The Mad Chieftain's Wrath

"-Chwik! Everyone, watch out!"

"-Chwiik! This bastard is trying to summon a demon! Prepare to attack!"

At Monroso's appearance, the Orc chieftains shouted in extreme tension. He looked like he was about to unleash something truly terrifying!

Tatatat—

"Uh, huh?"

And the one who emerged from the Great Chieftain's tent was Cain.

"..."

-...

-...

Cain, who had received the demon's blood.

When Cain collapsed, Monroso had left him in another tent. The higher a warrior's level, the more effective they would be when turned into an undead.

However, Cain had not been forced to log out.

"I-I survived!" Cain cried out in joy.

Usually, he complained constantly about his class name, but right now, he was incredibly grateful.

As expected, even if you're a slave, being the slave of a high-ranking master makes all the difference!

Cain let out a sigh of relief and checked his status window.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

'Huh?? Huh???'

Cain blinked. There were things he had never seen before in his race and additional stats.

'Wait, my hands look weird too. Why are they black?'

Cain checked his appearance again.

"What is this?!"

His entire body had turned a dark, purplish-red color, as if he were cursed!

Cain muttered in panic.

"Can I undo this? Wait. Come to think of it, the Archisus Church is technically a religious order, so they might be able to lift a curse like this... No, wait. The Archisus Church might be a stretch."

After a brief moment of hope, Cain realistically assessed the situation.

Any other church might have helped, but the Archisus Church was notoriously untrustworthy.

What a sharp, realistic assessment!

Thud, thud—

"...?!"

Hearing footsteps approaching from a distance, Cain moved quickly. If they found out he was alive and well, there was no telling what they would do to him.

A true hero is not bound by blood...

"..."

Cain slipped behind the tent with a complicated expression.

'Isn't blocking other class changes cheating?'

Cain had no idea that Tae-hyun had once had the exact same thought.

Cain decided to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠think about it after escaping. But there were too many Orcs everywhere.

Tae-hyun, with his expert disguises and high-level Speech skill, would have strolled through this place like it was his own living room.

But for Cain, that was impossible.

'Damn it. I should have learned a stealth skill...'

As a tank, Cain didn't have any stealth skills.

'Ah! There's an Orc here too?!'

'No way! Here too?!'

Cornered, Cain desperately ducked into the nearest tent.

'Please be empty! Please be empty!'

Grrrr...

"...!"

But the tent was not empty.

A massive Orc, who looked strangely familiar, was lying down inside, fast asleep.

"Whew. He's asleep. I'll have to hold out here for now. When is Kim Tae-hyun coming..."

Cain didn't pay much attention to the Orc's familiar face.

Nor did he care that the Orc's skin was a dark, purplish-red color just like his.

For now, he just needed to hide!

With that thought, Cain prostrated himself flat on the ground.

As he waited, strange noises echoed from outside.

The sound of the Orc army approaching, the sound of arguing... and then, from nearby, Monroso's voice rang out.

"-Try and kill me if you can! Come forth, my slaves! Your master is in danger!"

"-Krahhhhh!"

"?!?!"

Cain jumped in shock as the Orc sleeping behind him bolted upright.

"No, wait. I didn't come in here on purpose..."

Cain tried to make an excuse, but the Orc wasn't listening.

Thud!

The Orc charged forward. Cain dodged in terror.

The Orc charged again. Cain, dodging frantically, was pushed back.

'Ah, whatever!'

It was impossible to keep dodging here. Cain decided to bolt out of the tent.

Flap!

"-Wh-where did the Great Chieftain go?"

Losing all the dignity he had shown just moments ago, Monroso spoke in utter bewilderment.

Why did some random guy come out of the tent where the Great Chieftain was supposed to be?

"-Chwik! The G-Great Chieftain has turned into a human!"

"-Chwiiik! That bastard Monroso...!"

"No, you idiots."

The Orc chieftains were thrown into chaos. Tae-hyun calmed them down.

Though he looked bizarrely changed, that was definitely Cain.

'Why is he doing that over there?'

"That guy is another one of Monroso's minions! He was tricked by Monroso!"

"-Chwik! I see!"

Crash!

"Argh!"

Immediately after, the Great Chieftain came charging out of the tent behind him. This time, Cain couldn't dodge and was sent flying.

"Who the hell is this guy?!"

"You don't recognize him?"

"Who is he?"

"He's the Great Chieftain."

"..."

At Tae-hyun's words, Cain's face turned pale.

'No wonder he seemed to hate me so much...!'

"-Krahhhhhhh!"

'Before he went mad, Orc Great Chieftain Karag's estimated level was roughly 300 or higher, right? But now that he's consumed demon blood and grown even stronger...'

Currently, the highest-level rankers among the players were barely level 200.

Even that was considered an incredible achievement. Other rankers were struggling as they entered the late level 100s because the required experience points had skyrocketed.

Tae-hyun, of course... went without saying...

In any case, looking at the players' current level, Great Chieftain Karag was an unbeatable boss monster.

Normally, players would wait until they grew stronger before challenging such a boss...

But Tae-hyun didn't do "normally."

'If I lack power, I can just borrow it from somewhere else!'

"Everyone, attack! We must free the Great Chieftain from the demon blood!"

"-Chwik! The Great Chieftain?! How could we do such a thing!"

"Leaving him like this is the true disloyalty! Look at him! Look at how much pain he's in!"

"-Krahhh! You... enemy!"

"-...?

"-...??"

When the Great Chieftain roared "Enemy!", the chieftains were bewildered. What did he mean?

"He's calling Monroso his enemy! Look! We have to save him!"

"-...Chwik! Understood! Attack!"

"-Chwiik. Summon the Orc Royal Guard! We need their help!"

"-Krahhhhhhh!"

Rumble!

Bellow was a basic skill that any Orc could use. It was a simple skill that cleared minor status ailments and boosted morale.

But when Karag used it, the ground shook, and a bizarre phenomenon occurred where the surrounding tents were blown away.

"Holy crap..."

"What did you eat to end up like that?"

"I told you, that bastard Monroso forced me to drink it! Can we cure this? Can we?!"

"I don't know, man. Just look ahead if you don't want to die."

"Uh... that..."

Cain shut his mouth. Karag was alone, but he was completely overwhelming every Orc present.

"-Krah! Krahhh! Krahhhhh!"

Tae-hyun resisted the fear through his title, and Cain resisted it through his class trait, but the other Orcs weren't so lucky.

The Orcs standing behind the chieftains collapsed to the ground in terror. It made their earlier rage, which had multiplied their stats, feel like a lie!

Whoosh— Crash!

"Isn't that a basic skill?!"

With just a single strike to the ground, a shockwave spread, shattering everything in the vicinity with monstrous strength! Cain was horrified. Could they really beat this guy?

"Wow. You killed the son of a monster like that?"

"Is this really the time to bring that up?!"

"Just kidding. More importantly, Saruon needs to get here fast..."

"...?"

Tae-hyun had no intention of defeating Great Chieftain Karag with just this force. It seemed highly unlikely anyway. He just needed to buy time.

Once Saruon arrived, Karag would be freed from Monroso's control.

"-Come forth, my slaves!"

"-Chwik! That wicked warlock!"

In the meantime, Monroso summoned the other Orc chieftains.

Seeing the other chieftains turned dark red, the remaining Orc chieftains raged.

"-Chwiik! What is the Orc Royal Guard doing! Hurry up!"

"-Hahaha! You filthy Orc insects. If you had just obediently listened to me, you would have saved your lives. Your arrogance will be your doom!"

Monroso's forces numbered only a few. Yet, it was Monroso who completely dominated the atmosphere of this innermost sanctuary.

Monroso pointed a finger at Tae-hyun.

"-And you! You absolute degenerate of the Magic Tower!"

"Haha. It seems there's been some misunderstanding."

"-Shut up! I will tear you apart with my own hands! Behold this power!"

Crack!

Monroso swung his fist with his mutated body. It was a powerful force, completely unbefitting of a mage.

"Battle mages have always been trash classes. It was like that since Pan-On 1!"

"-Ugh!"

While the Orc chieftains fought the Great Chieftain—or rather, got beaten to a pulp by him—Tae-hyun had to dodge Monroso's attacks.

Ever since his body mutated, Monroso had been rushing him with physical attacks instead of casting spells. Honestly, this was much easier for Tae-hyun. Attacking with raw physical force without even using skills!

'Is it because he just transformed?'

Parrying and redirecting the opponent's attack, finding the right moment to counterattack, and detonating the critical stacks!

It was impossible to tell how much HP Monroso had. Even after landing all these attacks, Monroso seemed perfectly fine, suggesting Tae-hyun hadn't even shaved off 5% of his health.

But Tae-hyun remained unfazed. In fights like this, the one who panicked first lost.

'If he won't die, I'll just keep hitting him until he does!'

"-Hmph! Foolish bastard. Your life ends the moment Karag finishes tearing those other Orcs apart."

Both Tae-hyun and Monroso believed that time was on their side.

In reality, Karag was completely overwhelming the Orc chieftains. One of the Orc chieftains was struck by Karag and sent flying into the sky.

"-Chwiiiiiiiiik!"

"-Chwik! Great Chieftain! Please snap out of it!"

"-Krah! Krahhh!"

"Hey, you idiots! Do you really think he's going to listen to you?! Attack him! Attack!"

Cain shouted in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠frustration. They should be pouring every ounce of their strength into attacking him, yet they were still trying to reason with the Great Chieftain!

"-Grrrr..."

"Huh?"

At Cain's shout, the Great Chieftain's gaze strangely shifted toward him. For some reason, he was glaring intensely at Cain!

"Uh, no, I mean, it's not like I wanted to get your attention... I was just frustrated..."

"-Krahhhhhhh!"

"Aaaargh!"

Karag stopped attacking the Orc chieftains. Instead, he began targeting Cain. A mindless, brutal skill where he grabbed whatever was nearby and swung it to smash Cain!

"Hey! Save me! Save me!"

"-Chwik! Great Chieftain!"

"I'm in way more danger than your Great Chieftain, you stupid Orcs!!"

Cain cried out in tears.