empire. An immature apprentice warrior had become a great warrior… And now, the gods wanted to kill the orcs.
The legendary powerhouses of the orcs began to gather again.
