Ch.171Chapter 171: Orc King (2).

# Chapter 171: Orc King (2)

On the frozen Erdion River, the crimson tide created by the corpses of 200,000 orcs was beginning to subside.

Zerdin felt the trembling of Black Light in his hand.

A demon sword that grew by feeding on monster blood and fear.

The fact that Black Light was crying was evidence that this place was filled with the despair of monsters.

Zerdin smiled.

“The time has finally come to slit your throat, Orc King.”

Zerdin pulled the reins of his warhorse and looked back at his troops.

Led by himself, a Grand Master, there were 30 Masters, 1,200 Experts, and 200 magicians of 5th Circle or higher.

A total of 1,431 elite among elites, worthy of being called the strongest force in history.

This force was sufficient to end the war.

Surely, it must have been that prince of Gerungtu who caused the miracle of freezing the river.

Though he was not to Zerdin’s liking, he had to admit that the prince had set the final stage perfectly.

Honestly, if not for his Gerungtu allegiance, Zerdin would have wanted to recruit him as a subordinate.

“All forces, slow your advance! Conserve your strength to finish him off!”

At Zerdin’s command, the troops moved in perfect unison.

Now that the river had frozen and the orcs’ forces were cut in half, the war would end once the Orc King was eliminated.

“I shall be the master of this war.”

The flow of the central forces began to subtly change.

Like a living organism, both sides seemed to instinctively realize that the outcome of this war depended on the battle between King Zerdin and the Orc King.

The humans and orcs who had been fiercely clashing gradually distanced themselves, gathering behind their respective commanders to prepare to witness the final battle.

This occasionally happened in wars between humans.

Especially in territorial wars, main forces would sometimes clash alone to reduce casualties among common soldiers, as most regular troops were territorial citizens—essentially the lord’s property.

But Zerdin could not understand why orcs would display such behavior.

From operating separate units to cut supply lines to utilizing shamans and troop deployments, they employed tactics no different from humans. Not only that, but their ingenious strategy combining rafts and fog was astounding.

By now, the center of the Grasein Plains had entered a lull, like the calm before a storm.

“Everyone check your equipment and prepare for attacks! We don’t know what tricks the enemy might have planned!”

Unable to discern the orcs’ intentions, Zerdin decided to observe the situation first.

If they were caught in another of the enemy’s outlandish tactics and suffered losses, victory could not be guaranteed even in such a favorable situation.

The more urgent the situation, the more cautious one should be.

That was his favorite saying.

That’s when it happened.

Thud—

Thud—

Thud—

With massive footsteps, a monster exuding tremendous pressure appeared.

Three times taller than a regular orc, with skin that was dark reddish rather than deep green.

Its wide-open mouth was filled with sharp fangs, and on its forehead were two horns covered in scars—something orcs normally didn’t have.

Its body was covered in unidentifiable black tattoos, and around its neck hung necklaces made of human skulls.

It was the Orc King.

[KUOOOOOWAR!!]

His roar shook the entire plains, causing weak-hearted soldiers to tremble in fear.

But having heard such roars countless times before, some had grown somewhat accustomed to it.

However, what happened next exceeded everyone’s expectations.

[You… humans… kruk… why… chweek… do you slaughter… chwerik! us…]

The Orc King had begun speaking in human language.

More than the Orc King’s massive roar, more than the ominous aura emanating from Gauwel’s fangs, the humans were shocked by the fact that the Orc King could speak.

[We… chwerik! just! wanted! to! live! KWROOOOOO!!!]

The soldiers began to stir at the Orc King’s cry.

“Wh-what? An orc speaking? Weren’t they just monsters?”

“He must be possessed by demons! Don’t listen! We need to tear him apart right now!”

Voices of confusion and fear erupted.

That’s when Zerdin shouted, infusing his voice with aura.

[SILENCE!!]

At the Grand Master’s shout, the plains instantly fell silent.

[Stop your nonsense, monster. You invaded human lands, plundered, killed, and raped! Can you not see the witnesses who were sacrificed along your path, that you spout such shameless nonsense?! Today I shall tear your limbs apart and feed them to the dogs to appease their grudges!]

Zerdin’s words were orthodox.

From a human perspective, orcs were monsters, evil incarnate.

Beings that could not coexist with humans and had to be eliminated.

But the Orc King burst into fierce laughter.

[KHAHAHAHAHA!! KHAHAHAHAHA chwerik!! KHAHAHAHAHA!!]

Zerdin felt disgusted by the Orc King’s mocking laughter.

Before him, the conqueror of the East, a mere monster displayed such an arrogant attitude!

Such disrespect would be intolerable even before the Emperor of the Empire.

[How amusing, chwerik! Humans! You started all of this! You slaughtered our kind who were living quietly in the mountains to mine minerals! You decorated spears with our heads in the name of martial contests, and captured young orcs for magical experiments, tearing their flesh and setting them on fire while still alive!! Is that what humans call justice?!]

Somehow, as time passed, the Orc King spoke the human language fluently without stuttering.

His voice now mixed emotions of anger, sadness, and hatred.

[Khahahaha, you contradictions! Arrogant humans! No race on the continent, not even dragons, tramples other races with such madness as you do! Does this world belong to humans?! Foolish humans!! Chweek!]

The soldiers’ unrest grew.

Some trembled with spears in hand, while others stared blankly into space.

The most dangerous thing in war is harboring ‘different thoughts.’

Whatever the cause, whatever right or wrong, until the war ends, one must think only of victory.

History would be written by the victors anyway.

Even if the cause was weak, ‘winning is all that matters.’

Zerdin knew this better than anyone.

[Silence!! A monster that devours humans alive out of hunger has no right to speak! Families and friends who died with their limbs torn off by your kind are calling for your death from the afterlife!! No more words are needed!! Today, here! I, Zerdin, no, we, the Eastern Alliance, will eradicate your orc kind!! After today, orcs will no longer be seen on this continent!]

Zerdin needed to steady his wavering soldiers.

Even if it made no sense, even if the cause was insufficient, a commander had to instill in his soldiers the conviction that they were right.

Zerdin’s outcry successfully raised the morale of his allies who had faltered.

[Klklklklkl. Don’t you know that eating humans is more helpful to the world than the beasts scattered across the mountains! Chweek! I was foolish to think I could reason with humans. Humans are unnecessary in this world! Die, all of you humans! KUWRAAAAA!]

Bwoooooo—

Horn sounds began to echo from the orc camp.

Zerdin sensed that these horn sounds were signals for orc shamans to begin their curses.

[Beat the drums! Magicians, prepare enhancement spells!]

Zerdin was confident he would never lose in a direct confrontation.

Boom boom boom boom boom—

The drums announcing battle sounded.

[We are strong, people of the East!!]

“UOOOOOOO!!”

[All forces!!]

Zerdin raised his sword high and pulled his warhorse’s reins, making it rear up on its hind legs.

Then, pointing his sword forward, he shouted powerfully.

[CHARGE!!]

“UWAAAAAAAA!!!”

The final battle for the fate of the East and the orcs had begun.

***

Meanwhile, Valt and his companions were still fighting orcs on the frozen river.

But even facing orcs that just stood there taking attacks was becoming exhausting.

“Huff, huff, huff! V-Valt, give me more mana recovery potion!”

Lisa said to Valt, gasping for breath.

Valt took out one of the few remaining mana recovery potions from his spatial pouch and tossed it to Lisa.

“Lisa, stop attacking now and stay close to me.”

“Heh-heh, I was going to do that anyway. When I get back to the Academy, I’m really going to train hard.”

“I sincerely hope so. Starting with Victor’s physical training would be good.”

“Ugh… that’s a bit…”

Seeing that Lisa had recovered somewhat, Valt asked her for information.

“Lisa, send up Lepiron’s Eye. How’s the situation in the center?”

Honestly, Valt wanted to rush to the center immediately, but this was also an important battlefield, so he couldn’t leave carelessly.

No matter how powerful an artifact the Glaceon’s Eye was, its effect couldn’t last forever.

In fact, some stronger orc individuals had already broken through the ice and started counterattacking the allies.

Although the alliance forces had an overwhelming advantage, they couldn’t afford to be careless.

That’s when it happened.

“Hey, Prince Valt. Shouldn’t you be going? What are you still doing here in a battlefield where the outcome is already decided?”

It was Callex, the knight from Lient who had recently moved everyone with his morale-boosting speech.

Callex’s tone reminded Valt of the slick Riman.

“You said you’d be the first to die, yet here you are, alive and well.”

Callex showed his white teeth under his helmet as he smiled.

“Kuk-kuk, I was about to die when someone froze the enemies, allowing me to barely survive.”

Valt responded to Callex’s words with feigned curtness.

“With that barely saved life, if you keep joking around so casually, you might really die. Then I’ll carve footprints instead of tear marks on your tombstone.”

“KHAHAHA!! Is that Gerungtu-style humor? It’s completely my taste! Kuk, kuk, I might have to defect to Gerungtu just for the humor.”

After cracking the joke, Callex brought up his main point with a serious expression.

“Prince Valt. I earnestly request.”

“Speak.”

“You need to go to the center now.”