On the plain, soldiers whose numbers had already swelled into the thousands stood arrayed in orderly ranks. But when the party arrived there, unexpected guests were waiting for them.
They were the Four Great Death Knights who had been sent with the undead army. Perhaps because they had been instructed in advance, the soldiers did not attack them. They merely blocked them from approaching the portal. Since there was no need to provoke trouble for nothing, the Four Knights had obediently waited there for Damon.
When he saw Damon, Helbertron approached, his eyes flashing.
“There were more orcs than expected, so we could not defeat them. There should still be a little over ten thousand left in the Elven Forest.”
“And the undead soldiers you took with you?”
“I gave no order to retreat, so they’ve probably been annihilated. More importantly, what are those shabby fellows?”
Helbertron’s gaze turned to the Death Knights standing behind the party members. Pressed down by the overwhelming aura of the Four Great Knights, the Death Knights flinched and took a step back. Instinctively, they sensed that these beings were so powerful they could not even be compared to themselves. Damon replied listlessly.
“They’re fellows who followed Naidelhark during the Dark War in the past. They said they would follow me.”
A strange light rose from within Helbertron’s helmet.
“Then does that mean we have subordinates now? Excellent. That fool Winslot was so stupid he was giving us headaches.”
Damon waved a hand as if he found it bothersome.
“You’ve done well. Take these ones inside and rest.”
“I suppose we should. If we are to educate our newly acquired subordinates…”
The Four Great Knights beckoned to the Death Knights with triumphant expressions.
Even if they were all Death Knights, their levels were different, so the Four Great Knights would be able to control them without difficulty. Glancing at the Death Knights as they hesitantly approached, Damon silently opened Increcia. The figures of the Four Great Knights and the dozen or so Death Knights soon vanished from that place.
After closing Increcia, Damon looked at Shrekheimer.
“We’ll have to deal with the remaining orcs first.”
Shrekheimer nodded and hurried over to Viscount Mihail.
“I apologize, but there is a matter that must be handled, so I believe we will need you to mobilize the troops.”
Viscount Mihail answered with a gentle smile.
“You mean the orcs in the forest. Understood. Since it is within the forest, I will send the light cavalry who just arrived. If we commit ten thousand-man units, we should be able to minimize casualties.”
“That would be best. If necessary, the elven archers will provide support.”
Viscount Mihail smiled and shook his head.
“Do not worry. I will take this opportunity to show you the power of the First Legion’s light cavalry.”
At Viscount Mihail’s words, Shrekheimer nodded as if there was reason in them.
“Indeed, we cannot send heavily armored knights into a dense forest, so light cavalry would be the most suitable.”
When Viscount Mihail raised his hand, a group of light cavalry approached. Because they wore relatively light armor, they were a branch of troops that compensated for the inevitable loss in defense with agile mobility.
They began preparing for battle. Once they equipped themselves with lances, heavy swords, and leather shields, their armament was complete. Olivier, who had been watching in silence, stepped forward.
“We will guide you. You cannot enter the Elven Forest without our guidance.”
“We will be in your care.”
At that moment, Crancia approached Viscount Mihail and whispered in his ear. It was advice given out of anxiety that the soldiers might be captivated by the elves’ beauty and cause trouble.
After hearing him, Viscount Mihail smiled and replied.
“You need not worry. The First Legion has the strictest discipline in Arcadia.”
“If that is the case, I am relieved…”
This time, Shrekheimer stepped in.
“Before reaching the forest, there are many man-eating trees. We have opened a path, but it may have been blocked again, so have a large number of mages accompany the light cavalry. The man-eating trees are weak against fire-type magic.”
“I will give that order.”
When Viscount Mihail nodded and issued the command, the mages who had just arrived joined the light cavalry one after another.
Once their preparations were complete, they began marching with confident bearing. The Sentinels, including Olivier, stood at the head and guided them. Of course, Illumina was among them as well.
Mitchell, who had been staring in that direction with an ambiguous expression, suddenly shouted.
“See you later, Illumina!”
Perhaps she heard him, for Illumina turned her head. After sending Mitchell a soft smile, she soon disappeared into the forest. Mitchell stared blankly at the forest where she had vanished, his face full of regret. Behind her, countless light cavalrymen were streaming in one after another.
“Chwik. Is it over now?”
Chief Patar raised his weary eyes and swept his gaze over the battlefield. The forest, littered chaotically with corpses and broken weapons, was, in a word, a complete mess. The blood-soaked bodies of fallen orc warriors and the remains left behind by the undead soldiers mingled together, transforming the Elven Forest utterly into a forest of death. The battle in the Elven Forest had ultimately ended in the orcs’ victory. The four Death Knights had fought with all their spirit to the very end, but in the end, they could not overcome their inferiority in both combat strength and numbers.
Not a single undead soldier who had stormed in survived.
When the tide of battle turned decisively against them, the Death Knights left the battlefield without hesitation. It happened right before the undead army was annihilated. However, the orc warriors did not dare pursue them. Their losses were so severe that they first had to reorganize their ranks. From the battlefield, the screams and groans of the wounded rose intermittently.
Chief Patar gave an order with an expressionless face.
“Chwik. Deal with the wounded. There have been some sacrifices, but our attack on the elven tribe will proceed as planned.”
At those words, the warriors began moving without hesitation. The way orcs dealt with the wounded was extremely simple. They selected only those who could move on their own feet, formed them into a separate unit, and killed off all the rest.
“Chwiiieeek!”
Soon, the pitiful screams of dying wounded orcs echoed through the place. Because the orcs’ birthrate and growth rate were so high, this method was the most rational for them. The disposal of the wounded continued for nearly an hour, and several hills made of corpses appeared in the forest. They had once been comrades, but from now on, they were food that would fill the tribe’s bellies.
Chief Patar ordered a separate unit to transport the corpses back to the tribe. Since it was a unit made up of lightly wounded soldiers who would have difficulty fighting, the loss of their fighting strength was not great even if they were absent. After that, Chief Patar intended to use the remaining warriors to attack the elven village as planned.
Unfortunately, however, that plan could not be carried out. It was because, while they were reorganizing their ranks, the sound of horse hooves suddenly rang out from within the forest.
Dudududu.
At the earth-shaking sound of hooves, the faces of the orc warriors stiffened. They could not even estimate how many there were.
“Chwik. H-humans.”
The only race that rode horses into battle was humans. To orcs, horses were nothing more than beasts that filled their stomachs. Faced with this unexpected situation, the orc warriors were thrown into panic. It was only natural that they were bewildered, since they were about to face cavalry in the middle of such a dense forest.
First of all, they had no weapons suited to fighting cavalry. They had come to fight the elven Sentinels, whose main weapons were bows and arrows, and so they had not prepared the long weapons necessary to deal with cavalry. While the warriors were floundering, not knowing what to do, the cavalry finally appeared.
Without the slightest hesitation, they charged mercilessly into the orc warriors who were hurriedly trying to reform their ranks. The sight of them charging in orderly rows and columns was enough to chill the hearts of the watching orc warriors.
“Kyaaaak!”
Orc warriors pierced through by lance blades collapsed with death cries. Countless orc warriors had their heads sent flying by the heavy swords swung by the cavalrymen. After one formation swept past, the next formation came crashing in. Under the successive attacks, the orc warriors fell in droves without putting up any meaningful resistance. The cavalry were so numerous that they were impossible to count.
A few orc warriors bared their tusks and burned with fighting spirit, but it was useless. The short-hafted glaives they had prepared were utterly ineffective against cavalrymen mounted on horses. The short weapons they had brought out of concern that larger ones would be cumbersome instead became the very reason their lives were cut short.
Faced with wave after wave of cavalry charging in one after another, the orc warriors eventually lost their will to fight. The light cavalry of the First Legion used their distinctive mobility to mercilessly cut down the orc warriors milling about in confusion.
“Chwik. R-retreat!”
Chief Patar’s desperate shout vanished in vain beneath the heaven-shaking thunder of hooves. Their ranks continued to crumble, and in the end, the orc warriors who had lost their fighting spirit scattered in all directions and began to retreat.
But retreating was no easier. Their opponents were cavalrymen with far superior mobility. Even if they tried to flee, there was no way they could escape. The well-trained cavalrymen swept across the battlefield in every direction, driving their lance tips without mercy into the backs of the fleeing orc warriors.
The warriors of the Patar tribe were being steadily annihilated by the attack of the mighty cavalry of the Crosen Empire. Their force numbered ten thousand, but because they had been exhausted by the successive attacks from the elves and the undead, they were struck down without even being able to properly exert their strength. The cavalry of the First Legion, fighting their first battle on the forgotten continent of Trubenia, adorned that first battle with a great victory, proving themselves worthy of the name elite.
Around that time, Damon and his party were facing Duke Fershtein, who had crossed through the portal.
With a smile filling his face, Duke Fershtein praised them for their achievements.
“To think you completed such a difficult mission. You have truly worked hard.”
“There was nothing much to call hard work. It was a great relief that the portal had not been completely destroyed.”
“No. If not for Damon and the Kasim Mercenary Corps, no one would have been able to complete the mission.”
At the repeated praise, Damon wore an awkward expression.
“By the way, just as you said, Crancia was a great help during this mission. Since the mission is over, I think it would be best to have him return to his original post.”
Duke Fershtein smiled and looked at Crancia. His eyes were clearly filled with pride in his son. Since it was Damon, and not someone else, who had acknowledged him, his heart could not help but swell even more.
“You have done well. The Duke Knights will cross over shortly. Return when they arrive.”
Crancia answered without hesitation.
“Understood, Father.”
Duke Fershtein turned his head, and this time his gaze fell on Shrekheimer. Receiving that gaze, Shrekheimer approached the duke.
He had a duty to explain to Duke Fershtein the things that had happened here.
“As I told you, we have formed an alliance with the elves. They will become reliable allies for the punitive army from now on.”
Duke Fershtein’s eyes widened.
“I heard the explanation in advance, but to think we would form an alliance with the elves I had only heard of in stories… But were you able to form an alliance simply by protecting their territory?”
“Yes. What the elves most desperately need is land where they can cultivate their forest. And they have suffered much oppression from the orcs until now. If we keep our promise, they will be of great help in the racial war to come.”
Duke Fershtein nodded silently.
“I understand. I know better than anyone the importance of a promise. When the war ends in victory, I will make certain to preserve the elves’ territory.”
After finishing, Duke Fershtein looked over the faces of the party members one by one.
“You have accomplished a great task, so you should rest for the time being. I will take full responsibility for dealing with the orc race. Rest and conserve your strength, and step forward when you are needed.”
Kasim answered with a gentle smile.
“Do you mean when the dragons appear?”
“That is right. If you can stop them, I can lead the war to victory.”
“Do not worry. We will do our utmost.”
At that moment, a low voice came from outside the door.
“Your Grace. A report has come in that the light cavalry sent as the vanguard achieved a great victory. They are said to have taken roughly ten thousand orc heads.”
The duke answered without hesitation. He had already grasped the general situation through Shrekheimer.
“Send a magical communication to the light cavalry immediately and have them surround the orc village without a single gap so that no messengers can slip out. Then dispatch heavy infantry equipped with siege weapons and have them wipe out the village. Not a single orc is to be allowed to escape.”
“Understood, Your Grace.”
The adjutant answered respectfully and withdrew.
Watching him, Damon felt himself grow excited despite himself.
‘As expected, he’s a thorough man. It seems I truly chose the right person.’
With the activation of the Dark Portal, all of Damon’s arrangements had come to an end. As he had intended, the great army of Arcadia crossing over into Trubenia had become reality. Now, only the time for Damon’s revenge remained. The more the orcs’ foothold in Trubenia shrank, the higher the chance that he could achieve his vengeance and rescue Daphne. As if to commend the toil he had endured for five hundred years, troops continued to pour through the portal again and again.