The Insane Regressor: Throne of Pride

This was the same cave where Ravian had absorbed the orcs before fleeing the human camp, but it seemed the humans had lost control of these neutral lands to the Twilight Empire during his absence. That explained why an orc camp stood here, so close to the human border.

It worried Ravian a little, since he had no idea who might have died in his Death Squad while he was gone. He hoped they were all safe; although he had spent little time with them, for the first time in a long while...

He had felt that he belonged somewhere.

He did not love them or their company, not yet, but he felt that they respected him and gave him his space when he needed it. They had also proven themselves during the Rassasians’ surprise attack, and for that, Ravian respected them.

They and Karius had been the first people to cross his mind when he returned to this forest, but he had set those thoughts aside, intending to see them again soon.

In any case, Ravian had needed an empty, well-hidden place to carry out what he had planned for the orc camp. The spot he had traversed to was supposed to be close to the cave, and with only a little effort, he had managed to find it again.

It had been thoroughly cleaned not long ago, which Ravian guessed was the work of the investigation team Karius had sent while searching for him.

He had watched it for a while, looking for signs that anyone visited regularly, before deciding to use it as his temporary base until he finished the ”business” he was attending to.

Naturally, Ravian had done all this while the entire orc camp slept, after its guards had dozed off. Before transporting everyone to the cave, he had reduced the bulk of most of the bodies by cutting off their limbs and leaving the severed parts behind in the camp. The System had told him that he would only need the torso for absorption.

That had saved him a great deal of trouble.

...

Back inside the cave.

”This is annoying. You were supposed to remain unconscious for a few more minutes.”

Ravian spoke as he looked at the Eighth-Rank orc, now reduced to a head and torso like most of its followers.

The orc could not find the words to answer this terrifying human. Its mind was still reeling from everything that had happened.

Ravian noticed the shock written across its face.

”Ah, right. I know you, but this is supposed to be your first time seeing me.” He paused for a moment before adding, ”You can call me Ravian.”

The orc’s gaze remained fixed on him, still at a loss for what to say, and Ravian noticed.

”Damn, has the shock driven it out of its mind?”

To Ravian, that was the only reasonable explanation for the Eighth-Rank orc’s dazed state, so he stopped paying it much attention and continued his work, though he noticed that its eyes still followed him.

’Is it really better to keep it alive, System?’

[Yes, Host. Absorbing it while it is still alive will be more beneficial. The difference will be considerable, especially given the gap between your ranks.]

[If it were Ninth Rank, it would not matter as much, but this orc is an elite even among other Eighth-Rank orcs and will be extremely beneficial to the advancement of your physique.]

’All right, then.’

Ravian accepted the answer and continued what he was doing.

In his hand was a piece of one of the orc corpses scattered throughout the cave, which he was using to draw something specific on the floor.

It looked like an array.

He had read about this array in the academy’s library, then developed it with the System after arriving at the cave to make it compatible with Sovereign Pride. In its original form, it had been a spiritual absorption array designed for Soul Stones.

Working with Sovereign Pride in the mental world he had created through Absolute Focus, Ravian had made a few modifications to produce a version suited to Sovereign Pride’s nature, allowing him to carry out the absorption faster and more efficiently without leaving any residue within the array.

That was precisely what had delayed Ravian until now, even after he had already done everything he had planned for the camp and its occupants.

’And now... We are done!’

Ravian finally finished drawing the magic array in the blood of the corpses, but before he could activate it, a voice sounded behind him.

”Why?”

The voice was deep and choked, unmistakably belonging to a monster.

Ravian turned toward it and found the Eighth-Rank orc lying on the ground.

”What did you say?” he asked, approaching.

”Why did you do this?” the orc repeated in the same tone.

Ravian stopped and looked down at it, seeing grief emerge on its face for the first time: the grief of defeat, of failure, and, worst of all, of loss.

He crouched nearby and met the orc’s eyes without blinking, his expression completely serious.

”Before I answer that, tell me...” A trace of anger entered Ravian’s voice. ”What were you planning to do after sunrise?”

The orc’s eyes widened in sheer shock.

”Y-you... How?!”

”How?” Ravian frowned in apparent confusion, pretending to consider the question deeply before looking at the orc again. This time, his handsome, cold face suddenly turned green and took on Shiro’s features. ”I wonder how?”

The orc’s eyes widened further before gradually settling, though now they held a trace of fear.

”So that’s it. You were among us, and you knew everything from the beginning,” it said in a hollow voice.

”Was Shiro a false identity all along? How did you do this? Is this some new kind of magic humanity has yet to reveal?”

The orc voiced every question that came to mind, wanting at least to satisfy its curiosity about its killer before it died.

Ravian tilted his head slightly in puzzlement.

”Who said Shiro was a fake?”

”Huh?”

The orc did not understand.

”Shiro wasn’t a fake. There was nothing fake about him,” Ravian explained.

But the orc remained confused.

”...Then how—no, when?”

”You mean when did I take his place?”

The orc nodded, or at least tried to, its head barely shifting up and down, but that was enough for Ravian to understand.

”Oh, during the night,” he replied simply.

The orc only looked more shocked.

”Y-you took Shiro’s place, planned all of this, and carried it out so precisely in just these past few hours, without any prior preparations?”

With every word, it became harder for the orc to believe that Ravian was doing anything other than deceiving it.

This time, Ravian gave no answer, merely watching it with that emotionless gaze before standing.

”I think that’s enough, you green monster. I don’t have all day to sit around talking to a dead orc.”

Seeing him stand and walk away, the orc panicked and hurried to ask its final question.

”Wait, wait! So you did this to us in retaliation for what we were going to do to your race, but aren’t you afraid the Twilight Empire’s soldiers will follow the traces you left in our camp and eventually find you?”

Ravian stopped mid-stride at the question, and a smile appeared on the orc’s face as it finally scored a psychological victory over this human.

Or so it thought, until Ravian looked back over his shoulder with a mad smile.

”Hoho, what camp are you talking about? I don’t think that camp exists anymore.”

The orc’s smile froze.

”What did you just say?”

While it struggled to process his words, Ravian lost interest in what it might be thinking. He lay down within the array and folded his arms across his chest like a mummy, the same mad smile lingering on his face as he spoke.

”Activate the array.”

...

Not far from the cave, where the orc camp should have stood, gray Void flames engulfed the entire site, devouring it at a terrifying, almost unreal speed. Everything the flames touched turned to ash, and then even the ash disappeared, leaving only emptiness behind.

Everything in the camp was steadily being reduced to nothing, to pure void. Even the grass beneath it was consumed, leaving nothing but the soil.

And so an entire orc company and its camp vanished from the face of the earth, leaving neither evidence nor witnesses behind.

All that remained was devastation, and the rumors that would inevitably spread of an entire camp disappearing from existence overnight.