Akhil lay back on the makeshift rock bed, letting out a deep, calming breath.

The entire festival had concluded peacefully, and for a moment, it had allowed him to push back everything else and simply enjoy the sense of victory—or at least celebrate what the others thought of as success.

But now that the celebration was over, it was time to set things straight. Akhil's mind immediately drifted back to the Beast Titan.

It had been a fierce battle, where their chances of making it out alive were terribly slim. Although the beast was relatively weaker than the version he had faced in the game, it was by no means an easy fight.

And to make matters worse, he still had to grapple with the fact that the beast was human—or had been, recently. He had considered the possibility when fighting other beasts, but he had always killed them with no remorse whatsoever, dismissing the thought.

But after the event with the Beast Titan, Akhil knew he had irrevocably stained his hands, no matter how much he tried to justify his actions. In the end, he realized, he was no different from the humans who had done the same things to the Orcs. That was the cruelty of this game... one that Akhil was not ready to accept.

Akhil pulled out the core he had obtained from the Beast Titan, staring at the brightly shining red orb in his hands.

"The Titan of Discord," Akhil muttered to himself, wrapping his fingers tightly around the potent beast core.

There was a high chance it would also turn out to be a human as well, but....

"We have to deal with him, but before that..." Akhil glanced around the crude makeshift tent.

He knew that more than anything, what the Orcs needed now was a complete renovation. The Orc camp still looked like a tribe surviving the end of the world, not a people preparing for a future.

For their long-term security, they had to start rebuilding immediately. They couldn't be left vulnerable to their enemies. They had no standardized weapons, no reliable security system... Nothing at all.

He had to establish a new state, one that would allow the Orcs to grow and thrive. The only sure way to achieve that was to eventually start trading with the humans.

But we can't wait for them either, he decided. They had to start building now.

'We'll see how things will be from tomorrow,' Akhil thought, the strategy temporarily overriding the trauma. He closed his eyes and finally surrendered to the long, delayed sleep.

The morning came in a flash. Akhil woke up earlier than he expected, the cold determination of his new plans pulling him from sleep.

He quickly left the tent to begin his new day.

But just as he was leaving the tent, he could already hear loud, angry noises outside.

"The audacity you have to come here! What do you want?" An Orc yelled furiously at the human figures who had just approached their camp.

It was the short boy, Langdon, accompanied by the tall humanoid robot and a small dog bot.

The Orcs held the boy rigid and exposed at the front of the settlement, but Langdon stood utterly unfazed by their aggression. He maintained a calm, polite smile as the Orcs vented their hatred.

The oppression they had faced over the past month had ingrained a deep loathing for humans. That raw anger couldn't vanish after just one night of celebration. In fact, with Akhil's victory, the Orcs felt even more convinced that they could stand on their own without human intervention. Now, they didn't want any involvement at all.

"I simply want to speak to your leader," Langdon said clearly, making a calm gesture for the Orcs to settle down.

But the Orcs didn't care. A cold scoff came from the side.

"He doesn't want to—"

"You must be Langdon, right?" Akhil interjected, walking decisively to the front of the group.

But an odd, heavy silence immediately fell over the crowd.

Everyone stared at him blankly. Then, just as suddenly, the eyes of the Orcs flashed with pure rage.

Without warning, an Orc pulled a spear, pointing it directly at him. The sharpened stone edge of the spear stopped mere inches from Akhil's neck.

"Woah, Kite, what the heck are you doing?" Akhil reacted quickly, tilting his head back slightly to avoid the sharp point.

Akhil instantly recognized the Orc, Kite. He was one of the Orcs who had received the serum and was part of J's original scouting team.

"Who are you? How did you enter inside the Orc settlement?" Kite demanded fiercely, his gaze fixed on Akhil's face.

Coming quickly from the other side of the settlement was Aria. Akhil turned his gaze to her, a hopeful smile forming on his face.

"Aria, it's a good thing you came. What are they doing?" Akhil asked, pointing at the Orcs who had their crude weapons trained on him. "I just—"

Swish!

A blade moved fast, leaving a white streak of light before stopping just a couple of feet in front of his neck. Akhil raised a brow in surprise as he turned to look at Aria, whose eyes were filled with fury.

She shot a glance at Langdon, her gaze sharp as a knife.

"What do you humans want? And where is Akhil? What did you do to him?!" Aria's voice rose, trembling with anger.

Akhil was left in utter confusion, staring blankly at Aria, keeping a safe distance from the blade.

Langdon, the short boy, simply shrugged his shoulders casually as he watched the scene unfold.

"I have no idea who that is," Langdon said, genuinely perplexed. "This is the first time I'm seeing him... I don't even know what's going on."

Aria shifted her gaze back to Akhil, a sharp, stern focus in her eyes.

"I saw you leaving Akhil's tent. You better tell us who you are and what you were doing there... Or else, you won't be leaving here alive."

Akhil stared at the crowd as though they had all gone mad.

"What the fuck are y'all talking about? I'm Akhil!"

His desperate declaration was followed by an immediate, chilling silence.

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