Supreme Magus

voice struck like a fist, making the Lord regain his manners and put the silverware down.

”The first wave was comprised mostly of small fry. Forty goblins, thirty two ogres, and a dozen empowered orcs. I suspect the ruler of the dungeon might be a powerful shaman. ”

Lith nodded him to continue.

”The second wave was way worse. Fifty ogres, twenty three empowered orcs, and a few trolls. As for their numbers, I have no clue. The fact they have dispatched almost a hundred of them each time makes me think we are talking about at least one thousand creatures.

”Are you really sure you want to go in there alone? ”

”Positive. ” Lith replied. ”Numbers mean nothing in enclosed spaces and I can wipe out any number of non magical creatures on my own. I can always fly or Warp away if necessary. ”

”Can you really use dimensional magic? ” Iriel ’s eyes shone like emeralds, making Lith bite his tongue.

”That ’s the reason I arrived so fast. ” Since the horse had already bolted, instead of shutting the barn ’s door, Lith decided to follow suit.

”Thanks for the meal and the information. Your men ’s bravery has saved me a lot of time. I ’ll take care of the dungeon immediately. ”

”Wait. There ’s one more thing you should know before you go. One of my scouts says he saw a Balor flying around the mountain. ”

”A Balor? ” At those words, Lith flinched in disbelief. Such creatures were considered the nobles among the monsters. One of the few Fallen Races to have retained part of their ancient wisdom and power.

”I ’m sorry, Baron, but if that was true Jambel should ’ve already fallen. A one thousand strong army of monsters with a Balor at its head could easily conquer this city. Also, didn ’t you say you suspected an orc shaman to be their leader? ”

”I agree it ’s odd, but only one of the scouts saw it. Maybe he ’s wrong, or maybe the attack on Jambel is just a diversion. ” The Baron nodded.

”I suspect an orc shaman because there is no other explanation to empowered orcs and because they would never submit to an Evil Eye. Balors and orcs are sworn enemies, they would never cooperate. ”

The truth was that with their demonic appearance, Balors resembled the fabled creatures that according to orcs ’ lore had caused the fall of their race. Balors had no grudge against the orcs that they didn ’t share with the whole of Mogar.

”Do you have any idea how so many creatures managed to spawn so close to your city without anyone noticing? ” Lith could already smell a lot of troubles. In his experience, the more things didn ’t add up, the bigger the underlying mess was.

A mess he would have to survive first and clean later.

”None, it ’s indeed a mystery. ” The Baron sighed, well aware of how silly his words sounded.

Before leaving, Lith used the holographic table to carefully study the region and plan his next moves.

’I ’m afraid this will not be a simple clean up. An orc shaman can cripple our strength and a Balor might even be my equal. ’ Lith regretted not understanding orcish language. Otherwise he could have learned many things from the shaman.

Back in Othre, Jirni had given him plenty of tips on how to loosen the tongue of a captured enemy, both literally and metaphorically.

’Do you think an Abomination is behind the dungeon? ’ Solus was triggered at the thought of experiencing the event of Maekosh again.

’No, unless it ’s the dungeon master. ’ He replied. ’The anomaly here is the creatures ’ behavior, not their abilities. Only time will tell us how deep the rabbit-hole goes. ’