NSE-Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Festival

Meat roasted wildly amid the huge flames. Dwarves, Elves, and even Orcs. Races gathered without distinction put food into their mouths.

―Snort! Pork tasty!

“Aaah! Canned beer, was it called? This is absolutely fantastic stuff!”

Even with nearly eight thousand people eating and chattering to their hearts’ content, the food never ran low.

Kim Min-woo was also chewing on meat near the bonfire.

‘Not bad.’

Perhaps because he had brought plenty of spices like salt and pepper, the seasoning was more than sufficient.

He looked at the Elf group.

They did eat meat, but they were a race that by nature preferred fruits and vegetables. Perhaps that was why every one of them was seen holding bananas or corn.

Fortunately, they appeared to be enjoying it.

Then……

His eyes met Elise’s, who was munching on corn. She rose and came toward him.

“This is delicious. I’d like to try growing it once the weather clears.”

“Then why not read this.”

He handed her a book describing how to cultivate the seeds.

Gates were fragments of another world.

Naturally the languages and writing were all different, yet they could still communicate. The same was true of the writing in books. Except for a few special cases, most writing and language was interpreted and translated.

Moreover, that book even had annotations in easy words scattered throughout, so it would be well understood. Elise opened the book and nodded.

“Fascinating. There are many seeds I’ve never seen.”

“Because they came from another world.”

“Is that world peaceful?”

“To some extent?”

“……That makes me a bit envious.”

“It’ll be like that here too.”

Because he was the one who would clear it.

At those words, Elise’s face darkened slightly.

“You may be able to defeat the Apostle. But the Witch and the Ice Dragon…… are beings of a different caliber.”

“I know.”

“Can you win against such beings?”

“Where I come from, there’s a saying. Nothing is impossible.”

It was literally true.

Every Gate had a way to clear it without fail. And that path didn’t exist in only one direction.

―Cold dragon wants cold land. Evil Witch wants fresh corpses. Ice Dragon freezes. Witch gets corpses.

He recalled the words Bektar had once told him.

The Witch wants corpses.

The Ice Dragon wants cold land.

With their interests shared, how could they not be all smiles and laughter?

They must have been inseparable.

‘Until now, it was a win-win for both.’

But now?

With the land entirely frozen and every living creature dying out, could the Witch stay happy forever?

If the cold kept up like this, living creatures would be wiped out entirely.

‘The benefits tilt to one side.’

The Ice Dragon was still getting a huge win.

But the Witch would soon stop having fun.

Because the corpses themselves would decrease.

‘That’s probably why she started the disposals.’

To squeeze out one last haul, since there was no longer anywhere for corpses to come from.

Desire is the starting point of every split.

And the current situation was.

‘A stage set where I can poke at the Witch’s desire.’

The Witch and the Ice Dragon.

If the two combined their strength, it would obviously be very hard.

But if he could deal with only one……

‘It would be far more doable.’

First, catching the Apostle was the start.

* * *

“W-What?”

Velitas blinked.

That was how bewildering it was.

At the news of the festival, he had been certain of victory.

He had thoroughly reinforced the Fortress’s defenses.

Day 3.

By now their food should have run out.

Day 4.

Surely they’d come today.

Day 5.

The festival is still going?

Day 6.

The Orcs gathered already exceed fifteen thousand? If he went out now, he’d be the one wrapped up and eaten.

Day 7.

‘How long are they going to keep up this festival!’

They were lunatics.

News came that the Orcs had exceeded twenty thousand.

Moreover, they weren’t handing out food stingily.

They had been handing out food until the Orcs, with their great appetites, were bursting.

And yet the festival was still being maintained!

With each passing day, the Orc horde was swelling like mad.

‘I can’t even go out now.’

Velitas broke into a cold sweat.

Even if the Orcs’ Levels were far lower than those of the Fortress’s forces, there was no beating sheer numbers.

Without the Fortress, defeat was certain.

‘If the festival holds even two more days…… I can’t stop this.’

Now five or six thousand were gathering every day. Once the Orcs passed thirty thousand, it would mean ruin even with the Fortress.

Damn it!

Asking the other Apostles for help had many problems. Every one of them was a rival, striving to win the Witch’s favor.

Even if he lowered his head, there was no way they would give proper help.

‘There’s no choice.’

He had to ask the Witch in the center for help. That was far better than letting the Fortress collapse.

He raised the Crystal Ball in his coat.

When he injected dark Mana, light burst out.

“G-Great Witch. Your lowly servant Velitas has contacted you because there is something to report.”

―What is it?

At the playfully asking voice, his body shuddered.

The Witch’s personality was varied.

In other words, she was foul-tempered.

It was common for her to suddenly rip out a subordinate’s head in the middle of a smiling conversation.

Thinking of that, it was something he really didn’t want to say, but……

Squeezing his eyes shut, Velitas said.

“The Orcs are stirring. Their number is already twenty thousand, so going out to subjugate them is out of the question.”

―What have you been doing all this time?

“……I’m sorry. It was all my negligence. If the Witch would lend just a little of her strength……”

―I’ll send the Necro Knight Order. That should be enough, right?

The Necro Knight Order.

One of the Witch’s finest knight orders, rumored to leave nothing but corpses wherever they passed. They were an elite legion that strong.

Velitas’s eyes dyed with hope.

“Yes! That is more than enough! We will sweep away the Orcs and offer the glory of victory to the Witch!”

―Hanging up.

The Crystal Ball’s contact was cut.

Only now could Velitas breathe a sigh of relief.

‘If the order rides through the night, it’ll take about three days.’

Even if the Orcs were numerous, holding out that long was no problem.

Only then did a smile rise at the corners of Velitas’s mouth.

* * *

[The number of Orcs you command has exceeded thirty thousand!]

[The Title ‘Baby Commander’ changes to ‘Professional Commander’!]

A commander Title.

A Title that arises when you command many subordinates, with the effect of raising the morale of the units under you.

‘Since it’s thirty thousand, the effect is pretty decent.’

Morale +15%.

A Title that would shine in large-scale battles.

The changes didn’t end there.

[‘Takunda’ is appointed as the Third Captain of Ten Thousand!]

[Takunda grows from Orc Chieftain to Orc Great Chieftain!]

Each time ten thousand Orcs gathered, one of the chieftains grew into a Great Chieftain.

The growth followed seniority.

First, Urkan.

Second, Dekum.

Third, Takunda.

Every one of them grew bigger in frame, and their muscles swelled fearsomely. Especially Urkan, the only Boss Mob among the chieftains, showed outstanding growth.

The phrase battle machine fit him perfectly.

Preparations were complete.

“The festival ends! We now strike the Fortress!”

―Orc! Orc!

The morale of the Orc army, who had eaten until their bellies burst and been supplied with plenty of gear, was sky-high.

An Orc army of thirty thousand.

On top of that, there was Elf support, however slight.

One hundred archers had joined.

Boom-boom!

Several Orcs holding drums beat them with all their might, and.

The great army moved toward the Fortress.

It took six hours to get there.

A huge Fortress was visible far away.

The wall’s height was roughly 15 meters.

Above it, Chimeras, Wraith Knights, Dark Mages, and Necromancers were teeming. He set up a position, if only a temporary one, and examined the troop composition.

‘About three thousand in total.’

However, this figure excluded the troops that the Necromancers on that side would summon.

Counting those, the Fortress’s defending troops would well exceed five thousand.

On top of that, in terms of quality, the other side was overwhelmingly higher.

Because the Orcs’ average Level was currently only 151.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

There was no victory without sacrifice.

He had come prepared to bury around ten thousand in the ground to take the Fortress.

Orcs carrying heaps of ladders were huffing and snorting.

They seemed ready to jump into fire the moment an order was given.

Then……

“You vermin! Do you dare defy the Witch and think you can survive!”

A huge voice rang out over the wall. A human with a long white beard was shouting at the top of his voice.

“……That’s Velitas. A wicked Necromancer who killed thousands and won the Witch’s recognition for his ability.”

Elise, who had come near, whispered.

‘So that’s what he looks like.’

On the surface he looked like an ordinary old man.

He seemed to be a Necromancer with a trick up his sleeve. Soon the guy shouted triumphantly.

“Even vermin like you must have heard the name of the Necro Knight Order! Before long, the Knights of Death will come to take your heads! Kahaha!”

The Orcs showed no particular change at those words and only snorted.

But the Elves were different.

“The Necro Knight Order……!”

“The Necro Knight Order is coming?”

The Elves’ pupils shook greatly as if they were gripped by fear. Only Elise maintained her composure.

“This Necro Knight Order, is it strong?”

“……They’re one of the Witch’s direct knight orders. Whenever there was a difficult battle, they would join in person. No one survived before the order’s blades.”

So they were that tough an opponent, I see.

He chuckled.

‘Well, this is rolling along interestingly.’

A Gate’s difficulty is variable.

Especially in Hidden Gates. The difficulty flipping with every single choice was routine.

If the Necro Knight Order were that strong, the difficulty should have changed from the moment they set out for this place.

But the Gate’s difficulty was still B-rank.

The Enemy Alert Level hadn’t changed either.

It was holding at 31.

‘It’s one of two.’

Either the so-called Necro Knight Order hadn’t even set out, or they were coming but had no intention of fighting.

Either way, one thing was certain.

The Witch intended to use the Apostle as a throwaway card.

Until now he hadn’t been sure how tight the bond between the Ice Dragon and the Witch was.

But now he had the answer.

These two.

Weren’t very close.

Thinking about what it meant to hand over the Fortress made it crystal clear.

If the Fortress were handed over?

The north would warm up.

The Ice Dragon’s power would be broken.

Living creatures would rampage again.

A stage for gathering corpses again would be set.

If they were truly bound by a solid blood alliance, there was no reason to act like that. In the end, it meant a relationship held together by loose mutual interest.

No wonder she could backstab him without hesitation.

‘Even so, the fact that she keeps within the line suggests she’s wary of the reaction.’

She hadn’t pulled out the Fortress’s troops.

She was even sending reinforcements.

This was probably a pretext for making excuses to the Ice Dragon’s side.

We tried to stop it too in our own way, but it couldn’t be helped.

Something like that.

‘Perfect for sowing discord.’

Anyway.

Unfortunately for Velitas, who was shouting triumphantly right now, there was a very high chance there would be no reinforcements.

“Assemble it!”

―Orc!

He took out the items he had prepared in advance.

Catapults the Dwarves had built by hand from blueprints.

The Orcs who had brought each part began assembling the catapults, and.

Five huge catapults appeared on the battlefield.

He didn’t need to bring down the Fortress with these.

Just draining the defenders’ Mana would be more than worth it.

“Fire!”

Huge boulders flew toward the Fortress.