Stuck as a Dungeon Mob

Speaking literally, Ed, or the Ed presented before them, was indeed an orc. Ed as a being however was not an orc. He was a consciousness. The orc was nothing but a husk that the consciousness being Ed inhabited.

Explaining this concept to the orcs in detail would be both complicated and needless. The best of course of action was to omit some details and dumb down lots of explanations.

Fortunately, the smartest, or at least most talented, minds of Sanctuary were the ones elected for the Sanctuary Council. Ed was confident they would still be able to get the gist of things.

"I am not an orc, but I am an orc right now" Ed saw the confusion of the orcs but he continued anyway. They wanted to say something, but the impact of Ed's words had yet to fade. Plus, now he was an orc now...? Either the previous statement was a joke or there was more to see.

The orcs quickly got their answer.

"I can also be a skeleton however, and at times, even a mushroom." Ed's words were known to cause confusion amongst the members of the council. The issue was that the confusion usually stemmed from not understanding the words or concepts he introduced. Ed was entirely coherent here! The string of words he uttered connected nicely and logically together, how?!

"Wait… Remember those skeletons?" The orcs did not question it much before, but looking back, it was pretty damn weird.

"I do!" Someone exclaimed in surprise. These words of realization quickly quieted down, Ed was still talking.

"But I can't be all of those things at the same time" Ed continued his speech and by now, there were no orcs that believed Ed was joking. This was a serious lesson about not just Ed himself, but where they lived.

Sharog and Shel knew this wasn't a joke from the start. But that somehow meant their expressions held far more surprise than the other orcs. Especially now that it seemed Ed would reveal his weakness.

Did he trust the orcs of the council enough to let out this secret? Was he not afraid of what they might say in a drunken stupor?

"There are times I am absent, that's because I am somewhere else in mind" This was the weakness they worked so hard to keep hidden up until now! It was being told so nonchalantly!

The orcs who were still doubting Ed suddenly found that his words did explain things. Whenever issues would crop up, Ed would also disappear. It was because he was not an orc. The orcs were starting to wrap their heads around the concept!

Ed didn't function like they did, he was many things but could not be them all at once. To be all of these things at separate times was not normal either, but it was reasonable enough.

"Wow that's cool!" A tribe leader from one of the captured tribes exclaimed. If their tribe had known Ed was such a mystical figure, they wouldn't have even thought to fight back! They would get on their knees and beg to be a part of Ed's history!

Though, that still left many questions that needed to be urgently addressed. The first was what this disappearance looked like, and the other was why this disappearance happened.

Ed understood that and started to try his best to answer some of these questions. He explained how his body would be practically put to sleep when he was elsewhere, and he also explained that their home was at risk from the humans.

This was dangerous, the orcs would now know that they could kill his body whenever he was absent.

"But I am also immortal" This was a twist none of the orcs were expecting. Ed really was something much bigger than themselves!

"I am a being that protects this dungeon from those intruders" Ed said solemnly. The words echoed in the minds of the orcs. Their image of Ed suddenly became unimaginably lofty, even more than the giant skeleton he once summoned

Technically, the orcs were also supposed to be beings that protected the dungeon from intruders, and yeah, they were doing that. The difference was that they didn't do it thanks to the wishes of the dungeons, this was just a battle to protect themselves and their land.

The reason for this... Ed had long formed a theory as to why the mobs weren't seemingly brainwashed and even fought amongst themselves.

'They were born like real organisms would' They weren't spawned in by the dungeon with their minds already influenced. The skeletons as an example. dungeon spawned mobs had their mind essentially rewired.

"Wait… This- This is too… Too awesome!" The orcs couldn't believe they were conversing and interacting with a figure of god! The fanatical goblins suddenly looked normal.

"Why are you telling us this?" Gurln who had been listening quietly up until now stood up and asked.

Ed looked at the young orc. He looked genuinely curious, but his eyes also held traces of deep admiration and even… expectation.

'Looks like I misjudged him' Ed thought to himself. The eyes of the other orcs also carried admiration and respect in them.

"A human slipped past, I will need your cooperation" Ed told them bluntly. Some felt shocked, some anxious, and others excited. This was an opportunity to work with Ed to catch a human! But it was also an opportunity to potentially die.

As for Gurln, those were the words he was hoping to hear. This was the chance to get in Ed's good graces he was always hoping for!

***

It was a long day in the capital of Bosque, Pith. They experienced a local army attempting an insurrection, a rampaging A-class assassin, and a resulting zombie outbreak. The existence of that assassin was in of itself blasphemous.

But as it turns out, he was not the only one of his kind. New assassins entered the palace and made their ways towards the throne room.

These assassins were not much different from Azrael. They all had a death orb implanted into them, they were all at some point pitiful children, and they would die a horrible death. 

It was their only fate as long as they continued to perform these assassinations. No, even without the assassinations, the mere fact that they had that death orb implanted into their body meant they had a shorter lifespan.

Perhaps it was because they knew this that the shadowy figures continued to dart about the palace ground. They wanted to have others meet the same fate as them as a form of revenge.

Or maybe, they were initially kind at heart. But now, they were monsters capable of harnessing death. No one would take them in, there was no other choice. If they wanted clothes on their back and food in their stomach, there was no other way!

The throne room's door had been left opened. The blurry shadowy figures skirted past the knights and quickly homed in on their prime targets. Royalty!

But their skilled bodies were either clouded by dark mist or entirely invisible. The weapons they brandished were ghastly speedy.

"Argh!" The knights who stood in front of Miller protecting him were being injured by the attacks.

"Your Majesty!" The knights closed in more tightly on Miller's position, and the few knights that were near Brennan also did the same.

But Brennan's knights were too few!

Out of the shadows appeared a figure brandishing a keen sword, the dark glint of the weapon sent a shiver down the knights' spines.

The assassin swung their blade while holding a deadpan expression. The knights had no chance to react.

"Your Majest-" The knight's words ended up stuck in their throat.

The assassin's deadpan expression changed to one of shock. He was blasted back!

This was followed by the sound of metal clashing against metal. Brennan's sword deflected a hidden dagger with surprising ease. The king's skills were, oddly enough, appearing to be more polished and refine than the very knights that protected him!

This served as a wake-up call for these rookie knights that were assigned to Brennan. Just as they resolved themselves to protect the former king more seriously...

"Hey! Your Majesty!" Brennan ran off! He straight up bolted away from their small encirclement of 3 people! The knights were alarmed and they wanted to chase after the former king, but shadows dropped from seemingly nowhere to block their path.

"Let's kill these f*ckers!" A knight cursed, irritated by what just happened. The former king showed surprising skill in that short breadth of time, but he was probably still traumatized from his previous encounter with an assassin. They should have considered the possibility of him running! 

These assassins were all at the B-class, the knights were also at the B-class, they were in for a tough time.

As for W, who was controlling Brennan's body, he was obviously chased after. The assassins didn't need to communicate with each other, they split up to a small squad to chase after the fleeing king.

Corrosive arrows shot towards Brennan. They were surprisingly speedy.

"Argh!" Brennan was hit by most of them. Ed's sixth sense skill could not detect these arrows, and their deathly nature made them naturally evasive to the eyes.

W grit his teeth before turning into an empty guest room. There was a reason he chose to separate from the knights in charge of protecting him…

The assassins secretly mocked the king's decision. They did not know they were being routed.

"I wonder how death element blood will affect us…" W muttered inaudibly.