The city hall of Bracada has now been converted into General Sanders' command post. At this moment, the general is dazed in one of the small rooms.
The room is filled with the stench of blood and decay, and hundreds of flies buzz around in the cramped space. In the center of the room lie three mutilated corpses. The blood on the bodies has turned black, and the exposed muscles have withered, twisted together with the dark blood, while some internal organs are visible. The dried-out organs, exposed to the highland air, resemble leather, and the bones protrude from the surface. Only one of the corpses has an intact head, clearly showing the expression of dying, but its body is unrecognizable, with flies crawling into its mouth, which is gummed shut by black blood, and into its nostrils. Another corpse has half its face crushed, with its eyeball hanging beside the socket, dried out like a shriveled grape. The last corpse shows little injury, but only the lower half of its head remains, or rather the lower jaw, as the upper portion has been neatly severed.
Until now, while he has received information from various sources regarding the situation in the city of Orford, there has been no detailed news about the orc troops. What kind of units are they composed of? What weapons do they use? What is their combat power? All of this remains unclear. The damned giant monster also seems to have vanished into the wilderness; surely it couldn't have been eliminated by those orcs. The general cannot believe that at all.
Ten days ago, the general discovered traces of a small group of orcs roaming in the wilderness. He immediately ordered a hundred elite soldiers to capture a few prisoners for strict interrogation. However, those hundred soldiers vanished without a trace, like a cow sinking into the sea. A few days later, he sent out people to search again, but all they brought back were these three corpses.
Just as the general was fuming with irritation over these inexplicable corpses, news came this morning that the enormous responsibility for the loss of hundreds of mages had shifted to him, as the high priest Nagsis was dead without evidence to counter him. The court was already discussing a change of command.
The general was furious and nearly considered marching back to the royal capital to slaughter the Ernie family's political faction. But that was out of the question; he was a subject and could not defy the emperor's orders. Moreover, the existence of the Paladins was to prevent such occurrences.
At that moment, a soldier entered, trembling, to report that the new high priest sent by the Magic Academy had arrived.
He had not received any military notification, and without a doubt, this was yet another lackey sent by the politicians.
"Drag that bastard out and behead him. No, wait…" The general shouted in anger but quickly remembered that this was not one of his subordinates. According to protocol, he was required to go out and personally welcome the new arrival. However, given his current mood, such formalities were out of the question. He barked, "Bring him here to see me."
In the hall of the city hall, the general met the newly arrived high priest.
"So, you are the new high priest?" the general attempted to scare the young man in front of him half to death with his lion-like voice and gaze. "Why didn't you bring any attendants?"
"Because there seems to be no rule stating that I must," the new high priest replied calmly, unfazed by the general's authority, as he took out some documents from his robe. "Here is the appointment letter from the Magic Academy, along with identification and tokens."
The general's piercing gaze swept over the young man. He was not what he had expected; this young man's weathered face did not display the solemnity of a cleric, nor did he exhibit the discipline and vigor of a soldier. However, his composed demeanor and some hidden aura beneath the clerical garb gave the general an inexplicable feeling of strangeness.
But having already planned, the general decided to give him a taste of reality.
"After so many years of study at the Magic Academy, you must be knowledgeable and experienced, High Priest," the general asked.
"No, not really…"
Another playboy who has no real experience. Noticing the high priest's somewhat flustered expression, the general's eye twitched, and he felt his canine teeth seemed sharper than usual, as if he could bite this useless fool to death with a single snap.
The general snorted coldly and waved his hand. "Please come with me. I would like to ask you some questions." The general led the high priest to the room where the corpses were kept and pointed at them, saying, "These soldiers were killed by those orcs, yet we still have not seen how the orc soldiers fight or what their combat power is. I would like to ask you, High Priest, to use your vast knowledge to help us find some clues from these corpses."
Anyone seeing a corpse on the battlefield for the first time would be terrified. He needed to completely intimidate this pampered fool, making him understand that war is not merely what is recorded in books, not a game played by politicians, and certainly not a casino for young men dreaming of glory and prospects. Only then would he think twice about acting recklessly like the previous fool.
The high priest's expression changed as he stared at the three corpses, deeply furrowing his brows.
The general smiled smugly, eager to see the new high priest vomit or faint.
However, the high priest sighed and stepped forward to examine the bodies closely, even starting to turn them over.
"The ribs of this corpse are completely crushed inward, and there are severe indentations on the body. It was killed by a giant claw… seems like it was a wyvern. Did you send soldiers into the Lizard Marsh?" the new high priest asked blandly.
The general was taken aback. That was the corpse he had been unable to identify the cause of death for.
"No." Unconsciously, the general's imposing manner had diminished significantly. "This was a unit sent out ten days ago. According to reports from scouts, there was a small reconnaissance team of orcs in the wilderness, so I sent out troops to capture them… and this is still far from the Lizard Marsh; there shouldn't be any wyverns around here."
"It's likely those orcs have tamed the wyverns themselves," the high priest replied.
"Impossible; no one has ever tamed such creatures, let alone orcs," the general thought the young man was completely talking nonsense.
"Lizardmen can steal eggs from the marshes, just like we raise hunting dogs from a young age. If they have the ability to build a city, they naturally have the capacity to do this," the high priest stated with certainty, as if he had witnessed it himself.
That sounded quite reasonable. The general had no words to counter it and could only listen.
The new high priest continued to examine the corpses casually, like a butcher inspecting pork, continuing with deductions that left the general astounded. "This one was killed by a werewolf. From the wounds on the body, it was struck to death by a very heavy weapon, likely a mace or a spiked club. Look, here are the marks of spikes being dragged through. Since this is merely a reconnaissance team of orcs, there shouldn't be any large and cumbersome ogres among them, so the one capable of using such a weapon must be a werewolf. This one shows no other injuries; only its head has been cleanly severed in half, which should have been done by a lizardman, as they possess the agility and strength to do so."
Listening to this, all the general's former bravado was completely replaced by astonishment. Even he could only identify the weapon that caused the injuries, while everything else remained a mystery to him.
"Since they have such convenient reconnaissance tools as wyverns, they can easily observe the situation from the air. There is no need to send out any reconnaissance team. This small group of orcs was likely just testing our army's attitude. And since our army took the initiative to attack them, they naturally wouldn't want to be captured, so they retaliated. Equipped orc warriors are certainly not something ordinary soldiers can contend with," the high priest shifted his gaze from the corpses to the general, speaking blandly. "You shouldn't have rashly dispatched troops."
The general was stunned for a long time before he finally reacted. He nodded, his voice deflated. "Alright, please attend to your own matters, High Priest; I will handle the military affairs myself." Disappointment and frustration were replaced by respect, and he nodded again. "Thank you for your guidance."
Asa stepped out of the city hall, letting out a long sigh, trying to blow away the stench of corpses that seemed to have seeped into his very being.
The once vibrant streets of Bracada were now bustling with soldiers armed with knives and guns. The creative inns were filled to the brim with weapons and supplies. The entire city was enveloped in an atmosphere of impending slaughter.
According to Bishop Ronis, the lives of those on the streets could be in his hands, and just thinking about it made him feel exhausted.
The sunset painted the clouds bright red, and he could still smell the odor of corpses in his nostrils. The blood-red twilight looked ominously foreboding.
An owl perched on a nearby tree, staring blankly at him.
"Why is he here?" Vadenina exclaimed in surprise, watching the image in the crystal ball.
"That's the young priest sent there by Ronis. I was wondering where he mysteriously found someone; it turns out to be the one you mentioned," said a necromancer, gazing into the crystal ball.
Vadenina sat around a finely crafted round table with four other necromancers. Although the number of attendees was still less than half, this gathering was a rare event for the Necromancer Guild. Normally, the members were scattered, each engaged in their own affairs, maintaining their individual identities and lifestyles. Only during occasional meetings and events would they come together.
"So, this is the kid who fell into the Sun Well? The elves are hunting him everywhere. It seems he also stole a leaf from the World Tree and ran away. This is getting interesting," the other three necromancers chimed in, discussing animatedly.
The necromancer who knew Asa turned to Vadenina and said, "I heard you used the World Tree's leaf to create a real Dark Dragon, but it was ultimately destroyed by someone else, and even the leaf was taken. Is that true? You really went all out. If we could get it back, we might be able to study it and use it to craft a few treasures."
"What I do is my own business," Vadenina replied coldly.
"Women really are extravagant creatures," the necromancer said, surprisingly maintaining a sense of humor as he looked at Vadenina and chuckled. "Even if you're no longer an animal, you're still so wasteful. Haha, sorry, just a joke. While old Ronis wants to quell this war, we certainly don't want that, especially since there hasn't been a decent war in a long time. The smell of blood and corpses is almost gone from the continent's air. We're all just waiting to see the fun. But we can't be as extravagant as this lady; let's use some economical and efficient methods." He turned to another necromancer. "Hey, can I borrow those gargoyles you just studied?"