It took a lot of persuasion and pleading, but I finally agreed to take the risk. My main objective was still to rescue the real king’s nephew, so I was in favor of just doing it the easy way. But this would be a way to give a little extra reward to the adventuring team that was risking their lives to help me accomplish my mission, so in the end, I caved.

The thing that finally overcame my reluctance was because the first time the priestess actually talked to me directly was to say, “I would very much appreciate it if we were to do this…”

She had asked it in a shy way, but looked particularly eager, as if the idea of watching “noble” orcs warriors kill each other was something she really wanted to see. I think she wanted revenge by proxy against the nobles in the world above. After that, we went over the details and came up with the specific details of how we’d commit orcish regicide.

“This is just our opening move, we have no way to plan what to do next until we see what happens,” I observe. “You sure about this?” I ask one last time as we line up by the boss room’s entrance, “You were the one that argued for the slow and safe way just a little while ago,”

“True, but only because there was nothing to be won by taking risks. But if we figure out an improvement to the tactics of this boss fight, our names will be mentioned everytime someone gives a briefing on how to do it. The king gambit, they’ll call it, and then they’ll mention that it was pioneered by our team!” The tank explained eagerly.

“I only said, to my knowledge, no one has tried this,” the rogue pointed out, “It could be that it’s been tried and it actually ends up making the fight much harder, so every team that thought to try it died...”

On that grim note, the doors swung open. “Too late for doubts now,” I tell them, handing the three elves my three specially prepared arrows. I’d given the arrows a temporary enchant, so they glowed faintly with my mana and intent. Holding that enchantment together was a constant drain through the tread of mana that connected me to them.“I have no idea how tough that king is, but even one of these arrows might be enough…”

“We’ll hit all three,” the elf trio’s leader said, the other two nodded in agreement. Normally an enchantment required runes and gold thread or etched grooves filled with gold, all things you could only really do at a workstation. Or you could do an unstable enchantment. By charging the arrowheads with my intent for sharpness and a hefty amount of mana, I expected them to pierce the tough defence of the orc king. But as soon as they passed beyond the relatively short mana leashes that connected them to me, the enchantment would unravel… explosively. A two for one effect, a basic sharpness enchant, plus a detonation after impact effect achieved by deliberately failing to properly stabilize the enchant, I thought to myself.

As we rushed in the door, the elves didn’t even wait for the orcs to react before shooting the unstable magic arrows. All three shots flew true, striking the orc king’s chest with satisfying thuds.

Outraged, the orc king rose from his throne with a might bellow, “Waaargh!”

Moments later, he detonated, the explosion tearing a bloody hole clear through his torso. His blood rained down on the stunned orc warriors. As the dead orc king toppled over, his gold crown fell off and rolled down the steps of the dais, clattering all the way.

For a moment, we were all silent, the horde of orcs, and the 14 humans all watched silently as the crown rolled down.

Then the pandemonium. All the orc warriors rushed to claim the crown, smashing each other out the way, even swinging their weapons at each other, killing a few as they turned into a disorganized pile of grunting cursing beasts. All of them were so intent on claiming the crown first, none cared about the human invaders.

“It worked!” our tank exclaimed gleefully.

My eyes were drawn to my opposite number, the orc shaman with his staff, how would he react? He too let out a mighty bellow, but it was one of grief. The shaman sank to his knees, cradling his staff, his attention focused on the crown, but made no move to try and take it. The shaman could not claim the crown, he could only wait to see who would be his new master.

“The orc wizard is waiting for the next king, he can’t do anything until then,” I said pensively.

“We need to make sure none of them get that crown! If we prevent anyone from becoming the next king, then the shaman will just sit and watch the whole fight play out!” The female mage yelled. “Also stop calling him a wizard, he’s got a headdress made of feathers and a skull necklace around his neck!” She told me.

“Leave the common orcs to me and my men!” Lance yelled, “Our armor is good enough to handle them! The rest of you, go get that crown!”

And just like that, we had our goal. I gathered my mana into a coil around the staff. I needed to save some mana for fighting the shaman, just in case, so I wracked my brain for a low cost attack that would help us the most in this situation.

The elves and the lovebird mages were simply firing indiscriminately at whichever orc warrior was closest, raining firebolts and arrows on the distracted warriors. Our tank was plowing straight into the crowd, clearing a path with the weight of his shield. But some orcs were starting to surround us, angered by the attacks they’d received. The best use of my power was clear; I needed to shield our flanks.

I conjured water, pulling it from the elemental plane, then allowed it to splash outwards in a flood, washing the encroaching orcs away with the sudden tidal wave. Then, I pulled all the heat from the water, gathering it all into a fiery ball of radiant energy in my palm, while the water turned into a wall of ice. Several orcs were trapped inside, others, unable to stop, impaled themselves on the icicles jutting out from the ice wall. But I wasn’t done, I tossed all the thermal energy I’d stolen from the water into the crowd or orcs near the crown, creating a sudden inferno; a fireball spell.

Three spell combo achieved, I thought to myself gleefully. That’s why you don’t mess with a wizard, they can improvise, while a wand mage is stuck repeating the spell he’s got etched in his wand.

“Good job,” the tank grunted as he shielded us from the blast with his shield, “But where’s the crown?”

I yoinked it with telekinesis, using the invisible hand of force I’d prepared before entering, the same spell I’d used in my duel with the old court mage, I was able to pull it towards me, now that no orc was in the way. “Here,” I said.

The room grew silent, as every orc focused their glare on me. Ah, maybe I shouldn’t have done that. I’d unified the survivors against a common enemy.

“You are not my king!” The orc shaman yelled, stepping out of his ward to face me, fury on his green face. “I challenge you for the crown! I win, you give it to me, I choose new king!”

Huh, this was new. “A wizard’s duel? And if I win?” I asked.

“Beat me without help, and you keep the crown, be the new orc king.”

“It’s a hidden quest,” the rogue said beside me. “The dungeon core is speaking through that orc, you’ll get a special reward if you fight that shaman one on one. Usually that crown is just a nice chunk of gold, but I’m betting it will become more if you win. Do you want to risk it?” he asked me.

I considered the question seriously. Overall, the odds of winning this boss battle would be about the same if I fought the orc shaman one on one, I thought to myself. Really the battle was always going to be decided that way, the adventurer and the royal guards were already planning to leave the shaman for me to deal with while they fought the rest of the orcs. So there really wasn't a down side to accepting. I grinned, then replied, “Of course.”

Maybe if things had been different, I would have enjoyed being an adventurer, I mused, because their reckless attitudes sure were infectious.