Orc Riot and the Elf's Masquerade
"Kyaaah!"
It wasn't until blood sprayed right in front of them that the screams erupted from the audience. The slave auction house plunged into pandemonium in an instant. The orc slaves sparking the riot weren't just one or two. Over a dozen orcs owned by Mandren Trading Company burst into frenzy all at once. They charged out from behind the blackout curtains like maddened bulls, attacking people indiscriminately.
What the fuck... what kind of bullshit situation is this? Those things are orcs?
Minwoo was utterly baffled. He'd been waiting for the elf slave to appear, only for these bizarre monsters he'd never seen before to come bursting out. At first, he thought it might be some stunt to cover for the auctioneer skipping the elf slave. But then the auctioneer got killed right in front of him. No way this was some organized prank by the hosts.
Minwoo didn't panic much. He had his glow stick, and the protective ring from Ernate. Plus, ever since turning demonic, his physical specs had skyrocketed, making him safe from most threats.
"We need to get out of here fast. Follow m—huh...?"
He turned to speak to the beauty beside him, only to shut his mouth. Chloe was already gone. He'd lost her in the moment his attention flicked to the orcs.
"Goddammit..."
It had been ages since Minwoo felt this pissed. He pulled the glow stick from his pocket. He wanted to freeze every last orc and bash them one by one.
"Hm? That's..."
Right before pressing the button, Minwoo spotted a familiar robe hem vanishing between the blackout curtains. If he wasn't mistaken, it was Chloe.
...Why the hell is she going in there?
Not knowing Chloe's identity or motives yet, Minwoo followed her behind the curtains anyway. A few red-eyed orcs lunged at him along the way, but he handled them easily with quick flashes of the glow stick.
...
My kin...
Chloe ignored the orc riot, probing deeper behind the curtains. She effortlessly subdued any that charged her with agile movements. She was an exceptional mage and a warrior.
That...
Her eyes caught long iron bars lining one wall from end to end. The cells inside were sectioned off at intervals, mostly empty, but noises came from the deepest one. Chloe approached. The door hung open.
Inside, a single orc pinned a woman down, crudely thrusting his hips. He was raping her.
Chloe snuck up silently and stabbed her dagger into the orc's back—right where the heart sat.
"Grurk..."
The orc's bloodshot eyes bulged, foam bubbling from his mouth as he collapsed dead.
Chloe shoved the corpse aside and checked the woman beneath.
"..."
Too late. She was already gone. Delicate features, pointed ears. Her face wasn't just pale—it was ashen, empty eyes staring into nothing.
An elf.
...Or so a normal human might think.
Toyin tribe, huh.
Elves could spot their own kind easily, so Chloe knew at a glance she wasn't one. But to human eyes, she'd pass for an elf. They'd lopped off the Toyin ears and fitted illusion-enchanted artifacts to mimic fake pointed ones. Crude magic—anyone with real magical knowledge could see through it. But ordinary folk? No chance. No one alive had even seen a real elf anyway. No baseline for comparison.
...Time to go.
Truth confirmed, no reason to stick around. Chloe closed the Toyin woman's eyes, left her there, and slipped out of the cell.
Just then, Minwoo entered from the curtains and spotted her.
"Hey! It's dangerous—why aren't you evacuating and heading deeper in like... huh?"
Mid-sentence, Minwoo stopped, tilting his head at Chloe.
"Elf?"
Chloe shook her head at his words.
"...That woman isn't an elf. Just a Toyin with her ears cut off."
But Minwoo's follow-up carried a different meaning than she'd expected.
"No, not her. You. You look like an elf."
"!"
...
The chaos had knocked Chloe's hood loose, exposing her pointed ears to Minwoo. He'd never seen a real elf, but her sculpted beauty and those ears screamed "elf" to him.
Chloe panicked inwardly but feigned calm.
"...No idea what you're talking about. I'm just a normal human."
Minwoo still looked dubious.
"Hmm... Your ears look pretty unique for a human, though... Well, I've never seen a real elf myself, so maybe I'm off..."
"..!"
Only then did Chloe realize her illusion magic wasn't working on him. Looks could be chalked up to taste, but pointing out her ears? That was blatant.
"..."
Chloe's vibe shifted hard. From cool detachment to raw, murderous intent—even Minwoo felt it.
As she glared daggers, he gave an awkward grin.
"E-easy now... Let's just get outta here first..."
No sooner had he said it than orcs burst through the curtains.
"Kwaaak..!!"
"Weird... I heard orcs in this world aren't monsters, just people with personalities...?"
Minwoo muttered to himself. Chloe slipped behind him, locking his neck in her arm—not as a shield, but...
"Kek..!?"
"-- ---- --."
Restraining him, she chanted a spell. Her ring glowed. Both vanished.
The remaining orcs just blinked at each other dumbly.
...
Chloe's teleport dropped them in her inn room in the capital.
"Kuh..!"
She slammed Minwoo face-down, straddling and pinning his arms. She could've used binding magic, but remembered her illusion failing on him.
Minwoo flashed back to first meeting Aisha—same position. But one difference: he hadn't hypnotized Chloe yet.
Her voice came from behind.
"...What the hell are you? Unless you want your arms broken..."
Even the threats are just like Aisha's.
Minwoo stayed cool.
"If you wanna know who I am, search my pockets."
"..."
Chloe hesitated, then carefully rummaged.
Bzzz!
Touching the glow stick, she crumpled unconscious.
"What a pain-in-the-ass woman."
Minwoo rubbed his freed arms.
"Tch. No choice, but absorbing her mana means waiting for her to wake up."
Can't hypnotize the unconscious. Fun like with Ernate's sleep play, but too vanilla for his tastes. Better to profile her first for maximum enjoyment. For now, a light "inspection" would do.
"Still..."
Laying her on the bed, Minwoo frowned.
"Why's it so noisy outside?"
...
The empire faced its first nationwide uprising since founding.
"The orcs have gone berserk!"
The orc slave revolt hit without warning—not just the capital, but everywhere simultaneously. Even Imperial Town, with ironclad defenses and near-perfect security, struggled to quell it. Other regions fared worse. Commercial hubs and farmlands reliant on orc labor took the heaviest hits. Some requested reinforcements from major cities or the capital, as garrisons alone couldn't cope.
The empire pieced together the cause after news from the remote village of Roswell.
Roswell had been invaded by orcs. Unlike the mindless slave rioters, these moved with organization—vagabond orcs numbering thousands already. Sightings of demons too.
Then it clicked. Past incidents matched: not orcs back then, but same red eyes, frenzied behavior.
It was the unique power of Nerka, the orc ascended to Wrath Seat in the Demon King's army.
Infused with demonic blood, Nerka had berserked every orc slave in the empire. No other way to weaponize those bred for chains.
And it was the Demon King's declaration of war.
Soon, the empire officially proclaimed the Demon King's revival.
The heroes' paths shifted accordingly.