I Became a Foreign Worker Loved by Transcendents-Chapter 220: Heavenly King Barbatos

One would be simply born, spread their seed, fight, and die.

That was the typical orc’s life and all that mattered.

Thus, if born an orc, most of one’s life would be spent finding a female to bear their seed and raising their offspring.

But…

“Hero, look here. It’s a baby orc.”

One day, a group of humans attacked the village for subjugation.

The bodies of its slain kin were scattered throughout the village, and the baby orc, curled up in its nest, faced a sword pointed at it.

Even though it was young, the situation was clear.

Its throat would be cut, blood would spray, and it would finally stop moving…

Just seeing its fallen kin made it realize how terrifying and empty that fate was.

“We were ordered to subjugate all orcs, so we should kill this one too, right?”

“…No, we’ll leave it.”

But the human hero, standing before the baby, chose to lower his sword and leave.

“Leave it? It’s an orc, even if it’s a baby, are you sure it’s okay?”

“No matter how vile the species, killing a child is not an honorable thing, is it?”

Honor.

That word, honor, was the reason the baby orc had been shown mercy.

“Heroes are meant to pursue honor. Killing a child that hasn’t even grown yet would tarnish that honor… You all agree with me, don’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah, well… It’ll die on its own if we leave it anyway.”

Naturally, the baby orc had no idea what that word meant.

It only vaguely understood that it had survived because of something called honor and that honor must have some kind of value.

“Honor…”

Left alone in the destroyed village, the baby orc kept repeating that word to itself.

It survived by eating the corpses of its fallen kin and fleeing from dangers that sought to harm it.

Sometimes, it barely survived brutal battles, growing from childhood into adolescence…

“Honor…!”

With every successful survival, it felt the word growing stronger within its soul.

Having survived thanks to honor, it believed that everything it achieved in life was rooted in that concept.

That belief carried on through countless hardships, even when it joined a new tribe and became their leading warrior…

“Sss… We’ve captured some human women. Let’s rape them and make them bear our children.”

But why?

Why was something so natural to orcs so unacceptable to it?

“Why are we capturing and raping women?”

“Sss? So we can make children.”

“What happens when we have children?”

“When we have more children, the tribe’s numbers grow. The more we have, the more we can get and fight stronger foes.”

“…And you don’t care if you die for that?”

“Sss? What are you talking about?”

“Just fighting and dying to make children… Is that enough for you?”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about, sss. I’ll just rape the women we captured, sss.”

They were born, driven by their instincts, with the sole goal of breeding.

They didn’t mind dying in the process… No, as long as they produced many offspring before death, they saw it as acceptable.

The orc tribe was full of such creatures, living only for that purpose.

Unlike itself, which had barely survived thanks to the mercy of honor and fought endlessly alone…

“Sss! The humans are attacking! Prepare for battle!”

Just as it was grappling with the conflict of its nature, the humans suddenly arrived.

They led a massive army and engaged in fierce combat with the tribe, resulting in near-total destruction of the orcs… And then the humans chose to retreat to preserve their forces.

A choice completely opposite to the orcs, who would fight to the last one standing.

To achieve that, they sacrificed themselves to buy time for their retreat.

After the battle ended, it came across a human corpse.

“The one who showed mercy… ended up like this after all.”

The body belonged to the human hero who had shown it mercy years ago.

It had thought about that face endlessly since that day, so it recognized him immediately.

Was his death caused by carelessness or a lack of ability?

Either way, he had lost his life right in front of the orc.

Just like its kin who lived and died for nothing but breeding, his death was incredibly empty…

“…No, it’s not empty.”

Denying that thought, the orc looked down at the hero’s body and began to unravel the knot inside its heart.

“I remember him. Unlike the countless orcs who died here, I remember him alone.”

Why, when it couldn’t even remember the faces of its own kin, did it remember this human so clearly?

What was the difference between the two?

Was it right for its kin to be so faithful to their nature that they raped women and risked their lives for it?

Could the human, who had gone against his mission to show mercy to an enemy, stayed behind to buy time for his retreating comrades, be called foolish?

What could have driven him to risk his life for such foolishness?

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Was it for honor, the same reason he had spared the orc? Had he chosen to save others for that honor?

“Not himself, but someone else…”

He left someone else behind in this world.

That was the common ground between breeding and honor.

But the orc, pondering this, began to realize something.

Breeding, which only increased numbers, might leave something behind, but the self was not among those things.

On the other hand, those who fought for honor left themselves indelibly etched in the minds of those they saved and protected, even after their lives were over.

“Everything alive will die someday. And death is something to be feared.”

And yet, honor sometimes held enough value to overcome even the fear of death.

More clearly than merely leaving one’s offspring, honor could leave a more definitive mark of one’s existence in this world.

“If I am to leave my mark in this world…”

If it were to walk a different path from its kin, who chose reproduction as their way…

What would it need if it were to walk the same path as the hero who pursued honor, which still lingered in its heart?

“Hehe, to have survived such a fierce battle… You’re quite something for an orc.”

Standing before it, searching for what it sought, appeared a mysterious woman who had suddenly arrived atop the carnage.

The orc instantly understood that she was neither human nor orc.

“…What are you?”

“I’m a demon who’s interested in you. Our Demon King’s army has been traveling through dimensions, recruiting exceptional races to join us.”

A demon.

A race that had entered this world at some point, seizing land and plundering others.

Its kin had often clashed with demons, but the female demon standing before it showed no signs of hostility.

On the contrary, her smile, though deceitful, carried an emotion that could almost be interpreted as favor…

“So, what do you think? Will you join us?”

At that moment, as it faced the red liquid held out to it, it felt both wariness and a stirring of desire deep inside.

She probably had her own agenda, but it believed that joining the Demon King’s army would give it the opportunity to achieve what it sought.

“Then take this cup. Drink the blood of a demon… and seize the opportunity to turn your desires into power.”

And so, the orc transcended the limits of its birth, walking a path an orc was never meant to walk.

It felt its desires becoming even clearer.

Hoping that the stage to fulfill those desires would one day unfold before it.

“Helkrai, do you realize… exactly what you’ve done?”

But up until now…

Since joining the Demon King’s army, had there ever been a battlefield where he could truly pursue honor?

“I dealt with the trash who harassed a human woman.”

They had invaded human territory, following the Demon King’s army.

Helkrai had executed one of his own subordinates with his own hands, the one who had gathered and abused the captured humans. He now withdrew his hammer and glared at the one rebuking him.

It was the same demon woman who had given him demon blood in the past.

She, too, had risen to the rank of one of the Four Heavenly Kings, but her face now bore a strong sense of hostility.

“Trash, you say? That’s a harsh word~ For demons, it’s only natural that the victor claims everything… Stopping your subordinates from having their way with the captives seems unfair, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah! Who are you to tell us what we can and can’t do?!”

“You arrogant orc! Just because you got lucky and became one of the Four Heavenly Kings doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want!”

The demons, led by another of the Four Heavenly Kings, hurled their complaints at Helkrai.

Normally, they would stay quiet and listen to Helkrai, but only because they had submitted to his power, not because they agreed with him.

Now, with the Demon King advancing into human territory, the Demon King’s army had decided to launch a massive invasion of the humans’ lands.

The Four Heavenly Kings moved in pairs, so it was entirely possible for one side to keep the other in check.

“They are weaklings who can’t even resist.”

Despite the pressure from the other Heavenly Kings, Helkrai did not waver, standing his ground in front of the human captives.

“These people pose no threat, whether we leave them or not. How can you waste time tormenting them in the middle of a war?”

To him, the enemies on the battlefield were trials to be overcome, but prisoners were not to be harmed.

Honor was something that extended not only to allies but to enemies as well.

The achievements he built, and everything he would accomplish, would have meaning in this world, even after the war ended, and would be remembered by those who survived.

“That damn honor talk…!”

But demons were a race that would sacrifice everything except themselves for fleeting pleasure.

Abstract concepts like honor held no value for them.

It was only natural that they would be dissatisfied with the current situation.

“I never liked that an orc became one of the Four Heavenly Kings! Let’s just deal with him right here and now…”

-Kwaang!!

The demon complaining was blown to pieces by a sudden surge of power.

As the bloody remains scattered in all directions, the other demons’ faces turned pale, realizing what this meant for their own future.

Except for one—another Heavenly King who was Helkrai’s equal.

“All who do dishonorable deeds before me shall be executed.”

The other Heavenly King, Barbatos, who met Helkrai’s hostile gaze, said as she brushed her trembling fur-covered arms.

“Even if the one you’re threatening was the one who gave you blood herself?”

“An act of grace? Don’t give me that nonsense, you spider woman. Didn’t you give me your blood for your own purposes?”

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

A burst of maniacal laughter rang out.

As she unfurled the legs growing from her back, her mouth began to water, and she licked her lips.

“Yes~ Just as you said~ I’ve been waiting for you to grow from the very beginning. You see, I have the ability to consume anyone who holds my blood and make their power my own~”

Barbatos the Harvester.

True to her name, she was a demon who never killed her prey immediately but slowly tamed them for consumption.

For her, this situation, where Helkrai stood against her, was extremely favorable.

Her prey, whom she had planned to devour at the right time, had not only grown to be her equal, but had also chosen to make enemies of the other demons without her even needing to stir the pot.

“And seeing what you’ve become, I think it’s finally time for the harvest.”

The countless legs sprouting from her body began to glow with magic, sharpening into scythe-like blades.

They were more than enough to carve the flesh from her target.

But more concerning than that was the fact that all the demons present were siding with her.

“I might have trouble handling you alone, but all the demons here are fed up with your ridiculous behavior. And now that the Demon King has begun to move, plenty of them will want to catch his eye…”

Not only was she an equal to Helkrai, but they also outnumbered him.

With such an advantageous position, their only goal was to take out the one in front of them and claim his position for themselves.

“So, what do you think? If you surrender now, I can send you off without any pain.”

Despite their overwhelming advantage, she offered him a merciful suggestion, just in case.

Helkrai’s response was to aim his hammer directly at her.

“…I was wrong. To think I could pursue honor among creatures like you.”

At first, he had thought that as long as there were fierce battles, it would be enough.

He believed that if he fought there, he could leave his mark on the world, regardless of whether the enemy or his allies saw it.

But the Demon King’s army sought not true battles, but one-sided pillaging and massacres. And no matter how much he tried to suppress that instinct with power, they would always wait for a chance to stab him in the back.

Yes, they were obstacles to the fight for honor he sought.

“Those foolish enough not to understand honor will be executed here today!”

“Puhuh~ So consistent to the end~ Well, I suppose it makes you a worthy prey, after all~”

Barbatos, facing the foolish orc burning with such determination, spread her legs wide and mocked him mercilessly.

“If you want to leave your name behind so badly, I’ll be more than happy to oblige you.”

“Of course, all you’ll leave behind are flesh and blood, and even that will end up in my mouth. Hahahaha~!”

There wasn’t the slightest hint of doubt in her laughter, no chance that she could lose.

Even though he had consumed demon blood, he was still a foolish orc by birth, and she was confident he couldn’t defeat her and the army behind her.

…But.

“I-impossible! How could an orc…?!”

“For hooooonooooorrr!!!”

-Kwaang!!!

With a shout, Barbatos’s head was crushed.

Not only her head, but her entire body was crushed by overwhelming force, and there was no one present who could stop the act.

The demons who had rushed in, seeking to gain numbers and status, had already been reduced to pulp and scattered throughout the ruins of the city long ago.