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Chapter 25: Bul’tar

In modern times, the word is familiar as the shout of the orcs. The ‘r’ drawn out at the end has been omitted, and it became the bul’ta that it is today.

In ancient orc language, bul’tar has the most complex and nuanced meaning. Universally, it means survival, living, and sentience, but contextually, it symbolizes an act of the highest value an orc should achieve in their lives. It is difficult to explain the meaning of this word in a universal language because it has diverse implications.

In the case of the former definition, ‘bul’ta’ could somehow be a substitute for ‘life’ or ‘survival,’ but based on the latter definition, this issue becomes more complicated. There isn’t a word in an official language that can precisely express the implications of this word. The word is polysemous and is collectively about their way of life, ethics, goals, and dreams—the most important thing one must achieve in life.

Understanding this word is extremely difficult, but it is crucial for research on orc culture and philosophy. I have met many orcs, and I was able to experience a bit of the true meaning of bul’tar by interacting with them.

If we must express this word in our language and if there is a term that comes close to bridging the gap between the two languages, I propose this conclusion.

‘Bul’tar’ in ancient orc language is ‘life,’ and to orcs, ‘life’ is, in another word, ‘honor.’

To orcs, life is just a process to fulfill honor, and honor is the collective of the values their life must prove. They are somber and religious about this conviction. Thus, the meaning of bul’tar is distinct from life and survival.

—Elliot de Pontiac, Insight into Species’ Cultures and Philosophies through Ancient Languages

***

The death knights’ attacks sent most of the orcs tumbling down. Meanwhile, Hoyt and Lenox were each fighting one death knight. Only they could fight on similar ground with the death knights.

Lenox’s axe split apart a death knight’s shoulder. However, black smoke rose from its body, and the wound was healed. It was a close fight.

Yi-An came to his senses. He thought he had cut through the death knight he’d been fighting, but he had been flung back just like the other orcs. These death knights were indeed strong. In that case, just how strong was the owner of the dungeon, who had these death knights at his beck and call?

Lenox let out a thunderous roar. His body suddenly blazed with a white glow while moving at an imperceivable speed. The death knight he was fighting was drowned in dark energy and became a faint dark form. Lenox and the death knight exchanged blows at such a fast speed that the blows weren’t visible. Sparks emerged from their brilliant sword fight, and the sound of their weapons colliding shook the tunnel.

Yi-An’s mouth dropped open. The darkness began to dissipate at the onslaught of Lenox’s blows. Each time one of his attacks made a direct hit, a gruesome scream escaped from the death knight’s mouth.

Even while dripping with blood, Hoyt continued to hammer the death knight he was fighting against and succeeded in smashing its head. Streams of darkness seeped out of it, but the death knight was unable to restore its head and fell to the ground squirming. Hoyt continued to hammer down on the collapsed body.

The last death knight crumbled under the orc warriors’ combined attacks. Meanwhile, the orc sorcerers who had been saving their strength by only casting blessings began to use offensive magic. Kinjur extended his staff, and a strike of lightning drove the death knights into silence.

The death knights were no longer equipped for battle, but they continued to resist and charged at the orcs in their dismal states. Their attacks were like a candle burning through the last of its wick before the flame went out.

The battle persisted, but it ended with the orcs’ victory.

The orcs struggled to catch their breaths.

Lenox had minor wounds, Hoyt needed a potion, and some of the other orcs were groaning because of their injuries.

Gultai approached Yi-An and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Despite breathing heavily, Gultai laughed gleefully, “Hahaha! Apprentice! You’ve actually endured this far!”

However, Gultai seemed to have less energy than usual. Yi-An looked Gultai up and down and noticed blood dripping down from his chest. It was a deep wound.

“Don’t mind me, apprentice,” said Gultai.

“But...”

“This isn’t enough to stop me. Hahaha!”

Gultai’s eyes were gazing at the giant door in front of them. “A filthy guy who uses undead creatures cannot stop me.”

Lenox reorganized the troops. Many orcs had become unable to fight, and there was a high death count after the fight with the death knights as it had been the most intense battle yet. One death knight had even infiltrated the rear of the troop and slaughtered the orc sorcerers.

The orcs looked in the direction of the corpses and closed their eyes in prayer. The prayer was short and silent. They had to focus on the battle at hand after all. After the dungeon raid was over, the dead orcs would be praised as honorable warriors. The injured orcs departed with the corpses on their backs.

There were now only a handful of orcs left compared to when they first started. Lenox looked back at the troop.

Yi-An, Grom, the orc warriors, and the orc sorcerers nodded in agreement; they were ready for the final stage.

Lenox pushed the door open. It creaked open with a strange noise, and they saw a shadow of a person inside. It was the necromancer!

He slowly turned around.

“...!”

It was a bizarre sight! The necromancer had a haggard face that seemed to be forcibly holding onto his rotting body for dear life. The orcs could see bones and rotten flesh in the gaps in his robes.

Upon noticing the orcs, the necromancer began laughing. It was a wheezy laugh that leaked air.

“You made it all this way, you foolish orcs...”

“Lich, stop disrupting the rest of the dead,” Lenox demanded while taking a step forward with his axe raised. “Those who defy the law of nature should face immediate death.”

“You don’t know anything...” The lich stepped forward, moving into full view under the blazing torch.

“...!”

“You orcs... are so na?ve...”

The lich appeared to be an aberration as a dagger glowing with blue light had been stabbed into the lich’s life essence vessel, which was on his heart. The life essence vessel was leaking dark energy.

The lich continued, “Me... you... we are all just being used anyways...”

“What do you mean?”

“They will be here soon.” The lich burst out into hollow laughter.

Right at that moment, the orcs heard the thud of footsteps approaching. It wasn’t the sound of one or two people walking. It was the sound of numerous soldiers marching in unison. The orcs turned around. Fully armed human soldiers were moving toward the orcs from the far end of the tunnel, which wasn’t visible from the orcs’ location. The soldiers, an infantry unit clad in iron armor, eventually arrived at the open door.

“You were right,” said the human soldier leading the infantry unit. He raised his helmet’s visor, revealing his bright blue eyes. “It was easy to bait the leader of these disgusting orcs.”

The unit leader burst out in laughter, which echoed throughout the dungeon.

The human sorcerer by his side nodded and said, “I told you. There is always a way.”

The human sorcerer looked around with amused eyes, then he slowly pulled off the hood of his robe. He shook his sweat-drenched hair, revealing the small white star on his forehead. The human sorcerer was a player.

“How is it? Is it just like what I reported to you?” asked the human sorcerer.

“Precisely,” said the unit leader.

“There is a link among those cursed by the stars. It’s easy to hide a spy among the orcs and communicate with him to get information.”

“You have accomplished a great task. I will remember what you’ve done.”

“Thank you, hahahaha!”

‘What were they talking about?’ Yi-An’s eyes trembled.

He didn’t want to believe what he had heard, but he saw Grom slowly inching toward them.

“Yo, Hyun-Chul! Come over here!” yelled the human sorcerer.

“...”

“Good work, man. I will help you progress in the game now.”

Grom hesitated briefly before running over to the humans’ side. Unable to look the orcs in the eye, Grom lowered his head.

The sorcerer player slapped Grom’s shoulder. “You look so dependable as an orc, dude. But you’re gonna reset, right?”

“Yes, hyung,” replied Grom. [1].

“You’re making the right decision. I will raise you as a clan member.”

“Thank you.”

Yi-An could not believe his eyes. Grom had betrayed them. No, from the very beginning, he had joined them as an orc to carry out this task.

“Earl, please deliver your promise,” the human sorcerer said to the unit leader.

“Yes, I will take your clan under my wing. Have you completed your quest?” the unit leader asked.

“It will be completed once we catch those guys. It will especially be a huge contribution if we catch him,” the human sorcerer said and pointed his finger at Lenox.

The target of his quest was the great warrior Lenox, the mentor of all orc warriors and the instructor at Orcrox Fortress. Their quest was to defeat the orc troop and kill Lenox, and Grom had been sent in as a spy to accomplish this task. He had become a warrior to gain Lenox’s trust. The lich had merely been the bait.

“Hey, lich, you can go now,”

The sorcerer player chanted a spell, and the blue dagger that had been eating away at the life essence vessel fell to the ground. The lich collapsed and began panting before hurriedly running toward a small door in a corner. He opened the door and fled.

Yi-An’s gaze wavered. An escape route existed. If he used the escape route, he might be able to survive.

Yi-An approached Lenox and said, “Lenox! Let’s quickly...”

However, Lenox was looking somewhere else. Yi-An followed Lenox’s gaze. They saw familiar faces amid the human soldiers as they spread apart.

‘Ah.’ Yi-An realized he had forgotten about the injured orcs.

The humans had beaten up the orcs and dragged them from the empty area. While struggling to breathe, the orcs collapsed like corpses. There was even a trail of blood showing where they had been dragged from.

The earl—the unit leader—kicked the face of the orc closest to him. One of the orc’s tusks broke and flew into the air.

“Filthy orc bastard,” the earl exclaimed.

“Hehehe,” the sorcerer laughed.

“Fucking trash,” the earl said as his kicks continued. “Die! Die!”

Yi-An looked at Lenox, whose eyes were sunken. He was about to say to Lenox that although it was infuriating, now was time to run. However, Lenox interrupted his thoughts.

“Apprentice,” Lenox said.

“Yes.”

“Escape through that door.”

“What...?”

“There will probably be human soldiers waiting past that door, but I believe in you. Survive until the end and inform Orcrox about the things that have happened here.”

“What about you...?”

“We are staying,” Lenox stated while raising his axe.

The remaining orc warriors raised their weapons in unison.

It was absurd. The orcs were fatigued and injured; the blood and flesh that covered their weapons weren’t just of the enemies. They were also greatly disadvantaged in terms of number. This was a fight between an egg and a rock. The orcs were about to pass out from the consecutive battles they’d fought, but their opponent was a fully armed infantry unit that hadn’t suffered any losses.

“Lenox...!” Yi-An clenched his teeth.

The other orcs were different from him. They couldn’t come back to life after death; their deaths were final. Nevertheless, Yi-An knew Lenox wouldn’t listen to his words. As long as there were injured orcs among the humans, none of them would turn their back on their brothers.

“Then, I will fight with you!”

“...!”

“With all of you...!”

Lenox shoved Yi-An away, sending him rolling across the ground.

Yi-An sat up and raised his head toward Lenox. ‘Why...?’

“Don’t be ridiculous, apprentice. This isn’t a fight you can take part in,” said Lenox.

Gultai, who was standing by his side, nodded. “Yeah, you will just get in the way. Instead of being a bother, get out of here, apprentice! Hahahaha!”

He wiped the blood off his bleeding chest and placed his halberd on his shoulder.

“My sorcery is wasted on you, apprentice.” It was Kinjur this time.

The orc warriors began to speak up one by one.

“You must have misunderstood because we fought alongside one another, but you are just a hindrance.”

“We actually couldn’t fight properly because of you. Go disappear!”

“Instead of disgracing yourself, you should just run away.”

“Stop being a bother when you are just an apprentice. Listen to Lenox’s orders.”

“Quit being clingy, and get out. I want to fight immediately after sending you off!”

They were smiling, but Yi-An felt like he was going to cry. If everyone fled through the escape route, they might be able to live. Even if there were many soldiers behind that door, at least a few of the orcs might survive. Yet, they wanted to fight until the end.

Yi-An screamed at Hoyt, “Hoyt! Didn’t you tell me the most important thing was survival, that life was the most important?!”

Then he looked at Lenox. “Lenox! Shouldn’t we try to live first?! Isn’t our shout ‘bul’tar’?!”

Yi-An vented his frustration toward the orcs, who stared blankly back at him.

The orcs then looked at one another.

“Ha...”

“Hahaha...”

One by one, their shoulders began to shake with laughter.

“Hahahahahhaahahha! Hahahahhaha!”

As their chests shook with laughter, the sound of their laughter reverberated throughout the dungeon. They threw their heads back and laughed heartily for a while before stopping.

Lenox looked at Yi-An with amused eyes and said, “Apprentice.”

“...”

“As you have said, life is most important.”

“Then...”

“So, I will ask you this... are you alive right now?”

Yi-An stared back at him, dumbfounded. “Huh...?”

“Are you alive right now?”

“What...?” Yi-An could not understand what Lenox was trying to get at.

“Are you alive right now, at this moment?”

“I am alive.”

“Why?”

“Huh...?”

“Why do you think you are alive? Is it because you are breathing?”

“Uhh...”

“Keep this in mind, apprentice.” Lenox smiled.

All of the orc warriors smiled as they looked at Yi-An. Lenox brought his axe toward Yi-An, who saw his own face overlap with Lenox’s face on the blade.

Lenox shouted, “Bear in mind, apprentice!”

It was the Lenox who had pushed Yi-An to work harder on the training grounds.

“Just because you are breathing, it doesn’t mean that you are alive! Just because you aren’t dead, doesn’t mean that you are alive!” This was Lenox’s final lesson to Yi-An.

Yi-An realized that the greeting of the orcs wasn’t just an inquiry about survival. ‘Bul’tar’ wasn’t just a shout to stay alive.

Lenox turned around. With smiles on their faces, the orc warriors raised their weapons toward the humans standing in front of them.

Lenox continued, “Someone who doesn’t know that doesn’t deserve to fight with us, so...”

At that moment, the orc warriors who had been passed out among the humans began shouting as they latched on to those around them. It was a desperate last hurrah. The humans’ formation fell apart.

“Get out, now.” These were Lenox’s final words.

The orc warriors charged all at once. Yi-An turned around because he could not bear to look. Instead, he ran toward the emergency exit.

Behind him, the cries of orcs shook the earth.

“Bul’tttaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrr!”

***

—The Hercules clan in Elder Lord massacred a farmers’ village and declared it as their territory. What do you think about this?

—The method was cruel, but it’s hard to impose a moral compass on this situation because the villagers were all NPCs. Other clans also...

“That’s ridiculous,” a man remarked as he downed a glass of whiskey.

The bartender glanced over at the man to gauge how inebriated the latter was. Then he put down the glass he had been cleaning.

“Dumbass fucks who don’t know what they are doing...” the man continued.

“I think you’ve had too much to drink,” said the bartender.

“No, not at all. I’m okay. You know me,” assured the man.

The bartender nodded in response. The man focused on the TV screen again. The topic had changed.

—How did the Elder Saga Corporation implement such a flawless virtual reality?

—I wonder. It must be thanks to the core system inherited from the genius scientist Yoo Jae-Han. Nothing has been publicly announced yet because it’s confidential information, but there must be an extraordinary level of computing equipment inside...

—A level of genius we can’t understand...

The man looked into his whiskey glass. Its clear surface reflected his haggard face.

He muttered to himself, “Stupid morons... What virtual reality... What computing system...?”

Then he gulped down his whiskey again. “How laughable...”

He blankly stared off into space after putting down his glass.

—What is inside Albino, the computing system that makes all of this possible...?

The man, Yoo Jae-Han, laughed.

‘What’s inside...?’

He extended his hand into empty space. Something flickered in the air.

He grabbed a fistful of air and muttered to himself, “My god... You fucking morons.”

1. Hyung is a gender-specific term used by males to refer to older males ?