Chapter 9: Confrontation
Seeing everyone’s gaze turn toward him, Komer promptly pushed Rebril and the others forward. After Rebril and Mihajic performed some of the most basic star magic and earth magic, the so-called leaders of the mob were already utterly awed. The half-orc warriors, who prided themselves on their combat skills, could hardly believe their eyes after witnessing the dark knights’ acrobatic performances—whether it was the deep cracks left by the knights’ spears or the ease with which their swords cut through massive trees. All of this made them realize that their own combat skills seemed like child’s play.
Words backed by strength are the most persuasive. After seeing the performance of the guests, the half-orcs willingly handed over leadership of their armed forces. With the help of the two dark knights, Komer carried out a thorough purge of the more than 30,000 armed slaves. Over 20,000 were disbanded, leaving only a 9,000-strong combat force. This force underwent some basic military training and was then exposed to magical attacks. In just a week, time passed by in the blink of an eye.
Actually, since the rebellion in Leon kept spreading, Bamori had had a badpremonition. He wasn’t sure if hispremonition was correct, but he became more convinced of its accuracy after seeing how rampant the rebellion became and how it repeatedly defeated the private armies of the local noble miners. The growth of the rebel forces was astonishingly fast. Information from various sources also indicated that the rebels had received substantial support in terms of weapons and food. In Bruce, the blockade against Leon had already lasted for a long time. The rebels’ progress must have been backed by certain forces. Aside from the Caucasus, no one else could provide such extensive support. Without the Caucasus’s help, and with Bruce already blocked off, the rebels would have soon turned on each other due to lack of food and been wiped out one by one by the noble private armies. But with the strong support of the Caucasus, everything changed.
Although the army easily crushed the rebel forces in the North at Banasha, Bamo Li never felt at ease. To resolve the issue in Leon, the Grand Duke dispatched an additional four thousand soldiers, raising the garrison at Bruce Fortress to a record-high of six thousand troops. He also appointed a baron as commander, and even more surprisingly, arranged for three magicians and two spellcasters to accompany them—showing just how determined he was. Bamo Li suspected the Grand Duke intended to take advantage of resolving the Leon issue to invade the Caucasus, especially since the kingdom’s attention was now focused on the orcs stirring up trouble in the North, making it a perfect opportunity to deal with those underlying threats.
But Bamo Li was worried that the unrest in Leon had roots in the Caucasus from the start. Now that Homer’s army had entered Leon in force, would the lord of the Caucasus simply stay silent and do nothing? He surely couldn’t fail to see the hidden intentions behind Homer’s massive deployment. What kind of reaction would he have?
Fortunately, the new commander was the newly appointed Baron Haranto. Bamo Li only needed to assist Haranto in leading the army; all other strategic and tactical decisions had to be made by the somewhat stubborn Baron Haranto, and he had no choice but to obey. Bamo Li had no prejudice against Baron Haranto. He was, after all, a typical soldier and reportedly quite famous among the knights. But he overly favored direct confrontations, and the battle at Banasha had inflated his confidence to such an extent that no one’s advice could reach him. In his eyes, sending so many troops to suppress a bunch of rebellious slaves was like using a sledgehammer to crack an egg. Those peasants panicked and fled at the sight of just a few simple spells cast by the magicians, leaving the army with no chance to show its strength. But would the same thing happen in the attack on Mando?
Bamo Li was skeptical. One cannot fall in the same place twice. Though those half-orc slaves were foolish, they wouldn’t repeat the same mistake without preparation. Yet current intelligence suggested that the half-orcs were already ready in force near Mando, determined to fight to the death against Homer’s army. Could there be some scheme behind this? Unconsciously, Bamo Li’s mind drifted to the enigmatic smiling face of that baron lord from the Caucasus.
Haranto realized something was wrong the moment he saw this army. Its size was far smaller than that of the rebel forces in the Battle of Banasha last time, yet intelligence had suggested that the rebel forces in Mando should have outnumbered those in Banasha. The situation here didn’t match the reports at all. Although this army was smaller than the one in Banasha, the fierce determination evident in their fully armed orcish warriors showed that they were by no means the demoralized and disorganized force described in the reports. The events of Banasha must have reached these foolish creatures’ ears by now, and they should know what kind of challenge awaited them. Yet the situation now seemed completely different. What could have caused such a drastic change?
Bamorli also noticed this. The enemy’s demeanor was entirely different from what he had imagined—rows of halberds and mountains of shields, with no sign of the chaos from before. Instead, they stood firm like mountains. The orcish forces, three times their number, now appeared terrifyingly fierce. Bamorli felt an increasing sense of falling into an endless abyss. He realized that his side would face troubles beyond imagination in this battle.
“Lord Baron, something seems off. How could these orcs suddenly become so formidable? They’re completely different from the army we faced in Banasha. Should we hold our ground and strengthen our defenses instead of launching an attack? Let’s observe the situation first,” Bamorli said, clearly aware of the danger. Though he knew the lord never accepted his suggestions, as a deputy commander, he had to act in the best interest of the entire army and fulfill his duties.
Haranto was also hesitant. Although the orcish army’s armor looked crude and their weapons were uneven, they were still an army. Moreover, their fanaticism and determination made him worry that if his own army couldn’t suppress their fierce attacks with strict discipline, the orcs, three times their number, might tear them to pieces.
“Baron Haranto, don’t be intimidated by these guys’ pretentious demeanor. These half-orcs are no different from those Banasha scum—strong on the surface but weak inside. If necessary, we can repeat Banasha’s scenario once again. These ridiculous half-orcs can turn into soldiers just by wearing tattered helmets, a few pieces of broken armor, and carrying sticks or shovel handles. It’s absurd. I believe that as long as our magic is unleashed in front of them, everything will repeat itself. All you need to do is order your soldiers to prepare for an attack. We can achieve even greater success in this battle.” One of the robe-clad monks who had been following the baron finally spoke up. They weren’t very interested in such a one-sided fight with no suspense. These half-orc slaves probably had never seen a mage cast magic in their lives. Apart from the scene of them collapsing and fleeing in panic, which might seem interesting to the mages, such battles were utterly boring.
Haranto hesitated. These guys posed as if they were formidable but remained motionless, seemingly waiting for his side to attack. Looking around, the half-orc soldiers in a semi-circular defensive formation appeared very cautious. Their large shields covered the bodies of the soldiers in the front, while spears protruded from the gaps between the shields and were planted diagonally in the ground. Behind them, many more half-orcs armed with javelins, hand axes, and even stones waited quietly for the battle to erupt.
Could these half-orcs already have means to resist magical attacks? Haranto quickly dismissed this idea. Half-orcs were naturally magic-blind; teaching them such complex skills would be torture. He had never heard of a mage who was a half-orc, let alone one with half-orc blood. It seemed that having half-orc blood meant they could no longer learn magic. They also couldn’t possibly get help from mages. In the land of Leon, and even throughout the Homer region, aside from the mages under the grand duke in Cyprus, there were no others.
Seeing the mages’ reserved and proud expressions, Haranto quickly made up his mind. As long as this battle saw the defeat of Mando’s mob forces, the slave uprisings across the Leon region could basically be quelled. As for Izmel, Haranto believed the outcome wouldn’t differ much from his side’s. These foolish half-orcs trying to overthrow human rule and gain freedom in such a way were utterly absurd. If such things were allowed to continue, wouldn’t the entire continent fall into chaos?
At the command of Baron Haranto, the three centurions swiftly issued orders to prepare for attack. The formation of the three thousand elite Homerian soldiers changed abruptly, and three dense waves of arrows were quickly assembled, ready to charge at the previously silent mob forces at the command of their leader. Of course, the orcs’ defensive formation was extremely solid and stable. Conquering them with the Homerian army’s current strength would indeed take a considerable amount of time, but they had even more powerful forces at their disposal—their group of magicians.
As magicians clad in dark gray robes appeared at the forefront of the Homerian army, waves of chanting soon echoed across the front lines of both camps. Without any hesitation, the magicians boldly displayed their power to communicate with nature before the orc forces.
Dark clouds gathered in the sky, and spherical bolts of lightning tore through the blue sky before crashing down and exploding among the orc forces. Caught off guard, the orc soldiers frantically tried to avoid these forces from the heavens. Several three-meter-tall earth element giants gradually formed as they absorbed power from the ground. These brownish earth giants swung their two-meter-long arms, their indistinct faces appearing terrifying. They advanced toward the orc camp with slow but steady steps, seemingly determined to absorb everything in their path into their bodies. Meanwhile, huge cracks suddenly appeared in the ground, deep and bottomless, swallowing up the unprepared orc soldiers. In an instant, a long golden fire dragon emerged from the ground, shaking its head and tail violently as it roared with immense heat, rushing toward the orc camp. Several orc soldiers were instantly swept up and turned into struggling figures of fire.
It all took place in just a few minutes. When everything was done, the magicians, satisfied, prepared to wrap up and rest. They glanced at the orc soldiers before them with a look of pity. In the last battle against Banasha, they had simply used lightning magic and earth element giants to scare the ignorant orcs into fleeing in panic. Knowing this might be their last chance to showcase their power in the war to subdue Leon, they wanted to use this opportunity to fully demonstrate their strength. Fire element dragons and earth element Hell Devourers were also unleashed, hoping to see these orcs scream, wail, and panic in front of them—the sense of showing off one’s superiority over the weak indeed brought immense psychological satisfaction.
But something surprising and disappointing happened. The falling spherical lightning exploded within the orc camp. Yet these orcs seemed completely different from those in Banasha’s battle. Although their faces still showed fear and panic, and many orc soldiers died on the spot, some kind of discipline seemed to govern most of them. The chaos among the orc soldiers continued, but someone quickly shouted orders, seemingly directing them to act according to some pre-established plan. Giant wooden shields were quickly raised in the area where the spherical lightning fell. The lightning exploded against the shields, causing casualties among a few orc soldiers, but the magicians did not see the scene they had hoped for.
What surprised them even more was the fate of the earth element giant. As it stepped closer to the orc camp, about to use its formidable strength to crush those poor orc warriors, it vanished suddenly before the magicians’ eyes, turning into a gust of sand without any warning. Apart from a strange spatial distortion that made the magicians realize some magical power might be involved, they detected no other abnormalities.
The Hell Devourer also ran out of power after devouring dozens of orc warriors in no time. Almost immediately, an equally powerful earth element force forced the cracks in the ground to close again. The fire element dragon, which had just managed to approach the orc camp, disappeared without reason after a sudden gust of wind.