Alright, a change of appearance would do.
I don't know what the demon lords have against me, but if they go too far, I'll personally make sure they get the smoke.
I'm not going to ignore this.
Especially Guy. If you can't take care of your employees, don't employ. It's as simple as that.
With the report I got from Treyni, it seems like a guy named Laplace and a majin named Gelmud were involved.
I don't know much about the demon lords, but I at least have some intel on a few.
The upper six wouldn't bother to do such things as they are aware of my existence, but what of the remaining three?
With how desperate they are for power, it wouldn't be surprising to find out that they also participated in this whole stupid scheme.
Well, gotta make then see how dangerous we primordials are.
We are catastrophe-class beings, so if they still don't fear us, I'll be more than glad to show them how to.
My current appearance is that of a seventeen year old girly-looking guy with platinum silver hair and golden eyes.
Well, I don't even know if I can still call myself an androgynous person with the girly vibes I keep giving off.
Beautiful face, perfect hair, flirtatious eyes—man, this sucks.
As for my height–
Kalisha: 「You are approximately 172 cm tall.」
Yeah, I'm not particularly tall, but I ain't short either—that's what I'd like to think.
I have a lean figure, an impossibly smooth, pale-looking skin that makes me appear drop-dead gorgeous.
Though, I guess I shouldn't be complaining much.
At least I wasn't bald with battle scars here and there whilst having some undesirable features like big nose, big eyes, big ears—and shit.
But still… *Sigh*
Well, gotta make due with what is gotten, I guess.
So, now that I have the chance, I could make myself appear more muscular, masculine, and handsome.
The long silver hair would still remain, but my eyes needed a little working.
I know! How 'bout blood red eyes?!
「That's my signature eye color. It's non-negotiable, alright?」
Yeah, right? I mean, this is my body. You're weirdly obsessed with it.
I feel unsecure now. Please stop that.
But I don't really see any color matching with my silver hair apart from gold or red.
Well, blue? Blue could do the trick, but, you know, I'm a demon.
Gotta take the bloodiest option. You know how the vibe goes, no?
For the aura effect and stuff.
Imagine having a set of blood-red eyes staring at your soul from the abyss of complete black-emptiness.
Pretty smooth, right?
Come on, Reina-san. You refused to restore my fertility, so can't you do this much for me? Please?
「.... Fine.」
Asshole, you knew my intention, didn't you?
Kalisha: 「Heh.」
*Sigh*
Okay. The image is in mind, so now, 『Universal Shapeshift』 it is!
My physical form morphed into something closer to the mental image.
It looks like I wasn't that much of an expert when it came to appearance alterations, but the major details were still achieved.
Blood-red eyes, masculinity—and all.
They weren't bulging muscles, but I had become more refined.
Of course, I never forgot to add those sweet buttery babies—the ultimate abdominal muscles:
Six-packs.
Whew—!, is it just me, or is the room heating up?
I, for the first time since my birth, look like an actual mc.
I swear, I started blushing—no, that's not me, is it?
Reina-san? Ooh~, I know! Your type is the handsome muscular oiled-up men, right?!
「???」
Hah-hah-hah-hah!! How hilarious! This—This is it! Pfft-hahahaha!!
「You are highly mistaken.」
Yeah, right. Go bang your head on the wall if you think I'm gonna let this go!
「...」
Man, I've not laughed like that in ages.
Kalisha: 「You were actually the one blushing like crazy.
Your female hormones were tingling so badly—you couldn't even think straight.」
This little–
*Sigh*
Alright, alright, let's forget all this happened now.
The fridge will always defend the snacks.
Kalisha: 「.....」
So, with my appearance changed, I decided to take a look at the state of things.
Squinting, I recognized Gabiru as the leader. I thought he was some random idiot at first, but maybe I underestimated him.
Given how obviously devoted his sister was to him, I should've recognized that he was a decent person at the core.
The first impression he gave was disastrous, though.
As a commander, he lacked the ability to see the big picture in battle, which might ultimately doom him.
But it wasn't like leaders were born capable of doing that, without any experience.
If he survived this and learned from it, he'd very likely become a great general someday.
Now, a single orc appeared before Gabiru. Another group, clad in black armor, formed a circle around him.
Definitely higher-level ones, decked out in full plate and showing a military discipline none of the other orcs had.
The one facing Gabiru was likely an orc general like the one Shion had erased from existence a while ago; he clearly projected a much stronger presence than the orcs in the circle.
Then the duel began. Gabiru fought courageously.
His considerable nimbleness and skill with a spear as he faced off against the orc general made me wonder if Gobta had had any chance at all, in fact, without that shadow-skipping trick.
Sadly, though, the difference in strength between him and the orc general was just too much.
Little by little, Gabiru's body was being ravaged by cuts and
wounds.
I hated to let him die. And if that's what I thought, the answer was clear. I gave my orders.
"Ranga, can you Shadow Motion yourself to Gabiru?"
"Yes, my master."
As with Soei, Ranga could directly travel to anybody he'd personally met before.
Which simplified things for me, definitely.
"Gobta, you go there, too!"
"Geh! R-really?! It's—like, a huge army there—"
I heard a scream of pain through the transmitted thought. Gobta was cut off for a moment, and then, the line came back.
"He will gladly accept the mission, Sir Fubuki."
Now, it was Shion inserting herself into my mind.
I didn't know what had happened to Gobta, but I suppose I didn't need to. He's probably fine.
Surely, Shion wouldn't kill him, right…? Right?
"Great. I want you two to rescue Gabiru for me. Get going!"
Gobta would get to Gabiru first while Ranga was distracting the rest of the horde.
He'd then work with the lizardmen and goblins to forge a path out of that hellhole.
Off they went, together. But not even they could last long amid the sheer number of orcs—I thought.
"Sir Fubuki," Benimaru asked, "are we allowed to go… all out, then?"
"Help the lizardmen first. They need it. After that, do whatever you want. Pay attention to whatever orders Hakuro gives you, but otherwise, have at it."
"Yes, my lord! We will show them exactly what the ogre race—or should I say, the ogre mages can do!"
He sounded happy. Which was good. Because things were about to happen, and quickly so.
Oh, well. There's no point fretting about it now. I gave the orders, and they accepted them.
If any agreed to do something they knew they couldn't accomplish, it was their own damn fault.
◇◇◇
A single swing of the halberd broke the spear in the chief's hands.
The fact that the chief had survived this assault so far was worthy of praise in itself.
He gave a proud sneer as he looked at the orc general.
"Pah-ha-ha-ha! I can fight all I want to without a weapon!"
All the bravado in the world didn't convince anyone else in the room that he meant it.
His armor was already shattered, cracks in his proud scale mail
obvious for all to see.
With nothing left to protect him, the chief was a hairbreadth away from death.
"Listen!" he shouted with as much authority as he could muster. "Come forward, my guard! Protect as many of the women and children as you can. I refuse to let you give up! Buy us as much time as possible and wait for help to
arrive!"
"Ch-chief… These reinforcements can not truly exist…"
"Don't say that!" he replied, admonishing the vice general of his royal guard. "Believe in them! We can never abandon hope. Protect the pride of the
lizardmen until the very end!"
The chief never wanted to show a moment of weakness. He was a symbol of the lizardman strength, their final hope.
To the lizardmen with no place else to flee to, they had nothing to lean upon apart from his words.
"Plus," he added to his team with a smile, "as long as I can beat this foe, we can open a new path for ourselves."
If they could defeat the orc ringleader blocking the exit, they would have a literal path to survival.
There was no despair among the lizardman warriors.
Even if their chief fell, they knew they would stand up and fight.
This much they had learned over the years, seeing him stand for his people.
They would fight to the last man, and as long as they evacuated as many of the innocents as
they could—no greater victory could be obtained.
They had to find a connection to the future. But even that hope was crushed before the orc general.
"You old fool! All the ridiculous chatter in the world won't save you now!"
A flash, and the halberd in the orc general's hands sliced its way into, and then through the chief's chest.
"Argh!!"
He fell, coughing up blood on the way.
This is it…
The caverns echoed with the shouts of lizardmen.
The orc general stepped forward, aiming to land the final blow upon the chief, only to be stopped by a small team of fighters.
He cut them down, resentful at
this obstacle, and reached the chief's body.
"You fought well for a lizardman," he rumbled. "Your courage proves to us that you will serve well as our flesh and blood. When you die, you will die
basking in the honor of becoming part of us!"
He aimed the blade of his halberd upon the chief's neck, lifted it up, and—
Soei: 「I'd rather you didn't do that. We have a promise with the chief.」
—was stopped by the voice of someone who appeared in front of him.
At that moment, the arrival of this man, Soei, completely changed the destiny of the lizardman race.
◇◇◇
Soei smiled a thin smile. He felt, truly, that he had served his masters well.
To him, this was nothing Benimaru could ever manage, whether he was the son of the past king or not.
The two had been rivals since childhood, and sooner or later
Soei would have become his loyal subject, serving the Lord that led the way for the entire ogre race.
But that was all in the past. Now, he had new masters in Fubuki and Rimuru. And the thought pleased him.
The ogres had enjoyed a long era of peace, undisturbed by any kind of conflict.
To them, the monsters of the forest were nowhere near challenging enough—and as of late, they haven't even had any rampaging lesser dragons to
deal with.
It was a good thing, Soei knew. But he could never deny that he
wanted to make full use of all the skills that had been hammered into him.
Then, his settlement was attacked by orcs. He cursed his powerlessness on that day.
He had assumed their end would come quickly afterward—they were
rudderless, unable to avenge their friends and family.
But now, he was happy and thankful for his happiness. Under his new masters, he had been granted a chance at vengeance.
He would never let his pride weaken his guard. That single defeat had taught him a great deal.
Along with the humiliating memories he had etched into his
heart exactly how foolish he had been all along.
He had polished his arts for his master, eliminating his foes, honing everything he had within him.
Nothing delighted him more than having orders to follow. And now, Soei was ready to faithfully execute them.
◇◇◇
Looking up at the silent man, the chief recognized him as the monster who had met with him earlier.
The high-level member of the magic-born races who called himself Soei, the very one who had offered the alliance.
"He came for me? But we have no alliance forged yet. But, but…"— Doubts and questions swirled in
his mind.
Yet, the chief, near the end of his life, could do little. He attempted to speak, clearing the blood from his throat.
"Lord Soei… You have come for me? After we forged ahead, ignoring your advice…? By my very life, please, help the lizardmen—"
He tried his best to entrust his people's future to Soei before he passed. But now there was another figure there.
One he did not recognize before she spoke.
"Father, drink this!"
An aqua-blue container was presented to his mouth.
The moment he felt the liquid passing between his fangs, his hideous-looking wounds were magically gone, as if nothing had ever been amiss.
In a moment, it had brought him back to perfect health.
"Wha?!"
The chief sprang up in a state of shock.
Soei: 「My advice…? What do you mean? Well, it doesn't matter. I want you to wait here until the appointed day arrives.
And try to be careful. Neither my masters nor I would enjoy it very much if you were to die on us.」
It sounded so out of place, this cold, oddly calming voice.
He's saying he'll keep his promise about the alliance? But…
Soei: 「But now is no time for that, the orcs…」
Then he realized something was off. The orc general, halberd still high in the air, had stopped moving.
His face had an odd dark-reddish tint to it, his muscles bulging as he focused all his strength on the upcoming swing.
"That…What is the meaning of…?"
Soei: 「Don't worry. I've stopped him for now.」
Soei's comment made the situation clear for the chief. But what did it mean…?
He gave Soei a wild-eyed look. He realized that this orc general, who had completely dominated him in battle a moment ago, was now rendered completely helpless before this envoy.
"What…? What are you…?"
Soei: 「A pity, though. I had him captured, I was hoping to torture him so he would be of some use to
Sir Rimuru…but it would appear he is sharing information with some outside source. I suppose I will have to kill him, then.」
For Soei, an information merchant of sorts, having data leaked out to the enemy deeply bruised his pride.
That was why he always took the utmost care in observing the enemy.
A blue light flickered in his eyes now, detecting minute
shifts in the magicules in the atmosphere.
It indicated he was using Observing Eyes, one of his extra skills, and that skill told him the orc general was transmitting what he saw to someone, perhaps through a crystal orb or other
medium.
Soei decided it was better to kill the orc than to have his cover blown.
But murder in itself did not interest him that much. So he decided to reveal a little more in hopes of gauging the enemy's movements.
Soei: 「But just killing you would be boring.」 he said with a mild smile.
Soei: 「So why don't I have you send a message as well? I assume whoever's controlling you, the orcs, is watching me now, right?
Your turn is next. And we'll make sure you will deeply regret making the ogre mages your enemy.」
And with that, Soei took his eyes off the orc general, no longer interested in him.
His work was done, and it was time to take out the trash.
Soei: 「Die.」 he whispered. The next moment, the orc general was torn into millions of fine pieces by the Sticky Steel Thread Soei had wrapped around him.
The chief watched, stunned speechless. He tried to keep his mind from racing as he recalled what he had just heard.
Then he turned to Soei, not bothering to wipe the sweat from his brow.
Ogre mage… He is among the ogre mages?!
He stared at him as if looking at something his mind refused to parse.
Then he recalled the power he had shown a moment ago. Now, it made sense.
Perhaps I should have known. He is a legend along the lines of the orc lord.
The next level of ogres…
Ogre mages were the evolved form of ogres, already high-level denizens of the forest.
It made sense, then, that the force he exhibited was akin to a high-level magic-born.
Well past A rank, and difficult to wrap one's mind around. So
few among the magic-borns ever made it to that point.
But something Soei said rang in the chief's mind. He had said the ogre "mages."
Plural. There were more of them. The thought sent a shiver down his spine.
My decision… My decision to accept this alliance was the best one I have ever made…
Then, the chief sank to the floor. He was sure of it now. If the ogre mages were helping him, the lizardmen would absolutely be saved.
Shortly after, Soei's body appeared to disrupt into multiple images of himself.
Five shadows leaped forward, each one identical to Soei, right down to his clothing and equipment.
They were copies, made with his magical 『Replication』 skills, and each one silently began taking action.
Heading for the corridors, they stood before the lizardmen doggedly propping up the halls' defense.
One was stationed at each of the five exits out of the chamber, including the evacuation route.
The lizardmen stared in awe at them but let them through regardless.
"You may rest for now," each one said as he went down his individual paths.
As they did, the lizardmen were greeted with an unbelievable sight.
The orcish soldiers, who had seemed like demons from hell itself just a moment ago, were
helpless as Soei mowed them down by himself.
The same sight was unfolding in
each of the corridors.
『Demonwire Slash』.
An efficient, glittering machine of death.
In a moment, the Sticky Steel Thread deployed across each corridor was infused with magic power, moving exactly how Soei wanted it to.
There was no place to run from it, especially in these tight underground halls.
The moment he executed the move, the orcish soldiers found themselves instantly sliced and diced.
It was perhaps lucky for them that they were incapable of fear.
From the lead man forward, they were being massacred without even a moment of resistance.
Soei showed them no mercy, no pity for even a second, slaughtering the orcs like a hunter reaping the lives of prey
caught in his trap.
The orcs to the rear feasted upon the bite-size pieces of orc chopped up by the web-like network of string, ran full-steam forward, committing suicide—free of charge.
The corridors were a twisty mass of passages, and now they were the sole domain of Soei.
He had his wires laid out in a dizzying number of ways, and he
could alter their locations at any time.
All he had to do was to have the imagination of the desired design.
It was simple: He'd only need to imagine how he wanted them to be, and with the use of magicules to replicate the exact same mental image, the skill would activate.
To him, the orcs were simply bothersome pests that needed to be exterminated, far too frail to be considered truly enemies.
His Replicants silently, efficiently, followed their orders as they carried out the carnage.
The lizardmen were too shocked to say anything. The scene before them played over and over again, filling them with awe and fright.
It was strength on a completely different dimension, the work of a person whose power surpassed
anything they could even envision in their imaginations.
Beyond this, Soei thought, the Replicants could take care of things themselves.
He left the sixth copy there as a contact point, just in case, and then began moving again, undetected by anyone.
He was on his way back to Rimuru, his master, seeking a new role for himself.
◇◇◇
After Gobta and Ranga went on their way, Benimaru thought in silence for a moment.
Benimaru: 「If I could ask,」 he said to the hobgoblins within earshot, 「can all of you use
Shadow Motion?」
The tempest wolves, Ranga's clan, could use it—what about their partners on the battlefield?
"Not by ourselves, like Gobta can," replied one of the riders, who sported an eyepatch. "But if we're with our partners, we can, yes."
"Yeah! We're one with our partners, body and soul!"
Benimaru: 「Good to hear. We're going to slash our way into the encirclement from the outside, so I want you to Shadow Motion yourselves to Gobta.
Sir Fubuki sent him ahead first so it'd be easier to transport the rest of you there.」
"Oh," another hobgob commented. "Wow, Sir Fubuki's pretty smart!"
"Yeah! So he had Ranga divert the enemy's attention while he had Gobta shore up the lizardmen's position?"
"And then we charge in, regroup with Gobta, and while the enemy's
confused, we turn the tables on them. Right?"
Benimaru nodded. There was a smile on his face, betraying his delight at everyone understanding Fubuki's train of thought.
Benimaru: 「That's exactly it. And if you understand it, charge in there, now!」
""Yes, my lord!!""
Thus, the goblin riders began their first onrush into the war.
That left only the three ogre mages in the area.
Benimaru began to stretch out his body, not a trace of concern in his mind.
As a fighter race who worked as mercenaries and such, ogres bore a particular emotional attachment to having a "master" to rely on.
Earning a master to serve for the rest of their lives was the single sincerest wish they all shared.
That, and Benimaru's past had changed his outlook on the world.
He knew he tended to act selfishly most of the time.
That was why he had hesitated to
take over the role of Ogre King, back in the day, not that it mattered now.
Having such a lofty position would mean he would never have been allowed on the battlefield where death was a constant presence.
Now, things were different. He could play a front-and-center role all day if he wanted.
He liked where he was, and he had two of his friends with him, following him without complaint.
Hakuro: 「It is coming soon.」
Hakuro observed, stretching out his body to prepare.
Shion: 「It is.」 Shion chimed. 「We must thank our lords for providing this chance.」
They, along with Benimaru, saw them as their masters. That was why they felt so safe relying on each other.
Benimaru: 「All right. Shall we kick this off, then?
The first battle in the glorious victory we will eventually offer to those two?」
The ogres nodded at Benimaru's words, and instantly, the three took off at top speed.
They ran through the lush trees and grass, almost flying along the ground, the smell of water growing stronger in their nostrils.
They were upon the marshlands in the blink of an eye, smashing through the orc hordes on the
outer perimeter without dropping their speed for a moment.
A blast of energy shot out from Shion's heavy sword.
The orcish soldiers crowded in front of her were blown away before they realized what had happened—and the attack signaled the beginning of their battle.
Weak—That was Benimaru's first impression. He didn't have to bother lifting a finger as Shion and Hakuro cut down anyone foolhardy enough to approach.
To Benimaru, though, this wasn't very fun. His two compatriots were masters of close-quarters combat.
Shion also had the art known as Ogresword Cannon, which let her unleash pure energy from the tip of her blade.
From an overhead perspective, Hakuro worked in little dots of activity, while Shion fired lines of lethal bolts from afar.
There was no room for Benimaru to do anything else.
Benimaru: 「All right! You pigs standing in front of me; you had better run for your lives. Do, and I will spare you.」
None of the orcs flinched. They could hear shouts of "Die, bastard!" and "You will not ridicule us!" as they charged at the ogres, even more enraged than
before.
Benimaru: 「Prepare to die, then!」
Realizing his foes had no intention of fleeing, Benimaru casually thrust his right hand forward.
A black ball of flame flickered to life above it, expanding to
about three feet in diameter before he unleashed it.
Realizing the danger, the
orcish soldiers took evasive action—but they were too late.
The fireball continued to expand and accelerate, faster than a hurricane, and the orcs were
simply too slow to run from it.
Anyone who touched it was instantly incinerated, not even leaving a pile of ashes behind.
But that wasn't what made the dark fireball terrifying. Several
seconds later, upon reaching a large clutch of orcs in front of it, the flame released all the energy it had stored inside.
An area three hundred feet in
diameter was suddenly cloaked in a dome of pure black, centered around the fireball.
Then, a mighty rumble, low and loud enough to freeze the entire
battlefield, and the blood of everyone in it.
The entire area was now quiet, robbed of the sounds of war that ruled over it just a moment ago.
This was Hellflare, an incendiary attack that dominated like
nothing before or since.
In his evolution, Benimaru had obtained the extra skills 『Flame Manipulation』, 『Dark Flame』, and 『Ranged Barrier』.
Combining those with his own mystical skills led to this creation, an original skill exclusive to himself.
In a few seconds, the dome disappeared, leaving nothing but scorched earth behind.
The marsh water in the area affected had vaporized, and the very soil under it turned into glass by the heat.
The transformation was stark, and the several thousand orcs who had been under that dome were all now a thing of the past, never knowing what had hit them.
And it all happened within a minute of the first flicker of flame from Benimaru's hand.
This was the answer Benimaru had for this war.
The evolution had turned him into a terrifying magic-born, one whose area-of-effect attacks could now wipe out entire regions at once.
He grinned an evil grin.
Benimaru: 「Out of my sight, pigs.」
With that single statement, the massacre ordered by Fubuki began.
◇◇◇
Outside of Gobta and Gabiru's scope of attention, Ranga was sizing up the orc general.
"You wish to get in my way?" the fighter said, spear pointed straight at the wolf, a little unnerved by these new events but still in control of his wits.
"Who are you?"
These wolves were a concern to him, certainly.
The orc general had a feeling that the low rumble from before was a sign of even clearer danger, but he couldn't simply leave the wolves unchallenged.
Ranga: 「I am Ranga. The faithful servant of Master Rimuru and Sir Fubuki!」
The two glared at each other.
"Rimuru, you say? I've never heard the name, but if this Rimuru seeks to defy us, we will destroy him."
Now the orc general had no interest in Ranga. If he wasn't aligned with a demon lord or high-level magic-born, whose name he was familiar with, he felt
free to kill him without regret.
That rumbling roar suddenly seemed a lot more important to investigate.
He distractedly thrust his spear forward, attempting to skewer Ranga and end this fast.
Ranga effortlessly reared back, dodging the strike.
"Crafty little dog!"
Now the orc general gave Ranga a closer look. Then he noticed—this wasn't any regular wolf at all.
What? Come on. Just a simple magical beast… Why am I
letting him worry me so much…?
He assumed his sudden trepidation was just his mind playing tricks on him.
"How dare some lowly animal bare its fangs at me!" he shouted, giving orders to his team of elites.
The orc knights fanned out, surrounding Ranga in a perfectly timed maneuver.
Following their general's direction, they focused each of their spears on the wolf.
There was no point challenging some animals to a one-on-one duel, he thought.
Ranga chuckled. He hadn't felt this heartened in ages, able to release his full instincts as an apex predator.
With a howl as long and loud as he could muster, he unleashed his aura.
After spending so long in the shadow of Rimuru, he had been heavily exposed to his beloved master's aura and used it to picture himself as the magical beast he was.
Something drove him to pursue this form of himself, and now Ranga realized it was time for his instincts to awaken.
He could feel the power surging within. His muscles grew, propelling him to his full, sixteen-foot-tall frame.
His claws enhanced themselves, his fangs transformed into steel-like daggers—but what stood out most were the two horns that now grew from his forehead.
This was the form of his master, the one he saw in the past. The tempest starwolf.
And now he had evolved into that.
The howl made the orcish soldiers shudder, but they felt no fear from it.
Their orc general was right by their side, and the 『Starved』 skill had dulled their hearts.
Ranga gave them a disinterested snort as he glanced at their leader.
This was no threat to him now. He could feel his true strength, and it was time to show it off.
Sensing the flow of power, he focused his magic on his horns.
The orc general picked up on this higher-level transformation, and he knew the danger involved.
He hurriedly ordered his soldiers to spread out, but he was too late.
*CRACK*—, *BOOM*—!!
A flash of light ran across their ranks.
Then the sound came—the crack of thunder as pillars of electricity shot up from the ground to the heavens, accompanied by a small army of tornadoes.
Ranga had obtained the 『Dark Lightning』 skill—and while he couldn't directly control lightning the way Rimuru could, his two horns allowed him to define its range and power.
And he had something else—the extra skill 『Wind Manipulation』.
This was, in a way, an inferior version of the 『Molecular Manipulation』 skill Rimuru had picked up.
It let Ranga raise and lower the local atmospheric pressure to generate wind gusts, and combining it with 『Dark Lightning』 provided a lethal one-two punch.
Ranga knew that—his instincts told him so—and he used it on his foes without a moment's hesitation.
『Wind Manipulation』 was his now, and he used it to generate a staggering pressure difference in the air above.
This was the area he used『Dark Lightning』on, and the ensuing beams of electricity filled the exact area he wanted.
The result was a writhing maelstrom of upward and downward
air currents, eventually gathering themselves into a single massive vortex.
This led to several large tornadoes exuding electricity as they ran roughshod across the battlefield like a great death-dealing storm.
The orc general was instantly rendered into a pile of carbon, and his nearby soldiers were quickly picked off by the storm and thunderbolts.
Once the tornadoes left the scene, there were no more orcs nearby. Ranga's broad-range attack skill—『Deathstorm』—thus made its first impact on the world.
Ranga watched contentedly as his tornadoes stormed across the land.
It had not affected any of the lizardmen, and even at maximum range and force, they did nothing to damage him.
It emptied his magical reserves, of course, but not enough to render him immobile.
Fubuki: 「Ayo, that's some nice move you've got there, Ranga! You're like a mini-Veldora now.」
He wagged his tail upon hearing the praise, realizing it had worked perfectly.
Ranga let out another long, happy howl, more than enough to terrorize the orcs observing from afar.
Gobta appeared to be doing well, too. The lizardman force was starting to gather itself back together under the watchful command of Gabiru.
The goblin riders had rejoined Gobta, and together, they were mowing down the orcs that had so tormented the lizardmen and goblins not long ago.
It wouldn't be long before Gabiru's men were a coherent force again.
And now—they could see Benimaru and his friends walking in from far away.
Ranga nodded to himself.
Victory seemed assured now.
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Word Count: 「5510」.