NOVEL NEXT Chapter 27: (2)
“Yes, if I can defeat the Orc Legion, I’m willing to use the object. So, please convey this to Tarien-nim…”
“Ah, you’re truly…”
The knight’s voice trembled, seemingly amazed by the deception.
“Alright. If you’re willing to make such a sacrifice, I will grant your request.”
After affectionately patting his shoulder with a gentle gaze, he swiftly went to report to Tarien, with the soldiers trailing behind.
“What? Is it true? Bring Kaiyan here immediately!”
“I’m here.”
Amidst the chaotic battlefield, stood an imposing fortress, incongruous with the surroundings.
He hurriedly maneuvered past the knights and stepped forward.
“Oh! Kaiyan, does your object really possess such a function?”
“Yes, I’m certain.”
“…But I’ve never heard of such a thing among magical items.”
That’s the price of being a know-it-all kid.
Deceiving a young child was easy, though.
“This isn’t a magical item. I’ve heard it possesses a power different from magic, akin to the mystical energy wielded by shamans.”
He had heard that besides mana and divine power, various energies existed in the world.
Of course, he didn’t know what other energies existed apart from mana and divine power. He was just lying.
“What kind of power?”
Tarien asked, his face filled with curiosity.
“Well…”
“Well…?”
“Unfortunately, even I don’t know. I only know that using this object allows us to locate the Orc Lord.”
Tarien seemed slightly dissatisfied with his response, but what mattered now was…
“If we can find the Orc Lord… However, is the functionality really guaranteed? What if it’s not?”
“Yes, I’m absolutely certain, even if it means staking my life!”
From his perspective, unwaveringly trusting in the player’s system, he believed in the functionality of this toy.
As long as the Orc Lord wasn’t located beyond the 1 km range by some unfortunate chance. That’s why he had ventured so close to the Orc Legion in the first place.
Tarien contemplated with a frown, then nodded his head.
“Well, fine. If you can truly locate the Orc Lord, I can deal with him…! I will reward you generously. So, go ahead and use that item of yours.”
“Understood. Let’s begin.”
Setting aside his trembling heart, he raised the bead, his first time using it.
“Oh, let me see that. Such a perfectly round bead…”
“It truly resembles a sky compass. It couldn’t possess such a beautiful shape otherwise.”
The knights, beholding the round bead, were all amazed.
Among them, Tarien, just a young boy, was the most astonished.
“Wow… It’s a bead I’d love to have. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Judging from his reaction, he felt he could sell toys to the nobles at a high price in the future.
Of course, when selling, he would have to lie and claim it’s a divination tool, not a toy.
“Activate.”
Wheeeeng-
As he shouted the command, the bead emitted a faint, colorful light. It was a remarkably beautiful color unlike anything seen before.
Now, according to the instructions written on the toy, all that remained was to state the characteristics of the target they needed to find: the Orc Lord, the king of the orcs.
Beep-beep-beep-
Ding!
As he mentioned all the activation conditions, the bead slowly rotated and slipped out of his hand, floating up into the air.
“It’s… floating on its own!”
“Hehe… It’s just like magic.”
Everyone was equally astonished by the incredible sight of the bead floating seemingly through its own power as if a magician had cast a spell.
“I’m just as amazed…”
“Huh… huh? It’s going up so high?”
The speed at which the bead ascended gradually increased until it reached quite a high altitude.
It was difficult to discern its height without the light emanating from the bead.
“Oh… it’s going higher.”
“…Surely this isn’t the end, right?”
As the bead ascended higher than he had anticipated, his confidence wavered, replaced by a sense of unease.
He had staked his life on that bead, and if he couldn’t locate the Orc Lord…
“No! I must find the Orc Lord, no matter what!”
“Stop!”
Perhaps his desperation was conveyed.
The bead halted its ascent, emitting a faint, colorful light, and began moving toward the Orc Legion.
The senior knight, who had been watching the scene with him, turned his head and spoke.
“Kaiyan, what should we do now?”
“Well… let’s follow the bead for now. It will lead us to the Orc Lord’s location.”
He spoke with a confident voice, alternating his gaze between Tarien and the senior knight, concealing his anxious heart.
Since he didn’t know what the spotlight function mentioned in the toy’s description was, he needed to follow the bead in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
“Tarien, what do you think we should do?”
“Everyone, charge towards the bead! The soldiers will only hinder us, so only the knights and the Centurions will follow!”
“Yes!”
“Perfect!”
It was fortunate that Tarien, a commander blinded by his obsession with his field of study, agreed. If it had been a sensible commander, they likely wouldn’t have participated in this absurd plan.
Honestly, who would charge recklessly toward the Orc Legion based on the word of a single soldier?
The only reason this was possible was because of Tarien’s ambition and the senior knight who viewed me favorably.
“We should dismount then charge! If attacks come from all directions, it’ll only impede our progress.”
“Is that so? Then let’s follow the vice-captain’s suggestion! Dismount!”
Upon Tarien’s agreement with the vice-captain’s opinion, the knights who were on horses dismounted and gathered at one location.
“Trust Tarien de Cheniaven! We will capture the Orc Lord! Charge!”
Waaaah!
A total of 18 individuals, including 15 knights, Tarien, Uncle Jeff, and myself, began a reckless charge toward the Orc Legion.
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
The distance of 100 meters was closed in an instant.
Since their goal was not hunting but breaking through, they mostly ignored the stumbling monsters as they passed by. Even so, the monsters scattered on their own, as if aware that the knights only swung their swords once each.
“This is the true power of the knights.”
Witnessing the knights’ formidable breakthrough ability filled him with confidence.
No matter how much stronger the Orc Legion had become through the power of magic, they were still orcs. Individuals couldn’t match the strength of large-sized monsters. It was just that the sheer number of orcs gave them a threatening presence.
Zwiang!
With a powerful strike, the sword crushed the orc’s crude weapon and its head.
As Kaiyan had expected, these orcs were slightly stronger than ordinary ones, but still considerably weaker than medium-sized monsters like an Evelyn.
“Get out of our way, you scum!”
“How dare orcs block our path!”
“Kwiang!”
With every dazzling movement of the knights’ swords, several orc heads fell. It was akin to a one-sided massacre. However…
“Focus on breaking through! If we linger here and deplete our stamina, it’ll be the end!”
“Stay close a little longer!”
The number of orcs was disgustingly high, and their stamina had its limits.
Unless they could kill all the orcs, they had to break through and enter the location where the Orc Lord was before becoming exhausted.
Woooong!
“Oh! Look over there!”
As they fought their way through the Orc Legion and advanced a little, the bead that had been floating in the sky suddenly stopped, emitting a dazzling, colorful light. It was a stunning light that momentarily halted the fighting between humans and monsters on the central battlefield.
Paaaat!
“Kwiang?”
As the light that had illuminated all directions converged on one spot, a figure wearing relatively decent attire among the orcs stood there with a bewildered expression.