The riverside village of Zabiyaba in the Barony of Virgo had about a hundred soldiers stationed there.

Originally, around fifty were stationed as a standing army, but recently Baroness Virgo had dispatched soldiers to villages and cities throughout the barony. The village residents naturally grew anxious due to the nearly doubled number of soldiers.

"Could there be a war happening? The war with the Demon King's army still isn't over, so maybe here too soon...."

"Or maybe a dungeon appeared. Adventurers have been coming and going frequently lately. Could it be related to that?"

"Stop jinxing it. They probably just dispatched soldiers to flex some power. The new baron's a woman, so she thinks she's being looked down on and is overcompensating."

Amid all kinds of speculation, the soldiers did their best in their assigned roles. The baroness cleverly formed units with soldiers whose hometown was the village they were assigned to.

"Nah, there's no way that'll happen!"

"If monsters show up, we'll handle them! Haha, don't worry!"

Getting along casually with the village residents was problematic, but at least their enthusiasm for protecting their village and hometown was impressive.

From the moment rumors began circulating that forty Blue Lion guild adventurers had been wiped out, the guards watched movements beyond the wooden fence through the watchtowers.

And they quickly spotted the orcs camped on the hill. Sharp-eyed young men detected the anomaly on the hill, and fast-footed young men quickly went on reconnaissance.

"Orcs! A horde of orcs! Almost a hundred!"

Though one young man suffered a serious injury with an arrow through his knee, creating a hole, a hundred orcs were no small threat to the village.

"You, get on a horse right now and go to Spica Castle! Tell the baroness about the orcs!"

The guard captain urgently sent a messenger. If only they had a communication crystal, they could relay this news in real-time, but unfortunately, such advanced magical tools didn't exist in this backwater village.

"What's the orcs' composition?!"

"They were all holding wooden clubs! There didn't seem to be any high-level individuals like orc riders, and they were all regular soldiers with crude equipment. Not even leather armor."

"...? Are they crazy?"

The guard captain tilted his head at the orc horde's condition.

"Even if this is the rear, orcs showed up with nothing but clubs and no armor?"

"Yes. A few were armed with iron swords or axes, but most looked like the slave orc soldiers you sometimes see in the arena."

"...I see. It's a scouting party. There's no way otherwise."

Based on his experience, the guard captain gauged the orc unit's identity.

"There's definitely a dungeon. It might even be a high-level one. What kind of dungeon throws away a hundred-orc unit like trash? Tsk, this place will become a battlefield now too."

As soon as the guard captain finished speaking, the ground began to shake heavily. The entire earth trembled as if an earthquake was happening. But the rhythm was regular.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

"These bastards...!"

The orcs started stomping their feet in unison. A drumming resonance came over the fence, and people were gripped with fear.

"Don't worry! We'll handle everything! Knights will come from Spica Castle!"

The guards calmed and reassured the panicked people. The disturbance was quickly suppressed, and the guards let out nervous laughter at the sight of orcs walking along the main road from the front.

"Look at those idiots. Want to become pincushions?"

"I heard roasted orc tastes like pork."

"Really? We're gonna feast today."

After the continued battles with the Demon King's army, humanity had succeeded in processing monster byproducts into food ingredients. And orcs, when roasted directly over fire until crispy, had the poison drain from their flesh and tasted like pork.

"...They keep coming?"

"Are they crazy? Dying to get arrows in their heads?"

Boom, boom, boom.

The guards swallowed hard at the sound of orcs marching in step. Even veterans who'd faced orcs before felt chills at the unusual sight of these orcs.

Boom, boom, boom!

The orcs' marching speed was actually getting faster. When the robed orc at the front quickened his pace, the following orcs all began moving in sync.

"...What the fuck are these bastards?"

The guard captain grew puzzled as he scanned where the orcs were walking—no, running. It wasn't even the fence's main gate, but a thick section where logs were driven whole into the ground, making it hard to collapse.

"Are they trying to die smashing their heads on the fence?!"

It was possible. Monsters often displayed madness that was hard to judge by human common sense. Dark mages mainly made monsters go berserk and charge recklessly.

"Fuck, intercept them! Shoot arrows!"

Uoooooooooh----!!

The orcs started charging with war cries. Like enraged bulls, the orcs rushed forward as if they couldn't see the thick fence.

"Damn it!"

They looked ready to charge the fence even if it meant becoming meat paste. At the guard captain's shout, eight guards standing in the nearby watchtower hurriedly raised their bows.

"Fire—"

Fwing-!!

The bow of a guard about to raise it shattered. The bow split in half, and this abnormal phenomenon wasn't limited to just one person.

"Captain! Sniping!"

"Damn it, just shoot!"

Since the fence wasn't in the form of a castle wall, the moment the guards who climbed the watchtowers were neutralized, there was no way to intercept. At least those who still had bows remained, but the sniping continued.

"Damn it, where are they shooting from! Crazy!"

It was just one person shooting, but they couldn't pinpoint the location. And because of that one person, all the watchtowers near the fence were neutralized.

Boom boom boom boom boom!

The orcs were charging at full speed. The guard captain could only hope the fence would hold firm as usual.

And at that moment.

Crack!

The sound of wood breaking entirely. Though the orcs hadn't even arrived yet, the cracking sound definitely came from the fence. And specifically from the fence the orcs were charging toward.

"...What?"

The fence is tilting right now? The guard captain's mouth went dry at a situation too creepy to be coincidence.

It couldn't be coincidence.

"Damn it! Everyone prepare for combat!"

Guards gathered near the fence hurriedly raised their swords and shields. Since they were charging at an unexpected location, it would take time for soldiers near the main gate to arrive.

Scrape, scrape.

The guard captain's ears caught the nerve-grating sound of wood being gnawed. At the thought, strength entered the guard captain's hands, and the fence was slowly tilting inward.

Crack!

Something red appeared from below the fence's pillars. He didn't know what it was, but those monsters had definitely done something to the wooden pillars from underground.

Rummmmmble—

The wooden pillars slowly began to tilt. And over the tilting fence, one robed orc leaped high.

Crack crack crack!!

The orc started running along the top of the tilting fence. If the fence hadn't tilted, he probably would've charged straight through it. And in the orc's hand was a thick tree that looked freshly uprooted.

"Quake Blow!!!"

The orc with glowing red tattoos on his face slammed the tree straight into the ground.

BOOOOOM!!!

Truly, the world shook.

***

Using slime dragons to dig tunnels had many risk factors. And we needed to show our legion's overwhelming power.

So I deployed various operations beforehand. I sent slime dragons beneath the fence early to gnaw at the base of the wooden pillars.

To prevent them from noticing the slime dragons' vibrations digging underground, I had the orc troops stomp their feet and advance noisily from the right moment.

The guards aimed arrows at our noisy advance. Lune, hidden among the orcs, sniped the threatening ones. Even while Eila carried and walked with her, Lune precisely neutralized the archers.

And at the right moment, when the slime dragons gnawed the fence's inner side and it began tilting.

I ran toward the fence.

I ran up the fence that was starting to tilt and jumped from the end.

Rush the fence? I did.

Charged straight ahead, and just happened to have good timing as the fence tilted over.

Slime dragons? I don't know anything about that.

Anyway, my jump with my full body weight made the fence crash to the ground, and I slammed down a tree I'd pulled up earlier, enhanced with Strength Enhancement buff.

The technique's name didn't really matter. Just to draw the guards' attention, I shouted whatever came to mind.

CRACK!

The log shattered and scattered everywhere. I let go as I struck down, and as the ground shook, the guards' stances crumbled. I rolled with the impact and quickly dashed forward.

"Shoot, shoot!"

The guy who looked like the captain ordered fire at me. But once their stance broke, immediately shooting a moving target was impossible for humans.

"Uooooh!!"

With a battle cry, I swung my arm behind my shoulder. My target for a direct punch was the guard captain. I had to crush the leader first.

"You bastard!"

The guard captain, who'd apparently seen some action, raised an iron shield. He seemed to think he'd block my fist with the shield, but that was foolish. The shield was a tower shield covering nearly his whole body.

'That shield looks just like Forneus's chest.'

Rage naturally welled up inside. I stretched my leg forward and twisted my waist as I threw my punch.

WHAM!!

My fist embedded in the steel shield. Though I failed to pierce through, my fist crushed the guard captain downward, shield and all.

"Gaaaah!"

Not letting go of the shield was commendable. But if he'd let go, blood wouldn't have burst from his hands gripping the shield. The puncher was fine, but the punched had blood explode from his hands.

"It's a difference in physicals, you little human!"

I extended my leg toward the guard captain hiding behind the shield. The guard captain fell to the ground, and I slammed my raised foot down.

BOOM!!

"Khuk!"

The guard captain screamed and coughed. The guard captain hiding under the iron shield endured my stomp with his body.

"Kill him right—!!"

At the guard captain's cursing, guards thrust spears at me. They were well-sharpened enough that it'd hurt pretty bad if I got stabbed.

Can't break them. I immediately got on top of the guard captain's shield.

"Guaaaah!!"

The guard captain was crushed under me standing on the shield. Standing on the shield, I grabbed the wooden club from inside my robe with both hands. The club carved like a baseball bat was thicker than my forearm.

"Where do you think—!"

I dodge thrusting spears by twisting my body. And using the dodge, I swing the bat diagonally down. I hit a guard's temple precisely, and the guard collapsed limply with blood bursting.

"This bastard!"

"Who you calling bastard, you bastard!"

I swung the bat at the path of someone trying to swing a sword from behind. The guard dropped his sword, and I thrust the blood-stained bat like a spear at the guard's face.

"Face smash!!"

"Khuek?!"

I thrust the bat at the guard's face like pounding garlic with a rolling pin. His already crooked hooked nose crumbled at my batting. The guard fell backward with a nosebleed.

"Come at me if you dare, you bastards!!"

I wildly swung the bat while bouncing in place. Like a shaman performing an exorcism, bouncing in place wildly while swinging the bat.

"Hup!"

"Khuk!"

I jump high and put all my weight on my toes to stomp the shield. Something seemed to spurt blood below, but to dodge a sword aiming for my ankle, I had no choice but to jump. I swung the bat down at the neck of the guard who tried to cut my ankle.

WHAM!

The guard tried to block my bat with his shield. But he raised it too late, so I hit his temple at an angle, and the guard collapsed with his head turned.

"This, this crazy monster!!"

The guards surrounding me started backing away. Having instantly crushed one guy and beaten three to death, they seemed to instinctively realize they couldn't handle me with their skills.

Uoooooh!!

My subordinate orcs charged at the guards. To boost their morale, I got down from the tower shield I was standing on while crushing the guard captain.

"Khuuuh...."

"Still alive? Did you use mana for body enhancement? Heh, then let's see how long you last."

I slightly dangled the bat over the tower shield. I'd love to sit down, but I couldn't quite go that far. I held the bat and tapped rhythm with my legs.

"Ah, this is called a beatdown."

The rhythm is fast.

"Today's big drum is you."

I started beating down on the tower shield with the bat.

And the red light from my hand tattoo started flowing down into the bat.

Oh.

'I just tried it and it works.'

Uooooooooh----------!!!

Thunder-like roars burst from my subordinate orcs. Red aura began rising from their bodies.

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