Ch.182182. The Great Invasion Guerrilla Force (2)

Before the Orc race fully engaged in this great invasion, they were nothing more than a massive collective of over hundreds of large and small tribes.

There was absolutely no sense of kinship among them; rather, they attacked each other, viewing their neighbors as their worst competitors and enemies.

Thus, they lived desperate lives in the harsh prairie environment, somehow enduring day by day, killing and being killed in a hell where one wrong move meant death.

Then, in one small Orc tribe of the great plains, an Orc named “El-Temur” was born.

Born alongside a green meteor falling from the sky, this Orc possessed extraordinary abilities that far surpassed other Orcs from an early age, and his growth was remarkably rapid.

No matter how fast Orcs typically develop, they usually become adults (equivalent to human age 20) at around 14 years old.

However, despite this, El-Temur grew to be over 2 meters tall at just 7 years of age, and by the time he was 10, he had long since become so powerful that no one from neighboring tribes could match him….

Having obtained such overwhelming and powerful strength, El-Temur, like other Orcs, began to harbor ambitions of becoming a Khan who would unify the Orcs.

And his path reached its peak when El-Temur discovered a green metal mass embedded in the ground near his tribe—the meteorite that had fallen at the moment of his birth….

Accepting this series of events that could hardly be called coincidental, El-Temur forged the meteorite into his weapon, a massive sword, thereby completing his identity.

Now calling himself an apostle of the Orc tribal deity, the “Three-Headed God”—which was quite possibly true—El-Temur rapidly expanded his influence.

And coincidentally, during this era, countless heroes emerged among the Orc tribes, with many Orcs reaching the superior level worthy of the title “Khan”….

El-Temur, reborn as a superior warrior, single-handedly brought all these “Khans” to their knees and ascended to the position of “Khagan.”

Khagan, or Great Khan. The great leader of all Orcs and the mighty warrior who served as the apostle of the Orc tribal deity, the “Three-Headed God.”

Of course, countless victims were created in El-Temur’s rise to power.

While conquest wars are easily viewed as the achievements of great heroes and monarchs when looking only at the results, naturally, countless victims are created in the process of being conquered.

Numerous Orc warriors and other races of the great plains lost their lives before his hammer, and it became a common saying that only ruins and slaves remained where El-Temur’s forces had passed.

And eventually, El-Temur’s conquest, which spread blood and death, affected even the massive Orc tribes ruled by other “Khans” of the same rank as him….

The chieftain of the “Red Fang Tribe” in the eastern plains, “Yesukhei”—one of only five superior-ranked (Khan) Orcs in the entire race—was among those who fell victim in this process.

As the chieftain of the Blood Fang Tribe who inherited one of the Orc sacred relics, the “Bloodstained Axe,” he was a superior barbarian warrior known as a “Totem Warrior,” but….

Before the Orc hero, the apostle of the tribal deity, the “Great” Khagan El-Temur, he was merely an ordinary Orc.

Despite being able to use the power of beasts through animal totems tattooed on his body, the absurd situation occurred where he was overpowered in strength by El-Temur.

Having been defeated in his area of greatest confidence, Yesukhei lost all pride and fell to the position of a mere warband commander, with only the genuine warriors who had been with him since his tribal days remaining by his side.

….Of course, since the “Blood Fang” tribe had been so massive, even after losing many followers and falling from grace, he still commanded a force of about 3,000 troops.

And that day was no different from any other for Yesukhei.

Recently, as El-Temur had begun waging what he called a “Great Holy War,” Yesukhei naturally participated with some expectations.

No matter how fallen and degraded he had become, he was still an Orc. The desire for war and slaughter that rose in his mind was an element that could never be ignored once born as an Orc.

But reality was cruel.

Initially, he had fought satisfying battles against warriors of equal skill (the Empire’s Swordmasters), but as time passed, the battlefield became stagnant, and the tempo of the war began to drag on.

As a result, instead of enjoying exciting slaughter, he was reduced to breaking down walls, causing him to lose motivation and leave. Despite his political downfall, no one could stop Yesukhei, who still possessed superior strength….

Then one day, a voice woke him from a deep nap at his encampment.

“K-Khan, my lord…!”

[….What is it?]

Yesukhei, irritated at being awakened from his rare deep sleep, questioned his subordinate Orc with a beast-like growl.

His threat carried an aura and magical force that could make an ordinary person faint, but the subordinate who came to wake the former “Khan” Yesukhei was no ordinary creature.

“E-Enemy, sir! The enemy has appeared!”

Despite trembling at Yesukhei’s threat, the subordinate resolutely spoke, and instantly, Yesukhei’s demeanor changed from that of a toothless lion.

“….Oh?”

It was something like… killing intent, or fighting spirit.

Whatever the emotion, magical power and aura subtly leaked from his body as he firmly grasped the sacred relic, the “Bloodstained Axe,” which had been leaning beside his bed.

The black blade, made of the world’s hardest metal, black iron adamantium, began to emit a red aura the moment Yesukhei grabbed the leather-wrapped handle.

Thus fully prepared (by his own standards), the superior warrior Yesukhei walked out of his tent with a wide grin on his face, toward the commotion outside….

“….Yes, this is war!!”

Watching those presumed humans attacking his warband’s camp and hunting the warband’s slaves, Yesukhei shouted with genuine excitement in his voice tinged with madness.

Once, the Red Fang Tribe had a history of enslaving ogres and trolls even in their primitive tribal state, but in the war with Khagan El-Temur, all such powerful slaves were either killed or captured.

Therefore, the race enslaved by Yesukhei’s warband was goblins—a typically weak race often joked about as being the rodent equivalent among humanoids.

Already possessing physical abilities inferior not only to Orcs but even to humans, these goblin slaves, with their poor nutritional state, were naturally treated as disposable resources in the warband.

The weapons they were given were merely sharp stone fragments, and their clothing consisted of dirty rags that barely covered their groins, if at all.

One might wonder how these goblins, with their miserable physical abilities and armaments, who would flee at the first opportunity, could be used as slaves….

But Orcs had a long history of slave training and were quite proficient in this area.

First, to use goblins as a fighting force, as disposable cushions to absorb enemy attacks or as suicide squads, the help of Orc shamans was essential.

By casting berserk spells that suppressed reason while dramatically enhancing physical abilities, pre-trained goblins would charge forward madly following the directions of the “shepherds” behind them.

Of course, even berserk goblins would somewhat recover from the effect if more than half of them were killed, but in such cases, the “shepherds” would crack their whips, execute a few, and forcibly throw them back into battle.

Thus, thanks to the power of time, even mere goblins could somehow be “used” nowadays, but the enemies’ discipline and offensive power rendered such efforts futile.

At the front line, earth and clay fire bears mauled and threw the charging goblins.

Dwarves covered in thick armor cut down dozens of goblins with a single axe, and the ranged attacks from the enemy’s rear mercilessly crushed the goblins.

It might seem strange that he was so excited despite his forces being slaughtered, but for Orcs who didn’t even consider goblin slaves as members of their group, this was merely a foolish thought.

However, what truly filled him with ecstasy was something else.

“Hu, huhahahahaha─!! I’ve finally found them!!!”

Beyond, somewhere at the rear of the enemy formation in their camp.

From that man riding what looked like a black horse and the woman beside him, Yesukhei sensed that unique aura of superior beings.

The presence of two superior beings who might give him the greatest fight to end his life.