I got into school for nothing - 137
I got into school for nothing (137)
Lesson 28. Picnic of Ruin - 4
When Yumina first uttered the word "relic," Ban Yuwon had assumed she was referring to an Artifact.
But that wasn't it. She was speaking of a Relic.
“What's the difference?”
“An Artifact refers to any magical implement created since time immemorial. A Relic is a subcategory of this, specifically an Artifact that has been deeply imbued and strengthened by the user’s lingering thoughts. You know how they say that a soul can reside in an object that’s been used for a long time?”
Ban Yuwon paused at her words.
A soul residing in an object—didn't that describe most of the Artifacts he currently possessed?!
“So, like... a wielder dying and their soul being imbued into the object?”
The idea of lingering thoughts imbuing an object used for a long time resonated with the Japanese folk belief of Tsukumogami.
In Korea, too, though slightly different from Tsukumogami, tales were passed down of Dokkaebi being born from old, worn-out objects like brooms, pokers, or straw sandals. One could say that the imaginations of people from ancient times were all quite similar.
A Relic, not an Artifact born by being granted a soul, but one in which a soul had spontaneously taken residence.
Ban Yuwon began to find himself intrigued by this rare Artifact.
“Even so, they usually don’t differ much from other Artifacts. Of course, in the case of a Relic left behind by a powerful wielder, its performance is often exceptional, or it possesses unique abilities not found in other Artifacts.”
“That alone makes them outstanding. Isn’t that why the Orcs caused all that chaos?”
“If they had merely acquired a good Artifact, the Orc horde wouldn’t have grown to this extent. Besides, didn’t you see, Ban Yuwon? They even completely transformed the Monster Wave into an Orc Wave.”
Ban Yuwon nodded, understanding dawning on him.
There must have been a reason Yumina had emphasized the word ‘Relic’ in the first place.
“Orcs are a race born with strong spiritual sensitivity. How should I put it? They’re prone to possession by spirits. They can deeply commune with the lingering thoughts imbued in objects and have a knack for amplifying and wielding that power. In short, they are a race optimized for handling Relics.”
“...Indeed, that’s why Professor was so shocked to see the Orcs possessing a Relic.”
If it was about reading an object’s memories, then Psychometry came to mind.
Orcs, however, likely went a step further, possessing the talent to interact with those lingering thoughts and convert the history accumulated within an object into tangible power, which they could then wield.
In fact, there were several novels and comics on Earth that dealt with similar psychic abilities.
“In that case, it could also be called spiritual power.”
“Exactly. That’s why, in dimensions connected to spirits, Orcs usually excel as powerful spirit users.”
With their already outstanding close-combat prowess, and now the ability to command spirits, he wondered if they couldn’t be called the strongest race.
It was truly ironic that, despite all these advantages, their innate wild nature led them to fall into the state of monsters, now destined for subjugation.
“No, wait. I understand that Orcs become incredibly strong when they get their hands on a Relic, but this doesn’t fully explain the current phenomenon.”
“Orcs aren’t merely empowered by the performance of the Relic itself. Communing with a Relic also profoundly affects an Orc’s own body and mind. In particular, their spiritual power is greatly amplified, and this amplified spiritual power allows them to exert absolute dominance over their kin with lower spiritual power.”
Ban Yuwon recalled the countless Orcs moving like an army behind the Orc wielding a massive greatsword, charging across the land, and nodded.
A legion controlled by a single absolute ruler—from the first moment he saw it, it had felt somehow alien, unlike a typical Monster Wave. So, he had been right.
“To put it intuitively, it’s like becoming the Lord of the Orcs.”
“That’s right! I’ll give you bonus points!”
It was a pity that they weren't in Union Academy right now.
“The scale of this varies wildly depending on the Relic’s power, but what we saw earlier was at least a mid-grade item. What’s even worse is that the birth of the Orc Lord overlapped with a Monster Wave. In such cases, as we witnessed, the Monster Wave becomes corrupted by the Orc Lord’s influence, transforming into an Orc Wave.”
What was a Monster Wave, after all? It was an infection wave that transformed anything with mana into a monster.
And yet, the Orc’s spiritual power, greatly amplified by obtaining a Relic, could even influence this infection wave!
If one were to consider it in reverse, wouldn't that mean the infection wave was a power related to souls?
Hadn't he heard, when talking with Cellon during the wave in the 39th room, that those with high-grade souls or those who had already offered their souls to others, like Rucell, were immune to the infection wave?
“The phenomenon where an Orc Lord, having obtained a Relic, corrupts a Monster Wave to create a grand Orc legion—we call this an Orc Wave. The birth of a Lord capable of dominating a million Orcs is a rare occurrence, textbook-worthy, so why would such a thing happen in an F-rank dimension...?”
“At least it’s fortunate it didn’t happen in an E-rank or D-rank dimension.”
After conveying the gravity of the situation to the kingdom, the group witnessed their frantic flailing and panic, concluded that these people would be of no help, and then, borrowing Yumina’s magical power, hovered in the air, watching the greenish-brown wave surge towards the kingdom.
As he observed the grand spectacle and listened to all of Yumina’s kind explanations of the situation, Ban Yuwon suddenly grew curious and asked a question.
“By the way, Professor, isn’t confirming the battle situation by borrowing your magic like this a violation of the special activity rules?”
“That’s an incredibly obvious question, Ban Yuwon. The moment you encountered the Orc Wave, your first special activity officially ended. This kind of exceptional case would be impossible to handle even if we brought all the other first-year students, let alone just you.”
He thought it might not necessarily be true if there were a few more powerful individuals like Oltima or Aire.
Ban Yuwon pondered this, then realized that they too were powerhouses far exceeding the scope of a first-year student, and promptly fell silent.
“Hmm. I find that a bit puzzling.”
Dokgo Yeon, who had been quietly looking down at the Orc horde, tilted her head and spoke.
“With such an overwhelming number of troops, why are they not surrounding the kingdom from all sides, but rather charging in a straight line? Do they lack situational awareness? The Orcs we encountered in the previous Tower weren’t so foolish.”
“That’s probably because the Orc Lord was only recently born. The legion’s cohesion isn’t yet strong enough to execute complex commands. That’s why the Orc Lord is leading the charge at the forefront of the horde, guiding them all.”
“In truth, when the scale is this massive, minor tactics and strategies aren’t even necessary,” Yumina added.
Frankly speaking, if Rebellion hadn’t been here, the Orcs would have simply marched forward, crushed the kingdom without issue, reborn all the humans as Orcs, and then continued their advance to the next country with them.
...What if other freshmen, not Rebellion, had been assigned to this dimension? A full professor wouldn't have been accompanying them as a supervisor, and wouldn't they have simply been swept away and killed by those Orcs?
The thought sent shivers down his spine.
“Hmph.”
Dokgo Yeon, who had been intently observing the Orc legion, especially the Lord, hummed again, narrowing her eyes.
Then she suddenly muttered,
“If we were to drop a mountain giant right in the middle of them.”
“Wait, suddenly? Were you aiming for such an epic opportunity...?!”
“If we repeatedly threw and retrieved it, we could rapidly reduce the number of Orcs and widen the gap between the Lord and his soldiers.”
Ban Yuwon imagined a colossal golem appearing here and there, crushing Orcs beneath its weight.
As long as the giant didn't die mid-operation, there couldn't be a more perfect plan.
The core of her proposed plan was likely the isolation of the Orc Lord from the other Orcs.
Relying on the notion that the Lord’s dominance wasn't yet firm, she intended to thoroughly disrupt the legion.
“No, that’s plausible! It’s a mass weapon capable of free retrieval and re-throwing. In such a wide-open environment, nothing could be more reliable.”
He wasn’t sure, but in terms of the depth of its core concepts, the mountain giant surely exceeded a thousand. If it fell on Ban Yuwon’s head, even he wouldn’t be confident in his safety, so what hope would the Orcs have?!
In fact, even if the legion didn’t completely break ranks, just having a colossal mountain rolling across the battlefield would likely take care of hundreds of thousands of Orcs.
“However, if I do this, I won’t be able to confront the Orc Lord myself. Ban Yuwon, can you do it?”
Dokgo Yeon said, gazing steadily at Ban Yuwon.
The fact that she had thrown those words to Ban Yuwon, not As Light or Rucell, made her intentions easy to surmise.
Ban Yuwon grinned back and replied,
“Sounds good. I was actually curious about this Relic, or whatever it is. Let’s do it. I’ll lend you Eve. Eve will help you move freely in the sky.”
“Hiss!”
Though Eve displayed a somewhat displeased expression, seemingly thinking that she was helping others more than Ban Yuwon these days, she ultimately completed her transformation obediently.
Her form was none other than Lilyth herself, before she had turned into a metallic egg.
If they simply borrowed a little of Yumina’s power, Eve wouldn't need to step forward, and the mountain giant throwing operation could be executed more easily and simply, traversing the battlefield. However, since they were already engaged in a special activity, they strongly desired to resolve the situation without her assistance.
“Hmm... Alright. I’ll be in your care, Snake.”
—Vrooom.
Eve replied with a highly displeased engine sound.
Dokgo Yeon paid no mind and climbed onto Eve, not sitting properly but straddling it with her legs gathered to one side.
That demure posture, while utterly unsuited for her, somehow also seemed to fit her perfectly, eliciting a chuckle.
“Tikke, assist Dokgo Yeon.”
—Whirr.
With Tikke also assigned to Dokgo Yeon’s side, hovering in the sky, observing the battlefield, and ready to provide support with projection magic at any moment, he felt a little relieved.
“Yuwon, are you sure about this?”
As words exchanged seamlessly between Ban Yuwon and Dokgo Yeon, and Dokgo Yeon finally climbed onto Eve, who had transformed into Lilyth, looking as if she were truly about to execute the operation, Yumina, as she had done before, forgot her usual persona and began to genuinely worry about Ban Yuwon.
“As I said earlier, this Orc Wave far exceeds the level of an F-rank dimension. And that holds true even when considering the personal combat power of that Orc Lord.”
“I know.”
Yumina probably wanted to say something like this:
That the Orc Lord was stronger than him, so he shouldn't do anything reckless.
“It’s fine. I actually prefer it.”
But Ban Yuwon not only surmised this—he believed that Dokgo Yeon had made that suggestion precisely because she knew it.
‘She wants me to clash with him in swordsmanship. She knows I’ve been anxious about not being able to create my own sword style yet, so she’s giving me an opportunity to be stimulated.’
As luck would have it, the Relic the Orc Lord had obtained was also a sword.
It was a magnificent Relic that had created a million-strong Orc legion, so there were certainly lessons to be learned from the lingering thoughts contained within it, and from the Orc’s combat style in wielding it.
‘Truly, a peerless master...’
How could he not respect Dokgo Yeon, who, despite the battle with the Orc Lord clearly being the most interesting prospect, had yielded it and volunteered to undertake the troublesome operation herself?
He watched Dokgo Yeon’s back as she began to race through the sky on Eve, silently saluted her in his heart, and then turned to his companions, speaking.
“As Light, Rucell, would you mind holding back the other Orcs so the Orc Lord and I can fight one-on-one?”
“...We can certainly do that, but Ban, your expression is unsettling.”
“I’m a little jealous.”
As Light and Rucell, despite their somewhat unconvinced expressions, eventually nodded in assent to his request.
But what exactly was there for Rucell to be jealous of just now—
—CRASH!
At that very instant.
A thunderous roar that wiped away all thought from the group struck the area.
“Whoa...”
“Even seeing it again, it’s just absurd. That such a monster appeared in the 39th room, and that Dokgo Yeon tamed it.”
“It’s truly incredible, that mass weapon.”
In the middle of the battlefield, a colossal Mount Golem, hundreds of meters tall and roughly as wide, descended.
The Orc legion, greatly agitated by the cataclysm, halted its charge, its ranks instantly warped. A festival of golden character strings, visible to Ban Yuwon’s eyes, simultaneously soared into the sky, representing thousands of Orcs, at the very least, perishing!
“That’s just like dropping a rock on an ant colony... No, never mind.”
Since Ban Yuwon hadn’t intervened directly and the distance was great, fully retrieving all of them would be difficult. Still, properly collecting even a hundred thousand concepts out of a million Orcs would be a huge success.
“So, shall we go too?”
Ban Yuwon watched Dokgo Yeon retrieve the mountain giant and soar back into the sky, unflustered by the attacks raining down from all sides, then cast his gaze towards Yumina.
She sighed, as if resigned, and nodded to him.
“There’s really no helping you... If I think it’s dangerous, I’ll intervene immediately, so don’t get mad, okay?”
“Professor, what exactly are you to Ban?”
“Well, his older sister, perhaps?”
“What a conscience... W-Whoa!”
As Yumina lightly waved her hand, As Light, who couldn't hold back and had tried to tackle Yumina, was sent flying towards the ground, followed by the others in order.
Their destination: the very vanguard of the Orc legion.
Right in front of the Orc Lord, who was desperately trying to control the Orc legion whose ranks had been disrupted by the mountain giant’s rampage.
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