Chapter 378: Even Surrounded by Enemies, Luke Still Attracts Trouble With Women!

All eight were Peak B-Rank Orc commanders, whose appearances and equipment clearly distinguished them from the ordinary warriors stationed throughout the outpost.

Among them stood Gurvak, a broad-shouldered Orc with a broken right tusk, whose powerful physique was well suited for grappling and close combat, while beside him was Brakka, a female Orc with braided black hair, a scar crossing her left eye, and two battleaxes resting within easy reach.

Uzgor stood slightly apart from the others, his tall, lean body and unusually long arms giving him a rather distinctive appearance, while Drukon, an elderly-looking Shaman wearing necklaces made from bones, calmly observed Luke with his ritual staff in hand.

The remaining four were Molgar, a barrel-chested warrior with a thick neck and missing left ear; Vargut, whose body bore deep scars and whose face had only one functioning eye; Brukha, a female commander with bronze rings piercing her tusks; and Garzun, a heavily built Orc carrying a shield and mace.

What Luke didn’t know was that these eight commanders had been deliberately gathered here after the tribe’s leaders learned about his peculiar transformations.

According to the reports they had received, the Hero of Light possessed several methods of temporarily raising his apparent strength to Early B-Rank, while his actual fighting ability could reach approximately Mid B-Rank.

For eight Peak B-Rank commanders, facing such an opponent should have been manageable, especially when they were also relying on an ancestral formation prepared by their three A-Rank leaders.

Their confidence wasn’t entirely unreasonable, since despite Luke’s unusual abilities, his true cultivation was still D-Rank, and he lacked several qualities possessed by genuine higher-ranked existences.

However, Luke himself knew none of these arrangements.

He merely stared at the eight Peak B-Rank Orcs, whose combined auras were pressing against his enormous body, and felt his earlier excitement gradually disappear.

’Is this the ambush? Eight Peak B-Rank Orcs against one D-Ranker? Isn’t that a little excessive?!’

He cursed his luck inwardly, wondering what he had done to make the Zhurkhal Tribe take him so seriously.

A single Peak B-Rank opponent was already strong enough to force him into an extremely difficult battle, yet eight of them had been gathered here specifically to deal with him.

’Seriously, couldn’t they have sent them one at a time?’

Unfortunately, Luke had no idea that the eight commanders standing before him were merely the first part of the trap.

Another hundred B-Rank Orcs were waiting nearby, concealed from his senses, while millions of lower-ranked warriors had already been positioned throughout the surrounding region.

If he had known the full extent of their preparations, he would probably have cursed whoever had devised this ridiculous plan.

Meanwhile, Emberlyn, who had been watching from her distant tree branch, also became increasingly concerned after sensing the eight Peak B-Rank auras.

"Eight Peak B-Rank commanders?"

Her expression changed as she examined the figures waiting in the clearing, unable to understand why the Zhurkhal Tribe had mobilized so many powerful warriors against Luke.

She had expected retaliation after the destruction of their outposts, but such a concentrated deployment seemed far too excessive for an ordinary hunt.

’Each of those commanders could oversee an entire territory, yet they’ve gathered eight of them in one place...’

An unpleasant suspicion suddenly crossed her mind.

’Have they brought their entire army here?’

Her gaze immediately shifted toward the surrounding forest, although she couldn’t detect anything that confirmed her suspicion.

’Is this because Luke is connected to that goddess?’

That explanation seemed possible, considering how strongly the Orcs hated the gods they regarded as traitors.

However, even such hatred shouldn’t have been enough to convince their leaders to risk so many high-ranking warriors unless there was something valuable to be gained from capturing him.

As Emberlyn continued considering those possibilities, one of the commanders finally broke the silence below.

"Tch! They dragged me all the way here just to fight a D-Ranker?"

Gurvak sneered at Luke, showing little concern for the Thunder Titan standing before him.

Although Luke’s transformed body radiated an Early B-Rank aura, further enhanced by his Nullex armor, the commanders already knew that his true cultivation was far lower.

They had received enough information from their scouts to understand that his apparent realm was the result of temporary enhancements, rather than genuine advancement.

Brakka, meanwhile, appeared far more interested in Luke’s imposing Titan physique.

"Sigh, what a waste. If you weren’t one of those traitor gods’ puppets, I might have considered claiming you for myself."

She slowly looked him up and down before licking her lips, her expression becoming increasingly enthusiastic.

"With a body like yours, our children would probably be born stronger than most of the warriors in this tribe."

"..."

The other commanders barely reacted to her declaration, apparently accustomed to her peculiar interests.

Brakka was a battle maniac who greatly admired physical strength, and among Orcs, seeking a powerful mate was hardly an unusual desire.

Luke, however, was momentarily speechless.

’What the hell?’

He glanced toward Brakka, whose twelve-foot-tall body was muscular without being excessively bulky, with the clothing covering her chest and lower body leaving much of her toned arms and abdomen exposed.

For some reason, her appearance reminded him of an extremely dedicated female gym enthusiast, although the two battleaxes beside her made the comparison rather unpleasant.

Before Brakka could say anything else, Brukha finally interrupted.

"All right, that’s enough. Let’s finish this before those three lose their patience."

Hearing her words, the other commanders exchanged glances before nodding.

"Fine, let’s get it over with."

However, instead of immediately attacking, they remained where they stood.

And then...

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

Heavy footsteps suddenly echoed from several directions.

Luke turned his head as figures began emerging from the spaces between the surrounding buildings, followed by another group appearing near the broken gate.

Within seconds, a hundred additional B-Rank Orcs, ranging from Early to High B-Rank, had entered the clearing.

Their green skin bore crimson tattoos, and each carried a weapon while moving into position around Luke, gradually forming an encirclement that left him with fewer and fewer directions in which to retreat.

’Another hundred?!’

Luke’s expression stiffened.

He had barely finished counting the newcomers when something even more disturbing happened.

The air beyond the outpost suddenly rippled.

At first, the disturbance resembled an ordinary distortion caused by heat, but the ripples soon spread across the surrounding forest, passing over trees, hills, and empty stretches of ground.

VMMMMMM...

Luke turned toward the strange phenomenon, sensing that something was wrong, although he couldn’t immediately identify its cause.

Then the scenery began changing.

Sections of the apparently empty forest flickered, and several distant hills seemed to tremble before the illusion concealing them finally broke apart.

What appeared beneath it caused Luke’s thoughts to freeze.

Orcs.

An army of Orcs stretched across the surrounding land, filling the spaces between the trees and covering the distant hillsides, with their weapons catching the daylight as the concealed formations gradually became visible.

There were millions of them, ranging from F-Rank to C-Rank, and nearly every direction Luke looked was occupied by green-skinned warriors staring toward the solitary Titan standing inside the outpost.

Their expressions were filled with anticipation and greed, as though the person surrounded by their forces was already a reward waiting to be claimed.

’What...’

Luke slowly turned his head, trying to find a gap in the encirclement.

However, before he could properly comprehend the number of enemies around him, a strange vibration spread beneath his feet.

VMMMMMMMM—!

The ground throughout the surrounding region began glowing with faint crimson lines, which gradually connected into intricate patterns extending far beyond the outpost.

Some markings appeared beneath the Orc army, while others emerged across the distant hills, their light intensifying as the formation drew power from the surrounding area.

Luke lowered his gaze toward the glowing lines.

’A formation?’

A deep, unfamiliar resonance suddenly echoed through the air, accompanied by a pressure that made even his Thunder Titan body feel unusually heavy.

OHHHHMMMMM!

The crimson patterns flared simultaneously.

A column of dark red light shot upward from the outer perimeter, followed by several more rising at different points around the battlefield.

As they reached the sky, the columns curved inward, spreading into a vast network of glowing lines that began joining together above the assembled army.

Within seconds, a circular barrier started forming around the entire region.

The light traveled across its surface in expanding waves, gradually creating a dome that stretched for miles, enclosing the outpost, the surrounding forest, and every living being caught within its boundaries.

WHOOOOOM!

The final sections connected overhead, producing a low, thunderous vibration that rolled across the battlefield.

For an instant, the entire interior was illuminated crimson as the dome’s surface flashed, before its radiance dimmed into a dark red glow.

Luke looked upward, watching strange ancient markings slowly rotate across the barrier.

He could still hear the distant movement of the Orc army, the occasional rattle of weapons, and the wind moving through the trees, yet something about the atmosphere had changed.

The space surrounding him felt strangely restricted, as though an invisible pressure had settled over the entire region.

’What kind of formation is this?’

Unfortunately, no one answered his question.

Instead, a familiar blue screen suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[...]