Rahul stood before the assembled line like a silhouette cut from stone. A week of terrible preparations had ended: ten thousand young faces, pale and hollow from fear, stood in ranks beneath the pale sky. Mothers and fathers kept to the edges, hands clenched so tightly their knuckles were white. Beyond them, the Orc envoys waited — hulking, impatient, their breath steaming in the cool air.
He moved down the line with a slow, deliberate calm, handing each boy over with the same single motion. There were no words for comfort now; only the formal act of delivery. Each hand he placed in an orc's grip felt like a cold promise passing from one world to another.
When he reached the raised platform, he faced the crowd and let his voice carry.
"This will not be forgotten," he said. "You will not take this from us and leave without consequence. I promise you—your names will be remembered, and those who forced this will answer for it."
At his words some boys sobbed openly. Where a few tried to steel themselves, most bowed their heads and wept. The sight tightened something in Rahul that he had not felt in a long time: not fear, not power, but an ache of responsibility so vast it almost made him stagger. He had built labs and citadels, walked between worlds, studied stranger anatomies, and bent life into forms that frightened even him. Fifteen years of that work had given him power — but also this burden.
The Orc leader stepped forward, face creased in a grin that did not reach his eyes. He took the offered boys as if taking payment. Around them, the crowd hissed and cried and cursed. The royal heralds kept their faces blank; the court wanted to see control asserted, and control had been asserted.
Rahul watched the Orcs disappear into the waiting lines, watched the last boy slip away. For a moment, an old, violent part of him wanted to act then and there — to rip everything down and make the world answer for what it had allowed. Instead he felt the cool, precise calm of a man who had learned consequences were not undone by single, burning acts.
He thought of all he had done: the worlds he had visited, the specimens he had raised and studied, the quiet hours with instruments and notes. He felt the flame of anger, hot enough to consume, but also the slow, colder truth: vengeance, once unleashed, never comes back clean.
So he kept his promise in a different way. He let his words be a vow that would outlive the moment. He would make them pay, yes — but not in a way that left him empty afterward. He would shape events, leverage influence, and bend politics until the cost of this demand became unbearable to those who had made it. He would use the power he had earned, and the knowledge he had kept, as tools—sharp and precise, not blind and destructive.
As the last of the Orc party faded beyond the gates, the crowd dispersed in a stunned hush. The mothers stayed a moment longer, clinging to hope even when hope had no shape. Rahul remained on the platform until the sun dipped low, feeling the weight of the vow settle into him like a second skin.
He had time, he told himself. Time to make it right — or at least, to make the world remember.
As the Orcs retreated, one of their leaders turned to another and said, "Did you see the man responsible? They say he's the third prince of humanity, now a powerful figure who has improved the human kingdom single handedly. I think he is dangerous. We should kill him or capture him soon."
The other Orc shook his head. "Not now," he replied. "We can't act yet. The faith has consolidated its power, and moving against him now would be suicide.But i agree he looks dangerous."
The leader orc spoke " BTW what happen to the infected realm , there is totally no news from in last 10 years ".
The other orc said " It is said the realm is finally established but it has reduced the population of the world by 80% and a large number of orcs also died . The losses was vary high and finally the realm was sealed and rest of the population was taken out as slaves ".
The leader " That thing was really a nightmare I heard almost tens of thousands of orcs died directly or indirectly "
" yes you are right and to ensure the virus not spread in original world , a large part of the population was sacrificed in screeing and ensuring no infected individual come back to the orc empire. I also heard that a single digit rank warrior also dispatch to that world "
" what ????? Single digit ranked warrior , are you suru that it not a double digit one even that will be ridiculous "
" Really I was also surprised because they are like a ace card for our species and their strength can level the mountains . but it is said that his relative died on that realm that's why he went there "
" okay. Orc empire is getting more and more chaotic "
" yes, the population increased to more than 10 billion and lot of aggression started due to lack of resources"
"Alas"