Chapter 64: Chapter 53: The Black Orc God Rebels?

In the next instant...

A supreme power descended!

Of the five thousand five hundred Black Orcs, nearly two thousand were wiped out in an instant!

’Hm?’

The moment the Black Orcs were annihilated, the Black Orc God above the clouds seemed to react. He looked toward the city wall, a flicker of fury appearing in his profound eyes. However, before he could do anything, the ritual concluded, and his projection dissipated along with it.

The last thing seen was the faint, upward curl of a mouth beneath the Wizard Hat...

The Hat of Invisibility—a magical effect automatically added by a Legendary Mage during a ritual. Throughout the ceremony, no one could see the true face beneath the Wizard Hat.

...

"All done~" Isaac said with a smile, adjusting his Wizard Hat amidst the dead silence.

"What... was that? Why did he... that..." Gaia stared at Isaac with a complicated expression, completely at a loss for words. She glanced at Cheryl, but Cheryl was also silent. She didn’t know how to explain it either.

She had only understood the first part of Isaac’s plan: using the modified Balrog Rats in a suicide charge against the Black Orc army to set up a sacrificial ritual, substituting Balrog Rats for Balrog Rat People to summon the Black Orc God’s Divine Descent.

The dance Isaac performed was the Blood Sacrifice Dance, the most widespread ritual among the Black Orc Tribes of the Wilderness. It was used to summon the power of the Black Orc God in the bloodiest way possible to repel foreign enemies.

This was typically a last-resort measure for tribes that had exhausted all other options and were on the brink of destruction, as the ritual required a minimum sacrifice of one thousand Balrog Rat People!

Because of this high cost, the ritual had gradually been lost among the Black Orcs. Many smaller tribes didn’t even have a thousand members. It was currently only circulated in the Wizarding World, archived as a piece of knowledge in Ritualism.

So, when she learned that Isaac’s rats were considered the same species as the Balrog Rat People, she guessed that he intended to summon the power of the Black Orc God to fight the enemy.

The idea was insane, but theoretically, it could succeed. In fact, a Mad Witch had used this exact trick against enemies in the past. Aside from the high cost, long setup, and ease of interruption, it was a perfect plan.

This was because the ritual didn’t summon the consciousness of the Black Orc God himself. As a notorious Evil God, countless Believers called his name and summoned his power every day. It was impossible for him to personally respond to every single one.

Therefore, what responded to these rituals and prayers was a reaction mechanism he had established.

Isaac’s plan was to exploit this mechanism, which should have been fine under normal circumstances.

But!

But!

But!

What she didn’t understand was why Isaac had been so brazen. And how did the Black Orc God’s mechanism still execute the command smoothly?

’Has the skill level of a Mad Witch evolved to this extent? Are we Arcanists really too conservative?’

Cheryl couldn’t figure it out. Her mind was in chaos.

But in even greater chaos were the Black Orcs on the battlefield, as well as the High Priest and the upper echelons of the Black Orc coalition army controlling them from behind. They were all standing there, completely dumbfounded, not even noticing the rats that were gradually surrounding them...

It couldn’t be helped. The Black Orc God was the absolute Faith of most Black Orcs!

Even those who worshipped the Master of Billions of Flesh and the Master of Thousand Stars naturally held the highest respect for the Black Orc God!

And yet, this very Black Orc God they so revered was now siding with their enemies, unleashing a thunderous blow upon them!

They didn’t understand!

They really didn’t understand!

They could understand the Black Orc God turning on Black Orcs—he was an Evil God, after all, and wanton slaughter was normal for them. But he couldn’t side with the humans, could he?

’You’re a traitor to your kind!’

For a moment, every Black Orc’s brain shut down. They just stood there, frozen.

But while they were stunned, Isaac was not. Once the Rat Tide had more or less gathered, Isaac gave the order!

"Shushu, Skeleton Explosion!"

"SQUEAK SQUEAK!!"

Shushu waved its pale, bony claw. With a tap of its index finger, a gray Magic Beam of Death Magic Power shot into the Rat Tide that had tightly encircled the Black Orc army!

In the next instant...

"CRACKLE! POP! POP! POP! POP!!!"

A series of explosions, like a string of firecrackers, engulfed the Black Orc army!

A single Balrog Rat contained very little Death Magic Power, so the force of its Skeleton Explosion was also quite limited. It looked spectacular, but in reality, it couldn’t even break through their defenses.

But that only applied to the explosion’s shockwave and bone fragments.

The most terrifying aspect of Necromancy was its incredibly potent power of Erosion!

Death Magic Power was a force that could even corrode the Caster themselves!

So, as a massive number of Balrog Rats exploded, the Death Magic Power on the battlefield began to thicken, gradually forming a faint gray mist...

This familiar scene made the Black Orcs shudder. Recalling the fleeting, terrifying image of the Black Orc God from moments ago, they left over a hundred corpses behind and scrambled back in a panicked retreat.

Meanwhile, the gloom in the hearts of the High Priest and the Black Orc coalition leaders deepened. They had recognized it: this Skeleton Explosion was clearly the Divine Art of the Black Orc God!

There were many versions of the Skeleton Explosion Magic, and quite a few people knew them. But the Divine Art: Skeleton Explosion was a signature move, one of a kind!

’So, the great Black Orc God has truly abandoned us?’

They all exchanged glances, seeing the gravity in each other’s eyes.

Because it wasn’t impossible!

They didn’t understand their recent actions in the Wilderness any more than Isaac and his group did. Did they not know the consequences of collaborating with Demons?

Then why did they have to bite the bullet and sacrifice so many of their own people to do it?

Because it was a divine oracle from the Black Orc God!

So, in reality, they didn’t understand why the Black Orc God wanted this either. They hadn’t thought too deeply about it before because it was his oracle. It was normal for an Evil God to make outrageous decisions. If you could guess what an Evil God was thinking, you’d be an Evil God yourself.

Often, what seemed absurd and ridiculous to them was likely nothing more than an interesting play in the eyes of an Evil God.

But now, things were different...

They realized with horror that if they added one premise to the situation—that the Black Orc God wanted to betray them and redeem himself!

Then the entire series of events could be strung together perfectly!

The logic was sound!

Sacrificing all the Black Orcs in exchange for his own redemption and a place in the human camp—that logic was sound!

Because even though he was called the Black Orc God, his divine portfolio didn’t actually include the Black Orc race. Nor was he born a Black Orc. The reason for his name was lost to history, but one thing was very clear: he would be perfectly fine without the Black Orcs.

It wouldn’t affect his power in any way. The lost Faith could be replenished from the humans, and he might even gain more!

Because becoming a God of the human faction had another benefit besides gaining a massive amount of human Faith: he could frequently make normal trades with human Wizards. The Power of Faith provided by these high-quality beings was far superior to that of the Black Orcs...

The more they thought about it, the more plausible it seemed, and an unstoppable fear grew in their hearts...

No one wanted to die if they had a choice...

But... that was the Black Orc God... could they really resist him?

A sense of powerlessness washed over them. They sank back to the ground with bitter expressions as an aura of death began to spread through the command tent...

...

Meanwhile, Isaac was unaware that his move had thrown the Black Orc leadership into a state of panic and despair. He was admiring his handiwork with great satisfaction. This wave of attacks had been incredibly fruitful!

He had eliminated at least three thousand Black Orcs!

That was more damage than the Mage Tower and the Magical Cannons combined!

And the cost was merely depleting all the Magic Power the Flesh Nest had accumulated. Compared to his results, it was nothing!

’The cost-effectiveness is through the roof, okay?!’

’This is the power of Knowledge!’

Isaac mused to himself as he gazed at the devastated battlefield.

Of course, his Golden Finger played a huge role in all of this. Without the safety net of his Golden Finger, he might not have dared to use such a radical plan.

It was just a shame that the Black Orcs were humanity’s absolute opposite. Otherwise, he could have tried modifying a few Black Orc totems, sending them into the Wilderness, and causing a little more trouble for the Black Orc God~