Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Seeing Berigard and his army retreat orderly, Berirock gave the order to the orc king's army to attack them. However, he was stopped by Berimond once again.

"What is the meaning of this Berimond? Are you siding with Berigard? Where did your stance to neutrality go?".

Berimond did not mind the other general's outburst and firmly put down his words. "Let them go Berirock, there is no point in fighting amongst each other now. Even the orc king thinks so and thus left the battlefield. If you still want to continue the fight, there is a battleground ready for you three days from now".

"Another thing, help me relay this to the orc king, I will be leaving now to go back to my post in the northern front. Since the Blackfield is not very away from where my place is, I'm concerned about my soldiers that are stationed there. Tell him that I will be waiting for the orders he has for me"

Berimond did not wait for Berirock to respond and turned to leave right away.

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Inside the underground chamber, on top of the altar surrounded by the carcass of the gigantic beast. Belgarious had an aghast look on his face as he held a transmission conch in his hand and conversed with the one on the other end of the transmission.

"Please wait a moment, what do you mean that this is the end of our cooperation? Didn't you say that my potential is something worth nurturing? I have even ordered one of my subordinates to take down that dungeon for you as per your orders".

"I have been faithful to you Lord Gufardus. Please give the orc; No, just me one more chance, I will prove it to you that it was not a mistake on your part to choose me" His tone at this moment was so humble that if a passing orc heard that, they would never be able to believe it.

"Belgarious… it seems like you still don't understand. You were worth something only because you are the orc king. However, that too has run its course and now I deem your race to be useless to me. Isn't it only natural for me to discard those that have no merit for me?".

Hearing the cold words that came from the other side of the transmission conch, Belgarious tone turned a notch furious.

"So you were only using me all this time?" he asked.

"Using you? Isn't that the same for you too? We were both using each other to achieve our goals… Gagaga".

"Was it the king of the ogre tribe Gil-Garna? What kind of trade did he offer you?" knowing that there was no point in wasting his words, Belgarious wanted to know the reason behind why he was abandoned by his patron who has supported him from the time he was just an ordinary Diluvian High Orc.

The voice behind the transmission conch was silent for a while before speaking.

"You seem to have misunderstood something. Gil-Garna wasn't the reason why I decided to abandon the orc clan. There is no reason for me to tell you that but well, you will find it out anyways soon.".

The transmission ended here, leaving behind an angry Belgarious who rampaged around the altar. He wasn't angry because he had been abandoned but because everything that he dreamt of, his lofty ambitions were all broken apart at this moment.

Without the protection of Gufardus, their tribe of Diluvian High Orcs was destined to get defeated in the upcoming war against the Ogre tribe.

The ogre tribe had grown far too strong in these past few hundred years with their leader Gil-Garna joining the ranks of the Seven Kings. There was a vast disparity of strength between the two tribes and if not for the cooperation Belgarious had with Gufardus, another one of the Seven Kings, their tribe would have long been subdued or perished under the hands of the ogre tribe.

A disaster class being is strong; however, they aren't the top predators of the food chain in the Ghastly Winding Forest. It was the Seven Kings of the forest who dictated the fate of the other monster clans inside the forest.

No matter how the tribe of Diluvian High Orcs tribe struggled, their fate was already sealed.

"Should I just run away from here?" the thought of running away from the ghastly winding forest, flashed briefly inside Belgarious's mind. The demon continent would be an ideal place if he wanted to run, the Great Tundra desert was just behind the ghastly winding forest.

However, if he did run, he would be losing his status, territory and everything that was associated with his status as the orc king. What's more, he would have to live a life of a deserter. Worse, if the powerful demon nobles found him, he would be subjugated or rendered a pawn for them.

On the other hand, if he decided to stay, his fate would be worse. The ogre and the orc tribe were enemies since a long time ago, the relationship was so bad that they were like ice and fire, incompatible with each other.

Both tribes had shed a lot of blood waging wars with each other and vying for dominance. Now that the orc was about to be destroyed, he as the last king was sure to be used to make an example to destroy the morale of the rest of the tribe.

<strong>BANG…</strong> shattering a part of the altar with a powerful punch, Belgarious turned towards the enormous carcass behind him.

"Gil-Garna—don't think that I don't know what you are after. Since you have already assimilated with your inheritance, you are after the one that our Diluvian High orc tribe has. GUGAGA… I wonder what kind of expression you would make if the thing that you want is no longer there?".

The orc king issued a loud gruffy laugh. There was a reason why some of the particular tribes living in the western region of the ghastly winding forest were able to raise to the level of cataclysmic class and become one of the Seven Kings.

It was the existence of the bodies of the powerful beasts that had died and left their bodies here during the ancient times that the ones inhabiting this place were able to become strong by absorbing and inheriting the residual power inside it.

Except for a few, most of the Seven Kings had raised their class and evolved through this method.

The territory of the Diluvian High Orcs also had one, the huge carcass that released a powerful aura, was one of them. Belgarious did not know how powerful the beast this carcass once belonged to was when it was alive. However, he could tell that it was more powerful than a cataclysmic class.

"If only I had the talent to absorb all of that energy inside it and gain its inheritance, I wouldn't be oppressed by that Gil-Garna. So be it, if I cannot inherit it, nobody would be able to".

Belgarious always had his eyes on the inheritance, he did everything within his powers and even became Gufardus' subordinate just so he could stand a chance to become the orc king and be able to absorb the inheritance.

In the Diluvian High Orc's tribe, only the king has the right to try and absorb the inheritance and power residing within the carcass. The existence of the inheritance is only ever passed onto the next orc king and is kept a tight secret from everybody else.

Even Belgarious wouldn't have known about it if not for Gufardus.

After sorting out his thoughts, the orc king sat on his throne and pondered over his next set of actions. In any case, he had three days of time before the ogre army marched through the Blackfield.

He could utilise this time to assemble all the orcs near the northern front in an attempt to gather everyone's attention there while he on the other hand would flee from the opposite direction.

While the orc king was making his own plans, in the southern front of the orc's territory, Berigard and his army had arrived back to their village.

After asking the other to return back to their stations, Berigard ascended his black mountain and entered his house which was a peculiar dome-like structure. Now all alone, the orc general looked at the empty space in front of him and uttered—

"Come out, I know you have been observing us for a while. I have thought over your offer and have decided to accept it".

His voice fell on seemingly nothing, and there was no movement for a while. Just when it seemed like Berigard was talking to himself, four figures appeared out of thin air as if they were part of the shadows.

The one leading them was a demon noble with a glaring crimson eyes and long black hair. Following behind him were three beautiful maids donning battle armour over their outfits. The group of four stood opposite Berigard who was trying to assess their powers.

"Fufu… it's good that you have decided to accept the offer. However, I'm afraid that my previous offer is no longer valid. You were too late or should I say the situation has changed" the demon or rather Simon said flashing a smile.

The words and from the tone both parties talked with each other, it could be interpreted that it wasn't the first time they interacted with each other.

"What do you mean?" Berigard narrowed his eyes while at the same time raising his guard.

"It's simple… if you still want my help, some of the conditions of the offer I gave you earlier need to be changed" the demon replied shrugging his shoulders.

"What conditions?" Berigard asked.