CHAPTER 81: AGAINST THE ORC GENERAL

"Would you, or would you not tell me!?" the King thundered, voice booming like a war drum.

"I... I got teleported here," Leon finally said.

The King’s eyes flickered with surprise. Clearly, that was not the answer he was expecting. His voice sharpened. "Teleported? How?"

Leon raised his shoulders and let out a frustrated breath, feigning innocence. "How should I know? One moment I was doing my thing... the next, I opened my eyes and found myself here—in the middle of nowhere." His tone shifted, growing sly. "But I found a way out. And as for how I escaped... that’s a secret."

The Orc King’s eyes narrowed into slits. The spear in his hands did not waver.

"I hope you’re not lying to me, young man," the King rumbled, menace thick in his voice. "If you are... you know your life has no value to me."

Leon smirked faintly, though his pulse raced. "I’m not forcing you to believe me. But you should know—this isn’t the first dungeon I’ve been teleported into. I’ve traveled far and wide. Each time, I found a way to escape. And each time, I grew stronger."

He lifted one hand slowly, palm open, as though offering a pact.

"You want to escape, don’t you? That’s what you’re after. I hold the secret. I’ll tell you how... but only in exchange for three things. Do we have a deal?"

The generals shifted uncomfortably in their saddles, glaring daggers at him. But the King ignored them, his burning gaze locked onto Leon’s eyes.

"How can I be sure this deal is fair?" the King asked coldly. "You demand three things for only one secret."

Leon chuckled under his breath, though his skin prickled with tension. Dealing with monsters this smart... what a pain in the ass.

He let his smirk widen into something more dangerous. "Then I guess you’ll stay stuck here forever." His tone was sharp as a blade. "I don’t need the deal. You do. I’m offering you the one thing you can’t get on your own."

The Orc King’s frown deepened. Silence stretched for long, tense seconds.

Then, without warning, the King leaned forward and jabbed the tip of his spear against Leon’s throat. The sharp steel grazed skin, cold and lethal. One push was all it would take.

"But your life..." the King said in a deadly whisper, "is mine. If you don’t tell me the truth right now, you die."

Leon could feel the spear point pressing harder against his flesh. The weight of death loomed, real and suffocating.

Yet he smiled.

A sharp, fearless grin split his face, shocking the generals, who expected him to quake in fear.

I know your type. You think intimidation will work on me. But if I die, I take the secret with me. You wouldn’t dare kill me, because you want what I know.

Slowly, deliberately, Leon raised his hands into the air in mock surrender, his voice cold but calm.

"I guess I’ll have to die with this secret, then."

He tilted his head back, exposing his neck to the spear’s tip, his grin growing wider.

"Please... kill me, Orc Sovereign."

From Leon’s actions, anyone watching would think he truly wished to die—but the maniacal smile plastered across his lips betrayed the truth. It was all a bluff, a dangerous gamble, a twisted joke.

The Orc King frowned as he studied him. Are my intentions that easy to see through? This human... he’s much harder to deal with than I thought.

After a long pause, after weighing Leon’s words and actions, the King came to a decision. He had considered killing this strange human and ending it here, but his instincts whispered caution. He sighed heavily, then slowly withdrew his spear, lowering the deadly tip away from Leon’s throat.

"As far as those three things... whatever they may be," the King said, his deep voice rolling like thunder, "if they are within my capabilities, I will try my best to fulfill them."

Leon exhaled sharply, the tension in his chest easing. He didn’t show it outwardly, but inside, his heart was pounding furiously. He knew very well that he had just taken the biggest gamble of his life. One wrong move—one different decision from the Orc King—and he would have been a corpse on the ground. The thought sent a cold shiver down his spine. He quickly shut it out and forced his usual grin back onto his face.

The silence stretched for a few seconds before the King spoke again. "So, what are the three things you want me to do for you?"

Leon rubbed his stomach with exaggerated weariness. "It’s not hard. The first thing is simple—I want to have dinner with you and your generals. After dinner, I’ll tell you the secret. As you can see, I’m famished. I haven’t eaten in almost two days."

The King’s brows furrowed deeply. Out of all the demands he expected, this was not one of them. He could easily arrange food, of course, but why would this human ask such a trivial thing? He wanted to ask, but he held his tongue. A promise was a promise.

"The second thing," Leon continued, his eyes flashing sharply, "is that you will answer a question for me. How do you orcs survive here? And how are you able to understand human language? You’ll give me the answer during dinner."

The generals behind the King exchanged glances but said nothing.

Leon’s smile widened, mischief glinting in his eyes. "And the third thing... is that you and your generals will spar with me until dinner is ready."

Inside, he clenched his fist in his pocket. I have a plan. All of these steps—dinner, conversation, sparring—they’re all pieces of the trap I’m weaving. These generals and their King are dangerous. Even with all my skills, I have the intuition that I can’t defeat them head-on. Not without... underhanded means.

The Orc King considered the demands carefully. After some thought, he could not see any direct danger in them. In his mind, this human was cunning, but even cunning had limits. At length, he nodded.

"So be it. Deal it is. But know this—do not attempt anything foolish. My eyes and ears will be on you the entire time you are with me. If you cooperate, you will not be harmed. And if we do indeed leave this place together, I will treat you well once we are free of this dungeon."

Leon chuckled darkly. "Yeah, it’s a deal between me and you." He leaned forward slightly, his grin turning sarcastic. "And you won’t kill me, right? My life is safe in your hands?"

"Exactly." The King’s reply was firm, though he noted Leon’s strange tone. Still, he dismissed it.

Leon’s inner thoughts, however, were far less optimistic. None of that will ever come to pass. To escape this dungeon, the Orc King will have to kill me. That’s the cruel irony. The exit is bound by the rules of the dungeon, and the only way out is simple... my death. Either I walk out alive... or he does. There’s no scenario where we both survive.

"Head General," the King barked.

The axe-wielding general urged his armored horse forward, its heavy hooves crushing the dry savannah grass beneath. He dismounted briefly, leaned close to the King, and the two exchanged words in low whispers. The other six generals tightened their encirclement of Leon, their sharp eyes fixed on him, making sure not a single movement of his went unnoticed.

After the whispered conversation, the General pulled his reins and rode his horse over to Leon, halting just a few feet away. His piercing gaze scanned Leon from head to toe with obvious suspicion. He didn’t speak. He didn’t move. The silence that followed was deafening, thick enough to choke on.

Leon’s face twitched in irritation. What the hell are you staring at!? Why aren’t you saying anything!? The uncomfortable quiet gnawed at him until, finally, the Orc King’s deep voice broke it.

"Follow him. Ride the horse with him. He will take you to a place where you can rest."

Leon sighed, giving up on understanding their cryptic behavior. He climbed onto the horse, choosing to sit at the front. He had wanted to take the back, but his lack of horse-riding skills made that too risky. One wrong jolt and he’d be thrown off.

Once mounted, he turned his head and shouted back toward the King, his voice carrying across the clearing. "I want to spar with all of you in exactly one hour! And dinner better be ready in an hour too! Don’t you dare feed me orc food, no matter how sweet you claim it is—I want fruits. Fresh, delicious fruits. That’s what I’ll take as dinner."

The General swung the reins. The mutated horse neighed loudly, rearing slightly before charging forward. The wind rushed against Leon’s face as they moved.

The General swung the reins. The mutated horse neighed loudly, rearing slightly before charging forward. The wind rushed against Leon’s face as they moved.