With a mere slight furrow of the brows, his face revealed the passage of countless years. The orc had many names, but only Kasaila knew his true identity. In the War of New Devil, he was known as the Great Green, and after awakening from a long slumber, he operated under the name ‘Makachu’ on the orc’s continent.
Kasaila looked disapprovingly at Makachu. It was not her place to meddle in the life Makachu had led, then or now.
And yet, he has been engaged in such trivial battles.
Such petty fights did not aid in the holy war of Lacryma. Kasaila reminisced about the first time she encountered him. He was a being blessed with great divine power, but had been reduced to merely mingling with the orcs.
However, she couldn’t condemn him entirely because of her own mistake. Long ago, she had fled from Entegasto out of fear. This was why the Great Red had ended up having his heart broken before falling into a deep sleep.
Kasaila turned her head to the opposite side from Makachu in case he could read her mind. Various races were there. They were those who carried the esteemed lineage of Holy Knights across the continent by enduring infinite hardships. They were on the side, maintaining their weapons. She saw several divine artifacts, directly influenced by the power of God. Some of them reminded her of vivid memories as well.
The hammer that a dwarf held especially roused her memories. It was crafted by the Great Silver, who was now gone. The fragments of the Great Silver’s heart and soul were embedded within as well.
Kasaila’s mind was staggered at the scene. At that moment, Makachu caught a glimpse of her covetous gaze and said, “This was our problem. Or, our God might have made a mistake in creating us. No, no. That might be the limitation…”
Kasaila’s eyes filled with fury, but Makachu continued, “God gave you too much power by overestimating you. If you want, then why don’t you take that away from them?”
“What right do you have to say such a thing?” she snapped.
Makachu just laughed without responding. That was harder for Kasaila to tolerate.
“The arrival of the Demon King Doom Man was a prophecy that the Great Gold had made several times before. But what have you been doing so far? Should I have to remind you where I found and dragged you out from?”
“Then, what have you been doing, Kasaila?” he countered.
“I was watching Doom Man’s movement. Just as you can see now.”
Kasaila had once moved the contractors who used the Spirit Kings as their main body. She had tried to plot Doom Man’s death through them, but it was futile in the end. The contractors of the Spirit Kings lost their lives before they could even summon the actual kings.
However, Kasaila had no intention of mentioning that as it would only make Makachu mock her even more. He would surely criticize, asking why she didn’t take the lead herself instead of leading the poor contractors of the Spirit Kings to death. He would undoubtedly point fingers at her, saying that it would have been a great help to the current forces if she didn’t do such a thing.
Suddenly, Kasaila sensed something strange from Makachu. In fact, it wasn’t just now that she thought about it. Her eyes narrowed.
“Do not question the Lord’s sanctity, as the Great Red had once proclaimed.”
Even though Kasaila spoke firmly, Makachu’s expression remained the same. The battle against Doom Man was imminent, but the passion that had shown in the orc’s arena had completely disappeared.
Makachu had an inscrutable expression that left her wondering what was going on in his mind. Kasila looked at his face and thought that he had changed a lot.
Isn’t he supposed to be raging to fight?
Makachu should have been preparing for a showdown against Doom Man, huffing hot breath out. However, his demeanor remained unnervingly tranquil and quiet. This silence carried a distinct quality, unlike the resolute determination of the Holy Knights, who had gathered, and were prepared to face death.
Kasaila reiterated the same statement once more, “Do not question the Lord’s sanctity, as the Great Red had once proclaimed.”
“Such a truly unwavering loyalty.”
Makachu chuckled, causing Kasaila’s face to flush with shame as he reminded her of her past mistakes. Before Kasaila could retaliate, Makachu spoke first.
“There is only one doubt I harbor, Kasaila. Whether we are being deceived or not.”
His words left her speechless. After he said that statement, time ticked away without any news from the Demon King Lu-neah.
Just then, a spiritual entity dispatched from Elsland arrived with news.
“Elsland is under attack, mighty beings. The King of the Dead and his corps have descended upon us.”
Kasaila questioned again before she even realized, but the response was the same. As soon as the name ‘Doom Entegasto’ was uttered, memories that she had been struggling to forget kept resurfacing, causing her to wrestle with her own thoughts nonstop again.
She couldn’t help but wonder how the world would have changed if she had not fled back then. Perhaps she could have put an end to the war. That was why she could never escape this time. Despite missing the chance to eliminate Doom Man, she saw this as a greater opportunity to atone for her mistakes.
Kasaila’s wavering gaze quickly found its resolve.
“You are going to come, right?”
She asked Makachu, but he was turning his back without speaking a single word. Moreover, the direction he headed was not toward Elsland.
***
After witnessing Joshua’s rebirth, I returned to the camp. From the expedition team’s leader Ipo’s point of view, it appeared as though I had vanished for a day and returned. Only I knew the extent of the journey I had undergone to reach this point.
Although it had initially been for Yeon-Hee’s resurrection, my accomplishments were not insignificant. I gained the power to turn back time and awakened Joshua as the Undead Emperor…. And Yeon-Hee joined as a new Doom.
Next in line was Joshua. The ultimate objective was to completely remove Entegasto from the Seven Demon Kings and establish a greater influence within the monarchs with my people to take control. To eradicate the Old One and Doom Kaos, I needed to have more power within the Dooms than I currently possessed.
“The expedition is progressing smoothly.”
Ipo reported on the day’s progress during my absence. It wasn’t only limited to priests interpreting ancient texts in new ways, but also included the tangible results of the exploration.
Based on my calculation, this was around the time when Seong-Il had come to me and delivered the urgent news of Yeon-Hee. At that time, no such outcome had been achieved. Whether my day-long absence had a positive impact on the expedition, Ipo’s expression revealed something that had not been there before.
There was no trace of guilt for turning to the Demon King’s army or any signs of fear. He seemed to be attempting to conceal his excitement, but to me, it was glaringly evident.
It was natural for him to be in joy because the legendary tomb of the ancient dragon lay right before his eyes. Not only that, but I had also made a promise to him that if he produced results quickly, I would make him the successor to the swordsmanship of the Mercenary King Onir.
That was probably why Ipo’s leather whip was even more stained than how it usually was with what was assumed to be blood and flesh of the priests. He had driven the priests like beasts while I was away. Ironically, the priests seemed to welcome my return, precisely because of that.
Priests welcoming the Demon King… But they would soon be disappointed as I planned to leave again.
I said, “I will return to check the progress tomorrow. Don’t make me disappointed in you.”
“Yes, sir. Are you going to the Atreus Kingdom?”
He asked only up to that point, then lowered his head. He had thought he crossed the line, but he was right. This was the time when the guild was making its move into the Atreus Kingdom. If I took the lead in securing the advancement route and removed dangerous facilities like magic towers, then the team would be able to extract mana stones and occupy the kingdom much faster.
Securing the central area was an urgent matter to handle because that would let us branch out in all directions from the Greenwood Continent.
The next day, I returned to the camp. I came back expecting progress in accessing the tomb of the old dragon, but all that awaited me were severed bodies. There were quite a few people in the team who could handle Mana, including the leader Ipo.
Nonetheless, the scars left on the bodies indicated that the deaths were due to the raid of a single individual. Most of their heads had been smashed or horizontally sliced by a large weapon. The raider was much bigger in size than the Greenwood species, and the intruder had enough strength to crush skulls with just one step or one kick.
What was interesting was that there was no trace of the raider using Mana. They wiped out the entire force of this exploration team solely with physical abilities and combat skills. I had never heard or seen anything like this before.
To put it in terms of humans, the intruder had slaughtered the Awakened in the Bsilgol section. That was why the spectacle was both brutal and mysterious.
Yes, there was no doubt that the raider was an orc. However, there were classes among orcs, and typical orcs that couldn’t use Mana usually made up the bottom tier of the pyramid.
An ordinary orc wiped out a large exploration team by itself?
No matter how much I thought, nothing made sense within my understanding. The assailant was a ‘powerful individual capable of using Mana, but did not use Mana,’ and it was hard to accept. What kind of orc would that be?
These creatures proudly called themselves ‘Warriors of Lord Lacryma,’ and the Greenwood indigenous species also referred to them in that way. I also agreed to call them ‘warriors,’ because there were reasons. Their valor had to be distinguished from the recklessness of the Declans, and their strength was also different from the tenacity of the Maruka clan.
That was why. The idea of an orc not utilizing its abilities to the fullest did not exist in my mind. They were species that, when an enemy was in front of them, used all of their might to their maximum efficiency.
Another mystery was the mass death of the priests. Apart from how an orc appeared here, the orcs also followed the Old One. A typical orc wouldn’t have mercilessly killed priests like this, no matter if he was a different species.
I didn’t know who the attacker was, but its actions had succeeded in grabbing my attention. Getting the exploration back on track was the next problem. The entire day I had spent rummaging through the Atreus Kingdom would evaporate, but oh well…
Eventually…
[You have used the insignia ‘Time Reversal.’]
[Would you like to travel back in time?]
[Please select a date.]
Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
A force that sucked all the background into a single point appeared. I surrendered myself to it.
