Chapter 229: Visiting Gorgath

The world was preparing for the next stage of the Inter-Academy Selection Tournament.

Across New Liberty, academies were moving, students were training, teachers were studying battle footage, families were gathering information on their competitors, governments were preparing security measures, and somewhere in the middle of all that chaos... Silas Ashard had decided to visit his kingdom.

"Gorgath."

Silas stood before the familiar pink doorway. The portal shimmered with deep pink light. Behind him stood an unusual group: Gromda, Chloe, Anna, Echidna, and Alpha.

Anna looked at the portal, then at Silas, then back at the portal.

"Why am I here?"

Silas looked over his shoulder.

"You were dragged."

"I know I was dragged."

"I wanted you to experience Gorgath."

"I was working."

"You were sitting in the infirmary drinking tea."

Anna narrowed her eyes.

"I was working while drinking tea."

Chloe giggled.

Echidna leaned closer to Silas and whispered, but rather loudly. "I like this woman."

"Why?" Silas asked, causing Anna to become immediately suspicious.

"Because she complains."

Silas sighed.

"You two are going to become friends, aren’t you?"

"No."

"Absolutely."

Anna and Echidna answered simultaneously. Silas stared at them.

"That’s concerning."

Gromda laughed. Her large hand rested on Silas’s shoulder.

"Come on, my Mate."

Silas smiled. "My Queen."

Gromda’s face immediately brightened. Even after everything that had happened, she still reacted whenever he called her that. She was no longer merely the strongest orc woman in Gorgath.

She was Queen Gromda, the true ruler standing beside the King. Silas raised his hand, and the portal opened.

"Let’s go to your home."

They stepped through.

***

The first thing Anna noticed was the sky. It wasn’t the ordinary blue sky of New Liberty. Gorgath’s sky was strange and beautiful- massive floating rocks drifted between enormous clouds, dark mountains stretched across the horizon, rivers cut through the valleys, and scattered throughout the enormous landscape were settlements- hundreds of them.

Orcs, goblins, ogres, beastkin, trolls- monster races of countless shapes and sizes.

Some were farming, some were training, and others were building. Children were running through villages. Blacksmiths hammered away at enormous weapons. Hunters returned from the wilderness carrying monsters.

The kingdom was alive.

Anna’s mouth opened slightly.

"So this is..."

"Gorgath," Chloe answered.

Anna looked at Silas.

"You rule all of this?"

Silas shrugged. "Apparently."

Gromda immediately elbowed him.

"Don’t say it like that."

Silas chuckled.

"Fine." He stepped forward. "I rule all of this."

A deep roar suddenly echoed across the plains. Then another, causing Anna to jump.

"What was that?!"

Echidna smiled. "They noticed him."

Silas looked ahead.

A massive wave of monsters was approaching. They were orcs, hundreds of them. They came from every direction. Some carried weapons, others wore armor, and some were still covered in dirt from whatever they had been doing, but all of them were running toward Silas.

Anna instinctively stepped behind Chloe.

"Are they attacking?"

"No," Chloe said.

Silas smiled. "They’re greeting us."

The first orc reached them and dropped to one knee.

"MY KING!"

The roar that followed shook the ground.

"MY KING!"

"THE KING HAS RETURNED!"

"THE KING!"

"OUR KING!"

Silas stood there. For a moment, he didn’t say anything. He just looked at them- the countless creatures who had once viewed him as an outsider, now looking at him with something different- pride, loyalty, and belonging.

Gromda stood beside him.

Silas finally raised his hand, and the entire place fell silent.

"My people." The words carried across the plains. "I have returned."

A second roar erupted. This one was even louder. Gromda smiled proudly, while Chloe’s eyes softened. Even Echidna looked impressed.

Alpha just stood beside them with his usual calm expression... okay, unusual... Anna, however, was staring. Thankfully, she now had the aid of the system to understand Orcish. Same as Alpha.

"How many people live here?"

Silas looked at Gromda, but she just shrugged.

"Several million."

Anna’s face went blank. "Several million?"

Silas nodded. "Give or take."

"Give or take?!"

Silas laughed.

The crowd eventually surrounded them, and he did something Anna didn’t expect. He walked among them. He didn’t head to sit on a throne; he didn’t order his people to approach him; he rather approached them.

A young orc boy stood nervously in front of him. He was barely taller than Silas’s waist. He held a wooden sword.

Silas crouched.

"What’s your name?"

The boy stared at him.

"R-Rok."

"Rok?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Silas smiled.

"Just Silas is fine."

The boy’s eyes widened.

"You... you mean I can call you Silas?"

"Of course."

Rok looked like he had just been given the greatest treasure in existence.

"Silas!"

Silas laughed.

"Good."

He picked up the wooden sword.

"You training?"

"Yes!"

"Show me."

Rok immediately swung, and the wooden sword stopped several inches away from Silas’s chest. Silas nodded seriously.

"Not bad."

Rok’s eyes sparkled.

"Really?"

"Your stance is wrong, though." Silas gently adjusted the boy’s feet. "Keep your weight here."

He moved the boy’s hands.

"Don’t grip too tightly."

Then he demonstrated.

"Your goal isn’t to hit harder."

Silas lightly tapped the boy’s forehead with one finger.

"It’s to make the person you’re fighting unable to avoid the hit."

Rok stared at him.

"That’s cool."

"I know."

Gromda burst out laughing.

"He’s teaching children combat again... Seems those brats weren’t enough."

Silas stood.

"What?"

"Nothing."

The nearby adults laughed as well, while he smiled. It felt strangely normal. He looked around for a bit, and they continued deeper into the kingdom.

Silas stopped at a blacksmith. An enormous ogre was hammering away at a sword. The moment he noticed Silas, the ogre froze.

"My King!"

Silas looked at the weapon.

"That’s new."

The ogre proudly held it up.

"King’s Blade."

Silas blinked.

"You named it after me?"

"Yes!"

Silas examined it.

"Why is it so big?"

The ogre looked confused.

"Because you are King."

"That’s not how swords work."

Gromda laughed.

The ogre scratched his head.

"I can make smaller."

"Please do."

"Yes, King!"

Silas moved on.

Anna covered her mouth.

"You actually like this."

Silas looked at her.

"What?"

"Being here."

Silas paused and smiled.

"Yeah." He looked toward the kingdom. "I do."

Later, they reached a massive training ground where thousands of orcs were practicing. The ground shook.

Silas’s eyes lit up.

"Oh."

Gromda immediately noticed.

"No."

Silas looked at her.

"What?"

"I know that look."

"What look?"

"The one you make when you want to fight."

Silas smiled.

"I wasn’t going to fight."

Gromda stared at him.

"Much." Silas sighed.

Echidna immediately stepped forward.

"I will fight him!"

"No."

"I want to fight the King!"

"No."

"I can transform."

"No."

"I can summon monsters."

"No."

"I can-"

"Echidna."

She stopped. He pointed toward the training ground.

"Go fight them."

Her golden eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yes."

A massive grin spread across her face.

"YES!" She immediately charged into the training ground.

Anna watched her disappear.

"You just unleashed a primordial monster on your own kingdom."

Silas nodded.

"She’s fine."

A gigantic explosion erupted in the distance.

BOOM!

Silas continued walking.

"Probably."

Then came the part that surprised everyone.

Silas entered the royal settlement. The moment he did, thousands gathered around him, but instead of sitting on his throne, he walked straight toward the center of the city.

There stood an enormous statue- a statue of Gromda.

"Is that..." Anna was speechless.

"Me," Gromda said proudly.

Silas looked at it.

The statue depicted Gromda holding an enormous axe. Underneath it were words carved into stone.

[QUEEN GROMDA]

He smiled, not so surprised by this. The natives of Gorgath were very civilized and smart.

"You have a statue."

Gromda crossed her arms.

"I’m the Queen."

"Fair."

Then Silas noticed something else. Beside Gromda’s statue was an empty pedestal.

"Why is that empty?" Anna looked at it.

"We’re waiting," Gorda answered from behind, having rushed there when he heard the King was around.

"For what?"

Gorda looked at Silas.

"For the King."

Silas blinked.

"Me?"

"Of course."

Silas looked at the empty pedestal. Then at the enormous statue of Gromda. Then back at Gorda.

"You want a statue of me?"

"Yes."

Silas shook his head.

"No."

The nearby orcs gasped, while Gorda frowned.

"Why?"

"Because I don’t need a statue." He looked at his people. "I’d rather they remember me by what I actually do."

The surrounding orcs became quiet. Silas smiled.

"If I’m going to be your King..." He placed a hand over his chest. "...then I’ll act like one."

Gromda’s expression softened, Chloe smiled, Anna looked away, hiding her own smile, and even Alpha gave a small nod.

Then a voice suddenly shouted from the crowd.

"THEN BUILD HIM A BIGGER PALACE!"

Silas froze. Another orc shouted.

"AND A GOLDEN THRONE!"

A goblin yelled.

"AND A GOLDEN CROWN!"

Silas’s eye twitched.

"No."

"YES!"

"No."

"YES!" Gromda started laughing. Chloe joined her, and Anna couldn’t hold it anymore. She burst out laughing.

Silas looked toward the heavens.

"I should have stayed home."

***

That evening, Silas stood upon a hill overlooking Gorgath. The kingdom stretched endlessly beneath him- lights flickered across villages, fires burned in workshops, children played, warriors trained, and families gathered around meals.

Gromda stood beside him. Chloe, Anna, Echidna, and Alpha were nearby.

For once, Silas wasn’t thinking about the tournament. He wasn’t thinking about the next opponent or becoming stronger. He just watched.

Gromda gently grabbed his hand.

"My King."

Silas looked at her.

"My Queen."

She smiled.

"Welcome home."

Silas looked back at Gorgath and smiled.

"Yeah."

A faint pink glow appeared in his eyes.

"I’m home."

***

(I’ve updated this Chapter. I used Groka, who is Gromda’s dead father, instead of Gorda, the selected second-in-command of Gorgath. My apologies.)