Chapter Seventy: Slaying the Orc Warlord

"Ahhh..." No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t catch up. Constantly provoked and mocked, the orc warlord quickly entered a rage, his anger escalating to fury. He kicked aside the obstructing orcs around him, grabbed a spear, aimed at Chu Cheng, and hurled it with all his might.

A piercing whistle tore through the air, lightning-fast, skewering two orcs in its path.

Chu Cheng hadn’t even had time to react before the spear pierced his abdomen. The immense force sent him staggering backward, crushing a cluster of orcs behind him. Only then did he feel the searing pain in his body.

-876

A colossal, unimaginable amount of damage flashed before his eyes.

Seeing his attack land, Gruo's face lit up with delight. He parted the orcs and strode toward Chu Cheng.

But Chu Cheng’s response was swift. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he yanked out the spear and turned to flee.

Though the wound was severe and sapped some of his strength, it wasn't enough to hinder his movement. With over a hundred points of constitution, his body wasn’t made of paper, and he could still easily push aside the ordinary orcs.

That one strike instantly snuffed out any thought of a frontal assault.

He knew his armor could reduce more than half the incoming damage, yet that spear still inflicted 876 points—meaning the orc warlord’s base attack power was as high as 1700, far beyond anything Chu Cheng could confront head-on.

Better to keep kiting!

Without pause, he weaved ceaselessly through the orc ranks, dodging the warlord’s pursuit. The orc warlord roared furiously, shouting for his subordinates to block the path.

But his underlings couldn’t stop him. Chu Cheng slipped through like a slick fish, never meeting force with force, always darting through gaps in the crowd.

A group can use their collective strength to intercept an opponent twice or even thrice their power, but they can't hold off someone with ten times their strength.

Teamwork has its limits. A crowd unafraid of death can block a tiger, but never an elephant.

Chu Cheng’s absolute strength wasn’t yet elephant-like, but it certainly surpassed a tiger’s. Crucially, he was only one man—his body much smaller than an elephant’s, offering less surface to block, making it easier to squeeze past orcs and escape.

In his furious chase, the orc warlord’s health steadily dwindled. Even with a staggering 38,000 hit points, he couldn’t withstand hundreds of true damage per second, ignoring all defenses.

Within a single minute, over 15,000 points of damage were dealt.

When rage overtakes a man, he loses track of time and fails to grasp the shifting tide.

Only when the orc warlord felt his strength ebbing did he realize his life was nearing its end. Sudden weakness jolted him into awareness.

At that moment, his anger was extinguished like cold water poured over burning coals—he only wanted to flee, but it was already too late.

Chu Cheng gave him no chance, boldly stepping forward.

The furious warlord, seeing Chu Cheng advance, was consumed by a final surge of wrath born from unwillingness. Whether he sought to drag his enemy down with him or to kill his foe and survive, he abandoned all thoughts of escape, rallied his remaining strength, and charged with his weapon raised.

He was met with Chu Cheng’s raised middle finger, then watched as Chu Cheng retreated to widen the gap again.

A roar of rage and frustration echoed across the battlefield, undiminished even by the thunderous clash of combat.

It was the warlord’s last cry.

His remaining life didn’t last even half a minute before the final drops of blood ebbed away. His massive body crashed to the ground, crushing several orcs beneath him.

A shimmering light appeared, swiftly coalescing into a red loot chest.

"Oh-ho!" Chu Cheng squeezed past the orcs and snatched up the loot chest.

He then made a circuit, collecting the loot chests dropped by the dead orc chieftains earlier.

With the warlord slain, visible panic rippled outward, orc morale plummeted, spreading across the eastern wing.

Though the warlord’s command had been mediocre, his presence at least kept morale steady.

With his death, morale collapsed, weakening the orcs’ fighting spirit.

Meanwhile, the human forces, seeing the warlord fall, surged with renewed vigor.

As their fortunes rose, the already struggling orcs faltered further.

The final blow to the orcs came when Chu Cheng returned to the human lines, leaping down with a Thunder Strike that crushed a swath of orcs, then unleashed a Sea Surge, cleaving a fifteen-meter long, five-meter wide swath of blue blade energy that swept away another group.

Two wide-area attacks cleared a vast space, leaving scattered limbs and blood in their wake.

"Kill!" Chu Cheng raised his blade and shouted, charging ahead. Blade Storm raged across the battlefield, sending the human warriors’ morale soaring in response.

Spreading from a single point, the orc left wing completely collapsed.

Without the warlord’s leadership, even the mid-ranking officers—minor chieftains—had been slaughtered, leaving no one to take charge, and defeat soon became unstoppable.

The upheaval on the eastern front swiftly affected other sectors. Human morale climbed, while orc morale dropped.

In the central orc camp, the grand chieftain Grizzle smashed the sand table with a furious punch, his roar echoing throughout the camp.

"Gavin, take your guard and reinforce the left wing.

Don’t be a fool like Gruo. Your sole task is to firmly withstand the human advance."

The warlord named Gavin accepted his orders and quickly departed. Grizzle, the grand chieftain, took a deep breath to calm his rage. His massive form turned to face the towering centaur chieftain, Brandon, inside the camp and spoke in a low voice:

"The human army is stronger than we expected. We can’t wait any longer—let’s implement the decapitation strategy!"

Then he looked at a small figure seated cross-legged across the tent and asked,

"Splitclaw, what do you think?"

Splitclaw was a slender orc, skin greenish-blue and covered in tattoos.

He looked up at the grand chieftain and nodded, "Agreed."

"Very well. Mog, you’ll command the army next, covering us."

Soon, several messengers left the central camp to relay orders to the orc army.

Not long after, the orc assault grew fiercer, their fearless tactics halting the decline and even pushing back the humans along the central line and left wing.

However, the human commanders showed no concern. Their vast experience told them this surge wouldn't last; if they held out a bit longer, the orcs would exhaust themselves, and then the counterattack would begin.

The local natives didn’t understand this anomaly, but many of the newcomers sensed something was amiss.

"The orcs want to launch their decapitation strategy early!"

Sun Yu, who had infiltrated the central camp, hadn’t noticed at first, but was alerted by the homeroom teacher’s observation.

Sun Yu and his group were surprised the orcs were acting so soon, but didn’t hesitate, immediately warning all teammates in the channel to prepare.

Meanwhile, nearly every newcomer received alerts from their homeroom teachers, warning that the orcs were preparing to strike early—including Chu Cheng:

"Your performance is excellent. You’ve changed the course of battle, but your influence is not yet decisive. You must work even harder!"