Sorde L. Leonine, the Duke Leonine, raised his head and looked towards the warm energy he felt. He could see a huge pillar of fire rising from the ground, roasting hundreds of orcs whole. The hot air wafted over them with the scent of burning flesh, and the duke shook his head.
"That's what the maid following him did? That little child?"
"Strength cannot be judged by age. Sir Evan called them dungeon knights and brought children, so at first, I misunderstood them as decorations…now I'm ashamed of myself for thinking that way."
One of the knights spoke up, shaking his head. If the girl who created such a sight was merely a decoration, the Duchy knights might as well give up.
[Witch! It's a witch!]
[Kill her!]
The orcs filling the battlefield were driven into a frenzy by Belois's magic, running wild and distracting themselves. Moreover, Evan's party had collided with the main unit of the orcs, creating further confusion. Thanks to that, the duke and his knights were breaking through the orc legion without any resistance, as if cutting through tofu.
[The witch is back! It's the prophecy, the end!]
[We have to kill her! Now!]
The duke laughed loudly as he heard the orc's shouts echoing throughout the battlefield.
"Witch…was she a child who succeeded the witch's blood? What a talented guy."
"Duke?"
"No, it's nothing."
The duke shook his head at the puzzled knight and looked up at Evan and his group. It was he who brought Evan and them to this battlefield, so if they were harmed, Leonine's honour would be lost.
'But…worry is unnecessary.'
Usually, a unit like that wouldn't be able to withstand for long and would be annihilated in the process of distracting the enemy, but Evan and the others were steadfastly advancing by killing all the orcs that rushed them. At this point, even a fool could predict the outcome. The five commandos, led by Evan, were pushing through the legion at almost the same speed as the Duchy knights.
"They are great talents. I'm resentful…maybe all of them are stronger than me."
"Certainly. Moreover, those three."
The duke recalled Evan, whose purple eyes shone brightly, and the butler and maid accompanying him. Of course, Evan's young fiancée had powers that didn't match her age, but those three were indeed special.𝘪𝘯𝑛𝑟𝑒𝘢𝘥.𝑐𝑜𝑚
"After this is over, I should officially express my gratitude to the dungeon city."
"Will you speak to them directly?"
"Did you not hear what that child said? That child is trying to protect the people of our Duchy like they were his own. Whatever his intent, countless lives have indeed been saved thanks to him. If I do not repay him, the whole world will curse me."
"Yes, yes!"
Unlike the duke, the knight who had been at the party hall with Evan quivered somewhat at the duke's words. He couldn't mention it in front of the duke, who seemed to like Evan, though.
'we have no choice but to speak slowly later. If Sir Evan really assists Princess Anastasia, a quarrel over the succession of this estate may arise…' The knight felt vaguely anxious as he could sense the winds of change brought about by Evan D. Sherden.
On the back of the running horse, Evan skillfully produced and handed stamina potions to Arisha and Dain while keeping an eye on Shine.
"Shine, are you all right?"
"It's amazing! Blood Shadow hasn't stopped yet!"
Shine shouted without looking back as he swung his daggers. The tricks Evan had taught him, his levelling up, and the double swordsmanship he had learned through the battle with Leo Arpeta was shining brightly on this battlefield.
"Keep it up!"
"I won't slow down!" The reason why the flooding was terrifying was that monsters were constantly appearing. No matter how high one's attack or defensive power, anyone would eventually be swept away by the flood of monsters and drown if they couldn't carefully manage their condition. Raihan would have been able to rely on his divine magic, but now that he wasn't here, Evan's potions had to do.
"If it's hard, fall back. We can build a firewall!"
"Yes!"
Shine swung his daggers harshly as he barked out a short response. His weapons never slowed, at least one orc's neck flying off each time they flashed out. The flowing fountain of blood was absorbed into the daggers, speeding him up even further. On this battlefield, Blood Shadow was like a hyper booster for Shine, not just wings.
"Even his scimitar."
Evan let out a laugh as he noticed the scimitar on Shine's back was also taking in the blood around him.
"This way, it'll be more amazing than the blood moon someday."
"Shine, you're really strong."
"Because he's the Silent Knight."
"He's not quiet at all."
Arisha admired the sight as he swept through a horde of orcs. He was a good combatant to have against stronger foes, but when dealing with hordes of weaker monsters, to Shine, it was like catching fish in a barrel.
"He's screaming to his heart's content."
Unlike Arisha, who was quietly admiring the sight, Belois ingested the mana potion she received and let out flame magic to burn through the orcs. Arisha let out a sigh. Belois was also showing off her skills outside of the dungeon, although, unlike Shine, she exerted a quiet sense of dignity while she did it
"…I'm still so far from the mark."
"Of course. You'll be stronger than me someday."
"I'm sorry, Evan. That's impossible."
"No, if you, the main character of the main characters, say that…" Evan opened his mouth to soothe the depressed Arisha but felt a sign of something at that moment.
"Shine, come back!"
"Kh!"
Shortly after Evan's cry, something huge landed where Shine was. It was a massive double-edged axe. The orcs who couldn't get out of the way were torn apart as they landed.
[Kah…when I ask what kind of rats, I heard they were witch's servants.]
A harsh and hoarse voice could be heard over the axe scraping the ground. Evan ignored it, however.
"Shine, are you alive?"
"I lived!"
Shine broke through the dust cloud and landed in front of Evan's horse, catching his breath. Fortunately, he hadn't been injured. If Evan's warning had been even a second late, however, he would've lost a limb.
[Witch…today, after a long time, I can drink the blood of a witch.]
Slowly, the dust cloud subsided to reveal an orc that was more than three times larger than the others stepping forward, double-edged axe in hand.
"I was trying to draw aggro, but it worked too well on the chief."
[So you know well who I am. I am the chief Setus. It is the name of your executioner, so keep it in mind.]
"You're even named?"
Its intelligence was very high compared to the ordinary orcs, given its speech. The average level of these orcs was high since most of them were capable of talking, so that wasn't surprising. But there was something that pricked at Evan's mind.
"He's not even a blood orc, so why is he so big? Is he a new variant?"
He looked like a normal orc aside from his incredible size. The blood orc was easily recognizable as their whole body was red, but not this one.
"Are you part of the Mahwa?"
[The Mahwa? Could you not treat me like those losers? I am the great devil rune orc! From now on, you guys…huh?!]
Evan shot off a bead. He had been aiming at the heart, but he was satisfied enough to hit instead the forearm that had moved to block it. The moment the bead touched his forearm, dark tattoo-like marks appeared to try and deflect the bead, but its power was lacking.
[Kaak! What were you throwing?!]
"It's a devil rune, a monster that doesn't exist. DLC? No, if there are monsters other than orcs that are like that, this isn't DLC…sequel?"
[What bullshit are you talking about…ugh!]
Evan grew angry and threw another bead at the orc, who again blocked it. It was good to confirm that the Duchy of Leonine was one of the stages in the Yo-ma Great War sequels, but he wasn't pleased to confront a monster, not in his data.
"But I'm glad that the first time I meet the new breed was with a weak guy. I'll have to catch it and do some research.
[Huh…?!
The orc ground his teeth at Evan, but in truth, he was afraid of the beads being thrown. It was a devastating attack that penetrated even the protection of the devil rune covering his whole body, so it must have contained high-ranking magic. He was nervous after confronting an unexpected enemy while he had been hunting the witch.
"Shine, can you do it?"
"Honestly, it looks stronger than me, but…with your assistance?" Evan smiled and nodded.
"If it's dangerous, I'll step in."
"Okay."
[You trash think you can afford to ignore me?!]
Despite his yelling, the orc chief was relieved. He would earn some precious time to find a weakness in Evan by dealing with this weak guy first.
"Okay, then, let's keep the other guys at bay in the meantime."
"Okay, master."
Evan laughed as he watched Shine bravely rush the orc chief. Belois chanted magic, and Arisha wrapped the wind around her rapier.
[Just a child!]
The orc chief raised his axe in anger. A new black tattoo appeared from the top of his shoulder and ran down to the back of his hand.
'There are separate tattoos for defence and attack…okay, it's worth it.'
investigating. Evan watched, enraptured with curiosity.
The boss battle of the first wave of the great flood had begun.