Throne of the North.

Chapter 728 The Second Orc War (XIV)

The sun's rays scattered across the earth, and tens of thousands of werewolves receded like a tide, leaving the Fragrant Hills Plain in ruins.

This place was originally fragrant and rich, and the spices produced in the Fragrant Mountain Plain had flowed to all parts of the world through the Northern Merchant Guild. However, after this war, filth and stench can be seen and smelled everywhere.

"Devastation" is a simple description of the land after the war, but the words alone do not accurately depict the true state of the war.

The oil was ignited, and the burning forest is still filled with black smoke, charred trees, and filthy land. Inside the fortress, there are charred corpses and ruins of collapsed houses everywhere. The flames have been extinguished, but the pungent smoke still makes the eyes of the slaves cleaning up the battlefield cloudy.

Snowmelt and blood mingled together, mixing in the dark soil. Ryan frowned as he looked at the desolate scene on the Fragrant Mountain Plain.

"The orcs could return at any time, so the construction of the fortress must be accelerated."

"Have those craftsmen speed things up. It would be a waste not to use the resources the Empire sent. And those mages, give them money and have them reinforce the fortress."

Ryan's gaze fell towards the North; something was clearly wrong within the werewolves' ranks.

They don't seem to be in harmony with the gods who caused the werewolves to go berserk in last night's battle; they seem to be rejecting that irrational savagery.
Ryan's eyes were thoughtful as he prepared to write a letter to the Stone Castle, where Earl William was located.

It's not just about the strange things that happen to werewolves.

The Northern Frontier, the Silvermoon Royal Court.

From the Xiangshan Plain fortress, countless werewolves surrounded the royal court.

The lower-ranking werewolves on the periphery were confused, while the clan werewolves inside followed behind their clan leader, glaring angrily at the werewolf high priest.

"Erdie, I'm going to kill you!"

The awakened Draco clan chief charged furiously at Erdi, but Erdi, having undergone the sacrifice the previous night, received a response and blessing from a great being. Holy divine power surrounded him, and even the legendary werewolf clan chief could not get close to Erdi.

"Draco, how dare you disrespect me?"

Erdi stared coldly at the legendary clan leader, whose body was charred black. The scepter in his hand surged with immense divine power, and the next moment, a dazzling silver streak descended from the sky.

"Roar--"

The legendary power makes the werewolf's body indestructible; with terrifying vitality and regenerative abilities, Draco's flesh and hair are regenerating.

High Priest Erdi could not kill it, but the pain was real, which made Draco even angrier.

Despite the oppressive power of this divine force, Draco continued to move forward, trying to get closer to the werewolf high priest.

"What are you all standing there for? It dared to awaken the curse deep within our bloodline! It's unforgivable! Kill it!"

Draco roared loudly. Among the orc royal families, the werewolves had the most legends, and Draco was even a latecomer. The leaders of the other major clans were no less powerful than him.

Of the most powerful werewolf clans, only the former leader of 'Gag' was a Saint, but he had died at the hands of human nobles, and the current 'Gag' was no longer worthy of the title of a top clan.

Legend has it that several legendary werewolf leaders also had unfriendly eyes, filled with intense killing intent, especially the Silver Moon Werewolf King, who, despite his noble status, was like a wild beast.

This is what werewolves care about most. They pride themselves on having the highest civilization among orcs. Their ancient werewolf ancestors came to the orc world from the human world. In contrast to their civilization, werewolves are naturally extremely arrogant.

This arrogance also makes werewolves extremely averse to wild power.

Therefore, it's not just a curse that kills gods deep within one's bloodline.

Seeing the hostile gazes of the werewolves around him, Erdi finally became nervous. After all... these werewolf leaders were now outside the royal court, not inside the Silvermoon Royal Court. There, no matter how many legends there were, they would be suppressed by the power of the royal court.

"I am a servant of the great Lord, what do you want to do?"

"Do you want to betray the great gods?"

The werewolves let out low growls, their anger and fear making the ordeal all the more unbearable.
On the one hand, they feared the greatness of God's power; on the other hand, they hated everything Erdi had done.

"All of this is a great divine revelation. My Lord has bestowed upon you even greater power, yet you dare to doubt the Lord's grace."

Erdy's loud rebuke, so loud that it momentarily suppressed the aura of all the werewolves around him.

This is the authority of the gods. Even though Erdy had no helpers, his mere skin was enough to deter all the werewolves from opposing him.

Seeing the werewolves around him behaving this way, Erdy couldn't help but laugh. He raised his head and shouted:
"You bunch of fools, why aren't you..."

"kill him!"

Draco charged at High Priest Erdi, his claws reaching for Erdi, his divine power spreading out as he clashed with the legendary werewolf's strength.

"Damn it!"

The legendary pressure covered the doorway, Erdy's expression was ugly, and most importantly, due to Draco's foolish actions, the werewolves around him let out howls.

"Kill this traitor!"

The other legendary clan leaders also made their move, and Erdi gritted his teeth, his pupils turning blood red.

"Roar--"

With a roar, a massive divine power descended from the sky, instantly suppressing all the werewolves within a hundred-meter radius of Erdi.

Even legends are no exception.

During last night's sacrifice, Erdi received too many blessings from the gods. That great being who has never slept has always been watching the war on this land.

As the divine light descended, the werewolf army's bared teeth and snarled expressions turned into fear and awe.

Erdi stood still, holding the high priest's scepter.

"What exactly do you stupid trash want?"

"How dare they defy the divine decree!"

A pair of struggling wolf eyes were still fixed on Erdi, especially Draco. The legendary werewolf's vitality made it impossible for this divine power to completely kill him.

They couldn't harm High Priest Erdi, but similarly, the divine power wielded by the High Priest was insufficient to kill them.

The two sides remained locked in a tense standoff.

The sunlight overhead grew brighter, the effects of the night moon were fading, and the werewolves' violent emotions gradually dissipated, finally allowing for a moment of respite.

King Adun of the werewolves looked at High Priest Erdi with hostility, but still spoke:
“High Priest Erdi, if you are truly a werewolf of my kind, you should know very well that werewolves must never be controlled by their wildness. That is a terrible curse, a disaster that leads to destruction.”

"You have become a traitor to the werewolves."

Ouch——

All around, the howls of wolves rose and fell, and once again they howled. The werewolf pack's anger and punishment for traitors was incredibly terrifying.

"Humph!"

High Priest Erdi adjusted his gentleman's round hat, looking at the werewolf leaders with equal disgust.

“Your Majesty King of Adun, I am a messenger of the gods, the high priest of the werewolves. Everything I do is to serve my lord. Werewolves? Werewolves are also followers of my lord.” “How dare you betray the divine decree of my lord?”

Roar!
Draco's blood and energy surged violently; his vitality was so strong that he actually managed to stand up despite the suppression of divine power.

"Damn it, even gods shouldn't let werewolves fall into the scourge of savagery!"

"You are showing disrespect to a great being!"

In that instant, all the power of the silver divine light descending from the sky pressed down on Draco. Under this light, the legendary werewolf leader was pierced a thousand times over, the silver light tearing through Draco's flesh like needles and thread.

Draco was still alive, but his vitality could not recover from his injuries. The strong, legendary werewolf lay in a pool of blood, the rise and fall of his chest the only proof that he was still alive.

"Having become a follower of my Lord, you should follow my Lord's divine command and continue the attack!"

High Priest Erdi looked at Adun. This werewolf king was forced into the role and had no real authority to intimidate the werewolf clans.

"We will not continue the attack."

“Our ‘Er’ tribe lost too many people in last night’s battle, and we will never participate in the war again.”

"The legendary clan leader, Earl, is like a blurry shadow," he said coldly, his eyes filled with murderous intent as he looked at High Priest Erdi, though he wasn't as volatile as Draco.

“We will not wage war against humanity because of you, High Priest Erdi, especially after you awakened the savage calamity. It was a disaster. Our ancestors paid a huge price to suppress the savagery, and you have awakened it.”

“The will of the great being has protected you, Erdi. You are not qualified to command us.”

Each werewolf leader looked at Adun with dissatisfaction. As the werewolf king, he was the one who should have killed Erdi.

"The werewolves must regain their royal status. Even if 'Bonebreaker' is the Orc King, he cannot strip the werewolves of their royal lineage!"

"We have no time to waste on these humans. The werewolves must kill all the dire rhinoceros beastmen!"

"The Rhinoceros Orcs are not qualified to replace the Werewolves."

"Ouch——"

Countless werewolves howled, and on this vast snowfield, werewolves transformed into giant wolves, running wildly across the snow.

……

Xiangshan Plain Fortress.

Another day passed, the army stood ready in tense anticipation, and the craftsmen and slaves walked anxiously through the ruins, but in the end, they did not see the werewolf army arrive again.

"They've stopped attacking?"

Ryan was surprised and puzzled. He sent scouts north, only to find that the werewolves had retreated a hundred miles and were hunting around.

So, we waited for two more days.

"It seems they really don't intend to continue their attack."

Viscount Landa asked in confusion:
"Could it be because the losses from the war were too great? The werewolves are unwilling to continue to expend resources?"

The war statistics are complete. Whether it's human soldiers or werewolf warriors, the numbers are terrifying. In just one night of fighting, the werewolves, who had lost their minds, had no desire to live. Nearly six figures of corpses lay on the Fragrant Hills Plain. When Viscount Landa saw this number, he trembled all over and broke out in a cold sweat for a long time.

The unease in my heart persisted, but the werewolf acted as if nothing had happened, showing no further interest in the human fortress.

"It seems there really is a problem."

Ryan was writing a letter. The fact that the Fragrant Hills Plains Fortress was no longer causing much trouble made him feel much more relaxed. Moreover, the Northern Wall Fortress in the Frozen Territory was also safe, and the number of tribes attacked by the orcs was decreasing each time.

They are in fear of humanity's fortified defenses.

The anxious Viscount Landa hadn't slept for several days, fearing it was all a dream or an illusion. But as the fortress's repairs neared completion, the viscount finally began to believe that the war was truly over.

Next came his real trouble.

There hasn't even been time to clear away the corpses on the battlefield yet.

……

The Stone Castle.

This is a castle standing on a mountaintop. From the castle's location, all you can see in all directions are towering peaks, hundreds of meters high, bare with few trees, only large rocks, some smooth and some with sharp edges.

This place is sparsely populated, and few humans are willing to approach it, because legend has it that the castle atop that giant rock is inhabited by a noble count who dislikes sunlight, and under his command are countless blood-drinking vampires.

Of course, this is not true.

The reason why Stonehenge does not exist in towns where no humans live is for one reason only: it was once a place where gods bled. Beneath the earth, the Earl William family built a pool of blood, which contained the blood of the gods.

The pool of blood was immovable, so Earl William's castle had to remain there.

The surrounding mountains and forests are devoid of trees for the same reason: the presence of the blood pool prevents vegetation from absorbing any nutrients, making it impossible for them to grow. Moreover, this land is unsuitable for human habitation.

Earl William spends most of his time in his castle. This earl, one of the most powerful nobles in the empire, does not enjoy interacting with others.

It is said that during the war between the gods across different planes, this great nobleman who inherited an ancient and glorious surname merged the blood of vampires into his own body.

Because of this power, the Earl has lived for a very long time.

The nobles of the empire avoided further contact with this vampire count, citing reasons such as rejection of outsiders and fear of vampires.

At this very moment, in his study, where the sunlight never reaches, the ancient count is perusing letters from the North.

"Is that baron from the North truly capable of waging war against the werewolf pack?"

The count looked at the information in the letter with curiosity, while in front of him, several middle-aged men with pale, cold faces and gloomy eyes couldn't help but look at him with suspicion.

"Father, what does that baron want this time?"

"He wanted to know the secrets of the werewolves, and incidentally, expressed his intention to form an alliance after the war."

"An alliance? He's just a baron; it's more appropriate for his father, Earl Clayton, to say that."

A middle-aged man with bloodshot eyes sneered.

"Moreover, by telling him the secret of the werewolves, the secret of our family has also been exposed, Father."

You shouldn't agree.

The count slowly raised his head, his sharp teeth revealed in his smile.

Beneath the smile, however, was a cold gaze fixed on the offspring who had spoken.

“You shouldn’t question my decision, my dear son.”

(End of this chapter)