The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 242

“The Twilight Kingdom...”

“Don’t tell me this is a kingdom of Twilight Orcs?”

The truth was staring the players in the face, but it was hard to accept.

Who would’ve imagined that orcs, who were on the lower end of the intelligence spectrum among monsters, could found a civilization? Moreover, it was a civilization of Twilight Orcs, monsters renowned for their antisocial nature.

Twilight's Orcs had a proclivity for wandering S-grade gates alone, hunting players as they went. And the carnage they left behind had earned them a particular nickname among circles of players.

“... The Butcher.”

The faces of the players paled, and their weapons shook in their trembling hands. It was an almost primal level of fear. How many gruesome stories had they about these grey-skinned giants? How many S-class players just like them had died to monsters just like these?

“Everyone, stay calm. The Twilight Orc that killed Noya is way bigger than the rest. The others won’t be as powerful.”

A middle-aged man with his hair in a ponytail spoke up to reassure his colleagues.

“Let’s retreat first. Stay alert for any more thrown projectiles or axes as we do.”

No matter how dismissive of the natives the Chinese players had been, they were still S-class elites. They had naturally made note of various escape routes from the village.

“Lou Xin’s safety is our top priority. The Twilight Orcs have skin that is nearly impervious to blades, but they are vulnerable to magic.”

“Yes!”

The middle-aged man’s calm voice steadied the atmosphere. The Chinese players nodded vigorously and formed a defense around the only female player, Lou Xin.

They moved to retreat, but as soon as they did, the Twilight Orcs erupted into shouts. Their every word echoed like thunder.

“Do you think you can escape?”

“Chase! Kill!”

“Uweeeeeok!”

Whatever language the Twilight Orcs were speaking, it clearly wasn’t human. Normally, the languages of monsters weren’t translated by the System. However, perhaps because they were currently inside their kingdom, all the players could understand the Twilight Orcs’ speech, though they wished dearly that they hadn’t.

“Crush their skulls! Suck out their eyeballs and brains, split their spines, and use it to pick our teeth clean!”

Everything that came from the Ors’ mouths promised a horrific end for them. They were even more brutal than China’s underworld gangs. And that was saying something.

Moreover...

[The Twilight Orc’s Roar has inflicted Fear on you.]

Twilight Orcs inherently possessed a roar-type Skill that induced fear. The Skill was the same kind typically associated with Lord-grade monsters.

“Shit!”

The legs of the Chinese players were weighed down under the effects of the fear debuff, and their speed noticeably slowed.

Lou Xin threw a hand behind herself and cast a Skill, Ice Field.

The ground beneath the orcs’ feet turned to ice, cursing them to slip and tangle on top of each other. They all attempted to get up at the same time, which only made it more difficult for any one of them to find their footing amid the pile of bodies.

The Skill was more effective than Lou Xin had expected. That the orcs weren’t wearing shoes had certainly helped.

Now somewhat excited, Lou Xin urged her teammates forward.

“Hurry! I bought us some time!”

“I should’ve split open your skull first.”

The red eyes of the largest Twilight Orc fell on Lou Xin. It slammed one fist through the sheet of ice for balance while it reached for its nearby axe with the other.

Its tusk-like canines glinted sharply in the firelight as it rose up and raised its gore-smattered axe.

“There is no leaving for your ilk.”

With a final bellow, the Twilight Orc threw its axe. It cycled through the air like a helicopter’s rotor, sucking up dirt and stone into a great cloud as it ate up the distance toward the fleeing Chinese players.

“Ah...”

One by one, the players glanced behind and then slowed to a stop. They realized no matter how hard they struggled, they wouldn’t be able to escape.

“W-what are you doing?”

At times like these, being young and inexperienced was an advantage—seeing her teammates' soulless expressions, Lou Xin urgently shouted for them to get moving while she repeatedly cast Shield in the meantime.

Shield was among the most basic spells for defense. While its strength did scale with the user’s Magic stat, individually, the barrier it formed was still rather basic and easily broken. In the face of the Twilight Orcs’ immense strength, it would offer all the defense of a soap bubble.

However, the Shield spell was not all downsides—the defense of the barrier increased exponentially, with successive layering, which was where Lou Xin’s talent in swift spellcasting came in.

In the short time her teammates had lost themselves, Lou Xin had already cast a total of six Shield layers behind the group.

She’d been the first of her generation to reach S-class, and that was by no fluke. In her age group, her talent as a mage was par excellence in China.

Do you think I became a player just to die here in vain?

Lou Xin was the successor of the Won family’s main branch, but after so many generations, the half-draconian bloodline that her family had prided itself on had grown so thin that it was beyond recognition. Even the branch families looked down on her and her parents.

I can’t die. I haven’t achieved a full draconian transformation. I haven’t shown the world my Won family’s brilliance...

“......!”

Despite Lou Xin’s wishes, despite her dreams, and her determination, when the Twilight Orc’s axe arrived, the first four barriers exploded like glass, one after another. Then came the fifth barrier. The axe crashed through it without even a wobble.

There was only one barrier left.

The axe was a mere thirty centimeters away from her chest. But then a back blocked her vision.

“How dare you touch my subordinates?”

Landing in front of Lou Xin, Jiang Lei raised his sword just as the axe ruptured the final barrier. Magic steel collided with the head of the whirling axe, arresting its movement with a deafening boom.

Jiang Lei gritted his teeth while veins bulged on his forehead. The same slash he’d used to sever an ogre’s calf was now only just barely enough to resist this tree-sized axe’s momentum.

Useless girl!

Jiang Lei inwardly cursed Lou Xin. He’d thought that the six shields she’d cast would’ve weakened the axe’s momentum at least somewhat, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Had he known earlier, he wouldn’t have stepped forward to play the hero. He would’ve stayed back and observed the situation for a better time to intervene.

Shit!

Jiang Lei’s arms went numb, and the sharp pain in his wrists grew agonizing, as if the tendons would snap at any moment.

In the end, Jiang Lei’s sword shook.

Tsk. If I suffer a loss here, that’ll be a complete disgrace.

The sole reason Jiang Lei had stepped forward in the first place was to strengthen his subordinates' awe and loyalty; after all, he planned to raid Lion’s Castle while he was in Korea. In order to succeed smoothly, he needed allies who would cooperate with him against the Communist Party’s wishes.

I can’t afford to lose my charisma here.

Thinking as much, Jiang Lei’s eyes glinted red as he activated Blood Fury.

Blood Fury was a buff-type Skill, the duration of which was eight seconds, while the cooldown of which was five minutes—the short duration and the comparatively long cooldown betrayed the Skill’s miraculous nature, worthy of originating from the Blood Church that worshiped vampires as gods.

With this Skill, Jiang Lei had climbed above countless others to transcend at a young age.

Bang!

Following the activation of Blood Fury, Jiang Lei’s wavering longsword immediately steadied and began driving back the axe before the axe-head surprisingly shattered under the force.

The big Twilight Orc snorted in surprise. Its pan-sized eyes widened for a moment before it curled its lips in a snarl and unstrapped another axe from its back. This one was twice the size of the one it had thrown, such that even the Twilight Orc hefted it with both hands.

Red arcs danced across the black axe-head, evidently inscribed with some sort of magic.

“This is the axe that my lord gave me. Let’s see if you can stop this, too!”

The Orc closed the distance in three leaping steps and brought its axe slamming down. Jiang Lei felt fortunate that the Orc had wasted no time in attacking; since Blood Fury was still active, Jiang Lei opted to valiantly meet the Orc head-on.

In a flash, sword and axe collided, following which Jiang Ley’s eyes bulged.

The red arcs flashing along the axe had jumped down Jiang Lei’s sword and into his body faster than he could blink.

Lightning... attribute...

Jiang Lei’s arms spasmed as an electrical current coursed through him. The Orc’s axe slid past Jiang Lei’s faltering sword and struck toward his chest.

Fine. Fine! Bring it on! The more blood on the battlefield, the stronger I become! Cut me and see how I channel even greater Skills. And with Blood Fury active... Heheh. I’ll kill you with a single blow.

A madened grin spread across Jiang Lei’s face as he prepared to deliver a ferocious counterattack.

Seeing as the big orc’s weapon had been bestowed by its “lord,” the big orc’s prowess had to be exceptional among its kind; perhaps it was one of the top warriors of the Twilight Kingdom. Jiang Lei anticipated a big reward upon killing it.

But in the next moment, someone appeared by Jiang Lei’s side. It was none other than Jae-Hyeok.

"It would be a problem if you died already."

“Wait—” Before Jiang Lei could say anything more, a red sword flickered across his vision, knocking the Orc’s axe askew before disappearing back into Jae-Hyeok's scabbard.

The axe shaved past Jiang Lei’s shoulder before slamming into the ground.

“No... No! This is bull—”

“Hahaha! It missed! Not even a Named orc can hold its axe steady after clashing with Jiang Lei!”

“As expected of Jiang Lei!”

We can survive! We just have to trust Jiang Lei!

The eyes of the Chinese players shone with newfound hope.

Jiang Lei had been on the verge of erupting in a fit of curses, but upon listening to the cheers of his subordinates, he was reminded of the bigger picture.

I must maintain my image. I must maintain my image... Jiang Lei chanted inwardly, though his eyes spat fire toward Jae-Hyeok.

Meanwhile, the massive orc had its eyes glued on Jae-Hyeok.

“Those eyes...”

The shockwave caused by the axe slamming into the ground had blown Jae-Hyeok’s hair into a wild dance, but his gaze was as unwavering as a bird of prey’s, locked onto the target before him.

The orc shivered. It pointed a meaty finger at Jae-Hyeok.

“You have the eyes of God!”

“?”

“Kuhaha! Good! I, Daruchan, am the one who will one day defeat God! You will serve as practice!”

[The title “One Who Heard the Name of the Twilight Warrior” has been acquired.]

[Strength has permanently increased by 10.]

“Dieeeeee!”

[The Twilight Warrior Daruchan has challenged you to a duel. Would you like to accept?]

Is this really the right time to issue a challenge? Well, I guess when in Rome...

Jae-Hyeok was confused, but he still nodded. Their civilizations were different; naturally, their cultures were as well.

Darachan’s huge eyes widened in excitement, and it charged at Jae-Hyeok like a raging bull.

Be it Daruchan or Jae-Hyeok, they both seemed to have entirely forgotten about Jiang Lei, whose expression was by now as black as the bottom of a pot.

Having seen Jae-Hyeok deflect Daruchan’s earlier axe strike with such ease, Jiang Lei was sure that he had already worn down Daruchan with their earlier exchange. He had done all the work, and yet now Jae-Hyeok was aiming to steal the kill from under his nose?

I’ll be damned if I let that happen!

“Damn brat, this prey is mine!” Jiang Lei charged past Jae-Hyeok, barreling toward Daruchan with vicious eyes. Almost immediately thereafter, a notification appeared in Jae-Hyeok’s vision.

[Notice: Player Jiang Lei has interrupted your sacred duel. Player Jiang Lei has received the following debuff: 50% stat reduction.]

Bang!

Jiang Lei collided with Daruchan’s shoulder and spun off like a rag doll.

“T-this is impossible!”

“Nooo!”

At the sorry sight of their leader, the Chinese players seemed to have lost their souls. Wasn’t Jiang Lei one of China’s lofty National Treasures? How could he be sent flying like a leaf?

They had never seen anything like it.

Jae-Hyeok glanced at traumatized Chinese players, exasperated. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Are these people players or cheerleaders?