Chapter 426 - Episode 409: Orc Kaiser
The orcs had been unilaterally trampling the soldiers, but the momentum of their surprise attack stopped when the golems crashed into them.
No matter if their physiques were equal, there was a difference in destructive and defensive power between an orc with a body of flesh and a golem made of hard, heavy timber. Orcs who recklessly engaged in a brawl with the golems were overpowered by the swing of log-like fists and suffered injuries.
One golem would trade blows with an orc to deal damage, and then another golem would charge in to knock the orc over. By pinning them down with two units, they would crush their heads, snap their necks, or forcibly tear open the flesh of their torsos to drag out their internal organs, defeating them one by one.
"Another one is coming from the left!"
"Leave it to me! I'll hold it!"
A soldier guarding the puppet mages on the left flank of the formation shouted, and Alain responded by moving his golem.
"Two at once from the front!"
"Tch! Gustav!"
"It's fine! I'll hold the right flank!"
Upon hearing Gustav's words, Noein returned one of his golems—which he had temporarily shifted to reinforce the right flank—to the front to deal with the newly approaching orcs.
"...This is a bit bad."
Even in that time, the orcs were emerging from the forest one after another, and their number already easily exceeded thirty. Noein and the puppet mages of Claymore strove desperately to defeat them individually, but they were still outnumbered. Faced with the horde of orcs, the semi-circular formation gradually narrowed its range.
Furthermore, after about five or six of their kind were killed, the orcs seemed to realize they were no match for the golems in a brawl; they began employing a tactic of throwing the clubs and stones in their hands or using body slams to knock the golems over and pile on top of them.
When that happened, the golems with their thick, long arms easily lost their balance and fell. Additionally, because there was a non-negligible difference in agility between an orc moving its own body and a golem manipulated by a caster, they could not easily push the orcs aside to stand back up. They had to wait for other golems to drive off the orcs pinning them down.
It was a blessing in disguise that the orcs, who did not understand the structure of the golems, only unleashed ineffective attacks such as swinging their arms with brute force or biting, and failed to actually destroy the golems.
On the other hand, some of the orcs began to ignore the golems and pass through them, attempting to directly attack Noein and the other puppet mages and their guarding soldiers.
"Don't break the line! Leave no gaps!"
"Aim for the face! Don't let them through even if you die!"
The soldiers in the direct guard of the puppet mages lined up their greatshields to keep the orcs at bay, and in those openings, the soldiers under Radley's command thrust forward the spears they used as their primary armament against orcs. The snipers led by Rick provided support with their crossbows.
Soldiers holding magic tools for attack magic also released spells directed at the orcs. While sporadic attack magic rarely hit the agile orcs, it had a certain effect as a deterrent to sap the momentum of their advance.
Even with everyone fighting their hardest, the only place they could somehow defend was the inside of the semi-circular formation they had created. Outside the formation of the Arqvist Grand Duchy Army, the slaughter continued. Orcs chased after soldiers who had been too slow to escape and were in a state of confusion.
Noein and the others wanted to help them if they could, but they simply didn't have the bandwidth for it. They were doing their best just to repel the orcs pressing in before them, and even then, they couldn't handle it perfectly; some were even knocked flying along with their greatshields by the orcs.
"Tch, we're just going to wear down at this rate."
"True. If the crossbow unit doesn't get into combat readiness before we collapse..."
Whether Noein's wish, muttered while nodding to Pence, was heard, at that exact timing, the crossbow unit, having reached a certain level of readiness, moved to the front.
Perhaps to calm and inspire the soldiers who had not yet recovered from their confusion, not only the commander of the crossbow unit, Viscount Ludo, but also the commander-in-chief, Edelgard, had advanced.
"Do not panic! We far outnumber them! Calm yourselves and prepare to fire!"
To Noein and the others, it felt as though they had waited a very long time, but in reality, ten minutes had likely not yet passed since the orc surprise attack began.
To have lined up and prepared for attack in that amount of time people who originally belonged to different noble territories—Edelgard was indeed capable. Viscount Ludo, who did not step back even before the horde of orcs and desperately shouted instructions to the soldiers, was at least not an incompetent coward.
"Fire!"
Viscount Ludo shouted with a voice that cracked slightly, and about a hundred crossbowmen lined up in the front row released their bolts.
To ensure they absolutely did not misfire into the Arqvist Grand Duchy Army, the bolts flew with sufficient distance on both sides of the semi-circular formation, striking the rampaging orcs. From there, the three-rank firing began, which was established as the basic tactic when employing a large number of crossbowmen.
Additionally, though few in number, there were archers who provided cover for the crossbowmen via indirect fire. Furthermore, the mages retained by each high-ranking noble house released attack magic.
The bolts from the crossbows and longbows could not easily inflict major wounds on adult orcs, and since the attack magic was sporadic, direct hits on the moving orcs were not achieved. Even so, it was enough to kill the momentum of the orcs' attack; the orcs were no longer permitted to rampage freely and were instead dealt small, incremental damage.
Among them were brave orcs who slipped through the crossbow bolts to approach the line and attack the soldiers, but the infantry units that had organized in the rear stepped forward through the gaps between the crossbowmen to keep them at bay.
"Stop the three-rank firing! Crossbowmen with loaded weapons, volley fire! After that, infantry units advance!"
Viscount Ludo and Baron Oggoren put Edelgard's instructions into action. At Viscount Ludo's signal, the crossbowmen unleashed a volley, and taking advantage of the moment the orcs flinched at the rain of bolts, Baron Oggoren ordered the infantry to advance.
Excluding the casualties and those who could not participate in combat because they had not yet recovered from the panic, there were nearly five hundred infantry. If that many people advanced with their spears lined up, the orcs—totaling about fifty and already including many wounded individuals—could not easily make a move.
Noein and the rest of the Arqvist Grand Duchy Army also broke their semi-circular formation and advanced alongside the infantry units, with the golems lined up at the front.
The orcs, unable to attack before the wall of spears, and the humans, who could not deliver a decisive blow but did not allow the orcs to break through and moved forward inch by inch. The battle between the two tilted in favor of the humans, who excelled in numbers and organizational power.
Furthermore, as the decisive power to break the deadlock, a charge by the cavalry unit led by Count Marcel was carried out.
"Advance! The enemy are mere monsters! No match for proud knights!"
Led by Count Marcel, who shouted loudly, the cavalry unit moved as one mass, charging forward while making the earth rumble. About fifty cavalry, who plunged in from the right side of the battlefield from Noein's perspective, scattered the orcs by relying on their great mass.
The cavalry gathered from the armies of each territory had mismatched armor and weapons; among them were Yuri, clad in armor as pitch-black as the night darkness, and the soldiers of the Grand Duchy Army Guard.
"...We won,"
Noein muttered softly. No matter how low their intelligence as monsters, they should now understand that they had lost this opening battle. They would likely flee back into the forest in a wretched state.
Just as predicted, the orcs let out regretful cries and fled back toward the forest.
"Pursue them! But do not overpursue! There is no need to enter the forest!"
The cavalry unit galloped through to the left side of the battlefield with the momentum of their charge, and the infantry units advanced little by little into the opened front.
With this, the battle was over. For now, they had repelled them. The very next moment after everyone thought so—
"GOGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
An extraordinary scream, which should rather be called a roar, echoed. Everyone froze at the war cry that seemed to drag instinctive terror from the depths of the listeners' hearts.
Following the magnificent war cry, what peeked out from between the trembling trees was—a giant orc exceeding three meters in length.
"...That is! Damn it, it's no Orc Koenig! It's a Kaiser!"
Immediately after Edelgard shouted, that Orc Kaiser charged straight toward the center of the human line.
"Tch, this is bad!"
What was lined up in the center of the formation was Claymore. And standing at the very center of that was Noein.
Beside him, Matilda stood ready so she could grab her master and leap away in an emergency, while Noein operated two golems to attack the Orc Kaiser.
Even the golems, which boasted powerful physiques beyond human limits, looked like children compared to the Orc Kaiser before them. As they charged each other and the distance to the golems closed, the abnormal size of the Orc Kaiser was felt vividly.
The moment they collided. The Orc Kaiser crashed into the wall of two golems and stopped its movement for an instant, but then stepped further in with brute force. Even with two units, the golems could not completely stop the Orc Kaiser's advance; they were pushed back inch by inch, the soil beneath their bracing feet being gouged out.
"!!"
The Orc Kaiser, frowning as if annoyed, swung up one of its legs, which were as thick as great trees. One of the golems was lifted by that blow, floating into the air and flying several meters backward.
The heavy wooden physique danced through the air as if in slow motion, and fell prostrate on the ground with a low, heavy thud.
At this point, a single golem could no longer stand against the Orc Kaiser. The Orc Kaiser lifted the golem with both arms as if picking up a small child, and slammed it straight down at its feet.
It repeated the action of lightly lifting and slamming it into the ground many times, and further, it forcibly ripped out the golem's arm and crushed its head. The recoil echoed through the arm, which was the pathway for magical power, and Noein instinctively cut off the magic supply to the golem.
"Fire! Anything will do! Fire and drive that thing back!"
When Edelgard shouted with a voice tinged with panic, the crossbowmen and archers, who had been frozen before the surreal and fierce battle, began attacking the Orc Kaiser. The mages also began concentrating their magic, and the magic tool soldiers of the Grand Duchy Army readied their attack magic tools.
Bolts and attack magic flew sporadically, but the Orc Kaiser picked up the body of the destroyed golem and used it as a shield to block them. The hard, large physique of the golem became a hindrance now, obstructing the desperate attacks against the Orc Kaiser.
There were attacks that slipped past the defense of the golem's body, but the orc's hide and muscles were hard. When it came to an Orc Kaiser, that hardness seemed to increase considerably, and the crossbow bolts were unable to deal significant damage.
As for the attack magic, since the stage of battle was a forest and the most lethal fire magic could not be used, it only resulted in inflicting minor wounds on the Orc Kaiser's limbs.
"GOAAA! BUG OAAAAA!"
While blocking the humans' attacks, the Orc Kaiser looked around the battlefield and let out a cry filled with hatred upon seeing the orcs lying there as wretched corpses.
Then, perhaps after confirming that the surviving orcs had finished retreating into the forest, it threw away the golem and disappeared into the forest itself.
"...It's over,"
Noein muttered, the tension leaving his shoulders. Feeling a slight chill upon seeing his utterly destroyed golem, he instinctively touched Matilda's hand beside him. Matilda grasped Noein's hand as if enveloping it, gently leaning close to him.
The others also seemed to release their tension, and sighs of relief and fatigue spread.
The opening battle with the horde of orcs, which had begun abruptly, ended in victory for the subjugation force, but there was no one who openly rejoiced in it.