"You humans and your puny tactics are of no interest to my people," declared the leader of the orc army.
He was a rising lord among his people, and although he was not a young talent, he had found an incomparable treasure many years ago.
This treasure granted him power and a little wisdom, just enough to put him above his peers.
As soon as he learned how to use the artifact, he began his path to becoming an absolute power, aiming to be the monarch of all greenskins.
Unfortunately, his peers noticed this rise and did everything they could to block his path, killing his people and ambushing his soldiers.
After all, the orc people were not the only ones among the greenskins.
Fortunately, Belgrath had given him a great opportunity outside his homeland, the chance to have a safe place to increase his troops.
One day, when he had enough troops, he would finally be able to return to the swamps of the greenskins.
"I understand your concerns, Lord Zharuk, but please, going head-to-head against the royal army is not a good idea. We don’t even know how powerful that brat who killed Count Nirm is."
"Stay here, keep crying. My soldiers are marching! Today, we eat man meat!" Zharuk roared. His more than thirty thousand orcs marched side by side with Belgrath’s soldiers.
The moment his voice fell silent, the humans trembled while the orcs vibrated.
Shouts full of amusement and hatred filled their ranks, their rusty weapons raised to the heavens.
Without waiting, Zharuk took the lead, entering the Kanyon.
Belgrath could only sigh, following alongside Zharuk, the two ascending into the skies.
He could already see that the royal armies were ready. Above the Kanyon, he saw two figures rising into the skies.
"Take care of the soldiers below, I’ll deal with these two." Qingyi ordered the general at his side, watching Belgrath and Zharuk approach, followed by the orcs and, close behind, the human armies.
Honestly, Zharuk was exactly as Qingyi had imagined.
Dressed in leather with steel plates, he carried a huge axe, yellowed, protruding teeth marking his flat, greenish face.
His muscular body stood over three meters tall and his muscle density and physical power were not inferior to those of a low-blooded dragon-man.
"You must be Lord Belcuckold, my wife has spoken highly of you. Is your son well? I hope he doesn’t have any problems because he has a castrated father too, hahaha." Qingyi laughed loudly at Belgrath, who had just arrived thirty meters away.
"You... damn bastard!" Belgrath’s face immediately contorted, his teeth clenched in pure rage.
"Know that after crippling you, I will hand that insolent bitch over to the orcs. Let’s see if you can still keep that smile then!"
That, in fact, wiped the smile off Qingyi’s face, who turned toward the Orc Lord.
"I’ve heard that your people are honest and honorable. I don’t believe you’ll interfere in a battle between me and Belgrath, am I correct?" Qingyi asked, eliciting a huge smile from Zharuk’s ugly face.
"I like you, hahahaha. Kill him, I don’t care. When you’re done, we’ll fight."
"Good." Qingyi smiled, even more so when he realized that Belgrath’s face showed no fear.
Qingyi would make him see despair.
From behind the beautiful young man, the enormous figure of a black dragon appeared, hovering over the army below him.
Its roar spread for miles, its frightening figure taking the courage out of anyone there.
Belgrath realized his mistake and tried to react, but it was already too late.
Qingyi was already upon him, swinging the Heaven-Defying Thunder Sword. He used his draconic vision to find the location of Belgrath’s mana heart.
With a smooth movement, before Belgrath could even defend himself, Qingyi pierced his mana heart. At the same time, he created a small ball of Qi in his free hand, aiming it toward Belgrath’s balls.
A heart-wrenching scream echoed as Belgrath was thrown towards his troops.
His balls were obliterated as his face filled with tears, a trail of blood following his body.
Had he been defeated? So weakly and pathetically?
Why? How was that possible? Was this truly the end of his dream?
No, impossible!
Belgrath denied it with all his might. But in the end, he could not change anything as he was grabbed by one of his officers.
"Hahahaha, you’re good for an insignificant human." Zharuk sniffed the air. "You don’t even smell like an puny human, huh? Hahahaha."
Zharuk’s laughter echoed throughout the Kanyon, mingling with the cries of pain and rage as his orcs clashed with Qingyi’s soldiers.
He hardly seemed to notice his ally’s defeat, and honestly, he didn’t really care.
He was, after all, an orc. His intelligence was limited, and violence was the basis of his life.
Qingyi simply returned Zharuk’s smile, not even bothering to taunt him.
He doubted Zharuk was intelligent enough to understand any kind of taunt he might be inclined to offer.
Any kind, except one, of course.
"Just come on already, weakling, I don’t have all day." Qingyi smiled, his voice full of mockery.
"Weakling? Me? YOU ARE WEAKLING!" Zharuk roared, swinging his huge axe. The positive impression he had had of Qingyi vanished immediately.
’Strong...’ Qingyi said mentally as he parried Zharuk’s axe blade. The orc didn’t hold back, surrounding his weapon with powerful flaming mana.
The moment the blade and the Sky-Defying Thunder Sword collided, a ball of fire engulfed them both. The air around them boiled and even some poor birds flying on the horizon were instantly charred as the fire rose into the sky.
To the Orc Lord’s surprise, Qingyi didn’t even flinch, only shuddering slightly, displaying a confident smile.
"Well... if it weren’t for my bloodline projection, you would have hurt me badly, weakling." Qingyi smiled, landing a kick on Zharuk’s chest and spinning in the air.
If Qingyi hadn’t advanced his lineage earlier, Zharuk would have given him quite a headache.
Fortunately, he had improved greatly and now barely felt any pressure from that Orc Lord.
"Ugh..." Zharuk was thrown back many meters. His face filled with rage as he brought his hand to his chest, removing a small item.
A golden talisman, the kind Qingyi knew well.
That young hero of the Church of Auranys, whom he had met a few months ago in Eagle Peak Valley, had one identical to this.
Why on earth did Zharuk have something like this with him?