Ch.105Chapter 105: Invasion.

After finishing his sparring match with Grace, Valt returned to his quarters with a very satisfied expression.

‘I wouldn’t have been able to block that final attack, the Meteor Spear, if I were my former self.’

Though it was a technique hastily improvised from insights gained during the fight, Grace’s final attack was more powerful than any Valt had ever experienced.

Yet Valt had succeeded in blocking it.

Victor approached Valt, who seemed to be in a good mood.

“Brother, are you really using aura now? It feels somewhat different to me.”

Robin, their roommate, also demanded an explanation.

“That’s right. There’s something a bit off about calling it just aura… It’s more like Mr. Solphin’s Dragon Force, wouldn’t you say?”

They truly were disciples of the Seven Heroes with such good intuition.

‘Professor Liman, you said not many would recognize it….’

In truth, besides these two, many others had noticed that Valt had completely merged his aura and magic power.

‘Well, I can just brush it off as a racial characteristic.’

“Well, that’s how it turned out. I guess I have a unique constitution. It’s not like magic-using Gerungtu are common anyway.”

“Then what about your aura?”

“My aura isn’t perfect either. As you guys taught me, I can only use partial applications. But even with just that, I’ve found many interesting possibilities. For example… like this!”

Flash-

Valt’s form seemed to disappear, then reappeared right in front of Robin and Victor, who were standing some distance away.

The dormitory was spacious enough for three large men to move comfortably, so Valt had no trouble moving around.

Robin, startled by Valt’s movement, exclaimed:

“W-wait a minute, Valt!? Is that the movement technique I taught you…?”

It was the speed-enhancing method Robin had taught him as a partial application.

When Robin had demonstrated it, he could only move slightly faster than normal, but Valt’s version was on an entirely different level.

His aura and magic power had combined to create extraordinary speed.

“Yes, that’s it.”

“How on earth did it become like that…?”

Robin couldn’t comprehend it. To reach that level, one would need to properly master the aura cultivation method Robin was learning and acquire the divine footwork technique.

Yet Valt had achieved such speed with just the partial application method.

“Well, I’d call it a racial characteristic. Gerungtu cells seem to contain quite a lot of aura.”

“That’s…”

Victor, with an excited face, requested:

“B-brother! Try the one I taught you too!”

What Victor had taught was an aura application method for strengthening fists.

Valt nodded and executed the technique Victor had taught him.

Woong-

He could feel the aura and magic power resonating, gathering powerful strength in his fist, but there was no visible external change, making it impossible to tell how much stronger it had become.

Finally, Victor suggested:

“Let’s do a fist bump test!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Victor raised his aura to strengthen his own fist, and Valt bumped his fist against Victor’s.

Of course, it wasn’t a full-power, destructive punch with maximized aura.

It was just a quick fist bump to test their relative strength.

Kwang-!

Perhaps due to both men’s skill, a small shockwave occurred when their fists collided, and soon Victor began making strange noises.

“Aaaagh!! W-what?! How? How is this possible?”

Valt’s fist was harder than Victor’s. While this was partly due to the inherent difference in physical strength, Victor, who had sparred with Valt several times before, could clearly tell that Valt’s fist was somehow different.

“No! Brother’s fists were always hard, but not to this extent! This is no joke!?”

“I see, this is about the same as my old Magic Gauntlet.”

He had created fists with the same hardness as the Magic Gauntlet he used before learning blood magic and aura.

As a result, Valt’s fists had become so hard that they wouldn’t be scratched even if struck by a sword using various techniques.

“Thank you all for many things. I’m very pleased.”

***

After that, Valt and his friends continued their training according to their own methods, spending fulfilling days.

Then one day.

Seirun came running breathlessly into the training ground with news they had been expecting.

“Word came from the main house. The monster wave has begun. The situation is so serious that the Caldrian family has issued a full mobilization order.”

It seemed that an emergency had finally broken out in the northern Caldrian territory, which the Dark Society was surely targeting.

Since everyone had been preparing for this, they had some leeway this time.

These different races had grown stronger quickly by sharing their specialties with each other.

Valt’s contribution to their rapid growth was significant.

“We should prepare. Everyone get ready to accept the mission and head north… Huh?”

But at that moment, the training ground door opened, and Grace came looking for Valt.

“Valt! Is Valt here!?”

After losing her duel with Valt, Grace had met Valt’s sixth brother, Luktan Gerungtu.

Luktan, who was crazy about Central Continent women, did his best at the blind date Valt had arranged, and eventually succeeded in winning her heart.

The warrior nation of Gerungtu in the south had made a great impression on Grace.

There, if someone liked another person, they would challenge them to a fight, or rather a duel, and they would enthusiastically battle each other.

Interests, face, duty, and politics had no place in these matters.

Grace liked this situation so much that she didn’t even return to the academy, causing trouble for her attendants.

She had returned just a few days ago and was determined to go back to the south when she received some news.

“I’m here. What’s the matter?”

“Big trouble. The East is in danger.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

The Oscar Kingdom, to which Grace belonged, was part of the Eastern Alliance.

Each direction of the continent had its own distinct characteristics: the North had monsters, the West had great forests, the South had plains and deserts, and the East had fertile plains and rich soil.

Unlike the barren lands of the South, the East was blessed with soil where anything planted would grow well, as if blessed by a god of abundance. Because of this, it had been a center of conflict since ancient times.

Even now, excluding the Empire, the various kingdoms, duchies, and noble territories of the Eastern Alliance frequently engaged in small wars to claim better land.

No matter how peaceful the continent might be under the powerful Halquin Empire, this region was a land of conflict where even the Empire had given up trying to maintain order.

Lisa, who knew the political situation well, asked Grace:

“Has a major war broken out? There shouldn’t be any reason for a big war right now…”

Grace, who had acknowledged Lisa as Valt’s adjutant, nodded at her question.

“Yes, it’s war.”

Lisa’s eyes widened at Grace’s answer.

“At this time? The whole continent is unsettled, and His Imperial Majesty wouldn’t just sit still…”

But Grace hadn’t finished speaking.

“Not a war between humans. Orcs. Orcs have invaded human territory.”

At these words, everyone who had been tense breathed a sigh of relief.

“Phew… I thought a major war had broken out between humans. If it’s just orcs invading, won’t the Eastern Alliance handle it easily?”

The Eastern Alliance isn’t particularly friendly within itself, being a land of conflict. However, the threat of monsters is always present.

Orcs gather and live in the fertile, food-abundant East.

With excellent reproductive capabilities and high food requirements, orcs are intelligent enough to farm, but they generally prefer raiding.

The Eastern Alliance was formed to deal with such orcs.

However, completely eradicating the orcs was nearly impossible. Their reproduction rate was no joke, and because they hid everywhere, it was practically impossible to search the vast East thoroughly.

Due to conflicts of interest among humans, the current approach was simply to eliminate orcs whenever they were spotted.

“It’s not that simple. The number of orcs is enormous.”

But Lisa knew that orcs were naturally numerous.

“About 50,000 this time, I suppose? Even so…”

“The scouting reports count 200,000. And endless orcs are said to be pouring into the East behind them.”

Everyone present was shocked by this impossible number.

“W-wait a minute. The advance force is 200,000?”

“Yes, the East is in chaos. Orders have been issued for all those belonging to Eastern kingdoms to return. I need to leave now too.”

An advance force of 200,000 orcs. And no one knew how many more were behind them.

If the advance force typically makes up about 20% of the total orc army… Lisa’s mouth fell open as she finished the calculation.

“O-one million!? An orc army of one million!? T-that’s impossible! How could there be so many orcs!?”

To make matters worse, more bad news reached Grace.

“And there are rumors that an Orc King has appeared.”

Orc King.

A superior being above even the Orc Lords, just one of which could bring calamity to a kingdom.

It was an absurd claim that this legendary monster, which hadn’t appeared for hundreds of years, had emerged.

“A-an Orc King? Just like that?”

But it was entirely possible. Everyone present knew this better than anyone.

Lati, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, finally spoke the name:

“It’s the Dark Society. This is the Dark Society’s scheme. Looks like a diversion tactic.”