The Orcs looked about, slack-jawed. They trembled, and their foreheads were drenched with sweat.
"Where… is this?"
They had been in the forest just moments ago, but there was no sign of that forest now. Instead, they stood before the ruins of a burned building beside a crumbling castle wall. Human corpses run through with spears dotted the area. A large murder of crows stalked the sky, casting their eerie cries above decaying zombies shambling across the grounds.
Panicked, the Orcs couldn't comprehend the sight before them and turned to Karakul.
"C-commander? Where is this? Just why are we here?! There are only undead here! Aren't we in danger?!"
The Orc warriors were wary of their surroundings. Even if they were specialized in close-quarter combat, they couldn't help but recoil at the sight of creepy undead. Additionally, there seemed to be thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of them wandering around this 'major city'. It was wiser to flee than fight them and risking death.
Karakul spoke calmly.
"There is no need to fight."
"B-but these are the undead! Undead that mercilessly attack the living…!"
"They won't engage us if we leave them be. Ignore them, and they'll ignore us in kind. If we are hostile, so too will they be hostile."
'My goodness…! The Undead won't cause harm? Does that make any sense!? No, more importantly, how could he be so sure? It's as though he's already accustomed to it!'
The Orcs couldn't speak their minds. They just moaned and recalled what had happened moments before.
***
Karakul had gathered the most capable Orcs, a force of about 200, and brought them into the forest. They were instructed to leave their equipment behind and instead were tasked with pulling a dozen wooden wagons, in accordance with Karakul's commands.
"Commander, why did you have us gather?"
The Orcs were well aware of the current situation in the Demon Kingdom. The news that Vampires had usurped the capital and gained the loyalty of the Apostles had already spread throughout the kingdom. The Orcs had to be on their guard. Having experienced the brunt of the fighting first-hand, they knew that the Hero's allied forces had expended a lot of their manpower. But now, at a crucial moment, Karakul had taken a substantial portion of their remaining manpower on a mysterious expedition.
Karakul turned to Tom, who was drawing runes on the forest floor with a tree branch. The branch gouged the soil and formed a circle, and in that circle, Tom spread the powder of a Magic Stone abandoned by the Hero's forces. When he confirmed that the powder was evenly spread, he nodded.
"Good. It's done."
The Orcs watching Tom looked confused. What did he mean that it was done?
Karakul clarified their purpose.
"From this point on, we're going to retrieve supplies."
"Supplies?"
The Orcs still didn't understand. Was there somewhere they could receive proper supplies?
"Yes, well, they are used, but they're in good condition. It'll be much better than what we've got now, in any case. We're going to leave immediately, so please work hard."
"We're leaving now? How…?"
Tom prodded the runes on the ground with his branch.
"…We'll be using Warp."
Warp magic. Warping used runes as coordinates, connecting the point of departure with a destination. It was a type of magic that used a great deal of mana and was only used by kings, emperors, and others of similar power and wealth. Warping could require dozens of magicians to move even a single person a territory over. Even though the Kingdom of Aylans, known as the Kingdom of Magic, declared that warp magic originated from 'degenerate' mages, many still made use of the spell.
The Orcs, who didn't have this knowledge, remained confused even with the explanation.
"In any case, stand in this circle. I'll be sending you all at once!"
And just like that, they had arrived in the city of undead through Warp. The soldiers quickly rushed to Karakul, pulling their carts behind them, to ask more questions.
"My god… for there to be such a place like this! Can we really trust that guy, the Devil of Lania or whatever…?"
Karakul glowered at them. They flinched, for his eyes were very fierce.
"He is trustworthy. He's an honorable person, someone I trust more than anyone else in the Demon Kingdom."
'An honorable person?'
The Orcs took note of the deference with which Karakul referred to the Devil of Lania, but they didn't press it further.
The sheer magnitude of the city impressed a certain awe upon the soldiers. It was clear that everything had been abandoned for a long time, but the buildings were obviously more advanced than those that they were used to, from the houses and the castle walls to the clean, still-paved roads. Not to mention the massive castle itself off in the distance.
"… It is very big."
The size left the soldiers dumbfounded. The castle before them was much larger than their own, towering over them with authority and majesty. It resembles a dwelling for gods rather than human kings.
Eventually, they arrived at one of the storage areas connected to the basement of the castle. The Orcs stood before the massive door with torches in hand. They used all of their strength to force the door open. The door was made of steel, which made it heavy on its own, but dust between its cracks and rust from neglect made it even more difficult to move.
"Uryaah!"
"Pull…!"
With difficulty, the door gave, and a thick cloud of dust poured out from inside. The Orcs looked into the dark room, squinting. There was no light. Within this pitch darkness, they couldn't see what was inside.
"What is this? This place…?"
Their voices very loudly echoed back to them. Karakul took a torch from an Orc and walked forward into the dark. His surroundings lit up, the light beginning to reflect back at him from every direction making everything very bright. The sudden outpour of golden light forced the Orcs to raise their hands to shield their eyes, allowing them only a small peek through their fingers to see the shiny objects which filled vast space within.
"What…?"
Their eyes grew wide. As they became accustomed to the light, their jaws dropped. A small mountain of gold managed to reflect Karakul's dim torchlight throughout the entire storage area. The Orcs walked forward, swallowing dryly. One Orc grabbed some gold coins with their hand and raised it up. He marveled as the coins slipped through his grip and showered onto the stone floor. Other than gold coins, gems and countless treasures filled this vault to the brim.
"… Amazing. What is all this?"
"This is the first time I've seen so much gold!"
As the Orcs stood around dumbfounded, another soldier approached and shouted for attention. In his hands were a sword and a helmet.
"Ey! Over here! Weapons! Tons of them too!"
Karakul lifted his gaze, turning away from the gold coins. He inspected the sword the soldier had brought.
"It wasn't here, but over there."
The company moved locations. Orcs watched Karakul's calm demeanor in surprise and followed behind him.
"Commander… Just where are we?"
This city was advanced beyond the demon's wildest dreams, and there was more gold than they'd ever heard of—even in the most exaggerated of legends. It was hard for them to believe they were seeing such a sight in their lifetimes.
When Karakul arrived at the weapons, he smiled with satisfaction. Thousands of swords, spears, axes, maces, bows-and-arrows, and crossbows… Everything that could be considered a weapon was stored here. They also weren't of ordinary make, either. These were the finest weapons forged by master blacksmiths who slaved over their forges for decades. Further inside there were even prefabricated siege weapons and blueprints for making more