Princess Teresa of the Empire was currently enduring the intimidating, predatory gaze of the Orc General.
Although years of being away from the front lines had left this hero of the Orc Kingdom out of shape—bloated and jowly, with no trace of the valiant, robust physique the Orcs typically championed—the power of a Legendary practitioner had not faded in the slightest.
Her instincts screamed that General Love was no benevolent figure.
Gurgle, gurgle.
Picking up a wine bottle, General Love didn’t bother with a glass. He ripped off the cap and drank deeply, savoring the sweet liquid.
“Ha!” After a long draught, he shook his head, set the bottle down, and wiped the wine from his chin with the back of his hand.
“The rest of you, get out,” Love barked at the waiting staff officer and gendarmes. “As for you, hehe… my dear human lady from afar, welcome to my humble abode.”
His dark pupils flickered with a burning heat. He looked at Teresa not as a sentient being equal to an Orc, but as a delectable piece of meat.
“Yes, sir!”
Clicking their heels together, the staff officer and gendarme saluted in unison. They acted as if it were perfectly normal for a theater commander to indulge in his private life and ignore military duties for pleasure.
Thud.
The bedroom doors slammed shut.
General Love carried the reek of alcohol, but for some reason, he didn’t do what Teresa expected. According to Green’s scripted plan, he should have lunged at her immediately. Instead, he sauntered over to his wide bed, sprawled out comfortably, and gazed at her with leisure.
“Take off the cloak.”
Finally, as if the alcohol had delayed his processing speed, Love demanded to see her true face.
Strange.
Teresa studied General Love with curiosity. According to Andy’s intelligence, this “hero” was an utter disgrace who completely neglected his responsibilities.
But now… after just a few minutes, Teresa sensed something off. The way General Love looked at her was certainly greedy and nauseating, making no effort to hide his dark desires. However, his performance was also filled with a contradictory unnaturalness—as if everything he was doing was a conscious effort to fit a specific stereotype.
“Yes, he’s acting.”
Teresa found the flaw. General Love was acting too impatient. Yes, it was normal for Orc elites to covet human slaves, but did he need to be this urgent? This unsightly, like some lecherous ghost?
She felt a sharp spike of confusion. Still, she maintained her role—the terrified girl forced to submit to a wicked Orc.
“General… Lord General, I understand,” she said, her voice trembling.
Swish.
Teresa finally revealed her true face. That face, which even by human standards was flawless—the one the Capital hailed as the “Empire’s Brightest Jewel”—shimmered with light. Every movement she made radiated a fatal charm.
“Good, good, good!” General Love barked a series of approvals. He narrowed his eyes and asked, “It seems my staff officer didn’t lie to me. He found a top-tier beauty this time. Don’t worry; as long as you serve me obediently, your friends will be fine. You might even receive unexpected rewards.”
His hearty laughter echoed through the room.
Yet, this logical progression only deepened Teresa’s suspicion. It was wrong. It was all too wrong.
Ever since General Love entered her sight, he appeared to be a corrupt, decadent noble obsessed with wine and women. But that was the problem: he was too textbook. He was like a one-to-one replica of a villain from a bard’s tale, lacking any original spark.
Corruption. As an Imperial Princess and a border commander, Teresa had seen plenty of it. She knew that the villains in village taverns and folk stories were often flattened versions of complex realities. Putting a fictional caricature into reality created this… unnaturalness.
It was exactly like when Andy played a border merchant.
Wait!
A flurry of thoughts hit her. Andy—a Legendary powerhouse—had cast aside his dignity for years, consistently playing various roles for the sake of revenge.
Was it possible that this “hero,” a fellow Legend, was also playing a part? The role of a “directionless, corrupt former hero”? Obsessed with wine and sex, indifferent to the state of the military…
But why? Andy did it for Anna, the former commander, and his fallen comrades. What was General Love doing it for?
The Great Shaman, the command of the front lines after retirement, the Eighth Legion of years ago… as she recalled the buried history Andy had shared, Teresa felt she was touching a hidden truth.
“Hey, human girl, don’t stand so far… hic!“
Drowning in alcohol, General Love seemed to have lost his basic judgment. He paid no mind to Teresa’s silence or her thinking; he showed none of the vigilance expected of a Legend. He simply let out a drunken belch.
“Let me… let me get a good look at you, hehe.”
Thump.
Love struggled to stand up from the bed, swaying as he walked toward Teresa.
“You… what’s your name?” he asked with a lecherous grin.
Fine. I’ll interrogate him for the complex intelligence once I’ve restrained him.
Teresa narrowed her eyes, deciding to stick to the original plan. “General, my name is…”
She drifted toward him, looking for the perfect moment to deliver the finishing blow.
An opening!
Finding a flaw was easy; he seemed completely consumed by his vices. Teresa’s eyes flashed, and she struck.
Clang!
A royal sword hidden within a magical device materialized out of thin air, thrusting straight toward his undefended chest.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The full-force strike of a High-Tier practitioner tore through the air, carrying abundant mana. Enhanced by a peerless blade that had ascended to the rank of a Divine Artifact, the strike burst forth with power comparable to a quasi-Legendary.
BOOM!!!
To Teresa’s shock, her fierce offensive met no resistance. The drunken Orc general seemed truly defenseless, watching with blank eyes as her thrust pierced his heart.
Squeltch.
The royal sword transfixed the general’s bloated body. Even the armor he wore was shattered by the shockwave of her massive mana.
“Strange?”
Teresa looked hesitantly at the situation—this was already veering off-script. Gritting her teeth, she followed through with the plan to activate her other magical devices.
“Cognitive Interference System, activate!”
Bzzzzt!
She pressed a crystal. A violent white light flashed. In an instant, countless runes collided with the signals from the Orc defensive towers, tearing a gap in their “impregnable” wall.
Of course, if other Orc technicians were on hand to repair it, the gap would close immediately. But that wasn’t Teresa’s goal. The next phase was for Green and Andy to activate the “smuggled equipment” the Orc staff officer had already brought into the manor.
But… this lack of resistance felt hollow, like punching a beanbag. It didn’t feel real. And General Love…
Teresa looked at the General. He stared back at her with hollow, soulless eyes. He didn’t make a sound. He looked like a walking corpse.
Dead?
Impossible. He’s a Legend. Even if his heart is pierced, even if this strike could technically kill one…
“Hehehehe.”
As Teresa puzzled over it, General Love suddenly opened his eyes and let out a low chuckle. It was a laugh of pain, but for some reason, it carried a heavy sense of desolation. It was… just like when Andy had wept while telling her and Green about the betrayal of the Eighth Legion and the false charges fabricated by the Capital.
“So, you finally decided to kill me, my friend?”
Love spoke. “And you specifically found a human to send me on my way? Is this meant to be irony?”
Sizzle.
Love raised an arm—swollen and bloated from fat—and grabbed Teresa’s royal sword.
Crack.
BAM!
Teresa’s eyes widened. That sword—a Divine Artifact—was actually wrenched out by Love and slammed onto the ground.
And more than that! She saw fine, hairline fractures appearing on the blade.
“Prosper by this, perish by this?” General Love ignored Teresa, looking out the bedroom window at the pitch-black night sky as if searching for something. He blinked.
“A pity, Madam Magician. In my entire life… I have never believed in a thing called fate!”
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