For everyone on the Orc Kingdom’s defense line, tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.
A massive shadow rose slowly into the dark sky. Accompanied by the trembling of the earth and rolling billows of thick mist, it instantly obscured everything within sight.
“What… what is happening?”
Soldiers, bleary-eyed and half-asleep, crawled out of their warm bunks, staring agape at the twisting silhouette in the sky. A sense of impending doom locked onto their hearts. Although the monster’s form was so gargantuan they couldn’t see its entirety, the instinctively loathsome power it radiated constantly prodded their sensitive nerves.
“Do not panic!”
Several officers, though their legs were shaking so violently they could barely stand, tried desperately to maintain basic order.
They failed.
Years of “peace” had influenced the minds of the garrisoned soldiers far more deeply than corruption ever could. They hadn’t gripped their weapons in earnest for a long time. This place was called a “front line,” but the defense outposts had effectively become holy sites for smuggling; one could hardly find a soldier with qualified combat skills among them.
Just as the hero Love had fallen into decadence, the elite warriors who were supposed to represent the pinnacle of the Orc Kingdom’s military power had lost themselves in day after day of indulgence.
Thus, when they felt the long-forgotten sting of mortal danger, their choice was obvious.
Thud.
Several soldiers frantically threw down their weapons. “Run! Everyone run for your lives!”
Rushing sounds!
Like a flood bursting through a dam after years of accumulation, led by a few bold deserters, the Orc soldiers abandoned their posts. Under the gaze of that twisted silhouette, they fled in a chaotic frenzy.
“Hey! Wait! Stop!” Seeing the collapse of order, an Orc officer drew his blade in desperation, shouting threats. “Anyone who disobeys orders will be dealt with according to military law!”
“Military law?!” a fleeing soldier shouted, his eyes bloodshot. “We’re all going to die! Who cares about your military law?!”
Swish!
The deserting soldiers turned on their officer as if he were a mortal enemy, drawing their blades and closing in with savage intensity.
“Strange?” The officer’s confusion deepened. “They don’t fear military law, yet they don’t even have the courage to resist the monster?”
No!
Realizing something, the officer looked up at the blurry figure in the sky, which was constantly emitting wisps of black gas. “Their minds are being interfered with!” he judged accurately.
But it was too late.
Psh—
In his moment of distraction, the soldier who had incited the flight swung his weapon, hacking at the superior he had once respected.
“You… you…” The officer clutched his throat in pain. He tried to circulate his mana, only to discover with horror that as a High-Tier practitioner, his strength had been drained dry without him even noticing.
But how?! Even a Legend shouldn’t be able to drain his mana so completely and stealthily!
“Wait… the connection point between my soul and the signal tower… it’s… it’s constantly sucking my mana away!!”
The officer looked closely and found the culprit—the very defense line the Orc Kingdom had been proud of for decades, the “Absolute Line” rumored to be impregnable even against multiple peak Legends. Now, this line, meant to block all enemy attacks, had become the most lethal weapon against its own people!
Bzzzzzt!
The officer watched in despair as the last shred of his mana was siphoned off. He could only watch as his mind-controlled subordinates slowly surrounded him.
“Kill him!” a soldier growled in an unfamiliar, hollow voice.
Stab! Stab! Stab!
“The Shaman… how could he…” At the brink of death, the officer realized the source of it all: the leader of the Orc Kingdom who held supreme control over the defense line.
Boom!
As he took his last breath, the officer’s soul transformed into a speck of light, slowly rising toward the twisted silhouette in the sky.
Similar scenes were playing out across the entire defense line. As the souls of High-Tier practitioners rose one after another, the blurry outline of the monster became clearer. Its hideous fangs opened and closed, its face appearing like a mask of mockery looking down at the pitiful despair of all living things.
And the Great Shaman, who had broken the seal to summon this abominable thing into the world, felt the power within him growing at an incredible rate.
Demigod. A true Demigod.
Green pursed his lips, his expression becoming more solemn. “I suppose I shouldn’t expect anything less from the pillar of the Orc Kingdom, a powerhouse at the peak of the material world. This Phase Two transformation is truly something else.”
Feeling the terrifying atmospheric pressure and witnessing vivid souls losing their will to become the Shaman’s fuel, Green looked at the being who could now warp the very laws of the world simply by standing there.
The Great Shaman had succeeded. However…
“So you’ve gained power and immortality,” Green said indifferently. “But the price for that reward—betraying the people and comrades you once swore to protect—is nothing more than a hollow, rotting shell that only looks magnificent on the outside.”
“Hehe, say what you will.” The Shaman shook his head with disdain. “How could a mortal like you understand the sights seen by a higher existence?”
Clang!
“Enough! Stop this!” General Love’s eyes were red with fury. The hero of the kingdom watched his subordinates and fellow Orcs being sacrificed to an ancient evil, and his rage reached its boiling point. “I will… I will stop you!”
Love roared and lunged straight at the Shaman.
“Stop me?” The Shaman casually raised a finger.
Bang!
General Love’s knees buckled, and he slammed into the ground, unable to stand no matter how hard he struggled.
“Love, oh Love… don’t you understand yet? Compared to true power, the things you hold onto… are just hypocritical illusions. Though, speaking of which, I should thank you.”
The Shaman looked at his former friend with a smile, but his eyes held no pity. “When they were recruiting members, you were their first choice, weren’t you?”
“But you rejected them.”
The Shaman thought back to the past he hated to remember. At that time, though he had been taken as an apprentice by the previous Great Shaman, there were over a hundred such apprentices. Among them, he was the most mediocre, with nothing special about him. In contrast, Love had reached the Legendary rank early and was hailed as the future star of the kingdom. The gap between their futures was like heaven and earth.
But.
“It seems that choices are more important than talent or family background, Love.”
The Shaman still remembered the twisted humiliation he felt when he learned from the recruiter that their first choice was Love, not him—and that Love had even ‘gifted’ him the opportunity by stepping aside. Unlike Love, who had a prestigious background and immense talent, he was a commoner whose talent capped at quasi-Legendary, a “lucky one” who only became an apprentice through a fluke.
In the capital, he realized the gap between himself and Love, his first true friend. To bridge that chasm, he did whatever it took—even discarding the virtues he once admired and falling into darkness. Yet, he was still so far behind.
Until a member of the Circus appeared. After seeing the miraculous power they wielded, he knew it was the chance to truly change his fate. Although their tests were strict and required plenty of “dirty work,” it was all worth it.
“And yet, you just… handed me the opportunity I dreamed of as if it were charity?”
Thud.
The Shaman raised his foot and stepped heavily on General Love. “Hehehe, do you think I should thank you, Love? I believe the poor souls on this defense line, if they knew the truth in the afterlife, would absolutely despise you for the choice you made back then.”
The Shaman’s whispered questions were like poison to the heart. Love gritted his teeth, his face ashen with despair, but he was powerless. He could only watch as the once bustling, noisy defense line fell into a deathly silence.
The Shaman had sacrificed everyone on this line to that ancient evil.
“Great Shaman! Great Shaman!” Nearby, the staff officer and gendarme—the henchmen the Shaman had specifically placed by Love’s side—realized with terror that their own mana was also disappearing.
“Great Shaman, surely you’ve made a mistake! We… we have been loyal to you!” they begged. “Please, for the sake of our service all these years, let us go!”
The Shaman gave them a cold sideways glance. “To achieve great things, one must ignore trifles.”
“I did intend to groom you. But since I was forced to break the seal and summon this Ancient One, other peak Legends of the material world will surely intervene and question me. If you were to say something you shouldn’t…”
“No, no, no! We’ll keep our mouths shut! Not a word—”
Boom!
Before they could finish, they too were turned into points of light and absorbed by the Shaman.
“Sorry, but I only trust the dead.” The Shaman licked his lips with satisfaction. “Now then, Love… it’s time to say goodbye.”
“Is he my target, Love?” Seeing the former hero in such a pathetic state—betrayed by his best friend and watching his people die without even leaving a corpse—Andy felt a rare pang of pity, despite their deep history of hatred.
“No, why am I sympathizing?” Andy looked up at the twisted silhouette and sighed. “Facing a literal Demigod… does a small-time Legend like me even have a chance of surviving? Sorry, Your Highness… it’s because of me that you all…”
“Don’t speak so final, Mr. Andy.” Even in the face of such a desperate situation, Princess Teresa remained confident. “With Mr. Green here, we have nothing to fear.”
Mr. Green?
Green is strong, he even beat the Imperial Envoy, but… a Demigod? The gap between a Demigod and a Legend is wider than the gap between a Legend and a commoner!
Andy sighed. “Sorry, old Commander… I couldn’t clear your name…”
“Wasted enough time. It’s time for an end!” The Shaman finally stopped talking. He raised his hands and shouted, “Great Serpent! I have broken your seal and sacrificed enough souls! Now, I command you: harvest the enemies before me!”
He looked solemnly at the young man whose depth he still couldn’t gauge.
Fwoosh—
In the sky, the massive head of the serpent opened its maw and lunged toward Green. Everything in its path was swallowed by Chaos Power and turned into nothingness.
“An Ancient Evil, huh?” Green rubbed his chin. “Tsk, I knew the life simulation tasks wouldn’t be easy… Your Highness?”
He turned to Teresa. “May I borrow something from you?”
“What is it?” Teresa asked curiously.
“Your sword.” Green explained, “After all, it would be a waste not to use the Apostle Form when I’ve finally activated it.”
Hummmm—
Without waiting for her response, Green familiarly drew her royal sword while simultaneously drawing the blade at his own waist. Both Divine Artifacts erupted with radiance.
“Apostle Form, Activate!”
BOOM!