Chapter 187. The Destruction of the Orc Alliance’s Vanguard
Darwin beat his wings and swept through the clouds, his scales gleaming with a dark golden luster beneath the sunlight.
William stood against the wind, one hand resting on the hilt at his waist, his gaze locked firmly onto the distant ridgeline.
The dust kicked up by the Lesser-Dragon Rider Legion stretched through the river valley like a massive yellow-brown serpent in motion, while the figures of the Frost Giants flickered in and out of view along both sides of the formation, each step making the earth tremble faintly.
The Communication Crystal in his palm grew warm. Karen’s voice came through the flow of mana, carrying a metallic rasp.
“Your Highness, our scouts have already reached the edge of the Deadwood Forest. The rotting leaves there are thick enough to bury a horse’s hooves. It’s the perfect place for an ambush.”
“Good.”
William’s voice was cold as ice.
“Have the archers hide in the treetops. Let the Heavy Infantry hold both sides of the forest road. The moment the vanguard of the Lesser-Dragon Riders enters the forest, use the giant logs to seal off their retreat.”
“Understood!”
The instant the communication ended, William suddenly raised his hand, and his longsword sliced through the air with a sharp, piercing hum.
“Legendary Combatants, with me!”
His roar, wrapped in mana, exploded above the legion.
“Everyone else, accelerate. Today, we’ll show these orcs what it means to be trapped with no way out.”
More than thirty Legendary Combatants moved at once in answer. Halos of Dou Qi and magic lit up around them like a chain of moving stars.
The main force followed close behind. The clash of armor and the thunder of hooves merged into a rolling roar as their speed surged. Their formation twisted from a loose pursuit line into a sharp spear aimed straight at the rear of the Lesser-Dragon Rider Legion.
The Lesser-Dragon Riders seemed to sense the disturbance behind them. Their formation suddenly slowed, and several riders reined in their mounts. The savage heads of the lesser dragons turned to the rear, breathing out sulfurous fumes.
But they had clearly not expected the pursuers to arrive so quickly, nor had they noticed that a deadly trap had already been laid inside the silent Deadwood Forest ahead.
William lowered himself close to Darwin’s neck, feeling the wind scream past his ears.
He could already see the outline of the Deadwood Forest growing clearer and clearer. Those twisted tree trunks looked like ghostly claws reaching toward the sky, silently waiting for prey to walk into them.
“Almost there...”
He licked his dry lips, and his longsword flashed a blinding arc beneath the sunlight.
“Prepare to charge!”
The crisp crack of Darwin’s giant claws crushing dead branches was the first sound to shatter the deathly stillness of the Deadwood Forest.
William’s longsword slashed down with golden Dou Qi and struck an enemy Lesser-Dragon Rider square in the shoulder blade.
The rider screamed and tumbled from the dragon’s back. With its rider gone, the lesser dragon lost control and went on a mad rampage through the dead trees, smashing branches everywhere.
“Loose arrows!”
Karen’s roar rang out from deep within the forest.
In an instant, more than ten thousand flaming arrows poured down like a storm. The Lesser-Dragon Rider Legion was immediately swallowed by a sea of fire.
Those lesser dragons had thick hides and tough flesh, but fire was their greatest weakness. As the arrows ignited their scales, a scorched stench filled the air. They thrashed their necks violently and flung their riders to the ground.
The Frost Giants roared and raised their massive hammers, trying to smash through the forest barricade ahead, only to be tripped by giant logs that suddenly rolled out from the shadows.
Their enormous bodies crushed great swathes of dead trees, but in doing so, they ended up blocking their own retreat.
William’s figure moved through the firelight. Darwin’s dragon breath froze two Lesser-Dragon Riders who were trying to break out, while William’s longsword precisely slit the throat of every enemy who resisted.
“Leave no survivors,” he barked into the Communication Crystal.
“Let them learn the price of attacking the Kroll Kingdom.”
The Legendary Combatants tore into the enemy like tigers among sheep. The shrill tearing of Dou Qi through the air mixed with the orcs’ miserable screams.
One Legendary mage raised a hand and summoned a falling-rock array, smashing more than a dozen Lesser-Dragon Riders and their mounts into a pulp.
Another Legendary knight swung his warhammer, and wherever his Holy Light passed, lesser dragon scales peeled away inch by inch.
Seeing that the situation was beyond saving, the commander of the Lesser-Dragon Riders let out a furious howl and spurred his mount toward the edge of the forest.
William’s eyes sharpened. He patted Darwin’s neck.
“Chase him.”
The gale stirred up by those giant wings sent sparks whirling off the ground as Darwin shot forward like a bolt of golden lightning.
William’s longsword gathered a thirty-foot blade of Dou Qi, and just as the lesser dragon was about to burst out of the forest, the attack pierced straight through its rider’s back and out through his throat.
As the commander’s corpse hit the ground, the last remaining orc rider was run through the chest by a heavy infantry spear.
The Deadwood Forest gradually fell silent. Only the crackling of fire devouring wood remained, along with the soldiers’ heavy breathing.
William stood amid the piles of corpses with his sword planted in the ground, looking at the wreckage of lesser dragons and giants scattered everywhere as the mana around him slowly dissipated.
Karen walked over, black blood spattered across his armor.
“Your Highness, the count is complete. The Lesser-Dragon Rider Legion has been wiped out, and not a single Frost Giant survived.”
William lifted his head and looked toward the distant mountains, where the banners of the Orc Alliance could faintly be seen.
“This is only the beginning.”
He wiped the blood from his sword, his voice as hard and cold as iron.
“Inform the legions. We rest for half an hour, then we return to Despair Fortress.”
The messenger disappeared into the forest. Half an hour later, the soldiers cleaning the battlefield returned to formation carrying the last batch of spoils.
The blood-soaked banners were raised once more. The Gold Legion marched across ground that had not yet cooled, continuing toward Despair Fortress, while the clash of armor mixed with the soft crunch of shattered bones beneath their boots.
And around the altar, it had long since become a living hell.
Broken halberds and shattered bones were embedded in the mud. Dark red blood had formed narrow streams, washing over scattered helmets and broken shields.
The Barbarian warriors moved across heaps of corpses. When their spears plunged into the throats of dying orcs, not one of them even frowned.
Agula sat on a makeshift bone chair, idly toying with Kalgari’s broken beast-fang ornament at his fingertips.
Kalgari was chained to a stone pillar opposite him. Blood still seeped from the wound where his left arm had been severed, while his remaining right hand clenched half of a curved blade. He looked as miserable as a stray dog.
“Heh heh...”
Kalgari’s laugh was hoarse like a broken bellows. Every time he laughed, he coughed up a mouthful of bloody foam.
“Agula, you dared launch a surprise attack on the Orc Alliance... well done, truly well done...”
He suddenly raised his head, and a vicious light burst from his cloudy eyes.
“You Barbarians want to be erased from this land, do you? I’ve already sent a message by blood oath. The Alliance’s iron cavalry... cough, cough... will flatten this place within three days!”
Agula raised his eyes. The bonfire beside the bone chair illuminated the totems on his face, making him look even more savage.
“The Alliance’s iron cavalry?”
He let out a scornful laugh and tossed the beast-fang ornament at Kalgari’s feet.
“Did you think I would dare touch you without planning my way out?”
He slowly rose to his feet, spinning the bone blade once in his palm. Its cold gleam swept across Kalgari’s terrified face.
“We’ve already reached an agreement with the Radiant Sun Empire in the Central Region.”
Agula’s voice was so flat that it sounded as though he were discussing something utterly trivial.
“They’ll send a Dragon Rider Legion to ‘protect’ us poor wretches who have suffered under orc oppression.”
Kalgari’s pupils contracted violently. A harsh rattling sound came from his throat, as though something had lodged there and blocked it completely.
“So, my apologies.”
Agula raised the bone blade. Sunlight streamed through the hole at the top of the altar and landed directly on the blade’s tip.
Without another word, the blade stabbed into Kalgari’s heart with a whistling rush of wind.
Kalgari’s body tensed violently, then slumped limply. As the last trace of life left him, his eyes remained wide open, as though he still could not comprehend the end of this betrayal.
Agula pulled out the bone blade. Blood splashed across his face, but he merely wiped it away and turned to look toward the Blood Soul Pearl glowing red in the depths of the altar.
“Clean up the bodies. And remember to strip off their armor. That’s valuable stuff.”
(Happy New Year, everyone. Wishing you good health!!!)
(Taking a day off!!!)