The Warlord

I watched Nymeria’s lovely behind disappear around a corner, then started following the right tunnel further into the dungeon. I was lucky, as I had hoped to go down the right path. The pull I felt was much stronger in this direction, so I assumed whoever the boss of this place was must be there. After about a minute of walking, I heard the faint noise of bellowing cheers echoing through the tunnels ahead of me. It sounded like a large group orcs were yelling at the top of their lungs, a sound I filed under ‘opportunity’ in my mind. The tunnel led to a sort of balcony that oversaw a massive round cave. A staircase clung to the wall and offered a way down to a crude wooden colosseum. The roaring now filled my ears and reverberated in my head; it was almost dizzying. I counted at least one hundred orcs on the stands of the colosseum who followed the battle inside with feverish focus. Two massive orcs were fighting inside the pit, both stripped to their loincloths.

The larger one held one axe in each hand which both looked large enough to make an executioner giddy with excitement. He was easily over 7ft. tall and appeared to be fully enjoying himself.

The other orc, who was just under 7ft., clenched his hands around the hilt of his greatsword. He was breathing heavily and had already sustained a multitude of wounds in the fight while his own blade still hadn’t drawn blood.

The larger orcs voice bellowed through the cave, “Do you feel it, Gubnar? That is regret!”. Gubnar’s knuckles turned pale as his grip tightened even further, “I regret nothing, Magol!”, he yelled out and swung his sword towards the other orc, who stepped out of the way of the sloppy strikes. Magol brought the flat side of his axe down on top of Gubnar’s head, who stumbled backwards in response to the heavy blow. “You were always a fool.”, Magol mocked as he stepped closer, “But I thought you at least had a desire to survive. What madness overcame you to challenge me for the title of Warlord?”. I wasn’t sure whether I should admire the orcs combat prowess or his eloquence. Gubnar wiped the blood from his eyes which was now freely flowing from his head, “Today you die!”, he growled and lurched forward with his blade at the ready. Magol crouched down into a bestial stance in preparation for his opponents charge and sneered, “Someone certainly will.”.

Gubnar struck with brutal strength, but Magol was faster. He rolled to the side and simultaneously swung one axe in a short arch, cutting all the way through Gubnar’s shin and calf. The charging orc, who quite literally lost his footing, crashed into the sand with all the momentum he had put into his swing. A pained roar drowned out the noise inside the cave for a moment, before the cheers returned even louder than before. The crowd was in a frenzy. It was like they could taste the blood that rapidly formed a red spot around Gubnar’s severed leg. Magol walked over to Gubnar and kicked his blade aside, “Up on your knees, warrior.”, he ordered. The frenzied crowd quickly clamed and an oddly ritualistic atmosphere filled the room. Many of them were humming in a simple rhythm, one of them even followed the melody on a large drum. Gubnar fought to make it to his knees with gritted teeth and finally managed to get somewhat upright. He looked up at Magol with a bloody smile, “We fought before the Gods.”, he croaked. The rhythm was speeding up. Magol solemnly nodded, “We fought before the Gods.”, he echoed the defeated warrior’s words. His mocking attitude seemed to have ended along with the fight, there was a certain respect between the two. The drummer was now rapidly striking the taut animal skin, the rhythm was clearly about to reach a climax. The last strike of the drum ended the humming and plunged the room into silence. Only for a second however, “Witness me!”, Gubnar roared, drops of bloody spit flying freely from his mouth. “A GOOD ****!”, the crowd roared, then Magol’s axe chopped the warriors head clean off. I checked the dead warrior with my God’s Eye.

Gubnar, Mountain Orc General (dead)
Monster LVL 28
Skills: Battle Cry, Berserkers Rage, Strength of the Hills, Swordsmanship (advanced)

I was shocked by the stat-line of the orc general. He was, save Nymeria, the strongest creature I had met so far. Nevertheless, he had been easily dispatched by this Magol, who didn’t even sustain a single injury. I moved my revealing eyes over to the victor.

Magol, Mountain Orc Warlord
Monster LVL 38
Skills: Warlords Roar, Rage of the Mountains, Iron-Hide, Axe Wielding (advanced), Dual Wielding (advanced), Leadership

I had to have him! I was damn near salivating at the sight of his abilities. He had come this far by himself; how high could he rise as my general? I had to figure out a way to bring him and his orcs in as my warriors. I could grow them into my own army, bless them with demonic strength to trample all who opposed me. While I was lost in thought, the two orcs that I shared the balcony with finally noticed me. They had previously been drawn in by the fight and the ritual, but now they had returned to their guard duties. “Hey, we have an intruder!”, one of them yelled as they prepared to strike me down. ‘All in.’, I decided and dropped my human form, transforming into my taller, redder, horned Incubus self. I easily evaded their attack and summoned Chains of Darkness from the ceiling, ripping them up from the ground and leaving them dangling helplessly. With the collective attention of all the present warriors I stepped towards the edge of the balcony, took a deep breath, the assumed my Enoch Form.

The +1500% stat boost felt just as exhilarating as it did back when I cast the ritual. I heard the stone balcony groaning and cracking under my increased weight, so I spread my wings and took to the air, flying a circle over the stands before landing in the centre of the colosseum. I rose to my full height, somewhere between 8ft. and 9ft., which left me towering over even Magol, whose eyes had followed me without interruption since I revealed myself. His axes were ready, but he didn’t attack yet. I was about to break into a long speech, when I saw a notification pop up.

Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
7x Medium Incubus EXP gained, +400% by Demon King’s Heart!
Incubus LVL increased from 25 -> 26!

I didn’t mind the free EXP or the level-up, but this meant that Nymeria had likely found a dead end. Had the tunnel continued past the orcs she had most probably seen before they perceived her, she would have come back to meet up with me at the crossroads. In other words, she was on her way here… and fast.

I activated my Silver Tongue skill to make the orcs more susceptible to my words and spoke quickly, filling the room with my booming voice, “My name is Percival, I am here to offer you brave warriors a new future! I can give you the strength to make the world bow before you! You can leave the caves behind and build entire cities!”. A choir of mumbling was the result of my words. This was taking too long, I had to up the ante. “I am also here to warn you! A group of elves is currently attacking this place. They have already slain every orc outside this room. If you remain here, you can fight and die, if you join me, you can live and take **** in the future.”. The choir of voices grew louder, some called me a liar, others cursed the elves. I sought Magol’s eyes, who stared me down with an unreadable expression. “Save your people!”, I implored him directly, “I can bring you out of here.”. I began casting the portal to my Domain, “In this place no elf can reach you. You will be fed, you can train, I will bring you women to multiply your numbers and weapons to increase your fighting power. All I ask for in return is your trust and loyalty.”. The urgency in my voice was genuine, I was sure Nymeria would be here very soon. The warlord was clearly unsure of what to do, his eyes were shifting back and forth between my massive demonic self and the portal I was tearing into the air beside me. “Do you swear it upon your fathers name?”, he finally asked. I honestly couldn’t even remember my father’s name; it was a distant memory I had no access to. “Yes, I swear it on his name.”, I affirmed, “Tell everyone to enter the portal.”.

He did not yet seem entirely convinced. Trusting a non-orc was historically the first step on the path to destruction for a tribe. Suddenly his ears perked up, he heard the same thing that caught my attention, quick steps rapidly approaching through the tunnel above. For one more second, he held my gaze, then he roared, “SILENCE! We go through the portal! Everyone move, NOW!”. The reaction was immediate, I was sure that had something to do with the Leadership skill of the orc. I had barely finished creating the portal when the first orcs reached me and rushed inside. A good dozen of them moved against the tide and stormed up the stairs to the balcony, seemingly intent on either vengeance or securing their tribemates’ retreat. About half of the orcs had passed through the portal, when I heard the sound of battle from above, Nymeria had arrived.

Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
4x Medium Incubus EXP gained, +400% by Demon King’s Heart!

Soon she would reach the balcony and lay her eyes upon the bizarre scene. She was naïve but not stupid, so she would also quickly notice my absence. What conclusions she would reach from there I wasn’t sure, but none of them were good for me.

Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
4x Medium Incubus EXP gained, +400% by Demon King’s Heart!

The remaining orcs rushed through the portal until only Magol remained. He gave me a short nod and declared, “I’m trusting you, demon. Don’t you dare betray me.”, then he stepped through the portal, which I closed behind him. The noise from above was dying down, I had mere seconds until she reached the balcony.

Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
4x Medium Incubus EXP gained, +400% by Demon King’s Heart!

I dropped the Enoch Form and reverted to my humanized Incubus appearance. I picked up one of the axes strewn around me and retrieved Gubnar’s greatsword. ‘Now for the painful part’, I braced myself and then cut my side with the sword, clenching my teeth at the pain. Warm blood spilled forth and wet my clothes. I placed the blade back in the hand of the decapitated orc, then I laid on my back in front of him with my hand weakly closed around the axe. Then I waited, hoping Nymeria wouldn’t question the scene too much.

Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
3x Medium Incubus EXP gained, +400% by Demon King’s Heart!
Incubus LVL increased from 26 -> 27!

I didn’t have to wait for long. The noise stopped and seconds later, Nymeria appeared on the balcony. Her eyes scanned the now empty colosseum and found me, “Victor!”, she gasped. She hurried down the stairs and hopped the railing surrounding the fighting pit, “You fool! I told you to wait for me! You promised!”, she raved as she pulled bandages from her bag and got to work on my wound. “I’m sorry…”, I muttered, making a conscious effort to appear as weak and pitiful as possible, “They surprised me… had to fight in the pit…”. “Don’t speak!”, she instructed me, “Save your strength, it’s over. The other tunnel was a dead-end so all the orcs here are dead.”. Technically true, the surviving orcs were now safe in my Domain. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths; my plan had worked. It was a huge gamble to bet on the orcs believing me and a close call with Nymeria potentially discovering my true nature, but everything had worked out just fine. After my wound was tended to, Nymeria looked to the massive body of Gubnar, then to his removed head and finally to the axe in my hand. “Did you do this?”, she sounded impressed, “I thought you were only a mage.”. “I have many talents.”, I weakly smiled at her, then I let my eyes fall closed and pretended to sleep. I didn’t really need to sleep, but even a demon needed time and rest to heal from a large injury.