Chapter 91
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Orc Lord Hargone (2)
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The game <Blackout> was fundamentally an RPG at its core, but if you stripped it down, it was really a mishmash of genres blended together.
Growth to push forward.
Management for the group.
Character stories.
Exploration to uncover hidden elements.
And.
'War.'
War was one of the more frequent pieces of content you could encounter in <Blackout>, more often than you'd think.
Just like what was unfolding right before his eyes now.
"Whew."
There were a lot of them.
Late at night. The orcs were setting up camp.
Confirming that, Jun spread out his map.
He recalled his current position and overlaid the memories from his 'Lee Jung-jun' days.
The Orcutas War Plains.
A field where he'd lingered for ages with his first character, the warrior class.
[Exceptional Memory] brought back the terrain his character had roamed back then.
He cleared away all stray thoughts except for the mental map.
He erased himself.
It was a familiar process.
A method he'd used to sort through overwhelming memories.
Then Jun overlaid the image of a 'Conqueror' in place of his own personality.
'If I were the Orc Lord.'
How would 'I', the Conquest King, move?
First, he'd bulk up his forces.
To do that, he'd seek out mediums and rally the orcs gathering in the fields along the way.
The Orc Lord's resilient soul made that possible.
Next?
'Food.'
Now 'his' army had surpassed five hundred strong.
Orcs' tough physiques came from their voracious appetites.
So they needed to eat a lot.
Where to get it?
'Hunting.'
And then?
Having every unit hunt and fetch water every time was inefficient.
So, create a supply unit?
'Too soon.'
Orcs lacked proper transport.
So they had to stick to minimal routes, raiding hunting grounds as they went.
'Okay.'
The optimal path took shape, and Jun moved out immediately.
Turning his back to the Orc Lord's direction, he slipped into the shadowed woods.
"Barbata. So you ended up dying after all."
Hargone stared at the hand of the body he'd seized.
For a brief moment, he felt his soul shake violently.
Barbata.
The sorcerer hailed as the Conquest King's brain, who closed his eyes before he could even unleash his power.
The loss of one medium had permanently damaged his strength.
"My lord."
"It's fine."
Hargone knew sorcery too, if not quite on Barbata's level.
Barbata had been his master, after all.
This would resolve itself with time.
"March."
But he had to admit it.
He didn't have much time.
He needed to hurry and find the next medium.
The epithet 'Conquest King' hadn't come from brute strength alone.
He planned meticulously, tolerating not even the slightest variable.
Think slowly, deliberate briefly, act swiftly.
Hargone placed his hand on the food his subordinates had brought.
A spread packed with all sorts of fruits and meats.
This frail body needed to eat plenty and grow to accept his power.
The moment he bit into a piece of meat.
"Ptooey."
He spat it out immediately.
His instincts screamed.
Don't eat this.
"Poison?"
Who?
That thought hit first.
It wasn't potent enough to overwhelm this weakened body.
Eating it would've just caused some stomach upset.
So he took a sip of water to rinse his mouth.
"Ptui."
Instinct struck again.
He spat it out at once.
This one wouldn't end with stomachache. Drinking it probably would've meant half a day of headaches.
Hargone rose and scanned the outside.
He saw one in five orcs clutching their stomachs or heads.
The thought flashed: hit simultaneously.
Hargone's eyes twisted in fury.
Over the week, Jun had prepped several traps along the calculated route.
One was poison. A chance for [Herbalism] and [Potion Brewing] to shine after ages.
He'd laced the lake where they'd resupply water.
And sprinkled it on goblins and beasts too.
Not lethal stuff.
If it killed outright, the orcs would've sniffed it out and avoided it.
"Still, the effect's weaker than I hoped."
The water-diluted poison had spread decently, but orcs weren't idiots.
'Boil the water, roast the meat.'
Jun had targeted the raw-eaters.
'Fewer than I thought, huh.'
Still, by eye, about one in five orcs was complaining of pain.
'Alright, what now?'
Jun imagined the Orc Lord's mindset.
Complicated thoughts.
Worries about attackers targeting mediums, about moving to find them, about routes and supplies tied to it.
But his options were limited in the end.
Jun was forcing those choices on him.
'Too hasty.'
That was Hargone's first thought upon detecting the poison.
Hargone moved according to thorough plans befitting the Conquest King. Denying variables any foothold was one of his strengths.
But the moment he stepped outside, variables already existed.
Overlooking that was the biggest issue.
The humans from the grand temple had blocked him with unknown power, making him feel the urgent need for strength.
'That's why I tried building an army first.'
Heading east was triggered by that. Half Moon and Dakuda formed the army's backbone among the five generals.
'Wrong. Should've gone north. Moved with Barbata and Bortan there.'
Those two lacked combat prowess but excelled at blocking variables.
They could've prepared for a situation like this.
Bortan especially.
His orc rider unit, swift on their feet, would've reacted fast to such variables.
But regret was always too late, no matter how quick, and Hargone didn't dwell.
Instead, he sought a way to turn the situation.
'How many got poisoned?'
Like someone once said, Hargone imagined himself as the enemy.
The enemy force from the grand temple numbered under thirty at most.
With Barbata recently dead, most were likely north.
So the poisoners were a tiny group moving now.
'Five or fewer at best. But predicting our route to poison it? Tough.'
The sorcerer's death, traps piercing their route like they knew.
From those two clues.
'They know the generals' positions exactly. And what I want.'
Nothing else explained this.
'Key point here.'
The trappers were few in number.
Realizing that, Hargone acted at once.
He recalled Dakuda's sealed location.
Normally, two more days away.
At full speed?
'One day's enough.'
Decision made, Hargone ordered Half Moon.
"We move now."
"As you command."
From late night, the orcs stirred noisily.
Jun clicked his tongue at the Orc Lord's judgment, just like he'd seen in the game.
"Crazy bastard's abandoning the poisoned ones."
The poison hadn't slowed their march.
'Find the next medium, stabilize with spare forces.'
In the end, Jun adjusted to match.
Luckily, he had better mobility than them.
No matter how hard they ran, they were an army; he was solo.
He drew up mana, focusing it in his legs.
[Burning Step]
[Multiple Incantation]
[Grease: Modified - Sustained]
[Grease].
A 2nd-circle spell that eliminated friction in an area, turning it slippery as a trap.
Jun modified it to his taste, maintaining it precisely under his feet.
[Burning Step] propelled his body like a slide, while the sustained [Grease] underfoot erased ground friction, shattering acceleration limits.
That speed lasted until his dynamic vision gave out.
His goal: the direction of the next medium.
Just as the orcs ran day and night.
Jun had plenty to prepare there too.
Sly bastard.
Jun clicked his tongue, watching the orc legion climb the mountain.
In just one day, the guy had replenished the fifty orcs he'd abandoned.
Must've hit an orc village en route.
But showing emotion before the enemy was amateur hour.
Jun stood casually before the orc legion.
Position: midway up a rocky mountainside.
Jun looked down from above.
"Hey there?"
Ber du da!
The Orc Lord bellowed from afar, and the weary orcs climbing halted in unison.
Deruda kanta. Ber hakurada.
His past life's ancient tongue knowledge auto-translated the orc speech.
Asking if he'd come alone.
"Yeah, solo."
He raised both arms to show no one around, and [Bright Eyes] clearly captured the Orc Lord's expression.
Utter disbelief.
Block that many orcs with numbers?
Mages loved AoE, but wiping that horde at once? No way.
That'd take 7th-circle, generously 8th.
Deru da kuta.
Meet death as a warrior.
Roughly: die honorably.
"Oh dear."
Jun gazed at the Orc Lord with pity, in turn.
Warrior?
Sorry, I'm a mage.
"Apologies in advance. Might sting a bit."
And mages never fought head-on in bad spots.
Mana waves crashed over the prepped magic circle in his mind.
The visualized image: violently greedy flames.
[Flame Rage]
A spiraling blood-red fireball emerged.
"Go."
The blazing fireball drifted slowly toward the orcs, spewing dozens of flame tendrils.
Kuoooooh――!!
A roar like screams echoed off the rocky mountain.
Even engulfed in flames, they charged this way.
Unlike the undead in the Ghostly Fog Formation's Deathly Grove, they didn't drop like flies.
Rock-hard muscles blocked the flame tendrils, and berserk rage suppressed agony.
'Whew.'
Plus, mana poured out like a burst dam.
Matching the tenacious orcs' vitality, mana burned fast.
The five hundred orcs closed in on Jun in no time.
Did that spell kill thirty?
'Barely over twenty. And not a single elite warrior down.'
As expected of orcs with stubborn life force.
Hargone didn't even snort at the minor losses.
"Well, can't be helped."
Jun had foreseen as much.
He executed the next plan right away.
A crucial one.
"See ya."
Full retreat.
[Burning Step]
[Multiple Incantation]
[Grease: Modified - Sustained]
Orcs breaking through the spiraling fireball's blaze reached Jun's spot, only to stare blankly at the long trail of fiery footprints.
In a blink, Jun had widened the gap hugely. Hargone's shout reached his ears.
Kaputadua――!!!
Rough translation.
"Cursing my parents? Bit much. Not that it fazes me anyway."
An orphan was immune to that barb.