The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player

Crunch.

A massive battle axe cleaved an Imperial soldier in half.

“It’s a monster!”

“Where are the knights?”

“Don’t approach! Surround it!”

In stark contrast to the crude bone wall, there was a sizable fortress within the perimeter. Soldiers’ barracks were lined up, and several sturdy stone buildings stood at the center.

Raul’s intrusion was immediately noticed. Though he had swept the soldiers off the wall, it was midday, and soldiers were naturally active within the fortress.

Importantly, Raul’s goal wasn’t to quietly rescue the captured Orcs.

Boom! Crash!

“Stop it!”

“How are we supposed to stop that?”

Man-sized mana blades erupted from his twin battle axes, slicing through everything in their path. Wooden barracks crumbled like paper.

Stone walls shattered like they’d been hit by cannonballs, sending fragments everywhere. Seated confidently on Gale’s back, Raul steadily advanced toward the heart of the fortress.

“Waaagh!”

“Fire!”

Spearmen charged, and archers loosed arrows, but…

Slash, crunch.

The spears sliced apart before reaching Raul. And the arrows miraculously missed him by inches, as if they were stringently avoiding his presence.

Raul’s attack range was greater and broader than the reach of the 3-meter-long spears. He wasn’t holding the axes’ handles directly.

Instead, sturdy monster-hide straps connected the axe handles to his bracers. Using psychokinesis, Raul swung the battle axes by these straps, making his technique appear almost magical.

To onlookers unaware of his psychokinetic prowess, it seemed like an otherworldly display of axe mastery. Ordinary soldiers and low-ranking commanders alike couldn’t halt Raul’s advance.

His mana-infused axes obliterated everything within a 10-meter radius as he reached the fortress center.

“Scum! How dare a lowly monster invade here!”

From the rooftop of a five-story stone building, someone shouted and leapt down.

‘Interesting.’

Raul retrieved his axes, clashing with the incoming sword strike.

Shiiiiing, boom!

A powerful mana shockwave rippled outward from the collision. The black-armored knight used the rebound force to flip midair and land on a third-floor balcony.

Although his movements were impressive, the outcome was clear.

“Is that the best you’ve got?”

Raul taunted, his voice dripping with contempt.

“You’ll regret underestimating me!”

The knight growled, drawing a larger sword charged with dark energy.

Raul smirked.

“Show me then.”

The knight lunged, swinging his dark-imbued blade with overwhelming force. Raul deftly manipulated the monster-hide straps, spinning his axes to meet the strike.

The impact created another explosion of mana, but Raul held firm, using his psychokinesis to absorb the force.

“Your strength is impressive, knight.”

Raul admitted, eyes narrowing.

“But strength alone isn’t enough.”

With a flick of his wrist, he directed one of the axes in a wide arc, catching the knight off guard and slicing through his armor. Blood sprayed in an arc as the knight stumbled back, clutching his side.

“No….” the knight gasped, eyes widening in shock and pain.

Raul, still astride Gale, looked down at his opponent.

“Your emperor sent you to the wrong fight.”

He commanded Gale forward, blade cutting through the knight’s defense with surgical precision. Moments later, the knight lay lifeless at Raul’s feet.

Turning his gaze back to the fortress, Raul raised his voice.

“Who else dares to challenge me?”

The fortress fell silent, fear gripping the hearts of the remaining soldiers. Raul could sense their trepidation and smirked.

“Prepare to face the wrath of the Great Warrior, Nakadu.”

The black-armored knight was flung back, clearly recognizing the disparity in strength.

“Hmph! Surprisingly strong for a monster. You’ll make an excellent test subject. Everyone, attack!”

He didn’t intend to prolong the conversation with an Orc, immediately giving the order.

“Die, you monster!”

“How dare an Orc act so arrogantly!”

Imperial knights, who had surrounded Raul, charged forward with mana blades glowing. However, Raul’s expression remained utterly unflustered.

‘Tsk, disappointing. I thought there might be at least one transcendent among them….’

The Imperial knight who appeared to be in charge was roughly at an Expert high-to-peak level. The thirty or so knights rushing at him also seemed intermediate-level at best.

Even if they activated the Emperor’s Mark and power armor to boost their capabilities, they still posed no threat to Raul. There’s a reason why transcendent beings are called as such.

Fwah!

Brilliant aura blades erupted from Raul’s battle axes.

“W-wait! How can an Orc…!”

“At the level of a Great Warrior…?”

The Imperial knights were wide-eyed with shock, visibly distressed. But it was too late to retreat.

Boom!

*

Thud-thud-thud.

Someone sprinted down the corridor and burst through the door.

“Disaster! Fort Vertian has fallen!”

The messenger, pale-faced, shouted into the room, drawing the attention of the Imperial officers present.

“What do you mean ‘fallen’?”

“Did the Orcs ambush? But there’s no tribe nearby strong enough to conquer the fort.”

“This isn’t a joke. A forward fort manned by 2,000 soldiers and fifty knights falling is absurd.”

The officers wore looks of disbelief. Admittedly, while there were only 2,000 soldiers, the fort also housed numerous Mauling Soldiers made from monsters.

With the presence of the research facility, magical defenses were also somewhat prepared. For the fort to fall, at least a 30,000-strong Orc army would be necessary.

And there was no way the Empire’s intelligence network would miss movements of such a large Orc force.

“Putting that aside, what about the other forward forts nearby? Was there no request for reinforcements?”

The messenger, sweating profusely, stuttered as he read from the report.

“The fort fell so swiftly, there was no time to request reinforcements….”

Bang.

“Then what was the fort commander doing?!”

“Yes, where is Sir Commander Kedmine? I’d like to hear his explanation.”

The messenger lowered his head and replied.

“The commander, sir Kedmine, was killed in action.”

“……!”

A heavy silence engulfed the meeting room. The news was so shocking that everyone had been speaking haphazardly, not expecting the commander to have fallen as well.

‘Commander Kedmine was defeated…?’

He was a top-tier Expert knight and could challenge transcendents with the Emperor’s blessing. The fact that someone of his caliber was killed and the fortress taken so swiftly was alarming.

“Messenger. Don’t be nervous, report everything calmly and methodically. What exactly happened at Fort Vertian?”

At the head of the table, a red-haired knight who had been silent finally spoke. This was none other than Sidious Fuscaro, one of the Empire’s most powerful demonologist.

He was also the overall commander of the expeditionary force tasked with conquering the Monster Forest. The messenger swallowed hard and cautiously began his report.

“According to the survivors, the enemy appeared….”

With the messenger’s detailed report, the expressions of the Imperial officers changed to ones of astonishment.

“One enemy? A single enemy took down the fortress?”

“I knew about the existence of ‘Great Warriors’ among the Orcs, but not to this extent.”

“We didn’t expect them to strike so boldly. The Orcs are indeed more warlike than we were told.”

Despite the discussions, one thing was clear: the prowess of the Orc Great Warriors was far from negligible. It was expected that someone of master-level skill could do considerable damage, but to destroy a fortress alone was beyond belief.

‘Could I have done it?’

Some of the Imperial masters pondered this, clicking their tongues. Even with the skill, charging into an enemy stronghold alone without any intelligence required extraordinary bravery.

“But why would a Great Warrior act so recklessly? What was there that provoked him?”

Commander Sidious asked, and his adjutant answered quickly.

“There was a facility for turning Orcs into Mauling Soldiers. Perhaps someone he knew was captured there.”

“Unlucky, then.”

However, despite the surprise, sidious’s expression remained composed. Losing one small forward fort was unexpected but not crippling.

There were over ten such small forward forts, and the main forces were stationed at the second line. Ancient forts restored into large fortresses like the one he occupied were still intact.

‘It’s not time to move the troops yet.’

He had no intention of hastily mobilizing forces just because one minor fort was lost. Intelligence indicated that the Orc numbers were significant, but more importantly,

‘The fools from the kingdom are pushing in from the south.’

Sidious knew well that acting rashly now could jeopardize their position against multiple fronts. He needed to maintain composure and strategize carefully.

*

Meanwhile, Raul and Ch’Onggo were advancing through the forest, inching closer to the heart of the enemy territory.

“What’s the plan, Great Warrior Nakadu, chwik?”

Raul smirked, his eyes glinting with a fierce resolve.

“We’ll divide and conquer. Target their leaders and disrupt their chain of command, chwik.”

Ch’Onggo nodded, understanding the weight of such a plan.

“Understood, chwik. Lead the way, and I’ll follow, chwik.”

The two Wolf Riders pressed on, prepared to unleash chaos in the heart of the Imperial stronghold. Thus, waiting was the proper course of action.

It was evident that the foolish kingdom’s actions were predictable. Once they learned that a fertile land lay just beyond and was held only by the Orcs, ‘Those greedy pigs wouldn’t just sit still, would they?’

A clash between the kingdom forces and the Orcs was inevitable. And when they were exhausted from fighting each other, when their strength was sapped and they were tired, he would sweep through them and carve a path to the kingdom.

However, sidious Fuscaro’s strategic plans were shattered in an instant.

Another panicked messenger burst into the room.

“Urgent news! Fort Reznai has fallen!”

“What!!”

The expressions of the Imperial officers contorted with horror. The armrests of Sidious’s chair crumbled into dust under his grip.

*

“…That’s enough for today.”

Whoosh.

Raul swung his battle axe, flicking off the blood coating it. He stood proudly on the debris of the ruined command building, with the bodies of black-armored knights piled beneath Gale’s feet.

The fortress interior had been reduced to ruins, and no one was left alive. The Imperial soldiers who once held it had fled or lay as cold corpses on the ground.

“Uooooh!”

From beyond the collapsed fortress walls, a group of Orcs came rushing, cheering loudly. These were the Orcs Raul had rescued.

They had been too terrified to join the battle and watched from a distance, now shouting in respect and awe.

‘…That makes three. As much as I’d like to send another message….’

The sun was setting, and the news had likely already spread. There was no need to push further. The objective had been more than achieved.

‘One might be excusable, but losing three fortresses? They can’t ignore this.’

There was a reason Raul hadn’t stopped the escaping Imperial soldiers. Fear-stricken soldiers would spread the news quickly, leading to a drop in morale.

Three fortresses, taken by what they believed to be mere monsters, and by a single individual.

Thus, the Empire had to respond.

‘They’ll need to reassure their troops that the command is still intact. They might not move a large force, but they’ll likely target and eliminate an Orc tribe as a show of strength.’

While ordinary soldiers might fear him, Raul knew the higher echelons would not. The Empire had many transcendents, and even a Magirian might be dispatched.

Still, Raul’s plan was unfolding perfectly. He descended from Gale and started giving instructions to the Orcs.

“Secure the perimeter and gather the supplies, chwik. We need to be ready for the next move, chwik.”

The Orcs obeyed without hesitation, gathering weapons and provisions. Raul’s presence had galvanized them.

*

Sidious Fuscaro stared hard at the map spread out before him.

“Three fortresses falling so quickly… This is more than a mere nuisance.”

His officers stood frozen, awaiting orders.

“We need to send a clear message. Prepare the elite squads. And inform the Magirians. Let them know we might need their expertise soon.”

“Yes, commander!”

As the officers rushed to execute his orders, sidious looked towards the horizon.

‘Let’s see who this so-called Great Warrior really is.’

There was no reason to be cautious just because of one Orc Great Warrior.

‘What will you do? You can’t simply let this slide because of your pride. Why don’t you start moving?’

Raul, surrounded by cheering Orcs, coldly stared toward where the Empire’s main forces would be.

*

“Great Chief, chwik. The Bloody Fang Tribe has proposed a Great Chief meeting, chwik.”

In the conference room of Castle Kalarg, the Blackstone Tribe’s stronghold, Great Chief Mauhagr and several dozen tribal chiefs and Great Warriors were gathered.

“Is that so, chwik. I wanted to hear their opinions anyway, good timing, chwik.”

Even before the arrival of the messenger, the Blackstone Tribe Alliance had been holding internal discussions.

The reason was the humans from the northern forest, from the so-called ‘Cranen Empire’. One month had passed since the barrier opened.

They had hoped the empire would avoid the forest, but things didn’t go as planned. It started when the Imperial forces suddenly crossed the forest boundary and massacred a small northern tribe.

The northern small tribes banded together and began fighting the humans, escalating the scale of the battles.

And the Orcs faced defeat in multiple simultaneous confrontations across various battlefronts.

Except for a small alliance centered around the ‘Dekend Tribe’, most of the northern alliances lost their homes and were pushed back.

If these defeats continued, and if the Empire established a foothold on the plains, ‘The situation could spiral out of control.’

Even though these were small tribes, the Blackstone Tribe couldn’t just stand by. While the Blackstone Tribe was part of the moderate faction, they would not avoid battle when faced with invasion.

“We will attend the Great Chief meeting, chwik. Prepare the soldiers, chwik.”

The decision from the meeting of the five Great Chiefs representing the major tribes was unanimous. To show those northern humans a lesson.

Buuuuu.

The horn sounded across the Monster Plains, signaling the massive Orc army to move northward.

*

The northern forest was alive with the sounds of rustling leaves and the distant echoes of war. Raul’s cold gaze caught the flicker of lights in the distance—likely campfires of the Empire’s forward bases.

‘Perfect. Time to create a real mess.’

He turned to Ch’Onggo, who stood ready with his weapon.

“Let’s disrupt their command structure first, chwik. We need to weaken them before our main forces arrive, chwik.”

Ch’Onggo nodded, his eyes flashing with determination.

“As you command, Great Warrior Nakadu, chwik.”

Raul led Ch’Onggo and their wolves through the dense forest, strategically targeting key command posts, further sowing chaos and fear among the Imperial forces.

With every strike, Raul could sense the Empire’s grip weakening. He knew it was only a matter of time before the Empire’s higher-ups had to respond more aggressively.

‘They’ll overreach, and that’s when we’ll break them.’

The night was young, and Raul’s plan was just beginning to unfold.

(To be continued)

TL’s Corner:
I honestly thought the Empire will get sidelined with these new races appearing, but apparently not.