Chapter 117: The Orc Legion

I immediately joined Kimoa and the Crows and rushed off. It took about three days, passing by quite a few monsters, before we finally arrived at our destination.

And upon seeing the sight before me…

“I’m speechless. Hah… I never expected to see a scene like this.”

I couldn’t help but exhale in shock. Based on the common sense I held, I never imagined witnessing such a spectacle.

‘Humans and orcs. It’s not strange for both to be present.’

Both humans and orcs are, in a sense, weak on their own. Both races grew strong by gathering together. That was how they survived. Orcs stayed with orcs, and humans with humans. Naturally, to gather, one needs land.

“Kill them!”

*Chueek!*

To seize that land, humans and orcs have waged an endless struggle. And the victor? It was usually the humans.

The orcs of the struggle had nothing but their conflict. Orcs were a race that survived solely through battle. Because of that, they couldn’t grow beyond a certain point. Even if their innate strength grew until an individual orc was stronger than an individual human…

‘Strategy, tactics, magic. They have none of it.’

There was a limit. Orcs lacked an understanding of large-scale engagement and tactics. They had shamanism instead of magic, but it wasn’t systematized. The number of orc shamans was even smaller than that of human mages, who were already considered few.

Consequently, humans drove the orcs out and took the plains. The orcs used their remaining strength to hold onto parts of the fields, but the vast majority fled into the mountain ranges.

Stronger than lower-tier monsters like goblins or kobolds, but weaker than ogres. No, even if they were strong, they were inferior to humans. They simply became one of many types of monsters.

That was all.

Just one type of monster. Yet, the scene before my eyes was different no matter how I looked at it.

“It appears about seventy or eighty individuals fought here.”

“The majority were orcs. There were a bit more than ten humans… at most fifteen.”

“You’ve seen it accurately.”

Judging by the remains, the orcs were the majority. Against them, fifteen humans had fought. I could understand that much. Such scenes were common even when mercenaries clashed with orcs. The problem was…

‘…The humans appear to have been magicians. Black Mages, at that. As for the rest… at least two were Experts. The others were highly skilled as well.’

“Yes. Both the lingering aura and the traces of destruction suggest as much.”

The level of the humans was not that of mere mercenaries. About ten of them were mages—and Black Mages at that, famous for their high destructive power.

‘The lingering Demonic Mana still thick in the air is the proof.’

Black Mages who use Demonic Mana possess superior offensive power compared to other mages. They can sometimes display several times the firepower. About ten of such mages had died here.

‘People like that would be treated as elite forces anywhere they went.’

Actually, if they were only mages, it wouldn’t be impossible to understand. A mage without a guard sees a warrior as their natural enemy. If a warrior rushes in despite taking damage, the one who wins is the warrior, not the mage.

A combat-driven orc wouldn’t hesitate. They might sacrifice twenty or thirty of their comrades just to close the distance to a mage. And if they were lucky…

‘…It requires extreme luck, but it is possible to kill them.’

It was possible to kill a mage. But it required heavenly luck. Black Mages could maintain their power despite being hunted across the continent precisely because they were strong. Killing such people was not easy.

Furthermore, there were people guarding them. These were individuals who left traces of being at least at the Expert level. The orcs had fought a desperate battle against them.

And both sides had suffered fatal damage and died.

“Is this even possible? Even if the orcs had the numbers, could they really achieve a mutual defeat against Black Mages?”

“If that were possible, the orcs would have already ruled the continent.”

“True…”

Even by my common sense, orcs weren’t this strong. Even if they had fighting spirit, and even if there were tribal chief-class orcs who were strong as individuals, it shouldn’t be to this extent.

Yet, it had actually happened. I couldn’t deny it when the evidence was right in front of me.

‘What on earth is going on?’

An Expert alone could handle a hundred human soldiers. Depending on the situation and use of the environment, they could toy with hundreds. When a mage is added to the mix, that power becomes several times stronger.

For an orc force to reach a mutual defeat with a group of Black Mages that even hundreds of well-organized human soldiers would barely manage to catch… It was an unimaginable scene.

“Did an Orc Warlord emerge again?”

“…It’s a possibility. But even then, it’s just a Warlord.”

“Right. He’s just a Warlord.”

A Warlord—the Great Chieftain of the orcs. If there were a Warlord, who historical records say could even defeat an Aura Master, then this might be possible. However, there were no traces of a Warlord here.

“If there were a Warlord, they wouldn’t be here; they’d be waging war in the Empire. It’s closer to them.”

“That’s true.”

“This is no ordinary matter. I need to look into this further.”

This had happened only a few days’ distance from the fief. Originally, it was common for monsters and beasts to move in the Northern Mountain Range.

‘But this is different.’

Like the Hell Spider, if this wasn’t just about one or two strong individuals, but something that made the entire orc race stronger, then the story changed. It wouldn’t just be a problem for a Marquis or a Duke. It could become a matter of survival itself.

Therefore, I had to know for sure.

“Reiki. Lead us to the nearest orc tribe.”

“Yes, my Lord!”

“The rest of you, move to find other traces. Don’t overdo it. We can’t afford to lose any of our strength by dying now.”

“We obey your command.”

I split the Black Crows into two groups and gave the orders.

*Ssssss—*

Upon receiving the command, the Crows used their Stealth Technique and scattered in their respective teams. Only Reiki and I remained.

“Let’s go.”

To grasp the situation, I led Reiki deeper into the Northern Mountain Range. We traveled for several days. Running through the Northern Mountain Range, where anyone else would find it difficult to move even an inch, was an adventure in itself.

*Grrr…*

There were all sorts of monsters. Ordinary monsters weren’t the problem. The issue was…

‘Provoking the masters of the mountain range.’

We had to avoid provoking powerful monsters like the Hell Spider. They were strong and incredibly sensitive. No one could tell what kind of trouble a small disturbance might escalate into. I had no choice but to move with my nerves on edge every single day.

How many days did we run? We continuously used Gyeong-gong to cover a distance that would have taken an ordinary person many more days.

“Phew… phew…”

“Endure a little longer.”

I even shared some of my True Qi with Reiki, who was struggling to keep up, to boost his strength. It was a forced march. Fortunately, finding traces of the orcs within the mountains was easy.

‘They’re quite confident. Though, if it weren’t for these traces, this would have been difficult.’

Normally, the weak would want to erase any trace of their presence. Whether it was orcs or goblins, monsters usually had at least one way to hide themselves. Yet, these orcs didn’t even seem to think about erasing their tracks. I just had to follow the clear path they left behind.

“Here are more tracks.”

“This place is different… Hmm… They’ve been fighting continuously. I can’t tell the reason why.”

“This isn’t a normal pattern.”

We found traces of battle everywhere. They were battles between orcs and other monsters. Was a tribe moving on a large scale? But such cases were rare.

‘There are almost no cases where a tribe continues to fight while moving.’

This was more like traces of them going out to hunt or moving to find something in the mountains. Seeing how they fought every time they were caught while scouting…

“It might be hard to even call them orcs anymore. Do you think the orcs evolved into a different species like the Hell Spider?”

“That’s a terrifying thought just to imagine! Still, we haven’t lost the trail.”

“Because the traces are so clear.”

“Right. Let’s keep going.”

Following the tracks was easy. We pushed further and further north. And then, we found it.

‘I can certainly tell one thing for sure—the Northern Mountain Range is insanely vast.’

The mountains had ridges, and wide plains occasionally formed between them. Even so, I wondered if any of them could be as large as the land before my eyes.

“…This is insane. There are too many.”

“This is quite substantial. No, it’s beyond imagination.”

Everything before my eyes could only be described as a green wave.

*Chueek.*

*Chuik.*

Thick muscles. Green skin. Snub noses.

‘They match the characteristics I know. At least in appearance.’

Fortunately, there were no signs of them transforming into a different race like the Hell Spider. However, that sheer number was the problem. Was it really this easy for orcs to gather in such numbers? It was quite difficult for orcs, who lived in tribal units, to congregate like this.

“…Do you think a Warlord was truly born?”

“Maybe. There are quite a few strong ones scattered throughout.”

Even I couldn’t face tens of thousands of orcs at once. I couldn’t get close, but even from a distance, there were individuals with clearly massive energy.

‘Orcs using Aura…’

Orcs do accumulate Aura in their bodies, but it’s limited to the strong ones. Those orcs grow physically along with their Aura.

But those were limited cases. If there were that many orcs using Aura, humans would never have been able to set foot on this continent. And yet, there were so many of them. It was enough to be considered the military force of an entire fief, or perhaps even a Kingdom.

“There’s an overflow of tribe-leader class individuals.”

“That’s the problem. An orc army…”

Humans and orcs were different. In just a year or two, an orc cub grows into a warrior. There are countless cases where even a common orc, who isn’t a warrior, is stronger than a weak human soldier.

Such orcs had formed a legion-scale force. What if these orcs increased their numbers? They could double in size within a few years.

‘For now, they’re leaning toward the Empire, but…’

What if the orc army moved south instead of toward the Empire? They would descend in unimaginably massive numbers. And if those numbers came down…

‘…Unless the nobles of the Kingdom suddenly went mad, there’s no way they would cooperate.’

Enormous damage would occur. Not only the Giseot Fief but also our territory facing the mountain range could be wiped out. The family, the territory—everything!

The sight of everything in ruins and everyone dead! Just imagining it made me clench my fists involuntarily.

An unexpected threat existed in reality. It was a threat capable of snatching away everything I had built in an instant.

‘I have work to do. This isn’t the time to be idle.’

It was time to prepare. I had to change many things, not just within our territory. I could no longer feel relaxed after seeing this situation.

“Kimoa. If you were to hide here and watch their movements, how long could you hold out?”

“…About a day at best. The stronger an orc becomes, the sharper their instincts get. They’ll notice us soon.”

“Then we must withdraw. Let’s go. I need to expand the fortress further.”

To be prepared is to have no regrets. I had to prepare. I had to be ready to withstand whatever threat came our way!