Ch.149Chapter 149: The Decisive Battle in the East (17).

Though he said that, Valt couldn’t move carelessly either.

The Orc King must have realized after that last strike.

If he attacked the mages, magical attacks would come flying at Valt.

This was Valt’s method to stop the Orc King’s artifact.

“Haha, you’re being cautious. Is this really how an orc behaves?”

This was Valt’s first time seeing orcs, but he had heard much about them.

A warlike race that uses human wave tactics and never retreats. A race classified as monsters rather than humanoids.

There were occasional stories of successful communication with orcs, but they remained aggressive enemies of humanity.

The fact that this orc was showing such intelligence aligned with the notion that orcs weren’t simply mindless monsters.

“I don’t understand how they’re acting like this. It’s like they’re the ancient orc race my grandmother told me about.”

There was an interesting legend about orcs.

In ancient times, orcs were a race that lived normally like other humanoid races.

However, due to their warlike nature and uncontrollable temperament—even more aggressive than the Gerunto—they were persecuted by all races.

One great orc warrior, saddened by this, tried to change the orcs.

That was Gauwell.

But Gauwell’s efforts came to nothing.

Not only did he face opposition from his fellow orcs, but an orc named Pallokkum, who commanded the orcs opposing Gauwell, sought help from other races.

He brought outside forces into an internal racial conflict.

At that time, orcs were not like they are now; they could think and communicate like other humanoid races, making this possible.

Other races, displeased with the potential change in orcs, accepted Pallokkum’s request. Thus, a coalition of elves, humans, and dwarves fought against Gauwell’s army. Gauwell was defeated and met a bitter end.

Moreover, just before his death, Gauwell uttered a curse.

Whether it was real or not, the dying words of Gauwell, the last of the ancient orcs, have been passed down like an incantation to this day.

“My wretched, pitiful, and lazy kin. I curse you who refuse to change in order to survive.”

Perhaps because of this, or due to their nature of plundering and warfare, orcs were subjugated everywhere. Their power gradually weakened, and after living in isolation from humanoid races for a long time, they were eventually degraded to monsters.

But the orcs before him now seemed like those ancient orcs had returned to life.

Of course, Valt didn’t know this fact.

“What does it matter? If they’re enemies, I’ll crush them. I’ll just think of them as humans, not orcs.”

With that, Valt began creating rocks in the air again.

Kugugugugugu—

“Hahaha, as expected.”

The moment Valt shouted, Gauwell’s Tusk was fired.

It was proof that the Orc King was keeping Valt’s meteor magic in check.

But Gauwell’s Tusk missed completely due to Arias’s illusion magic.

Unlike before, there was no explosion and it wasn’t as threatening, but it still had enough power to inflict fatal wounds if it hit.

The Orc King, quickly realizing he couldn’t hit his target, seemed to be adjusting the power of Gauwell’s Tusk.

“This has become interesting. Now, you’ll lose if you move first. What will you do?”

Valt stared intently at where the spear had come from.

Despite the great distance, Valt’s eyes could confirm that the Orc King was there.

The Orc King, who had been sitting on a massive chair carried by ordinary orcs, had now descended to stand on the ground, glaring at Valt with murderous eyes.

In his right hand, he held the enormous Gauwell’s Tusk.

“Yes, that’s the wisest approach you can take. If you have a brain, you won’t continue attacking.”

This outcome was actually a clever achievement by Valt.

If the Orc King had unleashed a barrage of attacks on Valt with killing intent, Valt might not have been able to withstand it.

But the coordination with Arias and Liris, the two missed spears, and Valt’s tremendous meteor attack at the beginning had made a difference.

If they had continued with Valt launching meteors at the army and the Orc King using his artifact, Valt’s side would have tired first. But the first meteor attack was so overwhelming that even the Orc King had been intimidated.

It was a moment proving that Gerunto were superior to orcs in a battle of wits.

“Um… Valt, how long do we have to keep this up?”

“Well, probably indefinitely?”

“I-indefinitely? I don’t think I can maintain this magic for even half a day in my current state!”

Even with the help of spirits, spirit magic naturally consumed Arias’s mana and mental strength.

Though it was much more efficient than regular magic, sustaining it for a long time was obviously difficult.

“No, if your magic disappears, we’ll all be in danger.”

“Then what should I do? I’m already struggling!”

Valt began rummaging through his spatial pouch.

“Drink this—mana and mental recovery potions. They’re from Lamrpo, so their effectiveness is guaranteed.”

“F-feed me!”

“Huh?”

“I can’t drink it myself while concentrating! Feed me, please!”

“Ah, of course I’ll do that much. Lift your head and open your mouth—you can do that much, right?”

Pop—

Though it was just the act of feeding her a recovery potion, Arias felt inexplicably happy that Valt was feeding her something, which gave her strength.

“Oh? Wow! This really works well! With this, I could keep going all day! Undine, please help!”

Shalaralarak—

Undine, responding to Arias’s good mood, moved happily, and Arias’s illusion magic became even more solid.

Then another voice came from behind.

“Um… Lord Valt. I’m also a bit tired… Oh my… My mana…”

It was awkward, unconvincing acting, but Valt showed his kindness by feeding recovery potions to Liris as well.

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After a considerable time of standoff between Valt and the Orc King, the battle initiative finally returned to the armies on the ground.

The news that Valt had neutralized the Orc King’s artifact was quickly relayed to the army by Veron. The mages, initially skeptical, didn’t remove their barriers at first, but when they realized that no more spear attacks were coming, they began launching magical attacks at the orc soldiers before them.

The orcs began to retreat almost immediately.

The Eastern Alliance forces began driving back the orc army with unstoppable momentum, with some units penetrating deep into enemy lines like awls.

There were clearly master-level warriors from each kingdom present there.

Once they began pushing forward, the Eastern Alliance army advanced relentlessly. Sensing defeat in the first engagement, horn signals began to resound across the plain from the orc camp.

[Buuuuuuuuuuu!!]

Valt’s group could hear the sound as well.

“Wh-what’s that?”

Despite the standoff, Arias was exerting superhuman concentration. Even with recovery potions, mental fatigue couldn’t be remedied by medication.

“It’s a retreat signal. It’s a shame it ended with just a standoff, but this isn’t bad either.”

Valt’s group had led their side to victory simply by standing in the air.

The achievement of blocking the Orc King’s artifact had led to a tremendous victory.

Of course, not many people knew this fact.

During the standoff, Valt learned an interesting water magic from Arias.

It was a telescope lens made of water.

With Valt’s excellent eyesight, even with his crude water magic skills, he could observe the Orc King in considerable detail.

“He’s withdrawing obediently. That’s it for today. Let’s prepare to return.”

Valt wanted to cast spells at the retreating orcs, but there were stamina issues, and if Valt started such actions, the Orc King would surely not remain idle.

That’s why the Orc King had ordered a retreat and wasn’t protecting his troops.

From Valt’s perspective, the ground forces pursuing the orcs could now defeat tens of thousands of orcs.

It was an incredible victory that couldn’t have been better.

As cheers from their side echoed high into the sky, and after confirming the Orc King’s retreat, Valt began making his way back to headquarters.

“Good job, everyone. Arias, Liris, this operation would have been impossible without you two. You can stop now.”

When Valt said this, Arias deactivated her illusion magic.

Swoosh—

“Hah, haah… This is really not easy to maintain! Even with Undine, it’s too exhausting.”

Seeing Arias like this, Valt just grinned.

“Hehe, but it’s excellent practice for magic. Your endurance will become tremendous.”

Arias agreed with Valt’s words.

“That’s right! It does feel that way! It’s like practicing magic in a completely different way. Why didn’t I think of this method before?”

Maintaining magic for a long time was extremely difficult. Not only did it require concentration over an extended period, but such complex magic, even with spirit magic, required continuous communication between the spirit and user to repeat formulas and calculations.

“I’m glad it was helpful… Arias!!! You coward!”

Suddenly, Valt rushed to Arias, embraced her, and emitted tremendous magical power.

Wooooong!!

In an instant, blood-colored metal aggregates gathered around Valt’s Luphenium bracelet and began to rotate.

“Liris, get behind me!! Quickly!!”

“Yes! Lord Valt!”

At that moment!

SWAAAACK!!

KWAAAANG!!

Drrrrrr—

“Urrrgh!!”

The Orc King’s spear had been fired at Valt.

Valt’s defensive magic collided with Gauwell’s Tusk.

KUDRRRRRRRR!!

“Kuh! Urrrrrgh!!! You dishonorable bastard!!!”

With Valt’s cry came a powerful secondary explosion.

THWACK-!

BOOOOOM!

A shockwave and noise that couldn’t be ignored by either the pursuing allies or the fleeing orcs erupted in the skies above the Eastern Alliance army, leaving some to stare blankly at the explosion.