Chapter 86 : Chapter 86
Chapter 86. Good Timing?
A fortnight had already passed since he started searching for the High Orcs in the Montis Rocky Mountains.
Hyunwoo crossed off the rocky mountain he had just climbed on the map.
The map, marked with all the places he had visited so far, was a complete mess.
He swallowed a groan with a look of dismay.
‘This… I think I’m in big trouble.’
He hadn't found even a trace of the High Orcs, let alone the High Orcs themselves.
It was outside his expected range.
Although the map was tattered, there were still more rocky mountains he hadn't visited.
‘Now it's 11 months… no, about 10 and a half months left?’
Even that was a conservatively estimated period until Jude's calamity occurred.
It wouldn't be strange if he went berserk at any time before that.
I thought I had plenty of time, but to be stuck here…
Hyunwoo let out a deep sigh and looked up at the rocky mountain he had newly considered as his destination.
…It was damn high this time too.
‘Damn it. It's high, but… why are there so many rocky mountains?’
It wasn't just the height and number of the rocky mountains that were the problem.
Moving between the numerous rocky mountains was a problem in itself.
After climbing the rocky mountains himself, he thought he knew why this place was also called ‘a place where you can't walk barefoot’.
‘…The rocks are all sharp.’
For the past fortnight, he had keenly felt the terror of nature untouched by human hands.
It was a matter of climbing rocks, not a path on a comfortable hiking trail.
If he was careless while climbing the mountain, he would often get poked or scratched by sharp rock edges.
It wasn't enough to just be careful of the rocks his hands and feet touched.
There were times when the rock he suddenly stepped on crumbled, or a cliff appeared, leaving him stranded.
If he hadn't obtained Physique II, he probably wouldn't have been able to even go around half of the places marked on the map.
‘…This is why I got the Ghost Horses.’
Hyunwoo bit his lower lip hard.
He sorely missed the Ghost Horses he had lost in the gorge.
As he stood still for a moment, wiping the sweat from his forehead, Lucas spoke.
“Hey. How long are we going to stay like this?”
“Wait. Hold on. I haven't decided on the next destination yet.”
“…Are you really sure the High Orcs are here?”
Distrust flickered in Lucas’s eyes.
He had come up empty-handed so far, and it was impressive that he was only now showing his dissatisfaction.
Van, who was sitting on a rock a little further away, didn't say anything, but his expression didn't show much expectation for Hyunwoo’s words.
“It'll be right this time. I have a feeling.”
“I think you said that last time… Alright.”
Lucas let out a small sigh and stepped back.
Hyunwoo was just as frustrated.
He walked towards the new rocky mountain without a word.
‘It’ll be trouble if more time passes.’
Van quietly followed behind him, and Lucas shook his head once and moved.
* * *
The good thing was that he had gained a knack for searching through the experience of coming up empty-handed so far.
When they had climbed about halfway up the new rocky mountain over half a day, Hyunwoo gave Lucas a look.
Lucas nodded and quietly closed his eyes.
It was a method of investigation using Lucas's hearing, which was on the level of a detector.
Given the noisy nature of the High Orcs, there was no way the place where they were gathered would be quiet.
The party stayed in one place for a while and watched Lucas’s reaction.
“Hear anything?”
“…Quiet.”
When Hyunwoo spoke, Lucas frowned and began to concentrate on what he was hearing again.
A moment later, Lucas opened his eyes and spoke.
“…I hear a sound.”
“Isn't it a pack of pythons like last time?”
Pythons were monsters that were spread throughout the Montis Rocky Mountains.
The creatures, the size of a human forearm, had a strange appearance that was a cross between a snake and an earthworm.
If you thought of them as giant earthworms with stripes on their bodies, it would be roughly correct.
Although he hadn't found any High Orcs for the past fortnight, he had encountered python packs to his heart’s content.
“No. It’s a little different from that… I hear footsteps.”
If he heard footsteps, it wouldn't be the footless pythons.
Lucas slowly closed his eyes again.
Unlike before, he stood in one place for a longer time and listened.
Then, a moment later, his eyes flashed and he spoke in a confident voice.
“It's the sound of fighting. Several are fighting, and from the footsteps, their body shapes are roughly…”
Lucas’s gaze swept up and down Van, who was standing with his arms crossed.
“Similar to yours.”
“…High Orcs?”
“I don't know that much. We'll have to go and see.”
Lucas gave Hyunwoo a look, as if telling him to decide.
In any case, there were no humanoid monsters wandering around the Montis Rocky Mountains.
And if their body shapes were similar to Van's.
There was a high probability that they were the High Orcs they were looking for.
Instead of speaking, Hyunwoo looked at Van.
His expression was subtle.
An ambiguous expression that made it impossible to tell if he was happy to meet his kin or afraid.
He was particularly trying to hide his emotions when it came to High Orcs.
For a moment, Van, with an unreadable expression, spoke.
“…Do as you wish. I will follow your will.”
“Alright. Let's go and see.”
Hyunwoo finished his words and was about to move again, but seeing Van's bad expression, he added.
“I don't know what happened between you and your kin.”
“……”
“But, whatever it is, running away won't solve it. Sometimes, you have to face it.”
“Face it… I see. Is that how you’ve always lived?”
He had said it to steel his heart, as a battle could break out soon.
Seeing him nod, it seemed he had thankfully understood.
A moment later, his legs were trembling on the increasingly steep slope.
Although he had been climbing mountains for a fortnight, it was just as difficult every time he climbed.
Hyunwoo, panting for breath, spoke with difficulty.
“…This is damn hard, Lucas, what’s the situation now?”
“The frequency of the fighting sounds has decreased, but they can still be heard from time to time.”
The higher they climbed, the stronger the wind became, and the sounds from far away could not be heard at all.
But it seemed Lucas could still hear them well.
Hyunwoo’s party sped up even more.
“We’re here. The sound is coming from behind this rock.”
At Lucas’s last words, he mustered his strength and climbed the rock.
Pant— Pant—
After arduously climbing the rock and looking down, a hollowed-out hilly area appeared in the middle of the rocky mountain.
Two forces were clashing on the flat ground.
Lucas had said it was right behind the rock, but the distance from the rock to the fighting was considerable.
In Hyunwoo’s eyes, he could only faintly see green lumps and flying birds fighting.
But just from that, he recognized their identities at a glance and his eyes sparkled.
“Good timing?”
High Orcs and harpies.
The ones he had to find and the ones he had to kill were fighting at that very moment.
The party immediately went down the other side of the rock and headed to the hilly area where they were fighting.
The closer they got, the more clearly they could see them.
At a glance, it was clear which side was losing.
There were too many harpies.
Dozens of half-human, half-bird monsters were circling the sky, targeting the High Orcs.
In comparison, the High Orcs were few.
Less than ten in number.
The fact that they were fighting on relatively even terms with such a small number gave a glimpse of their strength.
Light was emanating from the High Orcs’ bodies.
No, to be precise, it was light coming from the tattoos on their bodies.
Flash—!
As light burst from a High Orc’s tattoo, his pupils turned red.
The divine possession he had seen in Van.
The High Orc who had received divine possession soared into the sky with an axe.
Slash—!
The flock of harpies retreated for a moment, but the wing of one that failed to dodge was cut open.
Kaaaak—!
The harpy let out a strange sound that was a mix of a woman’s scream and a bird’s cry and crashed to the ground.
Although they had succeeded in killing one, the High Orc who had killed it had a dark expression.
He let out a low curse.
“Come down to the ground! You damn bird brains—!”
At the same time, the red light in his eyes disappeared.
Although there were only harpy corpses on the ground, the odds were in the harpies’ favor.
Divine possession was not an ability that could be used continuously, and the High Orcs who had finished their divine possession had no means to deal with the aerial monsters, the harpies.
And if they tried to retreat, feather attacks flew from the sky, holding them back.
It was truly a dilemma.
Kaaaaak—!
The harpy that was circling in the air hovered in place and flapped its wings.
With one flap of its wings, countless feathers scattered.
Fwap-fwap-fwap—!
The harpy’s feathers were deadly weapons with the hardness of steel.
A rain of sharp feathers that could pierce hard rocks like tofu poured down.
The flinching High Orcs quickly crouched down and began to block the flying feathers.
I had intended to watch the fight a little longer and assess the abilities of the harpies and High Orcs, but it seemed I couldn’t delay any longer.
Hyunwoo gave Lucas and Van a look and intervened in the middle of the fight.
Hyunwoo appeared in front of them, who were barely blocking the feathers pouring down like a shower.
“Who, who are you—!?”
Instead of answering, Hyunwoo performed his swordsmanship in front of them.
⌜Veluma Swordsmanship (3-Star)—100%(M)⌟
A translucent, hemispherical defensive barrier unfolding with Hyunwoo at the center.
Ting-ting-ting-ting-ting—!
All of the harpy’s feathers bounced off the unfolded sword-screen.
The harpies that had thrown the feathers also seemed flustered and began to circle in the air again.
For a moment, the battlefield entered a lull.
In the meantime, Lucas and Van also joined them.
As strangers appeared one after another, the High Orcs looked at the party with wary expressions.
But since they had already received help once, they didn't act hostile.
One of the High Orcs, who seemed to be the representative, looked at each member of Hyunwoo's party and cautiously spoke.
“…Who are you people.”
His low, growling breath was filled with wariness towards Hyunwoo's party.
His attitude was cautious, but his tone was not polite.
The High Orcs were a nomadic people with barbaric traditions and customs.
Knowing their culture well, I didn't think much of it.
I was a civilized person.
A being with the patience and intellect to communicate with barbarians.
“Let’s introduce ourselves after we clean this up.”
“First, tell us who you are…”
“There are still enemies left, what’s with all the talk.”
But that didn't mean I was going to be polite to those who had no manners.
When Hyunwoo cut him off, the other party flared up.
Hyunwoo ignored the flared-up opponent and looked up at the sky.
‘There are a lot.’
Dozens of harpies.
It seemed he could hit them even if he just shot randomly without aiming.
With that thought, he swung his sword.
A long-range swordsmanship for dealing with enemies in the sky.
⌜Crux Swordsmanship (3-Star)—100%(M)⌟
Shwoong—!
The sword aura of the Crux Swordsmanship rushed towards the flock of harpies.