- Fantasy Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence
- FLDI Chapter 102
Chapter 102: The Orcs’ Scheme
The battle intensified as a vast number of orcs gathered at the northern border of the Northern Province, far exceeding the numbers seen in previous orc attacks. Both the Dragon Knights and the Falcon Knights were struggling to maintain their defenses.
And yet, it seemed they were just barely holding on.
While the orc forces were massive in number, they weren’t quite enough to completely overwhelm the defense lines.
They only exerted immense pressure on the Dragon Knights and the Falcon Knights.
Because of this pressure, many orc tribes managed to break through the defensive lines of the Falcon Knights and the Dragon Knights.
They entered the Northern Province.
And it wasn’t just the Tulip Kingdom.
Several surrounding kingdoms were experiencing the same situation.
The entire northern region was in a state of crisis.
At the stronghold.
Ten days later.
Numerous knight regiments arrived.
Even Duke Karenina, one of the three great dukes of the kingdom, personally led her Life Knights. Alongside her were several powerful marquises of the kingdom.
With the addition of a Sky Knight and dozens of Earth Knights.
The previously shaky defensive lines stabilized instantly.
But they were just barely stable.
Before long.
More orcs pressed in from the other side.
Two fourth-tier orc tribes even made their appearance.
The situation seemed to return to its critical point.
“Boom!”
“Boom-boom!”
Massive explosions echoed as the magical crystal cannons unleashed torrents of energy.
In mid-air, two figures clashed relentlessly.
Below, dozens fought fiercely.
“Marquis Lehmann, have these creatures gone mad? Without a Behemoth, they dare invade our human territories?” A marquis couldn’t help but exclaim.
He had retreated to the stronghold.
Beside him stood a panting Marquis Lehmann.
After half a month of fighting, and even contending with a fourth-tier orc midway, Lehmann was severely wounded.
“Faylon, we need to focus on how to deal with them!”
“These creatures aren’t easy to handle!” Lehmann replied with a bitter smile, having little energy left to engage in idle talk.
“Damn it!”
Marquis Faylon cursed under his breath.
In the next moment, he charged back into the fray.
Lehmann did the same.
High in the sky.
Duke Karenina held off three fourth-tier orcs alone.
Her strength was overwhelming.
Even as one against three, she was only suppressed, not overwhelmed.
Farther away.
The Dragon Knights.
In the sky.
Two human figures faced five fourth-tier orcs.
Below, thousands of orc tribes continuously battered the defensive lines.
The slaughter spread.
In a distant kingdom.
The same scene was playing out in its northern region.
Hordes of orcs seemed to have gone mad, launching relentless assaults on the northern defensive lines.
Meanwhile, outside the defensive lines, numerous first and second-tier orc tribes stormed into human territories, clashing with the pioneer knight regiments.
Many orc tribes were eradicated.
At the same time, many human territories were destroyed.
Blood soaked the northern provinces of several kingdoms.
In some places, blood flowed like streams.
But at this moment, no one cared about these details.
No one paid attention, just as before. All eyes were focused on the battles at the borders.
Every kingdom felt a mix of tension and unease.
And amid that tension and unease.
There was also a sense of relief.
There were no fifth-tier orc tribes among the attacking forces, indicating that a full-scale war had not broken out.
It was just another orc incursion.
Although the scale of this orc incursion seemed particularly large.
As long as it didn’t escalate to a full-scale war, the impact wouldn’t be as devastating.
After all, with only fourth-tier orc tribes involved, the kingdoms were still able to hold the line.
To stand tall on the continent for so long, especially bordering the northern orc territories, each kingdom possessed its own strength.
It wasn’t so easy to topple them.
However, what they didn’t know.
This time, it was not an ordinary orc incursion.
Within the orc territories.
Massive tents sprawled across the land.
Great Behemoths gathered.
These were the true uncrowned kings of the orc tribes.
In theory, all orc tribes were obliged to heed the summons of the Behemoths.
The Behemoth race was the only seventh-tier orc tribe in the entire orc dominion.
Their strength far surpassed that of all other orc tribes.
At the center.
Within a massive tent.
Several enormous Behemoths gathered.
“Lok, what’s going on? We haven’t declared war.”
A gruff voice sounded out, as a massive, crowned Behemoth looked at another Behemoth on the left side.
“I’m not entirely sure, but it seems someone has discovered the resting place of the Titan God in the human northern region.”
The Behemoth named Lok shook his head.
“The resting place of the Titan God?!”
“Impossible! The Titan God fell ages ago, and the Awakening Land has always been under the control of our Behemoth race.”
“Never mind; it’s probably some scheme by those treacherous werewolves. It has nothing to do with us.”
“In a year, it will be time for the great Titan God’s awakening ritual. Be prepared; hopefully, more Behemoths will be born this time!”
“The Titan God’s power is weakening.”
The crowned Behemoth at the head shook its head, its expression filled with concern.
“Yes!”
The other Behemoths responded promptly.
For the Behemoths, the Titan God’s awakening ritual was the most important matter.
Everything else was secondary.
As for the so-called resting place of the Titan God, the Behemoths did not believe in it at all.
The place where the Titan God fell was under their control; how could there be a hidden resting place outside?
But because they paid no attention to it.
The unrest within the orc territories continued to spread.
In particular, when they discovered that even the Behemoths were not participating, many orc tribes grew excited.
It was as if they had seen an opportunity.
Meanwhile.
In a dark cavern in the northern part of the orc territories.
Greenish lights intertwined.
This was where the werewolf tribe gathered.
More accurately, it was the gathering place of the fourth-tier Bloodthirsty Werewolves.
Unlike most werewolf tribes that were only third-tier, the Bloodthirsty Werewolves were a fourth-tier tribe.
Though they were at the lowest level of the fourth tier and typically only had two or three fourth-tier werewolves within their pack.
Their intelligence far surpassed that of the orcs, rivaling that of humans.
Within the orc tribes, the Bloodthirsty Werewolves were known for their cunning and treachery.
No orc tribe liked dealing with the Bloodthirsty Werewolves.
At this moment, within the empty cavern.
A massive altar stood.
Blood-red lines spread from the altar to the surrounding ground.
They extended outward across the entire floor.
At the center of the altar, a Bloodthirsty Werewolf’s eyes glowed crimson, and its gray fur gradually turned blood-red.
“Quick!”
“I need more sacrifices!”
“Those damn Behemoths have no time to deal with us right now.”
“Drive more orc tribes forward!”
“Drive more orc tribes forward.”
“The great god Anubis requires more of our offerings,” a voice, filled with excitement and fervor, proclaimed.
“Yes!”
The werewolves below responded, their eyes brimming with the same excitement.
Even fervor.
A year ago, in this northern region, they had discovered the place where their god had fallen.
They had even obtained the power of the god’s awakening.
As long as they could gather enough blood as an offering, they would be able to summon their god.
This discovery sent a thrill throughout the entire Bloodthirsty Werewolf clan.
This was their chance; if they could successfully summon Anubis, the werewolves would undoubtedly rise to power.
They might even have a chance to replace the Behemoths as the new uncrowned kings of the orc tribes.
And so.
A year ago, they began taking action.
And now, their plans were finally about to reach fruition.
As they watched the bloodlines spread further and further, every Bloodthirsty Werewolf couldn’t help but feel a wave of excitement.
Within the dark cavern.
Following the appearance of the Bloodthirsty Werewolf leader.
More Bloodthirsty Werewolves emerged one by one.
These eerie green figures began to drive other orc tribes to assault the human defense lines.
As a mere fourth-tier orc tribe, it would normally be extremely difficult for them to mobilize other fourth-tier tribes.
But they didn’t try to force them.
Instead, they used a method of enticement.
The way they enticed them was quite simple.
At some point, strange parchment scrolls began circulating among first, second, and even third- and fourth-tier orc tribes.
These scrolls contained not only a map said to lead to the inheritance of the Titan God.
But also a secret technique called the “Awakening of the God.”
This “Awakening of the God” technique promised that, as long as it was used along with a human female, it could produce an endless supply of offspring for the orc tribes, which was enough to drive the orcs mad.
Though these offspring would be somewhat weaker and less intelligent, it didn’t matter.
Among orc tribes, the hierarchy was largely fixed by birth; most orcs could not break through their inherent limitations. For example, a Behemoth was born a seventh-tier orc, so theoretically it could reach the seventh tier, while a goblin was only a second-tier creature and would struggle to reach the third tier.
In this way, the number of offspring became extremely important.
A secret technique that could rapidly increase their numbers was naturally very enticing.
Even the third- and fourth-tier orc tribes couldn’t resist.
They didn’t need the Behemoths to drive them forward; they rushed toward human territories on their own.
As a result, orc tribes flooded the northern provinces of the various kingdoms.
The slaughter spread.
The assault expanded.
More areas in the Northern Province became battlegrounds.
Initially, only the northern region was affected, but soon the western areas began to be overrun by orcs as well.
For Thor, the most evident change was the number of orc tribes he encountered, which seemed to skyrocket.
Along the way, they initially encountered an orc tribe only once every ten days or so.
Now, in just three days, they had encountered two orc tribes. Although they were only first- and second-tier tribes, posing no threat to the Maine Alliance.
It still felt excessive.
This caused Thor to feel a sense of gravity.
Especially when he discovered several scrolls identical to the one found with the minotaurs earlier, seized from the hands of these orc tribes, his brow furrowed deeply.
“What is this, exactly?”
Thor muttered to himself, staring at the parchment scroll in his hand, then at the identical scrolls in his other hand, a sense of bewilderment filling his thoughts.
During this time, he had tried to learn about the Titan script.
But unfortunately, he couldn’t find a single person in all of Loren City who could read it.
Eventually, he had to give up.
Initially, he thought it was a treasure map, but how could a treasure map exist in multiple identical copies?
That would be absurd.
Which only left him more puzzled.
“I wonder if finding more of these will prompt the daily intelligence to give me a hint.”
Thor muttered to himself, hoping that his daily intelligence might provide some clues.
There wasn’t much else he could do.
As for capturing an orc to translate the script.
That was out of the question.
He didn’t understand the Titan script, and neither would any orc understand his language.
Translation was impossible.
Shaking his head, Thor tucked the scrolls back into his pocket.
Then he stood up.
By now, the battlefield had been cleared.
This time, they had encountered an elite goblin tribe, whose strength was only at the second tier, and not particularly powerful—only two second-tier orcs were among them, and they were quickly defeated.
The spoils, however, were quite substantial.
Upon clearing the battlefield, they collected several finely crafted goblin weapons.
Though not as refined as the weapons crafted by hobgoblins, the goblin-made weapons were still quite decent, comparable to those made by human alchemists.
At the current prices of weapons in the Northern Province, these weapons were worth at least 500 or 600 gold coins, possibly more.
Considering that, across the entire Northern Province, the price of weapons and armor was increasing every day.
Initially, black iron armor cost only about twenty to thirty silver coins. Even armor crafted by hobgoblins wouldn’t exceed fifty silver coins. But now, even the worst black iron armor cost fifty silver coins, and the price was still rising. That was just for black iron armor—brass and silver armor had become astronomically expensive.
(Apologies for the delay; I got a bit stuck shaping the world-building.)
(End of this chapter.)