"A High Orc Army, huh?" A low bellow could be heard by every warrior on the battlefield, arrogant and disdainful.
A lull occurred, as even the enslaved Greater Goblins stopped for a moment.
Many of the High Orcs couldn't help but direct their hate-filled gazes towards the highest point in the kingdom-city.
"Do you think simple evolution is enough for you to best and defeat educated beings such as myself? Naïve."
There, where the sonorous voice had originated, a hulking body was precariously balanced on a black, bent spire.
A face that humans would find absolutely revolting could be seen on a disfigured head. Two eyes, one plagued with cataracts and the other bloodshot and crazy. The face also had yellowed, uneven teeth and broken cheekbones that made its entire facial structure look like a poorly-made clay figure.
Some beast's brain could even be seen stitched onto the top of its skull like an elementary student's last-minute efforts on their project. It was wobbling around with the wind like pudding.
It was an Ogre. An ugly one, even by their own race's standards.
And judging by the glistening skull staff in its gigantic hand, together with the half-complete Mystic Pattern Circle floating in front of it, the Ogre was a magus.
The peculiarity of the image stunned even Athelei who had just regained his senses.
Taking a step back to moments before the Ogre appeared.
After happily memorising the swears and insults specifically used against Ogres in the tongue of Acivis, he had watched Hilvar's magnificent (embarrassing) exit.
"Ahaha~" A schadenfreude-filled giggle had escaped him.
And then the deep bellow had given him a lump in his throat.
He heard the voice right in his ears. A faint trace of Mystical Energy had been left behind.
Athelei felt a chill as a thought bubbled into his mind.
He squinted. A suspicion wormed its way out of his mouth, "...Could he have pinpointed my location at the same moment he sent his voice?"
Crack!
Just as Athelei began to worry for his own safety, Hilvar emerged from a pile of rubble. The High Orc was badly bruised, with bloody scrapes on his skin and ruptured blood vessels.
His bones didn't seem to be broken, but he had stepped forward with a small, pained limp.
"There you are..." Hilvar grunted as he straightened his back and heaved a deep breath.
"ORCS!"
A rumbling roar shook the dust off the battlefield, creating a visible shockwave as Hilvar's vocal cords bled.
"WE WILL HAVE PORK TONIGHT!"
Hilvar heaved another breath. A hint of blood-red Tangible Will seemed to manifest in the High Orc's eyes at that very moment.
"CHARGE!"
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
A unified battle cry shook the earth, forcing the dazed Greater Goblins to stumble back. Like raging bulls, the High Orcs all madly barreled forth. They were even more crazed than the mind-controlled goblins.
"...Brainless," Athelei was distracted from his worries as he witnessed the reckless siege occurring before him.
He chuckled.
"No plans, and just a single command. It seems like Hilvar is leaving it all to their instincts and their skill in battle. This is very uncharacteristic of him... Is something wrong?"
Athelei felt his own adrenaline rushing through his veins, overpowering his small worries. Although peculiar, the charge of a thousand High Orcs kicked up dust and caused the ground to tremble. Damaged buildings were collapsing and the unfortunate Greater Goblins were all being slain beneath the iron greaves of the High Orcs.
It was a display of valiance.
It was a stampede, and although Athelei had slightly mocked such a display, he wondered what it would be like had he participated;
Rushing forward with your comrades, fearless and overflowing with morale. Crushing all that stood in your way, with a feral glint in your eyes...
It sounded like so much fun!
Alas, he was as frail as a feather if he were to be placed within the High Orc ranks. And, as an incorporeal fog, he did not have the ability to shake the earth with his footsteps.
All he could do was imagine, and fantasize what kind of ending such a charge would grant.
Would it be an exhilarating victory—?
"—Or confidence-crushing despair?" Athelei muttered as he placed the Ogre Magus within his gaze.
Whether the Ogre was frowning or not, he wasn't sure. The horrid facial features made it difficult for Athelei's human-influenced mind to analyze.
But from the Ogre's body language, he felt indifference.
The skull staff was raised, and the Magus swiftly called upon a Mystic Pattern circle into existence. The half-finished circle from before dissipated, seemingly there for misdirection.
"Hear the drums of destruction." The Ogre bellowed, "Bow before my status as a Magus! Watch and tremble before my identity! My circle—!"
The Mystic Pattern flashed with violent, milky-white light.
"—BONE DETONATION!"
A light show was being brought into reality. In the blink of an eye, the skeletons of every Greater Goblin and every tamed beast could be seen glowing malevolently from within the flesh prisons that contained them.
The carcasses that the High Orc army had been stampeding over revealed themselves as landmines.
Even those Greater Goblins that had yet to breathe their last watched as their insides were lit up. Despair was plastered onto their expressions along with various emotions laced together with it.
Hate—for the Magi who enslaved them.
Fear—for the Magi who could command Mystical Energy.
Helplessness—for their weakness.
They wanted to cry out in indignation.
All the lights were growing rapidly as an immense volume of Mystical Energy was siphoned from wherever possible.
Athelei blinked as he felt the threat of death looming upon him. If he got hit by what was to come, his wisps would be annihilated.
What should form his internal organs would be blasted into nothingness once his [Mana] reserves truly ran out.
That obviously meant one thing, and that was death.
Human fear assaulted his mind as an ending he did not fancy flashed before his eyes.
But his expression did not display any of that. Instead, a small smile somehow blossomed. His emotions and facial expressions were out of sync.
He let out a giggle as his eyes flashed with quick-wittedness.
"Into the earth!"
Athelei hurriedly commanded all his wisps to sink into the bedrock below. He, too, dissipated into a grey fog and rushed underground.
KA-BOOM!!!
It was like lightning and thunder.
Thousands of explosions both big and small were triggered in the same instant.
There were in total, three different waves of force.
The first was the blast of white Mystical Energy, brightly rushing outwards in all directions, looking like a star going supernova. It was a rabid rush that even pushed at the Baneful Shroud and brought light to the darkness.
The second was a wall of air that bloomed and scraped at one's skin and eroded even stone.
And the third was the blast of sound and particles that flew out like shrapnel.
The High Orc army was instantly sent into disarray. Hundreds of green-skinned warriors were flung in all directions, and many were slain by the initial explosion— those were the ones unlucky enough to be among the piles of goblin and beast carcasses.
Injured, could be the only describing word for the army now.
And Hilvar, who had been saved from the humongous explosion due to the fact that he was currently outside the kingdom-city's walls, had seen it all.
He watched as his army suffered under the tricks displayed by the Ogre Magus he had mocked.
"Bone Detonation..." Hilvar was grinding his teeth in suppressed anger. His eyes drew a deeper bloodshot, as the insanity within them died down.
What replaced it was cold rage.
His body, on the other hand, started burning up.
RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
It was a reckless charge from then on.
Hilvar's target? It was obvious.
His childhood trauma and the same trauma many other Orcs shared with him.
A magus who has touched upon the art of the mystical from God only knows where.
The cause of his army's heavy losses.
It was that Ogre, the caster of [Bone Detonation].
He was going to run that bastard down.
—And Hilvar wasn't the only one.
Riled up by their leader's raging roar, the High Orcs who had yet to perish, injured or otherwise, resumed their advance. Athelei even felt a certain desire to rush forward with them, despite him knowing that such an action would spell his doom.
And so, Hilvar led his troops once again. He yelled out commands, assigning last second strategies with bloodshot eyes that were somehow glowing with hints of Tangible Will.
The Ogre Magus frowned upon seeing such a scene. Unbeknownst to it, a grey wisp of fog floated up beside its face just in time to hear it whisper.
"High Orcs... they're just as strong as the history has recorded them as." Hesitation laced its tone, "How did so many of them appear out of nowhere?"
"This is a bigger problem than you thought, Lou'both." Suddenly, a new, similarly deep voice spoke. It came out of a Mystic Pattern that manifested out of nowhere, making the Ogre—Lou'both—grunt.
"You deal with this mess. It was you who wanted their bones, not I."
Lou'bouth's expression turned sour, "But Sir—"
Planting an [Emotion Seed] into their minds was a bad idea. That was what Lou'bouth wanted to say, but he was cut off.
The deep voice sounded irritated, "—No buts! It was also you who requested my powers, or have you forgotten? I had simply presented you with options. And in the end, you chose the dumbest one possible, oh hopeless student of mine. Are you still a beast? Yelling out such a long-winded speech just because they spewed insults like the barbarians they are? Huh?!"
Anger could be seen in Lou'bouth's eyes as he listened to his teacher's scolding, but the Ogre Magus managed to calm himself down. Gritting his teeth, he spat,
"I-I'm sorry, Sir. I will clean up after myself."
The voice scoffed hearing those words, "Good. Let this be a lesson. Hopefully, you learn never to underestimate evolution again."