8

HERO VS GENERAL

Bash had only fond memories of General Baraben.

When Bash was just an orc pup, General Baraben seemed like some kind of deity.

He was the childhood friend of the current Orc King, Nemesis, and the two were always as close as brothers. As both the clan chief of the Shiwanashi Forest and as a mighty warrior, he was known and respected by all orckind.

His towering stature, which put him head and shoulders above the next-tallest orc, made him an imposing figure on the battlefield, swinging his mighty war hammer as though it was featherlight.

Every orc looked up to him, with his brute strength and raw courage.

Every orc including Bash.

The first time Bash met Baraben in person was not long after Bash initially stepped onto the battlefield.

After staring down death several times, he could then be counted among the more seasoned warriors. But at the time, Bash had not yet distinguished himself from the others and had been barely scraping his way out of battles alive.

Then Bash’s unit was assigned to General Baraben’s army.

The battle that ensued straight after that was a bloody one indeed.

The orc side won, but Bash’s unit experienced heavy losses.

After the fighting, while everyone was standing around the campfire digging into the evening meal, General Baraben approached Bash.

He looked the smaller orc up and down, and this is what he said:

“It’s you! I saw you out there! You’re going to be one of the greats!”

Then, with a wry grin, Baraben thumped Bash on the back before walking off.

Bash was dumbstruck. But also delighted.

The great General Baraben had said that he, Bash, would go far. What soldier wouldn’t be overcome with joy to be praised like that, by such a great man?

The second time they met, Bash had already started proving himself to be a cut above his peers.

Yes, compared to them, Bash was cut from a different cloth entirely.

Bash was assigned to guard General Baraben directly.

Serving as protection for the top brass…wasn’t anything special, though.

All Bash had to do was join in the fight as usual, keeping close to Baraben and decimating the enemy alongside the ferocious general.

But right before the battle, Bash was able to listen to General Baraben speak.

The general regaled his men with tales of his glory on the battlefield, something he always did to bolster morale before battle.

But he also spoke of the long history of orc warfare.

From his childhood days, Baraben had fought alongside Nemesis. The two had taken turns saving each other’s lives during impossible situations. Always together, between them they upheld the pride of the orc nation.

It was certainly a rousing tale.

And it inspired Bash.

He made up his mind to craft such a legacy for himself.

The last time they met, it had been when Bash was dispatched to defend the Shiwanashi Forest.

General Baraben no longer smiled and laughed as he had done in the early days.

He was still a force to be reckoned with, however, as he proceeded to rally his troops to form one last, valiant stand, to fight to the very end.

To the south, the elves. To the east, the humans. They were trapped between two great powers, with dwindling numbers. The situation seemed impossible, and all hope had been lost.

Bash had not spoken to Baraben on that occasion.

Instead, the general had shot Bash a silent, meaningful look. Nodding, Bash headed to the front line of the battle.

That’s when Bash faced off against the elf archmage Thunder Sonia, and the two proceeded to fight to the death.

Despite landing a devastating final blow on Thunder Sonia, Bash had sustained severe injuries himself. He wandered lost through the forest for several days, in a haze of extreme pain and confusion.

If Zell hadn’t found him in that hole, Bash might have died there.

When Bash eventually made his way back to headquarters, the war was already over.

It was a moonless night, and the elf army had attacked in the dark.

Usually, based solely on the power balance between the orc and elf armies in terms of raw strength, an overwhelming elf victory of this kind would have been unlikely.

But the elf army had stolen away the orcs’ vision.

They eliminated all sources of light, cast darkness magic, clad themselves in black clothing, and on top of all that, they even used illusion magic to hide all traces of themselves from sight.

General Baraben was not the kind of man to be bested by such underhanded tactics alone.

The orcs had been fighting in wars for thousands of years, after all. They had countermeasures in place to handle all kinds of physical and magical attacks. Invisible or not, the elves shouldn’t have been able to decimate the orc army in this, or any other, way.

The true downfall of the orc army, as Bash learned later on, had been General Baraben’s doing. His prejudice against orc mages had been the real cause of their unraveling.

His aide, the orc mage Gandaguza, was the one to discover that the elves were launching a night attack.

He advised that the orcs should launch a counterattack, after first concealing themselves from view and hiding in the bushes and undergrowth, of course.

But General Baraben refused to even entertain such an idea.

Instead, he haughtily informed the orc mage that such a cowardly plan was hardly befitting their proud warrior race.

Baraben refused to budge on the issue.

In fact, he even went to the other extreme, calling for extra torches to be lit so they could face the enemy head-on.

As a result, both General Baraben and his aide, Gandaguza, met their end.

Nemesis immediately dispatched troops to the Shiwanashi Forest to help, but it was too late. Even though the battle had still been far from lost, the remaining soldiers had completely given up following the death of their leader, the great Baraben.

Bash held no grudges against the wartime adversaries, including the elves. Nor did he have any real regrets. Bash had done what he needed to do as the Orc Hero. He had knocked out their strongest elven opponent and lived to return home.

If the war was being lost in the meantime, then it was out of Bash’s hands.

But Bash couldn’t help wondering if things would have been different if he had been there during Baraben’s last stand.

Or what would have happened if things between General Baraben and the aide Gandaguza had been better.

Yes, sometimes Bash couldn’t help thinking about things like that.

And now, here he was, confronted once more with the mighty figure of General Baraben.

But Baraben was standing alongside his aide, Gandaguza, this time. Even after all the things he said during the war about how he would never cheapen himself by fighting alongside an orc mage.

Now General Baraben turned to Bash and said:

“Come, let us fight together, as we did in the old days! Let us crush the despicable elves and take back our forest!”

Bash would be lying if he said he wasn’t somewhat pleased by this turn of events.

Yes, he often wondered what would have happened if he had been with Baraben—and if Baraben had allied himself properly with Gandaguza. Now, here was his opportunity to find out.

They would win this time; that seemed certain. Claim a glorious victory for the orc race. Bash could almost taste it.

But no. Bash was, after all, a living orc.

And he was a soldier. With a strong code of honor.

Accepting defeat with grace was also the mark of a true soldier.

The orcs have an old, old adage. It seemed most appropriate at this juncture.

The saying was simple enough. It went like this:

“An undead is no true orc.”

Zombies arose from the ground filled with vengeance and bearing grudges, unable to accept their defeat with honor.

That wasn’t the orc way at all.

The orcs had lost the war, fair and square.

And after losing the war, they had committed themselves to peace, to learning from the long years of conflict, and to forging a better future for their people. Yes, their progress seemed slow compared to the other participants of the long war. But even so, Bash would not waver. He would uphold the judgment of the true Orc King, Nemesis himself.

That was Bash’s own code of honor as an Orc Hero.

In other words, if Bash had to choose between partnering up with a horde of zombie orcs or the elf race, with whom the orc race had been trying so hard to repair relations lately…then there was only one choice, really.

Bash didn’t care what this fight was about.

Besides, the elf woman he had his eye on was in a tough spot, and he couldn’t hesitate a moment longer.

(Boss! This is it! This is your chance! You saw that elf thrusting herself at Breeze just before, right? Now it’s your turn! All you have to do is play the hero, and the elf will be putty in your hands!)

Besides, his loyal adviser Zell was on the same page!

Thunder Sonia was completely flummoxed.

Why was Bash standing in front of her, as if to protect her from harm?

Why was he pointing his sword at General Baraben, who by all rights ought to have been his ally?

Was she misreading the situation? Or had Bash somehow broken with the orc side?

Goodness, what if Bash was just like all the other orcs? What if he had taken a fancy to her, an elf woman, and now intended to have her become his personal baby maker?!

No, no, she knew firsthand that Bash had no interest in her. The Nightmare of the Shiwanashi Forest, after all, had turned his nose up at the prospect of Thunder Sonia as a potential conquest.

Then, what of her old-person smell…?

But no, Sonia could not bear it if that was true! If she really did stink…

“I am Bash, the Orc Hero, former warrior of the Orc Royal Army, under Captain Budarth’s company!”

Well, Sonia knew one thing for sure.

It seemed that this Orc Hero seriously planned to go into battle against General Baraben.

“I am the Orc Royal Army’s sub-commander and clan chief of the Shiwanashi Forest, Orc General Baraben!!!”

“And I am aide to the Orc Royal Army’s sub-commander, the great warlord and mage, Gandaguza!!!”

Thunder Sonia had heard, ad nauseam, about this orcish custom of announcing one’s name and title before a battle.

It was basically a prerequisite that the orcs never skipped before throwing down.

After the declaration of names, no orc would back down until either he or his opponent was felled.

But Bash’s opponent was the great General Baraben. Sonia knew well enough how respected and venerated the zombie orc had been in life.

Why, the first names the rookie orc army recruits ever heard in their lives were the names of Orc King Nemesis and Orc General Baraben.

Baraben was a mighty warrior who had triumphed over and over again on the battlefield.

He stood on par with the Orc King in the eyes of the people.

And he was backed by the finest mage the orc race knew, Gandaguza.

He was the most dangerous element in this particular fight. As long as Gandaguza remained standing, he could revive General Baraben over and over again.

But it would be no easy feat to get to Gandaguza, who was hanging back, hiding behind the bulking figure of General Baraben.

And yet, thought Sonia.

Gazing up at Bash’s wide back in front of her.

What a broad, reassuring, masculine back that orc has, she thought.

“Graaargh!!!”

“Raaaghhh!!!”

The war cries boomed out.

They were so loud that they shook the trees in the forest. So loud that they could have pulverized any small animals that may have been dwelling within the undergrowth.

But General Baraben stepped forward first, faster by a mere half second.

He swung his giant war hammer at Bash. It was destruction incarnate on a collision course with Bash’s face.

But Bash moved with surprising agility.

Not to retreat, however. No, Bash moved forward, steadying his upper body as he swung his greatsword up, up, up, toward his enemy…

CLASH!!!

The forest was filled with the ringing of steel against steel, which was louder than any sound Sonia had heard before.

The echoes rolled across the forest. Crash, clang, clink…

Bash’s greatsword valiantly parried the blow inflicted by General Baraben’s war hammer.

General Baraben managed to keep his grip on the weapon, but he was knocked off-balance and had to take a large step backward to re-center himself.

Bash, too, was knocked off-balance by the recoil.

“Gugggh!!!”

But he remained on his feet.

What incredible muscles he must have had, to have withstood that sort of recoil.

Bash took another step forward, advancing on General Baraben again.

A second later, Bash’s mighty sword cleaved its way through the great General’s chest.

The wound was deep and had clearly reached his heart.

It was a precise, beautiful swing—simply perfect.

And the wound was fatal.

…Or it would have been, had Bash’s opponent been alive to begin with.

“Graaagh!!!”

General Baraben swung his war hammer at Bash, as if he hadn’t even noticed the wound.

His attack had the bite of a hurricane.

But Bash did not retreat. Sometimes he dodged; sometimes he struck. Now and then, he managed to get a wide swing in and landed a few hits. The whole thing looked fast and furious, and somewhat crude, but it was a shrewd fighting technique focusing on self-preservation.

Then Bash finally landed a decisive blow on General Baraben, a slash that sliced through his internal organs.

But General Baraben didn’t even pause.

His heart was cleaved in two, and his arteries had been shredded, but he still kept on coming.

Because he was a zombie, after all.

A zombie won’t stop coming, not unless its head has been destroyed or removed entirely.

Actually, the body can keep on moving around without the head in some circumstances, but it will be blind and directionless. Usually, the body won’t last long, either.

But this time was different.

The zombies were being necromanced by the lich, so no matter how badly injured they might have been, their bodies would keep on attacking relentlessly.

Bash was more than a match for General Baraben in battle.

If Baraben had been alive, Bash’s blows would already have put him down.

But he was not alive.

“Gu-gu-gu! Earth Bind!!!”

“Hmm!”

A split second after Gandaguza’s burbling curse, Bash found himself suddenly sinking down a foot into the ground below his feet.

His feet were trapped. It was like the mud had a hold on him and refused to let go.

“Grawrgh!!!”

Distracted, Bash was a second too late.

He managed to shield himself from the blow using the flat of his greatsword, but the impact plucked him from the earth’s grip and sent him spinning through the air, until he smashed into a tree and fell to the ground again.

Naturally, Bash could easily shake off an impact like that.

He leaped to his feet and dashed back toward General Baraben as if nothing had even happened.

But he had incurred heavy damage from the impact.

Thunder Sonia recalled how Bash had been during their own vicious duel.

She had thrown spell after spell at him, but it was like the orc was immortal. By the end of the battle, though, it was clear that the orc was moving stiffly, as if in pain.

Yes, Bash had immense strength—and an incredibly robust physique. But even he had his limits.

“Gu-gu! Fool! Foolish man! Hero Baaash!!!”

And right now, Bash had more on his plate than just General Baraben alone.

The mage, Gandaguza, was backing the general up.

Even if Bash managed to fell General Baraben, it would all be meaningless in the end unless something was done about Gandaguza.

Thunder Sonia knew how blessed she was to have the Orc Hero fighting on her side.

She, better than anyone, knew just how strong the orc was.

But the orc was a foot soldier and had little in the way of magical ability.

Was Bash even aware of how lichs worked? Did he realize that the battle would never end unless someone took out Gandaguza first?

“…Nnng!!!”

Thunder Sonia hesitated for a moment.

But then she made up her mind in a flash.

“…Bash! I’ll help you! This fight belongs to the elves, after all! And this way, it’ll be two versus two! A fair fight!”

Bash shot a glance at Thunder Sonia briefly, before returning his gaze to his opponents once more.

“I accept your assistance.”

“G-great! The two of us together will be unstoppable!”

The corners of Bash’s mouth turned up in a slight smile.

Then he chuckled out loud.

Thunder Sonia laughed, too. Wryly.

“GRAH-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!”

Bash’s war cry shook the forest. This was his second war cry of the fight.

Thunder Sonia cringed, ears ringing.

Too loud! My ears! I thought orcs were supposed to do that war cry thing at the start of the battle, not in the middle!

But she said nothing aloud. Instead, she swung her staff.

The odds were much more favorable for her now.

“Listen, if we don’t take out Gandaguza, then he’ll just keep on reviving General Baraben over and over! I’ll draw Baraben’s attention, and you use that chance to make mincemeat out of Gandaguza!”

“…”

But Bash didn’t even nod in response to Sonia’s garbled yelps.

He was too busy evading a fierce swing from Baraben and readying a counterblow.

If his opponent had been mortal, then this strike of Bash’s would have finished him off. But General Baraben barely flinched.

“Hey! Are you listening to me, Orc? I’m telling you, that’s not going to do any good!”

“General Baraben was a fine warrior in life. Even as a zombie, he followed the traditions of our people and engaged me in a duel with honor by putting his name on the line! I owe him the warrior’s death he deserves!”

“What the…?”

Was this orc stupid or something?

But Thunder Sonia kept her mouth shut.

The orcs considered fighting a way of life. They based their self-worth on how many opponents they slew and how many women they bedded. Sonia couldn’t really understand that last part, but she knew how much the rituals of battle meant to their culture. How much they shaped their sense of honor.

Bash was attempting to give General Baraben an honorable burial, to preserve his legacy.

Thunder Sonia could understand that.

After all, she was an Elf Hero.

If an elf was to turn into a zombie and be denied a warrior’s rest, then she would want to do all she could to give them a decent elven funeral and deliver them into death’s embrace with honor and dignity. Even more so if the individual in question had contributed much to elf society in life.

“I understand. In that case, I’ll handle Gandaguza and his magic myself…”

“Then I shall leave it to you and be in your debt.”

“Um, no, you shall not! Get on with it! My magic power is running low enough as it is!”

“Affirmative!”

Then Bash ran at General Baraben again.

Swinging his greatsword like it was a broken tree branch, Bash blocked General Baraben’s strike and countered with one of his own.

Thunder Sonia watched in awe.

The orc’s swordplay was beautiful. Even though it was orcish swordplay, which wasn’t exactly known for its grace.

During her own battle with the orc, she had felt nothing but terror and the adrenaline of the fight running through her veins. But now that the orc was fighting on her side, she had a chance to appreciate his skill.

His swings were so calculating, so precise…

Usually, the follow-through from a hard swing would be difficult to counter from, but Bash used the momentum to spin and slash again, making sure no movement was wasted.

He was fast.

Swinging to the left, spinning and re-centering, then swinging to the right.

He had more than speed, as well.

His blows were heavy, imbued with the raw physical strength of the orc, and easily able to knock back even General Baraben’s mighty war hammer.

He was also nimble and quick-thinking and had never missed an opportunity to strike whenever he found an opening.

Thunder Sonia shivered from the spectacle.

Who would ever want to be faced with an opponent such as this?

“Hey! Not so fast!”

Thunder Sonia swirled her staff, pointing it at Bash.

More precisely, at the ground beneath Bash. Quickly, she blasted away the magical power that had been swirling and charging itself on the ground beneath the orc’s feet.

“Gu-gu-gu! Fool! Thunder Soniaaa!!!”

“Oh, learn a new word, will you? You’re the fool, Gandaguza, for thinking your vile plans would ever work!”

“Gu-gu-gu!”

Cutting off Gandaguza’s magic…

That wasn’t such a difficult feat for a seasoned mage like Thunder Sonia.

Sure, Gandaguza might have been the finest mage among the orcs, but Thunder Sonia was an elf archmage. The finest of the magic wielders. The best the elf race had ever known. And who was more magically powerful than the elf race?

Yes, her opponent was a lich, a strong undead sorcerer, with increased magical abilities compared to the ones he’d had in life. But fundamentally, he was an orc.

In a magical fight, there was no way an orc mage like Gandaguza should have been able to beat Thunder Sonia.

In fact, this was the perfect opportunity for Thunder Sonia to show her stuff and snuff out the undead orc.

She wouldn’t be pulling off an insta-kill or anything, but with her magic, she should easily have been able to back the lich into an impossible corner within five moves—and then deal a finishing blow with the sixth.

Twelve hundred years. That was how long she’d been polishing her skills as a mage. She had fought countless battles. It would be easy for her.

But Thunder Sonia did not do this.

“Hmm. Well anyway, you’re an orc, too, aren’t you? You should just stand back and watch. Witness the final, honorable fight of your beloved General Baraben.”

“Fool! Fool! Who cares for honor? Who cares for a fair fight? All that matters is victory! The destruction of the hated elves! Justice for orckind!!!”

“You see, that’s why General Baraben never trusted you…”

Thunder Sonia had decided to watch Bash’s fight unfold.

Why? She didn’t know herself.

She knew she ought to be getting on with killing as many zombies as possible.

Even now, the elf army was under siege from the zombie horde. Many more soldiers would become casualties of the battle.

But somehow, Thunder Sonia felt that her rightful place was to hang back and wait.

It didn’t look like she had much reason to worry anyway.

Bash was dominating General Baraben.

Baraben was not slow on his feet. Nor was he unskilled.

His swing had plenty of force and raw strength behind it, and he was shrewd as well, able to predict Bash’s evasive movements easily. A typical soldier would have no chance at even getting close to the zombie general.

But Bash met every powerful swing with his own sword. And countered each blow with an equally matched one of his own.

The only reason Baraben still had his head attached to his neck was because of luck, really. He had been evading Bash’s killing blows by a hair’s breadth.

But it was only a matter of time until Baraben’s luck ran out.

Thunder Sonia had been observing the battle for only a few rounds of attacks.

In truth, less than a minute had elapsed.

Meanwhile, Gandaguza cast useless spells at Thunder Sonia, which she easily deflected. He’d gotten five or so shots off so far.

In this extremely short space of time, Bash and General Baraben had each exchanged numerous fast-paced blows.

Then something happened.

There was a colossal cracking sound.

The head of General Baraben’s war hammer went sailing off into the sky.

The head rolled over and over in midair, before crashing back down to the ground. Gathering mud, it flew across the forest floor like a cannonball, crashing into at least three zombies and dragging them away along its trajectory.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch the head roll.

Thunder Sonia’s jaw dropped as she chased the rolling head with her eyes. Gandaguza was doing the same thing.

When they turned back to the scene of the battle, it was clear that it was all over.

The giant undead orc general collapsed slowly to the ground, still clutching the war hammer, even though only the wooden grip remained.

The impact of the general’s mighty knees sent the ground shaking beneath everyone’s feet. There was a colossal thud.

Then something fell down from above.

It was a zombie head.

A huge zombie head, with two big tusks. An orc’s head.

The head crashed to the ground, before slowly rolling across the forest floor, and came to a stop at Gandaguza’s feet.

“Gu-gu-gu… General…”

Thunder Sonia waved her staff, infusing it with her magical power.

If Gandaguza revived General Baraben right now, then all would be lost.

Sonia had to prevent the necromancy from taking effect, had to prevent the whole thing from starting all over again.

But Gandaguza made no attempt to cast a spell.

He simply gazed down at General Baraben’s severed head for a few moments, leaning weakly on his staff, before lifting his chin and looking at Bash.

He looked at Bash…with pleading eyes.

In a weak voice, with a meek, un-orc-like expression on his face, Gandaguza spoke:

“Bash… Foolish Bash… Would you, please?”

“Of course.”

Just before Gandaguza’s body was cleaved in two, a smile could be seen, ever so briefly, on his face.