Doncic had been living in peace.
He ate when he wanted to eat, slept when he wanted to sleep, and destroyed when he wanted to destroy.
That was Doncic's daily life.
Among the ogres of the North, there was no being as large and strong as he. Before even reaching adulthood, he had become the chieftain of his kind, and though many ogres who feared him banded together and came at him, he smashed them all to bits.
Doncic became the ogre chieftain, the Ogre Lord, and ruled over the northern forest.
That was until a creature called the Emperor of the tiny humans appeared.
"Doncic, was it? The North is mine."
"Nonsense. This, my land."
Ogres used the common continental language. Though their intelligence wasn't high, making detailed communication difficult, ever since an ancient Ogre Lord learned human speech, they had continued to use the continental language.
"Oh? You speak the language of humans?"
"Ogres, no language. Human language, use."
"I see. Quite clever, Doncic."
"Flattery, speak."
Normally, Doncic would have charged at the humans who invaded his forest and stomped them all to pieces, but there was a reason he could not do so.
It was because of the two humans standing to the Emperor's left and right.
"Grrr..."
He instinctively let out a threatening growl, but the two showed no reaction.
Even without fighting, he could tell. The two possessed strength equal to his.
No—perhaps, they were even stronger.
For Doncic, it was a shock that turned his world upside down.
How could these small, weak humans be so strong?
To him, strength was proportional to size.
He was the largest among the ogres, and having never seen anything bigger than himself, Doncic believed he was the strongest in the world.
And yet, these humans—smaller than a newborn ogre—radiated a scent of power he could not comprehend.
The human Emperor spoke.
"The North is mine, Doncic. Do you object?"
"Objection, exists. This, my land."
"Even if it's mine?"
"Grrr..."
One of Doncic's defining traits was that he was unusually intelligent for an ogre. He had both great strength and the ability to make rational judgments, which is why he could reign as the absolute Ogre Lord.
Doncic realized he had to cooperate with the human Emperor.
He couldn't win against these humans.
In any case, submitting to the strong was the nature of ogres.
He had no pride to speak of.
"Very well, Doncic. If you become my vassal, I shall entrust you with the northern forest, and I will regularly provide you with food. In return, you need only do me favors when I ask. That's not difficult, is it?"
"Food, curious."
"You there."
At the Emperor's gesture, humans came from behind, pulling carts up to Doncic.
"You may eat as much of this as you like."
The carts were filled with plump black cattle.
Though he occasionally caught cows wandering the forest, he had never seen such massive ones before.
Doncic began drooling, desperate to eat, but the Emperor stopped him, laughing heartily.
"Wait, Doncic. I'll make it even tastier."
"Taste, want."
Then a human mage stepped forward and began roasting the entire cow. He scattered mysterious powders over the meat.
Before long, the beef was charred to perfection.
"Try it."
With trembling hands, Doncic picked it up.
The scent was so overwhelming, he could hardly maintain his sanity.
The moment he took a bite, his eyes flew open.
Doncic murmured.
"Taste, supreme. Very, excited."
"If you become my vassal, you'll get to eat things like this all the time."
"Much thought. Doncic, eat, think."
"Yes, yes. Take your time and eat."
While eating, Doncic kept a watchful eye on the two humans standing beside the Emperor.
One wore a mask, his face hidden, and the other grinned at him slyly.
"Your Majesty. Maybe we should rough him up a bit to keep him in line?"
"No need. Yalta. Doncic is a clever ogre."
The smug expression and insolent tone of that human made Doncic want to tear him apart, but he was wise and capable of restraint.
He knew well that if the masked human joined the fight, he'd be at a disadvantage.
And he didn't want to risk never tasting the Emperor's heavenly food again.
Doncic made his decision.
"Your Majesty, loyalty."
"Oh! As expected, Doncic. Clever indeed…"
"Most grateful."
"Eat your fill."
"No shame. Two cattle, wish."
"Very well. Give him another!"
"Loyalty, loyalty."
Doncic submitted to the Emperor immediately.
He had always been skilled at currying favor since he was young. That was how he was able to learn combat techniques and forest knowledge from the previous Ogre Lord.
"Yes, yes. Eat all you like."
Then that insolent human called Yalta spoke again.
"Your Majesty, I think it's a pig, not an ogre."
Doncic replied. He could no longer hold back.
"You, human. Very rude."
"Yalta. Enough. Doncic will calm down."
"Ogre tattling now, huh?"
"You, smash."
"Wanna try?"
"Now, good."
As Doncic and Yalta growled at each other, the masked knight stepped in to mediate.
"You are before His Majesty. Both of you, show proper decorum."
Doncic instinctively sensed that the masked knight was stronger than Yalta.
In any case, that's how Doncic became a vassal of the Emperor.
"Then, Doncic. I shall invite you to the Imperial Palace next time. Until then, be well."
"Your Majesty too, long life."
"Yes, yes. Hahaha!"
The Emperor laughed heartily as he departed.
Even after that, Doncic's life didn't change much.
He still ate when he wanted, slept when he wanted, and destroyed when he wanted.
Only now, he regularly ate the black cattle sent by the Emperor, and occasionally, when summoned, he would rampage through human cities. For that, he received even more varied food as a reward.
Life as the Emperor's vassal was satisfying.
So Doncic lived in peace.
Until one day.
An unpleasant aura was felt from beyond the forest. His instincts rejected it.
So he tried to stay far away—but then he caught the scent of the Crown Prince.
The Emperor's son was the same as the Emperor. Therefore, he had to be treated with proper respect.
Doncic, intending to gift something to the Crown Prince, uprooted an apple tree and went to find him.
But something felt wrong.
The Crown Prince was different from before.
Somehow, it felt bad.
Doncic was displeased, but forced himself to be patient. He was a vassal of the Emperor, and an ogre who knew manners.
"Doncic. I have a task for you."
"I, Emperor, loyal. If possible, do."
"It's not difficult. You just have to stand still."
A strange aura was rising from the Crown Prince—one that Doncic had never felt before.
Terrified, Doncic stepped back.
His finely honed senses screamed at him to flee.
"That, danger. Dangerous."
"Look."
"Don't want, look."
"Doncic. Ogre who knows loyalty. This is an order. Stay still."
Before Doncic could react, the Crown Prince took something out.
A scrap of parchment.
In that instant, his vision turned black. A towering structure emerged, as though overlooking the entire world. At its peak, a blood-red eye rose, staring straight at Doncic.
It was enormous.
Strength, after all, was proportional to size.
And so, compared to this tower, Doncic was but a mere speck.
Black smoke erupted from his entire body. His eyes turned a deep crimson-black.
"Grrrrrr..."
Doncic realized that he had changed.
He was still strong and clever, but now, he had also become an extremely, extremely violent ogre.
Uncontrollable madness boiled over through his whole body.
"Doncic. Where are your friends?"
"Friends. In forest."
"Would you go get them?"
Doncic brought back two more ogre friends. At first, they were startled by the sight of him and tried to run away, but as the Ogre Lord, Doncic beat them all down and dragged them back.
The Crown Prince, delighted, showed them the parchment as well.
All of them, like Doncic, became extremely, extremely violent.
"My loyal ogres. Sleep for now. You'll awaken soon enough."
The Crown Prince folded the parchment.
At that moment, the consciousness of Doncic and the two ogres faded into black.
Doncic dreamed.
A dream of freely running through the northern forest.
But sleep, eventually, must end.
When he opened his eyes again, Doncic and his two ogre friends had been abandoned in a land they had never seen before. In front of them rose a massive castle.
Looking at it made his rage boil.
'Destroy it all.'
A voice echoed within.
Without anyone saying a word, Doncic and the two ogres charged forward.
The castle walls were tall, but Doncic was just as massive. He rammed it with his body, and half the wall collapsed.
The panicked humans fired arrows, but they only tickled. Doncic struck the wall a few more times, then simply grabbed the ledge and leapt over.
And there, he saw buildings—so many buildings—where humans lived.
So many tiny humans living together, it looked like an anthill.
'Destroy.'
Doncic obeyed the voice echoing from within.
In any case, aside from his master the Emperor, humans were insignificant beings.
They weren't large, they weren't strong. Their skin was so soft that even stepping lightly on them crushed them to death.
These tiny things were throwing weapons no bigger than toothpicks—Doncic was overcome with uncontrollable urges.
He ate when he wanted to eat, slept when he wanted to sleep, and destroyed when he wanted to destroy.
Right now, he wanted to destroy—and eat.
Doncic let out a monstrous howl. His two ogre friends howled with him. Though weaker than Doncic, they were still respected figures in the northern forest.
"Humans, fragile."
So saying, they stomped on the human soldiers approaching them. The soldiers were flattened on the spot, reduced to puddles of blood.
Then came the strong humans, called knights.
"You damned ogre bastard!"
One human stabbed him in the thigh. It actually stung a little. Doncic got angry.
"Swearing, unacceptable."
He punched.
The human flew straight into the wall and shattered into pieces that slid down like sludge.
Terror spread.
Humans began to flee.
Doncic grew even more enraged.
If they were just going to run like this, why did these weaklings even bother? Creatures this ignorant of their place wouldn't last a single day in the northern forest.
Doncic and the two ogres went on a rampage.
Every time their feet stomped down, human bodies shattered, and limbs flew in all directions.
Doncic snatched up meaty body parts and shoved them into his mouth. With every chew, blood soaked his jaws—it was exquisite.
"Inform His Majesty! A mad ogre has appea—"
Doncic grabbed one of the shouting humans. Fear filled the man's eyes. Doncic grinned and looked at him.
"P-please spare m—"
"Grrrr..."
"Please, please have mercy."
"Human. Fly."
Doncic threw him straight upward.
The human soared high.
After a long ascent, he reached the peak, flailed, and fell.
A brutal death by fall.
The two ogres burst into laughter.
"Bet, bet."
"I throw, better."
"Last place, lose."
"Start?"
They laughed and shouted, grabbing humans and throwing them into the air one by one.
Some they squeezed into round, compact corpses before tossing. Others, they dangled by the ankles before hurling. The three ogres played their game, and humans died in grotesque, miserable ways.
To humans, the three ogres were nothing short of a natural disaster.
It didn't take long.
In a single day, an entire city was smashed.
The enraged king dispatched his knight order in a hurry, but by then, the ogres had already obliterated the city and its surrounding villages.
"Grrrr..."
And a few days later, when Doncic awoke, he found himself surrounded by a human army.
"Numbers, excessive. Very, dangerous."
"Mere, humans. We, can handle."
The ogre friends chatted.
But Doncic remained silent.
He was a clever ogre. He understood well that there was no need to insist on a disadvantageous battle. It was far better to retreat and strike by surprise later.
But a strange urge welled up in his chest.
The massive tower and the red eye atop it kept pushing at his back.
Intense violence surged through his veins.
Doncic pounded his chest and roared.
KRAAAAAAAH!
The overwhelming savagery in that roar instilled primal fear in the humans.
Fear.
It erupted from him.
The human army, which had been brimming with confidence just moments ago, shrank instantly.
To Doncic and the two ogres, that sight was the signal.
The scent of weakness triggered them—they charged, trampling the humans freely.
***
News that Doncic, one of the Ten Strong and vassal to the Emperor, was ravaging Liberda spread across the continent.
The Empire denied involvement.
In fact, they went so far as to criticize Liberda.
The messenger continued.
"Liberda kidnapped Doncic, and they've been abusing him. Since they dared to touch the Emperor's vassal, the Empire is considering a military response."
Yuri blinked.
"How shameless can they be?"
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