Empress' Evolution

Chapter 24: Debt VII

Lilith looked at the Ogres with a pleasant smile stuck to her face. She seemed like a benevolent Goddess that had descended from above, and despite her small stature, she seemed taller than she should be.

She raised both hands looked at all of them and spoke a single line.

"I will not fail you."

That single line caused a wave of emotions to the hearts of the Ogres. Lilith did not resemble an ordinary Ogre; unlike them, she had no red skin nor did she have long hair and a chiseled body, she was tiny and cute with soft skin and weak arms.

Lilith was in no way someone who resembled an Ogre, but she was welcomed with wide-open arms. They treated her as a Priestess, but she was not satisfied with this. When the right time comes, she'll challenge the Berserker for the right to rule and claim this tribe as her own.

'I have yet to step on the starting line, but I am getting there.'

"I wish to help you all but I am still lacking. My spirit is weak and I need to increase my strength before I can once again help anyone evolve. But fear not for I will raise my strength for the ones who believe in me."

She knows her limitations, and right now, the best thing to do was level up. She looked around and found in search of one particular Ogre...

[Killa: Ogre Champion LVL 41]

'He leveled up, he must have been excited to test out his prowess.'

"Killa, you have evolved to become an Ogre Champion, are you willing to help me in reaching a new level of strength?" Lilith called out to him.

Killa walked closer to the Priestess and took a knee, "I shall use this body of mine to repay the Priestess' kindness."

"I am counting on you."

Lilith smiled and noon soon came to be. With the sun glaring at the world like it was its enemy, Lilith was cooped in her makeshift dwelling with the Ogre Berserker.

Like always he had his sword with him.

"So, what do you want?"

It was Lilith who opened the chance for discussion. Time was not going to wait for Lilith and her level would never increase if she stays stagnant at a single place.

"You don't need to be so on guard against me, I won't kill you and further insist to procreate. I have seen that our people would benefit more if I am to build a better relationship. But let me warn you, if you try anything that will harm them, I will take your head your myself."

"I like your bluntness, and I will say this now that I have no intentions of ruining this place. Oh yeah, I'm going to say this now, when the moon goes red I'll be the one to step forward and take your position."

"Heh, how audacious of you to say that to my face, it seems that you're not that different from me, after all. I will let you try it, Priestess, but I have been ruling the tribe for five years, do you think I will let someone like you take over so easily? I will not hold back even if the Priestess was to challenge me."

The Berserker left with his sword and Lilith came out right after. Killa stepped forward from the side and nodded his head saying that everything was read. It was finally time to move, thus, Lilith jumped on Killa's shoulders.

"Head out, we're going to conquer a [Scourge Dungeon]," Killa shouted aloud.

Lilith got on the taxi known as Killa and head out with two more Ogres and Ogress.

The Ogress was with them and wished to prove herself as a warrior. Ogres deem females to be important but if they wish to prove their worth as warriors, they would not stop anyone from doing them.

However, only one Ogress was allowed to partake every year. The Ogress's value could not be understated and if anything goes wrong and resulted in one's death, it would be a huge loss to the Tribe.

For the past 6 years, none of the Ogress had passed as a warrior resulting in a majority of Ogres becoming Warriors.

[Dungeon Entrance Found D-tier]

'So this is what they call a Scourge Dungeon? It's a normal one.'

In the eyes of the Ogres, there are two types of dungeons, [Meat Dungeons] and [Scourge Dungeons]. Meat Dungeons were Dungeons that spawn a kind of daemon that can be hunted for their meat like a wolf or a boar for example.

Meat Dungeons were important to Ogres and the other "intelligent" inhabitants of the Forest of Beasts. A Meat Dungeon provides food for them other than vegetation therefore they protect it. If a Meat Dungeon was destroyed, it would severely affect the ecosystem of this place.

Also, Meat Dungeons spawn sporadically through mysterious means the Ogres could not understand.

'In human society, there's only a dungeon that needs to be destroyed, nothing more nothing less. Humans can cultivate plants and take care of animals, but these daemons adjusted their way of living through the existence of these dungeons.

'Hmm, if humans do this will food shortage be even a problem? Dungeon cores spawn the food without the need for cultivation through mana so unless the mana of every world dissipates it will not disappear.'

Truly, it does make one wonder. The Ogres themselves already created a system where they capture Meat Dungeon Cores and wait for the spawns to become food, and left some to the wild in order to not destroy their way of living.

A Scourge Dungeon on the other hand was a dungeon that had semi-intelligent daemons inside and instead of a Dungeon Core, there's a Daemon Core. While a Dungeon Core only spawns daemons, a Daemon Core was the Mana Core of a daemon ruling over the daemons inside the dungeon.

'So the dungeon I found last time is a Scourge Dungeon? A Lamia is a semi-intelligent creature right? The Virulent Serpent is the daemon core, so it's what Hunters call the [Boss Monster]. So, it is basically a [Gate Dungeon].'

Lilith managed to learn new things from the Ogres.

This time, she was going to enter a Scourge Dungeon but unlike last time it was not a naturally formed dungeon but an actual Gate. In front of her was a red portal that had the shape of an almond.

Mana swirled in a whirlpool-like manner forming the plate-like Gate. Usually, to conquer a dungeon of this scale the chief of the Ogre Tribe would have seven Ogres go. But this time, he wanted to use this opportunity to see if Killa had truly evolved.

The Berserker did not want Lilith to enter with them because of the danger it holds, but after Lilith's insistence, he couldn't do anything but cave to her requests.

'He still has his doubts.' She thought to herself.

There were only four Ogres this time; they were going to be led by the Priestess Lilith. Lilith climbed down from Killa's shoulders and stood in front of the group.

She looked back at them and placed her hands on her waist.

"We are entering this Dungeon as a test, once we enter it will be a matter of life and death if we can communicate well or not, so I will be granting all of you a name to make things easier.

"The two Ogres who were with Killa come forward."

"Yes, Priestess."

Both knelt down on one knee their faces showed their excitement. It just goes to show the worth of a name. The two Ogres were similar in their outward appearance the only difference was the placement of their scars.

One had a scar on the face and was dubbed "Scarface" and the other had one on his chest and just happened to be the one Lilith pierced on the shoulder so she named him "Luck" to offset the bad luck she had given him.

The two celebrated their newly gained name, especially Scarface who seemed truly happy with his name. He was happy because of one thing; the letter 'r' was more prominent in his name. It sounded masculine or so Lilith was informed. Luck was half disappointed but Lilith comforted him.

"Straighten up, the Ancestor Mawa did not have the sound 'rrrr' in her name, a name does not determine your masculinity. Your courage and pride as a warrior does."

"Yes, Priestess." All four Ogres bowed down.

"Lastly, you." She looked at the already kneeling Ogress. Ogresses were much smaller in stature than Ogres. They have slimmer muscles granting them a good figure but that doesn't mean they're weak.

In some angles, these Ogres were attractive. Lilith had heard that there were Hunters who tried to **** an Ogress and had his member ripped off.

Lilith heard that and she merely laughed at his weird sexual preference but looking at Ogress now, who was in possession of wild beauty. Her muscles could even be a plus in the eyes of some people.

'I think I can understand that guy... except for the penis ripping part.'

The Ogress was a perfect example of Ogre-beauty, but this made it harder for Lilith to name her because she had no blemish on her body nor did she had any past with Lilith. In the end, she just based her name on the legend of the first woman, "Eve".

The first Ogre was given the name Eve and Lilith stood before them and raised her hand.

"Killa, Scarface, Luck, and Eve. Are you ready to enter?"

"Yes, Priestess."

"Then, let us end this."

Lilith spearheaded the charge. She had a smile on her countenance and as they entered the dungeon Lilith grew more excited to gain experience.

The red light of the surrounding mana almost blinded her but Lilith got through the portal without a problem. On the other side, she found herself in a canyon.

Beside them was a gushing river fifty meters away, echoing as it bounced on the tall canyon walls.

The two walls were terrifyingly high but not high enough to take the light away. Behind them was the still accessible red portal.

Only high-tier dungeons have enclosing gates. Those high-tier dungeons were a pain in the ass; they were B-tier and above and the gates would only open if the Hunters inside were to be annihilated, the Boss was killed, or the Dungeon Core shatters.

"Hey, where are you going?" Lilith had to ask seeing the four Ogres heading deeper in without so much as a plan.

Hearing their Priestess, the four looked at one another as Killa answered, "Huh? Finishing the dungeon, Priestess.."

Lilith looked at them with a hint of confusion and a lot of disdain. She shook her head and failed to understand what they were doing exactly.

'What they are doing is setting themselves up to die.'

She sighed, "This is a dungeon, we can't just overpower this place even if we can. Strategy my fellow children, strategy; we can get surrounded and killed if we're not careful."

it was the Ogres' chance to show a look of confusion and Lilith merely shook her head and began giving them positions.

They were in a diamond position, Killa was the spearhead, Scarface and Luck on the flank and Eve on the rear. In the middle was Lilith.

She designed it this way so she'd be protected and be able to do some mid-range damage when needed.

"Killa, you are to be our tank and take on the enemies in the front, Scarface, Luck both of you will protect me while I support Killa on killing the daemons, finally Eve..."

"Yes, Priestess." Eve was the most excited of them all.

"You have no actual experience with fighting so watch and learn from them. Don't worry, I will let you have your time after we face three or four waves."

"Understood." she took it to heart and prepared herself to watch with all she got.

"Now, forward."

These dungeons were dangerous and if not for her prior experience with the Lamia dungeon, Lilith would already have let the Ogres go. Their number could easily be overwhelmed them so a strategy was needed.

They marched forward, but first, she let Eve go and scout the area. In the group, she seemed to be the most agile so she let her do it. But because of Eve's inexperience, she only asked her to count and tell her the enemies in front.

"Seven Gnolls, they average at LVL 37."

"Good, this will be your job, for the time being, get used to sneaking around, got it?"

"Yes, Priestess."

They proceeded to the area Eve had scouted. Fifteen meters away, Lilith could see the Hyena-like daemons littering the area.

Gnoll was a daemon that was a mix of a human and a hyena. They stood on two legs and possess a humanoid figure but was still a hyena overall.

'They have swords, tch, their level is dangerous for Scarface and Luck, but they only have to protect me so this is going to be fine.'

"Killa, I will let you lose and let them have it but, only beat them to an inch of their lives, I need to kill them myself. Luck, Scarface be aware of any movements and hold them back. If you can kill then kill, but if you can't then stall, I'll come and assist you when the time comes. Ready...go!"

Killa did not hesitate to run ahead like a valiant warrior. He jumped high up in the air and descended like a meteor crushing a single Gnoll in the process. He then grabbed one of them and crushed it using brute force.

Srieeeeee! The survivors screeched.

However, his back was left open and the two Gnolls took the chance to pounce at the situation. They were four levels below Killa but the sharp claws of the Gnolls would be able to tear through his flesh.

"Wind Shield." Lilith cast without much problem. The two Gnolls were bounced back and Killa took the chance to pummel the two Gnolls using his fists.

Three Gnolls remained and these three had already noticed Lilith's small group. The three hurried towards them with their jaws open, they were ready to kill her and the others, but Lilith only smiled as both Scarface and Luck moved in front of her to stall defend her and stall.

"Colossal Weight!"

At first, they were pushed back, but Lilith used Colossal Weight at them in order to stand their ground.

Their gained weight did nothing to their mobility, and as they threw a punch, the three Gnolls were knocked down.

"Wowww, my fist seems stronger."

"It is the blessing of the Priestess, hail the Priestess."

'Hmm, it is more powerful when I cast it on them.'

Lilith was surprised also. But she regained herself and began killing the Gnolls on the ground.

The battle ended with Lillith's group winning triumphantly.

Eve, who had been observing the fight was slacked-jawed. She was impressed by the others; combat skills but what she was most impressed with was the Priestess.

They came out unscathed this battle, but she knew that this would not have been possible if not for Lilith's precise spell casting and orders.

"Amazing..." she said aloud... she grew to admire Lilith more.

===

"Should I enter? They should be having a problem now, right?"

Outside the Portal, there was an [Ogre Champion] who had been sent by the Chief in order to save the Priestess and the rest. The Chief foresaw that Lilith's group would be needing help in an hour so the Ogre Champion was sent here as reinforcement.

And after an hour, the Ogre Champion finally decided to enter the portal. But just as he did, one bloodied figure came out.

It was Eve, she had tears on her face as she did her best to run away. She was haul assing trying to run away from the portal.

Eve saw the Ogre Champion and as if she saw hope, she ran to him, crying.

"ELDER HELP ME!"

"What's wrong? What happened? Where are the others?"

The Elder Ogre Champion was naturally in shock and immediately asked what happened. His face darkened as he thought of the worst possible outcome.

"Is the Priestess still inside? Is she alright? Why are so afraid?"

However, Eve was trembling too much to answer his question.

The Ogre Champion was ready to take a step forward and enter the portal. But when she turned to the portal she saw a kid walking out of the portal.

This kid had a smile on her face, she too had a body dyed red with blood.

"Eeeeeeve, where are you? You need to get used to blood and gore, come over here, your blood bath is not over yet!!"

"ELDER, HELP, HELP ME, THE PRIESTESS IS HORRIBLE!"

Eve cried and Lilith noticed the Elder and woke up from what she was doing. With a clear expression and a bloodied body, she raised a brow as she asked:

"What are you doing here?"

But the Elder was too stupefied to say anything. And after a couple of seconds, he answered with a question.

"What is happening here?"

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