The Immortal Genius Spear-Knight (29)
What’s going on?
Just a moment ago, my younger brother was smiling.
Slash!
But soon after, his head soared into the air.
“…Huh?”
The world began to spin.
Though he saw it with his own eyes, it felt unreal.
It was like a dream.
But then.
“Fomeeeeeen!”
Homen cried out his brother’s name, glaring at the orc in front of him.
His black eyes were gleaming with a red, feverish light.
The madness in his expression made his mind go blank.
“You bastard! My little brother!”
Homen thrust his spear with all his might.
This was not a trained maneuver.
It was an attack fueled by rage, with the intent to kill.
Maybe that’s why.
The excessive force of the attack struck the orc’s shoulder instead of the heart.
Crunch!
“Ugh!”
The orc’s body jolted.
The orc easily broke the spear and lifted its axe high into the air.
“…Oh.”
He could instinctively sense it.
That he was going to die.
The cries of his comrades behind him sounded distant, like they were underwater.
But then.
“Wake up, you bastard!”
Someone shouted urgently beside his ear, snapping him back to his senses.
Homen focused on the orc in front of him.
It was Damian, the rookie from the Neo-Calitz who he had previously gotten into an argument with.
Thunk!
Damian quickly pierced the orc’s neck, then turned to face Homen.
Swish!
With a sharp pain, Homen’s head turned to the other side.
He stared at Damian with wide eyes.
“Have you finally come to your senses?”
He nodded reflexively. Damian then said.
“Look around. Figure out what needs to be done and move quickly.”
Homen scanned the area.
The orc unit had come close before they realized.
Seeing the orc numbers—more than twenty—Homen was startled and grabbed the fallen orc’s axe.
This was a battlefield.
***
Damian looked at the orc he had just killed.
Specifically, the orc that had met its end with a pierced neck.
Even piercing a relatively weak part like the neck was not easy.
Moreover, the first soldier to fall.
His spear and head had been torn off together.
Such a feat was impossible for a normal orc.
“These orcs are several times stronger than normal ones.”
Damian assessed the battlefield.
The good news was that there were only about twenty orcs.
In contrast, the defense squad had seventy members.
In terms of numbers, they had the advantage.
“But it’s not an easy situation.”
Handling one orc required several people, and from the look of things, it didn’t seem easy.
“Everyone, form battle lines!”
Basel, drawing his sword, shouted.
“Form groups of three to handle the orcs, and the remaining members will support the struggling areas!”
“Yes!”
“Phil, Uros, Tyran! You three protect the priest. Make sure not a single hair on her head is harmed!”
“Understood.”
Basel issued orders swiftly.
Even in such an urgent situation, he gave clear and effective commands.
“He’s quite experienced in real combat.”
It meant he wasn’t just holding the position of defense captain as a formality.
“Then, I…”
Damian turned his gaze to the battlefield.
Although some had been injured due to the initial ambush, a formation was being established under Basel’s orders.
But then.
“Aaaaargh!”
At the sudden scream, Damian turned his head.
A soldier guarding the priest had collapsed on the ground.
“Graaaar!”
“Ugh, aaargh!”
One soldier hastily raised his shield to block an orc’s axe.
Bang!
But he seemed overpowered and rolled pathetically on the ground.
“…Damn!”
Moreover, three orcs were charging towards the priest.
It seemed the power of the priest was attracting them.
“You bastards!”
The remaining soldiers desperately swung their swords.
Thud!
Without even a proper resistance, their helmets and heads were smashed.
“Protect the priest!”
“Protect the priest!”
The remaining two soldiers desperately shouted as they got up.
But then.
Whooooosh!
A white aura emanated from Claire’s body as she clasped her hands together.
Holy Power.
A divine force used by priests.
As the light burst forth, the orcs charging at them staggered and faltered.
“Now!”
“Aaaaaaaaah!”
The two soldiers charged at the orcs with all their might.
The staggering orcs roared loudly and swung their axes.
Clang! Clang!
The clash of swords and axes sparked.
The two soldiers managed to block the overwhelming strength of the orcs.
Claire’s holy power had weakened the orcs’ strength earlier.
“Graaaar!”
Still, it seemed difficult for just the two soldiers to block the orcs.
If there had been one more, it might have been different, but one was already dead.
“Ugh!”
“These bastards…”
The hands of the soldiers gripping their swords trembled uncontrollably.
The air of the battlefield, where life and death were constantly in flux, pressed heavily on their chests, making their breathing erratic.
If things continued like this, they would die. Their comrades who could help were also in desperate situations.
“Grggggrrrk!”
The axes and swords clashed, each side struggling with brute strength.
But then—
Thunk! Thunk!
With flashes of light, two orcs collapsed to the ground. Large holes had been made in their necks.
“Huh?”
“Y-You…!”
The soldiers, startled by the sight of Damian behind the fallen orcs, were taken aback. Damian spoke first.
“Help the others. Quickly!”
“B-But the priest…”
“I’ll handle it, so hurry!”
“O-Okay!”
The two soldiers, speaking with unexpected politeness, rushed to assist their fighting comrades.
Damian then turned to Claire.
“Are you alright?”
“…Ah.”
Claire’s eyes were vacant, indicating she was in shock. This reaction was understandable, as maintaining composure in a real battle was not easy.
Her earlier display of divine power was likely an instinctive response to the crisis.
Damian bit his lip in frustration.
“Hey, snap out of it!”
He grabbed Claire by the cheeks and lifted her chin to make her meet his gaze.
“Are you going to let everyone here die?!”
“Huh? No, of course not!”
Claire’s eyes showed realization at his words.
Damian, seeing her reaction, stayed close and observed the fighting soldiers.
“Look. Use your divine power like before. Do it now.”
“Y-Yes.”
Claire, calming her pounding heart, clasped her hands together and knelt on one knee.
She whispered softly:
“Heavenly Father, your lambs are in danger. Please share your mercy with us.”
With her prayer,
Whoooosh!
The ambient magical energy vibrated.
Whoooosh!
A divine light began to emanate around them.
The power was far greater than before. Damian swallowed hard, astonished.
“W-What is this woman?”
He had assumed she was just an ordinary priestess, but—
“She has the divine power of a high priest?”
What was her true identity?
Despite Damian’s confusion, Claire’s divine power spread, causing the orcs to stagger in pain. In contrast, the search party members felt reinvigorated and began to push back the orcs more aggressively.
“Kraaah!”
“Die, you bastards!”
Thud! Thud! Splat!
With the dull thud of the orcs hitting the ground, three soldiers pounced on them. The orcs fell one by one, and the battle quickly approached its end.
Soon enough,
Thud!
When the last orc’s head fell to the ground, the soldiers breathed heavily.
“Huff… Huff… Huff…”
“We… We killed them all. Hah…”
The battle was over. Basel immediately addressed his subordinates.
“Report the casualties and injuries. Are there any injured people who cannot walk?”
The soldiers quickly reported their status. Fortunately, there were not many injuries.
But in that short time…
“…Eight have died.”
“Handle the bodies properly. We’ll return together.”
“Understood.”
The soldiers felt deep sorrow in their hearts. The death of their comrades was something that could never be fully accepted, no matter how experienced they were.
They collected the bodies of the fallen soldiers.
Basel approached Claire.
“Priestess, do we need to go further in?”
The purpose of the search was to confirm the presence of magical contamination. They could only speculate from the corpse brought by Taron, and they couldn’t be certain.
Claire shook her head in response to Basel’s question.
“No… There is no need.”
She walked towards the dead orcs and placed her hand on the corpses, saying.
“It’s magi contamination. It is certain that they were afflicted.”
Claire looked deeper into the forest.
What dangers might lie further inside?
“This forest seems to be tainted by magi. Something bigger must be happening deeper inside.”
Claire stood up and declared.
“We need to officially report back and form a strike force.”
With Claire making the final decision about the search, Damian sighed in relief.
“Finally… A strike force will be organized.”
A large-scale strike force involving many priests would be assembled. The Neo-Calitz squad would be at the forefront.
Damian considered what would come next.
Then, at that moment—
“…?”
A soldier approached Damian. It was Homen, who had nearly died earlier.
“…Thank you for saving me.”
Homen bowed his head to Damian in gratitude.
“And… I apologize for my earlier outburst.”
Ah, he was the one who had shouted about collecting herbs.
“I hadn’t paid much attention.”
But following Homen, the two soldiers who had been guarding the priestess also came to Damian.
“Thanks to you, we were able to save our lives. Thank you.”
“Thank you for your help.”
“…It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”
Damian waved his hand dismissively, looking at the search party soldiers.
Although there were no major injuries, some had minor wounds.
Damian sighed deeply.
“Damn…”
Damian opened a sack filled with healing herbs. He transferred about half of it to another sack and approached Basel.
“Please use these herbs to treat the injured soldiers.”
“…Thank you.”
Basel accepted the bundle of herbs.
And then—
“Withdraw! Gather the bodies of our comrades and attend to the injured!”
“Yes!”
The smell of blood might attract more enemies. Knowing this, the search party hurriedly began to leave the forest.
As everyone was withdrawing,
“…”
Claire was looking at Damian with blank eyes.
