The Night Before - The East

The East

Troll King's Cave

The cave was filled with loud cheerful roaring. Trolls were stomping the ground and beating their chests in uniform. They had formed a circle around two trolls that were facing each other. One was a troll with red hot skin and the other had the average dull grey skin. At the moment they were performing a ritual that their race usually did the night before any conflict. It was to determine the ranks the trolls were given for the conflict. The stronger the troll, the higher their ranking. The leader of the trolls was not exempted from this rule.

The grey skinned troll delivered a heavy punch to the red skinned troll's face. That punch would have been able to snap a tree in two, however it barely managed to faze that troll.

The troll king cracked its right fist and grinned at his second-in-command. He raised his arm and flexed all his muscles. Veins snaked out, showing just how serious his punch was.

"As always…. Ya punch like a… GOBLIN!!!"

He brought down his fist, slamming the grey troll into the ground.

"Oooouuuu!"

The audience yelled at the sight. As always, their leader exhibited strength far from their caliber.

"Any other challenger!?"

He asked the crowd, but no one stepped forward. They believed that there was no other troll that could handle him. They had a good reason too. This was the very creature that had managed to give the ogre tyrant a little bit of trouble in the past.

"Hahaha! Still can't beat ya, Zod!"

The troll who had been defeated praised the troll king.

"Hahaha! Whatcha' talkin' about? Ya punch was better than the last. Last time was like a babe's."

Zod extended his hand to the troll on the ground. The troll looked at his hand for a while, then accepted it.

"Then I guess I should be happy, but I'll beat ya."

"Haha! Sure. But let's finish off those crazy folks in the west who dared to go against boss."

"Ah yea! Let's give the boss their head just for the knack of it."

"Still, I wanna fight that creature. He knows that the boss' a tyrant an' still wants ta fight. He must crazy strong."

"Ya heard what them pigs been saying? Apparently it's a chicken leading them."

"Kuhahaha! Now I really wanna fight! Chicken sure will taste good afta a battle."

"WOOOHOOO!!!"

The trolls let out yells of happiness when they saw their two strongest warriors happily talking about the battle. It filled them with a sense of confidence. With those two at their front along with the ogre tyrant what could happen?

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Orc Village

Inside the Orc King's tent, there were four orcs. All of them were the Orc king's brothers. They were joyfully having a conversation over a cup of alcohol.

"Hahaha! And so when he grabbed her tail, she slapped him and then, Dulk said that he thought it was his pipe!" (First Brother)

"His pipe!?" (Second Brother)

"What kind of shitty excuse was that? Hahaha!" (Third Brother)

They looked at the big orc who had a slap mark on his cheek. He let out a smoke filled sigh.

"It's not my fault that she had such a nice ass."

He tried to defend himself.

"Hahaha! But couldn't you have come up with a better lie?" (Second Brother)

"You know at this rate, you won't be able to get married to her." (Third Brother)

"I know right? But lay off. You know Dulk has never been good with the ladies." (First Brother)

"Ah yes. The mighty Orc King spent most of his youth training to become strong." The orc king grabbed his oldest brother in a headlock and began to rub his head. "Yea, so he can bully his older brothers."

"Ah ah, calm down Dulk, you're going to grind my head to dust."

Dulk let go of his older brother, then took a sip of his alcohol.

"I plan on proposing to her after the fight."

"Oh?" (Second Brother)

"So you are moving forward? Congratulations." (Third Brother)

"I heard the West has a lot of beautiful flowers there. If you are planning on proposing to her, I'd suggest you take some from there." (First brother)

"Ah yes! Good idea older brother."

Dulk praised his older brother.

"You know, I heard the one leading the West is a chicken. A hen to top it off." (Second Brother)

"Yes, that is what I was told as well by the kobolds." (Dulk)

"In that case, why don't you catch the hen for her? You know how tasty chicken are. I'm sure she will love it." (First Brother)

"Magnificent! This is even more wonderful!" (Dulk)

"Aren't you forgetting the War Monger?" (Second brother)

"What about him?" (Dulk)

"Surely he would want this hen all to himself, no?" (Second brother)

"Indeed. Krull-sama is a very greedy person." (Third brother)

"Still, what can he do if you already caught the hen before he did?" (First brother)

"Ha? Indeed. I shall bring that hen and present it to the most beautiful orc." (Dulk)

"Indeed, I envy you brother. If only I hadn't rushed I wouldn't have ended up with the boar of a wife that I had." (Third brother)

"Haha! You always rushed things, you know."

And such was their conversation. They were drunk so they weren't thinking correctly. Under normal circumstances, they would know how impossible it was to steal the kill from the ogre tyrant. Unfortunately, the Orc king was naïve and listened to them word for word. That nature of his was bad, but if it wasn't for that nature, he wouldn't have trained to the point of being able to beat all his older brothers. If it wasn't for that naïve nature, he wouldn't have trained to the point of beating every creature he came across. If it wasn't for that naïve nature, he wouldn't have grown to be so powerful he was called a king. This was Dulk. A naïve but earnest worker.

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Ogre Tyrant's fort

In a massive hall, there was a large table with two individuals sitting behind it. The table was set up with foods the ogre tyrant had requested for, ranging from fruits to animals of all sorts. Truly, one should always congratulate the chefs who tirelessly provide food for the ogre. Every day was a literal feast and tonight was worse. The princess Kori had ordered that they made extra so as to make her father happy.

The ogre tyrant looked at his daughter. Princess Kori, his first daughter, but second child and also one of his strongest warriors. So when one of strongest warriors wore a very scared expression on her face, this caused him to realize that she was about to tell him something that would probably anger him.

He ripped apart a cooked orc's leg and took a bite out of it.

"You know, I was surprised when I heard that you wanted to have dinner with me."

Kori said nothing to her father who just kept on eating his food. The ogre tyrant looked at his sweaty daughter. He could smell the fear she was giving off. If it was something he would be really angry about, he internally advised that she did not say it.

"You know, it's weird how you haven't had a single thing."

"O-oh, yes! You are right."

Kori was brought back to reality. She had been thinking of a way to break the news to her father. She had set up a feast filled with some of his favorite meals however she knew this was not enough. Once she told him of the news he would definitely blow a fuse and it wouldn't end well. Still, she had to say it eventually. If her brother were around, she would have left the task of informing the ogre tyrant to him, however he was busily training in the Demise Mountains at the moment.

"Where is your sister?"

The one he was referring to was his youngest child, Kala.

Kori almost choked on her food when he asked that question. It were almost as if he knew what she was about to say. However, he was just being curious because it was either he ate alone, or he ate with all of his children. Something must have happened to his daughter.

"Hmm?"

Although she looked quite nonchalant, she herself was feeling extremely frustrated at how stupid and dangerous the situation was.

"Come on. Out with it."

"She had a vision."

The ogre tyrant temporarily stopped eating his meal and eyed his daughter curiously, before resuming.

"Ah? What was it about?"

"She said that she saw you, getting crushed by a demon. So you shouldn't participate in this battle."

"… Come again?"

"Please do not go on with this war."

The large ogre kicked the table away then stomped towards his daughter. His every step created spider web cracks on the ground. When he got to his daughter, he flared his nostrils and brought himself to her eye level. Red beady eyes met shut eye lids. A wise decision for that moment.

"You would have me. The War Monger Krull. One of the five great Tyrants of Larm, back down from a fight, because of what? A stupid vision? Weird words that came out of a stupid girl's mouth? Where is Kara? I guess she needs some alone time with me. I shall show her what happened to the last person who told me such a thing."

Suddenly a memory flashed Kori's mind. A very horrible and terrifying night when she nothing more than a kid. The night her mother told Krull a vision he didn't like. That night would forever serve as a reminder to everyone that Krull wouldn't hesitate at even murdering his own family if he felt like it.

"She is currently studying in her room."

"Oh? Kuhahaha! Very well then, make sure she stays there. When I return victorious tomorrow, I shall have a little chat with her about her visions."