CHAPTER 84: THE GREATEST ADMIRATION

{+1 Blood Essence}

{+1 Blood Essence}

{+1 Blood Essence. You’ve leveled up!}

The notifications came in, one after the other. Akhil was astonished by how much Blood Essence he was gaining with every passing second.

’Just what is going on outside?’ He kept his eyes fixed on the series of notifications, worried not only by the constant, rapid addition of Blood Essence but also by the timer that was ticking down relentlessly.

{Time left 15hr:23Mins}

"What is taking them so much time?" Akhil thought to himself with a stiff smile. ’At this rate, I might actually die,’ he mused, feeling a cold, invisible sweat roll down his face.

He had wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, but at this moment, the mounting evidence forced a cynical thought: ’Aren’t any of these guys truly loyal?’

He honestly didn’t care about their feelings, but he desperately didn’t want to die. Every hour that went by slowly amplified his anxiety.

Akhil could only let out a sigh as he leaned his back against the dark, empty ground.

Meanwhile, back at the camp.

The orcs all stared into the sky with heavy expressions, their anticipation turning to dread.

Approaching from the horizon was a massive fleet of drones and bots humming toward the settlement. Aria took a bold step forward as she saw the armada approaching, her brows narrowing with deep, seething rage.

But before she could take another step, Ryan blocked her path. She glanced at him with a fierce, warning look, but he remained steady, urging her to look closer.

Aria turned her gaze back to the fleet, which was rapidly closing the distance to the camp.

All the orcs stood ready, prepared to defend themselves fiercely this time if need be. But as the fleet drew nearer, they soon noticed the abducted orcs among the arrivals. Leading the group, Nibo’s tall frame could be clearly seen, standing alongside Langdon and Seth.

It was only after realizing that the familiar faces of their captured comrades were with the humans that the orcs began to calm down. It seemed these humans weren’t here for the trouble they had instantly feared.

Slowly, the hoverboards descended toward the ground, and the accompanying drones and bots settled gently around them.

"Seems a lot really happened here," Nibo said with a deep frown as he walked toward Ryan and Aria.

He quickly noticed Aria’s sharp glare and gestured for her to calm down. "They’re not here to harm anyone. The drones and the bots are meant to help us rebuild the settlement."

But Aria didn’t seem to hear a word. Her sharp, unnerving gaze remained fixed on Langdon, who had just stepped down from his hoverboard.

"Coming to help us? After they destroyed the entire place! And now they’re coming back to act like saviors?!" Aria retorted, her face contorting with pure rage. Her words were quickly followed by a rough cough, her skin looking even paler.

Ryan instantly held her back. "You’re pushing yourself too much. They’re not the ones who attacked us. Akhil has already dealt with the ones who did that. Let’s just try to work together with these guys. They genuinely want to help. Akhil wouldn’t want us to push them away like that. Let’s try to maintain the peace he’s trying to build," Ryan whispered into her ear as he supported her weak frame.

But her fierce gaze remained on Langdon, who kept a safe, awkward distance from the settlement, forcing a stiff smile.

Aria gnashed her teeth, before wrenching herself free from Ryan’s aid.

"Why did you come here?" she demanded, her voice raw with anger and annoyance as she stared at the two humans. Seth didn’t seem interested in her at all; he merely yawned at her question, annoying the female orc even more.

Langdon, on the other hand, quickly stepped forward to explain his purpose: the unfinished discussion he had with Akhil concerning the future relationship between humans and orcs.

After hearing him out, Aria merely glanced behind her back. Understanding the gesture, Langdon followed her gaze, and his eyes fell on Akhil, who was lying on the stone slab, eyes closed, his breath shallow.

"As you can see, he won’t be able to speak to you at the moment. You should leave. We’ll let you know when he’s up again," Aria declared sternly.

Langdon’s brows knitted as he looked at Akhil. "What happened to him?"

Almost as if to answer his question, the system screen popped up in front of him.

{Ding!}

{You have entered the sub-scenario: The King’s Dearest}

{The Faithful King. A ruler devoted to his people. In desperation to save them, he placed his own life in mortal danger. Now, the moment has come to learn the truth—was his sacrifice in vain, or do his people hold the same loyalty for him?}

{Clearing Conditions: The king teeters between life and death. Only the blood of the one who holds the greatest sincere loyalty and admiration for him can save his life. Find this person.}

Langdon looked at the series of notifications, his eyes narrowing toward Akhil’s body with dawning comprehension.

"What the heck did you guys do to my boss?" Seth yelled, his gaze sharp with sudden annoyance and concern.

Aria turned her fierce gaze toward the strangely beautiful man who had spoken. "If it wasn’t for you humans, he wouldn’t be like this! It’s your fault!"

"Shut your bitch ass up, no one asked you! Tch." Seth instantly retorted.

Aria squeezed her hands into a tight fist.

"You bastard!"

Seth glared back at her with a smirk. "You’re a—" He was cut off as a hand clamped over his mouth before he could finish.

Langdon, having successfully blocked him, gave Aria a pleaful look. "Please, he has a really bad mouth. Try to ignore him."

Seth ruthlessly dragged Langdon’s hand away from his face. "I swear if you touch me with that filthy hand of yours again, I’ll rip your arms out!"

"You don’t want to cause problems for Nexus’s friends, do you?" Langdon asked with a stiff smile that clearly screamed, ’Control yourself, you brat!’

Seth scoffed, looking away in sulky silence.

Aria’s gaze didn’t linger on the two humans anymore. Seeing the scenario timer dwindling with each passing second, her anxiety sharpened into urgency.

She quickly looked toward Nibo. "You and the others need to try to wake him up... None of us here have managed to do it. We don’t have much time," the worry in her voice palpable.

"Damn, so none of you are lo—" Nibo swallowed his words back quickly as he caught Aria’s sharp glare.

Ryan quickly explained the ritual and the scenario conditions to each of the recently returned orcs. Nibo immediately stepped forward, taking the dagger from Ryan, slicing his hand, and letting the blood drop.

Even after raising their hopes, the result was the same: it didn’t work. All the orcs tried after him, and all achieved the same lack of result. The orcs felt truly hopeless after this and could only stare at Akhil’s body in despair.

Langdon watched the entire scene from the sidelines, quietly observing every failure. He quickly checked the system notification again.

As he reread the clearing conditions, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Hey, I have an idea," Langdon said, instantly grabbing the attention of the orcs. They all looked at him—some with renewed anger, others simply surprised by his audacity to speak at such a tense moment.

But Aria calmly fixed her gaze on him for a minute. "What is it?"

"The system did say you should find the person, right? Doesn’t that also mean that it’s possible the person might not be an orc?"

Hearing his words, all their eyes lit up with the unexpected possibility.

"Who will be so loyal to him that’s not even an orc? He hasn’t met anyone outside the camp, and we’ve had nothing but problems with humans," Ryan voiced his thoughts first. Everyone else nodded, understanding his skepticism perfectly.

"I think you’re all getting it wrong," Langdon countered. "The problem isn’t the loyalty...."

They all looked at him, waiting for him to explain.

"The system said, loyalty and admiration. There’s no particular way to measure the loyalty one has; it could differ based on how important he is to you. But from the looks of things, you’re all very loyal to him. What’s lacking is not the loyalty, but the admiration."

"So we need to find the person with the greatest admiration for Nexus?" Aria asked, seeing the solid reasoning behind his analysis.

It all made terrifying sense!

"Find the person? The person might already be here..." Langdon said, glancing pointedly toward Seth, who was sitting in a corner far away from the group, eyes closed in meditation.

As Aria saw him, her lips twitched violently in unconcealed annoyance. "That guy? No way!"

"Well, you’ll be surprised," Langdon replied with a wry smile, already walking past her.

He quickly approached Seth and urgently asked for his help. The moment Langdon mentioned Akhil’s name and critical state, Seth didn’t dare resist. He immediately rose and walked quickly to the stone platform where Akhil lay.

’Boss!’ Seth’s eyes gleamed with intense admiration as he looked closely at Akhil, but he quickly settled a calm facade over his face. Drawing the dagger, he sliced his own hand and held it over Akhil’s lips, allowing a drop of his blood to fall.

Drop!

A deafening, absolute silence instantly spread through the entire camp. Every orc held their breath, their gaze fixed on the motionless figure of Nexus.