When the feast was halfway done, Lady Avyanna placed her wine cup on top of the table and asked Lux the question that had been on her mind since Baronar brought them to the Orc Capital of Ludrar Bragh.
"Tell me, Lux, was the duel between you and my son a setup that you made?" Lady Avyanna asked.
Flamma, who was seated beside her, suddenly stiffened after hearing his mother's question. The young Half-Orc then tried to recall the events after he appeared inside Lux's temporary residence.
His original goal for coming to see their guests was to find out what they were like. Of course, he had also intended to see how strong they were, but he didn't have a good excuse to have a sparring match with them.
However, when he heard Cethus' proposal of stealing the Twin Flames of their Clan, he thought that he found the right opportunity to make his appearance, and force them to fight him.
But, instead of him proposing the idea, it was the red-headed teenager who did it. Back then, he didn't think much about it because it was his plan all along.
Now that he was thinking properly, he suddenly realized that the Half-Elf might have already planned to use this as an opportunity to make him a stepping stone in order to gain influence in the Blackrock Clan.
The sound of something breaking reached everyone's ears as Flamma broke the wine cup in his hand due to the anger he felt after realizing that he had been used as a stepping stone by the Half-Elf, who was sitting across from him.
"Yes," Lux replied without batting an eye. "When Flamma entered our residence unannounced, I knew that he came looking for trouble. I just gave him what he wanted, so the fault lies with him."
"You basta–!" Flamma was about to smash his fist on the table to vent out his anger, but suddenly caught himself just in time. He had almost forgotten where he was, and the people around him.
Fortunately, he didn't smash the table because his parents were also eating at the same table.
If he weren't able to stop himself, the one who would get smashed next would definitely be him.
Because of this, he had no choice but to reign in his anger and glared hatefully at the shameless Half-Elf, who even winked in his direction.
"Baronar has already told me that you and your group have come here for the Twin Flames," Lady Avyanna stated. "Many have come before you, and all of them left empty handed. Some of them weren't even able to leave like that one arrogant Dragon Born that came here ten years ago.
"The fool called us Low-Landers, and demanded that we surrendered the Twin Flames to him or else the Dragons would come down from their floating Kingdom and tear us apart. The fool had it coming to him."
Lady Avyanna then gave the Half-Elf a devilish smile, as she lightly tapped the armrest of her chair.
"So, do you think you have what it takes to take our Twin Flames from us, Lux?" Lady Avyanna asked.
"As long as the possibility exists, we will strive to take the Twin Flames," Lux replied. "Lord Baronar already told us the conditions for acquiring the Transcendent Flames. The first one is to defeat His Excellency, Barca. However, it is impossible for any of us to accomplish such a thing."
Lady Avyanna nodded. "So, you plan to do the second option, am I right?"
"Yes, Lady Avyanna."
"Good luck with that."
The Orc Warlords, with the exception of Baronar all chuckled because they knew that it was impossible for Lux to gain an accomplishment that would make the entirety of the Blackrock Clan acknowledge him.
A feat that would be as amazing as the Twin Flames, which they had protected for more than half a century.
Even Flamme laughed at the Half-Elf because he, too, didn't believe that the one who defeated him was capable of doing such a thing.
It was at that moment when Baronar spoke up, making his companions look at him in a weird manner.
"If these were ordinary times then yes, it is impossible for our guests to accomplish such a task," Baronar stated. "But, these are not ordinary times."
The Great Orc Shaman paused as he twirled the wine inside his winecup, catching everyone's attention.
"We are at war, and I have a feeling that in this war, the humans have prepared adequately in order to bypass our defenses," the Great Orc Shaman continued. "Also, our allies may use this opportunity to weaken our Clan considerably before they come in to help us. Right now, we have our backs against the wall.
"On one side, we have the Haca Dynasty, on the other side, we have our allies, who didn't wish for our clan to grow stronger. Perhaps, they are afraid that we are going to expand our Domain in the Wanid kingdom when we reach a certain point."
The other Orc Warlords stopped laughing, and their expressions became solemn after hearing Baronar's words.
They knew that their Clan was strong, but right now, it was not enough to single handedly resist the upcoming Human invasion, who greatly outnumbered them by a hundred to one.
Barca and Lady Avyanna, who didn't join the Orc Warlords in their laughter, only smiled. They were not fools.
Both of them already made a contingency plan if things went south. Their plan was to evacuate the Orcs from the Western Border, and retreat deeper inside the Wanid Kingdom.
Once the Human armies penetrated deep inside their territory, the other Pillars could no longer watch idly from the side, and would be forced to unite and repel the invaders back to their homelands.
When everyone had quieted down, Lady Avyanna once again spoke in order to catch everyone's attention.
"Our Great Orc Shaman is right," Lady Avyanna commented. "We used to live in peaceful times, so there was no opportunity for outsiders to do anything that could impress the entirety of the Blackrock Clan. However, we are now at war. If he can do something that will earn everyone's recognition then it will be possible for us to 'Loan' them the Twin Flames."
Lux's ears perked up when he heard the word "Loan".
Clearly, the Orc Chieftain had no intention of fully relinquishing the Twin Flames to outsiders. Although this arrangement wasn't part of the plan he had in mind, the Half-Elf could tell that this was the best compromise that the Blackrock Clan would be willing to give them.
"We Orcs follow the Law of the Jungle," Barca stated. "Only the strong will prevail. If he can really do something in this war then we will consider his appeal. However, it must be truly something great. For example… kidnapping the King of the Haca Dynasty and dragging him back here to Ludrar Bragh."
"Wait! I have a better idea," the Orc Raider, Tanabur, said with a smirk. "If he can single-handedly wipe out the entirety of the Haca Dynasty's army then I will acknowledge it as a great feat."
"Oh! This is a good idea," Mogazar commented. "I will agree to this as well."
"If he is able to accomplish such a thing, he will get my acknowledgement," Oreg, the Orc Warlord Berserker, crossed his arms over his chest.
Back in the Dungeon of Dominion, Oreg had died. However, in the true history of the Blackrock Clan, he didn't die, which allowed the Blackrock Clan to retain the strength of its Orc Berserker Warriors.
"I, too, will recognize him if he manages to accomplish this grand undertaking," Flamma declared. "I will even call him Master and become his subordinate if that were to happen."
Lux's companions glanced at their leader with worried gazes because they didn't know how the Half-Elf would reply to the challenge given to him by the Orcs.
The red-headed teenager simply remained silent, and allowed the Higher-Ups of the Blackrock Clan to underestimate him.
The only one who knew of his true Profession was Baronar.
Everyone else just thought of the red-headed teenager as a Summoner that could summon slightly powerful creatures that allowed him to defeat Deimos-Ranked creatures and below.
What they didn't know was that the Half-Elf was laughing inside his heart.
This wasn't the first time that Lux fought in a large-scale war.
After his last battle in the Sacred Dungeon, the Half-Elf had fully understood what his Undead Legion was capable of doing. For now, he simply endured the ridicule that Flamma and the other Warlords were hurling in his direction.
Only Barca, and Lady Avyanna felt the silent confidence that was oozing out of the Half-Elf's body, which made them feel that they might have made the wrong decision, and unknowingly invited a wolf in sheep's clothing to join them for dinner.
