The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 89

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 89
Chapter 89
After confirming the Mark of Submission.
I summoned the Night Leopard, loaded the fallen Orc Rider onto it, and turned back toward where the Subjugation Squad was positioned.
Fortunately, the Subjugation Squad was taking time to regroup at the battle site, and the Subjugation Commander was visible the moment I arrived.
“Mir. Are you alright? Chasing after the Orc Riders alone like that was far too reckless.”
Though his words sounded like a reprimand, his tone carried genuine concern for me.
Sure enough, the moment I dismounted from the Night Leopard.
“First… thank you. Mir, thanks to you, we didn’t lose any of our people. Without you, we would have suffered catastrophic casualties.”
The Subjugation Commander bowed his head deeply as he expressed his gratitude.
The squad members, who had whispered among themselves and dismissed my presence from the moment I first joined the Subjugation Squad, felt the same way.
“Thank you so much!”
“We’re alive because of you. Truly.”
“Did you… did you hear what we said? You must have, right? I’m sorry. Really. I have no excuse, but… I’m truly, deeply sorry.”
“I apologize as well. I heard so much about adventurers causing trouble that I developed prejudices…”
“Everyone, what are you doing! Bow your heads! We’re alive and well because of this person!”
The squad members bowed their heads toward me.
Some expressed gratitude for saving their lives.
Others apologized for the dismissive remarks they’d made when I first joined.
Every squad member who had witnessed my performance was expressing profound gratitude.
Did that mean the squad members who hadn’t witnessed my performance still looked down on me?
That wasn’t the case.
“This adventurer is different from the ones I’ve heard about.”
“Well, you can’t dismiss all adventurers. Haven’t they said that even among elves, murderers have emerged?”
“Is this what they call the fallacy of generalization?”
“Don’t rationalize by using difficult words. You were the one cursing the most.”
“I didn’t curse that much…”
“I should get some jerky for the next rest period.”
Even if they hadn’t directly witnessed my performance.
Most of the squad members in the rear were bowing their heads and expressing gratitude to me right now.
The squad members trusted their fellow squad members like family, so they trusted the hearts of those who bowed to me.
Thus, the entire Subjugation Squad came to express their gratitude to me.
Of course.
‘There’s no need for them to go this far.’
I, who hadn’t particularly cared about them, could only feel bewildered.
Anyway, setting that aside.
“I have something to report.”
I led the Night Leopard forward and dropped the corpse of the Orc Rider that had been loaded on it in front of the Subjugation Commander.
The Subjugation Commander’s expression grew confused, but when I removed the Orc Rider’s equipment and showed him the Mark of Submission, his expression changed completely.
“The Mark of Submission…!”
“Well, if you already know, this will be a quick conversation.”
“I’ve harbored suspicions all along. But I couldn’t be certain until now. With the Mark of Submission confirmed, I can no longer deny reality.”
The Subjugation Commander nodded.
While the other squad members might not have known, the Subjugation Commander certainly did.
Though he’d never witnessed it firsthand, the ‘historical records’ he mentioned would have clearly documented the dangers of the Orc Lord.
As such, he would be well-versed in the Mark of Submission—one of the distinctive characteristics that appeared when an Orc Lord emerged.
“Erik.”
“Yes, Commander!”
“Take this back to the Guard Corps and report it. Tell them an Orc Lord has appeared.”
“Wait, did you really say an Orc Lord has appeared? That legendary Orc Lord?”
“It’s no legend. It’s a genuine external threat, recorded in the Empire’s historical records.”
“Understood! But how do we transport something this massive?”
“You only need to show the Mark of Submission. Just cut it up to the shoulder and bring that.”
“Yes, sir!”
At the Subjugation Commander’s order, the squad member called Erik began severing the orc’s shoulder.
If he rode hard from here, he’d reach Labelt with the report before sunset.
And now came the real problem.
With the birth of the Orc Lord now confirmed.
What choice would the Subjugation Commander make?
‘The most likely option would be to retreat.’
An Orc Lord.
I didn’t know how it was recorded in Second’s historical texts, but the Orc Lord I’d faced in First was no ordinary monster that players typically thought of as an orc.
A monster so powerful it could dominate the entire continent if left unchecked.
That was an Orc Lord.
As such, how many orcs the Orc Lord had gathered was the most critical factor.
“We will search for the Orc Lord’s forces, confirm their numbers, and monitor their movements.”
“Yes!”
“Understood, Commander!”
Fortunately, the Subjugation Commander chose to scout the Orc Lord’s forces rather than retreat immediately.
A wise decision.
Even if word of the Orc Lord reached Labelt, without confirmation of its forces, they’d struggle to send proper reinforcements.
Someone had to scout the Orc Lord’s forces in advance.
And the Subjugation Commander believed that was his responsibility.
“From now on, we will search for the Orc Lord’s forces. Garrett, Diane.”
“Yes!”
“Yes, sir!”
“I’ll organize teams for the search. Be careful of orc ambushes.”
“Understood!”
“Our Subjugation Expedition will proceed with our original objective and eliminate the orcs in the Savage Forest. I’ll say it again—stay vigilant.”
“Yes!”
A full-scale search began with the assumption that an Orc Lord existed.
Everyone waited for the Subjugation Commander’s orders and moved accordingly.
Given the circumstances, I should have joined the search team and used my tracking skill.
Instead, I unfolded the map and began to think.
‘If an Orc Lord has been born, it would first try to gather forces. To gather forces, it would need vast territory.’
Drawing on my experience and knowledge from First, I began to deduce where the Orc Lord’s forces might congregate.
After all, the Subjugation Expedition first heard of the orcs in this very Savage Forest, and we actually made contact with them here.
Therefore, the Orc Lord’s forces would likely be positioned near the Savage Forest.
‘The terrain adjacent to the Savage Forest is….’
[ Towering Thorn Mountain ]
First, the Thorn Mountain.
The name seemed to come from its sharp, spike-like appearance.
This wasn’t the place.
The Thorn Mountain’s slopes were too steep to serve as a suitable gathering ground for a massive orc army.
[ Winding River ]
Not here either.
Surely the orcs wouldn’t gather while submerged in the river?
The other location was the path I’d traveled from Labelt, so I’d skip that as well.
The last remaining place was.
[ Dry Ravine ]
‘This is it.’
I felt it the moment I saw it.
A gorge formed where flowing waters had completely dried up.
Geographically, few people passed through, and unless one deliberately peered down into the ravine, there was no way to know what transpired below.
Even from the map alone, its size appeared substantial enough to accommodate a large number of orcs.
No matter how I considered it, I could see no better gathering point than this.
‘This has to be it.’
It was merely speculation, but through my knowledge and experience from First, I could be certain of the Orc Lord’s location.
With that conviction, I confidently approached the Subjugation Commander and shared my deduction.
“What evidence do you have?”
“None, sir.”
The Subjugation Commander listened to my words, studied the map, and considered carefully.
Though I had demonstrated remarkable feats in succession, I hadn’t expected him to immediately accept an outsider’s speculation.
“Very well. Since this won’t significantly impede our movements, let us follow your deduction.”
The Subjugation Commander accepted my speculation more readily than I’d anticipated.
The squad members felt the same way.
“If you say so, sir, we should trust it!”
“You’ve saved our lives.”
“Your name was Mir, wasn’t it? Would it be alright if we called you brother?”
These were the same squad members who had disrespected me before entering the forest.
They now fully accepted me as a comrade.
Whether this was good or bad, I couldn’t say, but thanks to it, I was able to guide the Subjugation Expedition into the ravine.
“The path is….”
“I’ll guide you.”
In such a densely packed forest, even finding direction was difficult.
But.
[ Root Compass ]
( Non-Tradeable )
Form: Compass
Grade: Rare
I possessed an item.
The forest version of the Sun Compass I’d used in the Desert terrain during Second Crown.
When used in a forest, it was a compass that marked direction by borrowing the power of the trees.
After comparing the map’s orientation with the compass, I immediately guided them along the path.
How far had we traveled like this?
“There’s an ambush.”
“An ambush? Where are they hiding?”
By enhancing my agility stat and sharpening my senses further, combined with my experience from First, I was able to detect the orcs’ ambush.
However, it seemed the Subjugation Expedition hadn’t yet discovered it.
So I decided to strike the orcs preparing their ambush first.
– Using 2nd Circle Fire Magic ‘Fire Ball’.
A sphere of flame rose above my palm.
Whoosh!
I hurled it into the grass ahead.
The grass didn’t appear very tall, so it seemed unlikely orcs were hiding there.
“Ow! It’s hot!”
“We’ve been spotted!”
“The ambush failed! Attack! Ow!”
As the sphere of flame exploded and the grass ignited.
The orcs who had been crouched flat beneath it scrambled to their feet in panic.
Then they began charging toward our Subjugation Expedition.
“Ha! So the orcs were actually lying flat in the grass preparing their ambush.”
“Is this what the presence of an Orc Lord means?”
“Prepare for combat!”
Had we been successfully ambushed, it would have been dangerous, but a failed ambush like this was hardly frightening.
The 2nd Subjugation Squad displayed formidable strength against the orcs.
– Using skill ‘Black Insect Flash’.
Splurt!
I too was assisting in orc subjugation from the front of the Subjugation Expedition.
“Thank you, Mir. I keep owing you my gratitude.”
Thanks to that, this battle ended faster than I expected.
“Ambush at three o’clock!”
“Screech! We’ve been spotted!”
The orcs were hiding along my path, preparing to ambush us.
“Screech! Attack!”
Even without the ambush, the orcs leveraged the forest’s advantage to the fullest, attacking us relentlessly.
As we progressed, the number of orcs only increased.
Moreover.
“Screech! Don’t retreat! Attack!”
Unlike the orcs we first encountered when entering the forest, who minimized damage by gradually backing away.
The orcs appearing now didn’t retreat a single step.
As if there were a cliff right behind them, they desperately charged forward, blocking our advance.
The more they did this, the more certain I became.
‘This is it.’
The orcs weren’t reacting this way for nothing.
They were desperately trying to prevent their gathering place from being exposed.
No—rather, they were executing the Orc Lord’s command with that very purpose in mind.
The orcs were desperately blocking our path to protect their location.
“Screech! This place alone, absolutely….”
But we were powerful.
We pushed forward, cutting down every orc blocking our way.
The moment we emerged from the forest.
“This is….”
“Dry Ravine.”
A gorge located right beside the Savage Forest.
We had reached the Dry Ravine.
Fortunately, no orcs were visible guarding the ravine’s perimeter.
The orcs stationed in the Savage Forest appeared to be a sort of reserve force positioned as a precaution.
“I’ll scout ahead.”
I carefully made my way toward the ravine’s edge.
Using a concealment skill to avoid detection, I cautiously peered down into the ravine below.
‘…The Orc Lord.’
Thousands of orcs filled the ravine below.
No—tens of thousands of orcs flooded my vision.
In that moment.
[ The linked Quest ‘Labelt’s Subjugation Expedition’ has been updated. ]
Rank : Legendary
Description : You have discovered the legendary Orc Lord and his army.
The Orc Lord, bound by destiny from birth, will mercilessly trample all sentient beings on the continent except orcs.
Objective : Stop the Orc Lord
The rank of the linked Quest I possessed had been updated.
Beyond its original Hero rank.
Beyond the Unique, Epic ranks.
To none other than a ‘Legendary’ grade Quest.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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