Ch.117Chapter 117: Orc Magic

From a distance, a fierce battle could be seen.

Unlike the expedition team that Valt had been part of, which fought in ravines, the people of this region were battling on the plains.

Lisa’s insistence that they needed to come here first had proven correct.

Fortunately, the place where they arrived was exactly at the rear of the Orc forces.

And specifically, where the Orc mage units were positioned.

Though he hadn’t mentioned it, Valt actually had quite a deep interest in Orc magic.

Magic is a highly sophisticated knowledge system.

It requires calculations, formulas, and an exceptional understanding of mana to use.

But Orcs? This wasn’t to dismiss their intelligence, of course.

They clearly possessed enough intelligence to be considered humanoid.

However, when discussing magical systems, it would be fair to say that Orcs had no magical system at all.

And yet, curse magic?

If Lati, who was knowledgeable about magic, had been here, she would have provided a satisfying answer, but she was currently in the north.

However, Valt recalled a certain magic he had discovered while reading in the library.

‘It must be black magic. Without black magic, there’s no way Orcs could use such advanced curse magic.’

Naturally, there were various magical systems in this world.

From common white magic to elemental magic and even the blood magic of vampires—all the magic Valt had learned belonged to different magical systems.

Among them, there was one particularly distinct and unusual magical system—black magic.

It was magic that substituted complex calculations and formulas with the user’s life force or sacrifices.

Since the price for using this magic was very clear and simple, it had the advantage of being powerful and accessible to anyone.

However, true to its name, even the methods of using black magic were extremely sinister, and the types of magic were predominantly negative, such as curses and weakening spells.

Moreover, since demons were naturally the foundation of black magic, prolonged exposure to or use of black magic could result in the user’s mind being devoured by demons or driven to madness—a notable side effect.

The rear position meant there were more than just mage units.

There were also Orc Lords and Orc General units.

Due to the distance, the Orcs hadn’t yet noticed Valt’s group.

Valt was about to rush forward quickly but stopped in his tracks.

Arias and Liris were still cradled in Valt’s arms.

The three, who had been tense thinking they were about to enter combat, asked why he had stopped.

“Why? What’s wrong? Did you think of something?”

A Master-level Orc Lord and dozens of Level 7 Generals.

No matter how strong Valt was, jumping into such a situation where he could be subjected to concentrated fire would be insane.

“Why would we need to rush in there? We’re ‘mages,’ after all.”

Surprised by Valt’s unexpected answer, a confused Lisa asked him:

“R-right? We’re mages, aren’t we? Mages prioritize ranged attacks, right?”

It was obvious, but she had momentarily forgotten due to Valt’s imposing physique.

“Like proper mages, we’ll cast wide-area attack spells from here and disrupt the enemy. That’s the right approach.”

Only then did the rest of the companions carefully observe the ground where the Orc Lord was faintly visible.

Thud-

Thud-

“KWAAAARGH!! Tweek! Tweek!!”

A massive body with dark green skin different from ordinary Orcs. The unrefined Master-level energy could be felt even in the air where Valt’s group was standing.

“It’s tingling. Different from human Masters.”

A true monster.

Unlike humans who reached the Master level through considerable training, the Orc Lord, who was simply born strong, exuded an incredibly ferocious energy.

“Ugh… seeing it like this just makes me nervous. Would it have been better if we had charged in earlier?”

Valt smiled at Lisa’s words.

“Haha, we would have died if we did. Even in a one-on-one fight, I couldn’t guarantee victory against that thing.”

Yesterday, they hadn’t had the chance to directly witness its strength due to the landslide, but now the Orc Lord’s power was clearly palpable.

It was easy to understand why the appearance of a single Orc Lord was considered a calamity.

“If dozens of these have appeared, is the Eastern Alliance really okay? What about the Orc King?”

“The Eastern Alliance has many powerful individuals. I heard that the most famous one has joined the battle?”

“Who?”

One of the Seven Heroes.

Tower Master Livian Sairon had joined the Eastern Alliance’s battle.

Magic towers were scattered throughout the continent, but the main tower, also called the Abyss, was located in the Eastern Alliance region.

“The Tower Master.”

“Hmm… a 9th Circle Archmage. At that level…”

But Valt still felt uneasy.

If the Dark Society had intervened, they wouldn’t have overlooked the Eastern Alliance’s forces or the Tower Master’s participation in the war.

Judging from what happened in the Vampire Kingdom, if Valt hadn’t been there, the vampires might have become pawns of the Dark Society.

“Those Dark Society bastards hate variables. There must be another reason for this war.”

“Ugh… the Orc Lord is terrifying enough, and there’s more?”

“Let’s think about that later.”

Valt pondered something for a moment.

“Good, since we’re in the air, I’ve got a good idea.”

Everyone focused on Valt as he spoke.

“We’ll create a spell here and throw it at them. We’ll drop our strongest magic right in the center of the enemy.”

However, the others were somewhat skeptical. Arias said there was no spell that could reach that far from this distance, and Liris mentioned that her blood control weakened over long distances.

“It’s a good idea, but such a spell…”

While everyone else was doubtful, only Valt spoke with excitement.

“Isn’t there a spell that gets stronger the farther it travels?”

“N-no way?”

Guessing Valt’s intention, everyone wore disbelieving expressions, and sure enough, Valt first asked Liris:

“Liris, how high can this platform spell go?”

“If I can endure it… quite high. Maybe not to space, but extremely high.”

Pleased with the answer, Valt grinned, showing his white teeth.

“Kuhaha, excellent. We’ll drop a meteor right in the center of the enemy.”

As expected, everyone was shocked by his response.

“A-a meteor? You mean you’re going to hurl a rock over there?”

“Yes, it’ll be fun.”

Though he said that, even Valt didn’t know how powerful it would be.

When he was on Earth, he remembered reading on the internet that dropping a tungsten mass from space wasn’t actually as powerful as one might think.

But this was a world of magic.

Valt’s physical force was imbued with magic.

While it might not be as powerful as the thousands of tons of landslide, with Valt’s current magical power, he could create a rock mass weighing dozens of tons.

Valt would focus solely on creating the rock, Lisa would cast enhancement spells on it, Arias would protect the ascending group with water spirits, and Liris would coat the enhanced rock with blood magic.

This was the outline of Valt’s physical Meteor Strike plan.

“No time! People are suffering even now! Liris, upward!”

“Yes, Valt!”

Though it was an improvised strategy, this was Valt’s specialty.

Valt began to ascend vertically into the sky, stepping on the platforms Liris created.

Whooosh-

“Guh! I-it’s too cold!!”

“Arias!”

“Yes! Undine, please!”

Naturally, the upper atmosphere of a planet is extremely cold. Valt had ascended to a height of at least several dozen kilometers.

“Arias, you’re amazing. Water spirits are truly versatile.”

Arias’s expression brightened immensely at Valt’s praise.

But there was a problem.

“Hmm… I just realized it’s too far. Can we target that exact spot?”

That was the role of the versatile 7th Circle mage, Liris.

“I have a targeting spell. I’ve already targeted the Orc Lord. I’ll share my guidance with you.”

Thanks to their soul contract, they could share magic.

A red dot marking the Orc Lord appeared clearly in Valt’s vision.

Though they were dozens of kilometers away, he felt confident he could accurately hurl the rock to that exact spot.

“Excellent! That’s Liris for you.”

Liris, like Arias, was pleased by Valt’s continued praise.

“Alright! Here I go! Haaaaaaah!!”

Valt’s earth spirits began forming a rock formation in mid-air.

Rumble rumble rumble-

All the mana and magical power in every cell of Valt’s body instantly converted into elemental power, creating a massive rock.

“W-woaaaah…!”

While it couldn’t compare to the landslide, this size was still beyond what an ordinary 5th Circle mage could create.

“How about it, Lisa? Can you enchant it?”

“I-I’ll try! Indu Fumnis!”

Nothing else was needed. Just a spell to make it harder. That would exponentially increase the power of this rock.

“Liris!”

Creating platforms, setting targets, coating the rock—Liris was arguably the busiest, but she felt fortunate to be of such help to Valt.

“Yes, Valt!”

Woooong-

A massive blood-colored rock created over the course of five minutes.

Valt grasped it using his magical power.

‘Good, it’s working!’

His magical power gathered to form a shape, transforming into a giant hand.

Valt had transformed his magical power into a giant hand through visualization.

The hand grasped the blood-colored rock Valt had created.

At this point, even just dropping it without throwing would have an unimaginable impact.

How much magical power would this system of physical magic hold for such physical force?

In truth, the landslide spell was just Valt causing a landslide.

This, right now, was probably the most powerful area-of-effect spell Valt could cast.

“Target on, objective: Orc Lord! Here goes!”

Whoooosh-

Valt’s magical arm swung, and the blood-colored rock began to move slowly.

It only appeared slow because of its enormous size; it was already creating flames as it cut through the air.

“Combination Magic! Meteor Strike!”

Kugrrrrrr-

Though created differently from the 9th Circle Meteor spell, Valt’s ultimate destructive magic with the same result began to extend toward the Orc Lord.