Chapter 212
Bonfires and torches blazed on the southern plains of Garapan. Their light, alongside the sunset of early evening, scattered from hitting the colorful patterns engraved on the gers pitched throughout the area. The smell of ash and grass intermixed, creating a strange sense of anxiety.
A male grey orc stared at a forest in the distance and the city beyond that. He was roughly 2.5 meters tall and had black hair in a queue hairstyle. The scimitar at his waist emitted dim light like the moon. He was Tasha, an orc High Ranker, fifth in the orc ranking[1].
“Chwik, humans, huh?”
“My apologies, Tasha Sahahun! Chwik!”
He was a warrior of the Hawk tribe, one of the five great orc tribes, and possessed the title of Sahahun, one which only the master warriors of each tribe could add behind their names.
“I do not blame you, Museci. Chwik, humans grow faster than any other race. Chwik, they are no longer the weak race that we knew. It is clear to see just from the Tortoise Emperor’s feats,” Tasha remarked.
“Y-yes. Chwik, the human with a fire skill burned thirteen of our warriors, but claimed he was not an executive member. Chwik, I judged that their forces are not to be underestimated and—”
“Enough. I did ask you to make excuses.” Tasha turned around and looked down at the orc Museci.
“C-chwik...” Museci lowered his head. His left face was covered in bumpy blisters from the burn he had suffered.
“Did you kill the human?” Tasha asked.
“Chwik, no. I only cut off his ears as per the rules for prisoners of war.”
“Have you attempted to exchange him with Gurun?”
“N-no. Chwik, however, they will not accept. They must know by now that Gurun is Bodonchar’s eldest son.”
“Chwik. I suppose.” Tasha nodded.
Unless they were idiots, the humans likely knew how valuable Gurun was. They would earn Bodonchar’s favor if they protected Gurun until he returned.
“Chwik, but they should have realized that it would also incur our wrath,” he added as his black eyes flashed.
Patriarch Bodonchar’s tyranny had reached an intolerable point. He gave the best hunting grounds and dungeons to the Tusk tribe, his home tribe, and treated other tribes like meat shields to defend against foreign invaders. On top of that, he even granted high-status titles to those without the skills to live up to them.
“Chwik, to think he would grant the title of Sahaliyan to that weakling, Gurun.”
Such an act was a mockery of the spirit of Subutai, the God of War, whom the orcs worshiped. As the Blade, Hawk, Wind, and Sun tribes had been stealthily waiting for the chance to drive out the Tusk tribe, two world quests were generated in Forestis.
As the greedy Bodonchar gathered an army and went on an expedition to Forestis, the four tribes used the opportunity to launch a coup d’etat. They drove out the Tusk tribesmen remaining in Fortitudo and focused entirely on killing Bodonchar’s direct descendants.
However, Gurun, the eldest son and the most important descendant that the rebels must kill, managed to escape. He was the next in line to inherit the heroic soul of House Solho, Bodonchar’s family line, and was the next patriarch. In other words, he was a candidate to become the Abkai.
“Chwik, you sure are tenacious, Gurun! Do not resent us, humans. You also kill orcs in the grasslands,” Tasha remarked as he looked behind him.
He saw over a thousand orc warriors on horseback, waiting for his command as their eyes blazed with crimson battle spirit and bloodlust. Tasha whistled, and a giant black steed ran out from the middle of the crowd. He leaped nimbly, unbefitting his size, and smoothly saddled the horse.
He shouted, “Today, we will erase that city! Chwik! In the name of Tasha Sahahun, I promise everlasting honor to the warrior who brings me the eldest son Gurun’s head!”
“YEEEAAAAAHHH!”
“CHWIK! HIS HEAD IS MINE!”
“LET’S KILL THE HUMANS! CHWIK!”
“DECORATE THE TROPHY TREE WITH THEIR HEADS!”
They screamed ecstatically, unaware of the fact that Gurun was already dead.
***
Na Seong-Tae... Na Seong-Tae!
Hwa-Yeon bit her lip as she stared at the excited orc warriors. She lay flat on the ground like a lizard and scanned the orc camp.
I understand it logically, but how could they just abandon Na Seong-Tae?
She knew better than anyone that they couldn’t gamble on the fate of the clan to save Seong-Tae, whom they did not even know was dead or alive. If she were in the same situation as Seong-Tae, she would have wished that they wouldn’t do anything stupid and give up on her.
But Na Seong-Tae... You would have come to rescue me, right? Like how you saved me from Kim Seung-Jun at the Dark Forest.
Hence, it was her turn to save him.
They’re going to make their move soon. If Na Seong-Tae is still alive, they’ll carry out a decapitation ritual!
After Hwa-Yeon decided to rescue Seong-Tae even if she had to do it by herself, she combed through Garapan in search of people who were knowledgeable about orcs and found an old man who had once lived in an orc village for a long time.
“Prisoners of war? Hmm... Orcs usually don’t take prisoners of war. Even if they do, it’s to carry out a decapitation ritual to raise their morale and lower their enemies’ morale. It was first done by Subutai, the orcs’ God of War, so they treat it as a sacred ritual.”
From what Hwa-Yeon heard from the old man, the decapitation ritual involved beheading an enemy warrior for all to see immediately before a battle.
Even if I barge in there, I can’t rescue Na Seong-Tae by myself, but if they start marching to Garapan... Hwa-Yeon thought as her eyes blazed with determination.
***
Over a thousand orc cavalry raced through the plains. The terrain shook from their powerful advance, and their sharp bloodlust ripped the atmosphere apart. A crow flew over the orc cavalry, looking directly at them.
A middle-aged woman in a purple robe with one eye closed, in the southern forest a fair distance from Garapan, said, “Clan Leader Jan. They’ll reach the forest in less than an hour.”
The robed woman was Virginia, and the woman she addressed was Jan DaCosta, the leader of Clan New Age. She was in her twenties with fiery-red hair and blue eyes. She wore a white robe with a golden snake etching and held a boline, a small knife used by priestesses.
“Is that so? Prepare for battle,” she said as she stabbed her palm with the boline, and the four hundred New Age clansmen in a hexagram formation did the same.
Their blood fell on the ground, which the New Age clansmen connected with their feet and made a hexagram-shaped magic circle.
[Activating Unique Skill: Nameless Goddess’s Protection.]
[Activating Unique Skill: Nameless Goddess’s Protection.]
[Activating Unique Skill: Nameless Goddess’s Protection.]
...
The four hundred clansmen moved their mana in the same pattern and activated a clan skill, also known as a clan rule, created from clansmen establishing the same rule for their D Weapons.
Although it wasn’t universally known like how transformers established Beastification or Armification rules, several clans shared rules and skills. This strengthened the bond between clansmen, enhanced their teamwork, and boosted the skill’s power.
A sound resonated from the blood hexagram, then a red barrier enveloped the forest. Clan New Age was a religious group practicing mysticism. They were highly adept at clan skills through worship of the Nameless Goddess.
“So, this is the specialty of the Semi Ranker, Jan DaCosta, the Defense Priestess,” mumbled an Asian man in his mid-thirties in blue warrior attire and a spear on his back, as he scanned the red barrier.
He was Li Xiu Xian, the leader of Clan Dongming.
He continued, “I suppose the rumors that the full force of your clan could stop even a Ranker weren’t baseless. I don’t think even I could break this.”
“I am happy to hear that from the Thunderclap Spear, Li Xiu Xian, seventy-eighth in the human ranking,” Jan smiled charmingly as she stared at Xiu Xian. “The Dongming warriors behind you are just as dependable. Most of us are conjurers.”
“Haha, no need to worry. Most of the seven hundred Dongming warriors are enhancers and transformers.”
“We go well together, then.”
Jan and Xiu Xian smiled as they looked at each other. They were the leaders of the clans that had respectively occupied Brussels and Stockholm. Their individual powers need not be mentioned, and the full force of their clans was nothing to scoff at either.
“That aside... When will the leader of One Tree arrive?” Jan remarked.
“I was wondering the same thing. He just disappeared in the middle of building the defense line,” Xiu Xian agreed.
Just then, an Asian man with a yellow bow on his shoulder approached them and said, “I am Namgung Min-Jae, One Tree’s emission captain. Our clan leader has gone to meet with reinforcements from the Union.”
“The Union sent reinforcements? How odd for them to act so quickly,” Xiu Xian remarked distrustfully.
Jan said in agreement, “On top of that, the Union has had its hands full dealing with the rapidly expanding number of cities.”
“Yes, it’s no small trouble for the rest of us. All because of reclaimed cities springing up everywhere after the Great Reclamation,” Xiu Xian said as he glanced at Min-Jae as if he were talking about Garapan.
Min-Jae smiled inwardly and thought, Such pointless territorial behavior.
New Age and Dongming had occupied Brussels and Stockholm, respectively, before the Great Reclamation. On the other hand, One Tree was a new and upcoming force that had reclaimed Garapan at the beginning of the Great Reclamation. Min-Jae knew very well that, as one of the previously established forces, they saw One Tree as inferior.
He thought, We may have started late, but we’re not inferior to either of you. Our clan has overcome as many life-or-death situations as you have.
“In any case, our clan leader will return with reinforcements within one hour. The Union must have also gotten off their fat asses because of the weight that Bodonchar’s name carries,” Min-Jae remarked, inferring that New Age and Dongming had also come helter-skelter with the thought of getting what they could out of the situation.
Jan and Xiu Xian smirked.
“I hope he’s not too late.”
“Haha, having Clan Leader Shin Jun at the rear is dependable. The rearguard is just as important as the vanguard. We can’t afford to lose Bodonchar’s son after all this.”
They also could never have imagined that Gurun was already dead.
***
“What are you going to do now? Since we killed Bodonchar’s eldest son, we’re about to face the full wrath of a World Ranker!” Jun shouted precipitously as he stared at Seong-Hwi.
He believed that if they were going to incur Bodonchar’s wrath no matter what, he would have used Gurun to confirm Seong-Tae’s condition.
“Be patient,” Seong-Hwi replied leisurely as he turned to Bartholomew Avison, examining Gurun’s corpse, and asked, “Can you do it, Director Avison?”
“Haha, I sure can, you psycho. The skin is clean, and you pierced his armpit so cleanly that the cut is barely noticeable. It would be ideal if I had Needle, but he’s on a business trip,” Avison replied.
“Good. Get to it, then.”
“Sheesh, I can’t believe I’m being forced to work my ass off by a psycho in my final years.” Despite his words, Avison was smiling widely. “Well, since it’s for humanity, I will happily operate.”
A small scalpel appeared in his hand.
[Scalpel of Dreams (Destiny Weapon)
Rank: A(99)
Description: The scalpel of Bartholomew Avison, the director of the Department of Dermatology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. It is compiled with techniques that he had dreamed of during his prime.
Unique Skills: 6]
Avison’s D Weapon, the Scalpel of Dreams, had allowed him to be known as the Miracle Doctor. He was not outstanding in terms of combat, but he was a genius who had achieved perfect harmony of conjuration, manipulation, and transformation.
“Let’s see here,” Avison mumbled as he activated a skill.
[Activating Unique Skill: Operating Table of Dreams.]
An operating table made of blue mana appeared from under Gurun’s body. It slowly elevated until the body reached the level of Avison’s belly button. Avison placed the Scalpel of Dreams on Gurun’s left armpit, which Seong-Hwi had pierced, and moved it as if he were possessed. Although the scalpel was undoubtedly cutting flesh, it did not form a single wound on the body; it was one of the Operating Table of Dreams’s effects.
“Alright, now. Those with weak stomachs, look away,” Avison said.
[Activating Unique Skill: Complete Peeling.]
Avison grabbed Gurun’s skin and instantly peeled it off, leaving Gurun a lump of red muscles like a three-dimensional model of the human body often seen in science classrooms.
“N-neighhh!” Ibiso expressed fear from seeing Gurun, who had been alive only minutes ago, being butchered.
Jun couldn’t help but frown from instinctual displeasure. However, Seong-Hwi and Avison only smiled.
“It turned out nicely,” Seong-Hwi remarked as he stared at Gurun’s skin in Avison’s hand like animal pajamas.
However, unlike animal pajamas, it was a fully intact skin suit with no zippers. Avison’s operation was mandatory to wear it.
“Yes, it sure has,” Avison agreed. “I can change its size to an extent with Skin Culture, but I recommend someone with a similar body shape to wear it. Someone with a similar tooth arrangement and eye color, too.”
“I got it,” Seong-Hwi said as he nodded in satisfaction.
Bartholomew Avison was famous as the leader of Clan Trauma Centre, but he also had a secret position—a technical adviser for the Union’s information department. Because he was a master of disguise, he was crucial to the information department, requiring its members to gather information as they hid their identities.
“It’s been a while since I’ve peeled an orc’s skin. Are you going to kill that horse over there, too? You won’t be able to wear a centaur’s skin since their anatomy is so unique, but I’m sure it would be a good experience,” Avison said as he glanced at Ibiso.
“Neigh?!” Ibiso trembled as he stared at Seong-Hwi with desperation.
Seong-Hwi shook his head and said, “The grasslands are vast. We need something fast to ride. He accepted a silence quest, so I might as well get the most out of him.”
“What a shame,” Avison remarked as he licked his lips.
“I-I swear my absolute allegiance!” Ibiso shouted.
“You... Could it be?” Jun mumbled as he stared at Gurun’s skin suit in Avison’s hand, having realized what Seong-Hwi was planning.
“Yes, this is the third option. To gain the favor of both Bodonchar and the rebels.”
Seong-Hwi could only come up with this plan because he knew about Avison’s disguising abilities through his past life.
I planned to use the Myriad Cheoyong Mask if I failed to hire him, he thought.
However, doing that meant he would have to act as Gurun, or give the Myriad Cheoyong Mask to someone else. Acting as Gurun while not knowing anything about him wouldn’t fool Bodonchar, and there was a risk that someone with a detection skill on par with Veritas Oculus could expose him.
On the other hand, Avison’s disguise was perfect. It involved transplanting the subject’s real skin, so there was no risk of anyone detecting a suspicious mana flow.
“Everything went well thanks to you, Director Avison,” Seong-Hwi said.
“I am happy to have been of help to the infamous RB.”
“I will be in your care for the next operation as well.” Seong-Hwi then turned to Jun and said, “Since we have everything we need, let’s go greet the rebels.”
1. His name isn’t pronounced like the English female name. Pronounce it as if the Tas- and the -ha are separate. ☜