IBMATG 39

chapter 39

When I walked back through the corridor in the opposite direction, the original castle, filled with fused beasts, appeared.

In other words, we hadn’t returned to where we started; this proved that both ends of the corridor led to completely different places.

“What’s going on?”

I questioned Patrick sharply.

It was only natural to be suspicious since what appeared before me was completely different from what he had described. Of course, judging by his earlier reaction and the situation now, it didn’t seem like it was an intentional trap.

“I… I don’t really know…”

“Tell me straight. Were you pretending not to know even though you did? Or pretending to know when you didn’t?”

“Neither. When I went there before, it just led to an underground waterway connected to the river outside!”

“You’ve been there before?”

“Yeah. Back then, they had this kind of courage test where rookie knights were sent through that corridor alone at night…”

“I don’t care about some ridiculous old tradition. So, you’re saying that it’s different from the last time you went?”

“Exactly! And just to be clear, we didn’t take the wrong path!”

A secret passage changed all of a sudden… and of all days, it had to be today.

Listening to his story, only one thought came to my mind:

‘Could this… be another symptom related to the system’s abnormality?’

The red sky.
The fused beasts.
And now, distorted space.

All these abnormal phenomena seemed to be connected.

‘Even if we know the cause, the real question is… how do we resolve this?’

[No Signal]

Here, there’s no phone or internet.

Requesting external help is impossible, and even getting any clue that might help is out of reach.

‘So I have to find a breakthrough using only my own power.’

I organized my thoughts.

What I currently had:

• A cramped underground prison.

• 23 NPC clan members including Adel.

• A knight named Patrick.

• And me.

Rumble…

“Hah… I’m hungry.”

“Quiet. You’re not the only one starving here.”

“But I feel weak…”

A sigh came from among the clan members while I was deep in thought.

They were clearly exhausted after a whole day of fighting and running. A 30-minute battle alone is intense enough to drain stamina, and they’d been at it for hours without rest.

If we didn’t replenish energy here, they’d collapse before we could even try anything.

‘Food… right.’

At that moment, an idea struck me—perhaps a secret tactic that could solve all our problems.

“Let’s go get something to eat.”

“Huh? Now?”

Adel asked with a puzzled expression.

Patrick beside her mirrored the same reaction.

“There are fused beasts outside, and there’s nothing here…”

“We’ll go across over there.”

“Over there…?”

“The place where the orcs are. Even they need food to live there, right?”

“Wait, are you saying we’re going to steal the orcs’ food?”

Patrick interjected.

“Yes.”

I nodded calmly, and he protested fiercely.

“That’s impossible… How could humans eat food meant for monsters!”

“Then don’t eat it if you don’t want to.”

“That’s not what I mean…”

“I agree with him.”

Adel supported his opinion.

“It’s not just a matter of dignity—we really don’t know if it’s safe for us to eat what the orcs eat.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying! Lady and I are perfectly in sync!”

“Let’s go.”

“Hahaha…”

He wasn’t wrong. What they eat could be lethal to us. Eating it carelessly could worsen our situation.

But…

“Even so, do we have any other choice?”

We had none.

“Whether we stay here and starve or eat the orcs’ food, at least with the latter, there’s a slight chance of survival.”

“Hmm…”

Trying is better than sitting and waiting to die.

The two had no further arguments.

“Enough convincing? Then prepare to move.”

“Yes.”

“Phew…”

In truth, getting food was important, but secondary. More critical was the thought of what might lie beyond. Confirming that was urgent.

On the opposite side of the corridor was the underground prison.

Orc guards wearing tanned leather armor and the naked prisoners were probably living normal days—until we appeared.

“Crack…!”

Thud.

The last guard fell, scattering blood.

Behind me, Adel, and Patrick, a line of orc corpses stretched.

“Is it really okay to kill like this as we go?”

“No way to sneak past, so no choice.”

The initial plan was to sneak in with just the three of us and grab food, but the prison was so cramped that we had to kill every orc we encountered.

“Look, if the next shift finds this scene, it’ll be chaos. We need to reach the food storage first.”

Patrick naturally predicted what would happen and led us toward the orcs’ food storage, as if he knew the place well.

“Wait… why do I… know the orc fortress so well…?”

“Finally noticed?”

The reason was simple.

“Could it be…?”

His earlier reaction when he said we had returned to the same spot. The mirrored underground prison on the other side.

“Yes. This is Alford Castle.”

This space was a perfect replica of Alford Castle, except that orcs lived here instead of humans.

“Unbelievable…”

“You’ll see for yourself whether it’s impossible.”

When we exited the prison and went upstairs, it became even clearer.

Except for small details like interior items being in the orcs’ crude style, the overall structure was identical to the original Alford Castle.

Even the far-off occupation points remained.

“It’s… really true…”

“Shh. Quiet.”

Patrick stopped me from speaking too loudly—almost giving away our position to scouts.

‘Where’s the food storage?’

No time to waste. First, we needed to grab food. I signaled Patrick to move quickly, and he nodded, gesturing for us to follow.

“Let’s eat!”

Clan members gathered in groups, holding bowls, drinking the soup hastily.

We used dishes from the prison, and the food was cooked with torches under the smoke vent.

“I didn’t expect orc food to be the same as humans’…”

Patrick looked somewhat shocked.

The ingredients from the orc food storage—potatoes, onions, carrots, pork—were all familiar human foods.

“I thought they’d eat spider legs or something, but they eat normally.”

I had suspected as much. The awakened bosses in the raid dungeon and the village NPCs behaved very humanly.

‘They even wailed over their comrades’ deaths…’

And now, the orc NPCs in the mirrored Alford Castle reinforced the idea: orcs might not just be intelligent beasts, but another species of humanity.

“Hero.”

“Hm?”

Adel handed me some soup.

“Here, eat this.”

“Thanks.”

“No, I should be the one thanking you. And… sorry. I got you involved and caused this trouble.”

I had come just to get the Aether Weapon, but from Adel’s perspective, my actions seemed like pure justice.

“Well, we’ll talk about that later.”

-Not enough blood has been shed yet for that.

“Plenty of work remains.”

‘What was that?’

At the same moment, a strange voice echoed in my mind.

Like… a demon’s voice.

It felt as if something was whispering in my ear.

Chills ran down my spine.

Startled.

I wasn’t the only one—Adel also flinched, instinctively moving away from me.

“Y-yeah… haha.”

‘Did I just hear that voice?’

“Sorry, I felt weird all of a sudden.”

She quickly returned to normal, apparently not hearing it herself.

“So… what do we do now?”

“Ah, right.”

She skillfully changed the topic, though an unsettling feeling lingered.

A whispering demon—it was inside me.

‘Angra Mainyu…’

Its influence over me was growing. And, in the end, it was the root cause of all these bizarre events.

What awaited me at the end of this path…

Swish! Swish!

I crossed my hands, forming an X in the air.

Mana from my hands turned into sticky blood, forming massive red blades that mercilessly sliced through the orcs ahead.

“Kraaaak!”

Slash Wave Emitter, Blood Sword Ruin.

The second strike following Galatine cleared an entire room.

After confirming no enemies remained, I shouted to Adel:

“Same strategy as before!”

“Yes!”

“Patrick! You take the other side!”

“Got it!”

The situation hadn’t changed much. Adel and Patrick would cover the outer points, while I covered the castle’s main point.

Yes. I was once again conducting a siege.

-Steal the orc castle?
-Exactly. Their world is a copy of our Alford Castle. So the method of occupation should be identical.

During the previous reconnaissance while securing food, this was the key point. Could we occupy the orc castle?

The answer: not only possible—it was identical in structure. The existence of occupation points confirmed it.

-“Even if so, what does it mean?”
-“Why would it be meaningless? If I become lord of the orc castle, all troops there come under our clan. Then, we take the underground passage into the human world, defeat the fused beasts, and occupy it.”

This was my plan to break the current situation.

-“Their troops join our clan… will they obey so easily?”
-“Don’t worry about that. Just follow my lead.”

Adel, not understanding the system, thought convincing the uncommunicative orcs impossible. But persuasion wasn’t needed—the system would follow my command.

{All occupation points have been captured by the attacking side!}
{If not retaken within 30 seconds, the siege ends in favor of the attackers!}

“Kuoaaah!”

Thwack! Bang!

The castle was captured easily. Orcs had comparable combat power to human soldiers.

{The siege has ended.}
{<Alford Clan> is now the owner of <Alford Castle>.}

Thanks to this, I quickly became the lord of this second castle.

{You have become the first Awakened Lord of your main castle. Check the treasury for rewards.}

And I got double the rewards.