Orcs Asleep in the Forest
In the Black Forest, a short distance from Wintervalt's foremost defensive line, Karak and the thousand elite orcs of his Twin Axes Tribe stepped into the forest entrance, blades at the ready.
"Ku-ruk...! Stay sharp! Those cowardly humans might've dug traps!"
But even after trudging deep into the woods, not a single human shadow appeared. The tension gradually turned to boredom.
An orc lieutenant walking beside Karak slung his massive twin axes over his shoulder with a snicker. "No humans... not a single one. Ku-ruk! They all ran away!"
"Cowards! They're all shivering inside that blue wall!"
"Ku-ruk! Weak! Cowards...! They don't deserve good land...!"
The orcs, who had been frozen stiff, began relaxing here and there, mocking the humans.
Karak scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes, but saw nothing but dense trees.
Hmph. Cowardly human scum. This'll be a boring fight.
As Karak snorted and quickened the march, it happened.
"Ku... ruk? Chief!"
One orc at the rear of the column shouted in panic.
"Something just... moved! Over there!"
"Ku-ruk! What moved!? Humans!?"
"The tree! That tree ku-ruk...! It just looked at us and moved!"
Karak scowled in disbelief. He wasn't the sharpest himself, but he despised subordinates acting like total idiots.
"Ku-rurruk! No time for nonsense! Trees don't walk! They stay rooted in the ground!"
Karak whipped around and bellowed.
That instant—
Shiiieek!!
From the forest shadows, whip-like shadows shot out, lashing the orcs all at once.
"Ku-ek!"
"Kraaak!"
Several leading orcs took direct hits to the chest and flew backward. They didn't get up.
A sharp shadow surged toward Karak's face.
"Ku-ruk...! Don't get cocky!!"
Karak crossed his twin axes and deflected it.
Kaaang!
The clash of steel rang out as a thick vine bounced away. Karak's arms strained for the first time in a while.
"Coward! Stop hiding in the forest and show yourself! I'm Karak, chieftain of the Twin Axes Tribe!"
Karak roared at the forest, eyes bulging.
Then, eerie sounds began echoing from all directions.
Woodrrrk! Creak-groan! Kwudduk!
Karak and his thousand orcs froze, eyes darting in confusion.
The massive trees they'd carelessly passed. Dozens, hundreds of them uprooted en masse, shaking off dirt as they rose.
"Ku, ku-ruk...! Th-the trees are standing up!!"
"Chief! Ku-ruk. W-we're surrounded!! The trees are really moving!!"
The orc unit fell into total chaos at the unforeseen situation.
But Karak felt no fear. He was the chieftain of the Twin Axes Tribe, a valiant orc warrior.
He grinned instead.
"Kehhehe! Surrounded!? By those firewood sticks? Just rip 'em all apart!! Clear a path!"
"Ku-oooooh!!"
Karak's roar reignited the beastly instincts of the shaken orcs.
They charged the steel trees, swinging massive axes and maces.
Chaeng! Kaaang! Kang!
Metallic clashes echoed nonstop, turning the forest into a hellscape in moments.
As the orcs feverishly hacked away, the flowers adorning the steel trees' branches bloomed all at once.
Phushuuut!
Hundreds of blossoms spewed bright yellow pollen.
The powder blanketed the forest like thick fog in an instant.
Each breath filled their lungs with a sweet, dreamy scent.
The orcs' conditions turned strange.
Those wildly swinging axes moments ago now wandered blankly.
"Ku-ruk...? Suddenly... sleepy......"
"Eyes... closing...... Zzz......"
Thud. Boom!
Orcs dropped weapons and collapsed one by one with loud crashes.
The steel trees left the deeply sleeping, snoring orcs alone without finishing them off.
"Ku-ruk!?"
Nearly a hundred elite orcs were already down in Karak's view, mumbling in sleep.
"Get up, you idiots!! Who sleeps on the battlefield!!"
Karak raged, veins bulging, but the sleepers showed no sign of waking.
The unscathed were Karak's aura-wielding elites and the exceptionally tough orcs stuffed with monster meat.
Even they grew short of breath and heavy-lidded the longer they fought.
Having plunged thoughtlessly deep, retreat was cut off. Giant trees blocked every escape.
The orcs swung desperately amid gasps.
Wudduk. Udduk!
Then, the tree horde parted left and right, opening a path.
Through it waddled a tiny tree monster on short roots, straight to Karak.
Much smaller, but...
The overwhelming, potent mana it exuded!
It was Wintervalt's first Forest Director, Pochy.
"Kkekkeuk! Stupid pig bastards! You can't pass here! If you quietly pass out, I'll let you live!!"
Karak's face twisted in fury at the small tree's fluent human taunt.
"Ku-ruk...! Don't make me laugh! You firewood twig!!"
Karak and his fifty-odd guards exploded with red aura, regripping twin axes.
"Ku-ruk...! Chop 'em all down!!"
"Ku-ruk...! Show 'em the Twin Axes Tribe's might! Clear the pathhh!!"
The same moment.
Wintervalt Grand Castle, conference hall.
"Hahaha. Subduing those giant orcs without spilling a drop of blood."
Kailan chuckled in satisfaction at the crystal orb's screen.
The orb vividly showed orcs dusted in yellow powder, collapsing asleep one after another.
The vassals gaped in awe at the overwhelming sight.
"Truly impressive, Tower Master."
Aria, Green Tower Master standing nearby, bowed with a smug smile at Kailan's praise.
"All thanks to Your Highness. Impossible without the magic stones you provided."
The national treasure staff, Heart of Verdant, fused from Treant boss stone and King Slime fragments.
With it, Aria realized spells she'd only theorized.
One: Parasitic Germination Art—grafting her modified plants onto plant monsters as hosts.
This time, she bloomed flowers on Treants that sprinkled sleep powder.
"Planted in the Treants: rare 'Fairy Yawn Flower' from the deep Southern Hallucination Forest. Seeds I modified just in case."
Once planted, they grew on their own—efficient spell.
Aria continued. "As Your Highness instructed, sturdy vine walls layered double and triple throughout the forest. They won't escape easily."
"Overhauling that vast forest in days—splendid work."
Aria glanced enviously at Eleanor beside Kailan before replying.
"Overpraise, Your Highness. Alone, it'd take months."
Eleanor's sun magic accelerated the vines' growth.
Kailan nodded, gazing fondly at his conference-attending wife.
"Haha. Hear that? You're Wintervalt's treasure. Worried the Emperor might throw a tantrum demanding you back."
"Oh, Your Highness."
Eleanor blushed shyly, bowing her head.
"Worry not, Your Highness. I'm Wintervalt's lady. Whatever His Imperial Majesty says, my place is at your side."
Kailan stared at his wife with kiss-ready eyes, then cleared his throat at the vassals' gazes and focused on the orb.
"Right, then. Time to prepare for the next guests."
"Huff...! Huff...!!"
Karak swung his twin axes wildly amid ragged breaths.
Kwadduk! Kwaaang!
Another thick vine wall blocked the way; Karak cursed and hacked.
"Annoying...!!"
Third time already.
He'd chopped steel tree branches, shredded idiot-thick vine walls.
"Ku-ruk...! Damn firewood bastards...!!"
After smashing the third vine wall, biting northern wind slapped Karak's face.
He'd escaped the hellish Black Forest.
"Ku-ruk...! L-live... we lived...!"
"That poison powder..."
Karak and the surviving hundred orcs collapsed in the snow, gulping air till lungs burst.
The cold northern air felt sweet for the first time.
"Huff... huff..."
Catching his breath, Karak slowly turned to look back.
"......"
The Black Forest stood as if nothing happened, sealing its entrance with a wall of giant steel trees.
Clearly...
Clearly, he'd entered with a thousand orc warriors.
Prideful, ferocious elites of the Twin Axes Tribe.
But only about a hundred escaped with him, enduring the sleep powder.
"Ku-ruk...。"
Karak's thick knuckles trembled.
Then, wingbeats sounded overhead.
Flap-flap!
A red-eyed crow—shaman Gur's familiar.
It emerged now that they'd escaped the canopy.
[Karak! What have you been doing in that forest!? Your advance is too slow!]
Gur's rebuke flipped Karak's eyes; he raised his twin axes.
"Ku-ruk...! Shut up, old man!"
The crow flinched mid-flap.
"This forest's trees... are moving monsters!”
[Wh-what!? Trees moving!? Karak, no matter how harsh the forest...]
"I saw it with my own eyes!! Giant firewood sticks uprooted, sprayed us with sleep powder!"
Karak glared at the Black Forest, panting.
Many orcs slept inside, snoring as they collapsed. He hadn't brought out a single one.
Infuriating enough already...
"And..."
Karak gnashed his teeth.
"Ku-rurruk...!"
Rage reddened his eyes; the final sight replayed in his head.
Fleeing, glancing back: giant steel trees wrapping sleeping orcs in roots, dragging them off somewhere.
Dozens, hundreds of subordinates.
Like hauling trash.
"......"
Karak's broad shoulders shook.
Where were those rotten trees taking his subordinates?
My... subordinates....... Where to...?
Karak's simple mind reached one conclusion.
No matter how he pondered, slowly or deeply.
One answer.
Where do monsters in the mountains drag successful hunts?
Obviously.
Food... warehouse.
A thick tear dropped from Karak's trembling eyes, soaking the snow.
But Karak didn't know.
That northern fiend capitalist, Kailan Wintervalt, planned to turn his subordinates into honest taxpayers.
He never dreamed it.