Chapter 88
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: A Routine Mission
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"Gather together!"
Jun was by far the quickest to react during the abnormality.
The ones who responded to his voice next were his comrades and Schneider.
"Hurry and gather here!"
The two assistants rushed over late, and the prisoners quickly grasped the situation and assembled.
"Don't mess around—huddle up in one spot."
Leon took control of the prisoners.
"Mage, what's going on?"
"Someone woke something in this temple that should have stayed asleep. Probably..."
"That bat bastard."
"Oh, Bright! What on earth have you done?!"
Both Leon and Schneider immediately thought of the two missing men.
Jun knew exactly what this phenomenon signified.
Whoooosh—!!
As the light bursting from inside the temple grew increasingly intense, Jun shouted to Eleanor.
"Eleanor! Barrier!"
Block of Light
A sacred golden light rose up, enveloping the group and severing contact with the outside.
Not stopping there, Jun invoked another spell.
Iron Rampart
Steel walls erupted from the ground, encircling the group.
For the moment, their immediate safety was secured.
Almost simultaneously, a colorless energy swept through the temple's interior from the walls.
Eleanor's sacred golden barrier forcefully repelled the colorless energy.
Some of it tried to pierce through her holy magic and invade, but it was blocked by Jun's walls and dissipated into the air.
"L-Look here, Jun. You don't mean..."
"...Orc Lord Hargone. He's awakened."
Orc Lord Hargone.
His other name and epithet was the Conqueror King.
True to that title, he was the hero of the orcs who, in ancient times, ignited countless wars and conquered vast lands.
Yet in the process, he became entangled with an outer god and was said to have been forcibly dragged into the underworld—a tragic hero.
'Tragic from the orcs' perspective, anyway.'
In the game, he appeared in the mid-to-late stages.
Due to machinations by the Heavenly Demon Cult, on the war plains of Orcutas, the fourth stratum.
The problem was his power.
Upon returning from the underworld, he drew in all nearby souls and devoured them greedily.
Thanks to Jun's prior knowledge and preparations, they avoided being wiped out from the start.
Jun gazed at the night sky where a blue full moon hung.
Pitiable? Or karmic retribution?
Having devoured two souls, the Orc Lord's spirit exited the grand temple.
Probably off to find a body to possess.
The immediate threat was over.
But that didn't mean they could relax.
"Oh... Bright. Why did you do such a thing..."
"Tch."
After the incident had passed,
the group entered the temple interior to survey what had happened.
There lay two withered corpses.
All nutrients drained from their bodies, leaving only skeletal frames wrapped in skin.
They were Schneider's assistant Bright and the mustachioed prisoner.
"They died after Hargone stripped them of all their energy."
"Haa..."
Schneider gazed at his assistant with grief-stricken eyes.
"Why were you so hasty..."
The two corpses lay facing the entrance, as if they'd failed to escape the stone chamber.
Apparently, that mustachioed prisoner had possessed the rare [Ancient Tongue] skill.
'While others struggled, he figured he'd stick by the client and suck up the honey.'
Jun turned back to the stone tablet.
'Unfortunate or fortunate?'
It differed from the game's hidden stage.
Or more precisely...
'In the game, you only encountered it mid-hidden stage, never right from the start.'
So, as long as they stayed sharp, this crisis was surmountable.
Jun turned to Schneider again.
He'd heard the man had been his assistant for ten years.
Yet Schneider was a seasoned scholar.
In other words, accustomed to death.
When he closed and reopened his eyes, no trace of sorrow remained on his face.
"Jun. What do you make of the situation?"
"According to the writing on that tablet... the Orc Lord has gone to find a body to possess."
"And after that?"
"He'll pursue two goals. First, locate the five mediums that brought him from the underworld."
All as inscribed on the tablet.
"Mediums. Why does he seek them?"
"The closer he is to them, the more of his true power he regains. And if they're destroyed, he'll be dragged back to the underworld."
"I see. Any other issues?"
"He'll revive those mediums."
"You don't mean..."
"The Orc Lord's five generals. Their corpses serve as the possession mediums."
This was the difference between game and reality.
In the game, you faced him after he'd reclaimed at least three mediums. Here, he hadn't found a single one yet.
But whether that favored the group?
'Of course not.'
Hidden stage.
Known among players as 'hard mode.'
The field itself had already begun changing.
Jun listened to the distant orc roars.
"What's that noise?"
"The orcs have awakened with the Orc Lord's revival."
"...Was that on the tablet too?"
There was no explicit phrase about awakening the orcs.
Instead.
"'On the day he returns, the long orc wars will end, and they shall reclaim what was lost.'"
"Reclaim what..."
"It means they'll gain strength rivaling the orcs from the upper strata."
Not quite that level, actually.
Upper-stratum orcs were systematically trained; these were just rousing dormant instincts.
'Still, saying this much will keep them tense.'
Not for Schneider's benefit.
Jun glanced back.
At the prisoners tilting their heads in confusion.
"S-Something's gone wrong. Can't we just run?"
One prisoner suggested, but sadly, no.
"The stratum gate's sealed."
"W-What? What does that mean?"
The prisoner panicked, but Jun didn't answer.
It wasn't on the tablet.
Fortunately, Schneider focused on next steps rather than questions.
"So, what must we do now?"
"Two options: kill the possessed orc or destroy the mediums."
"Feasible?"
"Killing him—no. Destroying mediums—yes."
Not at full power, but the Orc Lord was beyond anyone here.
Even 6th-level pioneer captain Leon would struggle to land a solid hit.
"First, we move."
"The orcs?"
"Yes. The runaway masters are returning home."
Looking outside, dozens of orcs approached.
Red energy flickered in their eyes uniformly.
The orcs' signature 'berserk' state.
That was their awakened instinct.
"Hoo... I'll join in."
He hadn't fought personally for his assistant's research, but Schneider was a 6th-level warrior himself.
He drew a gauntlet etched with strange runes from his bag.
"How shall we proceed?"
"Break through first."
Schneider took the front, the group following.
Priority one: punch through the dozens of advancing orcs and exit the grand temple.
"...Is this a routine mission? Ten of these and we're dead."
"Talk about a proper hazing..."
"Ahahaha."
Jun ignored his comrades' voices from behind.
'I'm the most wronged here...'
He lacked the guts to say it aloud.
Schneider.
A 6th-level scholar who could temporarily join as a companion depending on missions in the game.
That was why Jun viewed the situation optimistically.
'Not easy to find 6th-level users in the fourth stratum.'
Coincidentally, there were two here.
"How do you want to handle this?"
"I'll go first. You watch the prisoners, right?"
"...Understood."
Leon stepped back slightly, and Schneider pulled his right arm back.
Right leg back too, lowering into stance, he gathered mana into his fist.
The mana absorbed into his gauntlet.
The orcs, spotting the group, roared.
"Orcutas Bahal—!"
"Baaahal!!"
Dozens of orcs, bulkier than before, charged at once.
Against prisoners alone, they'd lose half.
But Schneider, facing them, focused silently on his fist.
At the limit, he thrust forward.
"Fall back behind me."
Schneider murmured lowly, unleashing a straight punch.
From the fist's end—clearly swung at empty air—energy exploded.
Kwaaaaang—!
Like firing a cannon, a dust storm erupted behind Schneider, blinding the group.
But no one missed what happened.
"F-Fucking insane..."
The energy wave from the gauntlet swept the orcs away.
Not just flung—they disintegrated mid-air.
From Schneider, a fan-shaped blast obliterated everything ahead.
As the group gaped at the magic-like sight,
"Ngh...!"
Schneider groaned, dropping his right arm limply.
"Schneider!"
The two assistants rushed to him.
"I'm fine. It'll heal. Move out now."
More orc roars echoed from afar.
Plenty left nearby.
"Head northeast first."
Jun led, the group following without rest.
"Do you see the markings here?"
Jun pointed to the neatly drawn map, prompting Schneider.
"What's this?"
"A map from Assistant Bright's possession. Here and here. See?"
"...Our discovered hieroglyphs."
"Yes. It's a map decoded from those. Left by Bright."
"Mm..."
Sadness flickered on Schneider's face, but he composed himself.
No time to mourn one when others' lives hung in balance.
"I see... Those hieroglyphs depicted figures. Meaning the five mediums... the Lord's five generals."
"Yes. Our current position: near the grand temple."
"We said northwest?"
"Correct."
"Odd, though. Distance-wise, straight north then east hits more mediums."
Jun shook his head.
"This hieroglyph northeast: Barbatta."
Mentioned on the temple tablet—the orc shaman who summoned the Orc Lord's soul.
"Shaman, huh..."
"The other four are warriors, but this one's uniquely a shaman."
"Tricky opponent."
"Yes. That's why I judge we prioritize him."
"Agreed."
"Sound logic."
The group's two 6th-levels approved Jun's plan.
They figured an orc shaman linking with the Orc Lord would complicate things immensely.
But Jun chose the shaman first for more than that.
Not time to reveal yet.
Info unlocked only after killing the shaman.
Jun continued.
"After the shaman, southwest."
"Close geographically. But the next leg's much longer?"
"Still best to handle this first. This hieroglyph..."
"Scouts... rangers, then."
Jun nodded again.
"From the Orc Lord's revival, the mediums awoke from slumber. But sealed nearby, they can't emerge. Our goal: strip his brain, eyes, and legs."
"Strategic. I approve. Why sealed, though?"
"Not sure."
Schneider, scholarly, wondered, but Jun couldn't explain everything.
"Fair. This is Blackout; exploring that's my job as scholar."
No time for leisure.
The Orc Lord was hunting mediums now.
Leon asked Jun.
"Why bother mediums first? Just hunt the Orc Lord."
"Not impossible. But it's a gamble."
If he reclaimed even one en route, current forces couldn't win.
'Unrecovered, maybe. But no risky bets.'
Reaching Orc Shaman Barbatta's direction alone took over ten days.
Jun couldn't help that.
From the fourth stratum, fields were over double the prior size.
Issue: food shortages emerging.
"Huff... huff..."
"Damn it. More orc bastards..."
"Fuck. Orc blood's etched in my brain now..."
Exhausted prisoners gripped weapons, eyeing orcs.
Malnourished, their stamina plummeted.
Bad sign.
'No stamina means even holy power can't recover it.'
Problem: no food for prisoners.
'Using sub-space pouch rations is last resort.'
Feeding twenty prisoners would deplete theirs fast.
Best: hunt for food.
"Advance."
But no way to sway the pioneer captain who enjoyed tormenting prisoners.
'They control prisoner welfare.'
Jun eyed Joseph battling orcs while guarding Luke and Lucy.
'If I can't persuade, find another angle.'
After the skirmish, Jun quietly approached Joseph.