Chapter 365

Chapter 365

Floa and the Dark Elves stared blankly as the orcs and Dark Elves struggled desperately against an enormous mass of sand.

The huge sand mountain had been like a kind of fortress wall.

It hid the Dark Elves’ village from outside eyes, a guardian deity-like existence that had allowed it to endure for a hundred years.

Over the long years, countless sand dunes had formed and vanished, but the sand mountain had always maintained its shape. So they had thought it would continue to do so.

But that belief was shattered by Zeon.

The huge sand mountain, which seemed as if it would remain standing even after a thousand years, was collapsing at the gesture of a single human.

Rumble!

The great mountain poured down, vomiting out a roar like the scream of a monster.

The one who had collapsed the sand mountain was Zeon.

The sand mountain was responding to Zeon’s control and flowing down.

If Zeon had not controlled the speed at which the sand collapsed, the Dark Elves’ village would have vanished without a trace.

Zeon adjusted the mass and speed of the sand so that only minimal damage would be done to the village.

Thanks to that, the orcs and Dark Elves could survive even after being swept up by the sand.

Fear filled the eyes of Floa and the Dark Elf warriors as they looked at Zeon.

They had never even dared imagine such an ability.

An Awakened who could use sand as he pleased in a desertified world.

They did not know why an elf had not Awakened such an ability and a human had instead, but one thing was clear: he was not someone they could dare to handle.

Zeon said to them as they stood there in a daze.

“How long are you going to stand there? The orcs will come to their senses soon. Rescue the children before then.”

“R-right.”

Only then did Floa snap back to her senses and lead her subordinates toward the house where the children were being held.

Once they had moved away from Zeon, one Dark Elf warrior spoke with a disbelieving expression.

“Is that man really human?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Could he perhaps be a d-dragon in disguise?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. If he really were a dragon, do you think a High Elf would be following him around?”

“Ah! That makes sense.”

Only then did the Dark Elf look relieved.

That was how terrifying dragons were.

Zeon’s displayed ability was so tremendous that they could suspect him of being such a dragon.

The brand on their necks had been erased, but it felt as though a feeling of fear even greater than that had been carved into them instead.

Floa felt the same overwhelming fear as her subordinate, but she tried her best not to show it.

Right now, Zeon was not an enemy, but an ally.

If he had been an enemy, there would be no greater disaster, but since he was on their side now, there could be no one more reassuring.

She said,

“If we miss this chance, there will never be another opportunity to save the children. Everyone, focus.”

“Yes!”

“Understood, Captain!”

The Dark Elves answered in low voices.

Approaching the village, which had become a scene of pandemonium from the incoming sand, was not difficult for the Dark Elves.

“Ptooey, ptooey!”

“Chwit! Pull me up.”

The orcs who had been swept up in the sand were crawling out one by one.

They had to rescue the children now, while the orcs were still in confusion.

Fortunately, Floa and the Dark Elves were able to avoid the orcs’ eyes and reach the house where the children were imprisoned.

Two especially large orcs were standing guard in front of the house.

They were orc warriors, Chuangka’s trusted aides.

The orc warriors discovered Floa and the Dark Elves and shouted,

“Chwit! What is this?”

“This place is off-limits, black elves!”

The orc warriors still did not know that the brands carved into the Dark Elves had been erased.

At that moment, Floa and the Dark Elves’ rage exploded.

“Hyaaa!”

“Die!”

They attacked the orc warriors with all their strength.

“You’ve gone mad, black elves!”

“Chwit!”

The orc warriors were flustered but tried to counterattack. However, Floa and the Dark Elves moved far faster than they could react.

Slash!

The swords of Floa and the Dark Elves hacked the orcs to pieces.

The orc warriors collapsed without even being able to scream.

“Ptooey! Filthy pig bastards.”

Floa spat on the orc warriors’ corpses, then walked toward the door.

Alarm magic had been placed on the door.

The moment they forcibly broke the door, Chuangka and the orcs would rush over. But Floa and the Dark Elves were no longer afraid of the orcs.

They smashed the door without hesitation. Then they saw the young elves gathered in the corner of the house.

“Are you all right, children?”

“We came to save you, so there’s no need to be afraid.”

Floa and the Dark Elves reassured the children.

“Really?”

“You really came to save us?”

The children, their faces stained with tears, threw themselves into the arms of Floa and the Dark Elves.

Holding the children tightly, Floa clenched her teeth.

Seeing the children trembling faintly in her arms made rage toward the orcs surge inside her.

She could not even imagine how much fear and terror the children must have felt during the not-so-short time they had been held by the orcs.

Rage toward the orcs who had given such fear to children so young surged from deep within her chest like an active volcano.

“You wretches! How dare you betray me?”

At that moment, Chuangka’s furious voice came from outside.

He had heard the alarm magic and rushed over in one breath.

Floa ordered the Dark Elves,

“Block the door! Don’t let them inside under any circumstances.”

“Yes!”

The Dark Elves surged outside and guarded the entrance.

Chuangka and the orcs had already taken position outside.

“You dared deceive me? I’ll give you the pain of hell.”

Chuangka raised the bone spear in his hand and chanted a spell.

He had activated the brands.

But no matter how long he waited, no change occurred in the Dark Elves guarding the door.

“Chwit! W-what is this?”

“Something’s strange.”

“The black elves are fine.”

Only then did the orcs sense that something was wrong and look at one another.

Chuangka glared fiercely at the Dark Elves’ necks.

“Don’t tell me you erased the brands?”

“That’s right, old orc!”

After calming the children, Floa walked toward Chuangka.

An enormous fighting spirit radiated from her entire body as she held her sword.

Her force was so powerful that the orcs flinched and stepped back.

Floa aimed her sword at Chuangka and said,

“Today, this place will become the grave of you orcs.”

“Impudent black elf. You got cocky just because you erased one little brand.”

Even though the situation was turning against him, Chuangka did not look intimidated in the slightest.

“You seem to have something you believe in.”

“Ugh! The orc stench. It’s making my head spin.”

At that moment, Zeon, Levin, and Briel appeared through the sand-laden wind.

When the three appeared, Chuangka’s expression changed completely.

“You humans interfered, didn’t you?”

“Something is strange.”

Zeon tilted his head.

Briel looked up at Zeon.

“What’s strange?”

“The orc is too smart.”

“That’s true too.”

Briel agreed with Zeon.

There was such a thing as the average intelligence of a race.

No matter how smart one was, it was nearly impossible to vastly surpass the limits of one’s race.

The intelligence of the orcs Briel knew was far lower than that of humans or elves.

No matter how smart an orc was, it was difficult for one to be smarter than humans or elves. Their instincts were too strong, making logical thinking almost impossible.

It might be different for the Orc Great Chieftain or the priest Zeon had faced, but other orcs could not think like humans.

Yet Chuangka possessed enough mental ability to grasp the situation just by seeing Zeon’s group.

Chuangka was neither an Orc Great Chieftain nor a priest.

He was merely an ordinary old orc.

That was why Zeon and Briel found it strange.

Chuangka pointed his bone spear at Zeon and shouted,

“Chwit! I will never forgive you. Everything that happens from now on is your fault.”

“He even knows how to shift blame like humans......”

“Grrr! Kill them all!”

Unable to suppress his rage any longer, Chuangka gave the orcs an order.

“Kuiit!”

“Die!”

The orcs charged at the Dark Elf warriors, swinging their axes.

Floa cut down the orcs and charged at Chuangka.

“You are mine.”

“Chwit! That is my line.”

THUD!

Chuangka struck the ground with his bone spear.

At that moment, a bright light burst from the bone spear and swallowed the area.

“Krrk!”

“Power is overflowing.”

The orcs touched by the light grew larger, and their strength increased several times over.

By contrast, Floa and the Dark Elves exposed to the light felt their bodies grow heavy, like sponges soaked with water.

“Kuh! Damn it......”

“What is this?”

Naturally, the weakened Dark Elves could not withstand the attacks of the orcs, who had grown several times stronger.

CLANG!

CRASH!

“Argh!”

“Kuh!”

Under the orcs’ merciless offensive, the Dark Elves screamed and collapsed.

Floa was the same.

She could not unleash Aura Blade, which could be called her symbol.

Crunch!

Chuangka seized the helpless Floa by the neck with one hand, his eyes bulging.

“Do you think I carved brands into you because I was afraid of you? Do not be mistaken, black elf! The likes of you are no match for me.”

“Kgh!”

“If you are a tool, then act like one and obey. I’ll carve a brand that will never vanish, so you can never rebel again.”

Chuangka tried to carve a brand into Floa’s neck with the spike attached to the handle of his bone spear. But Zeon made his intention fail.

Crack!

The Sand Blaster Zeon fired deflected Chuangka’s bone spear.

Chuangka looked for Zeon, who had interrupted his act.

“How dare you!”

“How dare I what?”

“......”

Chuangka’s eyes widened.

It was because Zeon’s face was right in front of his nose.

At a distance close enough for them to feel each other’s breath, Zeon was staring straight at Chuangka.

The moment he saw Zeon’s cold, sunken eyes, Chuangka felt overwhelming fear.

“Y-you......”

BANG!

The moment Chuangka tried to say something, Zeon’s fist slammed into his abdomen.

Chuangka could not even scream and flew dozens of meters backward, crashing into the ground.

“Captain!”

“Krrgh?”

The orcs nearby were startled and charged at Zeon. But Levin moved far faster than them.

Levin quickly blocked Zeon’s front and unleashed Purple Lightning.

There were no Dark Elves for the orcs to use as meat shields, so Levin released lightning at maximum output without hesitation.

The purple lightning spread out from the orc at the front, electrocuting all the nearby orcs.

“Kueek!”

“S-save......”

The orcs screamed miserably.

Along with the smell of burning meat, the orcs were charred black.

It was truly terrifying power.

Just like that, Levin took down countless orcs.

“Graaaah!”

At that moment, Chuangka, who had been slammed into the ground by Zeon, rose with a monstrous roar.

His eyes turned red when he saw his kin turned into black charcoal.

“How dare you kill my subordinates. I will never forgive you.”

Black energy burst from Chuangka’s bone spear.

At that moment, the Dark Elves screamed and collapsed.

“Aaagh!”

“Save me!”

The brands carved into the Dark Elves’ necks were resonating with the black energy.

Most of the elves rolled across the ground in agony from a pain like having their bones scraped away.

The only ones unharmed were Floa and the Dark Elf warriors.

Chuangka burst into a mad laugh.

“Khuhuhu! If it has come to this, let us all fall into hell together.”

At that moment, Zeon’s cold voice rang out.

“Damned orcs. You can die alone, but you always have to drag others down with you in the most pathetic way.”

BANG!

Sand Viper struck Chuangka’s head.