Chapter 95: Orc Extermination (3)
While the orcs attempted a surprise attack, Damian was on the move, trying to pinpoint the enemy’s main camp.
He knew that blindly venturing into the forest without locating the enemy would only lead to danger.
From atop a spire, he kept a close watch on the orcs’ movements, spreading his magical energy to sense a wide area.
During the second ambush, he spotted a bald-headed dark sorceress hiding in the forest.
“Judging by her actions, she must be from the Necromancy School,” he thought.
Damian immediately pursued her, eventually discovering the orc village and the dark sorcerers of the Necromancy School.
Surveying the enemy camp, he assessed their strength. Over a hundred orcs were gathered, with numerous orc warriors standing by.
“An ogre? Where did they get that from?”
Even an ogre was present, indicating they were well-prepared to thwart this extermination mission.
“The Necromancy School is more dangerous than the monsters themselves.”
The longer the Necromancy School was left unchecked, the more troublesome they became.
If they fortified their position and set traps, casualties would be inevitable.
“We can’t give them time to prepare.”
As soon as Damian returned to the castle, he summoned the knights.
“I’ve found the enemy camp. We will launch a surprise attack immediately.”
The sudden order caught the knights off guard, but they quickly readied themselves.
“Prepare thoroughly! There are dark sorcerers with the orc horde!”
The mention of dark sorcerers left the knights bewildered. They had come to eliminate orcs, not deal with sorcerers.
Yet, none doubted Damian’s words.
The knights had already found it strange that the orcs were using poison.
They weren’t fools; they had been suspicious all along, and Damian’s explanation made everything clear.
If dark sorcerers were controlling the orcs, it all made sense.
“Let’s move out!”
To avoid alerting the enemy with the noise of horses, they attacked the orc horde with only basic armaments.
The orcs, never expecting to be ambushed, hadn’t even posted guards.
“Push forward! Don’t give them a chance to regroup!”
Thanks to this, Damian and the knights quickly seized the initiative.
They swept through the village, cutting down orcs left and right.
“Kreee!”
“Graaah!”
The orcs were caught completely off guard. Some tried to resist, but it was futile.
“Where do these green lumps think they’re rebelling?”
“Hand over your heads at once!”
The knights, clad in armor and wielding aura, were overwhelmingly powerful. The orcs couldn’t even scratch them.
“Hmm?”
In the midst of cutting down orcs, Damian spotted two women standing idly in the distance.
“Dark sorcerers! There are dark sorcerers over there!”
As soon as he saw them, Damian shouted. The knights turned to look at the two women.
Their expressions twisted under the knights’ gaze. The bald woman among them screamed.
“You filthy scum! How dare you lay a hand on my orcs? Do you know how hard it was to gather them?”
Dark magic surged from the bald woman. As she formed a seal, dark magic manifested.
The orcs’ eyes changed. Fear and confusion vanished, replaced by a fierce hunger and bloodlust.
“I’ll make you pay dearly for touching my children!”
The woman didn’t stop there, casting another dark spell.
The orcs’ muscles swelled, their skin turning pitch black. Their teeth and claws grew long and sharp.
The Necromancy School wasn’t just about controlling monsters. They could draw out latent powers or grant new abilities using dark magic.
The cost was the monsters’ life force. The orcs likely wouldn’t survive the day.
“Krrr!”
“Graaah!”
The orcs, who had been trying to flee, let out chilling cries and charged at the knights instead.
“Ugh?”
“What strength…!”
The knights were taken aback. The orcs were now much faster and stronger than before.
Their surprise created openings, and the orcs pressed the attack.
“That’s not going to work.”
With those words, Damian charged at the orcs.
He accelerated using his magic. Damian’s form vanished, and a flash of light streaked through the air.
In one swift motion, the flash drew a circle. The orcs surrounding the knights were split in half.
Upper bodies separated from lower, blood and entrails spilling onto the ground.
“My God…”
“This can’t be…”
The knights stared in shock.
As knights of the ducal house, they had faced many mid-level threats.
But none could move like Damian.
“Get a grip! No matter how strong they get, they’re still just orcs!”
Damian’s shout reignited the knights’ fighting spirit. They resumed their assault on the orcs.
“That bastard…!”
The bald woman ground her teeth. She shouted.
“This won’t do! You, come out now!”
From the forest, new orcs emerged, much larger than the others.
Each wielded a different weapon, but they shared one trait: a shimmering aura emanated from their weapons.
The orc warriors had arrived.
“It’s a waste to use you, but… there’s no choice!”
The bald woman cast dark magic again. The orc warriors grew even larger, their skin turning black.
Not only were their bodies enhanced, but the aura on their weapons intensified.
“All of you, kill that Damian Haxen!”
The bald woman pointed at Damian. The orc warriors charged at him.
“Krrr!”
“Graaah!”
Weapons imbued with aura rained down on Damian.
The already formidable orc warriors were further empowered by dark magic.
Each attack was terrifyingly powerful.
“There are so many of them.”
Damian activated his Berserk Light technique. His body temperature rose, and all his senses sharpened to an extreme.
The world slowed to a crawl. The orc warriors’ attacks gradually slowed, then stopped altogether.
Damian moved. Passing through the orc warriors, he beheaded them one by one.
Even with their heads severed, the orc warriors’ heads remained suspended in the air. Not a drop of blood spilled.
Damian broke through the orc warrior ranks and reached the back. Only then did he release the Berserk Light.
Blood erupted from the orc warriors’ necks, their heads falling to the ground.
”…What?”
The bald woman’s face filled with disbelief.
To her eyes, it seemed as if Damian Haxen had teleported, and the orc warriors’ heads were severed all at once.
“Impossible…”
“Knocktis! Get a grip! Call them in, now!”
At that moment, a haggard woman shouted. She threw a poison vial to the ground, releasing a toxic mist.
As the haggard woman used dark magic, the toxic mist flew toward Damian and the knights.
“How troublesome.”
Damian sheathed his holy sword and drew the Celestial Blade. He flicked the blade with his finger.
The Celestial Blade began to vibrate. Damian gripped it and swung it wide.
The Celestial Blade unleashed a sword cry, shredding the oncoming toxic mist.
“What kind of absurd technique is that…!”
The haggard woman exclaimed in disbelief.
“Knocktis!”
“They’re here!”
The bald woman shouted. At that moment, ogres burst through the trees, crashing into the clearing.
“Uwooo!”
“Wooo!”
The ogres’ roars shook the entire forest. The knights, who had been fighting the orcs, cried out in shock.
“O-ogres?”
“Why are those monsters here?”
For the first time, fear appeared on the knights’ faces.
Ogres, known as the kings of the forest and monstrous giants, possessed immense strength.
They could easily kill even low-class threats and were dangerous even for mid-class fighters.
It was no wonder the knights were alarmed.
“Ogres? It’s been a while.”
“Wow, they’re huge. Plenty of flesh to carve.”
But not all the knights were intimidated.
Mikhail Lionbloom and Veronica Sanchez simply looked at the ogres with curiosity.
“Hey, Damian’s lackey.”
“While that’s technically true, isn’t that a bit crude? You uncouth thing.”
“Want to bet on who can kill more? Loser becomes the servant.”
“Don’t regret it?”
The two charged at the ogres simultaneously.
The ogres swung their fists to crush them.
The Lionbloom family was renowned for their powerful swordsmanship.
Mikhail Lionbloom didn’t dodge the ogre’s fist. Instead, he met it head-on.
The ogre’s fist shattered. Its face contorted in pain.
At that moment, Veronica Sanchez leaped in, slicing through the ogre’s neck. Its thick hide and bones were effortlessly severed.
“One down for me,” she said, dashing toward another ogre.
Mikhail Lionbloom watched her with a look of disbelief.
While the two dealt with the ogres, Damian reached the two dark sorceresses.
The bald woman glared at Damian and asked, “Do you really think you can take us on alone?”
“And if I do?”
“Ha! They must think we’re easy prey.”
Despite being cornered, the two showed no signs of panic.
A high-ranking sorcerer possesses combat power rivaling that of a mid-tier warrior.
Moreover, dark sorcerers, who stop at nothing to amass power, are far superior to ordinary sorcerers of the same rank.
“Let’s show them exactly who we are.”
The bald woman formed a circle with her thumb and forefinger and blew a sharp whistle.
Suddenly, the ground near Noctis began to tremble. Something was clawing its way out of the earth.
At first glance, it appeared to be a white lion with a magnificent mane. But this was no ordinary lion. It stood on two legs.
Not only did it walk upright, but its shoulders were broad like a human’s, with well-developed pectorals and defined abs.
Its limbs were not those of a lion. From the forearms and below the knees, scales replaced fur, and its feet bore talons like an eagle’s.
The most bizarre feature was the snake in place of a tail, its large head darting about, flicking its tongue toward Damian Haxen.
“It’s not a lion—it’s a chimera,” Damian remarked, astonished.
Chimeras are creatures born only through the secretive magic of the Monstrous School, combining multiple monsters into one, making them both grotesque and formidable.
“Impressive, isn’t it? I worked hard to create this beauty!” the bald woman shouted from behind the chimera.
”…It’s not just the chimera. I’m here too.”
The haggard woman opened her bag, spilling out vials of poison.
As the vials shattered, the poison flowed out, transforming into a giant snake that coiled around Marina’s body.
Even though it was just poison, it made every hair on one’s body stand on end.
This was no ordinary poison; it was the deadly toxin, a secret of the Venomous School.
A chimera and deadly toxin—a truly dreadful combination.
”…Was it you? The one who thwarted all our plans?” the haggard woman glared at Damian.
“You’ll pay for interfering with us. I won’t kill you right away. I’ll subdue you and make you watch.”
Her voice was quiet, but her tone was sharp as a blade.
“Watch as the knights you brought with you beg for their lives, poisoned and dying. I’ll make it the most horrific day of your life.”
A horrific day.
The words triggered memories of Damian’s time as a Death Knight.
Transformed into a Death Knight, Damian was a slave to Dorgo’s commands.
He retained his consciousness but couldn’t control his body, forced to witness every atrocity he committed.
Burning castles, mountains of corpses, wailing people—all at Dorgo’s behest.
Damian watched it all, day after day, without fail.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Realizing something’s wrong now? It’s too late for that…”
A murderous aura erupted from Damian, so intense it seemed to darken the world around them.
The moment the two dark sorcerers were exposed to it, their bodies froze.
“This is why I hate dark sorcerers. They always dredge up unpleasant memories.”
It wasn’t just memories. The emotions he felt back then surged back, as vivid as if it had happened yesterday.
“You said you’d make it a horrific day for me?”
The two dark sorcerers stared at Damian, their faces pale with fear.
“That’s a splendid idea.”
A smile spread across Damian’s face, a chilling grin that seemed to tear through his skin.