The defeated orcs returned to the camp and reported the situation in the forest to the orc commander. Upon learning that the ambushers were only three, the orc commander named Orgrim was surprised by the boldness of his enemy.
"Were the human scouts who attacked you all skilled mages?"
"The enemy's spells were very silent; we didn't know where they were attacking from until the end. Only one human used an enchanted bow, but the other two were mages."
Listening to the story of defeat, Commander Orgrim showed a fierce expression. He raised his fist and struck one of the orcs on the head, killing him instantly.
Combining the intelligence provided by the defeated orcs, the commander had roughly figured out the details of the battlefield. He wanted to send men to hunt down Damian and the others, but he was also somewhat worried about the enemy's silent skills.
Furthermore, the squad stationed here was not too large because they were currently under constant attack from the front, so they had to hold out here. However, they couldn't be the ones to retreat because they had to cut off the enemy's supplies until they were finished.
"Humans are very cunning. If I leave the camp and go into the forest to pursue the attackers, and the enemy attacks the camp at that moment, what should I do then? The sun is about to rise, so we can't do much now. It's better to leave this problem to the demon leading the front attack." Orgrim muttered these words while sending some orcs to collect the corpses and find any useful supplies for later.
About an hour and a half later, a black spot appeared in the sky in the distance.
Seeing that the demon mages had arrived, the orcs stationed in the camp finally felt relieved.
"How is the enemy situation?" A demon who seemed to be a very ill-tempered Demon King's General directly asked upon seeing all the decapitated orcs on one side.
"Last night, human scouts came to attack. Before dawn, I sent a team of soldiers into the forest to capture the enemy. They suffered heavy losses. The deputy leader of the squad died, and six soldiers died together. According to the reports of the defeated troops, the humans who attacked had enchanted bows and arrows, and others were very skilled mages whom even the demons you left stationed here didn't dare to face." Orgrim used his troops very cautiously. Although he suffered losses, he explained last night's situation in detail.
"Why don't you send troops to pursue the enemy? Are you afraid of the humans' cold arrows?" Seeing the demon ask bluntly, Orgrim explained, "Of course, I'm not afraid of humans. Our group's main task is to block the passage, so I didn't want to weaken the forces stationed here."
"You know better than us; humans are very cunning. Last night, they sent scouts to attack the nightguards. Our intention was to eliminate the scouts late at night, but we were ambushed by humans and suffered significant losses. The enemy's situation is unknown. What if I go in search of those mages, and the humans attack the camp? I wouldn't be able to maintain the camp as it's my task, and we would all be killed by Great Durotan if we didn't die at the hands of the enemy first."
Orgrim was not a common orc; his body was larger, and he carried two one-handed axes on his back. Considering his work and that he was risking his soldiers' lives, he looked at the demon and said, "Now that the humans have obtained intelligence about the camp, our already dangerous situation will become deadly. If you send demons to this place to attack the rear post, we could solve all the problems."
The demon named Gul frowned and said somewhat annoyedly, "The humans in the defense line are very tenacious. Although we captured four castles and broke through half of the defense line, it will be very complicated to break through the rear defense line."
"Moreover, Baron Harden's cavalry is still roaming the periphery, holding off our wolf cavalry. My lord Durotan sent a group of demons to attack the human Baron a few days ago, but his assassination has not yet been successful."
Saying this, Gul paused and moved his hand to float on the ground, murmuring, "I will go straight to Baron Harden's castle and take a look. If I encounter humans on the way, I will brutally kill them all."
Upon hearing this, Orgrim immediately said, "It's better to be careful. The troops stationed at Baron Harden's Castle have a squad of the same level as the front; it won't be easy to break through their defenses either."
"You're very afraid of humans, Orgrim. I thought your kind feared nothing in this world, including us demons." Gul didn't bother about this and said, "The human cavalry is good; I haven't seen monstrous wolf riders emerge victorious when facing them."
"They have powerful enchanted bows and arrows in their equipment. I'm just cautious; humans in this war seem to have no honor."
The demon Gul disregarded Orgrim's warnings while floating in the air and shot up into the air without saying another word.
Leaving the canyon, Gul could see the dense forests on both sides of the road. Although Gul's vision is several times better than that of humans, it's hard to clearly see what's happening beneath his feet.
Damian was not a native of the north, nor was Luke, but Luther was like a man moving through his ivy. He had experienced this war his whole life and was more than willing to die for it if necessary. His family, like many soldiers who die every day, were massacred by demons, so he pledged to kill as many demons as possible.
As for the demons, they are natural mages and far superior to humans; they are recognized as the only ones who have figured out how to fly through magic and currently dominate the air in the war.
These enemy mages are the demons' scouts in the north; they fly very high above cities without being detected and are responsible for sending everything they see to other demons to serve them in battles.
If they are in an open area, common scouts will hardly save their lives when they encounter a harpy. Even in the mountains and forests, many scouts die each year at the hands of demons.
While Damian fled with the rest, the demon was very fast, and somehow, he found Damian and the others on the way; they were rushing towards the castle that had been turned into a fortress.
Upon seeing the demon appear, Luther reacted immediately by shooting arrows, and Luke created magical shields to cover them all. Right now, if the demon dares to approach, they are all sure of their victory.
Demons may be stronger, but Damian was confident of winning battles against them because he had the advantage of hiding his mana and all his hidden cards to win any battle that presented itself.
In every battle in the north, many demons were killed by human mages, so there was no reason to fear them.
When the demon looked at numerous archers on the castle walls, the demon didn't want to approach, and upon seeing clearly the mage leading the group, he returned to the mountains to report the current situation of Baron Harden's castle to the orcs.
After receiving information about the surroundings of the castle, Orc officers were summoned for a pre-battle meeting.
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"Gathering intelligence from all aspects, demons on the front captured three human fortresses yesterday, managing to kill a captain leading one of them."
"Human scouts attacked Orgrim's squad, blocking the canyon, ambushing them, and easily eliminating numerous orcs without them being able to do anything."
"The main human force is stationed with Baron Harden. The castle in the rear, where human supplies are kept, only has one squad. The city's defense is relatively strict, and there should be more than ten mages among them."
"We managed to kill that woman named Sally; if we keep pushing, we will slaughter the humans on the border before they send more annoying troops."
"Two days ago, Baron Harden's cavalry attacked our logistics transport team and killed orc soldiers, managing to kill great leaders."
"The Monstrous Wolf Cavalry Brigade was stealthily attacked by Baron Harden last night. More than a hundred thirty riders died, and five hundred were injured."
The orc intelligence officer continued recounting the battle history from the past day, giving the present orc officers a general idea.
After the intelligence officer recounted all the information received, Orgrim raised his head and asked, "Can our cavalry continue fighting?"
The human resistance was very fierce. By the end of the battle, the Monstrous Wolf Cavalry had suffered more than half of its losses.
If it was necessary to destroy the castle in the rear, they should do it and make a final attack when the human troops in the remaining three fortresses come out to counterattack. If they miss the opportunity to regroup and connect with supplies, they will gain ground in the mountains before they send more soldiers.
This was the plan elaborated by the demons; of course, it could fail like any other plan.
But now they had the humans cornered, so they wouldn't allow any mistakes to escape them.