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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Still Just Baby Steps
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Less than a day later, the air raids began again.
This was now truly the final line of defense. Behind it were the evacuated citizens, and behind them, only the lord's castle.
Even the Lord of the Castle, Krain Rzhev, was on the walls with his knights, cutting down orcs.
The number of orcs was still overwhelming. Just as the despair of death began to settle on the soldiers' faces, one man amidst that despair was letting out exclamations of awe.
"Incredible. Just incredible."
Atop the wall, Kratos exclaimed every time the weapon in his hand sent another orc to the afterlife.
It was just that good—a weapon perfectly suited to this body.
A brutally heavy axe-hammer forged from black iron. Of course, to the orcs, it was nothing short of a catastrophe.
"Oh yeah-! One, two, buckle my shoe, three, four, shut the door!"
But Kratos was swinging it with one hand, all while spouting some rather old-fashioned phrases.
It was as if he was the only one on this life-or-death battlefield with a screw loose.
"Damn it!"
*Clang—*
"Orcs!"
*Clang—!*
"You bastards! Just die already!"
A swing of his axe severed a thick rope, sending a ladder tumbling from the wall and crushing countless orcs below into pulp.
Simultaneously, a cluster of red light flew up from below the wall and was absorbed into him. The entire rampart was a chaotic mess.
Just as he was clearing out the orcs on the flank…
"Orc shaman! Concentrate your fire! Aim for the shaman!"
"No! The center! The center!"
"Block it! Block it! Archers! Concentrate your fire!"
A tremendous commotion erupted from the center. The moment he turned his head to see what was happening…
*KABOOOOM—!*
A massive explosion roared as a section of the wall blew apart, soaring into the sky before crashing back down. Those heavy stone blocks.
*Rumble—*
"Argh—!"
"Evacuate! Evacuate! Fall back! Keep falling back!"
"Get out of range!"
The explosion in the center affected the entire wall.
If this had been the outer wall, only that section would have collapsed. But this was the inner wall, narrower and taller.
People were swept up in the collapse, crushed and falling. Screams echoed from all around.
Kratos, too, was unable to escape the range of the collapse.
*Orcs are truly brutish bastards. To set off a bomb when their own allies are on the wall.*
He could feel his body in free fall. It seemed it wasn't his time to die yet, as his life didn't flash before his eyes.
*Rumble—*
White smoke billowed up, and chunks of stone rained down indiscriminately, crushing living things on the ground with their immense weight.
Even then, the orcs charged relentlessly toward the wall.
Amidst the screams, the harsh breathing of orcs could be heard.
"*Huk— Cough—*"
His throat was raw and dry. The stench of blood filled his nostrils, and his entire body ached as if it had been shattered.
"Mindless orc bastards."
Using the axe-hammer as a cane, he staggered to his feet.
*Reeeeeee—*
A ringing in his ears caused a wave of dizziness. The monsters that had breached the wall charged forward ferociously.
"Charge—!"
"Charge—!"
Through the ringing, he heard the lord's shout. Shaking his head to clear his vision, he saw the blood-soaked lord and his knights charging at the orcs who had come over the wall.
They wielded swords shimmering with a blue blade aura. With a single swing, dozens of orc heads flew into the air.
But what did it matter? There were far more heads still attached than those flying.
*Wow. To think my second life, which I barely managed to get, would end so meaninglessly. Without even getting a glimpse of revenge.*
What rotten luck. Should I have run away after all?
It was funny, really. Some manga said there was no paradise in running away. But the title of some drama was that running away is shameful but useful.
All sorts of stray thoughts cluttered his mind.
"What in the world is the right thing to do?"
Of course, even if he had decided to, there had been no time to escape.
The monster army had swarmed in less than a day after he arrived at this castle.
A chuckle escaped his lips. It seemed his third life was, in game terms, Dark Souls. Or maybe Sekiro?
YOU DIED.
"GRAAAAAAAAH—!"
Kratos let out a roar, raised his axe, and charged at the orcs.
There was nowhere to run anyway, so he figured it was better to die fighting than to die fleeing. He felt it would be less frustrating if he could take at least one more orc with him to the other side.
He swung his axe. He smashed skulls with the hammer. When that wasn't enough, he drove his fist into the gaps in their helmets.
"*Pant— Pant—*"
He was so out of breath he thought he would die, and the grip on his heavy axe was gradually loosening.
"GRAAAAH—!"
He could only muster what strength he had left and repeat the motion of swinging his axe.
*Ah. I got too carried away after gaining this power. That wasn't like me.*
It wasn't like him. He had been completely intoxicated by a strength he had never felt, never even imagined.
Normally, he would have analyzed the enemy, formulated a strategy, or at least thought of a way to whittle down their forces and lead the battle to victory.
It was a foolish mistake. Ah, how pathetic.
Still, he couldn't just accept death. The moment he tightened his grip on his weapon…
*KABOOOM—*
A massive storm of flames erupted from the rear.
He could feel the orcs before him falter.
"Reinforcements! Reinforcements have arrived!"
"Just hold on a little longer!"
The knights raised their swords and cheered. The fireball that had exploded behind the orc horde was not the last. It was followed by a second, then a third.
The orcs began to panic, unsure whether to kill the humans in front of them or go to the aid of their rear guard.
As the orcs slowly began to move back, Kratos felt a mix of relief and self-recrimination.
"I was arrogant."
He had definitely been arrogant. It was probably the most painful mistake of his entire life.
Shame, embarrassment, humiliation, and guilt washed over him all at once.
The price for being captivated by a fleeting moment of euphoria and failing to look ahead was steep indeed.
"WAAAAAAAH—!"
The cheers of the survivors erupted from all around. The relief of survival, the sorrow and anger for lost loved ones.
A cacophony of cheers and cries all mixed together.
"GRAAAAAAAAH—!"
I screamed along with them.
We won. We survived. It seemed it was too early to see the 'You Died' screen.
But at the same time, I had lost.
It was certain. I was still just at the toddling stage.
A mere toddler with a long way to go to get revenge on the Empire.
In novel terms, I had only just passed a rather lengthy prologue.
***
"You truly arrived in the nick of time."
Krain Rzhev let out a sigh of relief as he watched the group approaching from the opposite side.
It was not, of course, reinforcements from the capital. Rather, it was a group with whom he had personal ties.
It would be more accurate to call them a mercenary corps.
"It has been far too long."
"We should be glad we can still contact each other at all. You've been through a lot as well."
The two men embraced like old friends, their faces etched with deep relief.
"I don't know how I can express my gratitude that you were nearby."
"It was a stroke of luck. We were on a commission, tracking someone, and the trail went cold around here."
Krain Rzhev and the man exchanged a quick glance. A silent understanding that they had things to discuss in private, not here.
"First, let's clean up the area. I apologize for this, you came as a guest, but the house is in a state."
"As a guest of old, wouldn't it be right for me to help with the cleaning?"
Of course, once this battle was over, there would be a mountain of work to do.
The dead do not return. They had to be honored.
The devastated outer castle had to be rebuilt, and the people's homes had to be reconstructed.
And the most important fact: Krain Rzhev, the lord of a gateway city, was no more.
It was time for him to return to being a margrave of the frontier, facing the Demonic Realm on the front lines, just as he had in his youth.
"Wipe them all out! Leave none behind!"
At Krain Rzhev's cry, the soldiers, knights, and mercenaries, each a match for a thousand, charged toward the monsters.
*Grit—*
Kratos's expression hardened as he swung his weapon at an orc.
His mind was filled with thoughts about his future direction.
His top priority was to cultivate the power of this body.
An overwhelming power that would not be outmatched by anyone.
He cut down another orc.
And in that now-familiar moment when the crimson motes of light were absorbed…
*Flex—*
As if by a lie, strength flowed back into his hands, which had been trembling like a man with palsy.
"Huh?"
His stamina hadn't returned. It was just that his strength had grown a little.
Yes, it was as if he had gained experience points and leveled up.
[Strength has increased by 1.]
If this were a game, wouldn't a window like this have popped up?
*Sigh, I'm really thinking of everything.*
[Strength has increased by 1.]
[…User has changed.]
[Updating information…]
[An error has occurred. An error has occurred. Unable to load all information.]
[Partial information update successful.]
[Name: Kratos▼]
[Strength 101] [Stamina 51] [Dexterity 10] [Spiritual Power 10] [Intelligence 70]
[
"What the… Why is this showing up now?!"
It was real. Setting aside the message about a partial error in the information update for a moment…
He had just thought it, and suddenly a system sound chimed and what was commonly known as a status window appeared before his eyes.
Strength, Stamina, Dexterity, Spiritual Power, Intelligence—a very simple and clear status window.
Spiritual Power was a bit ambiguous, but otherwise, wasn't it intuitive?
The skills section seemed to be blank because he didn't have any yet.
*Oh, dear God. Are you finally giving me a special perk I never received in the past?*
The information was very simple, but Kratos couldn't wipe the goofy grin off his face.
The preceding error message was a bit concerning, but regardless, the situation had clearly changed.
"Hmm? Well, this changes things."
What was important was that he had found a clue, a way to become stronger more easily than any other method.
And for him, that was a very simple task.
***
"Lando! My friend. You saved us."
"It would have been handled one way or another, even if I hadn't come."
Krain Rzhev nodded bitterly. He was right. It would have come after many more sacrifices.
It was truly a godsend.
"Something is amiss in the north. To think a monster horde of this size could make it this far without us hearing a single word about it."
"You can assume that every village and castle above Rzhev has been annihilated. We found no trace of human life up to the point we traveled."
For such important news to be cut off? It was clearly someone's doing. No emergency communications, nothing at all, had come from the north.
"Then, they are…"
"Unfortunately."
"Kuh… Dammit…!"
Krain Rzhev's fists trembled as he thought of the Empire's loyal subjects who had been abandoned in the north. They were men who should not have fallen like this.
Lando, too, remained silent. He fully understood the lord's feelings. Though their positions were different, their goals were the same.
They gained nothing, while their side just kept making sacrifices.
"That aside, what brings you all the way here? It must be a busy time for you."
"We found a trace of *it*. Do you remember the slave caravan that passed through here about a week ago?"
*Grit—*
At the mention of a slave caravan, Rzhev ground his teeth. They were a thoroughly unpleasant lot.
If it weren't for the order they carried from the capital, he would have lopped off their heads on the spot.
"Those bastards, besides the slaves, they were carrying that ledger. By the time we arrived, they had already been wiped out by someone, and the list had been taken."
"Who in the world…"
"We haven't been able to determine that. But one thing is certain: it wasn't the dogs from the capital. They're the ones who want it most."
If it had fallen into the capital's hands, word would have already spread. He wouldn't have had the time to be standing here talking.
"True, if they had it, we would have seen signs by now."
"Be careful. They are no ordinary, skulking curs. You must take care of yourself, especially at a time like this."
"We must burn it as soon as we find it. No matter how encrypted it is, if we can decipher it, so can someone on their side."
Lando nodded at Krain's words. Indeed, if you can't secure it, burn it. That was the mission he had been given.
"Ah, by the way, who was that mercenary from before? He didn't seem ordinary."
"Who… Ah. A mercenary named Kratos. Despite his handsome appearance, his skills are extraordinary. We were lucky. He was a mercenary who happened to be passing through here just before those things attacked."
Krain Rzhev recalled Kratos and nodded. The amount of time that mercenary had bought them was immeasurable.
Without him, the walls would have fallen much sooner, and there would have been hundreds more surviving orcs.
By a rough estimate, he had single-handedly taken down nearly a thousand orcs in two battles.
"Lucky, you say…"
Lando didn't believe in luck. Perhaps that man was a clue.
"If he's such a talent, I should see him once before he leaves."
"That would be fine. His power was the real deal. Recruiting him would surely be a great help."
It was a time when talent was scarce. Enemies were everywhere, both within and without.
Of course, given the level of martial prowess he displayed in battle, they would have to be cautious.
"Kratos, Kratos, you say."
Before meeting him, he would have to run his information network. To find out what kind of man he was.
If he was an enemy, he would kill him. If not, recruiting him seemed like a good idea.
After all, the fewer variables in anything, the better, wouldn't you say?