Partners [Tensura X Oc]

Chapter-14 Negotiation

The march continued. Their next prey was right in front of them.

Lake Siss

The lizardman chief shuddered when he heard the report. The thing he fearedmost was now reality.According to the messenger, the stronghold of the powerful ogre race wasdestroyed before the day had even ended. As if swallowed whole by the orchorde.There was no longer any doubting it. The orc lord was here.

In terms of sheer statistics, these were still D-ranked orcs, two hundredthousand of them or not. Ten thousand C-plus-level lizardmen, playing ontheir home turf in the marshes, had every chance of fighting evenly, or better.But if the thing he feared the most---an orc lord---was on the scene, nothingabout them was D rank any longer. 

If they had completely overwhelmed the ogres, that was an indicator oftheir power--- from the guy up top, all the way down to the lowliest peon inthe army. They may not be as powerful as ogres, no, but you could put a plussign next to that D, at the very least. And any orcs who were at knight levelor higher would be at least a C. Hell, at this point, they might be leaningtoward C-plus, matching the lizardmen's grade.

It would be hard enough to fend off such a massive army attempting tostrike them at their weakest link. But if there was no meaningful difference instrength at the infantry level now, they had no chance. The presence of theorc lord meant that holing up in the caverns and attempting to weather out asiege would be pointless. It was one thing if they had reinforcements, butshutting off all potential exits would simply make the lizardmen starve, notthe orcs.

Gabiru, sent away to gain the goblins' support, had yet to report back. Theycouldn't waste time searching for him---it would only make their foes evenmore of a threat. The chief began to fear that he would have to lead the forceshimself.

A soldier ran up, shouting.

Soldier: "Chief! We have an intruder! He wishes to meet with you in the limestonegrotto entrance!"

The chief's guards readied their spears in response. 

Chief: "Calm yourselves," 

He could feel the presence of a strong aura nearby---more powerful thananything he had felt before---and he realized it wouldn't pay to do anythingto stoke its owner's anger. Any battle would lead to untold casualties, mostlikely, and he couldn't detect any hostility to the aura anyway. 

Chief: "Whoever it is, he is very brave, coming here alone. I would like to see him. Bring him over."

Guard: "But what about the risk, my lord?"

Chief: "This aura is on the level of a magic-born's. If we wish to drive him away,we will have to pay dearly for it. He does not seem to be an immediate threat,so we have no reason to immediately threaten him."

Guard: "Shall we line the chamber area with our elite troops, then?"

Chief: "Please. But I want no one to move an inch until I give the order. Make that clear."

Guard: "Yes, my lord!"

The chief nodded to his royal guard and waited for the uninvited guest to appear. They were in a natural labyrinth, one with countless hidden nooks and crannies. If this magic-born-level foe attempted to cause any trouble, they would have ways of handling it--- if it came to the worst-case scenario, that is. The chief's hope was that they could talk this out instead. 

Now the aura drew nearer, its size telling the chief everything he neededto know. 

Chief: 'Anything foolish, and not even a hundred of my elite force may be enough to defeat him.'