Game of the World Tree

Imsh leaned on his lionheart sword and finally ceased attacking.

Then, he leaned against a withered tree and looked at the increasing number of elves surrounding him, seemingly lost in thought.

With each passing tense second, more players gathered around the Orc King. However, at this point, the once rampaging boss had already refrained from attacking, leaving the players bewildered and hesitant to initiate an assault.

After all, during their previous clashes, every player who attacked him have quickly met their demise.

Such quick and brutal way of killing left a profound impact on every players mind to point that they were still reluctant to face such demise even after this Orc Boss ceased his onslaught.

Everyone feared becoming the target of this Boss and make a mockery of themselves.

Thus both sides…ended up in this strange kind of standoff.

There was no longer an orc standing next to Imsh.

The last dozens of orcs who fled alongside him have all been killed, and even their corpses have been reduced to nothing but ashes…

Observing the equipment scattered on the ground after the death of his subordinates, Imsh’s expression became somewhat distant.

Even now he could still identify which piece of clothing belonged to which Orc, and which weapon he had originally bestowed upon whom.

Despite being an Half-Orc, Imsh boasted exceptional intelligence as well as a remarkable memory and this was something he had always been proud of.

Yet at this moment, all that he wished for was for his memory be worse…

Gazing at the equipment now rendered ownerless, King Imsh recalled all the familiar faces of the owners of these abandoned items alongside the thirty thousand Orcs who had willingly followed him to their deaths.

If only…

If only I hadn’t initiated the war of faith in accordance with the oracle of their Divine Father…would all those fellow tribesmen of his will still be alive at this point?

Suddenly, this absurd thought crossed his mind.

However, Imsh soon sighed wistfully.

…How could that be possible?

This was a war of faith, a racial war, wherein everything was at stake!

In the Mortal realm of Seigües, the outcome of such war always ends up with like this…

War of Faiths have always been a brutal and cruel affairs.

Only the victors survive…

Only the victors could retain their own faith!

Their Divine Father’s orders could never be broken nor be disobeyed.

Because…

The future of their Patron Deity is also closely intertwined with the future of their kind, the Half-Orcs…

Yet, thirty thousand Orcs perished, the Chief Shaman sacrificed herself, and even the legendary Totem Guardians has disappeared…

In the back of his mind, such profane whispers rang about, but King Imsh dared not entertain such blasphemous thoughts.

As the king of the Half-Orcs, even though the Chief Shaman hadn’t fully disclosed their Divine Father’s true plan unto him, he could still infer a lot from their actions and behaviors.

But one’s thing’s for sure, this war was of great importance to their Divine Father.

He would surely employ most of his strongest subordinates, and the mere fact that the three legendary Totem Guardians were still missing at this point clearly indicated that all these higher-ranked beings had already clashed, and the result…was sadly quite evident.

“This war…has been lost.”

Although he really reluctant to admit it, Imsh had no other choice but to accept this harsh realization.

What will be the future of our kind, the Half-Orcs?

Observing the elves before him, with each and every one of them entirely alert and excited, Imsh’s expression became somewhat bewildered…

The eyes of these elves…

It was a set of eyes Imsh was all too familiar with.

During their hunts and plundering of the Kingdom of Aries, even during capturing elves in the Elven Forest, the Orcs have always wore such similarly looking sets of eyes…

—That gaze.

It was the gaze of a predator!

And their excitement mirrored the same fervor Orcs typically displayed when their prey was about to be caught!

So…to them, he was nothing more than a mere prey?

For a moment, Imsh felt this was the greatest irony in the entire world.

Unexpectedly, those who had always seen themselves as hunters would one day find themselves as the prey…

And unexpectedly, those who had always been seen as prey would also had a day of reckoning…

Looking at these elves as they become more and more excited with his prolonged silence, Imsh couldn’t help but pull out a self-deprecating smile.

Perhaps…

This was also a form of punishment.

Imsh thought sadly.

Tired.

I’m really am…tired.

The strength in my body is getting weaker and weaker, the bone-eroding pain is getting more severe, and my consciousness is getting blurry…

Leaning against the withered tree, whilst holding on upon his dear lionhart longsword…

—King Imsh’s gaze slowly and fadingly lost its focus.

On the opposite end, as Lionheart King Imsh ceased his assault, players initially breathed a sigh of relief, only to transition into excitement, and eventually, bewilderment.

“Huh? Why isn’t the Boss moving anymore?”

“Hmm… could it be preparing for a big move?”

“Maybe it’s dead?” a player teased.

However, as soon as he spoke, no one followed up with a response.

For a moment, everyone’s gaze towards the Orc Boss became somewhat peculiar…

This scary Orc King, whom had battled against them for a long time, still stands tall at that very moment. He resembles a formidable statue, yet clearly, it is now devoid of any signs of life.

“What the—Could it be… really dead? He’s a Golden-rank NPC for fucks sake! And if he’s really dead then…why does he didn’t turned into ashes?”

The player who initially teased that the boss might be dead was taken aback.

Simultaneously, Tomato, who was also attacking the boss alongside these players, displayed a slightly intrigued look and asked in a deep voice,

“Did anyone receive any EXP?”

The Players exchanged glances among each other before shaking their heads.

No experience gained…

As well as it didn’t dissolve into ashes…

So, he might not be dead after all?

At that moment, another figure walked out from the crowd.

It was a fully armed player sporting a hunter’s attire. Half of his entire gear set consisted of golden-class equipment, and his overall demeanor exudes an intimidating feel to it.

With a cold expression whilst holding a dagger, this player boldly walked straight toward the Orc Boss amidst the surprised gazes of other players.

“It’s Boxlunch!”

“Senior Boxlunch is here!”

“Oh my god! Be careful, Senior Box! This Boss is really tough! Don’t get close to it or you might get bitten back!”

Instantly, players all around him began to remind him.

After experiencing such a fierce battle against this formidable boss, no one dared to underestimate this high-level expert anymore.

However, BoxLunch didn’t stop at all.

Instead he even went directly and stood in front of Lionheart King Imsh.

The surrounding players immediately quieted down, watching Boxlunch’s bold actions with widened eyes.

Boxlunch first made an attacking motion.

However, there was still no reaction from the opponent at all.

Then afterwards Boxlunch’s gaze hardened, and he decisively reached out, directly gripping the longsword in Imsh’s hand.

But to his surprise, the opponent…still held it tightly.

Nonetheless, with Boxlunch’s touch, the Orc King’s body finally lost balance and fell directly to the ground.

Yet despite the fall, the Orc King’s hand still held his own longsword. His eyes, wide open, seemed to be contemplating something, but there was no trace of life in them anymore.

The Orc Boss really… had died.

“He’s dead.”

Boxlunch said solemnly.

Instantly, the players exploded.

“Oh god! Is he really dead?”

“He was killed by us just like that?”

“Wait guys, if the boss is really dead then… why didn’t we gained any EXP at all? Plus, the boss’ body didn’t turned into ashes too!”

“Could it be a bug in the game’s system?”

At that moment, Boxlunch’s expression slightly stiffened.

He crouched down again, carefully examining Imsh’s body.

Seeing this, Tomato’s eyes partly widened. He walked a few steps forward and asked, “Did you find something?”

Boxlunch remained silent for a seconds and replied, “He’s dead, but not killed by us.”

“Not killed by us?”

Players were entirely left bewildered by this sudden revelation.

“He… was poisoned by Rose.” Boxlunch said.

“Holy shit! Poisoned?”

“Rose’s poison? Well, no wonder!”

Players within the vicinity let out shouts of exclamations.

Of course, some were left feeling regretful.

“Ahh! If only we knew he was poisoned! We should have finished him off in time! We entirely missed the opportunity to kill him!

“Dammit give us our EXP, garbage system! Effing devs!”

“But… when was he poisoned?”

Someone asked in confusion.

“It should be after Rose killed this boss’ mount, I guess? I saw her chasing after this boss several times afterward, but he still managed to escape each time.” Tomato said.

“Ugh… Rose’s poison is a real pain. The more you exert movement, the worse it gets! But, if the dose isn’t too potent, then you take it easy just by moving less around, proper care, and getting quick treatment. Anyone can definitely pull through…” Calabash explained while touching his chest as he recalled his experience with a hint of anxiety in his tone.

“Pfft… why do you know so much?”

“Don’t ask! Just know that I’m quite knowledgeable in this area!” Calabash’s face turned dark.

Even Boxlunch’s expression became slightly awkward.

And hearing Calabash’s words, some players looked at him strangely.

“Since this boss was poisoned, why didn’t he just escape then? And from the looks of him earlier on, he was still quite agile and lively despite being poisoned. He could have just avoided us and dealt with the poison while hiding, right?”

“Yeah, surely he too must’ve realized that the more he fought, the worse his injuries would gonna get, and in the end, he died of poison without any of us getting the kill. What a loss…”

After hearing this, Boxlunch silently observed the rest of the players as they go around frantically looting the equipment dropped by the Orcs, before glancing down at the Lionheart Longsword still tightly held in Imsh’s hand.

He then focused his eyes on the face of the Orc King before stating,

“Because…he is the king of the Orcs. He didn’t want to abandon his people even at the last moment.”

“So… even though he knew that turning back to fight would worsen the poison and might even led to his death, the Orc King still chose to turn back.”

Upon hearing this, many players stopped their actions in unison.

They suddenly recalled the loud roars of the Orcs at the beginning of their battle…

They wanted to fight together, to go home together…

Players then looked again at Imsh’s fallen body, with their gazes showing a complex array of emotions.

For a moment, the lively mood around them also stagnated as a solemn atmosphere engulfed the entire vicinity for a couple of minutes.

Tomato eventually sighed.

“Let’s bury him.”

After saying that, he couldn’t help but let out a self-mocking laugh.

“Dammit, it’s obviously just a game. Why do I care so much…”

Although after saying this, he still reached out and solemnly closed the Orc King’s eyes.

Despite being an enemy…

Despite being just an NPC…

He was also a king worthy of respect…

— 257 —

【 BURY HIM 】

TL/N : I couldn’t post anything last week due to being busy with my new job. Things are still hectic as it is, but hopefully i could return to my normal schedule asap.

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