(Author: Hello! New side project and I am finally done with my college interruptions. Not class, but college stuff like paperwork. Finally done. Finally. Anyway, Elgar has increased his fighting force and is now ready to head to the Pantheon of the Divine. You know, the old temple since the beginning of time guarded by rank 7 magical beasts in a swamp in front of the entrance? Yeah. That'll be fun. Good thing he's got three Ifrits and an army of demons that grows by the day under his control. Trying to show more of the personalities of the side characters to make them more life like. Maybe I went too far? Well here is the chapter. Enjoy.)

--------Chapter 28: An Ifrit and an Orc-------------

"So how are we going in?" Ulgor asked as the Ifrit in front of them scared off the weaker rank 6 magical beasts while the stupid ones were killed and subsequently looted and eaten. "We going in with our weapons raised like a bada*s or are we doing it the Argolin way."

"What?" Argolin asked, confused. "Is that supposed to insult me?"

"If you're an elf, yeah. Pretty much," Ulgor cackled. "You know how you elves fight. Always like a unit and hitting from afar with fancy spells and little sticks with metal triangles on the front. Very classical and noble. It hurts my eyes."

"It must hurt because last time I checked, an elf kingdom in the west slaughtered fifty orc tribes without losing a single elf. The only casualty was someone improperly string a bow and breaking his own nose as he pulled the string back," Argolin sighed. "It would my eyes if I were you. It is simply too embarrassing to watch. I don't know what I'd do if I was an orc."

"You want to get skinned alive elf!" Ulgor roared.

"Bring it on you brute. How about you taste my classical arrow and a spell up your a*s while you're at it," Argolin growled as he nocked an arrow.

"Why are we in a party of idiots master?" one of the Ifrit asked as Elgar ignored the chatter in the back.

"Their childish antics amuse me," Elgar smiled. "Besides, they are worthy allies, can pull their own weight, and have very useful connections. Are you ready to slay some magical beasts in a swamp?"

"Ah, master," the Ifrit grinned. "I f*cking hate swamps. Why can't everything burn? Adding fire always brings a warm touch."

"We're almost at the swamp master," the other two Ifrits said. "Can we burn it all down?"

"No. I aim to make the temple my main headquarters for the army I'm building and monopolizing all the magical beasts in the Chasm of Chaos. I already have it blocked off. Once I conquer the temple, I'm going to conquer the rest of the chasm past the tunnel entrance," Elgar said. "Kill all that get in our way. Void, you will assist them to become stronger and collect some of their cores for me. Blade demons, you're with me and Ulgor. We're heading inside with two of the Ifrits. Argolin will stay out here and take his pick of which magical beast he aims to make his pet."

"Yes master," they all said while Ulgor and Argolin stopped their bickering and nodded.

Elgar and the others entered the swamp, the dirty water splashed as they waded through it. Bubbles formed under the feet of the ifrits as they refused to be touched by the water. Some of the rank 7 magical beasts avoided them as they saw the ifrit but a few stood their ground. They were a horde of fifteen rank 7 magical beast hydras. Sixteen of them had nine heads with black and crimson scales while the largest was over fifty feet tall with black and gold scales and twelve heads. Elgar laughed manically while the other stared at him as if he had gone insane. They were outranked and outnumbered and he laughed?

"HAHAHA! I can't believe it. HAHAHAHA! They really exist here," Elgar laughed. "Do you know what that large one is? It's a female."

Everyone looked at the twelve headed hydra in shock while the blade demons trembled with excitement. Argolin had his tentacle magical beast enlarge to its true form as he and the skeletal archers drew arrows. The blade demons took a wedge formation with the skeletal warriors divided to cover the left and right flank. Ulgor was the only one who didn't know what was so important about a female hydra while Void licked its lips, dark purple fire appearing with every exhalation. Magmar looked at Ulgor as if he was an idiot as Elgar rode atop it and marched behind the blade demons and the ifrits.

"What?" Ulgor asked, looking around. "Anyone mind cluing me in on what the hell's got you all excited. I don't mind as I am the most bloodthirsty out of all of us, but you guys are seriously aiming to kill those things. What's so great about a female hydra? It's just a bunch of spawning snake heads on an dragon body. Not like its scales are as hard or breathes fire."

"Do orcs live under a rock? It's a female hydra!" Argolin shouted, his fingers almost closed into a fist as if he were imagining that he was chocking the orc.

"So what if it's a f*cking female? You sexist or something? Don't tell me you wanna enslave it in human form and make it a sex slave. You can do a lot better. By you, I mean Elgar. I don't see how the elf can lose his chastity anytime soon. He looks more like them pretty boys, looking more feminine than a seven year old brat." Ulgor chortled. "I don't mind screwing a girl, but a hydra...that's too much of a party guys."

"Can someone tell that fool what's going on before I decide to seal his mouth shut Lava Tyrant under his chin?" Elgar growled, sending shivers down Ulgor's back."

"A female hydra isn't important unless it's the head of a horde. A hydra horde usually means that the female hydra gave birth to them," one of the blade demons said. "I've been on a similar planet in the Mortal Realm once before. So, seeing their reactions, it must be that the female hydra did in fact give birth to them. That means there is hydra milk inside her."

"We're gonna kill a bunch of mutated snakes for milk? What are we, farmers milking some deformed spawn between a cow and a snake. I don't see what's so important about milk. It doesn't really make you taller you know," Ulgor shrugged.

"What if I told you that drinking a hydra's milk increases the rate of your cultivation? What if a hydra's milk permanently increased the amount of spirit energy you could use. Imagine having to face someone of a higher rank, but possessing more spirit energy than they do? It is as if you and that person were of the same rank," the blade demon said before the white blade demon glared at it and forced it to shut up.

"It can do that?" Ulgor cried in shock and stared at the female hydra, his sight going dark as all he saw was its stomach hidden by meat bags who were in his way. "If I can drink that, I can kill even more awesomely with my strength. I can cover my weapon and fire and wield it into battle without care. How awesome is that? Slaying foes left and right like a bada*s on fire."

"In the end, all he thinks about is the glory of killing," Elgar sighed.

"Is that how all orcs think master?" Void hissed.

"I doubt it. This is an orc shaman trying to be a warrior. He focused less on his magic, even though his talent in it is greater. Perhaps I need to force him into a situation that requires him to use his magic and realize his mistake," Elgar mused. "No. He's too thickheaded to think otherwise and will just force his way out of his situation. All forces, advance to the temple Leave only a few of the hydra and the female alive. Her milk and the existence of males will allow us to increase the strength of my forces in the future."

"And so another becomes a cash cow," Argolin muttered. "First is Magmar to slaughter behind the scenes and now an unlimited supply of spirit cultivation enhancement. I am starting to wonder if he is a hero or a villain in a hero's image. I wonder what he'll do with the resources of the temple."

The ifrit charged with glee as they began to throw giant fireballs, about ten feet in diameter, at the hydra in a frenzy. The blade demons were extremely fast and flashes of black and white appeared as they cut the hydra heads, even as they regenerated. The skeletal warriors were easily crushed to pieces and Elgar didn't bother to replace as they were just too weak. The archers kept shooting at the body of the hydras, the only part that did not regenerate as fast as the snake heads and necks. If Elgar wanted to kill them all, he would have used a bone cage around the body to subsequently cut off all heads long enough to finish it off with his lightning magic. It was a pity he needed them alive.

"Master! It's retreating to the temple!" one of the demons cried and pointed at the female trying to escape with a small number of hydras as its guards.

"Magmar! Ifrits, throuw Magmar at them!" Elgar cried as he gripped the carapace of the horse-sized scorpion.

"You're even crazier than I am!" Ulgor laughed as he stabbed one hydra head to the ground. "It's raining. It's raining! It's hydra blood I'm bloodletting. HAHAHAHA!"

"I am seriously starting to doubt his intelligence," Argolin snorted as he kept shooting arrow after arrow. It seemed that his quiver was a magical artifact that replaced an arrow its owner put inside the quiver before a battle. "I wonder if it was a mistake to accept the crystal core in exchange for letting him be the second brother of us three."

"M, master?" Magmar asked as one of the ifrits picked it up as if it were a pebble.

"By thy will be done!" the ifrit cried and threw Magmar high into the air.

"Whoa! Too far! Too strong!" Elgar cried and let go while simultaneously sprouting his demonic wings. Magmar shrieked in fear as it speed past a velocity similar to seventy miles an hour and slammed into the hydra guards, reducing them to puddles of blood while it crashed through the temple doors with the female hydra. Elgar looked up in alarm as he saw a white glow appear from the top of the temple. His eyes widened in shock as it slowly turned into a dome, extending its radius as it headed toward the ground.

"Quick! Blade demons, the ifrits with weapons, blade demons, and Ulgor! Get inside the temple before it closes!" Elgar roared and frantically created a bone field, a clear path to the temple appearing in front of them. They saw the barrier forming as well and quickly left. Elgar and Argolin nodded at each other in understanding. Argolin, his pets, the skeletal archers, and the remaining ifrits also ran, but stopped before the temple and held the hydras at bay.

"Orcs weren't meant to be prancing like ponies! Our women don't even look cute when they run," Ulgor cursed as he barely made it and crashed on the steps to the temple. The blade demons had easily made it in with their incredible speed and the two ifrits were fighting in the front beforehand.

"Ah f*ck. I think I bruised myself a bit on those steps," Ulgor said as he rubbed his legs.

"There are about ten thousand steps, each as high as three feet," Elgar said to the orc, a smile on his face. "It's a long walk. You want the ifrit to give you a ride?"

"Yeah, just don't tell the elf. I don't want him to know I took the easy way up. Just make sure the ifrit don't throw me so hard. My ma always said that my best feature was my arms and chest," Ulgor said.

Elgar chuckled and said, "Don't you mean the face. It's actually better than some fatty human nobles we saw at the academy. I'm sure...Pfft."

"Not a word. Not a gods dam* word," Ulgor said as the ifrit picked him up by the back of his shirt. It was like looking at a little girl picking up a doll for the first time. The ifrit was looking at the orc like a toy and was wondering how hard it would have to throw. It shrugged as it saw Elgar point at the top of the steps and threw the orc. Ulgor screamed at the top of his lungs as he sped toward the top while the blade demons followed him to make sure he didn't become a puddle of blood upon the steps.

"Master, these steps are large and fit for a giant," the ifrits warned. "Something very powerful built this place and probably locked several beings inside as guards."

"I know," Elgar grinned. " I can just imagine myself devouring their souls. Maybe I should leave one alive for when I rank up and experiment on soul manipulation magic on them. To control someone's soul like a puppet. To see their despair as there is no possible way to resist. HAHAHA! I need to go inside, my minions. I have plans and whatever's inside might just accelerate my plans further."

"The orc's alive. Cursing as it wet itself, but it's alive. It also said something about not telling the elf or it will bring the wrath of its ancestors on us," the white blade demon said.

"Hive minds sure are convenient," Elgar nodded as he flew up the steps with the rest of his minions behind him. "What's it like anyway?"

"I do not know master. I never had my own mind separated from the others," the white blade demon answered.

"Oh. I wonder what it would be like if you all chanted the same words at the same time. Those religious fanatics would freak out. When I am about to siege my first city, I should have you all chant like that. Heh. I wonder how spooked the guards would be. So creepy but mystifying. I suppose that's why cultists have their followers chant along with them to pray to their false gods. Words are a very powerful tool in manipulation. Just a few words can spark a war. Something like that," Elgar nodded. "Pfft. He wet himself. That's a riot. I can use this to my advantage. HAHAHA! He wet himself. HAHAHA!"

He was still laughing as he reached the top of the steps. Ulgor was fuming and started punching the ifrit that threw him, the one that wielded the giant war hammer as long as it was tall. The ifrit looked at him as if he was a flee and flicked its foot, sending Ulgor crashing against the wall, dazing him. Magmar looked relaxed as it kept devouring all but one of the hydra heads of the female. The lone head was crying tears and trembled with fear as it realized just how much it underestimated them.

"Magmar. You did wonderfully. Well done. If the female hydra tries to go in after us, you can continue to eat its heads. I'll be back once I reach the next rank and enslave its soul. I have many plans for that one. Those bastards trying to free Qingyu won't know what hit them," Elgar smiled wickedly, all hope of escape leaving the hydra as it was already powerless before Magmar.

"Good luck master," Magmar said.

"Well now. We broke the doors and activated its defenses already. I'll bet the traps have also been activated. I wonder how many ways it plans to kill us. This dungeon's gonna be a lot of fun," Elgar said as he summoned ghost fire mice and followed them inside.

"You heard the master. Get moving little orc," the ifrits laughed as the pushed Ulgor inside.

"Our master, this time, is very dangerous. Be sure to obey his commands to the letter," the white blade demon warned as the last of the party finally entered the temple.