NoScopeSlayer123 felt like someone was talking about him.
A strange shiver ran through his avatar.
Weird.
But he quickly brushed the thought aside, refocusing on the scene before him.
He was currently in the middle of nowhere. The sky looked apocalyptic, spitting ashes that fell like gray snow. The ground was nothing but endless cracked, lifeless gray rock.
He turned his gaze to the damaged skeleton before him, which was begging him to stop.
"I… I can't take it anymore…" the skeleton groaned, its voice echoing in the empty space like a distant reverberation.
NoScopeSlayer123 looked at it with pity in his eyes.
Then his expression shifted abruptly, turning into one of pure malice.
He dropped to one knee and placed a hand under the skeleton's chin, pulling the creature close to his face.
NoScopeSlayer123 wore black armor etched with golden symbols that pulsed faintly. He wasn't wearing a helmet—hiding his beauty from the world would be a crime. He had, after all, spent twelve hours customizing his character, even if it was a pixel-art game.
"Unfortunately, that's not possible," he said in a soft voice laced with menace.
He addressed the skeleton with mock reverence:
"Nagash, Lord of the Necropolis, Absolute Master of the City of the Dead and its Inhabitants… It's hard to find someone as strong as you."
His fingers caressed the skeletal face of Nagash.
"That's why you are what you are. A legendary boss."
Nagash trembled under his grip.
"You've been tormenting me for days! My invincible army has been defeated! You've already beaten me! Please… stop… I beg you…"
NoScopeSlayer123 burst into laughter.
"That's why I love the AI in this game. So dramatic and realistic! You're so lifelike, it's like you're about to cry. Got any tears in stock, or is it just dust?"
His free hand began to emit a paradoxical, unsettling cold heat.
A strange orb of energy appeared, pulsing with black light.
He looked at Nagash with a sadistic glint in his eyes.
"I still have so many skills to test on you. After all, you're supposed to be immortal, right?"
He added with a cruel smile:
"You'd better hold up, because even if you die for good, I'll bring you back for another round. Come on, Nagash, one more combo for the road!"
The two empty sockets where the skeleton's eyes should have been darkened even further.
---
Back at the Main Camp
Thomas arrived at the main camp with his troops.
Shock.
The camp was ravaged.
What he saw froze him in place: nonchalant human knights lounging in the camp. On the other side, a monster he didn't recognize—a chimera—was slaughtering the orcs who had stayed behind.
His eyes fell on the destroyed tents, scattered supplies, and broken cages.
Everything I worked so hard for…
The ogre's imposing frame quickly drew attention.
Seeing everything he owned in ruins, Thomas grew furious.
Seriously? Are they mocking me?
He let out a roar of anger that echoed through the entire valley.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
All eyes turned to him.
His troops, galvanized by their leader's presence, let out war cries.
Thomas raised his massive fist.
"TAKE BACK THE CAMP! MAKE THESE HUMANS PAY!"
Thomas instantly grasped several key details as he surveyed the scene.
The chimera is the real threat.
The creature was tearing through his warriors like paper, spitting lava and whipping its tail.
The knights are complacent.
They were relying on the monster and were scattered. Some were playing cards, others guarding prisoners.
I can use this.
He had a camp he knew inside out and troops he could sacrifice without hesitation.
Thomas bellowed a seemingly simple and brutal order to his troops:
"CHARGE! CRUSH THE HUMANS!"
But it was a feint.
As the horde of orcs rushed toward the camp, screaming in a disorganized frontal assault (the bait), Thomas gave a specific, silent order to his closest lieutenants.
"You, the weakest. Run to the cages. Free the human prisoners who haven't been released yet."
"You, the strongest. Grab the ranged weapons. Not for the knights. For the monster."
A group of orcs reached the cages and violently opened them.
The orcs had captured so many people that the knights hadn't had time to deal with freeing everyone. Plus, some cages were covered with tarps, which hadn't helped the knights spot them. The orcs had stashed human prisoners everywhere.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
The cage doors swung open.
Dozens of prisoners burst out, panicked, running in all directions.
"HELP!" cried a woman, grabbing a knight.
"MY SON! HE'S STILL IN THERE!" shouted an old man, stumbling to the ground.
"RUN! THEY'RE COMING!" sobbed another, shoving a knight.
Freeing the prisoners created immediate chaos and a human shield.
The knights, caught off guard, were torn between fighting the orcs and protecting the prisoners running everywhere.
"DAMN IT! PROTECT THE CIVILIANS!"
"DON'T LET THEM GET CLOSE!"
Plus, they couldn't freely use open space to fire magical projectiles.
The ogre had learned that humans are damn spammers.
This disrupted their formation and split their forces.
Meanwhile, the strongest orcs hurled javelins and throwing axes at the chimera.
SWISH. SWISH. SWISH.
The projectiles didn't do much damage, but they had one purpose: to enrage the creature and draw its attention solely to the main horde charging in.
The chimera roared with fury and focused on slaughtering this "wave" of orcs, becoming predictable.
ROAR.
It spat a torrent of lava that vaporized a dozen orcs instantly.
While the chimera was busy annihilating the first wave of orcs and the knights were distracted by the chaos of the prisoners, Thomas sprang into action.
He didn't charge.
He did the exact opposite.
He rushed not toward the knights but toward the makeshift catapults or trebuchets the orcs had managed to loot, still positioned at the camp's outskirts.
With his prodigious strength, he grabbed the launching arm of a catapult.
He ignored the firing mechanism. His plan was far more direct.
He used the catapult like a giant slingshot.
He tore a five-hundred-kilo boulder from the ground, placed it in the scoop, grabbed the entire structure, and swung it to aim—not at the chimera, but at a knight he had identified.
Gus.
That one. He's the brains. The strongest after the monster.
Launching a boulder of that size and speed at a well-protected knight was an absurd move.
That was exactly why it would work. No one would expect it.
The giant boulder soared through the air like a meteor.
"WHAT THE—"
One of the knights reacted quickly, firing a magical projectile.
BOOM.
The boulder was pulverized mid-air, fragments falling like hail.
But the goal wasn't to hit.
The goal was to scare and show he wasn't safe.
Gus, who had been targeted, widened his eyes.
That bastard…
Thomas raised a finger and whispered a basic but wide-ranging incantation, targeting not the knights but the entire camp and the surrounding forest.
A sinister, barely audible whisper rose from everywhere at once, in the minds of all the humans and the chimera.
"Die… die… all will die…"
It instantly shattered the knights' relaxed atmosphere.
"Did you hear that?"
"What the hell is this?!"
A whisper from nowhere was far more unsettling than a war cry. It sowed doubt, a touch of paranoia.
On the chimera, as a magical creature, it was more sensitive. The spell was too weak to harm it, but enough to make it nervous, disrupting its focus.
As the whisper took effect, Thomas crouched and struck the ground with both fists.
He wasn't trying to cause an earthquake. He was channeling another simple spell he had mastered.
He wasn't targeting the knights.
He was targeting the log fortifications, the palisades, the piles of stones that marked the orc camp.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
The wooden stakes suddenly twisted like snakes, wrapping around the ankles of the nearest knights.
"WHAT?! I'M STUCK!"
The stones from the central firepit rose and formed a crude, bear-sized golem that began swinging wildly.
BOOM. BOOM.
The ground in front of the charging orcs rose into a small wave of earth, giving them a topographic advantage.
Total disarray.
The camp itself became the enemy. The knights could no longer rest anywhere.
The stone golem and the churned earth created dust and confusion.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"
"WE CAN'T SEE ANYTHING!"
Cassian, watching from a safe position, moved to intervene.
He took a step forward, The Shoreless Sea glowing faintly.
But the Second Prince placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Cassian," Eric said politely but firmly. "Let us handle this. My troops and I are here for this."
He smiled.
"You can think of it as a little show to watch."
Inwardly, the prince thought: If Cassian steps in and resolves the situation, there'll be no prestige for me, no glory to claim. I brought Cassian in case things go south, but if he kills this ogre without my involvement, this trip will have been for nothing. Especially since there are civilians who can spread tales of my exploits once I save them from the ogre.
He gestured to Sacha.
"Keep Cassian occupied."
Sacha nodded and positioned herself next to Cassian.
Around them, people ran to the knights in panic, begging for help.
The knights were constantly hindered in their movements.
The orcs capitalized on this, gaining the upper hand. Some didn't hesitate to hide behind prisoners for cover, then sneakily attacked the scattered knights.
"Coward!" spat a knight, parrying an axe that came from behind a sobbing woman.
Others, full of honor, threw themselves at the knights without cover for a true warrior's fight.
But they were overwhelmed by ten merciless knights.
"FOR GLORY!" roared an orc.
SLASH. SLASH. SLASH.
He was cut down in seconds.