Chapter 49: Harvesting Souls (II)

“Where did human soldiers come from at this moment?”
Donald didn’t need to think—surely it was the high-ranking officials of the Human Garrison at the Holy Sword Fortress, fearing he wouldn’t complete the mission, who sent out the scouts they had prepared earlier.
Seeing those scouts analyzing the traces left by his defeat of the orcs, Donald paid no attention and continued moving forward.
A few minutes later, Donald, leading his summoned creatures, spotted a large orc army about five kilometers ahead.
Viewed from above, the numerous orcs resembled countless locusts, creeping toward human territory.
“There are so many orcs!” Donald said, half in awe and half in excitement.
If a thousand people seemed numerous, then an army of ten thousand was like an ocean—endless at first glance. Even tens of thousands of orcs wouldn’t seem excessive. This was the difference caused by perspective; in reality, the number of orcs wasn’t that large, perhaps only close to ten thousand.
Though confident, Donald, after seeing the vast orc army stretching as far as the eye could see through the mountains, lost the urge to confront them head-on.
Even facing enemies hundreds of times his number, Donald wasn’t panicked at all.
To be honest, if forced to fight these orcs head-on, the humans had no chance of winning. The entire garrison, along with the private troops brought by the nobles and civilian adventurers, totaled only a few thousand people, most of whom were makeshift forces. In a direct confrontation on the battlefield, they would have no choice but to flee.
But with the sturdy fortress defenses and the power of mages and other professionals, even if there were more orcs, Donald wouldn’t worry. In fact, he’d be pleased.
In truth, Donald wasn’t just unworried—he was even excited.
To him, these orcs were sources of soul power. With the Soul Sphere, he could absorb the soul power from soul fragments within range, whether they were from orcs he had killed or not, as long as there was no external obstruction.
“If I can eliminate all these orcs, the soul power I gain will be enough to summon two more heroes or create my own powerful army…”

So at this moment, Donald’s gaze at the orcs was like that of a farmer looking at the wheat in his field that had ripened and was ready for harvest. If an outsider saw Donald in this state and didn’t know the secrets of his Book of Truth, they would surely suspect he had some special interest in orcs!
“Uther, that’s the main force of the orcs over there. What do you think we should do?”
For such professional matters, it was still necessary to consult a holy knight with combat experience. Although Donald had some ideas, they hadn’t been tested yet. If something went wrong, he could escape instantly, but his summoned warriors would be wasted here.
“Master, fighting head-on in this situation is undoubtedly suicide. I suggest avoiding direct confrontation for now, waiting for the orc army to split up, or sending troops to provoke them from afar to lure out a small group of orcs and eliminate them, using guerrilla tactics to gradually erode their forces!”
Donald’s own strategy also involved luring small groups of orcs over so as to gain more combat experience before they reached the fortress. Hearing Uther’s advice, he was now prepared to sacrifice some of his summoned creatures to test the orcs’ combat strength and engage in a guerrilla war.
However, through the owl’s perspective, Donald noticed a group of about a hundred orcs separating from the main force and heading his way, which made him smile.
This was truly an unexpected surprise! It seemed even fate was on his side—these orcs were voluntarily coming to their doom!
“I wouldn’t dare confront tens of thousands of orcs head-on. Aren’t these mere hundred of yours just walking into death?”
After saying that, Donald summoned another group of ten elf archers and handed command over to Uther. Uther ordered all his summoned warriors to hide on both sides of the path ahead of the orcs, ready to ambush this small vanguard. Donald himself followed Uther to a concealed position to observe.
Before long, the more than a hundred disorganized orcs rushed into the ambush area in a chaotic mess. But Uther didn’t order an immediate attack; instead, he waited until the orcs had passed them before launching the assault. This way, they could cut off their escape route and ensure none escaped.
“Attack!”

The summoned warriors of the elf and orc tribes, upon hearing the orders, rushed out from beneath the trees, from the grass, and from behind rocks and stones. Arrows from the archers, spears thrown by the troll headhunters, lightning blasts from the lightning lizards, and the less lethal magic arrows from the troll shamanists—all converged like a storm of arrows and spears toward the stunned orcs below.

The sudden attack completely stunned the orc vanguard. By the time they regained their senses and roared in fury, ready to charge back, less than half of the original hundred-orc force remained. The field was filled with the orcs’ screams and cries of pain.

“Roar… Ah…”

The attacks by the summoned warriors were terrifying—not only were they perfectly coordinated, but their discipline and accuracy far surpassed those of the disorganized orcs. Half of the orcs fell to the barrage of arrows and spears. As for the two female hunters, whose moonblade attacks had a shorter range than the others, their role was mainly to finish off the wounded orcs, posing a deadly threat to those still alive.

The lightning lizards and troll shamanists’ attacks were not very powerful, serving only to paralyze and distract the orcs. Yet even these effects were enough to scatter the remaining orcs before they could get within twenty steps of the summoned creatures. Only a few survived, only to be killed one by one by the summoned beings.

To conserve his magic for the upcoming battle between the two armies, Donald did not participate in the attack. Instead, he focused on using his equipment to collect the soul fragments of the dead orcs. However, with so many orcs and the summoned creatures killing so quickly, two or three soul fragments were not collected in time. After sustaining themselves for a short while, they quickly turned into black light and flew back toward the orc camp.

Given the close distance, Donald had no time to think. Knowing that the orcs ahead would soon discover the battle, he ordered his men to gather the loot immediately, store it in the space seal, and then head east back immediately.