Chapter 43: Water (2)
Chesswood was the name shared by the dozens of scattered villages in the area. Most people referred to the individual villages as Chesswood, but the residents distinguished themselves by the village they came from—just like how cities were divided into boroughs. Moreover, there was a subtle battle of pride among the villages.
“I heard the cow of the Cactus Village’s head gave birth to twin calves.”
“So you’ve already heard. She gave birth to two very sturdy twins. Hahaha.”
“But isn’t it weird to be so excited over twins? In Dandelion Village, Hans’ cow gave birth to triplets. Cactus Village only had twins. Hahaha.”
“...C-Congratulations...”
Even during the music contest, there was continued tension among the villagers.
The villages’ representatives had gathered at the Edelweiss Village meeting hall, located at the center of Chesswood, to discuss countermeasures in response to the attacks on Chesswood. Since the head of each village was present, the atmosphere occasionally turned ugly due to their competitive spirits.
“You keep trying to provoke me, but Gold Rain Village can effortlessly cover the original song Come Back, Ticonderaga!”
“Stop kidding me. Your voice will crack. If you listen to Natasha Village’s The Sad Song of Youth, you will piss in your pants.”
“Wow, you’re real classy. Do you want to duel?”
“Ha! I’m James. My shouts are like an erupting volcano. A duel? Let’s do it!”
“I will put your annoying quack sounds to sleep with my sweet serenade. Gather the audience!”
The heads of Zoysia Village and Pine Village growled at each other. They were about to hold a ruthless singing contest that could end a singer’s career if they lost. It was Chesswood’s own Colosseum.
Meanwhile, Crockta and Jeremy, who were watching them, shook their heads.
“Would we be able to fight with these men on our side?” asked Jeremy.
Crockta was silent.
The people of Chesswood lived lives detached from fights and battles. Crockta and Jeremy could now understand why Blackmore, who used to boast his strength as a loan shark’s goon, was so feared among the villagers. Blackmore seemed like a demon to the Chesswood villagers, who dueled by singing popular songs, because he carried weapons.
“Everyone, be quiet! It’s not the time to fight among ourselves!” Ingram brought calm to the scene.
He was just a normal farmer now, but he was still respected as a former head of the Black Rose Village.
“They attack us because we’re so scattered and make easy targets,” he explained.
“What do they gain by killing us?” asked one of the village heads.
“Our enemies are cursed by the stars. They want to kill us to accumulate achievements.”
“What? They can accumulate achievements even if they commit evil deeds?”
“Ha... They are truly accursed...”
Players received achievement scores for all deeds; there was no distinction between good and evil deeds. They were accumulated based on whether a player accomplished an act that had influence in the world of Elder Lord. Moreover, capturing an NPC greatly contributed to a player’s skill development. The term used was ‘achievement,’ but the ultimate goal was for a player to develop their skills and increase their level. The clans were trying to grow their power and influence by using Chesswood as their springboard for these developments.
“We sent people to the castle... but it takes time...”
“Those accursed humans will not wait until then.”
“What should we do?”
“How about all of the villages pitch in to hire mercenaries?”
The village heads were in deep thought. They had been warding off the players’ attacks by fighting with farming and hunting equipment, but their opponents’ attacks were becoming stronger.
Crockta closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.
High-level players had begun arriving in Chesswood to help the clans’ low-level players. They were planning to wipe out Chesswood. Although Crockta’s original goal was to get rid of the Haedong Balhae clan, he got swept up in Chesswood’s affairs and wasn’t sure how to limit his role. It was difficult for him to discern who the enemy was as well.
Just then...
“Everyone! We’ve got a problem!” someone yelled as they burst into the meeting hall. “There’s a large-scale attack on Dandelion Village right now...!”
“What?!” Dandelion Village’s head, who had been bragging about his triplet calves, jumped up from his seat.
Crockta looked at the map of Chesswood pasted on the wall. Dandelion Village was on the outskirts of Chesswood. If it were on a chessboard, it would be in the upper right.
“I must go immediately!” yelled the head of Dandelion Village.
“Chrysanthemum Village, did you let Camellia Village know?”
“Yes! The neighboring village is sending support!”
All of the village heads tried to run out.
However, Ingram calmed them down by saying, “Nothing will change even if we head over there now.”
“Then, what should we do?!”
“Let’s first agree on a countermeasure.”
“What about Dandelion Village?!”
The meeting hall was in an uproar.
Then, someone stepped forward to take the lead and said, “I will go to Dandelion Village, so please plan a countermeasure quickly.”
It was Blackmore, who was in the corner with Crockta and Jeremy.
When he spoke, the meeting hall fell quiet.
“Blackmore...!”
“So, the rumors were true...”
“My god...”
Blackmore’s notoriety made even the village heads nervous!
From the village heads’ reactions, Crockta got an idea of the kind of person Blackmore had been in the past.
Blackmore continued, “I’ve washed my hands off those kinds of matters. Now, I just want to help the village. Please plan a countermeasure as the representatives of Chesswood. Isn’t that your job?”
Hearing Blackmore speak so solemnly, the village heads nodded in response.
“Well... even if we go now, we won’t be of much help.”
“However, if Blackmore goes, the attackers will be screwed.”
“His fighting skills have always been impressive.”
When a feared person became an ally, he would often become more dependable than anyone else. The village heads were relieved to hear that Blackmore would be fighting as their ally.
“Would you be willing to help us?” Blackmore asked Crockta and Jeremy.
He had already witnessed the strength of the two visitors.
“Yes.” Crockta nodded.
“Well, I agreed to help this orc, so I guess.” Jeremy agreed to help in his typically roundabout way.
The three men who had formed a music ensemble on the road were now headed toward Dandelion Village to save Chesswood.
***
The three men borrowed horses. Crockta didn’t know how to ride a horse, so Blackmore and Jeremy had to help him. The horse struggled to carry Crockta’s massive body, but they didn’t have any time to be considerate toward the horse. Their priority was to save the villagers of Dandelion Village.
“Right there!”
Before they knew it, they had arrived at Dandelion Village. The battle was in full swing, and they witnessed an astounding number of players slaughtering the villagers.
Blackmore’s expression stiffened and then turned into a scowl. Blackmore, who had always been a cheerful musician, now had an unbelievably demon-like expression. He instantly raised the spear he had been carrying on his back and jumped off his horse.
Whenever he swung his spear, players were swept away and sent tumbling to the ground. His spearplay was like a raging storm. Blackmore was a natural at this.
Crockta and Jeremy got off their horses and joined the battle too. There was a shift in the flow of the batter even with just the three of them joining.
“Bul’taaarrrrr!” The orc’s battle cry shook the earth.
Crockta charged toward the players, and his force sent them flying into the air. His greatsword chopped some players’ bodies in half. Their torsos split, and their intestines were flung into the air.
The battle spirit of those fighting had a huge impact on determining the outcome of the battle. Well aware of this, Crockta continuously shouted his battle cry to crush his enemies’ morale.
“I will cut and chop you to pieces!!!” he roared.
Then he kicked the corpses, splattering their blood and flesh everywhere. The players trembled in fear at the sight of the blood-covered orc warrior swinging his greatsword.
Crockta bellowed, “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”
He was a slaughterer on the battlefield! Blood spewed everywhere he went.
When Blackmore and the orc warrior appeared, the villagers who had been struggling to defend against the players gained strength and began charging forward. Meanwhile, Blackmore and Crockta rushed toward areas where there were more players gathered and slaughtered them.
White particles covered their surroundings constantly. Blackmore and Crockta refused to show the players any mercy.
The frightened players turned around and began running away. However, there was a player who mistook Jeremy, who was swinging his longsword with ease, for an easy target and approached him. Jeremy’s sword moved like the wind and pierced the player’s throat.
“Life is not a game, you cursed dude,” said Jeremy.
“Argh...”
Jeremy’s swordsmanship was impeccable.
He pulled out his sword from the player’s body and glanced at his surroundings. There had been some casualties among the villagers, but the battle was starting to flow in the favor of the villagers. The three men’s performance was turning the tide.
“Orc dude! Keep fighting!” yelled Jeremy encouragingly.
Crockta was in the middle of punishing players. When a few players were about to attack a family of villagers hiding in their storage room, Crockta arrived just in time and decimated the players in an instant. The family let out sighs of relief while the baby in the mother’s arms cried and cried.
“Filthy humans,” muttered Crockta as he stormed out of the storage room and assessed the situation.
The players had split up and were attacking in groups. Crockta’s next target was over there.
However, just when Crockta was about to charge, an invisible strength came flying at him. Crockta rolled across the floor after being hit with the full force of the attack.
“Ugh!” groaned Crockta.
“Why is an orc here?” A man approached him.
Crockta could immediately sense the man’s immense strength. Nevertheless, Crockta got up and calmed his breath. The player was clad in expensive equipment. He reminded Crockta of the high-ranking player he had met in Arnin Plains, but this man’s strength was on whole other level compared to the previous player.
Players began screaming in the background.
“Higashi is here! A high-ranker is here to help us!”
“Bugilma is here!”
“Bugilma is here to help us!”
High-rankers had entered the scene.
Among the numerous Elder Lord players in the world, there was a notable group of players that ranked in the top five hundred. Considering the enormous Elder Lord population in the world, those five hundred players were at the apex of the game. Elder Saga Corporation sponsored them, and they enjoyed various perks like celebrities. Higashi was one of them.
Crockta gritted his teeth. He experienced pressure that he had never felt from an opponent who was a player.
“I was getting bored, but it’s about to get fun,” said Higashi.
He grinned and raised his sword and shield.
Crockta looked around him. Blackmore and Jeremy were handling high-level players too. The high-rankers were targeting those who stood out.
Meanwhile, the players regained their morale with Higashi’s appearance and resumed attacking the villagers. The villagers crumbled at the hands of the players, who were vigorously massacring them with glee. Upon seeing this, Crockta’s eyes filled with fiery anger.
“Yo, orc, your opponent is me,” said Higashi.
However, Crockta was unable to go help because Higashi was blocking him. He gritted his teeth and clenched his greatsword.
Higashi’s presence gave Crockta a lot of pressure. Not only was Higashi strong, but he was also fully equipped with skills and expensive tools. Crockta moved slowly as he tried to look for an opening, but Higashi mimicked Crockta’s movements while maintaining his distance.
Higashi moved first. In an instant, he was right in front of Crockta’s face. It was as if Higashi had folded space between them. He was now too close for Crockta to swing his greatsword and land a hit.
Then Higashi pushed against Crockta with his shield. Crockta met the force with his greatsword, but his line of sight was blocked off by the shield. Unable to predict where Highashi’s sword would emerge from behind the shield, Crockta decided to throw his body onto the ground and roll away.
“Hmm...” murmured Higashi, impressed.
When Crockta got back up, he was covered in dirt. Highashi looked at Crockta as he twirled his blade.
“If you had been a second late, you would have been stabbed. You have quick decision-making skills,” complimented Higashi.
Higashi’s interplay of sword and shield was impressive. He was someone who really knew how to fight. Crockta was certain that Higashi did martial arts in real life. He might be the strongest opponent Crockta had faced so far.
Crockta gathered all of the strength in his body.
[Indomitable Fighting Spirit (Rare) has been activated.]
[Tattoos of Honor (Rare) has been activated.]
[Leyteno’s Greatsword Technique (Rare) has been activated to the maximum level.]
Crockta’s senses became sharp, and faint steam rose from his greatsword. His proficiency in Leyteno’s Greatsword Technique increased, and he was able to temporarily infuse life force into his greatsword. He didn’t normally use this skill in battle because it rapidly depleted his energy, but he had no choice now.
[Mind’s Eye is opening.]
Crockta even opened his Mind’s Eye. He was going all in.
Higashi approached him. Crockta could see Higashi’s movements more clearly with his Mind’s Eye open, but his heart felt more tense as he could also clearly see how strong his enemy was.
“Bul’tar,” Crockta murmured to himself.
He had to brace himself for death in this fight.
Right then, he saw something else with his Mind’s Eye. Someone had snuck into the village. He could vaguely see the hidden figure with his power. Crockta retreated and concentrated his strength in the direction of the person in hiding.
“...?” Higashi tilted his head curiously.
[Mind’s Eye (Special) has partially penetrated their stealth skill.]
Crockta saw the faint form of a woman wearing a mask and tight leather clothing. She was filming this battle scene from under a roof. Her attire looked familiar to Crockta. Although she had never revealed her face, she had the same appearance as the female player who had embedded the image of her character like a trademark in the introduction of every one of her videos.
She was the Youvidser who had filmed Crockta in the past and spread her name by bringing light to the evil deeds of players—Laney.
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