Chapter 236
Chapter 236. War in the Northern Continent
Marcus watched the king’s swaying back as he turned away, then quietly slipped the silver spoon stained with the king’s saliva into his sleeve.
Another three specks of light in the vessel had gone out. This was completely different from what he had expected, but for now, he had to make this foolish king continue opening his coffers.
Outside the window, another of Eden’s magic tower spires went dark. When pigeons flew over the square, even their feathers fell from the sky.
A week was crushed beneath iron hooves and roaring cries.
The Eight Great Clans of the Orcs Kingdomhad already swallowed the territory of the Centaur Kingdom like a surging tide. Two-thirds of the centaurs had been reduced to prisoners, bound in iron chains and escorted toward the Dwarf Kingdom. Even the dust along the road was mingled with the stench of blood.
Yet in the Orcs Alliance of the Northern Continent, an even fiercer storm had risen within the vortex of power.
The Eight Great Clans had drawn away their main legions for the expedition, which instead gave the Orcs Emperor an opportunity to strike.
The iron cavalry under his command raided day and night, like a dull blade sawing again and again through the lands of the Eight Great Clans. Friction spread from border outposts to trade routes, until it finally erupted within a Secret Realm.
That Secret Realm had originally been the fief of a mid-sized clan under the Orcs Emperor’s command. In its mountain streams flowed magic spring water capable of strengthening the body.
Early that morning, before the dense mist had fully dispersed, Domain-level powerhouses from the Eight Great Clans led the Golden Beastman Legion and smashed through the barrier of the Secret Realm.
The armor of the Golden Orcs gleamed coldly in the morning light. The thunderous crash of battle-axes splitting the Secret Realm startled the sleeping clan awake, and the sound of slaughter instantly filled the valley.
They left not a single survivor.
When the Orcs Emperor’s Imperial Guard arrived through the teleportation array, all they saw were burning clan grounds, corpses fallen into the Spirit Spring, and a line of words written in blood across the cliff wall.
“This is the price of opposition.”
The surviving cubs huddled in the cracks between the rocks, broken whimpers rising from their throats as they watched the Imperial Guards gather up the bloodstained war banners.
When the news returned to the Orcs Emperor’s Palace, the Orcs Emperor punched a deep dent into the bronze throne.
The mane across his body bristled, and flames of fury burned in his golden pupils. His roar made the palace beams and pillars hum.
“How dare they? How dare those clan vermin?”
“Your Majesty, although that mid-sized clan was weak, it was still a vassal personally enfeoffed by you...” an adviser beside him had only just spoken when the Orcs Emperor kicked him over.
“I know.”
The Orcs Emperor seized the beast-bone scepter on the table and smashed it hard against the floor.
“They are carving flesh from my body. They are telling the entire Northern Continent that I, the Orcs Emperor, am nothing more than an ornament.”
He suddenly turned around, his fangs gleaming coldly beyond his lips.
“Pass down my order. Muster the Blackrock Legion and the Bloodclaw Legendary Knight Order. Three days from now, they are to flatten the main cities of the Eight Great Clans. I will make them understand who the true emperor of the Northern Continent is.”
“Tell them the Imperial Guard will follow soon after. They are to become a long spear and thrust straight in.”
Outside the palace, the wind swept snow grains against the windows, as if playing the prelude to the coming civil war.
Meanwhile, far away in the Dwarf Kingdom, the chiefs of the Eight Great Clans stood before the mass of centaur captives. Looking at the secret letter delivered by a messenger, one of them curled his lips into a cold smile.
“The Orcs Emperor is enraged.”
One of them weighed the battle-axe in his hand.
“Perfect. Let him see who is truly worthy of ruling the Orcs Alliance.”
The stench of blood within the Secret Realm had yet to disperse, but the sky over the Northern Continent was already completely shrouded by the dark clouds of war.
The Orcs Emperor’s roar had not yet died away within the palace when the war drums of the Blackrock Legion were already pounding across the frozen earth of the Northern Continent.
This heavy legion, formed from black bear Orcs, made the earth tremble with every step. Their armor, forged from obsidian, reflected the bitter light of the cold sky, like a moving black rampart advancing toward the heartland of the Eight Great Clans.
At the same time, the wolf cavalry of the Bloodclaw Knight Order had already set off on a silent forced march.
They had abandoned heavy armor, covering only their vital points with plates of refined steel. The magic wolves beneath them breathed out white vapor, and their four paws churned up snow-dust, dragging long trails behind them.
The knight commander licked his gleaming claw tips, and a bloodthirsty growl rumbled in his throat. “His Majesty has given the order. Whoever beheads one of the chiefs of the Eight Great Clans will be made a lord over ten thousand households.”
When the news reached the council tent of the Eight Great Clans, the chiefs were gathered around an enormous beast-hide map.
Candlelight flickered at the top of the tent, casting their shadows across the tent walls. At times, those shadows became fierce tigers; at times, they became giant wolves.
“Good. Let them come.”
The tiger beastman who ruled the Warsong Clan slammed his palm down onto the map. The calluses on his hand scraped across the marker representing the Blackrock Legion.
“Does the Orcs Emperor think that a legion of Sky-level combatants and a Legendary Knight Order are enough to frighten us? Let him see who truly possesses the war soul of the Orcs.”
“Do not be careless.”
The fox shaman beside him shook his bone bells, and the crisp clatter of the bronze chimes carried a trace of cold gloom.
“Even a dragon would struggle to break the Blackrock Legion’s shield formation, and Bloodclaw’s speed is even harder to defend against.”
“We must use the terrain to wear them down. The Misty Swamp to the east can trap heavy armor, and the Broken Bone Canyon to the west can be used for an ambush.”
His fingertip traced the creases on the map.
“Have the Golden Beastman Legion hold the front and lure them into the swamp. Then send the assassins of the Shadow Leopard Clan around behind them to cut off their supply line.”
“As long as we can hold out for half a month, the Orcs Emperor’s grain and fodder will run short. When that time comes...”
Before he could finish speaking, a commotion suddenly came from outside the tent. A scout covered in blood crashed through the tent flap and staggered to his knees.
“Ch-Chief... the Bloodclaw Knight Order has gone around the main defense line. They are launching a surprise attack on our rear Secret Realm.”
The candle flames inside the tent suddenly swayed.
The pupils of the tiger beastman chief contracted.
“Useless fools! Did I not order you to set up sentries on the flanks?”
“They... they rode their magic wolves across the frozen lake. In past years, that lake would never freeze at this time, and a Domain-level dragon lives there...” The scout coughed blood, then collapsed before he could finish speaking.
The fox shaman’s face instantly darkened, and his bone bells shook even faster.
“It is the Orcs Emperor’s Icefield Shamans! They used a forbidden spell to freeze the lake and bargained with the dragon, opening a shortcut for the knight order!”
The air inside the council tent instantly froze.
The chiefs of the Eight Great Clans looked at one another and saw the same shock in each other’s eyes.
“We cannot retreat.”
The tiger beastman suddenly pulled the battle-axe from his waist. The axe blade split the air, stirring up a sharp gust of wind.
“Have the Shadow Leopard Clan abandon Broken Bone Canyon and immediately return to reinforce the Secret Realm. Dispatch five Golden Beastman Legions to follow me. We will go meet the Blackrock Legion right now. Since they want to fight, we will accompany them to the end!”
He swept the tent flap open with one hand, and the bitter wind rushed in with whirling snowflakes, instantly extinguishing half the candles.
The warriors of the Eight Great Clans had already assembled outside the tent. The armor of the Golden Orcs shone with a cold, hard light amid the wind and snow.
They raised their weapons and let out deafening roars. The sound waves even scattered the low-hanging clouds.
In the distance, the war drums of the Blackrock Legion grew closer and closer, intertwining with the howls of the wolf cavalry as they clashed and echoed across the wilderness of the Northern Continent.