The Scent of Conspiracy?

"Help me, help—"

Evelina's panicked cries for help came to an abrupt end.

It was not because she had escaped danger, but because her entire body had been dragged by the corrupted chains into the twisted gravitational passage, vanishing without a trace.

Everything had happened too suddenly, leaving all the generals and soldiers frozen in place, unable to react in time.

"Th-this..." Murphy gaped, scratching his head helplessly.

The blazing magma flowing over his body slowly cooled, returning to its rocky form.

"What was that about?"

Rahem shook his head twice and finally adjusted it into a suitable position. His six mechanical eyes spun in a circle, glowing with a faint blue light.

"Obviously, we have lost another Bronze Boot general."

"Oh, by the Mechanical Forefather above, I think I will often miss that beautiful Spirit Clan lady."

"But this has never happened before..." Austin drooped his arms and trudged over weakly.

Earlier, while his body had been encased in armor and he had charged madly through the Parasite Demon Tide, this level-one-hundred Oglin Orc had felt nothing but exhilaration, without giving any thought to physical exhaustion.

Now that the armor had vanished and he had returned to his original state, all sorts of aches and fatigue swept through his body!

If not for the Oglin Orc racial trait that allowed them to retain the most basic ability to move even when their strength was exhausted, Austin probably would not even have had the strength to stand upright right now.

"Today's situation was vastly different from usual to begin with." Rahem turned his head and analyzed in an exceptionally rational mechanical voice. "The fear demon nest in Wailing Gorge somehow turned into a Parasite Demon nest, and then the Demon Prince suddenly appeared. Those two obvious abnormalities alone are enough