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“Therefore, we call individuals with command abilities among these higher-tier species Leaders. Both genuine Orc Kings and Orc Generals are seen as the same bunch from a human perspective, so it’s quite a mixed bag, you see.”

“Furthermore, to be honest, you won’t come across true, genuine King-types unless you venture deep into underground labyrinths or even go to the heart of the Superempire itself,” he added with a wry smile.

“What about the Orc Princess, then?”
“She just called herself a princess on her own. In terms of ability, forget a King, she’s at most equal to a High Orc or an Orc General. It’s like takoyaki without the octopus, or Kappa-Maki without the cucumber in it, or a bride with a past walking down the virgin road. Basically, a false signboard that makes you want to press for a refund.”

Putting aside the takoyaki part, I think it’ll be a huge trouble if you find actual kappa in kappa-maki. Also, the virgin road thing is a serious love affair, so don’t make a joke about it! or so I thought, but…I didn’t know takoyaki and kappa-maki existed in this world. I’m surprised at the diversity and similarity of food culture.

“Well, if there’s a difference, it’s that, like cats in heat can’t go against their nature, male orcs can’t go against their female as well. They’re cheering her on because of some sort of intraspecies charm.”
“So you’re saying that, species-wise, she’s that big a threat? Can I assume that he has a winning chance, then?”
“…well, compared to the sheer despair you’d feel against a genuine King-type, the odds aren’t zero.”

The peddler craned his neck as he answered. As we conversed, the battle was reaching its climax.

♢♦♢♦♢

Dodging the opponent’s attack, or rather, the outstretched embrace and toothy kiss, he immediately went for a counterattack.

Although wounds that reached the arteries were temporarily sealed with a basic Healing Art, he could only use novice-level Healing Arts, so the result wasn’t as satisfactory. The connected wounds reopened as he moved around, and the warm droplets, different from the sensation of sweat running along the jawline, drew faint dark lines on the ground.

Following the predetermined procedure, he activates the talismans scattered on the ground.

“「Earth Javelin」.”

Spearheads, as sharp as obsidian, flew from the ground.

Against the forceful barrage of spears that can pierce even iron armor, the Orc Princess snorted with a rough breath and casually swept them all away with a single swing of her hand.

To avoid the aftermath of the wind pressure and debris, Cestlavie rolled on the ground to create distance. Without time to stand up, he was pursued by the Orc Princess.

“Darling, hold me tight~”

As the orc threw her body at him, Cestlavie hastily altered the trajectory of his opponent using rapid-fire Earth Javelins and desperately avoided her while doing so. Furthermore, he followed up with a barrage of more Earth Javelins.

He scattered talismans over a wide area, unleashing a simultaneous volley of Earth Javelins from all directions.

“…You’re surprisingly putting up quite a fight.”

With a rumble, the Orc Princess fell belly-down into a crater she created on the ground. As she scratched her belly area, she reluctantly got back on her feet.

“But, looks like those talismans are all used up now. Shall we take our time and enjoy ourselves?”

She grinned wide when she saw the boy had used up all the talismans, holding only the white wand with both hands.

“「O mighty celestial dragon who gathers lightning, in the name of the great Thunder Emperor—” Cestlavie gathered all remaining mana to unleash a powerful technique.

“I saw that move before, but do you think it’ll work on me? It stings a bit, but unless it’s at least three times more powerful it won’t do much.”

With a composed expression indicating she was ready to take it head-on, the Orc Princess lowered her hips and brought her arms together, forming a curtain of flesh—err, a shield, to protect her upper body.

Not minding her, Cestlavie continued. “—sweep away the foes before me」.”

Feeling the level of mana converging towards the wand, the Orc Princess chuckled. It seemed to have slightly more power than the previous strike, but it was just a desperate bit of difference. At this level, it was hardly a problem.

The moment she thought this, an enormous amount of magical power suddenly flowed towards the young priest. “What…?!”

Looking around in a panic, she noticed that all the magical power concentrated in the surroundings was inexplicably being drawn towards Cestlavie.

“W-, What is happening?!”

Cestlavie pointed the tip of his wand towards the Orc Princess, who was trembling in terror at her opponent’s rising mana, and desperately controlled the huge amount of electricity as he revealed his secret.

“It’s not that complicated. My Talisman Art relies on pre-existing mana. With a large enough canvas and a medium chock-full of mana, the boost in output is just obvious.”

For a moment, the Orc Princess thought Cestlavie might be hiding a literal “trump card” somewhere in his possession, but then she followed his gaze and suddenly realized.

“Don’t tell me, you used the Art to turn the entire ground…?!”

Despite knowing it wouldn’t work, he had erupted a relentless barrage of Earth Javelins. Magic didn’t create matter out of nothing; there were dents and grooves on the ground, soil that was used for those Earth Javelins.

At first glance, they looked like random holes, but upon closer inspection, they formed specific shapes following a certain pattern. And the black paint-like substance flowing within those grooves—

“You drew a magic circle with your blood?! Darling, you’re absolutely insane!!”
“Coming from you, that’s saying something.”

Cestlavie laughed bitterly as the capillaries throughout his body couldn’t withstand the surge of magic and burst, causing blood to trickle down. However, even that evaporated on the spot due to the residual shockwave of lightning that ignited at the tip of his wand.

“Kiss this, 【LIGHTNING】!!”

With a burst of determination, an immensely thick lightning bolt was released at lightning speed, striking the entire body of the Orc Princess without any chance to evade, illuminating the surroundings in a dazzling white light.

Author’s note:

Due to IRL circumstances, this update came late. My deepest apologies.

Translator’s note:

Due to a matter that was entirely my fault, this update came very, very late. Pls don’t fire me.