The tide had turned dramatically against them.
The orc soldiers kept attacking without rest, as if they never tired.
Meanwhile, the allied forces of goblins and Lizardmen were being whittled down, unable to break out of the encirclement.
They needed to regroup and punch through the encirclement at least once, but doing so would mean abandoning the goblins, who lacked the mobility to keep up.
And beyond that, how many battered and exhausted Lizardmen could even follow...
Retreating was pointless too, but at this point they should at least be thinking about preserving however many survivors they could.
Under normal circumstances, combat would end the moment victory was decided. But the orc soldiers seemed intent on wiping them out entirely.
There was no call for surrender. They simply killed and devoured without pause.
That bred terror. Morale collapsed from the weakest at the margins, and the formation was on the verge of crumbling.
The goblins, already the weakest link, could no longer be relied on as fighting force at all.
They broke ranks and fled in panic, but the orcs showed no mercy. Chased down, killed, and eaten, one after another.
The goblin units probably had fewer than a thousand survivors left. Annihilation was an understatement...
The Lizardman warrior corps was in no better shape. They'd started with eight thousand, and now numbered fewer than six thousand.
Their surroundings were being steadily eroded, making coordinated action increasingly difficult.
Even so, Gabiru kept rallying them, trying little by little to break through the orc encirclement.
But then— Without warning, a squad of orc soldiers clad in pitch-black armor surged forward.
These were no ordinary orc soldiers — a disciplined, coordinated unit. Every single one of them wore full-body plate armor.
Their baseline strength was probably equivalent to regular orcs. But they were organized as a proper military force, and their equipment was on an entirely different level.
And leading them was a single orc, draped in a Demon Aura that dwarfed everything else on the field. His power was clearly in a different league entirely.
An Orc General.
A single one of these possessed combat power equivalent to an entire army. And the troops he commanded — two thousand five hundred strong — made up the Orc Cavalry Corps.
One of the five existing Orc Generals. His abilities were rated at "B+" rank.
A quarter of the elite fighting force under the Orc Disaster's direct command had mobilized.
It was over.
In Gabiru's eyes, this was a decisive, unbeatable force.
Escape was impossible. At this point, there was nothing left but to die with dignity...
At the very least, he wanted to die as a warrior. That thought in mind, he bellowed at the top of his lungs: "Gwahahaha! General of those cowardly pigs! Do you have the courage to face me in single combat?!"
He didn't expect to win. His scale armor was already in tatters.
The enemy's full-body plate armor, on the other hand, appeared to be enchanted with magic.
If the offer was accepted, he could at least die a glorious death as a warrior. And if things went well, he might take the enemy general down with him. That was what he hoped.
"Grrrgh. Very well. I'll oblige you!"
The Orc General dismounted and walked forward.
The surrounding troops were gradually silenced by the atmosphere. Fighting still raged at the outer perimeter, but somehow those sounds couldn't be heard.
Gabiru felt his concentration rising to an unprecedented peak.
"I'm grateful for this!"
After that, words were unnecessary. The two faced each other.
He readied his Water
"Come!"
The Orc General roared. At the same instant: "Take this! Water Vortex Spear: Torrential Strike!"
He unleashed his strongest technique at full power. Combining his own spearsmanship with the weapon's magical power, he delivered a devastating blow.
It was the most powerful attack Gabiru could muster. And yet— "Devouring Maw!"
The Orc General spun his spear in front of him, and the vortex's force was nullified.
Not only that — the spinning accelerated, and he began releasing Demon Aura. A sinister yellow Demon Aura materialized and lunged straight at Gabiru.
It was trying to devour him! On pure instinct, Gabiru threw himself aside. But the Demon Aura cornered him— "Grrrrga! So you're nothing but a lizard after all. Crawling in the dirt suits you perfectly!"
The Orc General taunted him.
But Gabiru refused to give up. At least — at least one clean hit...
He grabbed a handful of earth and hurled it at the Orc General. Even if he was called a coward, he'd land at least one blow!
But the attack was swallowed up by the yellow Demon Aura without a trace.
He felt the Orc General's spear thrust bearing down on him.
Gabiru was desperately dodging the yellow Demon Aura and had no margin to evade that strike too.
So this is it...
Just as Gabiru closed his eyes, thinking it was over— A deafening roar erupted.
Sounds that had been frozen in place suddenly surged to life.
Perhaps distracted by the noise, the Orc General's spear only grazed Gabiru, failing to land a fatal blow.
What was going on?
Gabiru was confused despite being in the middle of battle. The situation was already shifting.
Events unfolded at breakneck speed, regardless of what Gabiru thought.
That was the signal. Battle was joined.
He simply muttered one line: "What are you doing... that idiot..."
Whether the goblin Wolf Troop soldiers felt reassured by their commander's composure, they showed no panic either.
There was some frustration at having had the first strike stolen from them. But now they could finally let loose. It was tolerable.
Maintaining their full sprint, they crashed headlong into the orc formation.
The orcs were on guard despite their confusion from the surprise attack, but they couldn't respond to the Wolf Troop's charge speed and took the full brunt.
Fragile.
That was Benimaru's assessment.
He didn't even need to get involved — the Wolf Troop's charging power was more than enough.
This wasn't interesting. Thinking so, he issued a command: "All units, halt!"
It was an absurd order. Normally, no one would dream of giving up hard-won momentum. Why would a unit specialized in speed voluntarily surrender its advantage?
But the Wolf Troop soldiers obeyed without question, stopping immediately.
"
Benimaru asked.
"Yes."
A curt reply.
"Good! You go ahead and protect him. I'll catch up on foot!"
He said something that made no sense. This was a battlefield, surrounded by orcs.
Gabiru and his people were trapped inside the orc encirclement, and breaking through with such small numbers should have been nearly impossible.
And Benimaru was saying he'd walk there instead of charging through at speed. Unthinkable in a normal battle...
"Understood. Take your time walking. I'm heading out!"
With that, Ranga sank into the shadows.
Benimaru stepped down onto the ground and stretched lightly.
The orcs watched this display in bewilderment. They couldn't decide whether to attack.
While they hesitated, the goblins stood with perfect composure.
Among them, one seemed to be saying: "Huh? Why'd we stop? Would it be bad if we kept running? You're not gonna tell us to get off and walk, are you? Walking's a pain!"
He was promptly ignored.
"Alright, you lot. The pigs standing in front of me — move aside. If you do, I might let you live!"
Having finished his warm-up, Benimaru called out to the orcs ahead.
Not a single one stepped aside.
"Don't screw with us! If you think you can—"
"Then die!"
Having confirmed that none intended to retreat, Benimaru slowly extended his right hand forward.
From that hand, a sphere of black flame was born.
The black fireball expanded to roughly one meter in diameter, then began accelerating forward.
The orcs sensed danger and scrambled to flee, but it was already too late.
The black fireball continued expanding as it accelerated. Its speed was around six hundred kilometers per hour — far faster than any orc could run.
Those touched by it burst into flames instantly, leaving not even ash behind.
But the true terror of the black fireball lay beyond that.
It reached a dense cluster of orcs ahead, and the black fireball released the magical power contained within.
A black hemisphere engulfed a hundred-meter radius around the point of impact.
In an instant, a deep boom echoed outward.
Though not an especially loud sound, it carried a chill that froze the spines of all who heard it.
A wide-area annihilation attack — the Black Flame Prison.
Benimaru's acquired skill. The black hemisphere vanished after a few seconds, leaving behind only scorched earth.
This was supposed to be a marshland, but the surface had been vitrified into a glass-like shell.
The terrifying heat that must have been required was easy to imagine.
Naturally, between two and five thousand orcs caught within the hemisphere had been incinerated without even understanding what happened.
All of this occurred within a minute of Benimaru launching the black fireball.
Benimaru showed a wicked grin.
"Make way, pigs!"
He declared once more.
The orc soldiers fell into a panic.
Orcs under the influence of the Unique Skill — Hungerer — had their fear suppressed to some degree.
But this attack was enough to invoke a primal, fundamental terror.
An attack they could not withstand no matter what means they employed.
A level of destructive power they had never seen before. Even among magic, only the highest-tier forbidden spells could produce such force.
There was no conceivable counter. Even if they could gain resistance by consuming the dead, the corpses were burned to nothing in an instant, leaving not even ash.
This was an existence beyond them — a higher-order demon. Its appearance filled them with dread.
The panicked orcs began to rout.
It was becoming impossible to maintain any semblance of control.
Watching this unfold, Benimaru began to walk.
To him, the orcs before him were no obstacle at all.
Gabiru had resigned himself to death, but though his side ached, no follow-up blow came.
Something felt off. Cautiously, he opened his eyes.
A black wolf stood before him.
He felt he had seen it somewhere before... That's right! The shadow bodyguard of the Fang Wolf tribe's chieftain!
"O-Oh! Shadow bodyguard, sir! You've come to my aid?!"
The words escaped his lips before he could stop them.
He had no capacity to assess what was happening around him. Gabiru frantically looked around.
A great commotion was stirring in the distance. Something was going on.
To him, the black wolf spoke in a voice so deep it resonated in his very core: "I am neither a member of the Fang Wolf tribe, nor am I a shadow bodyguard."
Ranga had lost interest in Gabiru and turned his gaze toward the Orc General.
The two locked eyes.
The Orc General was also unsettled. A powerful demonic beast had appeared from nowhere.
He could feel formidable strength radiating from it.
But something else concerned him even more — immediately after the beast's arrival, he had sensed a massive release of magical energy from the front.
Something bad was happening. That was the Orc General's instinct.
Completely oblivious to this tension, Gabiru exclaimed: "What?! If you're not from the Fang Wolf tribe... then could you be the chieftain of the Black Wolf tribe?!"
Ranga was exasperated by Gabiru, though he also considered that this might be someone of importance. With a sigh, he declared: "Keep quiet for now. I am Ranga — a loyal servant of Master Rimuru!"
Then he roared at the orcs: "Orcs — if you withdraw, I will not pursue. But if you oppose me, I will show no mercy!"
The orcs trembled at his roar, but they did not feel fear.
The Orc General was right beside them, and the effects of the Unique Skill — Hungerer — were only reinforced.
"Grrrrga! Cheeky beast! How dare a mere animal bare its fangs at us?!"
The Orc General accepted the challenge.
Both combatants entered battle stance simultaneously.
Following the Orc General's lead, the orc soldiers quickly formed an encirclement.
They had no intention of allowing a one-on-one duel against a beast. That was the message.
Ranga let out a scoff.
The exhilaration he hadn't felt in so long. He released the instincts of the predatory magical beast he truly was.
ROOOOOOOOAR!!!
He unleashed a thunderous roar at full power and released his Demon Aura.
Hiding in the shadow of his beloved master, Rimuru, he had been bathed in that aura and had ceaselessly visualized a single form.
Aim for this shape! — Ever since being told that, he had continued to imagine it.
Now, at last, Ranga sensed that the time had come for his instincts to awaken.
He felt power surging through him.
Muscles bulged, claws hardened, fangs transformed into something sharper and more resilient.
Most distinctive were the two horns that sprouted from his forehead...
The form he now took resembled the shape of his master as he had once seen it. There stood Ranga, having evolved into a Black Storm Star Wolf.
Ranga cast a glance at the Orc General.
He felt no threat whatsoever. Confirmed the full measure of his own strength, and moved to prove it.
Ranga felt the flow of power and concentrated his magical energy into his horns.
The Orc General sensed the transformation and the surge in Ranga's power, and recognized the danger.
Spread out! He was about to signal— A flash, followed by a deafening roar.
Pillars of lightning erupted, connecting heaven and earth.
And with them, a tornado arose.
Black Lightning Storm — Ranga's personally acquired skill. It was the application of Black Lightning to a wide-area attack.
The Orc General was carbonized in an instant. The surrounding orc soldiers were cut down one after another by the storm and the lightning.
When the storm passed, not a single orc remained standing.
The terrifying power of a full-scale Black Lightning Storm.
Ranga observed the results.
No damage to the Lizardmen. Even at maximum power and maximum range, he had suffered no harm to himself.
His Magicule reserves had been depleted, certainly, but not to the point where he couldn't move.
Having confirmed that he had fully mastered the ability, he unleashed— ROOOOOOOOAR!!!
A second roar of victory.
Glancing down, he noticed that Gabiru had gone slack-jawed and fainted.
But that was irrelevant to Ranga. His orders were to protect the Lizardmen — and even unconscious, they were unharmed.
Hopefully that would also clear up the ridiculous misunderstanding this idiotic Lizardman had been harboring about him.
With that thought, Ranga sat down where he was.
In the distance, he could see Benimaru walking toward him at a leisurely pace.