Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Eren was stunned when he first saw Ulag. That's because he acted way too human-like for a monster of his rank. He was just an Orc Leader. And yet, he walked and spoke like a normal human would.

'This… how could monsters of this place be so non-monster-like? Alphee, do you have any idea?'

Eren was having a monologue while Ulag was trying to talk with him. Alephee pondered for a bit before responding.

'Hmm. I guess that this form of intelligence in monsters is due to some special artefact or potion of equal calibre.'

Alphee replied casually while Eren observed Ulag in front of him with keen eyes. He still looked like the orc he had seen in the Badlands.

But there was an unmaskable glint of intelligence in his eyes.

Ulag walked upright instead of having an arch back like usual. Plus, his hand gestures and facial expressions were more human than monster-like.

'This… What kind of place is this dungeon? Is this even a dungeon to begin with?'

Eren felt like the mystery about this place was intensifying even when he had come in contact with just one monster. He cancelled his plans to kill Ulag for short-term benefits and decided to use him to make contact with the rest of the monsters.

Eren just morphed his tongue and showed it to Ulag to make himself mute, the only thing that had the possibility of blowing his cover. Then he would use his monster language translator to answer Ulag's question in either a nod or denial.

Eren and Ulag kept on walking for more than an hour before they came across an orc camp. But this orc camp looked more like a mini-city than the camp he had just cleaned out in the Badlands.

The construction of the orc camp was robust and built to last. The perimeter walls were around 7 meters high and equally thick in diameter. They were made of stoneworks, like the rest of the two and three-story constructions that could be seen through the open gates of the camp.

Eren and Ulag had come just when the hunters of the tribe had decided to leave the camp for their hunt. They were riding Baison-like mana beasts. The hunters wore sturdy armour and flaunted runic weapons. Plus, one of them carried what seemed to be the flag that denoted their race and tribe. Setup like that made these monsters look like well-organized cavalry.

'What the actual fuck is going on in here. I've heard that epic grade monsters and above tend to have a proper societal structure in the Badlands. But… this… this I don't know what to call this anymore. These are just basic fucking orcs we are talking about. How can they be so different from the orcs I just fought with?'

As Eren observed the orcs inside the camp after gaining entry into it through Ulag, his puzzlement continued to grow. The guy had a simple house made of rock walls and wooden logs for the ceiling. He also had a backyard with arrays etched onto the ground using another form of shining crystals that the butcher couldn't recognize.

Next, Eren and Ulag stored the bodies of the mana beasts they had carried inside one of the arrays. The latter then operated on the array and made it cast a thin, dome-shaped mana layer over it, sealing the meat for good.

'Monsters who know such detailed array techniques! Damn. The monsters in the Badlands are just country bumpkins if we place these guys in front of them.'

The more he listened to Ulag's ramblings through Alephee's translations, the more he realized he had underestimated Tumko's achievements. This place was not as easy to conquer as he thought it would be for him. Plus, finding that artefact seemed even more of a herculean task for him after considering the kind of monsters he would have to deal with if he decided to do things upfront.

When Eren met Sharog, he was already immune to culture shock. So he didn't act surprised when he saw an orc lady that looked more like a human woman except for her pointy ears and dark-green coloured skin.

There was no wild air surrounding Sharog. She had black hair and purple eyes that created a contrast against her green skin. She had a lean build with prominent curves. Plus, the monster lady's revealing clothes did nothing to hide her other features.

Sharog's bust was barely covered by a bra-like set of straps that ran from below her chest to over her shoulders. The same straps had shoulder guards attached to them along with the leather cape. The cap was, of course, made of from the Armadelo skin with runic inscriptions carved over both of its faces using an unknown ink.

Sharog had worn a simple loincloth that did nothing to hide her thunder legs. The loincloth was secured in place by metallic chains that accentuated her round hips. Sharog was also wearing armguards, but Eren was so engrossed in her fuller feminine features that he didn't pay attention to anything else.

Even with all that, Eren had come to realize that Sharog was an Orc Lord. She seemed to be in the gaseous stage of the D-rank in human terms. That means she had been a newly promoted, young member of her orc tribe that was given the responsibility of managing the tribe's daily affairs.

In short, Sharog looked like a warrior who could tease her male opponent with her looks alone before killing them. Eren listened to her speak, understood what she was saying to him thanks to Alephee, and started following her to the inner sector of the camp.

Eren imagined Sharog's round hips would be swaying seductively with the way she walked in front of him. Too bad the monster lady was wearing a cape. Otherwise, he would have had plenty to look at.

AN: Sharog's illustration will be uploaded shortly in the chapter comment section.