Ch. 143
Chapter 143
Thwack!
Simultaneously with the arrow leaving the string, Ian’s figure disappeared into the darkness as if melting away, and simultaneously with the Royal Guard collapsing, the Legion Commander’s gaze moved towards where Ian was.
- Grrk?
At the Legion Commander’s gesture as if annoyed, twenty Orcs separated from the pack and started running fiercely.
‘A Great Warrior and the rest are Royal Guards……. It seems I succeeded in gaining attention.’
Seeing that he mobilized even a Great Warrior to catch one archer, it was certain I caught the Legion Commander’s attention.
Unfortunately, tag didn't seem to be his taste, so I failed to stop the Legion Commander.
‘Then, let’s see how long he can ignore me.’
Nocking an arrow, I aimed at the fiercely running Orc Great Warrior.
Creak creak creak-
Pulling the string made of Serpent King’s tendon, I stopped breathing and waited for the timing.
‘Not yet.’
While waiting, opportunities to pierce the Great Warrior’s brow passed several times.
‘A little more…….’
Yet, the pulled string didn’t move an inch.
- Grrk?
Finally, when the Orc stepped on the firing spot from earlier.
Rustle.
Along with the sound of rustling like stepping on fallen leaves, the Orc’s gaze turned to one spot.
- Grrk! There, over there! Kill the bastards!
Simultaneously, the knight hiding there popped out and shouted.
“Damn it! I’ll lure these bastards, so you find the Young Duke!”
Thwack!
Simultaneously with that shout, the arrow leaving the string held to the limit rushed towards the Great Warrior.
Crunch!
The arrow, piercing the Great Warrior’s Adam's apple and even penetrating the heads of three Orcs behind him, stuck in front of the busily running knight’s foot.
“…It, it’s the Young Duke! That damn arrow the Moner bastards boasted about!”
“Just where is this bastard worth chewing to death hiding?!”
Seeing the knight shouting loud enough for the forest to ring while running, Ian chuckled softly.
‘Then, the game of tag with only taggers begins now.’
* * *
Huff, huff, huff.
Tyren ran with all his might.
Every time his foot touched the ground, bile rose and nausea surged, but he didn’t even have time to spit.
- Grrrrrk!
- Grrk!
Because red-eyed Orcs were chasing right behind him.
If he stopped even for a moment, it was clear his body would be hacked by those Orcs’ axes.
‘Damn it, how did it come to this?’
Finding the Young Duke was easy.
He just had to follow the marks already left.
When he found the unit members while tailing the Young Duke, he was convinced Moner’s lineage would end before today passed.
Actually, there were countless opportunities to deal with the Young Duke.
Just that seeing his ability to modify magic stones, he thought he should report to the Commander.
‘But, why?’
From the moment the guy first took out the bow, he thought it was strange.
The guy he observed so far was a brain planning and judging from behind, far from a combatant.
‘I thought it was just a desperate struggle to buy time…….’
It was a reckless choice to the point he wondered if he should stop him.
Moving alone wouldn’t buy time, and above all, even he, called the Clown of the Night, wasn’t confident running away against monsters led by Orcs.
‘But why is that guy hiding and shooting arrows, and I am the one running away?’
At first, he thought it was simply a coincidence.
Just that the wind blew when Orcs were close, and leaves moved making sound.
‘Not clearing the surroundings beforehand was my fault, so. But…….’
Thwack!
Swish!
Simultaneously with the now somewhat familiar sound, Tyren twisted his body and turned around to look where the sound came from.
Crunch!
Simultaneously, an arrow piercing the Orc’s neck and falling exactly in front of him.
If he had moved even one step further, his arm would have been injured.
‘This bastard, he’s doing this on purpose.’
It seems he didn’t like that I lost a few Orcs while hiding my presence in the middle.
Seeing that arrows are targeting him ‘coincidentally’ since then.
‘…No, there was no such thing as coincidence.’
He doesn’t know since when he was discovered, but it was clear he knew the existence of him and the Knight Order.
He just decided to use the Knight Order when he needed a scapegoat to drag time.
‘He had no intention of letting us live from the start.’
It was a baseless conviction, but that wasn’t important.
Having played similar games hundreds of times, he knew the result of this game better than anyone.
‘Fine. I’ll play along with your tune for now.’
Now the remaining Orcs are four.
A number possible to handle all if he sets his mind to it.
Since he checked every time the guy shot an arrow, he could vaguely guess the guy’s position too.
‘One. If the guy kills just one more, then I run towards where the guy is.’
If it’s three, he could buy enough time.
In the meantime, approach the Young Duke and kill him.
‘Seeing he’s still targeting me pretending it’s a coincidence, it seems he hasn’t killed humans before?’
Being Moner’s bloodline, he acknowledges the ability to hunt monsters, but killing humans is different.
Noble and docile guys like him find killing humans difficult.
‘At this opportunity, I will properly teach you the scariness of humans.’
Tyren’s eyes, having made a decision, sank low.
‘Just one, one more…….’
Waiting for Ian’s arrow to follow.
* * *
Thwack!
‘Now!’
At the sound he waited so eagerly for, Tyren turned his body and ran towards Ian.
- Kraack!
Simultaneously, two axes and two clubs rushed targeting him, but since he prepared in advance, dodging wasn’t difficult.
‘Uh?’
The problem was that there were four weapons targeting him.
‘Where is the arrow?’
Arrow. There is no arrow.
‘I clearly heard the sound? Where on earth did he shoot?’
Anxiety surged at the situation different from expectation, but since he already started running, he had no choice but to ignore it.
If it’s discovered he knows the position, the guy will change position, and then there’s no guarantee of a next chance.
‘It’s okay. The guy must have made a mistake too.’
Thinking so, the moment he kicked off the ground.
- Grrrk! Over there!
- Human! There is a human!
- Kraaaack! Revenge for the Great Warrior!
Along with characteristic shouts, he saw Orcs running fiercely towards him.
The number of running Orcs looked far beyond a hundred at a glance.
‘This crazy bastard!’
It wasn’t hard to understand what happened.
Since an arrow sound was heard, the Young Duke clearly sniped someone.
As if that thought was correct, the Orc stepping forward most broke a somewhat familiar arrow and shouted.
“Human! You cannot stop us with such arrows! So die honorably!”
Tyren, running with four Royal Guards, stopped momentarily.
“I will personally kill all humans here and make known the valor of Red Orcs!”
Tyren, seeing the Great Warrior speaking proudly, shouted until his throat tore.
“You, you despicable bastard worth chewing to death! If I find you, I’ll really kill you!”
The Orc nodded with satisfaction at Tyren’s scream-like shout, but that really wasn’t important.
Instead, turning his body and running away, he shouted as if in a frenzy.
“You stupid Orc bastards! Common sense says if you want revenge, find the guy holding the arrow, why chase me!”
He didn’t know.
That the entire Knight Order was in a similar situation.
* * *
Thwack!
An arrow leaving the string pierced the head of one Royal Guard.
- Grrk! Find the guy holding the arrow!
Simultaneously, he saw Royal Guards with red eyes narrowing down the firing point.
“Oh my, is this side finished.”
No matter how stupid Orcs are, the limit was clear.
Some Royal Guards realizing the fear of arrows separated from the main unit and were chasing him.
“I’m confident not getting caught, but…….”
The knight side was the problem.
Unlike him being chased by only about a dozen, dozens of Royal Guards were chasing the knights.
“Tsk, for a knight to lack persistence like that.”
Among the four knights initially, only one knight remains.
Except for just one, everyone chose to give up on Ian and run away.
‘Though they won’t be able to run for long anyway.’
The one remaining was playing the tagger role properly.
“Just heard it here, where on earth are you!”
Look at that appearance not giving up tag even with dozens of Orcs on his back, showing how much he wants to find me.
Thwack!
An arrow leaving the string blew away the head of a Royal Guard swinging an axe at the knight.
“There?! Is it there!”
As if it didn’t matter that he was just saved, the knight starting to run fiercely towards where the sound was heard shouted as if roaring.
“Right, today let’s both die together!!”
Body shivering at the shout that somehow felt sincere.
“With that skill, if he just ran away from the start, he could have lived……. Did he want to kill me that much?”
Felt it since first sensing the tail, but he was a person suited more for an assassin than a knight.
Maybe he just didn’t want to waste the opportunity that came after a long time.
“Now then, shall we slowly finish this.”
Turning his head, he looked at the Legion Commander walking slowly.
A walk feeling leisure and ease, but the aura felt from within was far from leisure.
“No wonder, the Orcs attached to me were strangely few.”
I knew all Legion Commanders were monsters, but I never thought search would be possible from that distance.
Moreover, search possible while moving.
If I hadn’t heard in advance, I might have really died here.
If the Legion Commander started moving directly, the knight used for distraction and everything would have been useless.
“Really thank you. I thought it would be a bit dangerous, but I didn’t think it would be dangerous enough to risk lives.”
Looking to the side and expressing gratitude, Garius smiled brightly and nodded.
“I am just glad to be of help.”
“Also thank you for coming to find me amidst busyness.”
“Since I came to help Moner, conveying greetings to its master is natural.”
The witch and two wizards joining this side seemed close to coincidence no matter how I looked at it, but anyway, it was fortunate.
“Master! We must stop moving now!”
At Jeremy’s shout from under the tree, Garius laughed huhuh and bowed his head.
“Then I will wait with Count Mogul.”
“Yeah. If you think it’s dangerous, run away.”
“Ahahaha! Indeed, the Young Duke jokes well. Running away now when Count Mogul and everyone in the fortress are fighting risking their lives.”
It was sincere.
Although the witch brought them, the witch wasn’t seen.
“You said this is also training. Originally, when the instructor is absent, you take it easy.”
It’s certain both became stronger than a month ago, but participating in battle already without the witch was uneasy.
Plus, seeing the two again, the apologetic feeling was also big.
So I spat out words I didn’t mean.
“If you really don’t think so, returning to the Magic Tower is fine. No matter how much of a witch she is, she wouldn’t be able to touch the Magic Tower on the continent.”
Garius replaced his answer with a smile.