Jody’s eyes grew larger, and his sword fell from his grasp and twirled in the air several times before falling to the ground.

Pupupuck!

Several arrows followed behind and pierced into his body. The shouts and screams of the battlefield became distant, and Jody’s vision darkened. At the end of the darkness, he saw the symbol of the White Dragon, as well and Scylla and Gus looking back at himself while smiling awkwardly.

“Live… to the…”

Jody failed to complete his sentence and fell from his saddle.

“Die!”

The spears of the enemy soldiers mercilessly violated his lifeless body. However, their frenzied actions soon came to a halt.

Kuwuuuuuugh!!

Karuta had been running after the three warriors. Along with a mighty roar, he kicked off the ground. His giant figure rose several feet into the air, then fell to the side of the soldiers who were busily stabbing into Jody’s body.

Boooom!

A deafening sound accompanied the trembling of the ground, and the black steel rods delivered death to those who stood in their way.

Human figures became decimated and five or six soldiers were instantly turned into unrecognizable slabs of bloody meat without even having the chance to scream.

Kuwuuugh!

Karuta took the opportunity and flung Jody’s lifeless body across his shoulder before resuming his run.

“Heu…”

The soldiers felt numb when they saw the backside of the orc warrior. No one could possibly stop the orc’s advent.

“What are you standing around for, you bastards! Catch him! Kill him!”

Although their commander roared, their bodies were unresponsive after seeing the grandeur of the war god.

***

Kwaaaaah!

“Hmm…”

Eltuan could not help but swallow her groans. She possessed vision that was several times better than humans, and she could clearly see the situation near Ronan Bridge. With the charge of only four figures, hundreds of troops had been thrown into disarray.

Around the time their griffon passed over the river, she saw a person rolling off his horse. He collapsed to the ground, and soldiers thrust their spears into this body without hesitation.

“Ugh!”

Eltuan clenched her teeth.

It did not matter whether it was her brothers from Red Moon Valley of the squire of the duchy named Jody. They were fighting for her. Even now, she unknowingly tightened her grip. She wanted nothing more than to fight alongside them.

“Remember. Their sacrifices are on you.”

Eltuan flinched at the cold voice of Isla. She loosened her grip from his collar. Her hands had been tightly grasping his clothing without her realizing it.

She was biting her lips so hard that blood was flowing. Isla continued talking, having a rough understanding of how she felt even without looking back.

“The wind is blowing towards the duchy. We should be arriving at Ancona Forest faster than expected. We will inform the orcs and the centaurs of the situation before heading straight to Conrad Castle.”

“……”

Even though their colleagues were dying, Isla’s voice was apathetic, cold, and determined. Elves were known for being emotionless, but Isla appeared even colder. Eltuan couldn’t help but ask.

“Do you not feel anything? Is Karuta… is he not your friend?”

“…..”

Isla did not answer, only maneuvering the griffon in the right direction while facing the strong wind.

“Say…”

“I.”

Eltuan started to speak, but Isla cut her off.

“I am a knight of Pendragon. I am ready to sacrifice everything and anything for the safety of the lord and the duchy. Even if I have to give a brother or my parents, I will keep the oath of the knight.”

“…..”

It was a valid statement. However, even though she understood the logic of it, she could not accept it in her heart. Eltuan attempted to speak once more while suppressing her emotions. But Isla was faster once again.

“Everyone will die.”

“…What?”

Eltuan expressed shock after hearing Isla’s icy statement.

“Those who dared to cross into the land of Pendragon, not one of them will return alive. Even in death, I will not allow them to rest easy by the side of the goddess.”

“…..!”

Eltuan was rendered speechless by the declaration of the Knight King.

***

“Kereuk! Griffon! There’s a griffon flying towards us!”

“What?”

The village of the Ancona Orcs was located in the middle of Ancona Forest, centered around a divine tree of the Earth God. The village quickly became noisy after a griffon appeared in the distant sky.

Even griffons did not dare approach the orcs’ village recklessly. In addition, most of the griffons in the nearby areas had been subjugated by Duke Pendragon after he signed a contract with Soldrake last year.

“Kerereuk! Has it gone mad?”

The rugged, muscular orc warriors grinned while looking up at the griffon. They stroked their spears and axes as the creature circled around the divine tree.

Kratul, the orc druid, spoke while flaring his nostrils. He had been assigned as the temporary leader of the village while Karuta was away.

“Keheung! Someone is riding on it.”

“Who?”

“Looks like two scarecrows.”

“Kheul? Is it the Pendragon scarecrows?”

The orc warriors asked while tilting their heads. The only humans from the surrounding areas that rode on griffons were the griffon riders of the Pendragon Duchy.

“Then what are they doing up there? They should come down right away… Keuhuh?”

Kratul started expressing his curiosity, then became wide-eyed. The two figures had jumped off towards the divine tree’s branches from the griffon’s back.

“How strange.”

The orc warriors gripped their weapons to prepare for unexpected scenarios. After a little while, the two figures climbed down the divine tree. The eyes of Kratul and the Ancona Orc warriors filled with wonder after recognizing the identity of the two figures.

“Keheung? Are you not the griffon leader?”

Kratul ran forward while shouting joyously. The other orc warriors also rushed towards Isla.

“Huh? What’s this? Why are you here?”

Kratul expressed his confusion after seeing Eltuan. She was pale after overexerting herself to climb down the tree. Isla spoke after quickly observing the surroundings.

“Is this all the warriors that are here right now?”

“Keung? That’s right. The rest are at the Pendragon Castle. But what’s going on?”

“Enemies trying to invade the duchy have crossed the bridge. Karuta is in danger. We do not have time.”

“What did you say!?”

“Kehul?”

Kratul and the orc warriors were shocked to hear Isla’s words.

Kuwaaaaah!

Kuwuuuuh!

“Those bastards dare? I’ll roast them alive after dipping them in centaur shit!”

Dozens of orc warriors became enraged and shouted out loud.

“Let’s go get those bastards. Those scum are even less than goblins!”

“I’ll pull out their spines and plant them in a shit field! Kuwugh!”

The orc warriors spoke with fury and hurriedly packed their weapons and armors. As they got ready to leave the village,

Tutututututututu!

Tremor could be felt from the ground and the only road leading out of the village became covered with dust.

“What the hell is that!?”

Krrrrr!

The orc warriors growled. Their minds were already overcome with slaughter.

Neiiiiigh!

The bodies of the newcomers were easily twice as large as ordinary horses, and they possessed upper bodies of humans. They were centaurs. The centaur who stood at the front of the pack halted in front of the village. He was armed with a dark, metallic crossbow.

The leading centaur had two quivers slung behind his back, each containing dozens of arrows. In addition, the creature had two javelins equipped on each of his front legs, and his body was covered in armor, which was elaborately engraved with the symbol of the Pendragon Duchy.

“Arios.”

Isla called out after recognizing the chief of the Ancona Forest centaurs. Arios had pointed ears like an elf, and he bowed lightly in response.

“Arios, the guardian of Ancona, greets the knight of Pendragon.”

Although centaurs were belligerent and ill-tempered, they were creatures who lived in packs. Once on the same side, they were very polite and amicable. In addition, since they already recognized Duke Pendragon as the master of the land, they were quite obedient towards him as well.

“Are the horse-heads coming with us?”

Kratul stepped forward with a frown.

“No matter how fast you run, it will take hours to reach Ronan Bridge, even if you do not rest.”

“Keheul? So are you telling us to ride on the horseheads?”

One of the orc warriors asked with shock.

“That’s right. It will take less than an hour to reach Ronan Bridge.”

“Kehul! The earth be split!”

“Orcs don’t receive help from horseheads!”

Kuwugh!

The Ancona Orcs erupted into a frenzy. They growled while exposing their fangs, batting their steel rods against the ground.

A chill appeared in Isla’s eyes.

Paaaaa!

The spirit of Valvas’ Knight King soared like flames over his shoulders.

“Kehul?”

The orc warriors were startled by the terrifying spirit, which soared nearly 20 feet into the air like a sharpened blade.

Even the centaurs were astonished by the immense power.

But that was not the end.

Isla reinforced his spirit even further, then took out a spear from his back. It was Thorca, the spear of the original Knight King, Mara Valencia.

Boom!

“I will not say it again. You will leave right away to save Karuta, and for the duchy.”

Kwaaaaaoooo!

The deep, dense spirit of blue wrapped around Thorca, which was also known as the Azure Thunderstorm.

Rumble!

The spear cried out after sensing its owner’s spirit.

“…..!”

The warriors of both races trembled at the sound. It was similar to thunder that could be heard in the distant sky before the coming of a mighty storm.

The orcs were born to battle, and the centaurs were wild and free. But neither the centaurs nor the orcs could not remain unfazed in the face of the Knight King’s spirit. Isla was already determined to sacrifice even his own life.

“Listen to me, friends of Ancona. Follow the orders of His Excellency Duke Pendragon, who is my lord and your benefactor, and Soldrake, the Queen of All Dragons.”

Isla’s voice was quiet and cold, which greatly contrasted from the intense spirit he emitted. His very being seemed to be surrounded by an uncontrolled, unstoppable storm.

“In the name of Pendragon…”

“In the name of the Dragon Queen…”

Eventually, the two races gave in.

***

“Kuhuh, Kuhuh…!”

Hot, ragged air continued leaking from his lips. He could not feel the pain from the countless wounds on his body, but rather, he felt uncomfortable with every movement. His armor had long been stained red with his blood and the blood of his enemies.

“Krrrrr…”

Perhaps because of his hot breath, he was having difficulty seeing out of one eye. Karuta placed one of his thick hands around his eyes. His mouth curled up in a twisted manner when he felt a strange texture at the tip of his fingers.

“Kehuhu!”

He tightened his grip with a strange smile.

Thuck!

Feeling a burning pain in his face, he looked down at his hand with his other eye. One of his eyeballs had been pulled out along with a quarrel. Karuta smiled while dropping his gaze. The cold bodies of Jody and the two elven warriors were at his feet. They had fallen long ago.

Kereuk!

When he saw the miserable state of the three figures, Karuta’s eyes glowed red once again.

He slowly raised the quarrel and placed it in his mouth.

Crunch!

After chewing his eyeball raw, Karuta swallowed it whole.

Kerereuk! Kuhahahahaha!!!

The strongest warrior of the Ancona Orcs, or perhaps the strongest warrior of all living orcs – he burst into a maniacal laughter.

Fwoooosh!

Orc Fear ignited once again at the call of the wild beast.

But it was much weaker and smaller than before. Nevertheless, those surrounding Karuta were fixated to their spots. Karuta’s entire body was covered in spirit, and he was like a wounded beast.

“Ugh…”

The soldiers of Alice gazed at Karuta with fear in their eyes.

The orc was a monster. Or rather, orcs were already a different species than humans. However, Karuta was not a being that could be explained by his race.

How could anyone chew and eat their own eyeball?

Who could slaughter hundreds of soldiers while carrying three bodies?

“I, it’s the devil…”

A soldier murmured unknowingly, and others gulped and nodded.

The God of War.

The Devil of War.

There were no other words suitable for describing the fierce orc.

“Oi! What are you all doing!? Kill him! Forward! Forward!”

The soldiers hurriedly raised their shields at a knight’s scolding words. Immediately afterwards, spearmen pushed their weapons through the gaps between the shields. Little by little, the soldiers began to move forward one step at a time.

“Kerereuk! One more, no, ten more. I will find rest by the Earth God’s side after killing ten more…”

Karuta raised his two steel rods with bloodshot eyes. He was ecstatic at the thought of fighting other orcs after retiring to the side of the Earth God. He could battle to his satisfaction with those who passed before him.

But there was just one thing…

“I never got to compete with that girl. Kereuk…!”

Karuta felt regretful for the first time in his life when he thought of her face.

“I will be waiting for you on the other side! Kuwuuuuughhhh!”

The Red God of War let loose one last deafening roar to decorate the end of his life, a life filled with blood and battles, but also joy and happiness.