Pangea’s Duke of Virtue had a terrible chance of triggering once every few years. Grid only kept Pangea’s Duke of Virtue and didn’t expect it to actually burst out.
After fighting and winning, he planned to try and obtain Teruchan using the ‘Different Species’ King’ t.i.tle, which had the effect of ‘gaining great affinity with different species’ and ‘two times the probability of creating a good impression if the target is a different species.’
Now the effect of Pangea’s Duke of Virtue was triggered.
‘It is honey. Did the odds increase after activating against Noll?’
The fire that soared due to G.o.d"s Command stopped. However—
“Look! Open your eyes!”
The joy was fleeting. Teruchan was dying. The orc lord who had endured Grid’s onslaught was trembling.
“Wake up! Get up!”
Teruchan looked confused as Grid pulled out a potion. He raised Teruchan and forcefully poured potions into his mouth. However, it didn’t work at all.
‘He can’t be healed?’
Why wasn’t he recovering? Was this trolling? Grid brought up Teruchan’s status window since they were now colleagues.
Name: Teruchan
Age: 19 Gender: Male
Race: Twilight Orc
t.i.tle: Strongest Warrior
* Strength and health stats increase in proportion to the duration of the battle (up to 30%).
t.i.tle: Usurper
* Increases attack power, defense, health and resilience when fighting ‘leaders’ (up to 20%).
t.i.tle: Indomitable Warrior
* Nullifies damage over a certain amount up to 10 times. Once these 10 times are exhausted, you will use up Origin True Energy (c.u.mulative reset once every 30 days).
Level: 500
Strength: 4,003 Stamina: 6,130
Agility: 2,280 Intelligence: 320
Skills: Iron Arm (A), Roar of Strength (S), Instinct (S), Belief (S)
Like most twilight orcs, Teruchan was abandoned by his parents at the age of 5.
After fleeing deep into the mountains to escape the empire’s surveillance and oppression, the twilight orcs’ home was ridiculously small. Teruchan survived alone and the twilight orcs were liberated from the oppression of the empire.
“We must not let our children experience our misfortunes.”
Teruchan claimed as he defeated the former orc lord who opposed the war. His desire to seize the lord’s position was due to the happiness of the newly born children.
“...”
The Ultimate Warrior, Usurper and Indomitable Warrior. These were the t.i.tles that made Teruchan’s stats s.h.i.+ne. It was why Teruchan could withstand most of Grid’s attacks. Even so, Grid was paying attention to another part.
‘He is 19 years old? This terrifying giant who looks like a vicious criminal? Even though he looks 20 years older than me?’
“No, s.h.i.+t!”
Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. Origin True Energy was the energy that was the source of life. Once it was depleted, a transcendent person would die. Teruchan’s life was at stake.
‘Right! Ask Sehee...!’
Grid was reminded of his sister, only to freeze like a statue. He was reminded of Khan’s end. Ruby hadn’t been able to save Khan. Death that occurred naturally was something that not even the Saintess could prevent.
“...Dammit!”
He couldn’t call Ruby. The weak-hearted child would suffer from guilt after being unable to save Teruchan. Putting a stone in his sister’s heart just to hold onto this rotten line... He couldn’t.
‘I wish he was a bad guy.’
Grid glanced at the dying Teruchan. If only Teruchan was simply a ferocious invader and predator, then his heart wouldn’t have been so heavy. At best, he would’ve been unhappy with and resented Pangea’s Duke of Virtue. However, Teruchan wasn’t evil. He was determined to fight for the children, not himself, and didn’t force humans to wors.h.i.+p his power. If only Grid didn’t know this. Grid was very distressed about the information he learnt about Teruchan through Pangea’s Duke of Virtue. He felt sorry for Teruchan, who had to die before being able to fulfill his dream. He was sad to know he had lost such a person.
“s.h.i.+t... d.a.m.n…”
Teruchan’s trembling voice was heard in Grid’s ears as he cursed.
“Grid. Guruk... In your hands... I will die... Spirit…”
“Shut up!” Grid shouted.
He didn’t want to feel even more pained. Of course, he knew of a possibility that could save Teruchan. It was the White Peach, an item that restored all health and vitality when eaten. A super-special hidden item that could only be taken once in a lifetime considering the absurd effects, the White Peach was likely to restore even the exhausted Origin True Energy, yet Grid couldn’t extend his hand.
Was it because Teruchan’s value was low? No. His value alone exceeded expectations. It was thrilling just imagining him at the forefront of the battlefield with Noll. He knew that Teruchan’s performance would be greater when dealing with strong opponents like the grandmaster and yangbans.
However—
‘It isn’t possible. I can’t give it to him.’
Grid already had too many precious people. Irene, Lord, Piaro, and Braham—from the time he summoned Piaro to the perilous imperial palace, Grid had already vowed to save the White Peach for them. He felt really sorry for Teruchan who was dying in front of him but the weight of the lives of those already precious to him was different.
“Glory... Guruk…”
“Shut up!”
It was rotten. He never imagined that things would be so unpleasant. He had come to the Fold Kingdom with the mindset of saving them from the orc lord. He didn’t expect to go through something like this. It happened as Grid made a pained expression and grabbed his chest.
“Overgeared King!” Someone appeared and shouted. It was Marquis Veze. He pointed to the 100,000 orc army rus.h.i.+ng over from a distance. “Those who have lost their king will run wild! You have to avoid it!!”
Grid had broken the ‘10 blows’ promise with ridiculous logic and crushed Teruchan.
Marquis Veze had been suspicious of Grid for a while. He was concerned that the reason why Prince s.h.i.+ning praised Grid like a G.o.d was because he had been brainwashed by Grid, but then he soon realized—the reason why Grid wasn’t afraid of his reputation being lost was to share a ‘sword conversation’ with Teruchan, which was why he pushed for a confrontation with Teruchan.
Throughout the battle, Teruchan was uplifted and expressed joy and respect towards Grid. It was the atmosphere of becoming friends with Grid. That’s right. Grid respected Teruchan in his own way. He sympathized with the twilight orcs, who glorified combat, without scoffing at their ruthlessness. As expected, he was a great person. His intention was to persuade Teruchan to end the war but things went wrong. Teruchan was dying and the furious orcs would never forgive Grid.
“Hurry while I buy some time!”
Marquis Veze held his shattered s.h.i.+eld and faced the 100,000 army of orcs alone.
“Marquis Veze!”
“My Lord! What are you doing not running away?”
The knights of Howl Fortress were in a hurry. Someone gave the order to open the gates while someone else had already jumped off the walls and was crossing the plains. All of them wanted to save Marquis Veze. Marquis Veze’s lion-like roar echoed through the battlefield.
“Everyone, retreat! Be sure to take refuge in the capital along with the Overgeared King!”
“My Lord!”
“It is a command!”
“...!”
The knights rus.h.i.+ng at Marquis Veze stopped at once. It was the last command of their esteemed superior and they couldn’t break it. An old knight met Grid’s eyes and shouted at him desperately, “Your Majesty! Come quickly! Don’t let Marquis Veze’s sacrifice be in vain!”
‘Bulls.h.i.+t.’
Grid clicked his tongue and ignored the knights’ cries. Then...
“Uh!”
The four G.o.d Hands flying around Grid grabbed the marquis’ limbs in unison.
“Your Majesty?”
The perplexed marquis alternated looking between Grid and the orc army in front of him. The distance to the front of the orc army was now less than 200 meters away.
“I’m here to help you, not to sacrifice your life.”
“Your Majesty...!”
Marquis Veze didn’t finish his shout. It was because Grid threw him in the direction of the knights. Grid stood next to the gradually fading Teruchan and faced the orc army. The sight of the 100,000 dark-skinned orcs charging was reminiscent of a ma.s.sive wave of rocks.
‘It’s garbage.’
Appearing before the orcs was a failure. He spent almost all his skills and resources fighting Teruchan so his condition was a mess. It was right to run away like this. Grid knew this but he couldn’t step away. It was due to the red-spotted leopards at the forefront of the orc army. Thousands of leopards were running with orcs on their backs and their speed exceeded that of horses. If Grid left, the soldiers of Howl Fortress wouldn’t be able to stop the leopards’ pursuit and would be destroyed. At best, the rewards from running into the army would be lost.
Grid reminded himself—his first purpose was to be the guardian of the Fold Kingdom.
“s.h.i.+t... Come!”
He also needed a means to relieve his boiling anger. Grid shouted at the enemies rus.h.i.+ng like a tsunami and aimed the Enlightenment Sword. He was conscious of the cameras and let out curse words with a mutter. A one against 100,000 confrontation. If it was anyone other than Grid, the people would’ve snorted with ridicule. It was because it was Grid that the viewers didn’t laugh and kept focused.
Noe, Randy, Tiramet and the Overgeared Skeletons appeared beside Grid, the G.o.d Hands held the Red Phoenix Box and the sky was cloudy. It was the moment when he was going to use Storm Demonic Energy Field on the front leopard. The leopards stopped running and the orcs jumped off the leopards. Thousands of orc warriors rushed to Grid without pulling out their weapons.
“Gruruk!! Great warrior!”
“...?”
“We! Lord"s body! Guruk! Want it!”
“...”
Grid belatedly grasped the situation. The only one who determined the orc’s policy was the lord. Once the lord died, the orcs had no reason to go to war. They had to go back home, elect a new orc lord and follow the new policy. In addition, from the perspective of a ‘warrior’, Grid and Teruchan’s fight was legitimate and they didn’t intend to take revenge on Grid.
‘...Basara.’
Her idea of liberating them was right. They weren’t beasts. Grid nodded and opened the way for the orcs.
“Take him.”
“Thank you. Grruk.”
The orcs beat their chests with their fists and bowed, then they carried Teruchan onto a leopard. Teruchan looked almost like a corpse with his blue skin and closed mouth. At this moment.
“...?”
“...?”
An intense light flashed in the sky. It was caused by Ma.s.s Teleport. Both Grid and the orcs were amazed as they turned their attention to the sky. Great Sage Sticks and Lauel came into view.
Lauel hurried to the ground and pulled out a fruit. It was a white fruit—the White Peach.
“You...!”
The surprised Grid tried to stop Lauel but it was too late. Lauel forcibly opened Teruchan’s mouth and shoved the White Peach into it.
“I know the entire situation. I think this is the only way to save him.”
“No, are you crazy? That is...!”
“I know the value of the White Peach. That’s why I’m investing it here.”
“You have to eat...!”
“It is too big a luxury for me to eat it. Don’t you know that I’m retired now?”
“That’s because you’re busy! Once you come back...!”
“No. I chose this path because I like it and I don’t want to leave this path. I will continue to a.s.sist Your Majesty with ruling the Overgeared Kingdom so I don’t need this luxury.”
The effect of the White Peach was to increase the experience, regardless of level, and thus, the higher was the level of the player, the more astronomical was the value of the item. It was given up by Lauel. Grid knew that it had required a great decision. Lauel was obviously sacrificing himself. Thanks to that sacrifice...
“Guruk...!”
Teruchan took a breath and opened his eyes. The viewers and the orcs were wide-eyed. It was as if the entire world was watching.
“Great warrior...! Life saver! I! Teruchan! Guruk! You! I will serve you!” Teruchan swore.
Was Grid really his life saver…? There were many questions but in any case, Grid had gained a new subordinate.