Chapter 788: The Orc Lord Came in Person (Patreon)

“You'll have to torture it out of me!” the Vice General roared.

“That's exactly the plan.”

Luke pressed his palm against the orc’s forehead and activated [Curse]. Once he’d gotten everything he needed, he killed the Vice-General.

He’d learned two important things. First, the vice-generals had no idea the heirs were missing. As far as they were concerned, Kobi and Rheera were still somewhere in the orc kingdom under Gurgal’s protection.

Makes sense. The Orc King isn’t going to announce that he lost the one thing keeping him on the throne.

The second thing mattered more. The Orc Lord had been sent to this continent to conquer human lands. He wanted beasts, ore, slaves, and whatever other resources he could get his hands on. The orc kingdom needed more power if it wanted to compete with the other Orc Kings.

Basically Vikings with levels. Raid another continent, steal everything that isn’t nailed down, then go home and use the loot to keep killing each other.

Now he just had to wait and see if any orcs showed up at the camp. As he walked away, he kept thinking about the same problem.

The Orc Lord didn’t tell his generals. Or maybe he only told the ones he trusts. Now I need to find out whether any of Gurgal’s generals know about Kobi and Rheera.

The next day, Luke watched the wooden walls taking shape. The goblins supervised construction since they were good at that kind of work, while ratfolk dragged logs on crude wooden sleds that groaned over the dirt.

“Come on, put your back into it,” one called to another.

Everyone seemed to be working hard. Elsewhere in the settlement, trees were being cut down to make room for new wooden houses that would eventually go to the humans. For now, each race would stay in its own designated area.

“We ratfolk are very good diggers,” Mivi said as she walked beside Luke.

King Tarvik’s daughter had become his personal logistics assistant, and she was damn good at it. She carried a clipboard everywhere, taking notes as she looked from one construction site to the next.

“Dwarves are good with stone and mining. Goblins are good with wood.”

“And you guys learn fast.”

As Mivi passed, several ratfolk glanced at her tail, then at Luke, with obvious hope. Over the last few days, Luke had made a serious effort to help them regrow the tails that had been cut off. With Angie’s help, the injured ratfolk were slowly being healed. A normal healer couldn’t have done it, but Angie could. The problem was time. For ratfolk, a tail was basically a limb, and regrowing one completely wasn’t easy.

Farther ahead, Pip was practicing with a bow. That had encouraged some of the humans with suitable classes to start training too. The dwarves had built practice targets, and arrows now thudded into wood at steady intervals.

Luke and Mivi walked through the ratfolk section while she explained more about how their little kingdom worked.

“Chickens?” Luke asked.

“Yes. We had a lot of chickens. The search party should be bringing some back.”

“Chickens are welcome.”

Otto’s villagers didn’t have any chickens left. They’d all died during the first orc attack, but they still had cows.

“The human village next door has cows, and they know how to make cheese. You could trade resources.”

Mivi looked toward the human section. “Do you think they would trade with us?”

“If they like cheese and chicken, they’ll figure it out.”

Mivi seemed to take that seriously.

Luke provided food for everyone every day, but only what he could pull from the earth. He also had his people serve meat from the beasts he’d killed in the Underworld. Even so, getting the humans and the so-called monsters to trade with each other seemed like a good way to keep them from seeing each other as enemies.

“Let me ask you something, Mivi. Your race is called ratfolk. Why do you call yourselves ratmen?”

“That’s what humans used to call us. Eventually, we started using it too.”

Could that have something to do with their race skill, Rapid Assimilation?

Luke thought about lab rats. Train one long enough, and it could learn to run a maze for cheese. The ratfolk’s [Rapid Assimilation] allowed children to inherit some of the knowledge their parents had acquired.

If I invested in ratfolk education for a few years... was I going to accidentally create Planet of the Apes with rats?

Maybe ratfolk hadn’t always been this intelligent. Generation after generation of [Rapid Assimilation] could have taken them from mindless monsters to something almost human.

Darwin would’ve had a field day with these people.

“I’ll stick with ratfolk,” Luke said. “I’m guessing ratman came with plenty of insults attached.”

Several ratfolk bowed as Luke and Mivi passed. Every so often, though, a female would approach, give Luke a light pat on the back, hold his gaze for a moment, wink, then hurry away.

After the third one, Luke finally asked, “Mivi, why does that keep happening?”

He watched the latest female hurry off.

“Is that some kind of greeting?”

Mivi went quiet and looked away. “You... really don’t know?”

“Uh... no.”

She cleared her throat. Her ears twitched, and her tail began swaying strangely behind her. “Please don’t make me explain this.”

Luke stared at her. “Mivi.”

“Well... it’s mating season, Lord Moon.”

What?

“That’s how they choose a male to... you know. Mate with.”

"Wow. You’re being sexually harassed", Artemis said.

“What do you mean?”

“I... would really rather not talk about this, Lord Moon.” Mivi looked more uncomfortable by the second. Her tail was whipping back and forth now, and her ears wouldn’t stop twitching. “Please ask my brother to explain it.”

“Oh. Sure.”

"Nice work, Luke. Trying to talk about sex with a rat princess."

Near nightfall, Luke went to Kren’s cabin. Kren was a private person and didn’t look particularly happy to have company.

“Hey.”

“I’m not changing my mind. I will not become your citizen,” Kren said immediately.

“Relax. I’m here about something else. Apparently I’m not the only one in danger. Every guy in the human village is too. I need to know if that’s true.”

Kren somehow looked even more embarrassed than Mivi had. “It is...”

“I haven’t even told you what I’m talking about.”

“You didn’t have to.”

Luke quickly learned that female ratfolk in mating season were terrifying. Apparently, extreme stress could trigger the same condition, and there had even been cases of female ratfolk attacking human men on isolated roads.

“Hold on, man. You’re gonna have to explain this better.”

“The females get terrifying when they’re like this, Lord Moon. They won’t leave the male they choose alone.”

Kren told him stories. Far too many stories.

Poor bastards. They’d go into the forest for a quest and end up kidnapped by horny rat women.

Luke took a deep breath. “Okay, man. Congratulations. This is your problem now too. Help me keep the human guys safe.”

The next day, Luke moved through the forest with Nara and Norn at his side. Ahead, between the trees, stood another orc encampment.

Time to see what ten percent actually looks like in a fight.

[Dark Lord’s March]: Members of the Dark Lord’s Army gain a 10% increase in power and a 10% bonus to experience gained while fighting near the Dark Lord. Within the Kingdom’s zone of influence, this bonus remains active even when the Monarch is absent, allowing his forces to defend the territory with greater strength during invasions, sieges, or attacks against the Kingdom Core.

***

Kargan the War Wolf arrived at Lord Rokhan’s fortress with only his pack. The throne room was empty except for Kargan, his pack, and the Orc Lord.

Kargan kept his head down as he gave his report. “We spent days trying to track the remnants of the Orc King’s army. We even attacked some of their bases. But we couldn’t find the Royal Family’s Treasure.”

Rokhan said nothing. Veins bulged along his arms, neck, and face.

“You found them, and then you lost them?!”

Rokhan ripped a set of chains free from beside a stone pillar and charged. “You ruined everything!”

The chains struck Kargan once, then again and again. He screamed but held his ground, taking the punishment while his pack kept their heads bowed and trembled in silence.

“I’m sorry,” he forced out. “I tried to find them again. They vanished.”

“That is not an excuse!”

Rokhan stopped long enough to look at the wolves. “They’re guilty too!”

He raised the chains toward them, but Kargan immediately stepped in front of his pack.

“Stop, Father! Don’t.”

Rokhan stared at him with contempt. “If you stand in front of them, you’ll take twice their punishment.”

Kargan didn’t look back at his pack. He stayed where he was, and the chains came down again.

***

Morning had come by the time Rokhan ordered Kargan and his soldiers to leave the base. Rokhan gave the teleportation array one last look. Controlling it mattered less now that his scouts had reported Gurgal’s fleet approaching in force.

Once the Orc King had the Treasure back, nothing would stop him from tearing across the continent. That forced Rokhan to change his plans, but he wasn’t beaten. He’d lost an advantage, nothing more.

“Eat, little one,” he said to the enormous larva.

It was larger than a horse. The moment Rokhan brought the blood-soaked meat close, the larva began thrashing on the cart. He tossed the meat toward it, and the creature tore into it greedily.

“Grow. Keep growing.”

The orcs hauled the larva along on a massive cart, the same way their Lord transported all his larvae. They would eat almost anything. Feed them enough, and they would grow big. Feed them more, and they would grow strong.

Rokhan marched through the forest without stopping, his forces following close behind as they advanced toward a fortified human city. If he couldn’t win through the Treasure, he would win through levels. He would conquer the continent before Gurgal did, then feed his generals powerful, nutritious humans until they leveled up.

When they reached the city, Rokhan strode through the ranks and took his place at the front. Human soldiers watched from atop the walls, weapons at the ready. The gates were sealed, and the city had clearly prepared for a siege.

Rokhan smiled. “Today, I’m going to teach you how to conquer a human city!”

Then he charged. The ground shook beneath his feet as arrows streaked down from the walls, some bouncing harmlessly off him. A cannon fired, and the shot slammed into Rokhan’s chest, but he barely slowed. Another cannon fired, then another. Arrows and cannon fire hammered him from the walls, but none of it mattered.

Rokhan accelerated and leaped, clearing the wall in a single bound. He crashed onto a stone tower, smashing part of it to rubble. Below, the human soldiers had fallen back, weapons trembling in their hands.

Rokhan roared, and several soldiers broke ranks before he even reached them. He charged into their formation, sending men flying as the rest scattered around him. Walls crumbled beneath his blows as he pushed through the defenses and reached the city gate, where a single punch smashed through it and cleared the way for his army.

He turned toward his forces and roared, “ADVANCE!”

The orcs answered with a roar of their own and poured through the shattered gate. The city would fall. Its people would be devoured, and then they would move on to the next city, and the next, until they were strong enough to crush the human kingdoms.

One of the generals approached him with a smile. “My Lord.”

His axe came down, but Rokhan caught the traitor’s arm before the blade reached him. The general strained against his grip, but Rokhan’s arm didn’t budge.

“Attack him!” the general shouted.

His vice-generals obeyed and rushed forward, but Rokhan crushed the traitor’s arm and turned on the others with a roar. He smashed one vice-general aside, then another, until none were left standing.

Even with his arm destroyed, the general came at him again. Rokhan answered with his fists, hammering him until he could no longer stand. Then he hoisted him into the air for the others to see and tore him apart.

“I do not tolerate traitors!”

He devoured the general’s head, spat the pieces onto the ground, then paced in front of the others, staring each general down. No one moved.

“We will conquer the human kingdoms!”

The generals roared their agreement, and this time, no one dared object.

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