Yulektar looked at the approaching horde of monsters and controlled the surge of fighting spirit within himself.
It had become easier to manage the wildness emitted by the Cyclops’ magic than before the ritual began, but if Yulektar let its guard down, the orc felt it might unknowingly grab its weapon and charge forward recklessly.
Eventually, the hundred orcs who had come here for it collided with the horde of monsters.
Although it would have been effective to step in from the beginning, Yulektar was a wise orc of its kind.
It wasn’t enough to just be good at fighting recklessly.
It needed to achieve a more dramatic effect.
To show its value as the new centurion, it had to step in only when the orcs were in trouble.
In this way, Yulektar had managed to escape the fate of a slave orc and worked hard even now.
Yulektar who was watching the rapidly changing battlefield noticed the place where the ice trolls were rampaging.
Orcs that hadn’t yet absorbed the monsters’ magical power temporarily enhanced their bodies by stealing magical power from other beings.
Therefore, the ice trolls which possessed excellent regenerative magic were particularly weak against orcs.
From the perspective of the ice trolls, who preferred a fighting style that relied on their regenerative abilities, the orcs who stole their magical power appeared as a deadly threat.
Meanwhile, the area where the owlbears were gathered was gradually being pushed back.
Since these creatures relied more on their exceptional physical abilities than on magic, stealing their magical power didn’t provide as much of an advantage as it did against the ice trolls.
But it was fine if they were pushed back a bit.
After all, this base was built in a natural stronghold surrounded by canyons to fend off monster invasions. Timing the right moment to intervene would be fine.
When Yulektar decided it was time for it to make its move and started to head in that direction,
The orc sensed a threatening surge of magic.
“Phew…!”
It barely looked up in response to its instincts when,
Krrr—boom—!!
A threatening sound echoed from the canyon that protected their forward outpost.
It sounded as if a hammer imbued with the wrath of the gods had struck the canyon.
It was so intense that even the orcs, who usually couldn’t focus on anything else once they were engaged in battle, turned their attention to the sound.
“Withdraw! All troops, withdraw immediately!”
Yulektar sensed a foreboding feeling and hurriedly tried to rouse the orcs.
Krrr—boom—!!
The thunderous roar erupted once again and the orcs couldn’t hear their leader’s command. The sense of dread Yulektar felt soon became a reality.
The canyon, which should have been a sturdy barrier protecting their forward outpost, started to collapse.
Yulektar saw half of its hundred men, who should one day fight for their race, buried in the rocks before its eyes.
What ways existed to enter the orcs’ forward outpost protected by the canyon?
Even if one boldly used concealment magic, it was an impossible task to safely extract information from there.
In a situation where the organization’s involvement was suspected, they wouldn’t have left physical information lying around carelessly.
Moreover, once someone sneaked inside, it would be a difficult location to escape from. So there was no reason for anyone to risk such a gamble.
And for that reason, Shane decided to draw the enemies’ attention to one place.
Recently, the monsters of Arunvida have become sensitive to the smell of orcs due to their continuous raids.
Since they would be on high alert, Shane handed Kevin and the others a bag of orc blood he had collected from the Cyclops’ habitat.
“Don’t tell me. You want us to run with this?”
The faces of the three people contorted in disgust as they received bags of blood containing herbs designed to lure monsters with a spell that amplified the smell.
“How is this any different from telling us to go die?”
In response to MacGowan’s question, Shane handed them three pills he had prepared in advance.
“These are made using the essence of elves. It will give you more vitality than usual, so use them wisely.”
“Giving us the disease and the cure, what a mess.”
However, in the end, the three accepted Shane’s plan and proceeded according to the strategy.
But the plan wasn’t simply about attracting monsters.
In order to go out and loot the empty houses of a castle, they needed to ensure the castle gates were firmly closed behind them. So that the residents couldn’t return.
In order to carry this out, Shane spent several days setting up magic circles using “wave” and “amplification” rune magic here and there in the canyon.
The role of these magic circles connected by magical power was to directly transmit the shock transmitted from a single magic circle at the center.
The only task left was to apply the shock to the central magic circle.
That could be easily found without having to go far.
Just before the canyon started to collapse,
“Is it really okay to do this?”
Felice stood on the brightly glowing magic circle and looked at Shane with an anxious expression on his face.
“Relax. I’ve prepared everything we need. Haven’t I explained it several times?”
“Ugh… that’s true.”
Nevertheless, Felice’s expression didn’t seem to relax, as if his anxiety wasn’t completely gone.
“A long time ago, there was a similar situation where a mage messed up a magic circle. Ever since I almost died then, I haven’t trusted mages much.”
Shane sighed and said,
“Your subordinates are risking their lives to lure the monsters because they trust you. It’s a problem if you keep acting like this.”
“Aah— Fine, fine!”
Felice shouted desperately, then tightly gripped the war hammer in his hand and glared at the marked magic circle Shane had indicated.
“Whew…”
Focusing his mind and gathering his magical power, the war hammer began to show a faint tremor.
As the magical power and the weapon started to resonate, a clear layer of magical power coated the hammer.
Knowing that simple destruction wouldn’t suffice, Felice sharpened the magical coating to a point and raised both arms high.
And at the moment he struck down—
BOOM!
It sounded like dozens of magical bombs for mining had exploded at once, and the cave they were standing in began to collapse with a loud noise.
“Is it done?!”
“Not yet. One more time!”
“Damn it!”
When the ceiling began to collapse and dirt rained down on their heads, Shane’s protective magic ensured they wouldn’t be crushed.
Felice trusted him. He used all his strength to strike down once more with the war hammer.
The moment the war hammer touched the magic circle again, Felice felt a familiar sensation in his hands.
It was similar to the feeling he got when he smashed the skulls of countless monsters.
BOOM!
And that feeling didn’t betray Felice.
Inside the collapsing cave, light burst forth from the magic circle Shane had drawn earlier.
Shane and Felice were enveloped in the light and soon disappeared from the cave.
Eventually, at the bottom of the canyon, the three who had driven the monsters there couldn’t close their mouths as they watched the canyon begin to collapse.
“Crazy, is this what a mage can do?”
“No, it’s Felice’s power.”
“No, idiot. Do you think Felice’s power alone could have done this to the canyon?”
“You fools, what does it matter? The orcs are getting crushed like a sandwich! Hahaha! Die, all of you!”
The result of the collapsing canyon was astonishing, even for the three who watched in amazement.
The entrance to the relatively steep outpost suffered the most damage, and the sight of half of the hundred or so orcs battling near the area turning into chunks of meat due to the natural disaster was a scene that could never be seen again.
“The sky has fallen!”
“Have the gods abandoned us?!”
“Our brothers have angered the god of the canyon!”
Naturally, the remaining orcs were thrown into a panic and they started screaming in terror.
The three of Kevin and the others couldn’t understand what the orcs were saying, but it didn’t matter.
It was obvious they were cursing the current situation.
Whirr—
At that moment, a ring of light formed over the magic circle Shane had drawn earlier, and from within it, Shane and Felice appeared.
“They’re here!”
“That was an amazing feat, Sir Felice!”
“Haha, die, all of you orc bastards!”
Kevin and MacGowan welcomed the two with bright expressions, while Hackerts cheered as he watched the orcs’ panic in the distance through his bio-telescope.
“Ugh, shit! I feel dizzy!”
Felice, who had always harbored deep-rooted distrust towards magic, felt nauseated from the aftermath of the teleportation spell and cursed.
Meanwhile, Shane nodded as he saw the magic circle beneath his feet working as theoretically expected.
Although it was widely believed that teleportation magic couldn’t be used in Arunvida due to its strong elemental properties, Shane managed to overcome this and successfully cast the teleportation spell.
This was something that would be useful in the future.
Shane then approached Hackerts who was cheering as he watched the orcs’ outpost.
“What’s the situation?”
“Are you kidding me?! Those bastards are totally crashed like sandwiches! Haha, it was worth risking our lives for this!”
Having perfectly succeeded in driving the most threatening number of orcs out of the outpost, the group slowly used Shane’s levitation magic to enter the outpost.
“Whew. This is no joke. Being a mage is something else. Huh? Argh!”
When Hackerts made that remark and walked forward, Felice roughly threw him aside.
Before the dust and snow from the landslide had even settled, the centurion orc Yulektar launched a surprise attack from inside.
In a split second, an orc’s sword swept through the spot where Hackerts had been.
“Khwabita! Wartsbak du dara!”
“Hey, damn it! What the hell?”
The trio stepped back at the appearance of the Centurion Orc wrapped in ominous red magical power.
Thinking back to the battle between the Cyclops and the Orc before their eyes, they realized that this was not an enemy they could deal with, although their pride was hurt.
Felice then stepped forward with his war hammer in hand.
“I don’t know what he’s saying, but the situation is simple.”
“Don’t kill him, Felice.”
“Well, considering he survived the Cyclops’s attacks, he won’t die that easily.”
When Felice answered Shane and took his stance, Yulektar also began to prepare.
The battle started in an instant.
Meanwhile, Shane scanned his surroundings.
The orcs outside wouldn’t be returning to the stronghold anytime soon.
They were likely too preoccupied dealing with the sudden landslide and the monsters.
The only remaining variables were the orcs who were doing the labor here.
“Kevin, MacGowan, and Hackerts, you handle those orcs. It looks like they can’t use magic, so you should be able to do that much, right?”
“Well, that shouldn’t be too difficult. Got it.”
“They seem weak, so it should be easy.”
“Hey, shut up. Every time you say something like that, something goes wrong. My legs are already killing me from all that running earlier.”
With that, the trio began to approach the gathering slave orcs.
At that moment,
“Kekeke.”
An old orc walked out of the residence where the centurion had been staying for the past few days with an unsettling laugh.
This old orc was dressed in tattered rags and was holding a wooden staff. Then the orc looked at Shane’s group with amusement.
“An orc shaman.”
Shane’s eyes lit up as he recognized the orc.
The centurion orc, who was confronting Felice, had stabilized its magical power compared to a few days ago.
Since this shaman had been in the same building, it likely had extensive knowledge of orc rituals.
Capturing this one alive wasn’t necessary; Shane just needed to absorb its soul and read its memories.
I might discover whether the organization is really involved or not.
When Shane was about to call the trio, the orc shaman started muttering something.
Shane didn’t know what the orc shaman intended to do but he decided that it wasn’t good to just stay still and watch. So he immediately launched a magic projectile.
However, the orc had apparently prepared a defense, as a red shield materialized and blocked Shane’s attack.
In that brief moment, the orc shaman muttered something and struck the ground with its staff, causing red magic to swirl around and spread out.
“What, what’s this!”
“Huh?”
“Why are those bastards doing that?”
When the trio sensed something unusual and lifted their heads to clear their vision again.
“Graar!”
“Grrk, graaah!!”
The slave orcs, who had seemed listless just moments ago, started trembling and then began roaring in unison.
“Fu*k, I knew it! Things were never going to go smoothly!”
“You fat bastard! Didn’t I tell you to shut up? Ugh!”
“S-Sorry! Sorry!”
While MacGowan apologized following Hackerts’s harsh words, the trio watched the ominous orcs with their weapons at the ready.
The slave orcs, who had been walking around with their heads hung low, changed in that short time. Veins bulged blue from their arms and their eyes turned red as they glared at them.
They were drooling and looked like they had lost their senses, but they clearly held hostility toward them.
The real battle was about to begin.
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