novelThe Winds of War
| ← Ch.180 | Ch.182 → |
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After the decree from the Emperor of Crete, the counts and viscounts of several large territories in the vicinity immediately organized all of the local nobles to gear up and dispatch soldiers. The knights then mounted their war horses and charged together.
Under the command of the emperor, they began their bloody campaign. As the lords led an army of cavalries and soldiers, many merchants followed along to sell their products.
The logistical support team followed behind them in a long line. These merchants were tasked with handling all of the materials that were consumed, the properties that were looted, and all of the needs of the soldiers. As such, every war yielded them a significant profit.
The cavalry took the lead. Close behind them were the infantry, the archers, and the spearmen, who wore chainmail. They all marched in neat rows, the sound of their footsteps thundering across the earth.
As they moved, dust rose up, kicked up by both the horses' and the men's footsteps. An oddly oppressive and tense atmosphere was created by the clanging of the long swords against the shields as they marched. Their flag fluttered in the dusty skies, as the army crossed into the borders of Urabell and opened the curtains of the war.
Simultaneously, in the province of Urabell, chaos and violence was erupting. All of the cities and towns were closed off, while all of the young people in the city were being mobilized to guard it.
"Hurry, let us in!"
"I heard that the orcs slaves are coming soon."
"Can we defend the city?"
All the civilians from the towns and villages took their families and all of their belongings to flee to the cities, hurriedly congregating at the gates to enter and hide. Soon after this, a large orc army appeared in the distance. As they travelled, they cut down trees, quickly building various siege weapons out of them in order to attack the city.
As soon as the orc army arrived, they crazily mounted the city wall, thus starting a fierce struggle against the armed self defense forces led by the youths. The ordinary people within the city hid and shivered in fear.
The village was soon burned, flames lighting up the skies. The thick black smoke could be seen from dozens of miles away. The 200, 000 orc slaves had broken free from their shackles, only to return to suffer a thousand times over in the Crete Empire! As such, many of the crazed orcs were filled with hatred and anger, leading them to slaughter and loot everyone and everything that came into their paths.
A large number of cities were destroyed amid the crazy frenzy. The orcs seized an abundance of wealth as they burned and looted the towns. Currently, the slave army was now surrounding the Urabell Governor in the provincial capital of Maples.
Seeing that the slave army had completely spun out of control, the group that had secretly planned and instigated the rebellion disappeared into the night. Their hearts were grieved to see that they brought such a huge disaster upon the entire Urabell province.
The army that entered Urabell did not rush to face the orcs. Instead, they began to route some of their smaller forces elsewhere, scattering them around the outskirts of the city. Thus, the areas that the orcs controlled were gradually eroded away. The orcs' options were beginning to shrink rapidly, as nearly 200, 000 orcs had jointly attacked Maples for more than half a month, yet the city still refused to fall!
A large number of bodies had been left, piled up by the city wall. The whole situation immediately seemed to have tilted in the favorable direction of the Crete Empire.
Sensing this shift, the slave army was in the final throes of madness. A large number of surviving orcs formed scattered temporary regiments, armed only with the weapons that they had stolen.
They began to look at Maples again, seeing it as their last hope for survival. They also sent messengers to their home base, the powerful Holy Seville Empire, in search of aid and reinforcements.
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Meanwhile, back in the Holy Seville Empire, a large number of generals and noble knights in Sarga City were crowded in the palace hall. They were all extremely excited. However, the Emperor Verthandi was not among them.
"Do these darn humans think that we are still the same as we were a few decades ago?" A wolfman slammed his fist down on the stone table.
"How dare they humiliate the emperor this way? We cannot tolerate this! It is time to release the decades of hatred that we have accumulated since the destruction of the Kingdom of Menkaure. They took the lives of hundreds of thousands of orcs, after all!" a leopard man proclaimed.
As he spoke, the generals seated around the table all showed a deep hatred in their eyes. The leopard-people would never forget the damage that the Crete Empire and the Church of Light had dealt upon their homeland.
"It's time to decide the fate of the humans and the orcs! Who is the real master of Alen Continent? We have to show them how we have changed! We are no longer little powerless beings that they can bully. We are the powerful Holy Seville Empire!" a man from Verthandi's own race, an old lion noble, shouted out, then added, "We shall slaughter our way up the entire Red River Plains! This has continued for far too long. It is time to restore the glory of the orcs from the ancient times!"
Everyone was exuberant. The Holy Seville Empire had long been eager to start a war against humanity, but had only lacked a good enough reason. The suppression of His Majesty the Emperor had finally supplied one!
Verthandi had been thinking about establishing diplomatic relations with the Crete Empire, which would enable them to start trading, to cooperate in maintaining peace, and to suppress the war mongers in the Holy Seville Empire. However, after Allen was sent to the Crete Empire, the situation had completely changed.
The arrogance of the Crete Empire, coupled with the sudden rebellion of hundreds of thousands of orc slaves, made the voice of the main war party much more compelling. A large number of Holy Seville civilians were sympathetic to the plight of these orc slaves, and they hoped that the empire could save their enslaved brethren. As such, they pleaded with the empire to send troops.
Verthandi stood in the lounge behind the palace hall, where eight of her personal Holy Knights were standing by. She had gained control over the entire Holy Seville Empire with their support.
The armored Knights dared not say a word. They simply sat on the long table in the lounge, gazing at their emperor as she leaned on the window, a troubled expression on her face.
Verthandi wore a skirted armor, with a gorgeous cloak. A crown laid upon her golden hair, which she tied back from her face. Her white skin and soft face were creased in a solemn and dignified expression. Her beautiful golden eyes looked at the clouds in the distances.
She knew that she had to make a big decision. Even the emperor would not be able to ignore the voices of so many nobles and civilians in the Holy Seville Empire. She also knew that she could not abandon the hundreds of thousands of orc slaves...
However, she also was aware that, if she decided to engage in war, it would mean sacrificing the lives of countless humans and orcs.
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