Chapter 8.1 Hero vs. Demon Beast Battalion Captain

Humongous thanks to my latest Ko-Fi supporters! Words cannot convey how grateful I am to you all! Thank you to Chad Orc-san, Reni2425, 50% Chance of Hotglue, Makeiks, Soloinsanity and an Anonymous Kofi Supporter!

Thank you for your patience everyone. Here it is, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

The cave was cramped.

This specific room was just shy of three meters tall and two meters wide.

For Orcs, it was a rather tight fit, but it was just right for Humans.

Perhaps this cave had even been used as a forward base for Orcish operations in the past.

Though even Bash, a veteran warrior, had no idea this cavern existed.

Considering that, it was fair to assume that it had been abandoned more than 20 years ago, before the Orc Hero joined the war.

After which the bandits found it and made it their home.

The pair that had been left behind reached Judith much quicker than expected.

As soon as Bash entered what could be called the hideout’s “lobby”, and defeated the brigands that were standing guard, Zell came out flying as fast as she could, saying,

“Mister! Come on, come on! This way! Hurry! That female knight is in big, big trouble. She’s going crazy! This is your time to shine, Mister! Time to make your dashing entrance and save that damsel! Let’s go, go, go! We’ll never make it if we don’t hurry! Oh, if you want you can take a shortcut. This wall right here. No, this one! Just break that down and we’ll be there in a jiffy!”

Houston volunteered to stay back in the lobby to bring up the rear, secure their exit route and deal with any possible reinforcements.

From Bash’s perspective, Houston was an exemplary knight.

If more bandits were to arrive, it would be unlikely he would be beaten.

And now, right in front of Bash, was the female he had been eyeing these last few days, her upper body stripped naked and exposing her bare breasts and toned waist.

Bash Jr. went into a frenzy, “Dad! Let’s do it! Now, now, now!” but the Orc Hero, using every sliver of focus and self-control he had, managed to suppress his primal instincts for the time being.

Had Houston been here, he would have surely been surprised.

An Orc of all people was able to retain his senses while in front of a halfway nude woman.

But Bash wasn’t any Orc.

He was the Orc Hero.

Of course, Judith wasn’t the alone in here

The Orc and six other bandits were also standing around, slightly dazed.

“Eh? An Orc? Do you know him Boss?”

“Help? What do you mean, help? We’ve already dealt with the knights.”

The bandits gave Bash a puzzled look but didn’t seem too alarmed.

But they seemed to be curious about the identity of the intruder who had suddenly burst through the wall and questioned the orc in the back.

“Hey, Boss, who is guy?”

“What the… what the hell? Why…?”

The bandit Orc’s face went from green to blue to nearly purple.

He recognized the newcomer – how could he ever forget?

He was a personage that everybody who was anybody within Orc Country would know about.

“Boggs?”

“Eiihiic….!”

Boggs.

Bash was familiar with this Orc.

He was a warrior that had served the Orc Country.

Furthermore, he was the only Orc to ever earn the title of Beast Master.

During the peace treaty’s negotiations, he disagreed with the Orc King’s plea for a ceasefire and refused to stand down and was subsequently banished from Orcish lands.

“Boggs, it is forbidden for an Orc to forcibly have sexual intercourse with a woman of another race.”

“No…no, nobody’s forcing anybody here! She agreed!”

“Hmm…? Doesn’t look like she agreed.”

Judith’s face was smeared with snot and tears as she desperately wriggled around on the ground in an attempt to hide her body.

If this was consensual, then Bash would have already lost his virginity the day he headed out of the Orc Village, with those ladies he had crossed paths with in the forst.

“Hey Boggs sir, looks like you know each other… The way he’s speaking to you, he’s not your buddy, isn’t he?”

While making this assessment, one of the thieves drew a short sword out of his waist.

He let out a sinister chuckle as he glared at Bash.

His eyes were full of murderous intent.

“That’s right.”

Bash answered honestly.

He had neither the intention nor the need to lie.

“Ha! Then die!”

The bandit was quick.

In one swift motion, he lifted his blade and thrust it.

It sped straight towards Bash’s eyes.

He might be a lowly criminal these days, but he was still a warrior who had survived the war.

He knew how to fight in tight, enclosed spaces, and was skilled with a sword.

“I bet you can’t swing that huge hunk of steel freely around in here, can you!”

A thrust that carried certain death.

The sword’s point pierced straight through Bash’s eyes, all the way into the back of his skull, and he collapsed to his knees, his upturned face squirting blood like a macabre fountain.

Or at least, that’s the image the bandit had in mind.

As he extended his arm to murder this new invader, his head exploded, sending shards of bone and bits of brain flying onto his comrades.

His headless body fell to the ground, listless.

“Eh?”

None of the other bandits could understand what had happened.

They just heard a crack, after which their companion, which was mid-stab, lost his head.

Their comprehension couldn’t catch up to the reality of the situation.

They couldn’t make sense of it.

“Wha…that?”

However, some of them noticed a change.

The humongous sword that Bash had been casually holding at his side was now raised, as if he had just finished a slash.

It used to be on his right, but now was on his left.

There was no way he could have swung it in in such a tight space.

Seconds later, the walls surrounding Bash exploded with a deafening boom.

A single, deep, rough fissure had been gouged out of the stone.

As if a sword had gone through it.

“Whoa!”

The bandits shrank back.

They still couldn’t understand what had happened.

Bash had swung his weapon, cleaving through the rock and obliterating the offending bandit’s head.

That was the answer.

The falling rubble was the only clue to what Bash had just done.

But the bandits never came up with the answer.

They were just stunned by their friend’s sudden death.

While the wall was blasted apart, all they could do was cower.

Not knowing what had happened, they stopped moving.

They didn’t notice that they were within his reach.

Without saying a word, Bash unleashed a second slash, this time, from left to right.

This time, the remaining bandits’ torsos were grotesquely bisected, guts, gore and blood sent flying through the air.

They didn’t even have the opportunity to protest.

Forever ignorant of the cause of their own deaths, six people lost their lives in an instant.

“Damn…Damn it…”

The only one left standing was Boggs, who was familiar with the way Bash fought.

He was the only one who knew that it didn’t matter whether Bash had space to swing his sword.

He was the only one who’s eyes could even follow the slash that had killed the first bandit.

He was the only that understood Bash’s range and could successfully move out of the way.

“Why, why are you here…!”

Boggs yelled as he ran out the room’s entrance.

Bash immediately tried to follow him but stopped dead in his tracks when Zell flew up to his ear and whispered something.

The Orc then slowly turned towards Judith.

He was sniffing and snorting.

Of course he would be – there was a half-naked woman in front of him, tied up and vulnerable.

“…Hiiiiii.”

Judith’s throat was swollen and sore from her crying.

All she could do was hiss. She had no more strength.

The only people left in this room were Judith and Bash.

A bare-chested woman and an Orc with a boner.

Well, that wasn’t exactly right. There was also a Faerie here, silently glowing next to the Orc’s head.

That Faerie.

Apparently, she wasn’t with the bandits.

But Judith couldn’t be sure that she was on her side either.

No, the only side Zell was on was Bash’s.

Right now, she’s whispering something into his ear.

Seeing this, the knight believed that they might be plotting something, that the Faerie was saying, “Hey, this is your chance! Let’s rape her now!”

Perhaps this pair had planned this the whole way through.

Judith’s situation was so dire and her mind state in such disarray that she felt that everything was a conspiracy.

Bash slowly reached out to Judith.

“No… stop it…eh?”

But Bash never touched her skin.

He had taken off the cloak he was wearing, and had just draped it over her pale, white skin.

“…Eh?”

“I’m here to help. I’ll untie your ropes. Here, take this and go pour it on the wounded soldiers that are locked up further in. It’s Faerie dust.”

He then untied Judith and put a vial in her hand.

Judith was familiar with Faerie dust.

It was precious.

She had heard that only a small amount of it could be obtained per day from any single Faerie.

It most likely came from the one that was fidgeting in embarrassment near Bash’s face.

Only then did Judith understand.

The Orc in front of her had truly come to help her.

She was saved.

She made it out of that desperate situation.

She didn’t end up like her sister.

“You should be grateful! If it weren’t for my pl… Mister’s plan to have me go in as a spy, you’d be the bandit’s plaything right now!”

“Ah! Thank you!”

Judith’s face turned red as she thanked her saviors.

This wasn’t just lip service, but heartfelt, sincere gratitude.

At the same time, she was quite surprised.

This Orc was doing absolutely nothing even when faced with a naked woman.

For a moment, she wondered whether Bash had any sexual appetite at all, but a quick look at his crotch answered that question.

Despite the tough leather underwear, there was a very noticeable and impressive bulge between his legs.

In other words, he was suppressing his urges and treated her with courtesy.

“But…”

“Hmm? What’s wrong? The prison is just to the left of the hole I made.”

“Yes, I get it! But that’s not… why don’t you attack me?!”

“Should I?”

“No, no!”

Judith pulled the cloak tighter around her shoulders.

She shivered as the remembered the horror she had just gone through.

“B..but Orcs love to kidnap and impregnant women from other races… don’t they?”

“Yes. But by edict of the Orc King, it is forbidden for Orcs to engage in non-consensual sexual relations.”

She had heard these same words many times over these last few days.

He repeated them again and again, like a nagging wife.

Judith had thought that they were just that – words.

Empty, vapid words.

But at this moment, they struck at her heart.

She understood.

It finally dawned on her.

This was true “Loyalty”.

That strength she had just witnessed.

The power to slash through solid stone like a hot knife through butter, while eviscerating six people in the same instant.

With that kind of strength, he could take any woman he wanted.

Back when she had him surrounded at the inn, he could have slain every single soldier, and then proceeded to rape Judith.

There would have been nothing she could have done.

Yet he didn’t.

He restrained himself through his loyalty to the Orc King.

Yes, that’s right.

That’s why Houston had recognized him.

He was a heavyweight in the land of Orcs – the equivalent of a knight.

No, she thought, he was more than just a mere knight. He was equal to the Captain of the Royal Guard.

As soon as Judith calmed down, Bash stood up.

“Where are you going?”

“To chase after him.”

Bash was trying to faithfully carry out Houston’s order to “Kill all the bandits”.

While the Knight Commander wasn’t his King, it remained that he was his current commander.

And Orcs always obeyed their leader’s commands.

“So, that’s why you’re…”

Judith, however, interpreted Bash’s actions differently.

She understood Bash’s loyalty. His chivalry.

And as such, she had an inkling of an idea as to why he was here, in Human lands.

Why he came to a foreign country, why he put up with all the abuse, why he accompanied the knights into the forest, why he didn’t abandon a single, stupid, childish knight that ran off on her own, why he was going to leave a half-naked woman behind to pursue his enemy…

…Why he was chasing after an Orc!

Now that she knew, Judith could no longer interfere with his actions

“Hm? Yeah?”

“No, it’s nothing. I understand… I’ll pray for your good fortune.”

“Yosh!”

And with those last words driving him forward, Bash headed out.

BOOM BITCHES!

Whew, hope it was worth the wait. It sure was for me!