Chapter 1071: A Bond of Loyalty
Orion gazed into the distance, ignoring Dirtclaw’s sycophantic praise. Instead, he raised the one topic the hound had been so carefully avoiding.
With Dirtclaw now an upper-tier legend and Delilah an Alphapeak, their power dynamic had completely inverted. To maintain the contract under these conditions was… improper.
And now that Dirtclaw was a Warden, Orion, as King of their race, had to consider the optics. It was a matter of personal dignity and the honor of the horde.
Dirtclaw and Delilah had never brought it up, mostly because the final word rested with Orion. Without his initiative, the bond could never be broken.
A long, low howl escaped Dirtclaw’s throat. It wasn’t loud or sharp, but a smooth, mournful cry that seemed to hang in the air.
In that moment, a shimmer of moisture welled in his flame-wreathed eyes. It was the glint of gratitude, of being seen not just as a subordinate, but as one of their own. He was genuinely moved that Orion had raised the subject himself. That alone was almost enough.
After a moment, Dirtclaw reined in his emotions. “My lord, I refuse to dissolve the contract.” His voice, now calm, was firm and resonant. “You may not understand my reasoning, but my answer is final.”
“Why?” Orion tore his gaze from the horizon, turning to study the Hell-Drake Hound before him. He had been the one to personally subjugate Dirtclaw, the one who’d assigned him to Delilah as a slave. Now, when he offered to personally strike the chains from him, he was being refused. It was the last thing he’d expected. Doesn’t he want to be free?
“Praise to you, My lord,” Dirtclaw said, dipping his head. “And praise to the most beautiful, brilliant, and understanding master a soul could ask for—my all-knowing Queen!”
Thinking of Delilah, a new light ignited in Dirtclaw’s eyes—a complex fire of gratitude, feverish devotion, and profound reverence. “My lord, my station may have been that of a slave, but I was never, not for a single day, treated as one.”
A nostalgic glow softened his features as he looked back. “From the moment I became the master’s slave, I held a certain status in the cannon fodder troops. No one dared to look down on me. I rode that prestige all the way to Deputy Commander.”
His voice was full of pride, reliving the blood and fire of those early days. “Onyx was in charge of the cannon fodder troops back then. In every major battle, the prophet and I were on the front lines together. I knew, deep down, he saw me as his people. As a brother.”
He paused, a vivid memory flashing in his eyes—the image of an Alpha-level powerhouse bearing down on him, only for Onyx to plant himself in its path, his massive axe a wall between Dirtclaw and certain death. “I’ll never forget it. Whenever we faced a real threat, the old man always had my back. He took the killing blows meant for me, saved my hide more times than I can count.”
He continued, his voice thick with emotion. “Later, it was the Arch Elder, Thundar, Dace, Earthshaker, Gronthar… all of them. They never treated me like an outsider. We bled together. We were brothers in arms. Everyone said I was the toughest, the one who never quit, the one who always pushed harder. I became some kind of role model for them all.”
A low, rumbling chuckle escaped him, full of pride.
“But I knew the truth,” he admitted. “The only reason I could charge in like that, the only reason I could risk it all, was because I knew Onyx, Thundar, Earthshaker… all my brothers… were right behind me. And above them all, my master. I could fight without fear because she had all my bases covered. I never had a single thing to worry about.”
A genuine, happy grin spread across his features. “Food, gear, magical plants for my training, custom-built regimens… she even looked after my family. Everything I could ever need, she provided. Some of it was for comfort, sure, but most of it was designed to keep me alive on the battlefield.”
He looked up, his gaze locking with Orion’s. It was the gaze of a subordinate—humble, respectful, but utterly resolute. “Tell me, my lord. What kind of idiot throws that away?”
Looking into those clear, unwavering eyes, Orion suddenly broke into a smile. “Onyx and the others underestimated you. Perhaps you’re smarter than any of them.”
“Heh…” Dirtclaw’s grin turned goofy, almost foolish. “I’m not trying to be smart, my lord. I just want to be the guy they can all count on. The example for our Stoneheart Horde. Always.”
“The offer stands,” Orion said, respecting his decision but not abandoning his own conviction. “If you ever change your mind, come find me. I’ll release you.”
Just then, Orion’s relaxed expression vanished. In an instant, his entire demeanor shifted, and he became a blur of lightning, rocketing toward a moonlit patch of land three miles away.
“Wait here!”
The command still echoed in Dirtclaw’s ears when a deafening CRACK of thunder ripped through the night, silencing the howls of the demonic monsters and stunning the very sky into silence.
Orion hovered in the void, trident in hand, his gaze fixed impassively on the spot where the lightning had struck. But the enemy he expected to see wasn’t there.
He didn’t move. His senses told him they were still there. Hiding.
“You have the guts to spy on me, but not the courage to fight?” His voice rolled through the empty space around him, but no one appeared.
Just moments ago, a prickle of danger had washed over him, a razor-thin premonition that had allowed him to lock onto the enemy’s position. But they were cloaked, their tracks completely hidden.
“It seems cowards only learn the hard way.”
Orion raised his left hand. Supernatural power condensed around his five fingers as runes of a divine art blazed into existence. It was a sealing skill he had recently mastered: Void Trap.
A low hum vibrated through reality as space itself collapsed.
In the patch of void Orion had targeted, the very fabric of existence was locked down. Elements were frozen, light was snuffed out. A bottomless rift of absolute nothingness tore open, swallowing the unseen enemy whole and sealing them within the Void Trap.
Only then did the feeling of being watched finally vanish. Orion let out a quiet, internal sigh of relief.
That feeling… the threat wasn’t overwhelming. It meant his opponent wasn’t a demigod.