Chapter 223: The God from Another World (2)

Yuri’s group mercilessly wiped out every orc in sight.

Normally, orcs weren’t easy prey. But since Yuri crushed everything head-on, the remaining orcs quickly lost their will to fight and fled without offering any real resistance.

It took very little time to completely raze one of their villages.

Yuri gathered the orc corpses in one spot and set them on fire. As the bodies burned, a pungent smoke rose into the sky.

Just in case there were human captives or anything else, they quickly inspected the village.

But there was nothing special in the orc structures. Only a few skulls of unknown origin rolled around here and there.

There was also a place where meat was stored—something they found in every orc village. The meat was of various species, but according to Yuri, most of it was clearly human flesh.

Without saying a word, he threw all of it into the fire as well. That’s when Yuri saw something strange on the ground.

It looked like a wooden statue. Roughly and poorly carved, but you could make out what they were trying to represent.

It was a strange creature, with tentacles.

Yuri had seen something similar somewhere before. He thought for a moment and soon remembered.

It resembled the statue of the monster Sybilla had tried to create.

Although the materials were different and the shape even cruder, it was definitely the same thing.

Yuri threw the wooden figure into the fire without hesitation. Jared approached him.

“Finished inspecting?”

“Yeah.”

Yuri stared at the burning village, lost in thought.

He didn’t know if the statue had that form by coincidence or if that creature was something widely known among the orcs. But it left him with a bad feeling.

He decided not to end the day there. Instead, he would attack once more.

“Let’s go one more time.”

“Will we make it?”

“If we finish before sunset, yes. We’ve still got time.”

“Understood.”

Throughout the day, they had been exterminating orcs nonstop. Everyone was exhausted. But since Yuri said they’d go again, no one complained—they got up right away.

After all these battles, Yuri had become an absolute figure to them.

The group rode out again.

Yuri checked the map. There was another orc village nearby.

“They might be prepared.”

“Yes, sir.”

They had been moving quickly to keep the orcs from spreading word of the extermination campaign, but eventually, the rumors spread, and those orcs were already in defensive positions.

“There it is.”

Their target began to come into view. Yuri gripped Guilty and fixed his gaze on the distant orc village.

Weapons were mounted on the palisade, and orc guards patrolled the area.

“Just as I thought, they’re ready.”

“Should we go in immediately?”

“Yeah.”

The village was bigger than expected, and there were many orcs. Not an enemy one should attack head-on without a strategy.

But since they were already there, Yuri decided to take care of it personally.

He stepped forward.

“I’ll go first. Follow me.”

The moment Yuri moved, the orcs noticed the enemy’s presence. Loud noises erupted as they prepared for battle.

Yuri crouched slightly.

The members of his group, who had seen him break defensive lines alone many times, said nothing and followed.

Yuri activated the power of his technique, “The Cut of the soul and the heart.” Then he summoned the power of chaos and channeled it into Guilty.

A spinning, whirlwind-like sword emerged, kicking up a vortex of wind. It was a technique he could now use as freely as if it were part of his own body.

Seeing the orc formation blocking his path, Yuri smiled.

And unleashed the whirlwind.

With a deafening roar, the orcs in his way were torn to shreds, their remains scattered in pieces.

Jets of blood spurted.

The difference in power was so overwhelming it terrified the orcs. When the first line fell, those behind lost the will to fight. Some turned and fled.

But it was too late. The whirlwind of energy dragged them in too.

“Akuaaktar!”

As the grotesquely shredded bodies fell, that voice was heard among them.

Yuri smiled in satisfaction. He liked that the orcs called him “the Black Demon.”

It was much better than “the Black Dog.”

To the orcs, Yuri had become an unshakable force. He decided to live up to that title.

He dismounted and charged into the orcs. Several large orcs tried to block his way. They were strong, yes—but compared to the orcs he had faced in the last war, they were quite ordinary.

Yuri swung Guilty in a wide arc.

The orcs retreated, trying to dodge. Since he attacked broadly, several openings appeared.

The orcs took advantage of those openings to throw their axes. But that was exactly what Yuri wanted.

His speed suddenly increased, and he closed up all the weak spots he’d left exposed. What looked like a vulnerability had actually been a trap.

Yuri locked eyes on the axes flying at him. It was a moment when his body could have been shredded—but he showed not a hint of fear and slipped between the weapons with millimeter precision.

He passed through the axes so closely they nearly brushed his hairs. An instant later, all the attacks missed.

Then, an opening appeared.

Just enough time for Yuri to cut out the heart of each orc around him.

Blood sprayed in all directions.

It all happened so fast that, to onlookers, it seemed the orcs—who had been attacking normally just a second ago—suddenly collapsed, drenched in blood.

“Incredible…”

Francesco, who was silently watching Yuri’s actions, murmured to himself.

That guy was definitely one of the Ten Greats. No, he had far surpassed that threshold.

Even if he regained his former strength, Francesco wasn’t sure he could match such skill.

“Sir Francesco.”

One of the Valshard knights, who had been talking with him during the orc battles, asked cautiously.

“Does His Highness of Briol possess strength equal to the Ten Greats?”

Francesco looked at Yuri’s back for a moment, then nodded.

“Yes. And not just that… he’s among the very top.”

“Uuuaaah…”

Meanwhile, Yuri had already moved far ahead. Even with just a few seconds of conversation, he had advanced significantly on his own.

Orc screams echoed from all around.

“Akuaaktar! Ammani Arkuta!”

“Ilai Akuaaktar!”

Yuri’s nickname—“The Black Demon”—resounded everywhere.

Francesco let out a bitter laugh. Just as the orcs said, to them, Yuri was truly a demon. They couldn’t stop him, and he showed no mercy.

This wasn’t the first orc village they had annihilated.

Yuri had exterminated every orc in each of them, burning the settlements to ashes. This mechanical slaughter had been repeated over two days.

The stench of orc blood clung to their bodies.

Francesco murmured.

“Just keeping up with him is exhausting…”

***

Yuri continued killing every orc that crossed his path. At some point, there were none left who dared to face him.

Even though this seemed to be one of the largest villages they had seen so far, he didn’t detect a single orc that posed a threat.

Suddenly, Yuri came across a large structure.

Although it was made by orcs and wasn’t particularly sturdy, its size was considerable. From inside, Yuri could sense the presence of many orcs.

“A trap?”

Murmuring that, he headed toward the building.

If it were a trap, logic would dictate avoiding it, but Yuri didn’t think that way. He chose to walk in directly and destroy whatever was inside.

As always, he opened the door without hesitation.

“Hmm…?”

But what he saw inside was completely unexpected. The orcs there weren’t resisting.

They were all prostrated, bowing toward something. Yuri looked up.

It was a larger sculpture of the same strange monster he had seen earlier.

Though crude, it had sculpted tentacles and retained that grotesque form.

The gathered orcs paid no attention to Yuri and kept bowing endlessly. From time to time, they even mentioned him in their prayers.

“Je jevar jugr Akuaakkai…”

“Je jevar jugr…”

“Irmatep Akuaaktar jugr…”

The words sounded like some kind of curse. As they bowed before that mysterious statue, it seemed they were praying for salvation from Yuri.

Just in case, Yuri accessed the mental domain of his technique to scan the surroundings. But he didn’t sense any trace of dark magic.

They weren’t possessed—they were simply clinging voluntarily to that faith.

“Did this spread from Okua…?”

The scrolls contained accumulated records from the demonic grimoires.

Perhaps, while Okua was still alive, some information about that unknown entity leaked from them and silently took root in orc society.

If Cory were here, he might have known more. It was a shame.

Yuri raised his sword, Guilty.

“I’ll send you all together.”

Without hesitation, he cut down the nearest orc. Blood splattered. Confusion spread among the orcs. But they didn’t stop praying.

On the contrary, they chanted more intensely and bowed even deeper. They had lost all will to fight.

“Akuaaktar…”

Judging by how they repeated that word, it seemed that in their worldview, the tentacled monster was a god and Yuri was the demon.

Yuri didn’t see this as a bad thing. Since they weren’t resisting, it was easier to kill them all.

As he slaughtered the praying orcs, anyone witnessing the scene might have thought the orcs were the victims and Yuri was the villain.

But Yuri wasn’t deceived by that.

In all the orc villages he had inspected so far, there wasn’t a single one where human remains weren’t found. In their meat stores, human body parts were always hanging, carefully sectioned.

At the start of this operation, several Valshard knights had vomited upon seeing that.

“Akuaaktar!”

As Yuri continued his killing spree, one orc suddenly stood up and shouted. Some tried to stop him, but he didn’t hold back and yelled something else.

And then he prostrated himself before Yuri.

“Akuaaktar…”

Yuri, confused, paused. He wanted to know what the hell that guy was saying.

But it didn’t stop there. Other orcs began standing and bowing before Yuri as well. Their numbers gradually increased.

It was as if the object of their worship had shifted from the tentacled monster to Yuri.

“Akuaaktar…”

“Akutaktar…”

They were even pronouncing his nickname.

Some orcs shouted things at them, but the ones worshipping Yuri didn’t change their behavior. They kept bowing toward him again and again.

“This is ridiculous…”

He didn’t know what they were thinking, but he didn’t want to keep watching the scene.

So he raised his sword and unleashed a massive spinning whirlwind. The blades of the fractal vortex chewed through the orcs’ bodies, shredding them into pieces of flesh.

The place that had once been a site of faith rituals now became a massacre scene.

Yuri even completely destroyed the statue of the tentacled monster at the center.

“Now that’s better.”

The stench of blood was thick.

He confirmed that no orcs were left alive and exited the building. But then he was startled.

The orcs had surrounded the place.

“What is this…?”

However, all the orcs bowed in unison before Yuri.

The rest of the group was equally stunned. No one attacked. They just stood frozen, watching the orcs prostrate themselves.

“No way…”

The orcs bowed once more to Yuri.

“Akuaaktar…”

Yuri understood.

To the orcs, Yuri had killed the great hero Okua and was annihilating village after village. He was their enemy—the Akuaaktar.

The fear they felt for him had reached such a level that now they had chosen to worship him.

To them, Yuri was no longer human.

He had become an incomprehensible disaster, a calamity they could do nothing about.

The Black Demon.

Yuri felt a chill run down his spine.

For centuries, the orcs had pillaged and tormented humans. That’s why everyone hated them. And now, he hadn’t just defeated them—he had broken their spirits.

To the orcs, Yuri was, in every sense, a demon. A demon they could never stop.

And his existence would be passed down for generations among the orcs.

Until the orc race was completely wiped out, they would keep telling stories of the Black Demon and tremble at the thought of his return.

Yuri spread his arms.

And murmured,

“I am the legend.”