Ch.111Chapter 111: Destruction Magic.

With Valt’s rare but resounding battle cry, the massive iron-like sphere flying toward the orc encampment was truly a spectacular sight.

WHOOOOOOSH—

A gigantic sphere about 10 meters in diameter.

Since it was filled with heat magic, it wasn’t actually that heavy for Valt.

But to an uninformed observer, it would have looked like a massive meteorite falling from the sky.

“M-move!! It’s a meteor!!”

Perhaps he had some knowledge of magic?

One mercenary who mistook Valt’s magic for a meteor shouted loudly, and the enormous object casting shadows on the ground as it flew made everyone back away.

BOOM!!

SPLASH!!

BANG-BANG!!

“KWEEEK! TWEEK!! TWEEEK!!”

The fire and wind magic that had arrived before Valt’s iron sphere were already burning orcs to death, but everyone’s attention was focused on just one thing.

WHOOOOSH—

Both the humans of the expedition and the orcs under attack stared in disbelief at the house-sized iron ball flying through the air.

“Tw-tweek!?”

Just as an orc snorted something like “what is that thing?”

Valt’s cannon bomb landed precisely near the ravine where thousands of orcs were gathered.

And then came Valt’s quiet murmur.

“Detonate!”

KABOOOOOOOOM!!

DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU!!

“KWEEEEK!”

“KEEEK!”

“TWEEK!!”

With a massive explosion and terrifying sound, the cannon bomb tore apart due to the explosive magic inside, unleashing devastation upon the orcs.

CRACK-

BOOM-

CRUNCH-

THWACK-

Orcs near the cannon bomb were completely unrecognizable, while even those at a considerable distance had their bodies pierced through, turning them into tattered rags.

Moreover, Valt’s cannon bomb didn’t just slaughter orcs.

The tremendous impact and explosion collapsed part of the ravine, causing boulders to fall on the orcs as well.

RUMBLE-

THUD!

THUD-THUD!

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

“KWEEEEEK!”

An incredible achievement that seemed unbelievable for a single spell.

The attention that had been focused on the flying iron ball became even more concentrated when it exploded, raising the expedition’s morale to the extreme.

“””W-WOAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”””

An enormous cheer rose to the heavens as the equally excited commander projected his voice with magic once again.

[Arrow unit! Attack!!]

Despite Valt’s incredible magic, the orcs were indeed numerous and physically powerful, leaping over the corpses of their fallen comrades and charging at tremendous speed.

If not for Valt, the expedition would have been overwhelmed by that abnormal speed.

THUDUDUDUDUDU-

A rain of arrows poured down, but after witnessing the immense power of Valt’s magic, it seemed relatively weak in comparison.

However, it was definitely effective in damaging the orcs.

Meanwhile, in the formation of the mage unit, they were preparing magic again.

This was because when close combat began, friendly forces could be harmed by magic, so it was common practice to bombard magic behind the point where allies and enemies were engaged.

During this brief preparation time, the mages in the unit wore dumbfounded expressions.

“I-is that even magic?”

“What else could it be!? Look at the effect! It’s an incredible fire magic!”

A sudden debate broke out among the mages. It seemed that mages as a species couldn’t help but discuss anything unusual they witnessed.

“Don’t be ridiculous! What kind of fire magic is that!? An iron ball exploding and tearing enemies apart? That’s metal magic!”

“No! No! That person was manipulating rocks earlier too! That’s earth magic!”

Since explaining physical magic would clearly give them headaches, Valt didn’t bother to step in with an explanation.

But a mage who had been observing the situation spoke up to the arguing mages.

“Wait… okay, let’s say that sphere was created with magic. But do people normally throw such things with physical strength…?”

“……”

The mages suddenly fell silent.

“T-that’s it!! He substituted physical strength for the mana required for throwing and projection, increasing the destructive power of the magic!!”

“Y-yes!! That’s right! That way, you can reduce the amount of mana consumed and make the magic manifest more powerfully!”

The mages began analyzing the magic, suddenly drawing formulas on the ground.

Valt looked at Martina, the mage unit commander, at this absurd sight, but she too was lost in thought about something.

‘Is this the true nature of mages…?’

At that moment, Martina’s voice echoed among her unit members.

“Everyone, enough! We’re at war! I will not tolerate any more unseemly behavior! And I shall call Prince Valt’s magic ‘Destruction Magic.'”

It seemed she had been thinking about what to name Valt’s magic.

“Ohhh… Destruction Magic…! That sounds right! Magic that destroys magic to unleash power and destroys enemies! That’s excellent!”

Though it was a simple naming, the mages seemed quite pleased with it.

Unexpectedly, such straightforward, intuitive names for magic tend to stick in people’s minds more easily.

“All forces! Prepare the next magic! As long as our allies aren’t harmed, you may try to imitate Prince Valt’s magic!”

Being a mage herself and understanding their psychology perfectly, Martina made an important suggestion for the mages to execute attack magic.

“M-me first! So… adding explosive magic to a solid object… this could work with enchantment magic too!”

“Then I’ll try with ice… to maximize the fragments flying out… by trapping explosive magic inside an ice sphere…”

“You idiot, would that even work?”

The mage formation suddenly became noisy.

“Ahaha… Valt, the atmosphere has really changed, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it has. Why are they making such a fuss?”

Regardless, this was the beginning of Valt’s magic spreading across the continent under the name “Destruction Magic,” regardless of his own intentions.

***

CLANG! CLANG!

SQUELCH-

“KWEEEEEK!!”

CRUNCH!

THWACK-!

“ARGH!”

Despite clearly starting the war with an advantage, the situation was worse than expected.

Of course, there couldn’t be zero casualties in such a war, but the damage was greater than anticipated.

The reason was simple.

The orcs were just too strong.

“W-what are these things!! They’re not just ordinary orcs!!”

“KWOOOORGH!! TWEEK! PTUI!”

Orcs with blood-red eyes rampaging across the battlefield.

Their speed was comparable to at least fifth-tier aura users.

“I-impossible! How can orcs be this strong!”

The situation was clearly abnormal—these orcs seemed to be under some kind of buff-type magic.

Moreover, there was another reason for the severe allied casualties.

“Ugh! M-my body feels heavy!!”

Unbelievably, the orcs were using magic.

Not attack magic like white magic used by humans, but debuffs—poison, vitality reduction, curses, vision impairment, hearing disruption, and more.

The orcs were using primarily debuff magic.

“I-it’s those ones! Those hooded orcs are using magic.”

Hooded orcs that hadn’t been visible before appeared from behind the ravine.

“O-orcs using magic!! This is different from what we were told!!”

Curse-type magic isn’t actually very practical in one-on-one combat.

The effect is minimal compared to the preparation time required.

And aura users or magic users typically have some resistance to curses or debuffs that directly affect the body.

But.

On a large-scale battlefield like this, it was a different story.

What if you could only swing your sword twice instead of three times?

What if you couldn’t raise your shield high enough to block an enemy’s sword?

Gradually accumulating curses showed their true value in large-scale combat like this.

As the battle continued, the enemies’ curses piled up and grew stronger, and the allies’ high morale rapidly cooled due to those curses.

“I-I’m going to die! No! Save me!!”

The battlefield quickly descended into chaos.

The orcs’ curse magic and the blood-thirsty rampage of warrior orcs with red eyes and buffs were enough to make anyone’s knees weak.

Moreover, many had joined this hunt with a casual attitude after hearing they would face orcs, which only added to the confusion.

Valt watched all this from behind.

“So that’s it, what the Dark Society prepared.”

Lisa, Arias, and Lilith’s expressions also grew serious.

“But this seems less like an artifact’s effect… more like something else…”

They knew there were many artifacts in the world unknown to them, but they hadn’t realized such things were possible.

“Yes, something feels off. I have a feeling this isn’t the end. But we have no choice. Let’s go, everyone.”

“Yes, Valt!”

“Okay! Valt!”

“Got it! Valt!”

Now that their allies were being pushed back, there was no reason to remain as spectators.

The four friends from Grovint Academy moved out to change the tide of battle.

Unit Commander Martina could only watch as the four suddenly rushed forward.

By the commander-in-chief’s orders, those four were guaranteed independent action.

This too was Grace’s arrangement.

As Valt’s group rushed forward at high speed, Valt assigned tasks to his friends.

“Lisa, cast enhancement magic on the close-combat fighters while keeping yourself safe! Arias, heal people! Prioritize critical wounds!”

“Understood!”

“Lilith, focus on using simple magic to restrict the orcs’ movements. Mana management is essential to handle these numbers. Don’t use my blood yet—we don’t know what else might be coming.”

“Yes, Lord Valt!”

Suddenly curious, Lisa accelerated her pace and asked Valt:

“What are you going to do, Valt?”

Valt continued running forward, flashing a white-toothed grin.

“For now, don’t come near me.”

“…O-okay!!”

The three felt an inexplicable chill run down their spines.