That same night, Orha and his men close in on the group of apes seen near Lag, only to discover an entire camp of them seemingly preparing for an attack. His men suggest regrouping with the rest of their squad and returning later, but Orha is eager to attack right away—not out of strategy, but because he wants to gain Gandal’s approval.
His men try to reason with him, reminding him they’re outnumbered and ill-prepared, and although Orha is reluctant, he finally agrees to return to Lag and regroup first.
Meanwhile, Kai’s group has set up camp near the ruined Usuzel village. His friends begin to worry, unsure whether he managed to locate the orc horde or not. They can’t move until he returns, and his long absence has everyone concerned—Jose most of all. She even considers going after him, but the others remind her their priority is to keep her safe. Kai wouldn’t want her to risk herself.
Natada approaches Jose and reassures her that Kai is an extremely capable warrior—he likely won’t die out there. Still, all they can do now is trust in his strength. With that, Natada tells the group he’s heading to the top of the hill.
When Manso asks why, Natada claims he’s going there to pray for Kai’s safe return. In truth, he’s planning to perform a special technique to track Kai. He suspects Kai knows more about the valley god than he lets on.
Natada begins meditating, and two glowing eyeballs appear above him. He sends them into the forest to locate Kai.
As for Kai, he’s sprinting at full speed, trying to reach the valley before the orcs. Along the way, he spots numerous orc footprints, all headed in the same direction—straight to the valley. Just then, he hears rustling in the bushes, and someone suddenly lunges at him with a knife.
Kai quickly draws his blade, ready to defend himself, but stops just in time—it’s only Kechak. Moments later, the rest of the Koros emerge. Relieved, Kai asks why they’re here.
Poric explains that they heard the orcs approaching and came to confirm it and possibly slow them down. Kai says it wasn’t necessary—he’s the guardian bearer of the valley, so it’s his job to protect it.
But Kechak insists they have a right to defend it too. After all, they’ve built their village around the valley and won’t abandon it. Kai is grateful for their loyalty.
Suddenly, a loud noise echoes nearby. Upon investigating, they confirm that the orc band is heading straight for them. Worse, the orc leader spots Kai, meaning he’ll have to fight whether he’s ready or not.
While Kai is risking his life, Gandal is still back in Lag, stuffing his face and wasting the villagers’ food. He smashes a plate and arrogantly declares that, as an inspector, everyone must show him absolute respect—or risk being labeled traitors to the human king.
As Elsa bends down to clean the broken plate, Gandal notices how beautiful she is and asks for her name. She replies hesitantly, unsure why he’s suddenly interested. Then, Gandal demands that she pour him a drink. Elsa is uncomfortable and disgusted by the look on his face, but due to his status, she doesn’t know how to refuse.
Thankfully, Adelia steps in, setting a fresh plate of food in front of Gandal and pouring the drink herself. Her quick intervention distracts him, sparing Elsa from further harassment—even Gandal is surprised at how quickly he was dismissed.
Later, Elsa quietly thanks Adelia for helping her. Adelia brushes it off, saying it was nothing.
Just then, Orha and his second-in-command return to Lag, visibly angry that they didn’t get the chance to fight the apes.
The apes’ presence near Lag frustrates Orha, so he angrily demands someone call his father to mobilize a larger force to eliminate them.
Meanwhile, back on the battlefield, Kai is being chased by an orc. As it lunges, Kai spins and stabs it through the chest. However, another orc tries to ambush him from behind—but Kechak intervenes, stabbing the attacker in the neck just in time.
So far, Kai and his allies have taken down a significant number of the orcs, causing the rest to hesitate. Suddenly, their leader emerges—calmly walking to the front lines—and reveals his divine crest to intimidate them. While Kai isn’t impressed, Poric immediately recognizes the symbol as belonging to one of the Rigdaros.
Kai is unfamiliar with the term, so Poric explains that the Rigdaros are six elite orc warriors blessed with powerful land gods. They are far stronger than ordinary guardian bearers.
Kai warns everyone to stay back—he’ll need to go all out to beat this one. Watching from afar, Natada becomes certain that Kai is the one he’s been searching for, especially after seeing his divine crest.
The orc leader introduces himself as Adurken and speaks fluent human language. He mentions being surprised to learn that Kai’s predecessor is dead and reveals he tracked down Kai after one of his orc soldiers was killed in the area—confirming Kai as the new Valley God.
The Valley God speaks within Kai, urging him to kill the orc—but Kai was already planning on it. He lunges at Adurken, but the attack is blocked and countered. Kai tries again but gets knocked aside. He attempts a trick maneuver by slipping behind Adurken’s legs and stabbing, but the orc’s tough skin causes the spear to snap.
Not giving up, Kai times his next move, ducking and kicking the broken spear tip into Adurken’s side. It finally injures him—but to everyone’s horror, Adurken’s wound closes instantly. He then pins Kai to the ground with terrifying strength.
Kechak asks if all guardian bearers can do that, but Poric says what Adurken did isn’t normal. He suspects Adurken might even be immortal. Adurken lifts Kai and mocks him while the other orcs cheer, calling Kai a pathetic excuse for a god.
As Kai struggles, Adurken vows to destroy everything Kai cares about—starting with the valley. Desperate, Kai grabs Adurken’s arm and blasts it with fire. The pain forces Adurken to drop him.
On his feet again, Kai attacks with even more fire. But this time, Adurken runs through the flames unharmed and kicks Kai away. He explains that his god protects him from attacks he understands—and now that he knows about Kai’s fire, it won’t work again.
With no weapons left and magic rendered useless, Kai pulls out a small knife and takes a defensive stance, though he knows he’s running out of options. He tries stabbing again, but the knife breaks instantly, and Adurken slams him into the ground. Kai starts to lose the will to fight.
The Korors grow anxious, realizing Kai may not be able to win. Natada fears that if Kai dies, the Valley God’s power may fall into the hands of the demihumans.
Adurken mocks Kai, calling him a disgrace to gods. As Kai lies helpless, he notices the rice balls that Elsa gave him earlier. The sight of them stirs memories of his otherworldly knowledge.
Suddenly, he remembers one last trick—thanks to Elsa’s gift. Adurken raises his axe to finish him off, but Kai has a plan. Since Adurken’s god can only defend against known attacks, Kai prepares something completely foreign to this world: an energy blade powered by atomic splitting.
As Adurken swings his axe, Kai charges in and slices clean through his arm. Adurken is stunned. Even the Korors are shocked—Adurken’s blessing was supposed to make him invincible.
In disbelief, Adurken rushes at Kai again, but Kai slashes him across the chest. Moments later, Adurken collapses and takes his final breath.
Natada witnesses everything and is astonished by what Kai just did. Not only can Kai use fire magic, but he also unleashed a completely unfamiliar form of magic—something Natada has never seen before. This makes him decide to stay cautious around Kai moving forward.
Meanwhile, back at the ruined village, Manso is standing guard beside Jose when she suddenly collapses. He panics, unsure of what’s happening, but then the others notice a serious wound on her leg—it looks bad.
Back in the forest, Kai has just claimed Raiken’s god stone. The remaining orcs, shocked and disappointed, watch in silence. They know they can’t stand a chance against him now, so they keep their distance.
Kai drinks Raiken’s god stone, and because Raiken’s god was incredibly powerful, the energy Kai absorbs is overwhelming. His power begins radiating outward so intensely that it terrifies the other orcs, forcing them to flee.
Fortunately for Kai, they do run—because moments later, he collapses to the ground, unconscious from the sheer surge of energy.
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