Outskirts of the Great Forest of Jura
Frieren: "What are those? An army? But they don't look human at all."
Akame: "They appear to be pig-like humanoids."
Saeko Busujima: "In Izawa's world, they seem to be classified as monsters."
Mabel: "Waaah! All of you are still awake in the middle of the night?"
Mabel: "And this livestream... eugh, it's as disgusting as goblins."
Stella: "What's a goblin?"
Yukinoshita Yukino: "In our world, it's a type of fictional green-skinned monster that's filthy and hideous."
Mabel: "Same for our world too."
Mabel: "...Wait! Yukino, have you been sleeping?"
Yukinoshita Yukino: "Mm..."
Mabel had just woken up because she needed to use the bathroom.
She had just stepped out of her room—
—and bumped into Yukino, who was also wearing pajamas and had just emerged from her bedroom.
Mabel blinked. "Yukino, do you need to use the bathroom too?"
Yukinoshita didn't want to answer her. Her face icy, she just gave a small nod.
"Er, should I go first... or you?" Mabel asked cautiously.
"You, stop dawdling."
Without even noticing, Yukinoshita's voice turned cold as ice.
Being someone who was basically "looked after," Mabel didn't dare argue; she hurried into the bathroom.
Before long, the sound of rushing water could be heard.
Yukinoshita frowned and distracted herself with the chat group. After seeing the livestream, she lost much of her previous irritation. Those monsters also piqued her curiosity.
Izawa Shizue: "These are likely the monsters known as the 'Orc Tribe,' which threaten the Great Forest of Jura."
Through the livestream, they could see what Rei Ao and the others were looking at. Below them, in the forest now stripped almost bare of foliage, was a fearsome-looking 'army.'
The soldiers were not human but rather pig-headed humanoids wearing armor and wielding weapons: Orcs.
They were all members of the Orc Tribe—more than two hundred thousand of them, lined up in neat, silent rows.
They were the cause of all the animals and monsters in the Great Forest of Jura fleeing in every direction.
This entire outskirts region was already under their control.
All living things had been devoured by the Orc Tribe's army. The place had been turned into a wasteland of death.
At the center of the Orc Tribe's vast forces stood one individual whose massive size set him apart from the rest: a giant pig-head well over several meters tall.
His physique was huge and muscular, his bulging muscles covered in thick, intimidating veins.
His enormous tusks gleamed with a terrifying light.
He could no longer be called just a Orc Tribe member, for this chieftain was in the midst of evolving into a Demon Lord-type being.
"Orc Lord," one might call him.
"Excellent, excellent. Geld, prepare to continue the march. Devour every living thing you encounter!"
A sharp voice echoed in the Orc Lord's ears. The speaker was a 'person' floating beside the Orc Lord, wearing a tailcoat, a tall top hat, holding a staff, and wearing a birdlike mask that covered his face. He was tiny compared to the giant pighead—
In other words, a Majin (Higher Demon).
He was Gelmud, a High Majin who had struck a deal with the Orc Lord—granting him the name "Geld" and the power to evolve.
The Orc Lord's evolution had progressed more smoothly than Gelmud could have hoped.
Leading his army deeper into the Great Forest of Jura, Gelmud was sure it wouldn't be long before the Orc Lord fully evolved into a Demon Lord-type.
At that point, Gelmud's mission would be complete.
"Obey my orders. Become a Demon Lord-type as quickly as possible."
Gelmud tapped the Orc Lord's head with his staff.
"Begin—let the gluttonous feast commence!"
At the command, the Orc Lord Geld's eyes glowed crimson.
He had nearly lost all sense of reason, left only with an almost slave-like obedience to Gelmud's power and a singular drive: to evolve into a Demon Lord-type as soon as possible!
Suddenly, Gelmud noticed something odd.
He lowered his gaze—and saw that his body was clamped in the Orc Lord's massive right hand.
Just as he turned in confusion, about to demand an explanation, crack!
Darkness swallowed Gelmud's vision.
Blood sprayed in a massive arc as the Orc Lord bit off Gelmud's upper body.
In one loud slurp, all the blood was sucked into his mouth.
The Orc Lord thus devoured the very High Majin—Gelmud—who had created and empowered him.
This scene shocked not only Futaba and Rion, who were watching from the sky, but also everyone in the chat group.
Frieren: "What just happened? Weren't that person and the giant pig on the same side? Why did the pig suddenly devour its ally?"
Stella: "He ate...a person?"
Rei Ao: "He wasn't human; he was a High Majin."
Stella: "Um, whether it's a human or a Majin, why did that big pig monster sneak-attack and eat his own ally?"
Rei Ao: "He devoured that Majin to become stronger."
Saeko Busujima: "Devoured...?"
Rei Ao: "Simply put, by eating, he gains power. That's connected to his special abilities..."
Rei Ao's eyes glinted.
Because Gelmud had ordered him to become a Demon Lord-type as soon as possible, the Orc Lord's remaining scrap of reasoning told him that devouring a High Majin was the fastest way to reach that goal.
Generally, when a monster devours another Majin or monster, it doesn't mean much.
The Orc Lord, leader of the Orc Tribe—referred to as the 'Beastman King'—is a special individual among his kind.
He appears once every few centuries, possessing formidable powers of leadership and combat.
Under his rule, the Orc Tribe rapidly expands into a catastrophic force.
More importantly, he wields two unique skills, "Starved" and "Corrode-and-Consume."
causes the entire Pighead tribe to be consumed by hunger, increasing their combat strength and aggression, and even influencing their evolution to become closer to a Demon Lord.
"Starved" can influence his entire army, allowing them to inherit the abilities of any prey they consume.
This doesn't just mean magical energy and skills, but also physical traits.
In other words, after devouring Lizardmen, the Orc Tribe could potentially grow new feet adapted for moving freely in mud, as well as scales for protecting their bodies.
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