The Necromancer Commands Slaves, Not Undeads

29 – Winter and the Tracker (5)

Maybe Znul was flustered by the situation, he did not open his mouth for a while. For the orcs, this would be their first encounter with these undead.

I watched Znul with a relaxed expression, and after a long silence, Znul opened his mouth.

“You’re a mage.”

“Clearly.”

“I’ve never heard of such a magic. Who the hell are you?”

It was a complete turnabout. I returned his words with a smile.

“First, you’ll have to answer my question.””At present, the only thing I can say to you and your subordinates is that I will kill you.”

Znool’s expression twitched. Incensed by his words, the orcs began to shout.

“Such a human, how insolent!”

“How dare you think that you can topple us orcs with your skinny bones?”

“I’ll tear that insolent tongue out and chew it right now!”

Unlike the infuriated orcs, Znool seemed to be thinking calmly. He spoke with a composed voice.

“The reason we are heading towards the human village is because we need women. Because we need to expand our forces.”

I stared at the orcs with a disgusted look. Znool began to speak again.

“A human woman can bear the child of an orc. The female orcs within our clan are all pregnant. Thus, we must find new ones to carry our seed.”

“We must breed strong warriors, hence the need for human women.”

At this, Dorothy, Phillip, and I stared at the orcs, appalled once more.

The words from the orcs transcended my wildest imagination.

While I wouldn’t claim to know anything about orc thought processes or ethics… I didn’t know they could be so wicked.

Dorothy drew her sword, glaring at Znool angrily.

“The women of Keld village aren’t your tools!”

Znool and the orcs scoffed at her words and retorted.

“That’s just a standard you humans have set. We need to have stronger forces! To prepare for the upcoming prophecy!”

“Crazy.. Are you devoid of basic humanity!”

Phillip was expressing his anger towards the orcs. He was the most enraged person in this place right now.

The orc’s words essentially meant they wanted to plunder all the women Phillip cared for and lived with…

However, ignoring Phillip’s words, Znool continued speaking to me.

“If this village is your territory, wizard, we won’t mess with it. We don’t want to shed meaningless blood.”

I merely replied calmly. First, I needed to clear up the question. It’s enough to get emotional afterwards.

“What exactly is this prophecy you speak of?”

Znool chimed in, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“It’s the prophecy of the witches of the seasons. The winter witch came to us. To prepare for a battle that will happen in the not too distant future.”

Upon hearing the keywords ‘witches of the seasons’ and ‘winter witch’, I couldn’t help but remember one person specifically linked to those terms.

Grandpa had clearly told me this.

‘‘Seek out the fall witch, Moria.’’

Could the one who instigated them be the winter witch? Since they mentioned the witches of the seasons, presumably, the fall witch is among them as well.

An opportunity had come to clear up the persistent questions that kept arising.

I might even learn about the fall witch that grandpa mentioned from these orcs.

“Do you know the name of the Autumn Witch?”

“She’s one of the witches of the seasons.”

“Do you know where she is?”

“We don’t know.”

Contrary to my hopes, the orcs didn’t know anything about the fall witch. But if it’s information about the fall witch, wouldn’t the winter witch, being a witch of the same season, likely know?

“Where is the winter witch who prophesied to you now?”

“Well. The witches of the seasons do not stay in one place for long. They may be wandering the empire, spreading prophecies to others.”

This time too, a satisfactory answer did not return. Damn… all this did was increase my curiosity.

I sighed. While doing so, Dorothy poked my side with her finger. I looked at her.

Dorothy had an inquisitive look. I still hadn’t told her the witch-related tale. I answered her question briefly.

“I had something to ask the orcs.”

Upon hearing that, Dorothy fell silent next to me.He asked,

“Master, what will you do now?”

I fell into deep thought. If they bypass the Celtic village, there’s no reason to fight the orcs.

But they had stated their intentions. While I didn’t know the detailed plan, they had spoken about preparing for immense danger that’s forthcoming.

Part of their strategy was kidnapping human women to breed with them.

Dorothy was eager to fight right away, and Philip, the village elder, felt the same.

But they refrained from acting because I was the final decision-maker.

So now, what could I do?

If the orcs weren’t stopped right now, they would undoubtedly raze other villages to the ground.

Even if I managed to get a promise from them to refrain from pillaging other villages, that would be an empty promise.

A promise without enforcement was meaningless. History had proven that time and time again.

I made a firm decision.

“After hearing all your points, we have no choice but to fight.”

I don’t think of myself as a noble and good person.

I am not a saint, who would dedicate myself to others and put my life on the line.

But within my capacity, I have decided to lend a hand to those in need.

Just as the old man who helped me when I was wandering in the slums.

I will do just that.

“You are powerful. Most villages cannot withstand your raids. If you intend to pillage our women for breeding, our men will go to the battlefield to protect them, knowing they might end up dead.”

I yelled at the orcs with a strong voice.

“And that would create orphans wandering without parents.”

With a firm voice, loud enough for everyone present to hear.

“And that’s why I have to fight you. Because I used to be an orphan.”

I declared to the orcs.

Enraged by my unilateral proclamation, the orcs raised their weapons. I stared back at them without backing down.

“Charge!! Whoever beheads that ridiculous wizard will be rewarded with gold and a woman!!”

“Charge!! Kill the wizard!!”

“Gain the woman and gold!!”

Raising a cloud of dust, the orc infantry bravely started rushing forward.

I summoned the skeleton warriors to form a defensive line as tight as I could.

Against an orc army made up solely of infantry, a tight line would mean that their weapons can only hit a small number of skeleton warriors.

Unlike the swiftly moving skeleton warriors, the skeleton archer released their arrows.

With the sound of bows releasing their strings, a shower of arrows started flying towards the orc soldiers.

The orcs who knew how to fight managed to block many of the arrows while charging forward bravely.

But the orcs who were hit by arrows stumbled and fell, rolling on the ground.

“Don’t be scared!! Once we’re engaged, we will crush them all!!”

Quickly marching over their fallen comrades, they continued forward.

Finally, the orc infantry clashed with the skeleton warriors.

The cruel sound of weapons clanging echoed across the battlefield.

The orc infantry had no chance of victory in this intense fight. While they sustained injuries, the skeleton warriors seemed unaffected by the orcs’ attacks.

The orcs struggled to penetrate the sturdy defense of the skeletons.

Meanwhile, arrows were continuously raining down on the orc infantry.

“Damn it!! Break through!!”

“Why are these bastards so tough!!”

The skeleton warriors didn’t take any damage from the arrows stuck in them, they were practically the best shields.

But the situation didn’t maintain its advantage.

Barging through his troops, the orc leader Zunul advanced to the front. He spun his massive axe with all his might, mowing down skeleton warriors left and right.

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Three skeleton warriors were sliced at their waists by Zunul’s axe.

Shouting courageously, Zunul cried out.

“Fight, you idiots!! Fight!! Even if it’s a wizard, a human can never beat an orc!”We cannot lose!! Prove your strength here and now!!”

At Zunul’s shout, the morale of the orcs rose once again. One by one, they started to smash the skeleton warriors, roaring as they fought.

Half of the skeleton warriors fell, and the orcs cheered with excitement.

“Fight!! Fight!!”

They dared to claim victory, but in that moment:

Boom-. Boom-. As the faint vibrations were heard, the orcs realized something they had forgotten.

The undead bears disappeared for a while, then resurfaced once again.

The undead bears charged at the Orc infantry who were stuck in the melee of skeleton warriors, roaring.

The impact of their massive bodies, over 5M, against the flanks of the orc infantry, was devastating. Even the well-built elite orcs fell helpless.

“Arghhhhh!!!”

“Ughhhhh!! Damn!!”

“Deal with that bear somehow!”

Looking at the battlefield that had fallen into chaos due to the sudden attack by the bears, orc bodies and skeleton bones were seen flying in the air.

But Zunul didn’t give up easily.

He was a gifted commander. He roared and re-organized the formation.

As he led, he focused his attack towards the cranium of the incoming bear, shattering it by bringing down his axe with all his might.

His inspired combat kept the morale of the orc soldiers from dwindling.

“Fight! Zunul is with you!!”

Meanwhile, Dorothy, who had been watching the relentless fight, spoke up.

“I think it’s time for me to join.”

“Be careful.”

Dorothy smiled.

“Don’t worry.”

She started heading towards the battlefield.

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