Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 259



Only Krnovel

Subject Here – Episode 259. Horseshoes and Gunpowder (2)

Kookookookookook… … .

There was a huge explosion and debris flying, but the actual damage to the orc horde was not that great. Isaac continued to strike the orcs with lightning again to prevent them from reorganizing their formation. Screams and angry shouts erupted every time the lightning struck the ground.

‘Isaac!’

At that moment, Hesabel’s warning was heard. Isaac quickly changed Nel’s movement and the moment he rose sharply, the shot passed him by with a precarious gap.

The cannon that had crossed the sky fell somewhere in the sky and made a loud noise.

‘You’re firing anti-aircraft fire from a four-legged cannon? Are you crazy?’

As the artillery fire missed Isaac, a swearing roar was heard from the group of orcs. Isaac hurled his thunderbolts at them again, but this time it didn’t hit as hard as he had hoped. Although they are somewhat small in stature, their tough skin and strong stamina are the racial characteristics of orcs. And they don’t care much about death in the first place.

Boom, bang!

As several more sharp shots flew towards Isaac, it became difficult to make accurate attacks from low altitude.

‘You’re working a miracle. Is the cannon blessed by your ancestors? … .’

It may sound funny, but it is not a joke. The Olkan code requires the shaman to place the protection of the ancestral spirits on the cannon. Isaac instructed Nell to move separately, and jumped down when the height became low.

“Katawal White Tiger King! The devil has come down!”

“Oh, you’re coming down on your own two feet. Cut off his head! Put it in the cannon and shoot it!”

An orc wearing an ornate headdress roared loudly and swung his sword. Soon, three or four orcs, holding curved swords, rushed toward Isaac.

There was no need to take out the sword. Kachulain’s sharp blade cut through the orc’s sword and torso at the same time. There was no difference in the speed of fighting and running.

This meant that the orcs couldn’t even stop Isaac due to air resistance.

The orc cavalryman named Katawal realized that Isaac was just as threatening as he was when riding his dragon, so he quickly pulled his horse back and shouted.

“Net grenade launcher!”

Boom! Even though Isaac was still fighting the orcs, a cannonball came flying with a loud noise. But this time, it wasn’t an ordinary cannonball, but a cannonball made of iron mesh. The orcs in front of him were chopped into pieces the size of the iron mesh and rained down on Isaac.

Only then did Isaac take out his sword and cut the iron net.

The iron net roughly cut past Isaac, but he couldn’t avoid being covered in the orcs’ blood all over his body. The orcs fired their cannons at a close range, but Isaac was unharmed, so he felt that the situation was serious.

Isaac ran back towards them, blood and flesh dripping from his body.

Only then did the orcs know what to do and mount their horses in unison, even before the White Tiger Commander gave his orders.

It wasn’t because they were scared. Their battles started after they mounted their horses. Baekhojang had already mounted his horse.

“He’s a tough guy! Begin a delaying retreat!”

The orcs surrounding Isaac began to flee like an ebb tide. Isaac followed them and slashed a few of them in the back, but he could not keep up with the speed of their horses.

But then, an arrow pierced the horse of the fleeing Katawal White Tiger. It was an arrow shot by Hesabel. Katawal fell from his horse with a scream and rolled around. The orcs paused for a moment, but then fled without looking back.

Katawal struggled to get up and glared at Isaac as he approached.

Isaac knew that he wouldn’t be able to capture all the orcs anyway, so he planned to capture just one that he could interrogate.

Then Katawal ran to the cannon lying nearby and picked up the spark.

“I will kill you!”

In this day and age, cannons are over-technology, and the Orcs are also amazing marksmen.

But even so, shooting a person with a cannon is not an easy task. Even if it were not Isaac but a normal person, it would be impossible to hit them unless they ran towards the cannon.

But Isaac stopped, frowning.

“Don’t do it.”

Katawaldo’s face distorted as Isaac finally stopped.

Subject Here – “Just talk to me and I’ll let you go. You’re still in your prime, and your equipment seems good, so don’t you think your life is a waste? I know it’s useless to kill you anyway. Just talk to me and I’ll let you go. Put down the lights.”

Isaac spoke to the level of the Olkan Discipline to convince Katawal.

For the first time, Katawal’s eyes, burning with anger, shook greatly.

It wasn’t because I was upset, but because I hadn’t expected Isaac to say something like that.

“You… … what are you? You seem to know a lot about us.”

“I know a little.”

The Olkan Discipline believes in reincarnation. No, they actually do reincarnate.

And I even have the memories intact.

When a follower of the Olkan Discipline dies, their soul temporarily escapes. It then automatically moves to the nearest Olkan Discipline priest, the ‘shaman’. The shaman determines the order of reincarnation and the family to be born again.

There are cases where the soul is lost for unknown reasons, but most orcs born in the Olkan Discipline are like this. Some monsters have been reincarnated dozens of times. That’s why the Olkan Discipline has a weak concept of family, but a strong sense of community. Naturally, children are raised together.

Of course, this system also has its problems, but if you raise the wrong problem, you may be ‘reincarnated’.

The Black Empire had something in common: it was an alliance of those who enjoyed ‘immortality’ in some way.

“Are you interested? Then let’s exchange questions one by one.”

Katawal chuckled at Isaac’s words.

“I don’t care. Go to hell.”

Katawal answered and thrust the torch into the cannon. The cannon was filled with the remaining gunpowder and propellant. He tried to detonate it when Isaac got close, but it was useless since he had already noticed.

Isaac quickly stepped back.

Before he could take a few steps, a huge explosion flattened the middle of Soerl’s street.

***

Only in the morning did Isaac see that the orc horde had completely left.

The officials and nobles who had been terrified and holding out in the city hall crawled out, trembling. The soldiers walked around the ruined city to check the damage.

“Thank you. Thank you so much. If the Grail Knight hadn’t come, we would have… … .”

The mayor of Soer, elected by the merchants and nobles, held Isaac’s hand and thanked him several times. Isaac had much to say about how a large city like Soer had been defeated by a horde of about a hundred orcs, but he could not blame him.

The Empire has rarely intertwined itself with the Olkan Discipline, and the cannon itself is a secret weapon that ranks among the most cutting-edge technologies even within the Olkan Discipline.

Above all, the reason was that a large number of troops withdrew, saying things like “the Dawn Army” and so on, and also because security was weakened, soldiers focused only on the inside of the city instead of guarding the outside.

“No. As a believer of the same faith, it is my duty to help. More importantly, the orcs may return at any moment. Have you recovered all the cannons?”

“Yes, ah, yes. From what I’ve heard from the soldiers, those horrible fire-spitting lumps of metal? Cannons, I think? There were only three of them. But they’ve all been destroyed… … .”

Isaac was disappointed at the condition of the recovered cannons. The ones Isaac had struck by lightning at first and the ones Katawal had filled with gunpowder and set off were obviously unusable, and the ones he had left were all blown up inside right before they escaped, rendering them useless. They were thorough.

The mayor of Soer muttered and sobbed, as if his stomach was tingling just at the sight of the cannon.

“Where on earth did these savages make these weapons? Do they have a furnace craftsman?”

Isaac muttered with a long sigh.

“Olkan, the god of discipline, is said to wander the afterlife and plunder heaven. As he does so, he whispers secrets and knowledge of the afterlife to his followers.”

“… … Plunder the gods? Is that possible?”

“They are very god-like of the Orcs. However, they can only convey technology and miracles, and are said to be unable to convey their own philosophy, culture, or art. They are literally barbarians.”

Fantasy techno barbarian.

It was an accurate expression that permeated the orcs of this world.

It is practical if it is practical, but it has the disadvantage of being slow to progress until the Olkan of the Underworld imparts additional knowledge.

Subject Here – ‘Why should I study? I can just steal knowledge.’

They are a race whose common sense is completely different from that of ordinary civilization.

Because of this, the religion that was most at odds with the Orkan Discipline was none other than the World’s Hearth Cult. The biggest feature of the Orkan Discipline, ‘reincarnation’ itself, was a secret stolen from the World’s Hearth. Because it was the sacred concept of ‘rebirth’ that was stolen, the dwarves wanted to tear apart and kill any orc they saw.

Because they had the most technology stolen, and they didn’t even show any respect for that technology.

‘In fact, cannons were first created by the world’s furnaces… … But now that the All-Khan Discipline has brought out something that was kept a secret even from the Empire, things will be turned upside down again.’

***

As Isaac was gathering his thoughts, a soldier who had roughly completed his survey of the damage approached and reported. The mayor let out a sigh of relief after hearing the report.

“Still, I’m glad that the damage wasn’t as bad as I had feared.”

Compared to the fact that the Olkan Discipline had nearly destroyed half of the city, not many places were burned or collapsed. Just the city walls, watchtowers, and the city hall. This was in contrast to the fact that many houses outside the city walls were burned.

“I also think I’m really lucky. If it was a cannon, it would have leveled the city and still had some left… … .”

There was no need to use cannons to level a city, since cannons don’t usually eat gunpowder. Isaac realized that the orcs were moving quite efficiently and only targeting key targets.

‘This is no ordinary plunder.’

Such pinpoint attacks are a prelude to conquest. That is why the city was not set on fire. In a large city, fires spread quickly.

Isaac quickly figured out what it meant.

‘They’re just a scout or a vanguard.’

Perhaps they had raided several houses for plunder and reconnaissance. However, since Soeru’s defenses seemed weaker than expected, they concluded that they could conquer it on their own.

Actually, that would have been the case if Isaac hadn’t come.

Isaac’s expression became serious.

‘Has the great plunder of the Olkan discipline begun?’

Isaac, who had seen the ending with the Olkan Discipline, thought that the situation could become serious. He didn’t know what his actions were, but the butterfly effect that started somewhere was moving even the Olkan Discipline.

“I’m asking just in case, but are there any captured orc prisoners?”

“Oh, yes. Not a single one. Those damned bastards. They all either committed suicide or were killed by their comrades before they were captured. How could they do that… … It seems like they aren’t even afraid of death.”

‘Well, I guess it’s better to just be reincarnated than to be captured.’

The Orkhan Discipline is a difficult enemy. The Orcs themselves are physically strong, but their technology is superior to that of the Empire, and as a nomadic people, most of them are light cavalry, and they do not even fear death. Even when they die, their experience is accumulated.

He is the worst opponent to have as an enemy.

The only drawback was that the lifespan of the species itself was short, but even that was meaningless thanks to reincarnation.

An invasion by the Olkan Discipline was always a major crisis for the Empire, especially in a time of internal and external turmoil like the present.

‘Well… … it’s not like there are no weaknesses, though.’

It wasn’t a difficult task, especially for Isaac, who had already managed to stop the invasion of the Olkan Discipline several times. However, one condition had to be met before that.

“Restore the walls and prepare for an invasion. In the worst case scenario, a large force of Olkan Discipline will come.”

The mayor looked frightened at Isaac’s words.

“Huh? Well, then wouldn’t it be better to evacuate until the sect or imperial forces arrive?”

“The Dawn Army didn’t expect much, and the Imperial Army… … It would be fortunate if the Imperial Army arrived on time. However, there is a way to stop it. If this is a full-scale invasion by the Olkan Discipline, there will definitely be people who will help.”

Isaac looked up at the northern sky.

A proud dwarf who hides like a hermit in the world.

If you let them know that there are guys coming who want to crush them like a lump of iron on an anvil, they will definitely pay attention.

However, it is not known whether the dwarves will move as quickly as expected.

‘… … I guess I’ll have to spread some scary rumors over there until someone comes to help.’