Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou Survival-Chapter 80

Orc Battle (4)

I didn’t have to go this far on my own.

But I made it this far on my own, and I also thought that this might be enough.

But I would not live long without strengthening my skills.

I decided to return through the dark forest to the abandoned village to hold off the Orcs until the evacuation of the town’s inhabitants was complete in the next five days.

I had the option of returning to the town once to recover, but it would take me at least a day to do so from where I fought the Orc Soldiers, and I was afraid that if I wasted more of my time, the Orcs would start their invasion since the food gathering crew had not returned.

I could have at least replenished my supply, but I decided that if I was going to spend my time traveling between village and forest, I might as well use it to rest and prepare.

But it looked like I wouldn’t even have time to get a decent night’s sleep…

Next evening, when I arrived at the abandoned village where the Orcs were, there, under the direction of the last remaining Orc Soldier, they had begun to scavenge the remaining food and prepare for departure.

From the looks of it, it would not be an immediate departure, but would probably be around tomorrow morning, after the hunting party that was supposed to be out collecting food would return.

Perhaps, the squad of Orc Soldiers I defeated was an advanced party that was going to raid the town, not to gather food. If that was the case, then it was no wonder that they had such excessive force.

I was really on the edge.

It was no longer possible to hold these guys here, but I made it just in time to reach them before they had left.

I climbed up a huge tree far enough to see the movement of the abandoned village, put some blackberries which I had found on the way and medicine I had left in my mouth, and closed my eyes until it got dark.

My body was exhausted, as it didn’t get any proper sleep or food in the past three weeks.

Yesterday, I forced myself to recover with medicine, but because of the accumulated fatigue after a full day of fighting, I only recovered to about 60% strength.

One hour until the sun set…I consciously took sleep to recover my strength and energy.

Sleeping normally restored both magic and physical strength twice as fast as when one was awake. So, I forced myself to sleep to recover from fatigue that had built up, and a few hours later, I woke up just in time for the sun to set, and the sky darkened, and started to move soundlessly in the darkness.

There was no stopping the Orcs any longer. If the 30 or so Orcs, including the higher species, acted collectively, there was no way I could handle them. However, there was something I could do in the situation before they started to move, and that’d be when they were scattered around in this abandoned village.

The plan was to assassinate the Orcs.

It would be difficult to assassinate Orcs with high vitality if they were in a normal state, but it should be possible now that they were in a weakened state due to poison.

First, they would patrol the area around the abandoned village. Since the route they took was close to the abandoned village, the three of them did not move together, but were patrolling alone.

“…”

Turning aiming at the patrolling Orcs, I hid into a tree and jumped down on an Orc as it passed below me, at the same time wrapped a thread around its neck and tightened it, using the momentum of my weight along with the speed of my fall.

[…ggah…a].

The Orc didn’t even realize it was being attacked and scratched its neck in sudden suffocation. But his actions were not enough to break the spider threads strengthened with magic power.

Half upside down, I kicked the back of the Orc’s head with my heel, tightening the threads at once and strangling it perfectly.

The trouble with monsters was that, even with this, they might turn into undead after a while. So, I wetted the ground with Flowing Water, turning it into a mud pile, and plunged the Orc’s face into it, further suffocating it.

This was the twenty-sixth body… I didn’t want the smell of blood to spread yet.

I found a second patrolling Orc and crept up on it. But the Orc, a young one perhaps, was walking only in the open, as if frightened.

To strangle this Orc’s neck instantly, I could not use the same technique as before because the speed of the fall from the treetops was also needed.

But in the open, there was another way to fight. I immediately wrapped my spare string around the handle of my black dagger, threw it in an arc, and smacked the Orc directly in the head.

*Gash…!

[…gah…]

The Orc immediately crumpled to the ground with its eyes white after being hit on the top of the head by the dagger, whose speed was strengthened by centrifugal force and magic. I quickly approached it and treated it the same way I did the first Orc, then sprinkled some leaves and soil to properly hide the corpse as I went to the next target.

In the same manner, I disposed of the three other Orcs that were patrolling the area. So far, the remaining Orcs in the abandoned village did not seem to have noticed me, as I had hardly shed any blood.

Just to be certain, I checked my surroundings with my night vision, which allowed me to see the color of the magical element, and I entered the abandoned village under the cover of darkness.

I saw the thirty-second Orc at the entrance of the village.

It would have been easier if I had half a day to spare and a powerful sleeping potion to use, but unfortunately, I did not have either. And to begin with, materials for powerful sleeping medicine could only be obtained from high-ranking plant-based monsters, so it was not something that could be easily prepared.

The village was still full of Orcs who were wide awake, probably because they were about to leave. For now, I decided to avoid the central area where the Orc General was said to be, and aimed at the settlements in the west and south.

In the western settlement, there were only ordinary Orcs, no sign of Orc Soldiers. Moreover, no Orc was awake.

I crept up to an abandoned house where I could hear the snoring of three Orcs sleeping. I took out a small glass bottle from my pouch, a rarity in this country, and poured its contents into the Orcs’ mouths.

This was not poison. It was pure alcohol, distilled many times for disinfection.

A human being would probably be unable to do anything but choke if such a thing were poured into their mouth, but a biologically robust Orc would have no problem.

When I returned to the first abandoned house after treating the four Orcs in the other houses in the same manner, I found that the first Orcs I had served alcohol to were sleeping heavily.

I gradually embedded a black dagger into the brain of the deeply sleeping Orc, avoiding large blood vessels that would spurt out blood, and moved on.

Finally, a shudder and a grunt was heard, but the individual did not wake up or any other Orcs noticed, so I went on and killed the remaining Orcs.

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

The reason I did not apply poison to my knives during normal combat was that the poison itself became almost ineffective when it was applied. Even if I had applied it beforehand, the poison would deteriorate just by being exposed to the air.

I heard that there was a special sheath that could store weak poison that did not deteriorate easily, as the Female Thief who kidnapped Elena had used it, but I did not ask for it.

I didn’t intend to be particular about how I fight. I wouldn’t hesitate to use poisons if I felt it was necessary for killing the person I had to kill. But I felt that if I continued to rely on poison in battle and became dependent on it, I would not be able to reach the strength I sought, which was just my selfishness.

This was the thirty-seventh body–

When I next headed to the southern settlement, there were only three Orcs that were still awake, and were most likely replacements for the Orcs that had been patrolling the area.

There were many more Orcs around the settlement to the west, probably those who were part of the hunting party and the soldiers.

Anyway, those three orcs had clumped together and were eating what looked like long potatoes. It’s troublesome…I watched them for a few minutes, and they didn’t seem to have any intention to disperse, so I forced the assassination.

“–Feel–“

I used [Feel] on the two Orcs that were sitting side by side, and those two that were touched in the ears turned around. At that moment, I snuck up on one that was wondering what it was, and directly stabbed my black dagger from underneath its mouth reaching its brain.

[boboo…]

I let go of my dagger before the other Orcs realized what happened and were still looking the other way. When one of them finally turned to this side after hearing a strange noise, I hit its jaws with an enhanced palm strike before striking its head.

[boo!?]

After taking care of this Orc, I immediately finished off the third one by stabbing it with my spare knife until it reached its brain, the same way as the first one.

This was the forty-second body–!

So much blood was spilled that one never knew when the smell of blood spreading would catch other Orcs’ attention.

The remaining enemies were one Orc General in the center, one Orc Soldier, and a dozen ordinary Orcs. But the problem was not the number. One Orc General alone was as much of a threat as fifty Orcs.

“…Fuuuh.”

I let the anxiety out as I exhaled air from my lungs and stretched to relax my body.

Both my magical power and strength were about 70%. My body also had some aches and scrapes, but no sore or bleeding tendons, and the bruises weren’t painful enough to interfere with movement.

I moved through the darkness and ran to the central settlement where the Orc General was located.

When I reached the location a few minutes later, I decided to do some reconnaissance based on my previous failure.

I saw eleven Orcs, all of them gathered in the central square, ready to invade.

Standing in the center was a single Orc Soldier, holding a rugged bow that looked as if it had been strung from a young, bent tree.

And…the huge Orc in the back, more than three meters tall, should be the Orc General.

I stepped back and climbed up to the roof of the abandoned house closest to the Orcs.

I removed the short arrow from my mini crossbow gimmick and took the short steel arrow from my pouch, the one I used for the longest range, and checked it for any scratches.

The tiny crossbow, given to me by my master, was a weapon used on enemies within five meters to hold them back. At that distance, it was powerful enough to penetrate bone, and even when aimed at a wooden plank, it would be able to penetrate deeply even if it was more than 30 meters away.

Just looking at it from this position, I sensed that it would be useless to shoot at the Orc General. It could probably also avoid long-range attacks, even if it was a surprise attack. Still, the reason I climbed up to the roof was to snipe the (Bow) user Orc Soldier.

The distance was 32 meters by eye. Even a steel arrow with a long range would not be able to penetrate the skull. So, to make the sniping effective, I used my trump card.

I took two small white porcelain jars out of my bag, carefully removed the lid from one of them, and then after placing a few drops of its contents on the leaves I prepared, I closed the lid.

After that, I removed the lid from another jar and dipped the tip of the arrow in it before closing its lid and placing both jars back in the bag before finally releasing my breath.

The tip of the arrow dipped in the chemical mixed with the drops on the leaf, and instantly a strange odor rose, corroding the steel arrow.

This was a two-part, deadly poison created by the master. Each one was harmless alone, but when mixed they turn into an intense, corrosive poison. The reason I had not used it before was that it was dangerous, even if I just breathed in the fumes. Using such a substance twice a day would damage the user.

Moreover, it was vulnerable to moisture, and even exposure to moisture in the air would cause it to lose its effectiveness. I carefully loaded the arrow into the gimmick, being careful not to breathe in the smoke or even blow on it, and chanted the dark magic I had composed in my head.

“–Heavy–“

It was a dark magic that directed an object in any direction instead of changing its weight. I said magic, not sorcery because I had already changed the configuration to make it more precise.

My Archery with a crossbow was only Level 1, but if I combined Heavy with Level 3 dark magic, I could extend the hit rate, distance, and power by more than 30%.

At that moment, the Orc General looked up, and the Orc Soldier with the (bow) raised his bow with a cry of alarm.

The (Bow) user noticed me, probably because of the smell of poison or the use of magic. It notched an arrow that was as long as the bow, that was most likely around two meters long, and pulled it out at once. In return, I channeled magic power into my mini-crossbow as I aimed at it.

Sweat poured down my forehead from extreme concentration as the Level 4 archer grinned, angled up, and took aim at my face.

Pow!

An arrow was shot from the bow. I watched the trajectory of the arrow as it sliced through the wind, roared and came at me, and I too, shot a crossbow arrow from my hidden weapons.

I tilted my head at the moment of the shot… then precisely released the mini-crossbow arrow, as the arrow passed my head and cut off a few strands of my hair. My mini-crossbow bolt in exchange shot through the left eye of the (Bow) user, that was momentarily stiffened.

…Forty-one.

You were not weak. It’s just that you weren’t prepared enough.