Tall, muscular humanoid figures were walking towards us, covered in armor and fur, with large fangs on an ugly face.
"Orcs? As in a fantasy race? Those Orcs?" John asked. Shock was clear on his face.
[We got Elves, the Drow, and even Demons, and you are surprised by Orcs?] I shook my head. [Are you telling me you have never seen them? How long were you here again?]
"No, I'm telling you, there were no Orcs. I'm sure of it. In the last thirty years, I have not heard of them once. Not even mentioned in passing." John stated firmly.
Considering his words, I entered deep thought. [In that case, this could only mean one thing…] And I didn't like the implications.
"It doesn't matter. They came from the Drow territory, so if they attack, we kill them. Simple as that."
I nodded. [Agreed. Let's see what they want first.] I recalled my golems and put them on standby. The army of stone constructs surrounded the tower and waited for my orders.
Meanwhile, the army of Orcs neared, a few hundred of them, and they were slightly different than what I remembered. They were larger, for one. Also, they looked more intelligent, speaking with each other as they marched.
We waited, and soon they came to a stop a stone's throw away. The largest among them and also the most heavily armored, most likely their leader, stepped forward.
"Bow to your new rulers, human scum!" The Orc shouted. "Surrender without resistance and your women will be allowed to serve as our slaves! Resist and we will burn your cities to the ground and kill your people, turning the rivers red!"
[Hmm. About what I expected…] I looked at John and he looked back at me. I could see confusion and disappointment in his eyes. I knew exactly what was bothering him and just shrugged.
John sighed and bent down, picking a pebble from the ground. The Orcs laughed and jeered at him, thinking he was surrendering. He was not.
With a simple flick of his fingers, the stone flew like a bullet, piercing through the leader's helmet, exploding his skull, and then traveling through a few more Orcs behind him, instantly killing them as well.
The jeers and mocking laughter quieted down to a soft murmur.
"Really? Man, what is this? Why are they so weak?" John asked with a frown, appearing offended.
[I mean… They are not even in the early stages of the Golden Core. What did you expect?] I laughed. [I could easily kill these guys even without Cultivation. Now? They are less than ants.]
John became angry. "Then why the fuck are they here?! Are they nuts? What are these weaklings going to do? Tickle us to death?!"
"Uh…" One of the Orcs released a confused sound, and for some reason, that pushed John over the edge.
"Shut up! You dare proclaim yourself as our new rulers… I say piss off!" He waved his hand and created a gale that instantly atomized a third of the Orc army as soon as it touched them.
The funny thing was, it was not even supposed to be an attack. He just tried to blast them away, but they were so pathetically weak that their bodies fell apart from the simple force of wind.
Predictably, the invading army scattered in a panic, returning from whence they came.
John kept giving them a death stare the entire time, debating if he should kill them all or not. He had already killed around a hundred by accident, so what was a few more? Ultimately, he decided he couldn't be bothered.
"What a disappointment." He grumbled.
[That's what happens when you return to the starting village when you are almost maxed.] I chuckled, finding the entire situation incredibly funny for some reason.
John looked at me with utter confusion until it clicked in his mind what I was talking about. "Right, video games. Ha~ It's been a while." A thin smile appeared on his face as he remembered his youth.
"Hey, guys! What was that?" Olivia and Thalza flew towards us from the top of the tower, from where they observed the entire interaction.
"Ah, maybe you can tell us, you've been with the Drow for a while." John approached Olivia. "Remember seeing any of those guys?"
The large woman firmly shook her head. "No, definitely not. I would remember such ugly things. What about you?" She questioned Thalza who came with her.
The Drow shook her head as well. "They are weak. We don't ally with such weak and ugly creatures. They can't be ours."
[Oh, they were yours alright.] I chimed in. [They definitely came from the Drow territory. Unfortunately, these were just grunts, so I didn't get any useful information from them.]
"What did you find out?" John wondered curiously.
[Not much. They were born, trained for battle, and then, sometime later, transported here. They were let loose on the land without any orders. They were just given free rein to do whatever they wanted.] I explained. The Orcs didn't have much useful information. Almost as if their masters knew they could have their minds read.
"So they are… what? Distractions?" Olivia asked.
I shrugged. [Looks like it. These guys are fucking clueless, but I would bet there were more of them. At least tens of thousands. Maybe millions.]
"Okay, let's say you are right… What are they even going to do? Annoy people to death? They are so weak." John said, exasperated. "It's such an insult to send these weaklings to fight us."
[Forget the Orcs. As Olivia said, they are just distractions. I'm more worried about what their presence here means.]
"Which is?"
[I would not be surprised if we see Ogres soon. Or even Giants.]
"Giants?"
[About twenty meters tall humanoids. Upper Golden Core Realm would be my guess. I killed one back in Neloron when I was still a Mortal, but he was already crippled, and I had outside help.]
"Golden Core?" Olivia began to laugh. "I could crush a hundred of them with my pinky finger."
[Yeah, but these guys are under the direct authority of Demons. And if those guys decided to finally show themselves, or worse yet, join the war, things are going to get ugly.] I said with a frown. Things were getting serious, and I was not ready to face off against Demons. The memories I had of the old gods left a deep impression on me. Those guys were all well into the Divine Realm, and yet they were cut down without resistance when facing off against those Demon elites.
I was unkillable, sure, but that was only against those of a similar Cultivation stage. A high-stage Sky Realm could still crush me.
While Olivia was experiencing flashbacks from my mention of Demons, John said something I hadn't thought of. "Didn't you say you had some friends back in Neloron? How are they going to fight against Demon armies?"
[Fuck… I didn't think about that. If they attack… Those guys would have no chance. I remember there was talk about spreading knowledge about Cultivation, but...]
"Do you want to go back? We can hold down the fort." John offered.
I shook my head. [It's been a decade already. Even if I went back now, nothing would change. Not to mention, I'm not ready to face off against Demons yet. No, I'll stay here and get stronger and then mess them up.]
"Yeah, fuck those Demons!" Olivia agreed. "Just you wait, when I break through to the Sky Realm, I'll go crush them myself!"
"You guys are all crazy." Thalza said. "None of this is even real! You are all just guessing! And if the Demons are real, don't you think it's a bit arrogant of you to think-"
"There, there." Olivia pulled her closer and patted her head. "What did we say about spreading negativity?"
"But he-"
"Ssssh…"
I just stared as the larger woman kept stroking the Drow's hair as she held her, and surprisingly, she calmed down. John seemingly didn't care, or at least he didn't show it.
It all seemed crazy to me. But that's when I realized, I was the normal one. It was everyone else who was crazy!