A major anti-Orc raid by the Anti-Orc Alliance in the night after the formation of the Orc Continental Confederacy was a disastrous failure.
It was a one-sided slaughter and the vaunted High Hunters of Greater China were literally torn apart.
-That--- how are we supposed to win?
-Crazy, S-class Hunters were no match for them.
-That weapon, isn't it some kind of iron weapon? Can it tear through armor like that?
-I know you can't apply blessings to armor without faith, but that's at least a unique piece of equipment------
The crushing defeat of the Anti-Orc Alliance has broken the will of the people of Greater China to resist.
With most of Greater China in the process of de facto surrender, the resurrection of the world's largest nation by the Orcs is now a foregone conclusion.
"We resist tyranny!"
"Orcs, do not trample on the will of the people!"
In some places, the embers of resistance were not extinguished.
"Insolent bastards. Still resisting."
Eastern Continent. Heilong People's Republic, the northernmost nation.
Owning one of the continent's granaries, the Beidahuang Plain, it is the most important continental country for food security, the biggest threat after the Gate.
It had already seen its third coup, but the people's will to protest had not faded.
The reason was clear.
"We are TTG Temple believers, and this land is protected by the gods of the Pantheon!"
Heilongjiang is one of the most famous countries where the belief in the Ten Thousand Gods spread.
Despite having the huge granary of Beidahuang, the country's dictatorial military regime is slow to deal with gates. The lack of electricity caused frequent dungeon breaks and contaminated the land with miasma.
The priests of the goddess Demera spread their teachings, and the land's strength was restored, and there is a famous knight's tale that goes something like this
"The Heilong People's Republic is protected by the Holy Knight of Life and Abundance, Lord Koo Dae-sung!"
Before Koo Dae-sung awakening as a Holy Knight, his chivalrous deeds of slaying wild monsters and saving people became extremely famous after he became a Holy Knight.
Here in the Heilong People's Republic, Koo Dae-sung is already a hero. They believed that the TTG Temple would stop the orcs' tyranny.
After the fifth coup, the Black Orc in charge, Bultan, slammed his fist down on the table of the occupied presidential palace.
"Damn them, they're a nuisance, I'll have to wipe them all out!"
Bultan is disgusted by the humans' stubborn resistance, but a fellow Black Orc, Grokan, interrupts him.
"Stop it, Bultan. The High King has commanded us to never use force. At least not with our orc blood."
"Hmph! I know, brother. Politics, blah, blah, blah. Murka is too careful,."
At Bultan's potentially blasphemous comment, Grokan shoved him on the shoulder.
"Watch your mouth, Bultan. The High Khan does not forgive blasphemy."
"Just sayin', the rest of my brothers have fought honorable battles against the humans, and here we are, in this corner, tinkering with a bunch of kids."
The uniformed orc in the back winced at Bultan's words.
He was Groom, Orc General of the Heilong People's Republic. The Black Orcs had come to Heilong because he was not in control of the Heilong People's Republic.
"I'm sorry, sir. Warlord."
The aging Orc general bowed before Bultan and Grokan. There was no humiliation in it. He was the most powerful Orc warrior in the Heilong People's Republic, but the two Black Orcs before him were on a different level.
There is no shame for the orcs to be defeated by such a great warrior. Moreover, they have brought with them a new 'faith'.
The Three Great Orc Gods.
The Orcs were immediately drawn to their faith.
What's not to like about being able to become stronger?
Orcs were not normally religious, but the Green Orcs, seeing the transcendent power of the Black Orcs, were willing to believe in the Orc Gods.
"But the forces of the TTG Temple that have taken root in this land are also formidable, and they won't back down easily."
"Phew, send in more human police, beat them all up!"
Groom was embarrassed by Bultan's insistence. He was a worn and tattered orc who had earned the rank of general in human society.
He knew, if not understood, the human's cherished human rights.
Heavy-handed suppression of protesters is nothing new, but it's not the kind of suppression the Black Orcs want.
"It's barely the fourth election. I'll take a look around."
"Burn!"
"Don't worry, brother. I'm just going to see what all the fuss is about."
Grokan was unable to stop Bultan from talking. Nor, of course, did General Groom.
Despite his misgivings, Grokan had no choice but to follow him.
* * * * *
This was the fourth election in the Heilong People's Republic.
Four coups. Four elections,
Most of the continental nations had succumbed to the orcs and accepted their rule.
Originally, the nations of Greater China didn't have much in the way of protests.
Dictatorships tend to crack down hard on protesters, and people can't afford to participate in protests because they have to make ends meet.
In a fictionalized version of Dungeon Break, the land is polluted and there are fewer and fewer places to live.
But the Heilong people are different.
[Heilong People's Republic of China, sparking a land development project led by the TTG Temple.]
[Sir Yakt Spinner develops large-scale, high-tech agricultural complexes.]
In the Heilong People's Republic, where there was little hope for the future, they saw hope for the future as the TTG Temple made inroads and spread their faith.
They would rather have the TTG Temple rule over them than accept the rule of the orcs.
"Candidate 2, Liu Yiming! As a devotee of the Goddess Arianna, I will bring progress to our Heilong People's Republic!"
And so it was that the candidate who stood in the fourth election was Liu Yiming, an officially recognized member of the TTG Temple.
He entered the race with enthusiastic popular support, an overwhelming majority compared to General Groom, who had lost three times before.
"Chit, the weaklings are buzzing like mosquitoes."
Bultan clicked his tongue as he watched the procession of protesters.
'Those incompetent-looking guys are holding picket signs and saying things like retreat when they see the Orcs.'
The sight of them running around like that, not even worthy of a fist, made Bultan's teeth chatter as a born warrior.
"Bultan. I say again, remember what the Great Khan has commanded."
Worried that Bultan might take an axe to the protesters, Grokan warns him again, and Bultan responds dutifully, even though he thinks he's being a nuisance.
"Don't worry, brother. You worry too much."
"Whoa------"
Grokan wondered if he could trust him, but he decided to trust his brother, who had fought alongside him for hundreds of years.
"By the way, the Lionheart faith seems to have spread quite a bit around here."
"The Lionheart came to Earth before us, and they settled here first, so their power is greater than ours."
"And they haven't even formed a nation yet?"
"The Great Elder said they haven't."
The Lionheart's strength comes from the widespread spread of their faith, not the size of their nation.
The Lionheart King knew that if he established a nation and began conquering, he would face opposition from existing nations.
Hence the irresistible power of their faith. He spoke of his gradual takeover of the world, with the Blessed Crops of Demera and the Golden Covenant of Dragonia.
When Grokan heard that, he thought the Lionheart King was a cunning man.
The faith of the Ten Thousand Gods is completely otherworldly, but its benefits are not irresistible.
It's a faith that cannot be denied, and given enough time, it will soon take over the world.
'The Great Warlord said he would copy the ways of the Great Gods. The Great Khan's big picture is to bring the orcs of the world into the Federation, to expand and grow in power.'
Until then, they need to grow and stabilize, which is why the orcs aren't crushing the protesters now.
They don't want to give Lionheart or any other nation no room to interfere.
That's the big picture for Murka, who wants to grow the Orcs' power as much as possible so that they can go toe-to-toe with Lionheart.
"There's an orc!"
But just then, one of the protesters pointed a finger at Bultan and Grokan.
"Huh?"
Bultan and Grokan blinked in surprise at the sudden focus.
As if on cue, several of the protesters began to shout.
"Orcs, go back to your homes!"
"Go back! Go back!"
The harshness of the protesters' voices made Grokan worry that Bultan would go on a rampage, but he was surprisingly calm.
"Hmph, talk is cheap."
He looked at the tiny dwarves, no more than a fist's length away from him, screaming at the top of their lungs.
An orc would have picked up an axe and swung it, but humans are as weak in their protests as I am in my weakness.
"Let us return, Grokan. I don't think we have much more to see."
"Aye, that's a good idea."
Bultan turned his back on me, holding up better than I expected.
-Bam!
Something hit him in the back, oozing yellow liquid. It was an egg thrown by a protester.
"These bastards------"
Bultan growled and stalked toward the protesters, who could only cower in the face of the hulking orc.
But
There are bold men everywhere.
"What are you going to do, you brutes?"
"You bastard?"
Bultan snarled, glaring down at the human before him.
"Do you want to die, human?"
"Uh! I want to die, man! Uh! Kill me!"
Is he crazy? Grokan wondered what the human before him believed.
"Bultan, you have to endure it here."
Murka never allowed the Orcs to intervene in the protests.
He would rather lose the election and stage another coup.
It's a cause célèbre, and he's using the fact that Lionheart can't interfere in internal affairs to expand the Federation's power.
If he gives them a chance to do that, he'll be in trouble------
-Poof!
"Huh?"
"Hmm?"
It happened in the blink of an eye.
The protester suddenly burst into flames, bumped into him lightly, and then fell backwards with a thud.
"Aaaaaaah!"
"What, what?"
Panicked or not, the protester that bumped into Bultan and Grokan let out a loud shriek and sprawled on the asphalt.
"Hey, you human, what are you talking about!"
"Ack! Ack! Ack! Ack! My shoulder! My arm! My leg! Yeeeeeeee!"
"Orcs are fanning the protesters!"
"Hey, take pictures, take pictures of everything!"
Camera flashes exploded in all directions. Dozens of smartphones snapped pictures of the orcs burning protesters and Grokan.
"What, these guys?!"
The orcs didn't recognize them.
Greater China is a wild land of extortion and insurance scams.
Here, the bad guys are the bad guys.
The video was immediately uploaded to the global network of YouTube.
[Shock! Orc Federation violence against peaceful protesters demanding democracy!]
[Citizen assaulted by Black Orcs. Even in critical condition, no democracy! Screams!]
[Citizens' desire for democracy!! Candidate Liu Yiming criticizes Candidate Groom!]
"Warlords, what the hell is going on!?"
Candidate 1, General Groom, comes to the Black Orcs stationed at the base, showing them a video posted on YouTube.
"I didn't hit him! He came and hit me!"
"Yeah, that's right. I saw it from the side!"
"But the video shows---!"
A more detailed video of the protesters was posted on YouTube, showing the Black Orcs beating the protesters senseless.
It's already gotten over 100 million views, and somehow the algorithm hasn't seen it.
[Grokan! What the hell is going on!?]
The two Black Orcs were furious, but──
[Black Dragon, Mayor of the Pyongyang Special Autonomous Region, we will not let this happen!]
[European Union. Strongly condemns the Orc Continental Federation's anti-human rights actions]
[U.S. President Hobson. Discussing restrictions on the Orc Continental Federation]
[His Majesty Leon Dragonia Lionheart, outraged at the Orc Continental Federation's excessive suppression of human rights!]
The deed was done, and behind it all, the super-robots, eager to make up for their past failures, increased their efforts to manipulate public opinion.
-Crack!
[Heilong People's Republic election results announced! Liu Yiming wins!]
[The Knights of the Ten Thousand Gods are dispatched to protect President-elect Liu Yiming!]
[Orc coup d'état forces announce unusual withdrawal! Will democracy's aspirations be fulfilled?]