A messenger quickly disembarked from the boat, jumping into the water and wading out where he continued to run towards the human settlement. He was stopped at the gates but he impatiently shouted at the guards to get moving, that he had an important message for Erwin. The guards were slightly suspicious but if he really was there to send a message, they couldn’t very well deny him. So he was let through and led into the compound, where he was promptly told to wait as Erwin had actually left a week ago to lead a raid on an orcish camp.
He was always off doing something like that nowadays, his failure from three years ago still haunting him. And there was a noticeable change in the way he began to treat his soldiers, although still a figure of respect, there became a slight fear. This was because he did not tolerate any mistakes and those who did faced severe punishment. However, the soldiers did not blame him for this, at first, they did but when they came to realize that it was because of his failure three years ago, they saw it as his attempt to keeping them alive.
This rather cemented their respect for him, and they sought to improve themselves so they wouldn’t disappoint him. And he also became far more cautious, where before he would have rushed in with his tank, he would circle around the enemy with his superior mobility, using his machine guns and main cannon to whittle down their numbers while the troops he stationed around the enemy would let loose a constant rain of arrows. There was no longer any close range combat, the loss of life was too great for the orcs were superior to them in every way.
No more did Erwin underestimate these orcs, no, instead he began to respect and even fear them. They were the perfect soldiers, their desire to prove their strength being stronger than their fear of death. And ever since Yargul’s triumph over the tank, they orcs became more emboldened, believing that if they tried too, they would be able to kill the Metal beast as Yargul had almost done. But this proved to be beneficial to Erwin as their drive to kill him blinded them from the traps he would set, able to draw out the majority of the orcish garrison so that they’d be killed out in the open.
And as he sought to leave absolutely no survivors, the methods of his attack were largely unknown to the other orcs, not that an organized response could be made. The Orc King was still unifying the rest of the orcs, although that shouldn’t take too long. Erwin knew this and was determined not to waste this moment, he would have to strike as great a blow he could muster before the orcs inevitably came to attack in full force. This was why he often never returned to the settlements unless absolutely necessary, continuing to push on deeper into orcish territory, often spending weeks if not months out there.
Meanwhile, the unfortunate messenger was going absolutely crazy, he had tried to contact Erwin through the communications crystal but he was already out of range, the messenger either had to go out and chase him down or wait for his return. Either option was not desirable, their window of opportunity was fading fast. And as waiting for Erwin was almost undoubtedly worse than going out for him, the messenger quickly had a party arranged to chase after Erwin in the hopes that they could close the distance to speak over the communications crystal.
As the small party headed out to find Erwin, the man himself was standing in the hatch of his tank, studying the orcish camp below. This one was different, it appeared to be a scouting party of an even larger orcish army, however, that one was still locked in combat with another force. And, if intelligence was to be trusted, the other force was the very same which had caused his great failure all those years ago. He had waited for a long time for this, prepared for even longer, to redeem himself of his failure.
However, he did not dare underestimate this orc as he had once, this orc actually knew strategy. It was highly likely that whatever traps he would lay would be seen through, it would seem that he wouldn’t be able to rely on his unit as much as he could in the past. They’d surely suffer losses and against two great orcish armies, he needed all the men he possessed. But against a small scouting party, he didn’t need to worry. He set up his soldiers in a perimeter and told them to fire their arrows when he himself fired. Once the perimeter was complete, he ignited the engines and roared down to greet the enemy.
Upon hearing the roar of the engines, the orcs became alert, arming themselves and going out to meet the enemy. The tank’s gun thundered as a HE shell hurtled through the air, unleashing a fiery death on the unfortunate orcs that were nearby. The machine guns began to belch out bullets as the elven archers began to unleash a hail of arrows, enchanted by their mage counterparts. This was not all, mages cast fireballs and other elemental attacks, although these paled in comparison to how the mages of old once cast them.
What once was capable of destroying the gates of a city was now barely enough to severely injure an orc, truly, the mages of old must be lamenting the state of their descendants. But magic was still magic and coupled with the arrows and roaring tank, the orcs were disorganized and were like lambs led to slaughter. Barely an hour passed before all the orcs lay dead, granted that there were only a hundred or so of them. Once this was done, their camp was quickly looted and Erwin immediately signaled the retreat, the enemy would have doubtlessly heard the roar of his guns so it was better to disappear now.
For safety, he didn’t travel with his troops, a tank wasn’t exactly stealthy so in order to keep the location of his men a secret, the two traveled separately. It was a bit of a pain to relay orders over a crystal but it was the best he could work with, he couldn’t afford to make another mistake especially with such a cunning enemy. If he made a single mistake, he was sure that the orc Commander would take advantage of it. But as there was still daylight left, he decided to begin scouting, giving out orders to several of his scouts while making it seem like it was only his tank that had caused this damage, giving orders to his men to retrieve their arrows and use what spells they had to clean up any traces.
After all, it was better to make it seem as if he was alone, that way the orcs wouldn’t waste effort in trying to search for his soldiers and instead focus on him. After all, it was better that he was targeted rather than his soldiers for they were innocent, he was not. The weight of the lives that he couldn’t save weighed on him every day and in order to forget, he pushed himself to continue working, although there were inevitably times where these thoughts would come back in the silence.
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That’s why he rarely slept, although there were times where he simply just couldn’t keep his eyes open. It was the fact that he saw the people whose voices haunted him, each and every one of those soldiers, those men, women, and children who he promised freedom. Every time he closed his eyes, he would see them, see each and every one of them damning him for his failure.
But, thankfully, sleep did not come to him on this particular night. He just sat there silently in his tank, straining his ears to hear the noises of the forest, hoping that they’d be enough to drown out the whispers of those he couldn’t protect. Of course, it wasn’t but it allowed him something to focus on, something to cling onto lest he be drawn into insanity.
Suddenly, in his silent reverie, he heard something that was odd within the silent symphony of the forest. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was exactly but as he continued to listen, he began to realize what it was, breathing. He instantly started the engines of the tank and with a squeal of surprise, the orcs that were nearing the tank scrambled back. The flamethrowers and machine guns burst to life as they began to scythe down the enemy, Erwin quickly communicating with the rest of his troops.
“Evacuate immediately, I have encountered the enemy. Prepare to meet at Point C, I will relay further orders later.”
The communications crystal glowed with affirmation and Erwin returned his attention to the orcs, determined not to let a single one escape. Of course, he would most likely fail in this endeavor but it wouldn’t hurt to kill as many of them as he could. Within moments, the machine guns had made quick work of the orcs and once more, Erwin set off deep into the forest, it wouldn’t hurt to give the enemy a small visit.
—ORC COMMANDER—
Once more, I heard the distant noises of the rumored Metal Beast, sounds like, for lack of a better word, “small thunder.” But the effects were greatly different, whenever it made that sound an orc would suddenly die with mysterious holes torn into his flesh, and whenever the great snout bellowed with an even greater thunder, it was like an invisible lightning strike. At the time, when I first beheld it three years ago, I was in awe of this godly being, and I wondered if I could take a hold of it. It was obvious that the humans were controlling it, or perhaps, the other way around. A voice had been heard from within, perhaps one of those pesky human mages?
I had my suspicions about this thing, about whether or not it was truly a beast. But either way, it had grown cunning over the years and finally had come for revenge. At any other time, I would have appreciated such a fine opponent but currently, it was just bad news. This meant that I would be facing two enemies, thankfully, one of them I could see and analyze but the Metal Beast... I have to be careful.
As for the Trident Lord, I will have to kill her as soon as possible. My allies have already fallen so I must either pledge my services to the Orc King or retreat, retreat and bide my time. But before I even get to thinking about my choices, I first had to defeat the enemies before me and although I may have the advantage in terms of tactics, the enemy still far outnumbers me. The slightest mistake may get me killed, and that is something I cannot have happen.
There were footsteps and I turned to see one of my scouts, the orc reporting, “Sir, the Trident’s forces are on the move, they are attempting to surround us.”
I commanded, “Tell the squad commanders to begin the retreat, leave three squads behind to distract the enemy. If possible, they are to retreat too.”
The orc scout nodded and hurried off, leaving me alone to my thoughts once more. It brought a small smile to my face when I imagined how the Trident would react when she found out I retreated, she was as terribly short-sighted as all those other orcs. Victory this, victory that, they think victory makes strength. It does not. Strength gains victory, not the other way around. Sometimes, you must lose in order to win, and for me, losing was far more beneficial than winning.
I turned around and led the forces I had with me to my secondary camp, leaving plenty of surprises for the Trident Lord to find. As for the Metal Beast, I had already sent out a small unit but I did not expect them to return, even when I had forced it to retreat three years ago, it had still cost me many of my orcs. It was more to send a message to the Metal Beast, that I knew it was there and sooner or later, I’d hunt it down.
Suddenly, I heard a rumbling thunder, it was off in the direction where presumably the Metal Beast had encountered my orcs. I smiled, it seemed that it was acknowledging my message and that it was challenging me. Well, soon enough Metal Beast, you and I will have our showdown.
———
The Orc Commander disappeared into the forest as he often did, leaving an empty camp for the Trident to find. The two squadrons that he had left for her did their job well, distracting her forces to give him plenty of time to escape. Of course, the Trident was incensed, how dare he ignore her! She was an Orc Lord, orcs tremble upon hearing her name! And yet he, this coward, this human-imitating scum, he dared to ignore her. This could not stand, when she found him, she wasn’t going to kill him.
No, she was going to have some fun with him before she killed him, she was going to have a lot of fun. As she vowed this, standing at the spot where the Orc Commander had stood no less than an hour before, the Metal Beast arrived at the opposite side of her army, machine guns blazing and its main cannon thundering. Upon seeing the damned thing, she smiled, something to unleash her anger on. She immediately mustered up her elite guard and charged towards it, ready for battle.
But, just as it seemed it was about to charge deep into her forces, it suddenly turned to the side, continuing to kill the orcs but staying out of their reach. Just what was it with enemies and being cowards! With anger, she grabbed a spear from one of her orcs and hurled it at the Metal Beast, the spear shattering uselessly against its metal hide. As if responding to that, the great snout of the Metal Beast pointed at her and she only had a few seconds to react before it fired. Three of her elite guard were killed by the tank and she was left stunned and deaf by the attack. She growled as she stood up again, holding her divine Trident.
She was confident that it could pierce through the hide but she wasn’t confident in killing the Metal Beast in a single strike, if she did throw and fail, then she would likely lose her trident. It was too much of a risk, the only way she could feasibly win was to get close but that was a death sentence, the strange limbs on the creature which spat fire and shot thunder had already killed many orcs and it would kill her if she wasn’t careful. As much as it irked her, she could only stay back and hope that the losses wouldn’t be too great.