Chapter 53: Orclands (Part 1)
(Hero POV)
The Circle of Light decided that they would invade Orclands.
Right now, we were on our ships, sailing towards there.
We have hundreds of ships to accommodate our soldiers and make this expedition possible.
Equipment and workers were also onboard since we needed to establish our strongholds too.
And as always, Ganz would bug me with his stupid questions.
Ganz: "Hey Hero, how did you get that strong, huh?"
Ganz asked me with a big grin on his face.
I swear this is the 19249242nd time he has asked me this. There won't be a day passing by without him asking me this question.
Hero: "Go back to your post, or I'll throw you overboard."
Ganz: "Oh, scary. HAHAHAHA!"
He held his fat belly while he laughed. Ganz is annoying.
Even though I wanted to leave him because of his annoying personality, no one can deny his strength.
He was the first Paladin that I recruited under me. His condition was simple. "Beat me, and I will follow your orders."
So I did, and almost everyone came along after that. Ganz was the strongest before I arrived, so he's the leader of the Paladins before me.
I quickly started my faction after I recruited Ganz, and that's how the Circle of Light started.
Now we are the ruling faction of the Paladins.
Paladin Captain: "Lord Hero, we are nearing the Orclands."
My name is confusing. It's the same with my title. "Hero."
Hero: "I see. Order everyone to make their preparations. We would storm in using We brought 11 battalions to this expedition. We have around 10,800 paladins. Our scouts estimate that the orcs are around 8 million on this continent, along with their troll and ogre allies. Since the Orc Berserkers would trample them to death, we didn't bring regular knights on this expedition. We only need the most elite soldiers we have. I left Harb with around 1000 Paladins to keep things in order at Haven. I just wish he could do that simple task. Paladin Captain: "Sir, everyone is ready to go." Hero: "Let us go." Yuon and Ganz came with me. Our battalions would be the ones breaking the orc's defenses. We will also establish our first stronghold. Yuon prepares his katana. He's unique. His strength is just average, but his exquisite fighting technique puts him just below Ganz. Our battalions are suddenly teleported high above the beaches of Orclands. After a few seconds, we fell at an incredible speed. . . . (Orcs POV) Smoke was rising from campfires made on the beach. Defensive emplacements could be seen across the beach. Siege emplacements were also prepared to take down any ships that would dare to come nearby. Orc Warrior: "Oi, boss, what is that?" Orc Commander: "What the hell?" It looks like a meteor shower. Rocks were falling from the sky. They were cutting the air because of their incredible speed. Orc Commander: "Everyone, take cover!" BOOOOOMMM!!!! The Orcs didn't have a lot of soldiers guarding the beaches. Even when I say not a lot, there were still thousands of them. They were there just in case some clans or sea monsters decided to invade. Their role was to notify the strongholds once they saw enemy ships sailing towards the island. In this case, their enemies came from above. Hundreds of orcs died from the impact of the fall. Thousands of Paladins were suddenly on the beaches. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Orc Commander: "Enemy attack! Prepare the defenses!" The Orcs quickly drew our bows and aimed our ballistae at the unknown enemies. It's the first time we've encountered glowing humans. Orc Commander: "Fire!" Thousands of arrows and bolts fly towards our enemies. The enemies put their shields together, and a golden aura suddenly appeared to deflect all of our projectiles. Orc Commander: "Don't stop! Keep firing." They kept firing our bows. We also launched rocks with our siege weapons. A bright light suddenly comes out of their shields, blinding our eyes. Orc Warrior 1: "Ahhh!!" Orc Warrior 2: "I can't see!" Orc Commander: "Ughhh!" Before the orcs knew it, our soldiers were being bashed to death by glowing warhammers. Orc Commander: "Berserkers! Axe Lords! Fight back!" The glowing humans blew away our elite soldiers, who we sent in to reinforce our frontlines. Berserk Warlord: "Damn it!" I equipped my War Axe. I had one for each hand. I'm not a Berserk warlord for no reason. I used all the skills I have to increase the power of my berserk mode. Berserk Warlord: "HIYAAAA!!!" There were six Paladins in front of me, bashing one orc after another. Berserk Warlord: "Take this, you humies!" They didn't expect me to attack them from behind. I attack one of the Paladins from behind. Paladin: "Guuhuuuu!!" My axes sank into his thick armor with extreme force, but I kept hitting his back again and again because his thick armor protected him from my attacks. He tried to pull me away from his back, but he couldn't beat me in terms of strength. Berserk Warlord: "Gyahhhhh!!!" After a few more hits, his skin was visible, and I was able to plant my waraxes into his body, killing him. Berserk Warlord: "ROOOARRRR!!!" My roar invigorated our soldiers around the battlefield. They were now fighting more ferociously than before. Even when smashed with a warhammer, my soldiers would still strike back. Also, if they're down on the ground, they would hold on to the paladins' legs to slow them down. Paladin: "Come here, you filthy orc!" Two of the Paladins charged at me at the same time. Paladin: "Take this!" They swung their warhammers to aim at different parts of my body. One was going for my chest, and the other was at my legs. I dodged the attack aimed at my legs and took the hit with my chest. Paladin: "Got you, Huh!?" He must've thought that I would fall for that attack. Sure, I took damage, but Berserk Warlord: "That ain't enough to bring a warlord down!" I fought through the pain and cut off his head with my axes. Berserk Warlord: "Ahhh!!!" The other Paladin was shocked. He felt fear. My axes are empowered now because I took some damage. Paladin: "T-take this!" He tried to bash me with his shield, but I beat it with my shoulder. I pushed him to the ground with the force of my tackle. Paladin: "Ahhh!!!" Berserk Warlord: "HAHAHAHA!!!" I kept attacking him with my axes, and he was screaming. The speed of my attacks was increasing the more attacks I made. Paladin: "Guuhuuuu!!!" Huge torrents of blood came out of him when I broke his armor. Berserk Warlord: "Their armor is weak in the neck! Try to decapitate them!" Orc Warrior: "Yeah!" The three Paladins near me were feeling it. They knew that they would die. I ran towards them. Paladin: "Stay back, Orc!" His shield came at me with force, but I just stepped on it and jumped above him. Paladin: "What the guuuuu!!!" Death from above. I came down and planted my axe on his helmeted head. I destroyed his helmet along with his head. The other two tried to come from both sides, but I killed them with an axe to the neck—one axe for each. Berserk Warlord: "We can win this!" Orc Warrior 1: "Yeah!" Orc Warrior 2: "Yeah, Guuhhhh!" Suddenly, I felt a chill. Some kind of mist was forming around us. Around 20 berserkers were near me. I only saw the light reflected by the blade. Berserker 1: "Guuuhhhaaahhh!!!" Berserker 2: "Raghhhhh!" My men were being cut down one after another. This enemy is only cutting down high-value targets like my berserkers. Berserk Warlord: "Come out of there, you coward!" Right after I said that the mist was gone, in its place, a human wielding a long, thin sword was there. And on the ground were my dead men. Berserk Warlord: "What the hell are you!?" Mysterious Paladin: "..." His peculiar abilities must not intimidate me. Berserk Warlord: "HIYAAGGHHHH!!!!" I rushed toward him. His head was unprotected! Without a helmet, I would cut his head clean off. Mysterious Paladin: "Hmmph." He was making a regular downward slash. Berserk Warlord: "Hah! That thin sword of yours won't cut my Warlord Helm!" I planned to take the attack with my helmet. It has survived many blows from other warlords, but it isn't even cracked yet. Or so I thought it was a good idea. Once his blade reached my helmet, I knew it was over. The katana of Yuon split the Berserk Warlord in half. . . . (Hero POV) The first battle was a success. Our casualties were healed with holy light and were able to come back to life. Paladins were reviving fellow Paladins on the battlefield. The orcs were strong enough to kill a few hundred paladins. We can't underestimate them too much. Ganz went to the far side of the beach to take down hundreds on his own, and Yuon took over the rest of the beach with me. Paladin Captain: "We have taken over the beach, Lord Hero." Hero: "Good. Did anyone escape?" Paladin Captain: "None, sir. All of their runners got taken down. Unless scouts are watching the beach from afar, nobody will know about the attack." Hero: "I see good work." Our workers started to make the war camp as soon as the ships arrived. The Paladins also helped with the construction to make it faster. The army is resting for now, but one of us was so noisy and restless. You won't mistake that person for anyone else because of his barrel-like body. Ganz: "Hero! When can we move deep into the island!? These orcs are good fighters!" Hero: "Ganz, calm down. We haven't even sent our scouts yet. Don't go there and blow our cover." Ganz: "Fine." He went back to the ship. To drink again, most likely. Yuon: "Hero, here's what we've found out about the orcs." Hero: "Thanks, Yuon." Yuon: "No problem." Yuon then went to help with the construction. The reports said that the orcs worked in groups. A certain warlord leads each group like a berserker group. Each warlord commands and strengthens his group. They have skills that would buff an average group of soldiers to become powerful, killing machines. If it's like that, we should aim to kill the warlords, but it isn't that easy. Each warlord is a mighty warrior on his own. Their strength is around a Paladin captain, so we can't get ourselves surrounded by them. Hero: "Send in the scouts. Once we know their positions, we will then decide on how we will proceed." . . . (Orcs POV) On a forest-covered mountain near the beach, rustling sounds could be heard. Hah... Hah. Ughk! Dying Orc Scout: "Ha, send this message... to the Warchief as soon as you can." He fell into the arms of another scout. Orc Scout: "What is it!?" Dying Orc Scout: "It's an invasion." Orc Scout: "Is it from another clan?" Dying Orc scout: "No, from another race."