Chapter 431 - Episode 414: The End of the Head
The forces of the Orc Kaiser and the giant golem clashed, their power reaching a stalemate.
Whether it was because he believed a body of flesh could not match a golem, it was unclear, but the Orc Kaiser braced the log-like club he held in front of him and collided with the golem.
The club let out a creaking sound but withstood the golem's charge, and between the two, a contest of strength began between the Orc Kaiser and the golem.
"...!"
This reminds me of the old days. Noein thought something entirely out of place. He suddenly recalled the times he had fought orcs like this during the early days of colonization, back when the Archduchy of Arqvist was still the Arqvist Baronetcy.
"Your Excellency!"
The voice of a subordinate erased his fleeting thoughts. Gustav, the captain of the Claymore, had sent his own controlled golem crashing into the Orc Kaiser's flank to support Noein.
Though their physiques differed, no matter how powerful the Orc Kaiser was, he could not remain motionless upon receiving a full-force charge from a golem. Losing his balance slightly, he was shoved aside by the giant golem and fell diagonally backward, taking Gustav's golem down with him.
"Good, now is the chance...!?"
Noein attempted to have the giant golem pin the Orc Kaiser down during this opening, but the Orc Kaiser's reaction was superb, even for an enemy. He instinctively hurled the club he still held in his right hand toward the giant golem.
Though it was a desperate throw from a fallen position, the log-sized club struck, causing the giant golem to flinch slightly. Using the time he had earned, the Orc Kaiser quickly stood up—he tore away Gustav's golem, which had been clinging to his flank, grabbed its legs with both hands, and swung it straight toward the giant golem.
Combined with the golem's weight and centrifugal force, the blow was terrifyingly heavy. The upper body of the giant golem and Gustav's golem, which had become a blunt weapon, collided head-on, and a crude thud echoed across the battlefield.
Then, the giant golem fell pathetically.
Before Noein could make the giant golem stand back up, the Orc Kaiser took his next action.
"Whoa!"
The Orc Kaiser hurled Gustav's golem—which had lost its head and one arm during the collision with the giant golem—straight into the center of Noein's formation. While Noein let out a cry of surprise, Matilda slipped her arms around his sides.
"Lord Noein!"
"Get back!"
Matilda grabbed Noein and leaped sideways, and at Pence's instruction, the Guard soldiers also jumped back from the spot. However, not everyone managed to evacuate in time, and several people were blown away by the golem's body as it plowed into the ground.
As Noein and the others lost their footing, the Orc Kaiser charged straight toward them.
"Fire!"
Blocking him were the Archduchy army soldiers holding magic tool offensive spells, and Rick's sniping squad. The volley they fired in the formation Yuri had organized became a wall of lethality closing in on the Orc Kaiser.
The Orc Kaiser twisted his body, shielding his face with his arms to avoid most of the attacks. However, he could not avoid everything, and several offensive spells struck his limbs and torso. None were fatal, but they certainly dealt damage and made him flinch.
Furthermore, the nearby golems swarmed in. Among them was a unit controlled by Gustav, who had returned to the front line by using a golem Noein had abandoned when switching control to the giant golem.
From the Orc Kaiser's perspective, a normal golem had a physique no different from a child. No matter how many there were, the difference in power was stark. Nevertheless, the golems relied on their numbers, leaping onto the Orc Kaiser and clinging to him.
The Orc Kaiser kicked them away and tossed them aside with an annoyed look, but the fallen golems immediately stood back up and attacked him again. The Orc Kaiser struggled to move forward, and he showed signs of pain when struck in the legs or torso.
Using the time his subordinates had earned, Noein made the giant golem stand once more. Rising up behind the Orc Kaiser, the giant golem wrapped its long, thick arms around him in a full nelson.
"GUOAAA! BUGUUUU!"
His body restrained, the Orc Kaiser thrashed violently, trying to shake off the giant golem's arms. However, several golems clung to his legs, further tightening the restraint.
One golem with particularly good movement—the one controlled by Gustav—slammed its fist into one spot on the struggling Orc Kaiser's leg: the left knee. The knee joint bent in the exact opposite direction it was meant to, and the Orc Kaiser let out a pained cry.
Furthermore, Rick's sniping squad aimed for the Orc Kaiser's face with their sniping crossbows. Loaded were arrows of jet-black steel with superior penetration. The several arrows fired in a volley all flew accurately toward the Orc Kaiser's face.
"Bugo..."
Jet-black arrows pierced the Orc Kaiser's cheek, jaw, and nose; among them, the arrow fired by Rick pierced from the right eye through to the brain.
The massive frame, exceeding three meters, shuddered and eventually went limp. Seeing that he had surely died after being pierced through the head, Noein operated the giant golem to push the Orc Kaiser's body to the ground, but—
"...Buoh, BUGYURUUUUOOOO!"
"No way!?"
The Orc Kaiser, who was thought to be dead, let out a strange cry and shook his entire body violently, slipping out of the giant golem's arms.
"Damn it, he still won't die! What kind of monster is he!"
While Edelgard's lament could be heard from behind, Noein hurriedly tried to restrain the Orc Kaiser again with the giant golem.
Having suffered brain damage, the Orc Kaiser was no longer in a sane state, moving erratically as if intoxicated. He leaped around, carelessly putting weight on the leg with the crushed joint; it was doubtful whether his senses or consciousness remained intact.
In such a state, his movements were unpredictable, making him even harder to restrain. As Noein struggled to capture the Orc Kaiser again—
"NUOOOO! GET OUT OF THE WAYYYYY!"
Alain began shouting to Noein's left. Looking toward the golem he controlled, he saw it dragging a ballista from the ballista position on the left, carrying it toward the Orc Kaiser. Even for a golem, carrying a ballista single-handedly was extraordinary. It was a feat of strength only Alain could achieve.
Seeing this, Noein stopped trying to put the Orc Kaiser in a full nelson and instead simply grabbed his legs and pulled him down to the ground.
"Pguyu, BAGGYUUUBUU"
The giant golem pinned down the Orc Kaiser, who had been knocked onto his side while letting out incomprehensible cries. Several nearby golems also gathered, pressing down on the Orc Kaiser's limbs.
"HIIIIYAH!"
Alain's golem, which had dragged the weapon while breaking the ballista's carriage, lifted the ballista with all its might, adjusting it so the tip of the loaded arrow pointed directly at the center of the Orc Kaiser's chest.
The distance between the tip of the arrow and the Orc Kaiser's body was a few dozen centimeters. At this point-blank range, Alain's golem pulled the trigger of the ballista.
"BUGUUUUUU..."
At such an extreme close range, the Orc Kaiser's fur, muscles, and even bones failed to serve as armor. With the hard sound of the string snapping, the thick arrow was fired, being sucked into the Orc Kaiser's body almost to the base.
The cry the Orc Kaiser let out gradually lost strength and eventually vanished.
"...Given who the opponent was, it's best to be doubly sure,"
Noein muttered and operated the giant golem once more.
The golem grabbed the Orc Kaiser's head, placed a foot on the torso, and tore the head off with raw strength.
No matter how much of a monster it was, it could not survive having its head removed. This time, the Orc Kaiser truly died.
And from the moment of the Orc Kaiser's death, the behavior of the orcs became strange.
"GOAAA... buhi?"
"BUGAA!? BUGOOOO!"
They didn't know why they were here or what they had been trying to do. The orcs looked around their surroundings in such a manner; some fled back to the forest, while others charged the subjugation force again in confusion.
Until a moment ago, the orcs had shown signs of helping wounded individuals, but now each acted independently without regard for the others, scattering in all directions.
"...It's as if some kind of brainwashing was undone."
"These orcs might not have just been forced into submission by the Orc Kaiser's strength, but perhaps there was some kind of magical connection. There have been such hypotheses about monster hordes since long ago."
Watching the orcs, whose front line had been completely destroyed and who were being defeated individually or fleeing without any coordination, Noein exchanged words with Yuri.
"It seems we have won..."
"We must not let our guard down yet. We should advance the infantry to completely break the will of the fleeing orcs and ensure that all wounded orcs lying on the battlefield are finished off."
Nodding at the advice of the strategist, Count Marcel, Edelgard raised her voice.
"Lord Oggoren, move the infantry units and pursue the fleeing orcs! Enter the forest without breaking formation, and drive them past the processing plant and deeper into the woods!"
"Understood!"
Baron Oggoren led the infantry units, bypassing the moats, obstacles, and ballista positions to head toward the forest.
"Lord Arqvist, I would like you to stop the breathing of the orcs lying on the battlefield!"
"Understood."
At Noein's instruction, the Claymore golems moved, delivering the finishing blow to the orcs that were still breathing.
Having lost their head in the Orc Kaiser, the orcs became a mere rabble that could no longer be called a horde; most died, and the surviving individuals returned to the depths of the forest.
The battle against the horde of over a hundred orcs came to a close in a manner close to a complete victory for the humans.
The battle with the orcs during the early days of colonization that Noein suddenly remembered will be depicted in Volume 2 of the book version of "The Happiness Tale of the Twisted Lord," which will be released soon.
Following Volume 1, it will be delivered with significant additions from the web version. Thank you for your support.
Also, character introductions with new designs for Volume 2 are being posted on the activity reports and the author's Twitter. I would be happy if you could take a look at those as well.