Startled, Keureuheu turned his head. His eyes stiffened in disbelief.
“Chwiik. Wh-what is this?”
Astonishingly, about fifteen humans were approaching. The humans who had suddenly leapt out from the undergrowth were walking over at a leisurely pace, as if they had come out for a picnic. Considering the relationship between the two races, it was certainly a sight difficult to understand. Judging by the fact that every one of them wore metal armor, they were undoubtedly humans who had crossed over from Arcadia.
“To think I failed to notice them hiding?”
As Keureuheu stood in confusion, tension slowly rose in his eyes.
He gave a brief warning to draw attention.
“Chwiik. They’re Arcadian bastards.”
At the warning, the young human walking at the very front quickly responded.
“No need to introduce us, then. In any case, I’m sorry to disturb your digestion.
But don’t worry. Once we finish our little errand, we’ll quietly disappear.”
The one speaking with such shameless ease was Damon. His blue eyes and fluttering blond hair proved that he was a handsome man rarely found even in the human world. Unfortunately, however, his appearance did not appeal to orcs in the slightest.
What was strange was his reaction. He must have seen a human being eaten just moments ago, yet he seemed to feel no particular emotion about it. As if unable to understand the situation, Keureuheu kept tilting his head.
“What a strange human.”
But the reactions of the men following Damon were different. Having witnessed a person being eaten right before their eyes, they could not help but feel an unbearable hatred toward the orcs.
“Despicable bastards.”
Every one of the men was biting his lip hard and gripping the hilt of his sword tightly. If Damon had not stopped them, they would have been unable to restrain themselves and would already have charged forward. But because they had been warned in advance, they barely managed to hold back their outburst. Whether he knew their feelings or not, Damon continued speaking calmly.
“Then may we take care of our business? Orc chief.”
Once his muddled thoughts cleared, Keureuheu regained his composure. Unlike him, his subordinates were already prepared to fight. In particular, the squad leaders who had participated in the banquet just moments ago were already smacking their lips. If these were humans from Arcadia, there was no reason to let them live, and thus this would become another chance to feast. Keureuheu answered as if amused.
“Chwiik. May I ask what business you have?”
Damon continued explaining as if it were nothing important.
“You’re a more cautious orc chief than I expected. Well, it’s nothing much.
I made a promise to a boy named Tom who lives here.”
“A promise?”
Damon nodded without losing his smile.
“Yes. Yesterday, I promised Tom that if he voluntarily went into the village, I would give him dried meat as payment.
But regrettably, I couldn’t keep that promise because I failed to enter the village. That’s why I came back.
If you allow it, we’d like to keep our promise to Tom.”
Keureuheu’s mind worked quickly. He did not know what their intention was, but in front of one thousand four hundred brave warriors, no shallow trick could possibly work. However, judging by the fact that all of them wore heavy armor, they were clearly the humans called knights.
Since they were highly skilled, it would not be easy to stop them from fleeing. Thinking that he had to block their retreat completely, Keureuheu was racking his brains with an diligence uncharacteristic of an orc. After a moment, he nodded with a fishy smile.
“Chwiik. Very well. I permit you to keep your promise.”
At his gesture, the orc warriors blocking the way opened a path. If the humans approached the slaves, they too would inevitably be surrounded, and then their retreat could be completely cut off. A triumphant smile flashed in Keureuheu’s eyes.
“Much obliged.”
Damon smiled broadly and moved forward. The tense men followed behind him.
They were voluntarily allowing themselves to be surrounded by orc warriors gripping spears and swords. Once they passed, the orc warriors began closing the path as if by prior agreement.
Holding kite shields and glaives tightly, they blocked the path by which the group had entered.
There, a double and triple encirclement was formed. But just after the humans passed by, one orc warrior sniffed the air and made a strange expression. A bizarre smell had wafted from among the humans. It was an extremely unpleasant odor.
“Chwiik. What is that smell?”
The frowning orc warrior’s gaze swept over the humans. The smell was coming from four figures among the humans, clad in pitch-black armor. It was a stench so foul that it was nearly impossible to endure, and the orc warrior kept shaking his head.
Had he been an experienced orc warrior, he would have realized that the smell belonged to Death Knights, high-ranking undead. Unfortunately, he had no such experience.
The orc warrior simply concluded that they were humans with a peculiar body odor.
The two humans wearing pitch-black robes also gave off distinctive smells, and among them, the short and squat human exuded a particularly revolting odor. It smelled as though he were covered in rotting blood.
But before long, the orc warrior dismissed the thought.
“Chwiik. Before fourteen hundred elite orc warriors, no trick will work.”
While the orc warriors glared at them with killing intent, the group finally reached the place where the slaves were gathered. The village chief, who had been staring blankly as if his soul had left him, turned his gaze to Damon.
But he said nothing. It seemed the mental shock had been that great.
Damon looked at him and smiled brightly.
“I’m sorry I unintentionally failed to keep my promise not to come to the village.
I have a request. Would you call Tom for me?”
The village chief said nothing. He merely stood there blankly, like a man who had completely lost the meaning of life.
“Tsk, tsk. He’s completely out of it.”
Damon clicked his tongue and swept his gaze over the people. Before long, he found Tom among them, trembling in terror.
“There you are. Here. This is what I promised yesterday.”
Damon approached and held out the field ration, but Tom made no move to take it. With his life hanging by a thread, there was no way food would enter his mind. Frowning, Damon forcibly stuffed the dried meat into Tom’s arms.
“Now I’ve kept my promise. Is it time to leave?”
His expression brightening, Damon turned his head and then looked puzzled. The path by which they had entered had disappeared.
In its place was a double and triple ring of orc warriors.
“Why have you blocked the road? Do you have business with us?”
Keureuheu approached, dense killing intent rising from him. Behind him, the squad leaders followed while smacking their lips.
“Chwiik. The joke ends here.”
“A joke? What do you mean by that?”
When Keureuheu gestured, the encircling orc warriors raised their weapons. They looked ready to attack the instant an order was given. Nevertheless, the men were not shaken at all. They had already received firm instructions from Damon. If anything, Damon was the one acting as though the situation were absurd.
“Hurry and open the way. We’re busy.”
Keureuheu glared at Damon and spoke clearly.
“Chwiik. You cannot leave. Because you must die here.”
At those words, Damon looked dumbfounded.
“We must die? Does that mean you intend to block our path?”
“Do I need to say it twice?”
Killing intent slowly rose in Keureuheu’s eyes. In contrast, Damon’s gaze was growing colder and colder.
“I’ll ask once more. You are certain you intend to stop us?”
Annoyance welling up, Keureuheu snapped curtly.
“Chwiik. Human. Don’t try any petty tricks. I don’t know what you’re plotting, but no scheme will work on brave orc warriors.”
“I’ll ask just one more time. You won’t regret this?”
Keureuheu nodded proudly.
“Of course not. Human. Stop repeating nonsense that won’t work.”
Thinking that he would soon taste human flesh once again, saliva naturally began to drip from the corner of Keureuheu’s mouth. But then a thunderous voice pierced his ears.
“With that, your fate has been decided.”
Along with the cold shout, Damon formed hand seals.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
Ten streams of light burst forth with his body as the axis. Mana rearranged itself all at once and transformed into energy bolts of terrifying power. Damon had already gathered mana to its utmost. The energy bolts, densely condensed with mana, mercilessly pierced through the orc warriors blocking the way.
Chwiiiiik!
With brilliant sprays of blood, death cries burst out one after another. Because the encirclement had been spread so thickly, the damage was tremendous. The energy bolts fired by Damon pierced straight through more than ten orc warriors forming the encirclement. Their power was so great that even his own men could not help but shudder. The orc warriors, their armor punched through with fist-sized holes, collapsed in disarray while pouring out blood.
“You dare block our path?”
Damon cast magic in succession. This time, clusters of his trademark Magic Missiles appeared and shot into the orc warriors.
Pa-pa-pa-pat!
Countless Magic Missiles fired in every direction. They struck the vital points of the floundering orc warriors with perfect accuracy. Even armored orc warriors vomited blood and collapsed from a single shot, so the power of the Magic Missiles was likewise beyond imagination.
“Kwahahaha. You vermin-like bastards…”
Having escaped the restrictions of the Sevenfold Severing Prohibition for the first time in a long while, Damon was thoroughly exhilarated. At last, he had been given an opportunity to revel in slaughter after so long. No matter how many orcs he killed, the Sevenfold Severing Prohibition did not activate.
With nothing to hinder him, he immersed himself in striking down orc warriors as if possessed.
It seemed to be a compensatory reaction for having been suppressed by the Sevenfold Severing Prohibition for so long. The shock of the preemptive attack had been so great that the orc warriors still had not regained their senses.
“Chwiik. Block him!”
Sensing danger from the successive attacks, the orc warriors instinctively gathered together.
They intended to press their shields together and block the Magic Missiles. But without missing that moment, Damon’s energy bolts once again spat fire.
The energy bolts of terrifying power pierced straight through dozens of orc warriors gathered together at once. It was the moment when the might of an archmage who had reached the so-called master level of the 9th Circle was proven beyond doubt. Immediately afterward, Shrekheimer followed up by pouring out the offensive spells he had cast.
He, too, was an expert of the 7th Circle. Compared to Damon’s majesty, he was inevitably lacking, but to the orcs he was still an enormous disaster.
Pajijijik!
Several streams of Chain Lightning swept over the orc warriors. Orcs struck by it trembled as if hit by thunderbolts, then collapsed limply. The powerful energy of Chain Lightning burned the brains and innards of the orc warriors to a crisp.
As proof, smoke rose in wisps from the seven orifices of the fallen orc warriors along with a revolting smell. Due to the magical attacks of just two people, half of the orc warriors had become guests who would never return.