The Author's POV

-Thump! -Thump!

Inside of a dark hall, a tall orc slowly walked forward. With each step he took, the ground beneath him would tremble slightly.

Halting his steps in front of the entrance of the hall, Silug knelt down on one knee and proceeded to look down on the ground as his powerful voice resounded across the hall.

"I, Silug, is here"

As Silug's voice echoed across the surroundings, he was only met with silence. However, Silug didn't mind it as he remained kneeling on the ground.

"Enter..."

Exactly five minutes after Silug made his presence known, a dark and raspy voice shook the whole building as a humongous pressure engulfed Silug's body completely.

"khrr...Yes"

Forcefully bearing the pressure and standing up, Silug sluggishly walked towards the hall before him.

As he entered the hall the first thing Silug saw were tremendous braziers hanging from ten ivory columns by the side of the hall lighting up every part of the hall, including the dark brown oaken floor that was covered by a black rug, compromised of the skin of some sort of beast.

The rug ran from the throne down at the center of the hall all the way towards the entrance where Silug was walking.

Rectangular banners with black and red sigils hung from the side of the walls and between each banner sat a small altar full of candles, illuminating the statuettes of powerful creatures depicting either orcs or other fantastical creatures such as dragons and gargoyles.

In the middle of the hall sat a magnificent throne made out of bones with two imposing statues depicting two large orcs holding onto their weapons. The throne was covered in sacred etchings and fixed on each of the front legs was a red ruby that pulsated a red hue continuously like a heart.

Sitting on top of the throne was a figure whose features were obscured by a large shadow cast by the two statues next to the throne.

However, despite the fact that his features couldn't be seen, his majestic presence enveloped the whole hall causing anyone that saw him to subconsciously feel inferior.

-Thud!

Arriving a couple of meters before the obscure figure, taking a knee, Silug once again spoke.

"Silug, is here to report"

Silence once again prevailed over the surroundings as the figure sitting on the throne observed Silug from his throne.

"Khhrr…khrrr"

With each breath the figure took, the hall would shake slightly. Turning his head to the side, the figure coldly spoke.

"Zornaraugh"

"Yes father"

Standing next to the throne was a rather young-looking orc.

He was only half as tall as Silug and his muscles weren't as pronounced. However, a regal and majestic presence exuded from his body that was only slightly inferior to the orc sitting on the throne.

Zornaraugh

That was the name of the young orc standing next to the orc chief sitting on the throne.

Birthed sixteen years ago by the current chief of Gud Kodror, Zornaraugh was exposed to the best resources and best education possible, making him the orc with the greatest potential.

'The young chief'

That was what everyone in the city called him as the elders and the chief unanimously decided on making him the next chief.

Aside from the current chief, no other figure was as important as Zornaraugh who was the next chief in line.

He was the last hope the orcs had at reclaiming the lost land of Immorra.

Presently, the reason why he was attending the meeting was because his father, the current chief, wanted for him to observe and understand what his job consisted of. He wanted him to learn from him...and Zornaraugh naturally understood this.

Pointing towards Silug kneeling down on the ground, the figure sitting on the throne, the current orc chief of Gud Khodror asked.

"What do you think?"

Turning his head towards his father who was imposingly sitting on the throne, Zornaraugh slowly said

"Father…Silug's sin is undeniable, he should be punished"

Breathing out loud, the orc chief nodded his head as he asked

"khhrr..yes, Zornaraugh, what do you think is the appropriate punishment for his failure?"

Without hesitation, Zornaraugh responded.

"Death!"

"Are you sure?"

Nodding his head resolutely, Zornaraug stared at Silug kneeling on the ground whose face was expressionless. With a trace of disgust on his face, Zornaraugh said.

"Yes, we orcs don't need failures like him, why must we keep him?"

Staring at Zornaraugh for a couple of seconds, turning his attention back towards Silug, the orc chief's powerful voice resounded across the hall as he asked.

"Silug, do you have anything to say against Zornaraugh's decision"

Hearing his name being called, lifting his head up, and staring deeply into Zornaraugh eyes, Silug nodded his head.

"Yes..."

Hearing Silug's response, feeling challenged, Zornaraugh raised his voice as he shouted at Silug.

"You dare!"

Raising his hand from the armrest of the trone, the orc chief glared at Zornaraugh.

"Shut up! Only talk when it is your turn to talk, do not interrupt otherwise"

As soon as his voice left his mouth, the whole room shook violently. Dreadful energy propagated outwards of the chief's body like a turbulent wave as it engulfed the entire hall.

-Rumble!

Realizing his mistake and lowering his head, Zornaraugh nodded his head.

"...yes, father"

"As the next chief in line, you need to think long-term instead of short-term. As a leader, you must always be composed and mustn't let our primal instinct cloud or decision making"

Enlightened, Zornaraugh nodded his head in understanding.

"Understood father"

"Good..."

Seeing that Zornaraugh had understood, turning his attention back to Silug, the orc chief's voice once again resounded across the hall.

"...So, Silug, since you are so dissatisfied with my son's decision. Tell me why we should keep you"

Respectfully looking at the orc chief before him, Silug raised his voice as he said.

"I, Silug, third legion commander of Gud Khodror have a lot to offer"

"Oh? Like what? You better sound convincing or I might just do what my son had proposed"

Punching his chest once, Silug said.

"My strength, my loyalty, my blood...and my troops"

Raising his brow, the orc chief snorted.

"Your troops? The ones that were just battling outside a moment ago?"

Hearing the orc's chief statement, Silug's voice remained stoic as he continued.

"Yes, they are faithfully loyal to me...killing me would have a detrimental effect on the morale of the troops which you cannot afford to do at the moment"

"Killing me would also negatively affect the overall power of us orcs as killing me would mean killing an important asset to the orcs..."

Pausing for a second, Silug loudly said

"Killing me would result in your position to shake"

Gripping onto the armrest of his throne, the orc chief squinted his eyes.

"Oh? Are you threatening me?"

...be it humans, elves, demons, or dwarfs, power struggles were normal.

It would've been strange if the current orc chief had no other people vying for his position.

Silug's point was quite a valid one as his death would mean that the current chief would have his power considerably weakened as not only will he lose a powerful commander, he would also a lot of the soldiers that are loyal to Silug.

...normally the current orc chief would have taken notice of the small threat as his position was solidified...However, glancing at Zornaraugh next to him, he had to make his decision carefully.

Though his position was solidified, Zornaraugh's position still wasn't. If he lost Silug's support, then his ascension as next chief would become much harder.

Simply put, this would do more harm than good for Zornaraugh as it would allow for rivals to gain valuable time to grow.

This could not happen, and Silug knew this.

Noticing the orc chief falling into deep contemplation, shaking his head, Silug raised his head and stared at the orc chief straight into his eyes as he coldly said.

"No, I am not threatening you...I just know my worth"

Silence soon prevailed over the surroundings.

Deeply staring at Silug's eyes for a couple of seconds, the orc chief tapped on the armrest of his throne for a couple of seconds before opening his mouth.

"Khhrrr...khrrr...very well"

Nodding his head, the orc chief looked at Zornaraugh as he mumbled.

"…you still have a long way to go Zornaraugh"

Turning his attention back towards Silug, the orc's chief powerful voice shook the whole hall as he spoke out loud.

"From henceforth, Silug, third legion commander of Gud Khodror will be dismissed from his duties and will guard the food storage for the next three years...until then, he will no longer have anything to do with the third legion and will only be responsible for safeguarding the main food supply"

Deeply staring at Silug as he released his pressure, the orc chief said.

"Do you have any problems?"

With an incomparably dark face, Silug stood up and shook his head.

"khhrrr...no, I will comply"

Turning around, Silug soon left the hall.

As he turned around, his face became especially terrifying. If looks could kill, then right now Silug could slaughter a whole army.

Although his punishment was on the lighter side, Silug knew that it was merely a mask.

By separating him and his troops for three years, the orc chief was trying to diminish the loyalty they had towards him so that in the future he would've been able to pull off the same stunt.

As his thoughts paused there, Silug clenched his teeth tightly as he walked out of the building.

'Don't think that I'll let your plan succeed that easily...'

...

Not so far from where Silug was, in a rather secluded spot in Gud Khodror, with Kevin still glaring daggers at me, I leisurely sat down on the ground and took off the bulky armor.

-Clank! -Clank!

"Haa...this was hella stuffy"

As I threw the armor to the side, I couldn't help but take a big breath of fresh air as I rejoiced at the fact that I no longer needed to wear the armor.

...it felt as though I was staying inside of a sauna.

"...Are you seriously not going to address the fact that you literally pushed me towards the orcs and abandoned me?"

Staring at me from above, Kevin's mouth twitched.

"That?"

"Yes..."

Turning my attention back to Kevin I dully said.

"Well, we did manage to get out, didn't we? Moreover, you're not hurt either right?"

"No bu-"

"Enough of that, we've got more important things to talk about"

Cutting Kevin off before he could finish speaking, I diverted the conversation. No use crying over spilled milk.

Helpless, Kevin nodded his head as he asked.

"...so, what are you planning on doing?"

"What am I planning on doing?"

Taking off the metal pads from my arms, a faint smile appeared on my lips. Channeling flame psyons towards the tip of my fingers, I proceeded to snap my fingers.

-Snap!

-Fwaaa!

As soon as I snapped my fingers, a small red flame appeared on my hand. Deeply staring at the flame in my hand, I said.

"We're going to ignite the flame that will rage upon Immorra and leave nothing but devastation in its wake..."

Pausing for a second as the smile on my face deepened, glancing towards Kevin for a couple of seconds, I clenched my fist and said.

"...we're going to start a war"