Episode 109. Endeavor Fortress
Endeavor, the foremost fortress.
It was an iron-walled fortress towering like an isolated island right in front of the Great Forest.
Its reputation was so vicious that any man who was born and raised in the kingdom of Grandis would have heard of it at least once.
‘A camp for heinous criminals.’
‘Every day is a crossroads of life and death. A place where there are more dead than living.’
‘County of Endeavor? Endeavor is a county? I know there’s a hell called Endeavor, right?’
Of course, as with rumors, there were a lot of exaggerated words.
In fact, Endeavor Fortress was the place where most monster by-products were produced on the continent, and mercenaries who were confident in their skills gathered to have fun.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was the main source of income for the kingdom of Grandis and a resource that supported life.
Since it was such a place, the men born and raised in the Earldom of Endeavor had been proud of themselves from generation to generation, blowing away gossip and living faithfully every day.
“die!”
Pooh-!
Such Endeavor Fortress was showing such a horrific sight that it felt that the current rumors had been reduced on the contrary.
All over the place were piles of corpses that had not yet been cleaned up.
The moat was already filled with green and flesh-colored masses, and the walls of the castle were covered in blood thick enough to feel black instead of red.
– Aaaaaa!
The battlefield was a river of blood that hadn’t even cooled down.
The land was filled with sounds that could not be known whether it was human screams or orc roars, and the sound of weapons clashing.
“Fillion!”
“yes! dismissal!”
“Better than the class at Dongmun! Send reinforcements!”
“dismissal! There are no more troops to support! The troops sent to the north gate a moment ago were all.”
Dawson Endeavor, the owner of Endeavor Fortress and head of the Endeavor family that had ruled this land for generations, had a stern expression on her face due to her scars.
“Fillion! Then I will go directly to Dongmun! In the meantime, don’t hand over command.”
“No sir. I’d rather go.”
“Shut up and command! There is no time for arguing!”
Dawson, who handed over command to his son, ran down the wall towards the east gate, moving at an incredible speed. The orcs who stood in his way had their heads blown off by Dawson’s huge axe.
Fuck! Pak!
“Get out of the way!”
With a huge lion’s roar, the rugged orcs were turned into mush.
Even the soldiers fighting together with the overwhelming appearance quickly moved away.
Arriving at the east gate, Dawson twitched his eyebrows as he looked over the already half-occupied castle wall.
His eyes were on the corpses of soldiers and mercenaries who had lived together for a long time. Not to mention the chilled corpse, the shape was unrecognizable.
“Hey stupid guys. I told you to hold on a little.”
Contrary to what he said, his eyes were wet with unknown moisture.
Soon after, the soldiers from the East Gate, who confirmed that the huge Dawson had arrived, shouted with expressions that they were now alive.
“Wow!”
“His Excellency has arrived! Give me a little more strength!”
Dawson was strong.
Not to mention its gigantic size, its skills and mana, sharpened through numerous real battles, were at least unmatched by anyone other than an Aura Master.
With Dawson’s appearance, the Orcs who had occupied most of the East Gate also felt threatened.
It was a war that had been going on for quite a long time, so they were now feeling the danger of Dawson.
“Did you have some fun? Then it is our turn.”
Dawson’s ax flew.
His movements, which were so agile that it was hard to believe that he was a giant, crushed five orcs in an instant and removed the ladders from the castle wall one after another.
– Khumm!
An extraordinary-looking orc stood in front of Dawson.
It was an Orc Warrior, about two heads taller than a normal Orc.
Quaang!
As the orc swung his greatsword, Dawson struck back with his axe.
The sound of blocking the attack caused a huge explosion, as if magic had exploded.
Dawson’s yellow aura and the Orc Warrior’s red aura sparked a backlash like sparks of lightning.
“go away! I don’t have time to deal with you guys!”
The fight, where it was impossible to tell who was an orc compared to their size, ended in an instant with Dawson’s skill.
Dawson slightly twisted the ax he was holding with both hands and deflected the Orc Warrior’s greatsword. Then, as he rotated his body and hit the opponent with his elbow, the orc’s jaw shattered and staggered.
Fuck!
Kwajik!
The reeling Orc Warrior fell to his knees with his head shattered by the ensuing ax attack.
“His Excellency Endeavor! The Orc Warrior is trying to open the pulley of the alumni gate!”
“Don’t just talk, move, you foolish bastards!”
Fierce fighting continued for some time after that.
In the end, Dawson, who managed to defend the alumni gate, looked around as he touched the scars on his newly carved face from this battle.
‘Jack Cooper Daniel Joseph… ….’
Too many soldiers died.
Some of the bodies were so unrecognizable that they could not even be identified, so they did not know who they were.
“dismissal!”
Dawson’s son, Fillion Endeavor, came running from afar, his face covered in blood.
“I told you to conduct, what kind of appearance is that!”
“There was nothing to command. At least one hand should help. In the end, didn’t you block it this time too?”
“The enemies?”
“I am stepping back. Perhaps this is the end for today.”
“Hey, you can’t be careless. They are smarter than we thought.”
Shaking off the blood from the axe, Dawson called out to one of the soldiers.
“Identify the corpses as much as possible and burn them. We need to get things sorted out before the epidemic spreads.”
“I understand, sir.”
Dawson, who wanted to take a breather, suddenly wondered if he couldn’t stand it any longer.
It’s already been 3 days since the support troops were cut off.
On the other hand, the enemy’s offensive was getting stronger and stronger.
‘The problem is that the Oak Road has never been directly involved.’
Are you conserving your strength?
I didn’t know why, but at least the fact that the enemy wasn’t doing their best was news like despair for the Endeavor fortress, which was already tired of its strength.
“Your Excellency, a telegram has arrived on the way.”
“telegram?”
“This is a telegram from Fort Vayatra.”
Fillion’s words were news that would make not only Dawson but also the soldiers around him pay attention. Fort Vayatra is the rear base for supporting troops. As the news came from such a place, it was expected.
“Tell me.”
“They say support is coming to Fort Endeavor.”
As soon as the words were finished, the soldiers started shouting cheers of relief.
Dawson tried to smile with joy for the first time in a while, but he tilted his head after confirming that Fillion’s expression was strange.
“It would be nice if support came, but why is the expression on her face?”
“that is…There are only two reinforcements.”
“what?”
For a moment, Dawson and the men tried to rack their brains, wondering if they had heard it wrong.
But no matter how much I thought about it, there was nothing worth thinking about.
“Did I hear correctly? Two?”
“Yes, they say two.”
The sound of soldiers collapsing along with sighs echoed here and there.
The news was so disappointing that it would have been better not to have heard it, and the despair of the soldiers was deep.
“But what’s not so bad is that one of the two applicants is Luna or Pendragon.”
“Luna Pendragon? Luna? hmm…ah! You are the daughter of Eve Millennium!”
Luna Pendragon is a strong person who cannot even predict victory.
It was certainly a comforting news, but it was regrettable because the difference in numbers due to war could not be ignored.
‘If a black magician would come, it would have been better if a necromancer came, even if he was a little weak… ….’
One of the occupations that exerts absolute power on the battlefield.
However, Necromancers were very rare and rarely appeared.
Even though Luna was a renowned black magician, she couldn’t hide her regret.
The soldiers were also a little comforted by hearing the name of Luna Pendragon, but it was not such a happy news that their morale went up.
“You guys! Are those green monsters backing down just because they sit down like that? Move quickly!”
At the words of the brave commander who fought with them on the front line, the soldiers barely left to find what to do. But Dawson sighed secretly, knowing that the atmosphere was not very good.
‘I hope Luna and Pendragon are as strong as the rumors.’
The words of two people had long since disappeared from their minds.
* * *
Me and Luna politely declined Sean’s request to take a break and immediately headed for Endeavor Fortress, where the Orc Lord main force was stationed.
The scenery of Fort Endeavor, which arrived late at night with the military wagon given by Sean, was rather at night, so it was to the point of feeling that it was fortunate.
‘It’s serious.’
Outside the fort, bodies that could not be disposed of formed a mountain.
Knowing how important the disposition of the body was in the post-war process, it could be seen as a sign of the urgency of the situation.
‘I was pushed to the point where I couldn’t handle the body.’
Leaving behind some already decaying corpses, the drawbridge was quietly lowered through the back door of the fort, and we were able to enter.
“Welcome. I’m Lieutenant Commander Fillion Endeavor.”
When I got off the carriage, a man came up to me and greeted me briefly.
His gaze was focused on Luna, but Luna’s reputation seemed to work here as well.
“Hey Luna! Just Luna!”
“Barry Sanders.”
Luna and I each made our own statements and entered the lord’s castle following Fillion’s guidance.
He said that he was having a late meal and invited us to dinner, but he accepted his offer to ask about the situation.
“Dawson Endeavor. Sit anywhere.”
Upon entering the dining room, I could see the Marquis having a meal with some other people.
We sighed once more and found our seats.
As expected, their eyes were only on Luna.
It was difficult to tell whether it was admiration for Luna’s appearance or admiration for seeing a celebrity.
‘Come to think of it, he’s a person I’ve never met even in the game.’
If I had to visit Great Forest, I didn’t go back far because there was an easy way to go from Bayatra Fortress. In the first place, as far as I remember, there was no fortress named Endeavor.
“First of all, I would like to thank you for coming to support me. If you establish a major, I will report to Your Highness as much as I have established, and cooperate with you to obtain an appropriate reward.”
After saying hello, I immediately threw a question.
“I saw it on the way into the carriage and things didn’t look good. How is the war situation?”
“Tell me honestly. It’s a very tough situation. In fact, when you said you were coming to support, I almost cursed. We’re at a loss of head count right now. Besides, the problem is that the opponent isn’t giving his full strength. Let alone the Orc Lord, even the chieftain-level Orcs are just watching from behind.”
I’m curious to see how it would have been resolved in the game.
Given that I don’t remember Fort Endeavor, it could have been lost to the Orcs around this time.
‘The kingdom of Grandice is a kingdom that I don’t need to worry about, so I don’t know much about it.’
Of course, I knew the big events, but I didn’t know the details.
It was the first time I knew of the existence of the Oak Road, so it was natural.
Tak tok tok.
As we talked for a while and shared a meal, I felt a commotion outside.
The aides and commanders inside the cafeteria also turned their gaze toward the cafeteria door.
smart.
“Your Excellency, I have some urgent news.”
“come in!”
A soldier hurriedly jumped down on one knee, gasping for breath.
“There is no need to set up an example, so report first.”
“dismissal! An orc is now approaching outside the fortress.”
“What? But why didn’t the emergency bell ring?”
“There are only about 10 orcs that have approached.”
“Ten?”
A questioning voice rang out.
And the soldier’s words that followed immediately covered the restaurant with confusion.
“They are the Orcs Lord and Chief Orcs.”
