Chapter 219
The refreshing wind raced across the green plains and brown soil, then scattered after colliding with a giant rampart.
“We’re here. So, this is Fortitudo,” Seong-Hwi mumbled as he stared at the castle rampart that seemed to span across the entire plain.
Because of the force field covering Fortitudo, they had to take a warp gate to a small village two hours away, and reach the city on their horse and centaur.
“Chwik. Unsightly, isn’t it? A nomadic race like orcs, building a castle to settle in,” Tasha remarked shamefully. “It was the Tusk tribe’s idea. Chwik, they’re fools to have built a giant castle to settle in the middle of the plains, avoiding the wind.”
“Is that so?” Seong-Hwi remarked.
Castles were defensively a strategic advantage. Many human cities built castles, but orcs seemed to think otherwise. As Seong-Hwi felt that it was difficult to understand the cultures of other races after all, the castle gate opened.
“Chwik, let’s enter. I sent word on our way here, so Master Taidzu should be waiting for us.”
“I like how you orcs operate. Straight to the point. It’s exactly my style.”
“Gahaha! I’m happy to hear!”
Ibiso walked toward the gate, thinking, You can think what you want, but I’m sure you’ll change your mind once you’re inside.
He knew the orcs’ tendencies very well. He was already afraid to see what the rebel orcs had done to the captive Tusk tribe members, who had been oppressing them this whole time.
***
The atmosphere inside Fortitudo was fierce.
“Chwik! Kill them! Kill them!”
“Tear them apart!”
“Rip out their organs! Chwik!”
“My family died from overwork because of this bastard! They were enslaved and forced to build the rampart! Chwik!”
“GAAAAAHHH!”
Bloodlust surged from all around the streets, and the stench of blood filled the air.
“N-neigh!” Ibiso expressed disgust as he looked around.
Various spoils of war were dangling from scrawny trees planted in front of each tent pitched in clusters.
“Chwik. We call it the trophy tree. It may be displeasing for outsiders to see...”
“Wow, that’s pretty wild. I like it,” Seong-Hwi remarked.
“Neigh?”
“Chwik! Ahaha! I would expect nothing less from the warrior I have acknowledged! It’s a shame that you’re not an orc!” Tasha shouted.
The trophy tree was an orc tradition in which the body parts of enemies one killed were hung on a tree to show off or as a warning. Severed ears were skewered at the ends of branches, the head of a powerful warrior was skewered at the top of the tree, and intestines were hung over branches like Christmas decorations.
Some of the intestines were steaming, indicating that not even an hour had passed since they had been hung. It was an atrocious sight, but Seong-Hwi did not even bat an eye. Seeing that, Tasha grew to like Seong-Hwi even more.
“Chwik! Many races don’t see our tradition fondly. They call us savages.”
“Really? It looks pretty cool to me. Could I take some of those body parts?”
“Ahaha! I’m sorry, but those are trophies to be displayed, not to be taken.”
“What a shame. That’s a lot of genes...”
“Chwik. We will not lay a hand on any trophies that you win in battle. The residents are highly dissatisfied with the Tusk tribe. You could even call them our mortal enemy. It would be disrespectful to meddle in their ritual.”
Ibiso felt like he was losing his mind from listening to Tasha and Seong-Hwi.
A-am I the only normal one here? Neighhh!
However, the human and orc continued their conversation, paying no mind to Ibiso’s reaction.
“Chwik. This way,” Tasha remarked.
“We’re not headed to that palace over there?” Seong-Hwi asked, pointing at the giant stone building in the center of the city.
“Keh, that’s Bodonchar’s palace. True warriors of the plains dislike empty formalities and ostentations,” Tasha replied as he snorted. He then pointed at a tent slightly larger than the others and said, “That is the rebel army’s command tent. The body parts hanging on the tree in front of it belong to Bodonchar’s children.”
“You must find it a shame that Gurun isn’t among them.”
“Gahaha! Chwik, it’s fine. Besides, you promised us something greater, did you not? Let’s go.”
***
Countless horses and chariots raced across the plains to the point that the greens were barely visible. They were the Tusk tribe army, heading south toward Fortitudo, led by a giant golden carriage pulled by twelve horses. Behind the carriage was the military flag of the Tusk tribe, two long tusks crossed, fluttering violently in the wind.
A few orcs displayed their impressive horse-riding skills by entering the carriage from their horses and back out.
“Chwik! I have come with a report! The rearguard is falling too far behind!”
“We don’t have the time to slow down. Chwik, tell them to catch up as much as they can. What is the situation in Fortitudo?” Bodonchar asked.
“Chwik! The Blade, Hawk, Wind, and Sun tribes have banded together and massacred many of the Tusk tribesmen!”
“Bastards!” Bodonchar’s long tusks subtly trembled, and bloodlust poured from his eyes. “Have you sent word to Mudan?”
“Yes. Chwik, the tribesmen who have escaped Fortitudo have gathered and are standing by in the vicinity.”
“We will regroup with them and take back the castle as soon as possible. Chwik, the rebels are but a ragtag band with no experience in siege warfare. It will be a piece of cake.”
Mudan was the city where the Tusk tribe’s headquarters was. Once the soldiers who had fought in Forestis regrouped with the elite warriors developed by the tribe in Mudan, they should be able to wipe out the rebels.
“It would have been much easier with Chiron’s help... Chwik! That damn centaur!” Bodonchar grumbled as he recalled what Chiron had told him.
“Arimaspi and Fortitudo indeed have an alliance, but that does not equate to an alliance between Bodonchar and Chiron.”
Bodonchar gritted his teeth. Arimaspi, the name of the centaurs’ home dimension, and Fortitudo, the name of the orcs’ home dimension, were allies of the plains. Hence, they had joined forces to clear the world quests, equating their powers to the other forces. However, this was a different case; Arimaspi was not justified in meddling in a civil war in Fortitudo, nor did they wish to.
“Chwik! I’m sure he just wants to side with the winner. Whoever wins, they’ll have suffered losses, so he plans to use that to take the initiative! That shrewd horse!” Bodonchar shouted, snorting in rage.
The rebel army, the pathetic state of his eldest son, Chiron’s attitude—everything irritated him. At the very least, he was relieved that the eldest son, who would inherit the heroic soul of House Solho, had survived.
“Hm?” Bodonchar expressed with a frown.
“If we could get one of the four rebel tribes to turn against—”
“Enough. Leave me,” Bodonchar interrupted his subordinate’s report.
“Chwik! Yes, my lord!”
Bodonchar watched his subordinate leave the carriage in silence, then said calmly, “Chwik. Show yourself.”
“Heheh! We meet again, Bodonbodon!” a merry voice sounded, and a cutesy, blonde little girl in a pink dress and Mary Jane patent leather shoes appeared inside the carriage.
The girl elegantly grabbed her skirt, lifted it slightly, and bowed as she bent her knees.
“Chwik. You’re finally here, Dollores. I thought I had been backstabbed.”
“Oh, you! I told you to call me Dolly! And, what? Backstabbed? That’s your specialty, isn’t it, Bodonbodon?”
The eyes of the little girl who called herself Dolly spun as if they were mechanical.
Bodonchar stared at her eyes, which seemed to contain the Milky Way, and snorted. “Chwik! As disgusting as always.”
“What~? You’re so mean!”
“I’m in no mood for jokes. Hand me what you promised.”
“Hahah! Come to think of it, you were betrayed while you were away, right? Oh, poor thing!”
“Chwik! I told you... I’m not in the mood!” Bodonchar shouted, drawing out intense Battle Force.
However, Dolly was not in the slightest fazed. “Sorry, sorry. You helped me when I needed it, so it wasn’t nice of me to tease you. Hehe!”
She clapped her hands together twice with a smile. The space around her hands was distorted, and black armor appeared from it. It resembled a beetle’s exoskeleton and was enveloped in jet-black Chaos Mana.
“Whoa! Chwik! So, that’s it!”
“Yup! The Black Insect Armor, as promised. It belonged to the late Insect King, Insectum.”
Bodonchar grabbed the Black Insect Armor with shaking hands and examined it ecstatically.
“Chwik! So, this is the Tenth Fiend’s...”
“Mmm... Just so you know, it won’t have the same amount of power as when Insectum used it. In exchange, I reinforced it with the Chaos Mana I extracted from the corrupted Entomancy Stone, so the average attack won’t even leave a scratch on you.”
“Ahaha! Chwik! Good! Very good!” Bodonchar shouted as he threw aside his old armor as if it were garbage and put on the Black Insect Armor, which smoothly enveloped his entire body.
“Hehe! You like it? Use it to your heart’s content, and I’ll be counting on you next time, too!” Dolly said, vanishing as instantly as she had appeared.
Bodonchar repeatedly caressed the Black Insect Armor in satisfaction once he was alone, then looked at the spot where Dolly had vanished.
“Chwik. Damn monster. Bachtasha, huh?”
Dollores was a Bachtasha-rank Chaos, the undefined. Not many knew of this Chaos rank because no one would even believe they existed, or even be able to feel them, until they saw one for themselves. However, Bodonchar, who had met Dollores several times, had no choice but to believe their existence.
Even if I went all out... I would be no match, Bodonchar thought.
They were secretly planning something in the Mirror World, but Bodonchar had no idea what. When he and his army had begun their march to Forestis, their objective to kill the Insect King, Dollores had come to him with an offer during their advance.
“Help me, Bodonbodon! I was gonna lumber the World Tree using the Insect King, but I think I messed up! Whine, I’ll get another scolding at this rate!”
Dollores had promised to give him Insectum’s Black Insect Armor. Although it was like backstabbing his subordinates who had followed him unconditionally, Bodonchar was more tempted to acquire the Black Insect Armor with certainty than the Race Stone with a small chance of success. Hence, he accepted Dollores’s offer and shifted their course to Elvenheim.
“Chwik. The moronic Chiron probably thought I did it out of impulse, blinded by my subordinates’ deaths... Kek! Serves you right, smartass!”
As a result, Bodonchar obtained the Black Insect Armor, and his world rank would rise even further.
“Hehe, and Dollores... I know your secret. Chwik. I will have you add me to your organization, too,” Bodonchar mumbled as he licked his lips, excited beyond belief.
He couldn’t even imagine the ecstasy he would feel once he became a member of an organization with enough power to control the Tenth Fiend and a Race Stone, rose the ranks, and double-crossed them to take all the power for himself.
“Gahaha! Dollores! Dollores! I would love to know why the queen of the doll race that went extinct long ago has become a Bachtasha-rank Chaos!”
***
The inside of the tent was warm thanks to the bonfire lit in the center. An iron pot was hanging above the bonfire, and something could be heard boiling inside. A male orc was stirring the bonfire with a poker.
“Welcome, human. Record Breaker, Cheon Seong-Hwi,” the orc said, staring at Seong-Hwi.
His grey skin looked as hard as a boulder, and so did his body. He had a large puncture wound on his left chest. He did not possess tusks, unlike most orcs, so he did not make the distinctive exhaling sound that orcs made.
“You know me?” Seong-Hwi asked.
“I investigated you after receiving word from Tasha. We orcs have an information network of our own,” the orc said as he grabbed a metal ladle and opened the pot lid, revealing a steaming, milky soup.
He stirred the boiling soup with the metal ladle a few times and poured some into a wooden bowl.
The orc continued, “There have been many stories about you, but nothing that revealed your nature.”
“How so?”
“A hero who freed his fellow humans from Clan Trophy. A killer who declared that he would kill ten thousand of his kind. The star of the era who has earned the Tortoise Emperor Lee Kang-San’s favor.”
The orc said, looking intently at Seong-Hwi with his black eyes as if trying to understand something about him.
He continued, “Such contradicting stories. You have lived quite the complicated life. That is why I had been leaving my judgment of your nature aside until I saw you with my own eyes.”
“How do you feel, now that you have?”
“I am even more confused.” The orc shook his head and said, “And what about you? Do you know me, who has never once revealed myself to history?”
Seong-Hwi smiled faintly and said meaningfully, “But of course, Taidzu. The Sleeping Dragon, and... Bodonchar’s older brother.”
The wooden bowl in Taidzu’s hand exploded.