Free Web NovelChapter 222: _Worthy Sacrifices
Ambrose’s lips twitched with a smile.
The orcs raised their weapons, each one glistening under the lights of the throne room. As for the orc king, he grabbed his halberd, swinging it over his head once before stepping down from his throne.
"Your people have left you here to face my wrath." He bellowed, flicking his tongue between his tusks. "I’d enjoy hearing your screams. Painting my gold and jewellery with your blood. I—"
Ambrose chuckled.
His head was lowered as he slowly let go of the straps keeping the team’s backpack on him. He continued laughing, gradually raising his head again.
Only this time his eyes glowed with a fiery blue light. One that immediately made the orcs falter in their formation.
"You think I’ve been abandoned?" He sighed, shaking his head with pity edged in his voice. "Come on. You must’ve felt something off with me from the beginning. I saw the way you stared at me."
The orc king mumbled something in his language before switching to English. "All I see now is a puny human who deserves judgement."
"Really?" Ambrose’s smile turned into a cold, uncanny stretch on his face. "Look again."
His aether exploded.
Shadows stretched unnaturally across the walls and even the impossibly high ceiling alongside a bone-chilling frost.
Now the orcs shifted backwards while Ambrose dragged one lazy foot forward. The orc king’s confident mask shattered, replaced with something truly primal.
Fear.
"You know, if you were just a few weeks early and I somehow stumbled in here?" Ambrose pulled out his frost dagger, swirling it casually between his fingers. "You would’ve easily been able to destroy me."
He lifted his chin as his grip around the dagger’s hilt tightened. "Now though? I’m not merely human. No, I stopped being that for a while now."
Spatial awareness stretched, taking note of every anxious heartbeat. Every shift in posture. It gave him a detailed mental map of his enemies.
’Prepare for automatic aether core collection.’
[NOTE: Collecting the cores of the orcs would make their corpses lose a necessary boost if you wish to reanimate them.]
’No matter. I’ll just draw out what’s left of their souls.’
The orc king stamped his halberd hard, the sound shaking the throne room. "Do not," he spoke in the orc tongue again, "let this charlatan soil our tribe’s name further. Bring me his head!"
’Aura?’ Ambrose’s teeth shone with a grin. ’One more thing...’
Within seconds Aura carried out his only request. The system scanned things like intonation and syllables, pulling out an exact translation of what the orc king said.
It didn’t take long for all the necessary data to get loaded into Ambrose’s mind.
As the first line of orcs moved to attack him—his lips parted.
"Thank you for these worthy sacrifices... your majesty." He uttered in the orc tongue.
Terror flashed past the Orc king’s face.
But it was too late.
★★★★★
One moment Captain Killian was inside the throne room preparing himself for death.
The next, he crashed onto rocky ground outside the Rift.
Some Hunters cried out as they landed beside him. Others stumbled forward in confusion, nearly tripping over one another as they scrambled to their feet.
For a few seconds nobody understood what had happened.
Then someone pointed.
"The Rift!"
All eyes snapped toward the enormous portal hovering above the forest clearing.
The realisation hit them at once.
They were out.
Alive.
The female Hunter nearly collapsed onto her knees. Another covered his face with both hands and laughed shakily.
"We made it."
"We actually made it."
"I thought we were dead."
Captain Killian didn’t share their relief.
His eyes darted through the group.
Counting.
His expression changed soon enough. "Where’s Guide Ambrose?"
The question slammed into the group like a hammer.
Everyone froze.
Then they started looking around frantically.
The female Hunter’s face drained of colour. "Oh no."
"No, no, no."
"He was behind us."
"He was right behind us!"
Killian immediately shoved away the healer supporting him.
His injured body protested violently. Blood soaked through the bandages wrapped around his side.
"I have to go back."
"Captain—"
"I said I have to go back!" He staggered toward the Rift only for three Hunters to grab him.
"Are you insane?"
"Let me go!"
"You can barely stand!"
Killian struggled harder. "There is still a member of my team in there!"
"And if you go back you’ll just become a second casualty!" One of them yelled.
The words finally made him stop.
Not because he agreed.
Because deep down he knew they were right.
The dungeon they entered wasn’t C-Rank.
It probably never had been.
An A-Rank orc king.
Dozens of B-Rank soldiers.
An entire hidden tribe, Kingdom or whatever the fuck it was.
Nothing about it made sense.
If he entered again in his current state, he would die before taking ten steps.
Killian’s fists clenched.
For the first time since becoming a Hunter, helplessness washed over him.
"We need to report this."
Everyone turned toward Leon.
The Esper stood calmly near the edge of the clearing, his hands tucked into his pockets.
His expression was serious. "A dungeon containing intelligent humanoid races isn’t normal. Neither is a dungeon capable of trapping and separating raid members."
He glanced at the Rift. "The Guild needs to know immediately."
Silence followed.
Then one by one, the Hunters nodded.
Because regardless of how they felt... There was nothing they could do.
Not right now.
Several minutes later the group began making their way back toward the transport vehicles.
Killian was practically dragged along by the healer.
The captain kept glancing back as though he expected Ambrose to suddenly stroll out of the Rift behind them.
He never did.
Eventually only Leon remained.
The forest became quiet.
Then a phone vibrated inside his pocket.
Loki glanced at the caller ID before answering. "Hello?"
Apollo’s voice came immediately. "Finally."
Loki winced dramatically. "Nice to hear from you too."
"Do you have any idea how many times I’ve tried contacting you?"
"Quite a lot, apparently."
Apollo exhaled heavily. "You disappeared for almost a week."
"I’ve been busy."
"Doing what exactly?"
Loki’s gaze settled on the swirling Rift.
A grin slowly spread across their face.
The kind that usually meant trouble for everyone involved.
"Oh, nothing much." Their eyes gleamed. "Just getting very, very close to uncovering something really juicy about Guide Ambrose Hale."
