Dungeon Of Pride, Laplace

"The likes of us aren't qualified to question the objective of commander. Just do as you are told and don't try to pry for information" One of the orcs standing at the front who seemed to be the leader of this group spoke in a harsh tone that shut the ones conversing. Even his presence was stronger than the ones behind him indicating that they were not on the same level. 

Simon who was hiding behind a tree on an elevation at a safe distance was keenly listening to the bits and pieces of their conversation and became increasingly interested in their objective. He did not know what their motive behind mobilising so many warriors for but he did know that it wasn't something simple.

At this moment, his original goal of hunting orcs for experience already flew out of his mind.

After all of the fifty or so Diluvian High Orcs mobilised at the town square, the one at the front who seemed to be regarded as the commander by the other orcs, stepped forward and rallied the crowd assembled in front of him.

The Orc commander had an impressive build and wore armour that outshined all the others around it. Even from this distance, Simon could feel the vast strength and presence the orc released.

He was sure that the gaze he had felt the other time while he was getting out of the territory of the high orcs was none other than the orc commander's. The orc commanders strength and level was by far the highest amongst the group at level 384.

After rallying the group, under the leadership of the orc commander the group set out deeper towards the forest. Simon who was silently following the group from a distance, kept at it for an hour or so before spotting another group of similar strength coming from another direction.

The one leading that group was similarly another orc commander. The two groups met with each other before proceeding forward, its two commanders at the forefront discussing something.

"Buhaha, Bellock it seems that the strength of your army is lesser than mine… buhahaha" the orc commander of the other group looked at Bellock and commented.

Bellock who was the commander of the army that Simon had started to follow first kept his silence and did not bother to reply.

Seeing that Bellock did not bother to entertain him, Belmarch spat at the ground before changing the topic. "It looks like Sir Berigard wants to move forward his plan and subjugate it before the other two generals make their move".

Belmarch said contemplating over the instructions he had received a few weeks ago.

"We are Sir Berigard's loyal servants and shall aid him in whatever objective he wants to achieve" Bellock who was keeping his silence finally opened his mouth and spoke few words with absolute seriousness.

Belmarch had a similar expression on his face as he nodded and said with great solemnity "Even if we have to lay our lives down we must subjugate it to make the work of sir Berigard easier". The two commanders silently walked forward, their armies followed behind.

"Buhaha, speaking of which Bellock I heard some rumours saying an intruder had wrecked havoc at the borders of your territory?" Belmarch asked smiling.

Bellock did not answer and simply bared his fangs in annoyance. He wanted to crush that intruder last time but before he even arrived, the intruder was already gone. At that time he had no choice but to look at the intruder's departing back.

Since he allowed the intruder to return back unharmed, the rumours about him allowing an intruder to barge in so casually spread far and wide inside the high orc's territory. Naturally, Belmarch who was of similar standing as him and governed a part of the territory for the orc king was aware of it.

The Diluvian Orc army silently marched forward and before long a huge mountain thousands of meters in height came into view. The mountain was extremely dark and stuck out like a sore thumb around the surrounding.

Hundreds of dead trees dotted the mountain and a steep stairs that led all the way to the top was carved into it. No matter how one looked at it, the mountain clearly looked very odd which explained that it was not natural.

The mountain was created by someone and wasn't something that was naturally formed. The orc armies stopped at the base of the mountain and patiently waited for someone or something to arrive.

Simon who was following the trail made by the orc army, perked his senses and looked at the mountain covering his view. The moment he laid eyes on it, he could feel a vast amount of mana surrounding it.

The phenomenon immediately made him aware that the mountain was created by someone's magic.

"Is this the base of that orc general named Berigard? To have created this big of a mountain… how vast is the mana pool of that person?" Simon wondered as he carefully hid his presence. If his [Mental Map] was correct, he was already quite deep inside the high orc's territory and it wouldn't be surprising to find incredibly strong beings around here.

Revealing his presence here and at this moment, would be nothing short of suicide. There was an army of orcs in front of him whose levels were more than 300, not to mention the two commanders both above level 380.

There was also the unknown orc general Berigard whose might was powerful enough to subordinate all of them.

While Simon was silently observing them, a figure started descending the stairs from the mountain top. The dull thuds of its footsteps rang across the surroundings mysteriously and a dark sombre aura descended.

The two orc commanders bowed their heads and performed a salute with their weapons while the orc army behind them immediately kneeled.

The figure that descended the mountain had a lean and thin build that couldn't even be matched with your average high orcs. Red skin and a head full of ash grey hair was tied neatly behind him. The person was wearing a high grade thin armour made carefully with some unknown monsters hide. It had pointy ears, humanised face and orc like features.

"We welcome you sir Berigard" Bellock and Belmarch shouted with all their strength.

Similar to his hair, Berigard's eyes which shined with highly intelligent light was also ash grey in colour. He was holding a wooden staff embedded with many ornaments and hung multiple talismans on his neck. He glanced at the army od orcs before levitating and landing in front of the two orc commanders.

"Hmm… Bellock, Belmarch I hope that you lot are prepared. The enemy we are going to subjugate won't be an easy one and there might be multiple deaths. Are you ready to follow me?" Berigard said taking a deep glance at the two warriors in front of him.

Bellock simply bowed his head while Belmarch bravely thumped his chest and declared "There is no more question to ask. I'm ready to die to realise the grand ambitions of sir Berigard".

Nodding his head at those words, Berigard was just about to give his further orders when suddenly he knitted his brows. For a second there, he felt the presence and gaze of a foreign entity land on his person. But it was very subtle and stayed on him for a fraction of a second before disappearing.

'Was it my imagination? No, there are no such thing' realising that something was off, his ash-grey eyes scanned all around the surrounding and his snout nose smelled for any foreign odour.

Although his nose wasn't as big as the other orcs, his sense of smell was even keener than the high orcs. Seeing that their general was suddenly acting a little strange, they voiced out to him. But their call elicited no reaction from Berigard. He kept on with it before his search ended up with no result.

'Strange, I definitely felt something… could it really be my imagination? Anyways I must focus on the more important things right now' thinking internally Berigard dissolved his line of thought before focusing on his army.

"Alright prepare to march we are going towards the Northern region of the forest" immediately after declaring that, he levitated up and started heading towards that direction.

ROOOARRR… the army of orcs roared before marching behind their two commanders leaving behind a huge cloud of dust.

THUMP… THUMP… His heart pounding like crazy, Simon who was hiding behind a distant dried up tree finally came out of his place. Sweat rolled down his skin and a rare look of dread and excitement flashed on his face.

Earlier when the orc general showed its appearance and descended down the mountain, Simon couldn't help but get curious and matter-of-factly used Analysis on him. However, even he didn't expect to get such a result not to mention evoke such an intense reaction from the orc general from this small action of his.

The moment he realised his action had been noticed by Berigard, Simon quickly snuffed his presence with his new skill [Hide Presence] and hid behind the shadow of the tree.

Powerful and concentrated mana spread all over the surrounding from the orc general and scanned the area for any traces of intruder before swiftly receding. The level and power of the orc general was so high that Simon for a second there thought that he had been found out and was preparing to charge out of this place at a moments notice.

Fortunately, his unconventional tactics of covering himself in monster excrement had paid off and completely covered his natural scent which would have otherwise given him away.