I am Alfred Lucera, and I hold the title of Duke in the Kingdom of Rymeth. One day I received a letter threatening me. The letter stated they had kidnapped my daughter, and if I wanted to see her again, I needed to oppose the idea of an alliance with the Beast Kingdom Ostia.

I instantly knew that this was from a noble from an opposing faction—a noble who is so twisted that they would take my beloved daughter hostage for their own gains.

I was enraged, so I immediately gathered all the trusted knights in my service and left the capital to find my daughter.

About three hours away, we found bodies after bodies of guards that were supposed to guard Lilliana. We found that most of the bodies were looted. Which meant that the noble behind this had hired a group of bandits, making it harder to trace back to them.

Suddenly we heard a massive roar and lots of heavy footsteps. The roar belonged to an Orc, and the heavy footstep was the Orcs surrounding us. Leading them was an Orc that was abnormally larger than the ones around it.

Looking around, we were surrounded by Orcs. So our only chance was to attack at one point to break through the encirclement. However, that plan didn't succeed. An Orc alone was a D-Rank monster. However, they tend to work in groups which can put them up several ranks depending on the size of the group. In some cases, a high ranking Orc such as an Orc General or Orc Mage would be leading, and in the worst-case scenario, an Orc Royal could be born. In the case of an Orc Royal, they could be leading an army with over 10,000 Orcs.

Even though this time it was an Orc General, it was still a big threat.

"Sir, we can't hold them off. We will try and make a gap for you to escape."

"Nonsense, I will not abandon my men. We will break through this together.

"SIR! Six knights have already fallen, and the Orc General is heading over to us."

"Tell them to stand their ground. I'll handle the Orc general."

"My lord, I do not mean to insult you, but an Orc general is a C-Rank monster."

"Well, do you have any better suggestions?"

"Umm..."

"I thought so, now let's go. When we get out of here, I'm opening my wine vault."

"""Yes, My Lord!!!"""

The knight's motivation was high especially hearing that I would be inviting them to drink from my wine vault, which had a significant collection of top-grade wine. But even then, it wouldn't help much. There was still the problem of the Orc general, which would typically require at least 30 knights that have abilities around D-Rank. Only two or three knights in this group were D-Rank.

I watched as the Orc that was 3 metres tall, armed with a giant greatsword and full metal armour, approaching me.

"You must be the one leading the Orc's," I said.

Usually, regular Orcs possess no intelligence, but unique Orcs like this Orc general would have enough intelligence to communicate. However, there was no reply, except it swung its greatsword down on me with immense power.

I couldn't move out of the way in time, so I held up my sword to block its attack. However, its power was extreme in that it shattered the blade in half, and it sliced into my shoulders.

"Gahhhhhh!!" I screamed in pain.

I felt pain coursing through my body that was intense that I nearly fainted. But it couldn't be compared to the searing pain of regrets that I had in my heart. I couldn't save my only daughter, and my wife would be left all on her own. How can a world be this cruel?

I closed my eyes in my final moments and waited for death to take me. But it never came.

"Hey, are you still alive? Oh, thank god you are here. Drink this."

I opened my eyes to see a young man with black hair. The Orc general was behind him with a spear pierced through its heart.

"W-who...are.....you?"

"Umm, Just a passerby lending a hand. But drink this. It's an [Elixer], should patch you right up. Wait, I can just pour this onto him. That's so much easier."

I couldn't hear what he had said, but the last thing I saw was the face of my daughter, and then my vision went dark.