Chapter 108 – Great Northern War (4)

Crockta was lying on a bed.

His wounds were recovering quickly. His Pinnacle ranked skill, Regeneration Authority allowed him to recover from the shock he received. As soon as the arrow was pulled out from his shoulder, the skin healed by itself.

Tiyo found his resilience amazing.

“I know it already, but that really is a brutish resilience dot.”

Crockta grinned while lying down. Even so, it wasn’t easy for him to face the troops alone. Axes aimed at him blindly. He avoided any fatal injuries by twisting his body, but it was still uncomfortable.

However, thanks to Crockta, there was no large damage to the dark elves. If the orcs entered through the open gates, a slaughter would’ve begun. Perhaps all the dark elves in Emeranian would’ve been killed or enslaved.

But Crockta provoked the orcs and took on all the enemies alone. No, he overwhelmed them. The dark elves fired at their backs, but his actions couldn’t be denied.

His understanding of the Pinnacle was maturing, and once he added in Introduction to Magic, Crockta’s senses were as sharp as a blade. He was able to feel the blades flying from behind and the blood of the orcs. He felt like he was increasingly becoming a monster.

Could any of the users afford to go against him? No. Crockta was confident. As long as they thought of Elder Lord as a game, the users couldn’t beat him.

“Hey. Orc?”

The door opened and a dark elf walked in. She was carrying a bow, and her body looked flexible and strong. She looked like a black panther walking around. She turned towards Crockta. It was a beautiful appearance. Her face and body were covered in dirt from the long battle, but the light of her blue eyes couldn’t be concealed. They shone like sapphires placed on brown skin.

Tiyo muttered, “Hoh, Crockta. You are quite good dot.”

Anor was confused. “What is quite good?”

“You will understand if you look closely. The light in those eyes. Those gestures. That gait.”

“I guess she is angry. Did Crockta do anything wrong?”

“This! You are an amateur dot. The eyes of Quantes’ love expert, Tiyo, isn’t wrong dot.” Tiyo whispered, “If you look a little further, you will understand dot.”

He spoke as she came straight towards Crockta. The dark elves standing on duty around the bed saluted. She gave a slight nod in response. She looked down at Crockta as he looked up at her with a confused expression.

She stretched out a slender hand towards Crockta. Crockta gazed blankly as her hands approached his neck.

Tiyo and Anor gulped as they watched.

“What is this?”

“It is exciting dot.”

Snap.

“……!”

“T-That’s it!”

Tiyo and Anor reflexively started chewing the cookies next to them as they stared at the sight before them. It was placed by the bedside for the family of patients. Anor had been visiting the sick patient; however, he became immersed in the sudden change of situation, putting the corn cookie in his mouth. It was like watching flames across a river!

Crockta spoke, “What are you doing?”

He frowned at the woman who grabbed his collar.

“Crockta, right?”

“Yes. Rather…”

“My name is Caska.”

“I want you to release me before telling me your name.”

Crockta pointed at her hands holding his collar. But she just laughed and moved her face closer instead of letting go.

“You were cool.”

Anor blocked his mouth with one hand and grabbed Tiyo with the other.

“What a surprise, a surprise.”

“The man who fights in battles and saves the city will get a woman dot.”

“Captain Caska is really bold.”

The dark elf soldiers in the infirmary also nodded their heads.

However, the party involved, Crockta was uncomfortable. “Don’t come too close. I’m uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable?” Caska grinned. “Crockta.”

“What is it?”

“I half fell in love.”

“It is an honor.”

Caska lightly stroked Crockta’s forehead. “Shall we kiss?”

Her remark was like a bomb as the whole room became silent. Anor hit Tiyo’s arm.

“It hurts dot!”

“Wow, wow, what is going on, really!”

“It is simple and ignorant, just like Captain Caska.”

They were so immersed that they forgot to chew the corn cookies in their mouths. But the atmosphere around the characters of the romantic scene wasn’t that warm.

“I don’t like it.” Crockta replied while still looking confused by the hand on his collar.

“What?” Caska’s eyes widened. “Am I not unbelievably pretty?”

“Hah.”

She pointed at her lips again. Her crimson lips looked like a blooming flower. Despite the long battle, the lips were moisturized and had no cracks. It was an alluring color, especially when contrasted to the brown skin.

“Really, you don’t want to?”

Crockta hated this type of thing.

That…

He was a romanticist.

Crockta raised his injured upper body. Then he pointed towards her.

“No flower can stay red for 100 days! You are certainly beautiful. But you have made no contributions to that beauty. You just inherited that beautiful face from your parents. It isn’t the result of any effort. A beautiful face itself will never represent your value!”

“……!”

The men in the room were all shocked.

This orc…

He was big. He was a big and brave man. Indeed, a big man worthy of being a one man army. His faith and beliefs were so strong that he rejected the offer of a beautiful woman!

Caska’s face stiffened. Crockta continued speaking.

“Of course, I like beautiful things too.”

“T-Then why?”

“The beauty I speak of is not that kind,” declared Crockta while pointing to himself. “Rather than the pretty flowers, I feel beauty from the diligence of the worker bees who flap their wings without rest to gather honey and pollen.”

“……!”

“You might have looks, but bear in mind that character is more important to me.”

Everyone knew this principle, but most didn’t understand it sincerely. This orc. He showed it by rejecting this beautiful female elf.

Jung Ian, he was an ordinary man who once only knew this belief with his head. But that changed after meeting ‘her’ on the battlefield. Assault rifles and rocket launchers suited her. Crockta’s face became depressed as he remembered seeing his old love. Then he seemed to look sorry at Caska’s ignorance.

At this moment, everyone in the room realized it. Crockta wasn’t simply a great warrior. A sage.

There was only the sound of Caska letting go and hurriedly walking away. She left the room as quickly as she entered it.

Tiyo placed the corn cookies to the side and walked over to Crockta. Then he raised a hand to Crockta’s shoulder.

“Crockta.”

“What?”

“You are the man, I admit it dot.” He had a truly admiring expression on his face. Anor was also filled with admiration.

“Amazing, Crockta. I’ll say it again.”

Tiyo sighed. “That elf was really beautiful dot… If that was me, I wouldn’t have been able to reject it dot. A true man…”

It was a sincere murmur.

Crockta reflexively denied it. There was still a trauma caused by the Love Mode lock.

“I-I’m not impotent.”

“……!”

A slip of the tongue! Crockta realized his mistake but it was already too late. Everyone in the room realized the truth.

“C-Crockta…perhaps…!”

The eyes of all the men in this place changed from respect to awe. The emotion was even deeper than before.

Now they saw clearly.

Crockta wasn’t just a sage. No, he was a great sage.

***

Caska started running as soon as she left the room.

She was an excellent hunter and the captain of the third unit of the Emeranian guards. Once she started running in earnest, no one could catch her. She ran towards the walls. It was a place covered in orcs.

The dark elves were moving the bodies of the orcs. It was to be burned. Unarmed soldiers were repairing the gates and checking their equipment for the next battle.

“Hello!”

“Yes.”

Caska saluted and felt her close associate Linier, a lieutenant of the second unit. Linier was in charging of recovering and repairing arrows from the corpses of the orcs. Linier, who was disinfecting the bloody arrows, discovered Caska and turned towards her.

“Caska.”

“Linier. Come here.”

“I’m busy.”

“Come and see. It is just a minute. It is a big deal.”

Linier was taken away by Caska. They stood beneath the wall. “What is it, tell me?”

“You know.” Caska placed her forehead against the wall. “I went to the orc called Crockta.”

“Whoa. Really?”

“So I tried.”

“Kiss? Really?”

“But he refused.”

“Things like that can happen. You are a stranger.”

“That is the problem.”

Caska hit her forehead against the wall and looked at Linier. Linier recoiled from Caska’s expression. Faint embers were burning in the beautiful blue eyes. Linier could see that it was a really big deal.

“In fact, half of it had been a joke.”

“I guess…”

“But… That guy…so cool.”

“So what, now…”

“Yes, now.” Caska nodded. “It isn’t a joke anymore. The real deal.”

“Yes.” Linier sighed. “This is really serious.”

***

“The troops at Emeranian were wiped out.”

“Kuhuhu. Stupid.”

“The young shaman was stupid.”

The warrior called Akhu laughed as he wiped his halberd. The army of the Great Clan was advancing slowly. They never rushed. As the large numbers pushed, the orcs would eventually win. There was no choice. They had the great chieftain and many powerful warriors were born.

“It isn’t too bad to obtain a base before the main army comes.”

He got up from his seat. They were located outside Juora, a city located to the west of Emeranian.

“The great chieftain will be delighted.”

“There are many dark elves. We should wait.”

“Do you feel doubts? I am the warrior Akhu. Emeranian didn’t have any proper warriors.”

“We should still wait.”

“Che, this boring fellow.”

Akhu looked at the walls of Juora in front of him. The dark elves were still cowardly hiding behind the walls and shooting arrows. In a siege, especially a siege against dark elves, the invaders had to suffer great damage.

Akhu dug at his ears and said.

“I’ll just play a fun joke.” He told the shaman. The shaman nodded silently.

His body was filled with strength. The big warriors had the power of magic behind them and were able to pull out all their battle power. Akhu was overflowing with confidence. It felt like he could break through anyone.

He walked towards Juora. Then he shouted towards the top of the wall.

“I! I am the leader of this army, Akhu!” His call echoed. “You cowardly and weak dark elves who can only shoot arrows from behind! Every day you run away, and you are trash who doesn’t know what a real fight is!”

He smiled and started to pee towards the walls. The orcs behind him raised their weapons over their heads and cheered.

“If you are a confident person, come out! If you don’t hide like a sissy behind the walls, I will give you a chance!”

He raised his halberd. “No one! The dark elves really are cowards!”

He signaled to the troops in the rear. Then an orc handed a spear to him. He immediately threw the spear. It slammed into the gate. The gate shook violently. It was a tremendous force.

“You are a species that suits slavery! Soon all of you will fall down at our feet, licking shit in order to live!”

He burst out laughing. He liked lowering the enemy’s morale. He could provoke the enemy then kill any opponent that came out for a one-on-one fight. Even if they didn’t come out, the enemy’s morale would sink to the bottom. This was the habit of a Great Clan warrior.

At that moment.

The gate opened.

“Ohh.”

A dark elf walked towards Akhu.

“There is a man with some guts!”

Akhu laughed and spun his halberd around. The reaction was unexpected. So far, there had been no response to his taunts but the anger of the dark elves must have accumulated.

The dark elf looked calm. In addition, his weapons were a little unusual.

“Hey, Garbage! My name is Akhu! What is your name?”

Akhu yelled in a pleased tone. He wanted to mutilate the dark elf then throw him towards the walls. Fear was the best means to trample the enemy. The joy of slaughtering was just a bonus.

But the dark elf didn’t answer.

Akhu rubbed his nose and raised the halberd. Anyway, everything would be answered with a few swings of his halberd. After the harsh treatment, Akhu vowed to trample on that cheeky face. The halberd swung round and round.

The wind blew through the dark elf’s gray hair. His violet eyes were calm. The dark elf raised his arms.

A pair of swords. A dim light shone around the two gently curved scimitars.