Orc Hero Story | [Prologue] [Volume 1]

Once upon a time, there was a great war.

A massive, lengthy, drawn-out war.

It was a never-ending, bogged-down war where the entire continent of Vastonia became a battlefield.

Nobody remembered how the war even started.

According to an old Elven legend, it's said that it began when a Demon Prince kidnapped a princess from a certain Human kingdom. Conversely, a Dwarf legend claims it was because a Human king attacked and destroyed a Demon village.

Consolidating the legends, there's no doubt the conflict was sparked by Humans and Demons, but those who cared about who was "right" or "wrong" had long since been dead.

The only thing anyone could say for sure was that the war lasted for over five thousand years.

It entangled all twelve races living on the continent of Vastonia.

Everyone believed that this war would continue forever. They were born during wartime. Their fathers and mothers, their grandfathers and grandmothers—everyone was. No one remembered a time of peace. Not even the Elves, who lived for five hundred years.

Everyone thought they were destined to fight. They believed their children and grandchildren would continue the struggle. No one knew, or even stopped to consider, what had started the war or what it would take to end it.

But then, one day, that war came to an abrupt end.

Nobody remembered the beginning of the war, but everyone remembered the beginning of the end.

It was the Demon King Gediguz.

The moment he appeared, the tide of the war changed.

This Demon King Gediguz was a remarkable figure.

He possessed exceptional charisma, even among the previous Demon Kings. In the hundred years he reigned, he unified a seven-race alliance, spearheaded by the Demons, which included Ogres, Fairies, Harpies, Succubi, Lizardmen, and Orcs. He devised strategies that combined these races and created new combat doctrines that had never been seen before. He overwhelmed the Four-Race Alliance, led by the Humans, and vastly expanded his dominion.

It was a nightmare scenario for the Four-Race Alliance.

Until then, the Seven-Race Alliance had fought together, but they had never attacked with coordinated tactics.

Now, Harpies airlifted slow, giant Ogres, and Lizardmen, who were immune to the charm, charged and raided through the misty swamp zones where the Succubi's pinkish Charm Mist was spread... The Four-Race Alliance had previously struggled to match their opponents even when their own teamwork was perfected, and they couldn't stand against these coordinated attacks that had only occurred sporadically before.

But simultaneously, it was also a chance.

The unified army created by Demon King Gediguz was incredibly cohesive—a solid block—in a way the previous Seven-Race Alliance had never been.

Because he was so strong, because he was so charismatic, he became the weak point.

Of course, the Four-Race Alliance didn't know that.

They simply knew they had to defeat Gediguz, or the only thing awaiting them was certain defeat.

And so, Gediguz was killed.

In the decisive battle at the Remiam Highlands, a suicide squad led by four heroes—Nazar, the Human Prince; Sandersonia, the Elven Great Sorcerer; Doradoradobanga, the Dwarven Battle Ogre; and Reto, the Beast Hero—infiltrated deep into the Demon army and struck down Demon King Gediguz.

The casualties were immense. Doradoradobanga, the Dwarven Battle Ogre, and Reto, the Beast Hero, died in the battle against Gediguz, and over half of the suicide squad perished.

Prince Nazar, the Human, was also severely wounded during the retreat after Gediguz was killed.

The change following Gediguz's death was dramatic.

The Seven-Race Alliance, having lost its king, immediately lost all cohesion. They scattered with astonishing speed.

No one had been prepared to take Gediguz's place.

With no one left to issue even general directives, the Seven-Race Alliance's chain of command suffered catastrophic damage.

The Seven-Race Alliance could only mill about on the battlefield, waiting for orders that never came... and they were swiftly wiped out by the Four-Race Alliance forces.

If the individual kings of each race hadn't personally taken command, several races would have likely been annihilated.

The Seven-Race Alliance, once led by the Demons, splintered, and they all began fighting individually, just as they had before Gediguz became king.

The Ogres had allied with the Harpies, the Succubi with the Lizardmen, and the Orcs with the Fairies, so they maintained some level of cooperation, but it was purely on a tactical level, and they suffered defeat after defeat across the continent.

Five years after King Gediguz died. In just five years, the Seven-Race Alliance had all their territories taken away.

All the territory they had gained over a hundred years.

From the Seven-Race Alliance's perspective, it was a situation where they could have been entirely destroyed.

That's how much momentum the Four-Race Alliance had.

But then, the idea of peace was proposed. It was none other than Prince Nazar, the Human, who put forward the motion at the Four-Race Council. He argued, "Let's give them one last chance. Let's offer them a truce."

This proposal was the voice of the populace itself, exhausted after a hundred years of particularly fierce fighting within the long war.

In reality, the Four-Race Alliance was also at its breaking point.

During the hundred years Gediguz reigned, the populations of Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Beasts had all dwindled.

Average lifespans had drastically decreased, and the foundation needed to properly raise children was on the verge of disappearing.

Everyone wanted a rest. They felt like, "Give us a break already."

What would happen if the Seven-Race Alliance, now cornered, managed to band together one last time for a decisive battle?

They might win.

But what would happen afterward? Might they all just destroy each other in the process?

Nazar argued that while they still had the choice, they should steer toward peace.

The elders of the Four-Race Alliance were adamant that "They will never agree to peace," but when the offer was actually made, strangely, not a single race refused.

Even the Ogres, whose language was barely understood, and the Orcs, who practically lived by fighting and raiding, accepted the unfavorable terms and readily agreed to the truce.

And so, the war ended.

The long, long war had finally concluded.

***

Three years passed after that.

It was the third year of the calendar named 'Peace Era,' to commemorate the peaceful age.

People spent the initial period after the war ended in a somewhat bewildered state, but as the towns destroyed by the war were rebuilt, merchant trade with other races began to take off, children were born, and the population started to show signs of increasing, everyone gradually became aware of the peace and began to start new ventures.

Scholarship, art, commerce, entertainment... things that were previously dismissed were now valued, and the norms of the various races were beginning to change.

The new age had opened and was moving toward its next chapter.

This story begins in one of the countries of that era, belonging to a certain race.

The Orc nation.