Conspiracy (Seeking Follow-up)

"Impossible! How can you be unaffected!?"

The sorceress's pupils returned to their original brown-yellow, characteristic of a goblin.

But her aged face was filled with confusion as she looked at the curved saber in her chest—

She clearly remembered that the human who had pierced her should have been covered by her magic.

Even if he was fearless, he should have hesitated for a moment, giving her time to see him charge forward and get away from the crowd...

But he hadn't given her any time to react.

Barely a breath after her spell was cast, he had already wounded her!

"You didn't actually expect me to explain the reason to the enemy, did you?"

Tang Qi didn't consider himself a verbose villain.

How could he possibly tell her that he had taken a [True Sight Eye Potion] beforehand, allowing him to see through all illusions, so she could be on guard later?

The illusions conjured by the Fear spell were no more sophisticated than the mist in the Twilight Forest.

If it claimed to reveal illusions, it would certainly do so.

So, from Tang Qi's perspective, as he scrambled to his feet and prepared to strike with Black Snake, he only saw the sorceress scattering black soil from her hand.

Immediately after, everyone around them, including the goblins and orcs who had surrounded them, started crying as if their parents had died, dropping their weapons.

The faster ones had even run into the woods.

With no one blocking him, Tang Qi naturally surged forward to her.

Since he wasn't entirely sure of the curved saber's reach, he simply impaled the sorceress—

Advancing would allow him to kill her on the spot, while retreating would let him take a hostage, aiding their escape from the encirclement.

And many crowd-control spells required the caster to maintain focus to sustain them.

With the saber piercing her chest, the illusions before the caster's eyes naturally vanished.

"Magic is also ineffective against you?"

Black Snake hadn't noticed the potion Tang Qi had consumed. Seeing that the spell that had troubled her was insignificant in Tang Qi's eyes, she was momentarily speechless.

Tang Qi didn't want to delay. He tightened his grip on her neck, restraining her completely.

He took two steps back, creating distance, and feigned ferocity as he roared at the conscious orcs and goblins:

"All of you, get back, or I'll shred her guts first!"

But he quickly realized that reasoning with these savage species was futile.

This sorceress might have held some status in the eyes of the goblins, causing them to retract their necks and retreat a couple of steps.

However, in the eyes of the orcs, she was likely worth less than the axe in his hand.

Their scarlet pupils held no trace of reason.

Roaring, they were about to swing their hand axes and charge at Tang Qi.

The sorceress couldn't help but shriek:

"Damn Shivana, why isn't she here to save me yet!?"

Black Snake's curved saber, like a crescent moon, was about to slice across the orc's neck.

But a whistling sound, like a screech, preceded it—

A giant axe spun through the air, its blade transforming into a full moon as it firmly embedded itself in the orc's side.

The orc whimpered, startled, and nearly fell to the ground.

The fact that [Alertness] hadn't been triggered indicated that the axe's purpose was merely to intimidate the orc.

Tang Qi and Black Snake simultaneously looked in the direction from which the giant axe had come.

But they didn't feel relieved by the orc's near-death experience.

On the contrary, the persistent "rumbling" tremor made his heart pound with alarm.

A shiver, as if falling into an ice valley, instantly coursed through his every pore—

"Hoo, ha!"

"Hoo, ha!"

"Hoo, ha!"

The drumming and war cries followed in succession.

He finally saw clearly the colossal figures emerging from the mist—

They were several giant turtles, at least fifty feet long and wide!

Under the heavy night and fog, they resembled moving, hunched-over hills.

The massive turtle's back was covered in moss, its shell's edges reinforced with serrated spikes and sharpened bones, bound with thick ropes and emerald vines--

Used to maintain and support the precarious, tower-like shack on the turtle's back.

Between the shacks, there were even simple flat areas pieced together from wooden planks, and scattered temporary tents.

Simple rope bridges connected the platforms and wooden towers on several giant turtles, swaying left and right as they ambled along. Some wooden planks even fell from the bridges due to the tremors.

They didn't need to charge; the forest couldn't stop their massive bodies. With every step forward, swathes of trees toppled to the ground.

On the back of the leading turtle, at the very top of the highest tower resembling a watchtower, stood a tall, upright orc.

This was not common.

Orcs always moved with a hunched posture, which had caused their spines to evolve into a forward-sloping shape, making them appear stooped.

But for Tang Qi, this was not bad news--

Caring about appearance meant he at least understood some civilization.

"It would be even better if they were willing to communicate."

Tang Qi could only pray as he watched the at least thirty land-dwelling orcs surrounding them in front of the giant turtles.

"Why don't you tell me the location of the town? When I escape, I'll help you deliver the news of your death to the Poet Academy?"

The Black Snake and Kuru cautiously approached Tang Qi, hesitating.

He believed that in his prime, these orcs wouldn't pose much of a threat--

If he couldn't win, at least he could run fast enough.

But the continuous battles had left him exhausted.

If this continued, he might capsize in a ditch.

However, Tang Qi couldn't let go of this only source of combat strength:

"If I can't escape, you won't be able to leave the forest either."

"We're in a dead end. And you want me to die with you when you could save yourself?" the Black Snake guilt-tripped him.

"At least I won't be lonely on the way. I'll sing you a song then?" Tang Qi didn't fall for it.

"Screw you."

Hearing his attitude, the Black Snake couldn't help but curse inwardly.

Tang Qi then looked at the orc on top of the tower--

He climbed down the ladder and only jumped onto the ground after stepping onto the turtle's back.

This was not a problem.

But Tang Qi had expected him to leap down dramatically, like a hero descending into the crowd.

Of course, given the height of the watchtower, doing so would likely result in a broken leg.

The orcs in front of him parted a path for him, pounding their chests rhythmically:

"Hoo, ha!"

"Hoo, ha!"

"Hoo, ha!"

As the other party approached, Tang Qi realized that they were far more conspicuous than he had imagined--

In the orc race, no one cared about your gender.

They only cared about your strength.

As a result, the females were also quite robust and wouldn't lose to any male in a wrestling match.

Even so, the female orc before him could only be described as fit.

Not exaggerated, but sufficiently well-proportioned.

Her fangs were not thick or sharp enough.

They merely protruded from the corners of her mouth like a tiger's, accentuating her angular, almost human, beautiful face, which made her look even more heroic.

Her light green skin was left uncovered, signifying that her bloodline was not pure enough.

Torn strips of cloth were tightly bound around her chest, doing their best to prevent the two cumbersome burdens from hindering her movements.

This was a half-orc.

A female half-orc who, in a society of the fittest, had become a tribal leader through the application of violence and bloodshed.

For a moment, Tang Qi didn't know whether to be happy or worried.

But all his emotions turned to horror when he saw the eyeballs coiled around the half-orc's shoulders.

No one knew how these orcs, who should have been blocked outside the Great Wall by the southern front, managed to cross tens of thousands of miles and penetrate the Twilight Forest in the central eastern region.

No one knew how they managed to find their way in this mist filled with illusions.

But now, when this construct, identical to Melard's shoulder, an artificial life placed in a bottle with gear-like wings, appeared before Tang Qi.

New Star's arrogant voice instantly echoed in his ears:

"This level of magical creation, ordinary adventurers can't afford to rent.

Only those big shots with some status and power in Dragon Gold City have the channels to rent one at a high price..."

He suddenly realized that everything happening now could not be considered an "accident."

Instead, it was a complete...

conspiracy.