CH492 Red Rock Hero II

***

According to the Shaman, the Copper-Skinned Orc Tribe worshipped a Minotaur named Manrak.

For some reason, the tribe believed they were descended from this Minotaur, and so they revered his spirit—one that supposedly returned to them after the Minotaur's death.

Alex didn't bother correcting them.

He could have told them the truth—that their so-called ancestral spirit only took the form of a Minotaur because they worshipped it into that shape.

But at the end of the day, it didn't matter.

The orcs would believe what they wanted to believe.

The Shaman began to chant, his voice rising and falling like a drumbeat. He danced around the altar, circling it again and again.

One rotation.

Two.

Three.

By the time he reached the ninth, the altar suddenly lit up.

A low, primal radiance bloomed across its surface.

A group of warrior orcs stepped forward, carrying the severed heads of beasts slain within the nest. One after another, they placed them onto the altar with solemn reverence.

Nine different beast heads.

Nine offerings.

The Shaman's chanting rose another notch, becoming sharper—more fervent. The altar's radiance intensified, swallowing the heads in its glow.

Then, as if the light devoured flesh itself, the heads shrivelled.

They collapsed into dust.

"The sacrifice has been accepted!" Azgrug stepped forward and announced, his voice like thunder.

"Show your devotion!" the Shaman roared.

Immediately, the orcs bowed their heads in prayer.

Alex shook his head subtly.

'To pray to the being you created…' he thought inwardly. 'How lost you are.'

Suddenly, Alex's Truth-Seeker Eyes flared.

His Spirit Sight forcefully rose to Level 2.

Alex froze in shock.

Because in his vision, a spectral being was manifesting above the altar.

Threads of energy—faith—rose from each and every orc, streaming upwards like invisible incense, feeding into the entity.

The being slowly turned.

Then it looked directly at Alex.

Its expression was solemn… yet within that solemnness, there was something else.

A faint innocence.

A strange naivety, hidden behind the weight of worship.

Alex's gaze hardened slightly.

'You must be Manrak,' he said inwardly. 'Don't look at me like that. I'm not one of your followers. Turn to them instead.'

The Copper-Skinned Orcs' ancestral spirit continued to stare at him for a moment longer.

Then, as if finally deciding he was no longer relevant, it turned back to the orcs.

It raised its hands.

Golden energy spread outward like a gentle tide—at least, that was how it appeared in Alex's eyes.

Unbeknownst to him, a tiny leaf bud extended from his hand.

The leaf pulsed once… then exerted a soft pull.

Stealthy, silently and greedily, it siphoned a portion of the golden energy into itself, like a thief stealing coins from a flowing river.

After about a minute, the phenomenon ended.

The golden radiance faded.

And Manrak's manifestation sank back into the altar—its physical vessel.

Alex swallowed, his mind racing.

'Golden light of Providence…' he muttered inwardly. 'The orcs will experience a boon in the coming days.'

He never noticed the thieving leaf retreating back into his hand as if nothing had happened.

Azgrug stepped onto the raised platform where the altar rested and began to speak.

His voice rang out across the mansion grounds, full of pride and fire as he commemorated the warriors of his tribe—their valour, their bloodshed, and their victory in bringing down the Dune Wolf King… and securing the sacrifice for their ancestral spirit.

Then he turned his words towards Alex.

He thanked him publicly.

He called him a hero.

"Red Rock Hero! Red Rock Hero!!"

The orcs roared it in unison, their voices shaking the air.

Alex almost wanted to bury his face in shame.

"You hear that, Red Rock Hero." Zora obviously wasn't going to let him off that easily. "How does it feel?"

Alex refused to give her the satisfaction of a 'victory', so he answered her teasing with a straight face.

"Actually… between being a hero and being a villain, I'd rather be a villain."

Eleanore and Udara both blinked, taken aback.

"Why?" Udara asked.

Alex smiled faintly, then said calmly, "Because being a hero is more restrictive than being a villain."

His eyes narrowed slightly, as if the thought itself pleased him.

"I hate being restricted."

He continued.

"Plus… a hero is nothing but a slave to the people."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"An ungrateful people."

"If a hero makes a mistake even once, all the people he saved—every single person who sang his praises—will turn on him in an instant."

His tone sharpened.

"But if a villain makes a mistake, no one bats an eye. Because he's a villain, right?"

He scoffed.

"Yet if that same villain does something right… the same fickle people who abandoned the hero will suddenly start singing the villain's praises."

Alex exhaled softly, as if the conclusion was unavoidable.

"Hence… I never wish to be a hero."

He said it with such solemn certainty that it almost sounded like a vow.

In truth, Alex was just talking nonsense.

But to his surprise, the people around him actually fell into deep thought.

'Really?' Alex blinked internally. 'You're taking this seriously?'

He was genuinely taken aback.

'Well… I guess I can't stop now.'

So, he pressed on, letting whatever came to his mind spill out.

"Besides… who decides who is a hero and who is a villain?"

"One does good and the other does evil?" He shook his head. "Who's evil? Who's good? Who decides what is good and what is evil?"

His eyes flicked briefly towards the altar.

"The divine?"

A faint sneer tugged at his lips.

"Then in this world… who is the divine?"

"The false and fickle Navi and spirits?"

Zora's brows furrowed slightly.

Udara's eyes widened.

Even Eleanore looked like she wasn't sure whether to stop him… or let him continue digging.

Then Alex added, almost casually—

"Thinking about it now… I can't say I want to be a villain either."

He paused, then gave a wry smile.

"I'm more of a hypocrite."

Even he wasn't sure where he was going with this.

He was just… inspired.

"I don't live by anyone's standards except my own."

"I decide my good and evil."

"But if even my own rule of good and evil ever clashes with my wellbeing… or my family's wellbeing—especially the latter…"

His voice dropped, the playful edge fading.

"…then I will forsake even that good and evil."

He stared ahead, as if he could already see the situations where such a choice would be necessary.

"Since I do not conform to even my own good and evil… what am I then?"

He chuckled once, humourless.

"Am I not a hypocrite?"

Alex shook his head slowly.

"Hero? Villain?"

"I am neither… and both."

"I am simply whatever the observer believes at the time."

"To the orcs, I am a hero."

His gaze slid towards the nest entrance, as if he could still smell blood in the wind.

"But to the beasts—who also have intelligence, mind you—back then, I was the greatest villain."

He spread his hands slightly, like it was the simplest truth in the world.

"Since I am both hero and villain at the same time, there's no need to bother myself with such trivialities."

"I should only care about what matters to me."

He looked down at his palm, then clenched it into a fist.

"My duty… and my responsibility."

"My duty to those I lead."

"And my responsibility to my family—who I hold more dear than anything else…"

His voice hardened.

"than even myself."

When Alex finished speaking, a strange satisfaction settled in his chest.

He felt like he'd reached a new level of bullshitting.

Then—

WHOOSH!

A wind surged beside him.

A familiar pressure rolled through the air—

The winds of advancement.

Alex's eyes widened.

Two people had broken through on the spot.

Kavakan…

…and Udara.

Alex stared at them like he'd just witnessed a miracle.

"That works?" he muttered, utterly stunned.

***

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