Ch.162Chapter 162: Eastern Decisive Battle (30)

“T-The ground is collapsing! Everyone retreat!!”

At the commander’s quick shout, the soldiers react and begin pulling back.

It’s understandable—no one would rush toward ground that’s caving in right before their eyes.

The blue-marked knight who had lost one arm desperately throws himself backward as he watches the ground collapse beneath the orcs, dragging them down.

“Gah! What is this?!”

At that moment, even the Orc Lord briefly turns his gaze backward at this strange phenomenon.

Despite the situation, the blue-marked knight hadn’t lost his fighting spirit.

Though the situation was dire, he never took his eyes off the Orc Lord.

The trembling earth shook both orcs and humans simultaneously, but the relatively larger orcs were staggering more noticeably.

Moreover, after confirming that the earthquake’s epicenter was on the orcs’ side rather than the humans’, the blue-marked knight became convinced this was an ally’s attack.

So the blue-marked knight begins channeling his aura into his treasured sword.

He was targeting the Orc Lord’s momentary lapse in concentration amid the chaos.

“Take this!! Haaah!”

SWOOOSH!!

The sword flies toward the Orc Lord, trailing a long blue flash.

The Master’s aura-infused throw combines his family heirloom sword with aura techniques to deliver a potentially fatal strike.

The chivalric code of never releasing one’s sword is a luxury in this moment. Even a child knows that throwing with all one’s might can be more powerful than swinging.

The Orc Lord notices the attack too late, and with his concentration broken, his reaction is delayed.

SLASH-!

“Grrrk!”

The sword embeds itself precisely in the Orc Lord’s neck.

No matter how sturdy the creature might be, it couldn’t survive such an attack.

THUD!

As the Orc Lord finally collapses and the ground rumbles, the human counterattack begins.

“All units fall back! Launch ranged attacks on the orcs caught in the earthquake! Quickly, retreat to the rear! To the rear!”

***

BOOM! BOOM!

BOOM!

“B-Balt! Is this really okay?”

As Balt tunnels forward at tremendous speed, he answers Lisa’s cry loudly.

“I failed to control my strength. I should have been more careful striking from below.”

“W-won’t this affect our allies too?”

“…It’s better than dying at the hands of orcs.”

Lisa and Balt’s concerns were valid but a luxury at this moment.

Even they had nearly been caught in the ground collapse.

As they continued digging downward…

“Is it safe here?!”

“Yes, it’s fine! Come up!”

CRASH!

Balt’s hand tears away the final layer of earth, revealing his massive form on the surface.

“W-what is that?! S-something just burst out of the ground!!”

Since they were in the middle of a battlefield, there were inevitably people where Balt emerged.

However, they had chosen a less crowded area to surface using Lisa’s artifact.

Because Balt and Lisa were encased in armor, the soldiers began pointing their spears and swords at them.

Balt opens only the face plate to reveal his identity to the people.

“I’m Balt Geruntu of Zerdin’s unit. Which unit is this?”

Having received permission for a solo operation from Zerdin and been granted his insignia, Balt shows this mark to prove to the soldiers that he’s an ally.

“W-we are the heavy armor brigade of the Belot Kingdom.”

“What’s the current situation? Were the orcs greatly affected by the earthquake?”

“Indeed, the earthquake has created a favorable situation for our forces.”

Initially, both human and orc formations were shaken simultaneously, but as time passed, much greater collapse began occurring on the orcs’ side.

This was because Balt and Lisa had excavated the ground beneath the orcs.

While the earth on the human side quickly stabilized, the orcs’ ground was collapsing to the point where they could barely stand.

And with the chain reaction of collapse due to weight, humans were now firing ranged attacks at the defenseless orcs as if they were fish caught in a net.

As a result, the infantry had spare hands and were escorting the ranged units.

Hearing the soldier’s report, Balt nods with a satisfied smile.

“Good! Were there many casualties on our side from the earthquake?”

“Well, there must be some, but since the epicenter was concentrated on the orcs’ side, I believe our losses were minimal.”

“Great! Thanks for the report! Lisa! Let’s go!”

Lisa, who had been breathing the fresh outside air, was already monitoring the battle situation with her artifact.

“That soldier is right, it’s completely one-sided.”

“Good, now let’s look for areas where our forces are struggling. You’ve got the feel for it now. Let’s take them down step by step.”

“Alright! Let’s go!”

With that, Balt prepares to go underground again.

Before entering the ground, he doesn’t forget to say one last thing to the soldier.

“Spread the word that the trembling ground on the orcs’ side is our attack, so don’t panic and focus on eliminating the orcs.”

“Y-yes!! Understood!!”

Faced with Balt’s enormous body and seeing such armor for the first time, the soldier unconsciously salutes while responding to Balt’s imposing presence.

“Well then, carry on.”

BOOM!

And so, Balt’s sinkhole strategy began to unfold across various parts of the battlefield.

***

“Is that… even possible?”

“…Even seeing it with my own eyes, I can’t believe it. The ability to cause localized earthquakes continuously… even for an Earthquake spell, using it this repeatedly…”

Zerdin’s unit naturally included a mage.

This 8th circle mage couldn’t believe how extraordinary what Balt was doing truly was.

Not just the mage, but even the Floor Masters who used aura found the current situation difficult to comprehend.

“Digging through the ground, moving back and forth, and collapsing the foundation? Even I can’t do that.”

Even Zerdin admits he couldn’t do it.

This was natural because while Balt was using spirits, magic, and his original body’s strength to dig through the earth, if Zerdin attempted something similar, he could do it but knew he wouldn’t last long due to physical limitations.

“There is a Dig spell for excavating earth, but… moving through the ground like that requires tremendous stamina. Plus… no… I just don’t understand how this is possible.”

After briefly wearing a serious expression, Zerdin simply burst into hearty laughter.

“Ha, hahaha!! So Prince Geruntu had an ace up his sleeve. Yes, with that method, failure is impossible. We should focus on our own tasks! Now, what’s the Orc King’s position?”

“His position remains unchanged, but it appears he’s preparing for battle after the ground started shaking.”

“I see… so that heavy-bottomed fellow is finally starting to move. We should prepare for battle too. Depending on the situation, we’ll take the Orc King’s head, so make thorough preparations.”

“Understood!”

***

“Oh, it’s coming!! Brother Balt!! Spear! A spear is flying toward us!!”

While Balt was executing his sinkhole attacks in various locations, the Orc King, who had let out a massive roar, hurled Gauwel’s Tusk at Luktan and Arias Liris who were floating in the air.

“Move aside!! Fall back!! Finally coming, are you? Let’s see what you’ve got!! Hahaha!!”

Arias had been observing the Orc King through the lens magic Balt had taught him, and after the underground explosion that was clearly Balt’s doing, he confirmed that the Orc King was staring at them suspiciously.

Then, just like now, an attack came flying immediately.

“I’m going to use the technique I learned from my little brother!! Hyaaah!!”

What makes Gauwel’s throwing spear terrifying is that such an attack can be launched from an impossibly long distance, but if you’re aware of it, someone of Luktan’s skill level could block it without much difficulty.

CRASH!!

Luktan blocks Gauwel’s Tusk head-on in mid-air.

He had intended to grab the spear to prevent it from returning if possible, but the throwing spear’s attack was too powerful, worthy of being called the Orc King’s weapon.

“Hahaha!! That stings! But this much is nothing!”

After easily blocking the spear, the Tusk shoots back toward the Orc King.

Seeing this, Arias checks the Orc King again with his telescopic lens magic.

“I-I think he confirmed something.”

Liris nods at Arias’s speculation.

“He probably checked if Balt was here? In the Orc King’s mind, Balt is the only one who could cause this kind of trouble.”

“And now that he’s seen his attack blocked, he must be convinced?”

“Probably? Didn’t Arias disguise himself to look like Balt?”

“Yes, though I didn’t change my weapon since Balt doesn’t use weapons…”

“It shouldn’t matter. We can see far with water magic, but they probably can’t.”

As they continue observing, Arias suddenly shouts with an urgent expression.

“Huh? Huh? I think the Orc King is preparing to march!”

“Let me see!”

Liris also checks the telescopic lens magic Arias was using, and just as he said, the Orc King is putting on massive armor piece by piece, including a helmet, preparing for battle.

“An orc wearing a full plate set? And for that enormous body? Could that be some kind of artifact too?”

“I just hope Balt will be safe…”

As the two converse, Luktan interjects.

“Then our role ends here. I’m heading to the battlefield now. What will you two do?”