Chapter 7

The Orc King walked by a row of iron ore piles. He had no real idea how to tell the difference between samples, or if there was any difference in the first place. After all, the orcs were not practicing metallurgy beyond very basic tools and weapon-making. What he did find important was the amount of ore gathered. Even if Tempest offered a low price for the ore, it still should buy them enough food to stop the starvation for a while.

"Your highness!"

The Orc King looked up to see one of the scouts running in his direction.

"What happened?" he asked in a calm tone.

"A majin landed north of settlements. He demands an audience." the younger orc said with a bow.

"Is he from Tempest?"

"He didn't say so but I think he is a deadman."

"Bring him here."

'He has to be from Tempest. I hope he will offer enough food for the ore. No… I will demand a decent price. I can't afford to be weak.'

He patiently waited by the ore piles for the guest to come. This deadman was different from the previous envoy from Tempest. Unlike the hooded figure who came before, the majin was wearing a simple suit, a long-nosed mask, and carried a cane.

What struck the Orc King the most was his aura. He was powerful.

"Greetings, Orc King. I have come with a great gift."

"Gift? Aren't you from Tempest?"

"Tempest? No. I am Gelmud and I have come to give you a name and offer salvation for your people!" the rather short majin exclaimed with unshaken confidence and authority.

If an offer sounded too good to be true, then it certainly was. "Why would you do that? What do you want in return?"

"I have named many creatures. I will unite Jura under my rule and your people will help me to do it."

"We will not be dragged into conflicts!" the Orc King said, towering over the majin.

"You are refusing my kindness?" Gelmud asked in a polite tone as his aura enveloped the orc, "I didn't come all the way here just to be refused!"

"Wait. I just want to know what would happen to my people." the Orc King asked as he took a step back.

"Your people will join my army and, together with the other monsters of the forest, will serve me. There is plenty of food in Jura for your people. Now kneel so I can name you!"

Reluctantly, the orc kneeled before the much smaller majin. As much as Gelmud wanted to make an Orc Lord, such a creature would draw unnecessary attention and would be hard to control. Besides, his newly acquired skill gave him a way to increase his own power and thus be the one on the top, not just pulling strings from shadows as was originally planned.

Gelmud put his hand on the orc's head and said, "I shall call you Geld." He cut off the energy that was transferred before the evolution to an Orc Lord could start.

"Thank you, master." Geld said as he stood up. "What are your orders?"

"Start gathering your people. We will leave miners and smelters behind, and the rest will march towards Jura."

"But we are no match for ogres!"

"Not to fight them, you idiot. One of my servants will take over the ogres and add them to my armies." Gelmud said and then pointed at the settlement, "Now hurry, I don't want to spend a lot of time in this forsaken, barren dump."

"As you command, my lord." Geld said and hurried away from his new master. To deny him would have meant his death and likely many deaths of his people. As he walked towards the central settlement to send out messengers, the bad feeling didn't leave him.

"Father, what did the majin want?" his son asked, running up to him.

"He named me and now commands us. We are heading towards the forest of Jura." Geld said.

"But what about Tempest? Their envoy should come soon."

Geld was silent for a moment. Unlike Gelmud, Tempest wanted peaceful coexistence. If he had made a mistake in not standing up to his new master, then he may have doomed his people. Yet there may be a way to save at least some.

"Son, what I will ask of you is based on my gut instinct, not a choice I would make as king."

"Father?"

"Take our clan and leave."

"Why?" the younger orc asked, surprised.

"I have a feeling… If I have made a mistake, you will have to lead our people. Somewhere deep in Jura there must be a place a single clan could survive without being noticed."

"Are you sure? What about the rest?"

"I will lead the rest to the best of my ability. Consider this a request from your father, not the order of your king."

The younger orc bowed and walked off.

'I hope this was not another mistake, but I feel it was the right choice to make this time.'

While the one clan left in secrecy, he had to gather the rest, and do it quickly so as to not entice Gelmud's wrath.

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Clayman sat in a luxurious chair at the end of a long table. A few of his fellow demon lords were coming for a visit to discuss the recent development in Jura, thus he had to appear prim and proper.

He took a small sip of wine while looking at the double doors that should have opened at any moment. It took two months for one of the most talented wood carvers in his dominion to make them, and they were a marvelous work of art suited for his castle.

As he predicted, Frey, the Harpie Queen, was first to arrive. She had white hair with wide wings of the same color. Dressed in her usual short, red dress, she took careful steps to not scratch the floor with her talons.

"Ah, Frey, lovely as usual. Welcome to my humble home." Clayman said.

"What is this about?"

"Patience. We still need to wait for the rest to arrive, but in short, it's about the forest of Jura."

Frey sat down and spoke in a cold tone, "I am not part of your Orc Lord plan. Why are you bothering me with this?"

"It's not about the plan. You'll see soon enough."

Frey let out an annoyed sigh and sat in silence, waiting for the rest of the demon lords to arrive.

The next to arrive was Carrion, the Beast King, a tall massive man with blonde, spiky hair. Since he was wearing a rather loose set of clothing, a paw print tattoo was visible on the right part of his chest.

"Hey Frey, Clayman." he said as he walked to his chair with casual grace suited for a king and sat down asking "Is Millim late as usual?"

"She was never known for punctuality." Clayman said with a light smile. "But she should be here any moment."

"Frey, you are joining our plan?" Carrion asked.

"No, Clayman has news I apparently need to hear."

"Oh, I thought there was progress… Never mind."

The last one to arrive was Millim Nava, the Destroyer, a teenage-looking girl with glossy pink hair tied in twin tails. Her outfit was best described as skimpy underwear which barely covered her rather flat figure.

She swung the doors open with such a force that one of the hinges broke and stomped in without a care in the world. Clayman grabbed his thigh under the table and dug his nails into it to remain calm.

'That bitch did it on purpose. Why do I even bother with this childish brute?'

"Millim, I'm glad you could join us." Clayman said with a forced smile.

"Sure. What's this about?" Milim responded and sat down in a chair with her feet on the table.

'I just had it cleaned and polished! Keep calm, Clayman. One day I will find a way to get back at her.'

"First, I wish to announce that I canceled our Orc Lord plan and fired Gelmud." Clayman said and raised his right hand. "Calm down. I will explain."

"I recently became aware of unusual activity around the Storm Dragon's cave. A large area around it is unobservable, and this area is spreading at a rapid pace."

Clayman stood up, put an observation orb on the table, and activated it, or at least seemed to try to do so as the orb remained dark.

"Any idea what is causing it?" Carrion asked.

"My agents from Dwargon reported that some previously unknown majins are creating a nation called Tempest around the dragon's cave. What's more, they supposedly have the Storm Dragon's blessing."

"Just majins? You are afraid of some majins?" Millim asked with a burst of mocking laughter.

Clayman turned away from her, took a deep breath, and continued. "If there is a chance that Veldora is breaking out of his prison, I don't want to be the first target of his wrath. Even you, Millim, should know better than to antagonize true dragons."

Milim's past and the true limits of her power were a mystery, but even she would not be able to defeat the godlike creature that was the Storm Dragon. His imprisonment a few centuries ago came as a surprise. It was mostly rumored to be done by a true hero, the strongest one that humanity had to offer.

"So what are we doing now?" Millim asked, defeated. The whole plan of creating the Orc Lord in her eyes was only to fight the boredom she felt. With that gone, she had nothing to occupy herself with again.

'Maybe I could go play with Veldora?' she mused. But the idea gave pause even to her. Veldora was more of a force of nature than a schemer. Maybe it was better to wait and see what was happening before doing anything rash.

"I recommend not interfering with Jura beyond trying to carefully scout the dark areas. There is a chance Gelmud does something unreasonable, but he is on his own." Clayman said.

"How big is this dark area?" Frey asked.

"It has consumed most of the Jura's western parts, and from what I could assess, is bordering the Dwargon and human nations. Luckily, it hasn't reached any of our territories yet."

"Shouldn't we inform the other demon lords as well? As far as I know, the Jura noninterference act is still active." Carrion said, tapping his long, sharp nails against the table.

Clayman gritted his teeth at his ally's action and resolved to just repair the damages afterward. "I don't think the others would care in the first place, but we could cancel it in case any of us needs to defend against whatever is happening in Jura."

"I'm for it." Millim said.

"Agreed. The situation calls for us to revoke it."

"Excellent. Let me prepare the agreement." Clayman said, snapping his fingers as the parchment appeared on the table.

He was first to sign it, followed by Millim and Carrion. Frey joined in as well, not wanting to show opposition to the decision. With Carrion's nation not only bordering hers but also being close allies, she resolved to show her support. Some of her more discreet subordinates were already preparing to be on their way to Jura to try and scout the area, and assess the danger levels.

"I will inform the other demon lords of our decision, but I doubt I will get much of a response." Clayman said as he rolled up the agreement and put it in his vest's pocket.

"Soo… We can do in Jura whatever we want?" Millim asked.

'This is perfect. If she gets too eager to investigate, I can slip a few agents behind her and get a sense of what is going on. Now let's play this out carefully.'

"Yes, but I would advise against just going there unprepared." Clayman said and then turned to face two remaining demon lords. "I also propose exchanging information if any of us discovers anything of note."

"Agreed." Carrion chipped in and stood up. "I will send some of my best to lurk around the borders, but I'm not sending anyone in for now."

"I am not risking my subordinate's lives either." Frey said as she left.

Milim was the last to leave, giving Clayman no parting words.

Clayman sat down and took a sip of wine. 'Gelmud's actions should be the main source of information, but I can't put anything past Millim's stupidity as well.'

For now, it was time to prepare more agents and do some reconnaissance. There were no doubts about Tear's abilities, but it didn't hurt to do some extra scouting as well.

As long as they are ordered to retreat and do not cause hostilities, he could wipe his hands clean in case Veldora took notice.

Edited by Edgy