“AHHHHHH!!!”Upon hearing my order to purge them, that aggressive two-star half orc immediately charged at me, a thunderous shout spewing forth from his large mouth.
The sudden turn of events left the imps no time to react. One-eye stood there, too stunned to stop the half-orc as he easily rammed past three guardsmen who happened to be in the way. This entire sequence only took a few seconds, by the end of it, he was in front of me with his club poised to strike.
“Master, step back!”
No.3 and Big 4 were seasoned bodyguards and were naturally used to such sudden attempts on my life. The pair simultaneously raised their long bone swords and thrusted them at the approaching half-orc, forcing him back. In order to avoid getting skewered, the half-orc abruptly halted his tracks.
He stood there glaring at me for a second before speaking to me in his strange language.
“He wants to have a duel to the death with you.”
“Duel?” Are you kidding me, I have the advantage right now, why should I listen to a loser?
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“I suggest you take up his offer, that is if you still wish to recruit them. Of course, that"s a.s.suming you have confidence in your strength.” She slowly explained her reasoning: “Demonic half-orcs only submit to the strong, if you can defeat their leader in a duel, there"s a high chance the rest will follow you.”
“You"re sure about that?”
She nodded and said in a tone without a hint of doubt: “Yes, these half-orcs have a great respect for their traditions. They only serve the strong regardless of their race. As long as you defeat him, you stand a chance at getting their loyalty.”
“Is that so.” I waved my hand to signal for the pair to make way. “Tell them, I"ll accept this deathmatch!”
“Alright.” She immediately turned towards the half-orc and spoke to them in their language. The moment he heard that, a strange look of surprise crossed his face. Judging from his reaction, he probably didn"t expect me to accept the duel.
“Master, there"s no need to risk yourself in a such manner. If it"s a fight he wants, we"re more than enough.” One-eye immediately stood out to stop me.
No.3 and Big 4 soon followed his lead but I adamantly brushed aside their offer.
The reason why I accepted this was because I had absolute confidence in my victory. In that previous battle, I discovered that while these half-orcs were physically strong, they weren"t very agile. Furthermore, they weren"t able to react to changes well. With my ever-changing style of magic, I should have no problem toying with him.
Seeing my resolve, they reluctantly retreated to the sidelines. However, this didn"t stop them from throwing me a few worried looks from time to time, their weapons gripped tight, ready to step in in an instant if things went awry.
Everyone retreated and formed a circle around us, creating an arena ring of sorts for our deathmatch. The half-orcs were cordoned off at one side by my subordinates. However, this didn"t seem to worry them at all. In fact, their excitement could be felt a mile away as they pounded their chests and cheered madly.
I stationed a section of my imps to stand watch over them. If these half-orcs tried anything funny, they were to purge them right away.
The half-orc growled as he flashed his jagged teeth at No.3 and Big 4, taunting them. Failing to elicit a response from them, he turned his attention to me and spewed a string of unintelligible words once more.
“l.u.s.t Demon, accepting the mighty Dewey Dan"s deathmatch will be the biggest misfortune of your life. I will defeat you and right in front of your subordinates, I will…” Translator mode Violet Snow abruptly stopped at this point, a look of disgust on her face.
I handed over the devil egg to a nearby female devil and as I turned back, I caught sight of Violet Snow"s constipated expression as if she had just been greatly insulted. Thinking back on his words…I guess they didn"t need translating for them to be understood.
It"s probably that thing that men and women did together. I totally get it. But when did this brother turn into a l.u.s.t demon! d.a.m.n it, all of these people keep treating me like a female!
Bone spears!!
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In a fit of rage, I shot out three spears in a quick succession. They whistled through the air in what looked like one extremely long spear, their target, the half-orc Dewey standing a mere 15 meters away.
*crack crack crack*
The primitive bone club swatted down each of the spears. Having taken care of the long range threat, Dewey Dan stormed at me.
I instantly cast a bone wall to block him. It was a brittle wall due to the lack of mana within it, but it served its purpose. As the bone wall rose right at the point the half-orc was going to step on, it disrupted his balance and tripped him.
His ma.s.sive body stumbled before falling forwards, as it did so, the bone wall he stepped on continued rising, bringing his feet along with it as his face fell towards the ground.
While the half-orc wasn"t exceptionally agile, he had a vast wealth of combat experience and strength. Upon sensing the impending danger, he stuck out both his hands immediately, forcefully halting the fall before his head impacted with the ground.
With his hands as a support, he threw his body forward, legs first, and performed a slight tumble forward before righting his posture once more.
He kicked off his ma.s.sive legs and sprinted towards me once more. I immediately created another wall but this time, Dewey Dan ploughed right the brittle wall.
As flesh collided with bone, the ma.s.sive legs of the half-orc noticeably slowed down after breaking through the bony barricade. The half-orc seemed to have noticed this as well and decided to halt his failed charge. Standing a mere seven to eight meters away from me, he bellowed at me in what must"ve been his attempt at showing off his strength.
As he did so, the other half-orc captives roared in unison as if they were trying to cheer for their kinsman. However, the expression on Violet Snow face"s seemed to say otherwise. She wanted to translate the “cheers” but changed her mind in lieu of the ongoing match.
After that bit of venting, he resumed his charge but this time, he was noticeably more cautious and slower, the humiliating experience from the first two charges obviously having an impact on him.
This time however, I opted for a brute force approach. A large amount of mana flowed through my body as I channeled them into a much st.u.r.dier bone wall. The wall swiftly rose out of the ground, connecting the two sides of the maze, completely blocking off Dewey Dan"s path.
As my face disappeared behind the rising bone wall, a surge of blood rushed to the temperamental half-orc"s head. He was furious, furious that his prey managed to escape once more despite being only a few meters away from him. He slammed his bone club down at the bony-white culprit in a maddened fit of rage.
After a few hits however, the bone club snapped, no longer able to bear the brunt of his fury. He tossed it aside and began hammering the bone wall with his fists and kicks. With each strike of his grayish black limbs, the bone wall reverberated and gave off an ominously loud crack.
Five to six seconds later, the bone wall finally gave way in an explosion of bone fragments. What greeted me was a pair of bleeding knuckles that grasped on the sides of the breach as they pulled forward the muscular t.i.tan behind them.
“Roar~~~” At this distance, I could clearly see the fury within his eyes but I was more than ready for it.
“I heard you guys are afraid of fire.” I derisively laughed at his challenge with flame whip in hand. With a flick of my wrist, the snake-like flames lashed out at the half-orc, binding him before he managed to dodge it.
As the scorching heat bore into his flesh, the horrid stench of cooked meat wafted throughout the maze as Dewey Dan howled in pain. He struggled desperately against the burning snake but it was all for naught.
The first to catch fire was his dishevelled hair, followed by his face and then his body…soon, there was nothing left but a blacked corpse on the floor. As I stepped over what remained of the half-orc leader, my flame whip dragged against the floor, leaving a black scorch mark wherever it touched.
The remaining half-orcs trembled as they looked at me, some not even daring to do so.
However, this situation didn"t last too long as the surviving two-star half-orc suddenly cut in. He seemed to have gotten a portion of their support as they raised their voices in what seemed like opposition. While I still didn"t understand what they were saying, it sounded like they didn"t want to serve me.
“What are they saying?” Their words as unintelligible as ever, I had no choice but to turn to Violet Snow for help.
“They said that the deathmatch doesn"t count, it didn"t conform to their traditions.”
“Traditions…wasn"t it to submit to the victor?”
She gaved me a helpless look and said: “Customarily, the fight would be between two fighters who competed with their martial skills and strength. There would be no magic used as it is considered a violation of traditions.”
“Violation?” No wonder they were making that much noise right at the start of the match. I thought they were cheering for Dewey Dan…so the real reason was they thought I was cheating. My face immediately blackened upon receiving that answer.
“So what this means is, they wish to renege on their words?”
“…Demonic half-orcs are kind of…if you don"t explain clearly to them, they won"t submit to you that easily.” She was clearly exasperated by this “cheating” matter as well.
“You"re asking me for an explanation? Then who should I ask for an explanation?!” It was a perfectly valid duel but now I have to deal with all these c**p? And what"s with that b******t that Dewey-whatever was spouting earlier?
As the anger built in me, a fireball rapidly formed in my right palm, the fire elements seemingly resonating with my fury. Soon, a meter wide fireball was seen hurtling towards the sole surviving two-star.
It"s all that b***ard"s fault, if it wasn"t for that guy flapping those disgusting lips of his, the other half-orcs would"ve quietly submitted to me.
*Boom!*
The roaring flames engulfed that eyesore along with two half-orcs standing beside him, turning all three of them into a pile of cinders.
As the shockwave spread out, bone fragments could be seen falling onto the ground and onto the heads of the half-orcs.
The scene immediately quietened down. Time stood still as all the half-orcs froze on the spot, not even daring to blink.
Sigh, I seem to be getting more and more temperamental. Perhaps I"m getting used to the lifestyle here. Having blown those eyesores to bits, my heart was filled with a strange sense of elation. It egged me on, sweetly whispering in my head to continue killing.
I should just continue killing these ignorant beasts…kill all life who aren"t willing to submit to me…no, I mustn"t do that…I still have to return to the western human realms, I still have to find Nicole…
The strange bloodl.u.s.t was immediately quashed as it appeared in me. If I had let it continue, who knows what I might turn into in the end. I knew how weak my will was and so I immediately banished these thoughts before they could take root within me.
As I regained my senses, I found the half-orcs staring dumbly at me, their face full of fear. Hmm, in this situation, subjugating them should be easy.
I coldly swept over the pale-faced half orcs before turning to Violet Snow.
“Tell them, there are many kinds of power in this world, there"s no need to split it into some nonsense like magic or physical. As long as it can kill the enemy, it"s power. This is their last chance, submit or die!”
She was slightly taken aback by my icy stare but quickly recovered and nodded immediately.
After a round of persuasion by Violet Snow, the remaining half-orcs finally let go of their hostility. While they might not fully accept me, at least they won"t try to oppose me.
After all, I had just killed two two-stars without even taking a scratch. Power of this caliber was more than enough to shut them up.
Whether it was because of her persuasion or my fearsome magic, the half-orcs finally came to a decision amidst this life-or-death situation. They turned towards me and half-kneeled, pledging their loyalty to me in their unintelligible language.
Truth be told, I didn"t care if they were really loyal to me, I just needed cannon fodder.
I beckoned to No.5.
No.5 immediately ran over and gave me his usual ingratiating smile: “Congratulations Master on getting more subordinates.”
“Leave the sucking up for later, I need you to tally up the loot.”
“Yes Master.”