The Tyrant’s Pride
The number of orc players was around fifty.
Thirteen died instantly to the opening Solar Explosion.
Another twelve were so badly wounded they could barely continue fighting.
Before they even reached the hill, I had already neutralized half of them.
“Only managed to cut their numbers in half? Typical muscle-brained idiots whose only redeeming quality is a tough body.”
Earth Dragon Out of Water is spinning rapidly around you.
Because the stone dragon’s charge was so fast, I couldn’t control anything beyond basic movement.
Even so, the remaining orc horde couldn’t slip past the spinning dragon to reach me.
“Have to time this right.”
“One, two.”
On three, the orcs leaped in from every direction.
With a loud crash, they were sent flying right back the way they came.
The moment they jumped, I poured a massive amount of ki into the dragon, accelerating its spin and shattering their coordination.
This is going to take a full hour at this rate.
“Yeah. How boring.”
I yawned lazily, slouching back against the throne.
Thick veins bulged prominently across the orcs’ bald heads.
“Cowardly human! Are you trying to win by stalling for time?!”
One orc player, noticeably more ornately armed than the rest, roared loudly.
“Funny how the ones who cry ‘coward’ are always the ones lacking in skill. Don’t you think?”
Watch your words. That is an unbearable truth for them.
“Ah, right. I should show some consideration.”
Nyx played along with my every word. Her speech was starting to resemble mine more and more.
Her provocation game was pretty solid.
“Gurk! I, Kalmon, son of the Great War Chief, swear on my honor that I will defeat you!”
“You’re not even the war chief himself. What honor are you even talking about?”
“Grrrrrrk!”
The orc’s scalp flushed bright red.
Oh dear. He must be furious—his skin color has completely changed.
“It’s a racial trait, isn’t it?”
Demon’s Blood. A racial skill that awakens the divine power passed down from the orcs’ distant ancestors. Humans don’t have anything like that, so maybe they’re finally realizing just how disadvantaged they are inside the Tower of Babel.
“Kuaaaaaaaa!!!”
The red-skinned orc let out a tremendous roar.
The thunderous cry echoed across the entire hill, and his fellow orcs answered in kind.
“So being the war chief’s son wasn’t just empty talk.”
Why do you say that?
“Even the orcs who haven’t activated Demon’s Blood are receiving the buff effect.”
The orc race’s unique skill was a classic high-risk, high-reward ability. It explosively boosted physical stats by drawing out latent potential, but at the cost of stamina. Using it also left permanent aftereffects on the body.
In the Crok dimension, it was common to consume various shamanic rituals and medicinal herbs beforehand to minimize those side effects.
Then why does that one look like he skipped all the preparations?
“Because it’s the Tower. There are no aftereffects if you stay within the mission parameters.”
Thanks to being able to use Demon’s Blood without penalty, the orc race had maintained a surprisingly high ranking among mortal species inside the Tower of Babel.
“Kraaaaaaaa!”
The orc whose stats had been amplified by Demon’s Blood charged fearlessly. Several others followed right behind him.
Boom! Boom-boom! The stone dragon slammed into them one after another, but the orcs refused to flinch. They kept rushing forward and clung to the dragon’s rocky body.
Even with more ki poured in, the dragon grew powerless against the orcs’ raw strength. Since I had used the Blessing of the Earth Mother Goddess to force its forward-charging nature into a spinning motion, its power had naturally decreased.
Still, it was worth it if it kept their feet tied up a little longer.
“Kuaaaaaaaa!!!”
The Demon’s Blood-activated orc stood at the front of the pack, radiating murderous intent. Crimson light flickered deep within his pupils. If a glare alone could kill, it looked like he would have torn me apart hundreds of times over.
“I just had a pretty good idea.”
Hmm? Why are you making such a wicked face?
“I’m going to crush their pride.”
Earth’s dimension still carried a deep fear of orcs. The shock from the first Diamond promotion match had been that severe.
Although players had pushed past the sixtieth floor and gradually shaken off some of that fear toward other races, at this point in time they still hadn’t completely overcome the trauma from that Diamond promotion battle.
“If I record this mission and spread the footage, it should dilute that fear a bit.”
Void Mirror activated.
Crack. Crunch.
I began transforming by projecting the devoured essences onto my body. A massive shadow spread across the hill.
“Kaaaaaaaaooooo!!!”
With the essences of the primordial species—Tyrannosaurus—and an orc applied simultaneously, I opened my jaws wide and roared at the top of my lungs.
* * *
Kalmon, the thirty-fifth son of the Great War Chief.
Among the countless orcs born of that illustrious bloodline, Kalmon had always been special.
A naturally robust physique. Innate courage. Battle sense comparable to a veteran who had survived countless wars.
Despite ranking fairly low in the line of succession, many believed he might one day inherit the glorious name of the Great War Chief.
That very Kalmon froze the instant he saw the shadow cast over the hill.
Instinctive terror rooted his legs in place. His forearms trembled faintly.
I’m… afraid? Me? The one said to resemble the Great War Chief the most?!
Kalmon belatedly understood the emotion that had seized him.
The Tyrannosaurus, Earth’s ancient apex predator, combined with the power of an orc. Using the Void Mirror to manifest both essences at once had caused their presences to merge and trigger this phenomenon.
Kalmon couldn’t identify the exact cause, but he clearly realized that the feeling binding his movements was fear.
Grrrrk!
Pure rage flared brighter in his glowing eyes.
“I am the descendant of the Great War Chief! I will never feel fear toward an enemy!”
With a powerful cry drawn from the depths of his belly, he shook off the fear that had momentarily gripped him.
The son of the orc war chief. Fear was not permitted for Kalmon.
“Human—no, monster! I will hunt you down! Come down here at once!”
“Hey, didn’t I say I wasn’t getting off the throne? You already forgot? As expected, orcs really do have muscles for brains.”
“How dare you insult a true warrior!!”
Kalmon channeled even my provocations into rage, raising his latent power to the limit.
The stronger the user’s emotions, the greater the power and magic Demon’s Blood granted.
Leap Attack
Origin Force
Shamanism – Call of Karian
Super Enhancement – Demon’s Axe
Kalmon leaped dozens of meters into the air, activating two martial techniques at once. At the same time, he bestowed the power of the great orc ancestor Karian upon his body, locking his accuracy at 100%. He also used a technique only available while Demon’s Blood was active to amplify the axe’s destructive power.
The axe wrapped in crimson energy carried enough force to pulverize not only the hill where the throne stood, but the entire surrounding mountain slope into dust.
Kalmon, soaring high before plummeting, looked like a crimson comet.
“Gurk. As expected of the war chief’s descendant.”
“Gurk, using so many advanced techniques while maintaining Demon’s Blood!”
“Gurk. Charge after the war chief’s heir!”
The orc players quickly regained their morale.
Demon’s Blood had the penalty of making complex techniques difficult due to overwhelming rage. Yet Kalmon had overlapped two martial skills and raised Demon’s Blood to its maximum. It was proof of his talent, tenacity, and outstanding intellect.
Shwaaaaaak!
The moment the crimson comet descended toward Jinho’s head—
“Thanks for walking right into my mouth.”
Jinho opened his jaws wide and bit down on Kalmon.
Crunch!
The gruesome sound of bones and muscle being crushed echoed loudly across the hill.
Whether he stacked martial techniques to increase power, or poured everything into Demon’s Blood to strengthen his assault—none of it mattered.
An overwhelming gap in specs existed between Jinho and Kalmon.
The destructive force carried by the crimson axe couldn’t even pierce the Tyrannosaurus’s greatest weapon—its razor-sharp teeth.
Crushing a disoriented Kalmon was no challenge at all.
Moreover, Jinho wasn’t the only one who had maximized his physical abilities with various enhancements.
Dark Fighting Spirit
Blessing of Greed
Metal Reflection Gauntlets
He had used the Void Mirror, which far surpassed the orc racial skill Demon’s Blood, and even turned his offensive abilities into half-buffs to devour Kalmon.
Kalmon, the descendant who had inherited nearly all of the orc war chief’s talent. A promising prodigy of the Crok dimension. He died inside Jinho’s mouth without even managing a proper struggle.
The orc players wailed at their comrade’s absurd death.
“Gurk! Lord Kalmon!!!!”
“Guruk! We must avenge Lord Kalmon!!!”
The remaining orcs swung their weapons with desperate cries. It wasn’t ferocity driving them, but a frantic struggle to escape their fear.
The orc horde’s attacks had lost all precision.
These were the same orcs who had instilled despair in Zhang Wufei, Ellen, and countless other players. The fighting spirit that had never known fear on any battlefield had been brutally broken.
Jinho finally smiled in satisfaction.
* * *
The orcs threw themselves forward with eyes full of despair.
“This should be enough for humanity to shake off the shock of defeat, right?”
Isn’t that a bit excessive? For a performance, I mean.
“You wouldn’t understand, Goddess. You don’t know how vicious these bastards are.”
It wasn’t sarcasm. It was the truth.
Orcs considered fear itself a disgrace.
Kalmon, was it?
The fact that he used Demon’s Blood right from the start had made things much easier.
Clearing the mission itself wasn’t difficult. With the geographical advantage of the hill, I could have wiped them all out instantly by converting every stat into magic power with Demonic Power and bombarding them.
You went the long way around for the sake of your own kind.
“Yeah. The great Constellations kindly set the stage for me.”
The Heavenly God expresses displeasure.
📍 The Master of the Oasis curses you, calling you a lizard that will wither and die on the sand.
…….
See? They’re absolutely loving this.
Thanks to the Constellations’ enthusiastic “support,” I trampled the remaining orc stragglers.
Even without the Void Mirror, they were enemies I could have defeated easily. Combining the Tyrannosaurus and orc essences made the fight even smoother.
Main Mission – King of the Hill cleared.
📍 You alone defended the Ice Throne. New highest record for Floor 46. Enhanced rewards will be granted.
📍 Rewards strengthened due to Constellation intervention.
Even though it was a highest record, the trophy would be duplicated. Normally it wouldn’t offer a huge reward. But since the Constellations had raised the difficulty, the payout should be worth looking forward to.
◈ Legend-grade ice catalyst.
“Oh-ho.”
A murmur of admiration escaped my lips.