Winter Kingdom (3)

The chimeras' eyes turned menacing.

"Necromancer. You have made a foolish decision. You, too, shall be disposed of."

Their pincers clacked.

Just then...

[The orcs behold a hero!]

[The orcs are deeply moved by your courage!]

[They break free of their learned fear!]

[A spirit of resistance takes root in their hearts!]

"Chwik! Urkan won't abandon brother!"

Urkan was the first to join my side. His massive axe blade gleamed coldly. One by one, the orcs raised their axes. Before long, every orc in the village was glaring fiercely at the chimeras.

"Chwik! Great warrior! We follow!"

"We not bugs!"

"Evil monsters! Kill!"

"Kill them."

The chimeras clacked their massive pincers. Their long spider legs stepped onto the snow-covered ground, and they began charging toward us.

"Let's go, brothers!"

"Orcs! Orcs!"

Kim Minwoo and the orcs charged forward as well.

Just before we closed the distance, I summoned skeletons beneath their feet. White hands grabbed wildly at dozens of spider legs, slowing their charge a little.

'Take out the commander first.'

I summoned Cedric and the mages. The largest chimera swung its pincers in a wide arc.

I dropped into a slide, slipping beneath its body. Eight legs sprouted from its torso. I thrust my sword upward with all my might.

[The title 'Hunter of the Strong' activates!]

[Damage increases by 10%!]

Increased damage against monsters at least 200 levels higher.

As the effect activated, my sword sank deep into the vulnerable skin of its underside and began cutting a straight line along its body. Purple fluid burst out.

"Aaagh!"

The chimera screamed at the pain from below. Before it could recover, Cedric thrust his spear.

[Dragon Strike (S) is used!]

The tremendous energy gathered around his spear struck the chimera's arm.

BOOM!

Its ordeal did not end there.

"Chwik! Die!"

Eyes blazing red, Urkan hammered down his axe again and again.

A B-rank chimera against a D-rank orc. Normally, the chimera should never have been pushed back. But Urkan was different. He was a boss monster, and even against a chimera, his might was plain to see. Each savage axe blow dented its pincers.

Cedric and Urkan attacked together. With Kim Minwoo slashing at its underside and the mages, now positioned behind them, unleashing a barrage of spells, the commander's body was torn to shreds in moments.

Having slipped out behind it, Kim Minwoo planted a foot on the chimera's body. He leaped up with all his strength, landed on its back, and plunged his sword into its neck.

"Graaagh!"

Clutching its neck as blood spurted out, the chimera staggered, dropped heavily to the ground, and collapsed.

[Your level increases!]

[The skeletons' combat experience...]

[The skeleton mages' combat experience...]

I looked at the remaining chimeras. Orcs and skeletons swarmed them from all sides, attacking.

The chimeras weren't taking it lying down, either. An orc and a skeleton caught in their giant pincers were both neatly split in half. The skeleton revived thanks to Death Lord's effect, but the orc did not.

Even the revived skeleton wasn't faring well. I saw one of the legs kick it away, canceling its summon.

"Urkan! Cedric!"

"On my way."

"Chwik! Kill!"

Human, undead, and orc joined the battle once more.

* * *

"Whew."

The chimeras lay fallen, their limbs mangled. Even with my skeletons taking hits, the orcs had suffered heavy losses. Nearly thirty had been slaughtered in a single battle.

'Three levels from one battle.'

And that was with the experience shared among the orcs who had fought alongside me. It showed just how powerful the chimeras were.

Just then, Urkan approached. Scratching his head, he said,

"... Senior. Thank you. Without you, we all dead. Thanks to you, only this many died."

"Same goes for me. I'm alive because you found your courage, Urkan."

If they hadn't found their courage, I would have had to gulp down enhancement potions like water. Do that a few times, and toxicity would set in. The orcs had played a major role by preventing that.

As I patted his shoulder, messages appeared.

[Urkan's affinity increases greatly!]

[Urkan begins to regard you as a 'true brother'!]

[Urkan will now leap into a fire at your command!]

Loyalty test passed.

I read the messages with satisfaction. Soon, the orcs began moving the chimera corpses onto the bonfire.

"Chwik! Tasty meat! Meat!"

"Want to eat now! Hungry!"

Drooling, the orcs began roasting the chimeras. Being such indiscriminate omnivores, they probably saw even chimeras as just another meal.

SIZZLE!

Once the chimera had been roasted like any other cut of meat, Urkan chopped off the leader's head with his axe.

"Chwik! Senior! This tastiest part! I let you have it!"

He seemed to genuinely believe that. His eyes were full of longing as he offered it to me.

"... You eat your fill. Your senior isn't hungry."

"... Chwik! Then I eat this!"

The orcs began wolfing down the chimera meat. Somehow, it was a pitiful sight.

'Not that I can just bring out my food.'

That could keep us going for about a month. I had brought a considerable amount of food in my spatial storage, after all. But it wasn't a lasting solution. We'd eventually reach an ending where we all starved to death together.

Unless it was truly urgent, I was better off saving it.

Fortunately, the chimeras were huge. There was enough for over a hundred orcs to eat their fill. This would give them the strength to keep going for a day or two.

Meanwhile, I examined my newly acquired titles.

[New Title List]

[1. Brother of the Ice Forest Orcs]

[You have become a brother to the Ice Forest orcs.]

[Effect: Orc affinity increases slightly faster]

[2. One Who Walks the Hero's Path]

[You have chosen a path full of trials. If you succeed, its true effect may be revealed.]

[Effect: ???]

'Not bad.'

Now that I was working with the orcs, a title that raised their affinity faster was useful. And One Who Walks the Hero's Path looked like a guaranteed jackpot if I succeeded.

Next, I checked the gate's changed difficulty.

'B-rank, huh...'

It had jumped two whole ranks, from D to B. The average monster level in a B-rank gate ranged from 251 to 350. At that difficulty, monsters like the orc royal guards I'd seen in the Trial of the Death Lord would show up in droves.

The gate's clear objective had probably changed when I sided with the orcs. This must have been a sign of just how difficult it was.

'At least it's not S-rank.'

In S-rank gates, the monsters' average level started at 500. Even for the world's number-one gamer, some things were simply impossible. You had to know the difference between confidence and recklessness.

If it had been S-rank, I would have immediately set out to find an intermediate zone. In that case, getting out first and thinking later would have been the right move.

But B-rank was different. It would be difficult, sure, but if I pulled out every trick I had, clearing it wasn't impossible.

It was doable.

'Now I need to decide where to go.'

Fortunately, there was a wise elder who could point the way at a time like this. I approached the old orc with grease all around his mouth.

"Bektar. At this rate, we'll starve to death. Is there any way to get food?"

Bektar crunched on a spider leg, then answered.

"Chwik. Two ways come to mind."

"Let's hear them."

"First is hunting. Some monsters survived the cold. Hunt those, and we won't go hungry for a while. But dangerous."

I nodded. If they were easy to hunt, the orcs here would have eaten them long ago. They were probably much stronger than the orcs.

It was only a stopgap, but at least that gave us one option.

"What's the second way?"

"... Chwik. Deal with cause of this cold."

"The cause? What's that?"

"Ice Dragon gave Witch the Essence of Winter. Witch split it and planted pieces across continent. Then built fortresses over them."

[Keyword acquired: 'Essence of Winter'.]

[Keyword acquired: 'Fortress'.]

"So if we deal with the essence inside the fortress, the weather could warm up?"

"Chwik, yes. At least cold in this northern region will end. Land will teem with life once more."

"Tell me everything you know about the fortress."

"Fortress guarded by an Apostle, a servant of Witch. Apostle's power is terrifying. This north... is domain of Apostle Belitas."

[Keyword acquired: 'Apostle Belitas'.]

"Besides the Apostle, are there a lot of underlings?"

"Many. Corpse Collectors, dark mages, necromancers, wraith warriors... Fortress is place filled with energy of death."

I was starting to get the picture.

'These Apostles are a kind of midboss.'

I'd have to break through a fortress full of their underlings, then extract or destroy the essence hidden deep inside. That might warm up the weather and fulfill the gate's clear condition.

Just then, Bektar picked at his teeth with a spider claw and spoke.

"Chwik. Great warrior. Corpse Collectors dead. Soon, Apostle's servants will notice something wrong and come swarming."

"You seem pretty calm about that."

"We prepared to die when we stood against them. And..."

Bektar's gaze turned solemn.

"I do not believe great warrior like you will die easily in place like this. We follow you and resist Witch. Until our lives burn out!"

[Keyword acquired: 'Founding a Resistance'!]

[You can now develop a resistance force.]

[The resistance will fight alongside you against the Witch and Ice Dragon.]

[But beware.]

[As the resistance grows in strength, the Witch and Ice Dragon will pay increasingly close attention to you.]

[Current Resistance Strength]

[Leader: Kim Minwoo]

[Members: 1 human, 102 orcs]

[Level: Clueless Primitives]

[Average Level: 121]

[Food Situation: Not very good]

[Morale: Burning with fighting spirit]

[Enemy Alertness: 0 (They are not even aware the resistance exists yet)]

Now I finally understood how to clear this gate.

'So it's a faction war?'

Expand the resistance and raise its average level. Build it up, then clash head-on with the Apostle. That was the setup.

He'd said the Apostle's servants would come calling along the way, so we'd have to overcome them, too.

One thing was certain for now.

'I can't do anything with 102 orcs.'

There was a reason people said strength lay in numbers. We needed to bulk up.

"Are there any other orcs nearby besides you?"

"Chwik. A few small tribes. Always competing for food."

I looked at the orcs finishing their meal. They were sucking the bones, reluctant to let anything go to waste.

I shouted to them.

"If you're done eating, grab your tools! We're going to beat up the orcs next door!"

"Chwik? A fight?"

"Chwik! I join too!"

Eyes gleaming, the orcs picked up their axes.