I hadn’t expected them to show up with both the King and Queen in tow, but I’d heard that monsters also had beings similar to the Winged Tribe, so I figured these were them.
Prim didn’t hesitate, charging straight at the individual that appeared to be female.
If that’s the case, then I’ll take on the male.
I activated Blood Shaking on my Usugre and used Accelerating Magic to close the distance in an instant, but as expected of a King with wings, they dodged after I only managed to graze its shoulder.
“Gooooo!”
“Shallow, as expected!”
Blood Shaking vibrates the blood within the body, but its effect is minimal with just a superficial wound.
It had some effect, but it didn’t inflict any fatal damage.
The proof of that was that the blue male Orc stumbled for a moment but quickly recovered.
“Whoa!”
Orcs are mostly power fighters, so I’d be completely outmatched if I fought them head-on.
Who would actually take them head-on!
Even thinking that, the blades of fire and wind generated just by swinging their arms were troublesome.
A shallow slash on my cheek was no problem, but it seemed like a good idea to reset the situation.
I froze the male Orc’s feet with the Niflheim I had activated, stopping its movement, and then I disengaged.
“That’s dangerous! But what about this?”
I heard Prim’s voice and looked over to see flames falling on the female Orc.
Was that Flare Needle, a Unique Magic that Prim had recently started using?
“This is the end!”
The Flare Needles hitting the female Orc were piercing its body and burning it from the inside.
Furthermore, it pierced through its legs and pinned it to the ground, making it impossible to move.
Then, taking advantage of that opening, Prim fully unleashed her Extreme Flame Wing, enveloping herself in extreme flame.
She then created several Flare Spheres, floating them around her, and fired Flare Needles from them to form a barrage.
This was Prim’s trump card and ultimate Unique Magic, Flare Penetrator.
It was a magic that enveloped the user in extreme flame, unleashed needles of extreme flame as a barrage from all angles, accelerated with Accelerating Magic, and turned the user into a spear.
Just like when I fought the Abyss Taurus, from the sidelines, it looked like a giant spear of flame.
That Flare Penetrator tore a large hole in the female Orc’s body.
It was possible to completely incinerate it from the hole, leaving no corpse behind, but she probably didn’t want to burn it because she needed to bring back evidence.
“Thanks to the thought acceleration of Accelerating Magic, it’s not as difficult to control as I thought, but it’s still tough. I’m quite tired.”
That much is true.
Whoa!
I was so captivated by Prim that the enraged male Orc sent a fireball flying at me!
I saw that the ice from Niflheim had melted as well.
So I was captivated by Prim and gave it an opening to move freely.
I really needed to reflect on that.
I generated more Multi Edges, held them with Ice Spheres, activated Blood Shaking, and fired them at the male Orc.
About half of them were deflected, but the remaining half still pierced it, so it was likely that every blood vessel in its body was screaming.
However, I didn’t think this alone would defeat it, so I activated my trump card, the purely S-rank target interference-type magic Mist Solution, on Usugre and slashed at the male Orc in one go.
The male Orc, whose blood vessels were on the verge of bursting, seemed to be losing consciousness. It defended with its left hand, which wasn’t holding a sword, but I didn’t care and cut off that left hand.
S-rank Engraving Magic cannot be used unless an Engraving Tool is generated, but this is an Engraving Art developed by the generator themselves and used as a trump card.
I also developed Mist Solution by referring to the S-rank Arts of my father and uncle, but it was genuinely difficult.
Unlike Blood Shaking, Mist Solution is a magic that dissolves liquids.
More precisely, it interferes with the molecular structure of liquids, separating H2O, water. Once separated, it never mixes again, and because it’s water, it can be harmful. Thus, it has high utility not only against living beings but also against machines.
I express this state as “dissolved,” but I don’t really care if it’s actually dissolved.
This dissolved liquid is, of course, no exception for blood.
By dissolving blood, meaning separating water, a large amount of water exists within the blood vessels, so it cannot even stop bleeding.
On top of that, the male Orc lost an arm, so the blood loss is incomparable to the initial graze.
Furthermore, if the blood is vibrated, the blood vessels can rupture, increasing the blood loss.
I didn’t know how effective it would be against Orcs, but I had confirmed through daily hunts that it was effective against monsters from Helios Orb, and I had actually used Mist Solution a few times.
I wouldn’t use my trump card without practicing first.
The male Orc was already so weak that it could barely stand, let alone raise its arm, but I couldn’t let my guard down.
I used Accelerating Magic again, and as I passed by, I severed the male Orc’s head.
“Is that the end?”
“Probably. I don’t know what these two were, but they had wings and were commanding Kings and Queens, so they were probably Catastrophe Species of the Wing Rank, don’t you think?”
It’s not just humans who have magical wings.
Monsters do too.
In the case of humans, they are called the Winged Tribe, while for monsters, they are called Wing Rank, and even normal individuals possess strength equivalent to one rank higher.
In fact, those blue Orcs had wings like Dragons, so they would be P-W rank, and I agree with that opinion.
“So that’s King and Queen, W Rank. I doubt individuals that evolved with Demon Crystals would both reach that level.”
“I suppose so. But there were quite a few Queens and Princesses, so I don’t know which one was which, and maybe these two were unrelated. We should assume there are still more out there.”
That’s the troublesome part.
Oh, I should go help everyone else too.
Just as I thought that, it seemed they had successfully defeated the Orc Queen.
Side Rex
Is this reality?
That thought won’t leave my mind, and it’s the consensus of everyone here.
“Huh? Weren’t they W Rank?”
“… I told you before, didn’t I? When subjugating a monster, you need to confirm thoroughly.”
Faris, the leader of Holy Grave, clutches her head in response to Yamato’s question.
I understand her feelings perfectly.
Moreover, I never thought anyone would actually be able to defeat them.
“You can see it with Questing, but the one Yamato defeated was an Orc Emperor, and the one Prim defeated was an Orc Empress. They are higher-ranked individuals than Kings and Queens, belonging to the Demise Species.”
Demise Species.
These are monsters that make even natural disasters seem mild.
The Orc Emperor and Orc Empress are successively higher beings than the Orc King and Orc Queen, respectively. Normally, they would be M-A rank monsters, but Demise Species are an exception and are all classified as O-rank monsters.
Demise Species are said to always have wings, like the Winged Tribe, and can fly in the sky, but since many species cannot fly, this remains merely hypothetical.
In fact, the Orc Emperor and Orc Empress that Yamato and Prim fought showed no signs of flying.
Fundamentally, Demise Species have never been subjugated in the history of Helios Orb.
Even normal O-rank monsters are beyond human capability, yet Demise Species are said to surpass even those O-rank monsters, and are also called O-A rank monsters.
It is said that they still exist somewhere in the world, but some may have died of old age, so their numbers are unknown.
To think that they would defeat such a Demise Species in a one-on-one fight…
“We, with all these people, barely managed to defeat the Orc Queen? Normally, we’d be short on combat power and wouldn’t know if we could win. In fact, Muse and I broke our ribs, the Order’s Master’s shield was shattered, and everyone else is wounded and depleted of magic power, yet you two won one-on-one and are unharmed with magic power to spare. How is that even logical?”
“No, we’re not exactly unharmed.”
“That’s right. Right?”
Yamato and Prim, whom Gram declared to be non-human, retort, but no one agrees with them.
It’s true that they had a few small cuts and grazes, but those could be considered unharmed, and since the Ancient Class individuals have high self-healing abilities, those wounds have already closed.
So, to say they aren’t unharmed is something no one would believe.
“And more importantly, were you two under the impression that those were W Rank Kings and Queens?”
“Yes.”
“That’s right.”
Two people answer Cliff’s question without hesitation, and I too feel a headache coming on.
“W Rank only has the change of having wings; nothing else is different.”
Cliff, holding his head, answers pitifully.
“Furthermore, it is said that any offspring produced by an Emperor from a Giant Orc, or by an Empress, will always become an Abnormal Species. In other words, Demise Species can almost inexhaustibly increase their forces just by existing. Naturally, the more Abnormal Species increase, the more difficult subjugation becomes. This is also why the Demise Species subjugation parties have all been wiped out.”
Cliff explains it meticulously, but I believe the true terror of Demise Species lies elsewhere.
“W-well, with this, the Alliance will be a success, so isn’t that good enough?”
Yamato tries to change the subject, but that’s not something I can let slide.
“How can it be good enough? First of all, Demise Species have never been subjugated in history! To say you defeated such a Demise Species is not something that can be casually announced.”
Yes, as Muse laments, the problem lies there.
Although the number of Demise Species is unknown, there are quite a few regions where their existence has been confirmed.
These are designated as absolute danger zones, fearsome lands where it is said one cannot return alive once entered. These regions are Gagun Great Forest in Valentia, Seryado Volcano in Torencia, Enigma Island in Alegria, Temellario Great Sky Wall in Libertà, and Praia Desert in Solemne.
Prada Desert in Solemne, in particular, is designated as a danger zone for almost its entire area, with nearly a quarter of the country sealed off.
There are said to be fertile oases in these regions, but the dangers are overwhelmingly great. Rumor has it that few scouts have returned alive, let alone development.
Therefore, Praia Desert has become the territory of the Antlion Demise Species, the Antlion Empress.
Thus, it is not hard to imagine that if Solemne becomes aware of Yamato and Prim’s existence, they will desperately try to obtain it through any means necessary.
In a sense, it would be more significant than Jade Silver or Blue-Gray Iron.
After all, Antlions are Demi-humans of the same rank as Orcs.
“No, in that case, we’ll defeat the Antlion Empress and, at the same time, crush Solemne.”
“It’s a country that repays favors with ingratitude, and if Solemne were to perish, it would be easier for the Guild to re-establish itself.”
Yamato and Prim say this as if joking, but the reality is that if these two were serious, Solemne could very well be destroyed, making it no laughing matter.
While I agree with their opinion, they are not bordering any country, so I lean towards leaving them be as long as they don’t cause trouble for Amister.
“I imagine the Provincial Governor will be at their wit’s end again with this, but are you going to report it?”
“We have no choice but to report it.”
Riala’s question is understandable, but not reporting it would cause its own problems.
After all, all of us have leveled up by at least three levels.
I myself have gone up by four, reaching level 51. Iris, the strongest Order of Feel, is level 52, Cardina and Gram are level 46, Elena and Dart are level 47, Riala is level 48, and Muse is level 56, and the same applies to Holy Grave.
We’d successfully formed an Alliance, and I never imagined such a problem would arise.
Wait a minute.
If our levels have risen, then those two’s levels must have risen too.
They’ve defeated most of the Abnormal Species and Catastrophe Species, and even a Demise Species, so there’s no way their levels wouldn’t have increased.
“Yamato, Prim, my level has reached 53. Faris is level 57, and Burks and the others are level 49.”
“…Congratulations.”
“The pause means you understand what I’m trying to say, right?”
Cliff asks the two of them with an undeniable pressure.
I wasn’t the only one who was wondering.
That’s only natural, of course.
“I’m level 67, and Yamato is level 71.”
Prim replies reluctantly, but as expected, they had risen.
Although I feel it’s not as much as I expected, it’s still more than enough.
Especially for Yamato, he’ll become an M-rank Hunter, a rank only held by Grand Hunter’s Master.
“I believe before the charge, your levels were 67 and 63, so it’s not that high considering the quality of monsters you defeated.”
Dart mutters, and everyone nods in agreement.
The number of Orcs they defeated is greater than the combined total of our Order and Holy Grave.
They’ve definitely defeated two-thirds of them between the two of them.
Despite that, the levels they gained are not significantly different from ours.
This, in itself, seems to imply a problem that I don’t want to think about.
But more importantly than that, I have to write a report right away and have Jade and Fluorite take it when they return. Will the Provincial Governor believe this absurd battle report?
No, if I return to Feel, I’ll have to show them the corpses, including that of the Demise Species, so they’ll have to believe it then.
Especially since Marquis Frederica, who is said to have had a child with Yamato and will marry him when that child inherits the family line, only had that story finalized yesterday. Perhaps she might faint.
Still, I can’t not file a report, so I pick up my pen, which feels heavier than any sword, and begin to record the details of the Alliance in a dedicated report.
