Ch.179Chapter 179: Orc King (10).

# Chapter 179: Orc King (10)

With Valt’s cold murmur, his golden eyes turned toward the hundreds of thousands of orcs standing like spectators beyond the battlefield.

Every time Death Knight’s flesh was torn apart by Jerdin and his knights’ fierce attacks, Valt could clearly see the horrifying sight of distant orc soldiers having their life force completely drained as they collapsed lifelessly.

Unholy immortality gained by sacrificing the lives of one’s own kind.

And the fanatical sacrifice of those who willingly chose to become offerings despite knowing this.

Valt felt a cold anger rising along with the disgust welling up inside him.

Unless that demonic contract was broken, defeating the Death Knight would be impossible.

‘We need to eliminate the medium.’

Lilith’s words echoed in his mind.

The medium was undoubtedly the orc crowd itself.

But how? It was impossible to kill hundreds of thousands of orcs.

Even if that was the most certain method, Valt didn’t want such meaningless mass slaughter.

His goal was simply to stop the Death Knight and end this insane war.

‘I don’t need to kill them directly. I just need to neutralize their “consent” or “connection” itself.’

Valt needed to find a way.

For them to function as sacrifices, they must at least maintain their connection to the Death Knight and remain in a state of “consent as offerings.”

Then all he needed to do was forcibly break that state.

There was no need to deal with all hundreds of thousands of distant orcs.

First, he needed to accurately determine the range.

He immediately used Amrit to call Lisa.

“Lisa! Send out Lepiron’s Eye! I need you to check something for me right now!”

Lisa didn’t answer immediately, probably because she was busy.

But after a moment, her panting voice came back.

[Huff! Huff! What!? Valt? I’m really busy right now!?]

“It’s important! I need to check something with Lepiron’s Eye!”

After a few seconds, Lisa’s slightly calmer voice was heard.

[What do you need me to check!?]

Valt thought the Death Knight’s regeneration must have limitations.

Such unlimited regeneration made no sense.

Magic has range.

That applies to any magic.

His theory was that even a great demon’s magic must have a range limit.

In fact, the orcs closest to the Death Knight were the first to collapse when it regenerated.

“Are there orcs collapsing without anyone doing anything to them!?”

[What are you talking about? That would be too convenient! It’s chaos here! There are so many orcs! I’ve killed tons myself!]

The distance between the river mouth and the central plains was far.

This proved that the Death Knight’s regeneration didn’t reach that far.

“Send Lepiron’s Eye to the center! Determine the distance of orcs who are collapsing without being attacked.”

[What are you talking about? Orcs just falling without anyone doing anything?]

“I don’t have time to explain in detail. Just tell me what you see.”

Lisa was skeptical, but this was Valt.

And Lisa had never known Valt to talk nonsense.

[Ah, fine! Just wait a bit!]

“Yes, please.”

Even as Valt was speaking with Lisa, Jerdin’s soldiers were dying.

While Jerdin and the Masters were clearly pushing back the Death Knight with the Seventeen Star Formation, the Expert-level knights who couldn’t match them were dying from the blind attacks of the Death Knight and surrounding Orc Lords and Generals.

“Hurry, please! Quickly!”

[Alright, alright! Just a moment!!]

Lisa sent out Lepiron’s Eye as Valt requested.

Lepiron’s Eye was essentially a spirit entity.

Being an artifact, it wasn’t bound by physical laws.

Arriving instantly at the central plains, Lepiron’s Eye began examining the orc encampment.

[I’m there! I-it’s true! Orcs are just dropping dead!]

“Yes, just tell me the distance. How far away are the orcs that are collapsing?”

Lisa carefully examined the battlefield using Lepiron’s Eye.

[W-wait! 400, no, 500 meters! Orcs beyond 500 meters aren’t collapsing!]

The conclusion was clear.

The Death Knight’s regeneration power was fueled by sacrificing orcs within a 500-meter radius of its position.

“Thank you, Lisa!”

Valt thanked Lisa and immediately rushed to the front.

KWANG—!

Valt blocked the Death Knight’s sword strike meant for Jerdin.

He attempted to speak with Jerdin.

“Commander Jerdin! I have important information!”

CLANG—!

Jerdin deflected another attack from the Death Knight and spoke to Valt.

“I thought you came to support… If either you or I leave this place now, countless knights will die. Is what you have to say worth that sacrifice!?”

CRACK—!

As he spoke, a knight was wounded by the Death Knight’s dark blade made of demonic energy.

“AAAAARGH!!”

The knight was immediately knocked unconscious by allies.

And promptly moved to the rear.

“See! Without me, they can’t hold for even a moment! Do you still think I should leave my post!?”

Jerdin was the linchpin of the current battlefield.

If he withdrew, the power of the Seventeen Star Formation would immediately diminish, which would lead to mass casualties.

Valt couldn’t simply tell Jerdin he had to go.

It was clear that if Jerdin left now, numerous knights would perish within minutes.

Valt had no choice but to explain right there.

He revealed that he had discovered the secret of the Death Knight’s regeneration, and that they could gain the upper hand if they could force the orcs within 500 meters of the monster to retreat.

But Jerdin was skeptical.

“Our allied forces are hundreds of meters away. Besides, shouting from here won’t be heard over the battle noise. To issue orders, I’d have to go myself—can you hold this position!?”

“I’ll hold it! Go issue the orders!”

But Jerdin deflected another of the Death Knight’s strikes and sneered.

“A commander showing his back on the battlefield… Do you think my knights would understand that without explanation in this situation?”

Valt felt his irritation rising.

‘This damn…’

That cursed honor.

That was the reason.

But Jerdin had a point.

If Jerdin appeared to turn his back and leave his post without detailed explanation, the confused knights could collapse in an instant.

Indeed, since Jerdin had rejoined the battlefield, they had been fighting with desperate determination.

Frustrated, Valt shouted.

“Then what should we do!!”

“We need a lull in the fighting. A brief respite long enough to relay orders to all troops. But Prince Valt, do you see such an opportunity now?”

The battle was intensifying, and no one wanted to stop fighting.

For honor, for survival. The reasons differed, but everyone was fighting with their lives on the line.

CLANG—!

After blocking another attack from the Death Knight, Jerdin smiled.

“Heh, that’s what it means to be a knight. Not always rational. Well, do you plan to solve this with force too?”

Valt pondered.

As warriors, they were incredibly brave fighters.

He couldn’t pull Jerdin away while they were risking their lives to defend the East.

More time was needed to explain the situation, but even that wasn’t allowed.

As Valt was lamenting the situation,

WHOOSH—

Just then, a familiar shape came flying like a comet from the sky, accompanied by an intense aura.

KWAAANG—!

The weapon crashed into a dense group of orcs, its shockwave alone pulverizing dozens of orcs including three Orc Generals.

Valt knew that weapon well.

Tunkaio.

The weapon of his brother, Luktan Gerungtu.

“HAHAHAHAHA!! You dare to have a great battle without me!? That cannot be! Luktan Gerungtu has arrived!!”

Luktan shouted vigorously, letting out a warrior’s battle cry.

“UOOOOOOH!!!”

The electrifying roar of the great warrior momentarily made the orcs falter.

Behind him followed a face familiar to Valt.

It was Grace.

“Phew… Indeed, becoming your husband isn’t for just anyone.”

“HAHAHAHAHA!! Grace, my love! Don’t worry! How could joining a festival be a sin!!”

THWACK—!!

Luktan had clearly developed the aura manipulation technique Valt had taught him.

He casually pulled out his axe that had been embedded in the middle of enemy lines, then, applying the aura technique Valt had taught him, swung it horizontally in an instant, destroying the surrounding orcs.

Among those orcs were not only Orc Generals but also Orc Lords.

Luktan had grown tremendously in such a short time.

“Brother!! Your big brother is here!”

Valt couldn’t help but laugh at that shout.

“Ha, hahaha!! HAHAHA!! Brother! I’ve never been so glad to see you!”

“Yeah, you bastard!! Did you think you could enjoy such an exciting battle without your big brother!? From now on, I, Luktan Gerungtu, am taking over this battlefield! Come at me, you green monster bastards!! HAHAHAHAHA!!”

Jerdin was also dumbfounded by Luktan’s appearance.

It wasn’t just his entrance. The energy emanating from Luktan’s thrown axe was overwhelmingly powerful.

‘Prince Valt’s brother…? What kind of family are they?’

Seeing Jerdin’s bewildered expression, Valt smirked and spoke again.

“What do you think, Commander? Do you have some time to issue orders now?”