Chapter 188 : Chapter 188
Chapter 188. The Radiant Sun Empire Intervenes
After returning to Despair Fortress, William began drawing troops out of the Secret Realm to replenish the Gold Legion while also gathering intelligence on the Orc Alliance.
Yet the result he received was that the Orc Alliance had been wiped out by the Barbarians.
What was going on?
As the detailed intelligence reached William’s hands, he realized that he had truly underestimated the Barbarians.
William’s fingers turned white from how tightly he gripped the report, leaving deep creases along the edges of the parchment.
The reserve forces of the Gold Legion that had just been transferred out of the Secret Realm had only just formed ranks in the fortress square, and the cold gleam of their armor reflected the astonishment in his eyes.
The Orc Alliance, that monstrous force which had dominated the Western Continent for a hundred years and had even broken the cavalry of the Three Great Empires, had actually fallen to a group of Barbarians long dismissed as “the remnants of the savage wilderness?”
“Explain it in detail.”
He spoke to the messenger in a low voice, tension and disbelief woven into every word.
The messenger swallowed hard and laid out everything they had learned.
“Agula, the chief of the Savage Wolf Tribe, persuaded the other tribes and gathered more than ten elite legions. After we left, he directly killed Kalgari, the commanding general of the orcs’ main force.”
“Then he used the power of the Divine Artifact, the Blood Soul Pearl, to enslave the ice dragons... and in the end, he burned down the Orc Alliance’s Central Altar with a single blaze.”
“The Blood Soul Pearl?”
William’s brows shot up.
He had once seen records of that legendary Divine Artifact in ancient texts. It was said to gather spirits and contain souls, allowing its holder to command a hundred beasts and awaken the dead.
He had thought it was only an absurd legend, yet it had turned out to be real.
That development also disrupted his plans. He had originally wanted to extend the campaign farther outward, but now that the Radiant Sun Empire had stepped in, the situation had become far more troublesome.
At that moment, the roar of the Sea of Despair was torn apart by explosions. Ink-black waves rolled and churned as though they wanted to swallow the battle raging high above.
More than a dozen strands of Domain Force from the orcs erupted like dark purple lightning. Their claws and fangs ripped through the air, and the foul wind they stirred up mixed with the salty tang of seawater as they lunged at the Radiant Sun Empire’s powerhouses opposite them.
Clang.
A lion-tribe orc swung out a claw and knocked aside the knight’s spear thrusting toward him. The Holy Light at the spear tip scorched white smoke from his claws, and he roared in fury.
“Pandora, you dare order the Barbarians to ambush the orc vanguard, and now you’ve come to stop us too? You really have a death wish.”
The elf woman whose name had been called out floated in midair. Her silver-white armor was stained with flecks of blood, yet her emerald eyes were full of mockery.
Vines condensed at her fingertips and instantly wrapped around the neck of a bear-tribe orc. Her voice was as crisp as a bell, but cold as frost.
“An ambush? Clearly your idiot defending general got drunk and started spouting nonsense. It had nothing to do with us.”
“You’re full of shit! Their souls have already returned to the Beast God. Today I’ll drag you back with me and make you suffer!”
She suddenly tightened the vines and laughed softly as bones cracked.
“Orcs really are orcs. Aside from fighting and killing, what else can you do? Our Empire’s scouts toyed with you for three days, and only now have you realized what was happening.”
“Oh, no, that is not right. Perhaps you realized it long ago and still just could not win?”
“You’re courting death!”
A harpy shrieked as she dove from above, her claws aimed straight at Pandora’s back.
But she was intercepted by a Radiant Sun Empire general at her side. He swung his sword, and golden Dou Qi split open her wings. Blood fell like rain onto the sea below, staining a stretch of waves red.
The clash between Domain-Level Powerhouses made even space itself tremble faintly.
The orc warriors relied on their powerful bodies to withstand magic head-on, while the Empire’s powerhouses used precise coordination and superior weapons to circle and harry them.
One tiger-tribe orc tore through the defenses of two knights in a desperate charge, only to have his tail severed by one of Pandora’s Wind Blades. The agony turned his eyes crimson, and he hurled himself at the nearest enemy with reckless desperation.
The two sides locked together and plummeted from the sky, exploding into a cloud of blood mist amid the waves.
Pandora brushed the blood droplets from her cheek. Looking at the orc corpses sinking lower and lower below, the smile at the corner of her mouth grew even colder.
“Come to think of it, we really should thank your Orc Alliance’s internal strife.”
“Shut up!”
The surviving orcs roared, driving their Domain Force to its utmost limit until even their fur had been stained red with blood.
They knew they were doomed today, and that only stirred the most primal savagery within them. Like mad beasts, they hurled themselves at the Radiant Sun Empire’s formation.
The explosions once again shook the sea and sky. The waves of the Sea of Despair surged ever more violently, as though playing a dirge for this slaughter.
Pandora raised a hand to block a claw strike. As she watched the number of orcs dwindle, a trace of gravity finally entered her eyes.
These “ugly and stupid” creatures carried a ruthlessness in their bones that was far more terrifying than the pampered noble warriors of the Empire.
But she quickly suppressed that flicker of unease. Even stronger magic gathered at her fingertips.
“It’s over.”
A final streak of green light flashed by, and the sounds of battle in the sky gradually faded.
Only a few mangled corpses remained, falling into the sea and being swallowed by the surging waves, as though they had never existed at all.
Pandora gazed north, toward the Orc Alliance, and lightly licked the blood from the corner of her lips. A trace of ambition flashed through her eyes.
The surviving Domain-Level Powerhouses of the Radiant Sun Empire exchanged glances. Blood was still dripping from their armor, yet a fanatical light had already ignited in their eyes.
“The Eastern Continent. The Barbarian tribes.”
Pandora brushed bits of flesh from her shoulder armor, her voice edged with barely restrained urgency.
“The legendary Land of Divine Remains is there. The Prime Minister has confirmed that the Divinity there has already awakened.”
A blond knight tightened his grip on his bloodstained spear, and the Holy Light at its tip trembled faintly.
“Divinity... If we can bring back even a single thread of higher Divinity, the Empire’s altar can rise another rank.”
No one looked at the blood-red sea again. Eleven figures suddenly accelerated and flew toward the eastern horizon.
The sharp hiss of armor cutting through the air mingled with the howl of the wind. Their figures grew smaller and smaller until they became mere pinpricks of light and vanished into the depths of the clouds.
Deep within the forests of the Eastern Continent, the totem pillars of the Barbarian tribes were giving off a faint red glow.
Agula stood at the top of the altar, his fingertips brushing over the stone pillar. This was a divine pillar blessed by the gods. If not for the existence of these divine pillars, the Barbarians might well have perished long ago.
Suddenly, he looked up toward the west, his brows tightly furrowed.