The old man at the entrance of the makeshift door was covered with desert sands as if he had been standing in the same place for thousands of years. While the sun sent its scorching rays upon him as if it would never set in this desert, he hadn't given up holding the rusted copper bowl in his hand.
He woke up from his sleep when he heard the sound of a few coins, and with his half-opened eyes, he looked at the person dressed in brown leather armor from head to toe. What a coincidence that his eyes were also the only visible part of him, and it was impossible not to notice the size of his pupils surrounded by a green halo.
Right after dodging past the disabled energy weapons, he turned into a shadow; while not even a speck of dust rose from the place he stepped with the tip of his foot every ten paces, he had arrived at his desired location in a short time. He was certainly in a hurry, otherwise, he wouldn't have entered using one of the windowless glass panes instead of the door, which was at least as worn out as the city's entrance gate.
Still, he didn't dare to go directly upstairs; he took a deep breath, checked his clothes, and then began to climb the stairs one by one with slower steps than ever. The person he wanted to see was at the head of the long table, the only furniture in the room, right beside her was the person known as the Auctioneer inside the Heart of the Sand, but he knew perfectly well that he was actually the Leader of the Elite Ten.
"What's the matter, Number Eight, what could have happened to make you leave the others behind and come here at full speed?"
The one speaking was Soul Stealer, but the voice that came out belonged to the Auctioneer. When Number Eight, bowing his head and greeting his superiors, came to the head of the table, he put his hands on the wood adorned with deep cuts. They were trembling, yes, no matter how much Number Eight of the Elite Ten tried to prevent it, his hands wouldn't stop trembling.
"Commander, I believe the orc warrior called Boss possesses a Lineage Power!"
Soul Stealer, absentmindedly surveying the surroundings, turned her full attention to her subordinate a moment later. Despite being protected against all kinds of espionage activities by the Elite Ten members who didn't participate in the raid, she was going to step out of her role, which she hadn't stepped out of until today, for the first time.
"What are you talking about? I want you to give a detailed explanation immediately!"
This time the one speaking was truly Soul Stealer; the Elite Ten Leader didn't feel the need to change her voice, and she didn't hesitate to spread her unique soul energy into the whole room. Wind of Death remained in the background, and it seemed she would persist in this choice.
"The raid was about to end, the only job left was to gather the semi-wild humans hiding in the tunnels who would join our ranks with a few words from us, but whatever happened, happened after that moment. Boss, giving a detailed answer to a question asked by his deputy Rapunzel, caused all the passages to collapse with the weird energy he began to emit from his body along with his following words.
Even though his warriors were brought to the brink of death, he had no intention of stopping; I barely managed to put on my cape, and while he was surprised that my presence disappeared, I escaped and came here. I couldn't find an explanation other than Lineage Power for the energy overflowing from Boss's body, and I would also like to point out that the question that angered him was whether he belonged to a noble orc family!"
Number Eight took a step back with the relief of having completed his duty; judging by his not leaving the room even though his reporting was over, it was obvious he expected some feedback from his superiors. Unfortunately, some things didn't happen just because you wanted them to; even if he hadn't lost hope until Wind of Death waved her hand saying 'you may leave', Number Eight of the Elite Ten, bowing his head, went down the stairs with slow steps just as he came.
"Should I summon Boss to your presence when he returns to the city?"
Soul Stealer became the Auctioneer again; with his larger-than-necessary gestures, his exaggerated tone of voice, and his smile where he tried to show however many teeth he had in his mouth, he was a total showman.
"I don't think that will be necessary. Just don't get in his way when he comes!"
After the short-lived activity in the middle of the day, the Heart of the Sand continued to welcome the night with its characteristic slowness. The two transport mechanical vehicles arrived in the city hours after Number Eight, and there wasn't even an extra captive apart from the people allocated for the raid.
As the hours progressed, the number of lights inside the houses began to decrease until only a few were left; except for the buildings the three factions used as main headquarters, the torches burning in the area where the captives were trained, and the feeble candles inside the structure surrounded by nine orc warriors, the Heart of the Sand had pulled its dark blanket over itself.
"Welcome, but you came empty-handed, Boss. How could you not know that in orc tradition, a gift is brought to the house visited?"
Wind of Death was sitting on the windowsill, and she was calling out reproachfully to the leader of the Hyenas, whose shadow reached the upper floor before him.
"You've heard what happened in the raid at noon, you can speak openly."
The candle light, incapable of illuminating the inside of the room, should have still made the uninvited guest's face visible, but tonight Boss seemed to be clad in black. His every demeanor showed he hadn't come to make a moderate conversation, and with the words that came out of his mouth, he had put his signature under his intention.
"Talk? Who do you think you are to stand before me and talk about talking? You are just a miserable orc who narrowly escaped being a slave, afraid to stick her head out of the hole she hides in. What am I, who has the power to drive millions like you to the battlefield with a single word, going to talk about with you?"
If there was one person in the environment who should boast, it was Wind of Death. Even though her words, sharp as a knife, would deeply wound her addressee, not a single word contained falsehood. When Boss, who took five steps without speaking, came to one end of the long table, the Commander-in-Chief of the Orc Empire Armies, getting up from the windowsill, had also taken her place at the other end.
"Orcs speak not according to their rank, but their power, and let alone this room, there is no one inside the Heart of the Sand who can open their mouth without my permission!"
Boss didn't back down. Turning Wind of Death's words flavored with insolence sauce around, he returned them to her. There were words on the table that were hard to swallow, impossible to pass through the throats of orcs, and the outcome of the power struggle that began would determine who would take them away.
The moment the two orc warriors, who were almost the same height, started releasing their unique energies from their bodies, ten shadows of unknown origin appeared around the room, but a deep voice stopped them from getting any closer.
"No matter what, you will absolutely not interfere. No matter how it results, taking revenge is forbidden!"
Right after Wind of Death finished her words, she released the first level of her Lineage Power named Warrior's Wrath. The table she leaned her hands on started crying like a child taking a beating he didn't deserve, but if it knew what would happen shortly, it might have stood without making a sound at all.
Boss continued to respond with the same harshness; the cracks beginning to appear on the sand-colored walls were proof that the problem was no longer limited to the table. For the orc warriors, who had locked their eyes onto each other, neither time, nor place, nor titles were important; they aimed to leave the struggle, fought with all their might, victorious.