Adan also knew since he watched everything. As Frakers came nearby, he waved a flag in his hand with all his strength.
“Fire!”
As soon as the stretched ropes loosened, huge spears and rocks were simultaneously shot in the air. With a nervous smile on his face, Adan was thinking there was no way that Frakers could dodge those artillery weapons in this close distance. But shortly after, he opened his eyes wide.
Frakers swerved and swirled their bodies like a spinning top. They dodged artillery weapons by changing their direction rapidly to both left and right. Not surprisingly, Adan’s head went blank while watching those spears and rocks flying and rolling over in the field without hitting their targets.
The battle was over now. Frakers were faster than speedy cavalries. Meanwhile, it would take a significant time to get artillery weapons ready again.
* * *
Queek. Bam! Thud!
By Frakers’ forehead wielding attacks, artillery weapons were destroyed at once. Broken pieces of wood scattered around all over the place. At his wit’s end, Adan turned his camel’s head and retreated.
He didn’t even have to order his subordinates to retreat. The artillery units already got on their camels quickly and were running away in fright. Also, the camel archers scattered around in every direction as Frakers got pissed off and chased after them because of the arrows they shot.
‘Oh, I see. That’s why the Kara Castle had fallen in the first battle. With such weak soldiers, there’s no way Kara could defend itself from enemies.’
I was dumbfounded because of those shameful Kara soldiers. Since their command system had collapsed, nobody was giving any orders. Instead of fighting against Frakers, all of the soldiers were busy running away. But thanks to their shameful runaway, there’s no casualty yet.
Nonetheless, I still felt really worried about their future.
Zenbe came over to me with his frowning face.
“They are warriors. What the hell are they doing right now?”
“They just want to save their lives first.”
“All human warriors are like them?”
“No, they’ve just indulged in peace which makes warriors into a herd of sheep. Or politicians at best.”
Kara had no powers of hostility around its territory. Nearby Shikar Tribe served Kara as its suzerain and the Emir Braham’s army, considered to be pretty strong, was stationed beyond the Devil’s Trade Route.
Of course, there were some vicious desert bandits roaming around in the Devil’s Trade Route. However, they still had to keep an amicable relationship with Kara because they would be in serious trouble if Kara stopped food and smuggling trades with them.
Therefore, Kara could enjoy the era of peace for a long time. And obviously, its army became very weak. People who had experienced battles were actually good at fighting in battles. So, it was true that Kara enjoyed peace for too long.
“They’re pathetic.”
As he grabbed his Titania and stood up, I gazed at him with subtle eyes.
“Not yet. They are not desperate enough.”
He scowled at me.
“Then when are you going to step in?”
“Well, I’m not the one who can make that decision.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well… the choice of goods is the customer’s and the shop owner must wait at the counter. This is the rule of our world.”
“So, we should wait until they come and ask for our help?”
“Bingo.”
Zenbe’s nose twitched. He seemed to hate the way I did my business. But it can’t be helped. The shop owners should not force customers to buy their goods. That’s high-pressure salesmanship.
“Ughhhh!”
At last, they had the first casualties. Quickly chasing after a soldier on his camel, a Fraker kicked his butts. The soldier flew off right away, scattering his blood in the air. His neck and waist got bent in the wrong direction when he fell on the ground so he’s probably dead. Yet, it’s quite a painless death for him. Another soldier was squashed by a Fraker’s huge foot and his chest got crushed without being able to scream out for the last time.
I slightly smiled when I saw a cloud of dust rising from a far distance in the desert. Adan and other commanders on their camels were hurriedly rushing towards me.
‘Even such an incompetent guy like him knows who can save his life. A human’s instinct for survival is surely amazing indeed.’
Not long after, Adan came to me hurriedly and got off his camel.
“Master!”
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Please kill those demons for us.”
“Well, we are off today…”
“What do you mean, sir?”
“I told you yesterday. We’ve just followed you guys to kill our time. But I also understand you guys are in a pretty urgent situation~”
Then I pulled the bill out of my arms and handed it over to him.
Once he checked the bill, his eyes got wide open. Extra 1208 riffs of gold were charged on the bill. Of course, byproducts would also belong to those who actually hunted demons.
“Sir, the bill is not the same as yesterday.”
“Oh, we charge double on our off days. You didn’t know that? That’s too bad~”
Adan and his subordinates behind made discontented faces.
At that moment, one of Frakers turned his head towards us. It seemed she thought we were easy prey because we weren’t running away unlike those Kara’s soldiers on their camels, fleeing away very quickly.
After Zenbe listened to our conversation, he started to pull up his power. His green skin gradually darkened and his eyes emitted a red glow. It’s the body transformation of a Berserker who used mana to maximize his strength and speed although the effect could last only a short period of time.
‘Damn, uncle Orc has a really quick temper. I’ve told him it’s not the right time yet.’
Without even pretending to hear what I said, Zenbe ran towards fast-rushing Frakers. This was why Orcs were the problem. They became so hot-tempered when facing a challenge.
As the black aura and white rays spurted out from his giant sword, a myriad of holy meteorites fell over Frakers.
After watching this scene, Adan opened his mouth wide because there was only one Berserker-level Master Swordsman who could wield a giant sword and cast Holy Meteor Magic at the same time.
“Is… is he Zenbe, the Holy Meteor?”
I sighed and got on my Jet-Black Crescent Horse.
“So you should make payment in full. If that uncle Orc gets pissed off, you are done.”
“Yes sir.”
Without a murmur, Adan took my offer.
Zenbe was the highest level Berserker Master and a great hero of the Orcs. Once others found out he’s here in Kara, thousands of Orcs mercenaries in the Great Desert would swarm together to serve him. The Orcs completely obeyed and flocked together to serve those with powers.
So if he made up his mind to conquer Kara, there’s no doubt that Kara would get into a desperately dangerous situation it had never experienced before.
“Good. We’re officially hired by you now.”
Once I shook the reins, the Crescent Horse let out a spooky shriek and started to run. The sound of crying, like the horror of the abyss, was instilling deep fear through the ears of Adan and other commanders.
While riding my horse, I stared at Zenbe who was fighting against Frakers.
He was slicing off Fraker’s waist at once with his Titania covered with the black Aura Blade. Then he climbed over her and smashed her head ruthlessly.
‘What a merciless guy. Although he doesn’t often listen to what I say, his strength and skills are awesome.’
Turning the head of my horse, I started chasing one Fraker who’s going after mercenaries and Kara’s soldiers. There wouldn’t be any danger left once I took care of that one.
I closed the distance in an instant. I was trying to sneak up and attack from behind her but I gave up because she was wielding her tail severely. With just one blow, I would be a dead man.
So I ran ahead and joined the group of mercenaries who’re running away from her.
“Hey, you nameless mercenary leader~”
Hearing my call, he turned around with a deathly pale face.
“You… you are…”
“We already took care of one. Now we need to hunt the other one and I can use your help. To be honest, you caused all this mess so you should take responsibility.”
“What… Ughhh!”
Alon suddenly flew off in the air, fell, and rolled on the ground. I snatched the back of his neck so he fell off from his camel. Covered in dust, Alon stood up without a moment to faint and drew his sword because the Fraker was coming right behind him with his mouth wide open.
“You son of b****!”
After swearing at me with all kinds of curses, Alon grabbed his sword tightly. At that moment the Fraker was about to swallow him, her head got engulfed in flames. It’s the Crescent Horse’s flame attack. While she closed her eyes due to flames, I launched myself. Then I sliced off her back in a Z-shape and cut out a large piece of her flesh.
As her body got stiff, the Fraker fell down and died. As soon as they lost their Chaos Pieces, demons were to die right away. I softly landed on the ground and wiped off blue blood on Yojo with my trousers. Then I picked up the piece of her flesh.
‘It is a pretty good haul.’
In the piece of her flesh, there was a large, transparent Chaos Piece. Its size was about the fist of a child so it might be around 700 units. What a good haul. Even if I sold it in a wholesale market, I would be able to get paid at least 30 riffs of gold.
Alon came over and grabbed me by the collar.
“Hey! Couldn’t you hear what I said?!”
I put his hands away and scowled at him with a murderous spirit.
“I could. So what?”
“How dare you use me as bait?!”
“You are still alive though.”
Feeling dumbfounded, Alon just opened his mouth without saying anything.
“What did you say?”
“If you didn’t even contribute as bait, you would’ve been killed by me, not Frakers. I do forgive traitors but never stupid assholes.”
“You son of b**** got a big mouth. Do you want…”
He was about to yell at me but didn’t finish his sentence after all because I put Yojo covered with the Aura Blade closer to his neck.
“Then you wanna be dead now?”
“No… no sir.”
Alon stepped back. Although his subordinates had already returned and were standing behind him, they couldn’t dare to think of helping him.
“Then beat it.”
In a fright, he backed off as if he’s running away. Then Zenbe, who was listening to our conversation, came over to me and said.
“Hey, you human. Why did you provoke him unnecessarily? Usually, those kinds of people lower their heads in front of you but sharpen their swords behind you.”
“I know. That’s why I don’t kill him right here.”
“What do you mean?”
I made a subtle smile.
“When a mercenary leader goes to a battle, will he be alone? He will certainly bring his underlings as well. So imagine how much money we could make. Seriously. It would be a pretty damn good haul. Hehehe.”
“Are you thinking…?”
I kept walking and then poked the waist of Zenbe with his bizarrely twisted face.
“Just let me know if you wanna join.”
“No thanks!”
“What’s wrong with you? I’m just trying to make some money.”
“If you keep treating others like that, you could get hurt big time someday. Even though you’re a Master Swordsman, you can’t defend yourself from surprise attacks every time.”
“Of course, you’re right. But you know what? The reason I could survive until the last moment was not because I was a Master Swordsman. Instead, the fact that I was a Master Swordsman made me lead the death march. And what about you? I’m kind of curious.”
“I am…”
As I subtly glanced at him, Zenbe clenched his teeth and avoided my eyes.
In the past, Zenbe was full of pride because he’s the highest level Berserker Master and got blessed by God. So he went to war against the Red Molar Tribe led by Grolmogg and eventually suffered a disastrous defeat.
“Never mind. I wasn’t really expecting an answer. Hehehe.”
While chuckling, I passed by his side.
I walked over towards the corpse of a Fraker hunted by Zenbe. Such a great job yet he didn’t complete the important task of collecting the Chaos Piece.
This uncle Orc must be really insensitive about money.
* * *