237: The Orcs' Offensive

"Defeated!"

"They were actually defeated!"

Inside the Iron Wall Fortress, Renn looked at the intelligence sent by the Shadow Guards in surprise.

This war initiated by Belmont had exceeded Renn's expectations from the very beginning. He had thought it would end within a month, but it had lasted for three months, dragging on until the arrival of winter and heavy snowfall.

Most importantly, the result also came as a great surprise to Renn.

"Belmont and Heisenberg clashed head-on and were defeated. The armies of both sides then launched an all-out war with hundreds of thousands of men fighting on the eastern plains. In the end, the raging bear was defeated, losing more than half of its forces."

The intelligence sent by the Shadow Guards clearly recorded the entire process of the final decisive battle.

"I didn't expect that not only would they be defeated, but the Golden Royal Family would step in at the end to terminate the war."

The raging bear and the stag had gotten carried away in the final battle, and the casualties caused by the clash of hundreds of thousands of troops were beyond imagination. By the end, no one could stop themselves; it was a matter of life or death.

At this moment, the Golden Royal Family's Floating Warships entered the battlefield to put a stop to the fighting between the two sides.

The Shadow Guards had also thoughtfully drawn a picture of the Floating Warship, vividly displaying its power.

"So the Golden Royal Family had been watching this war from the beginning, and they jumped out at the last moment to act as the referee."

"They really have a trick up their sleeve!"

Renn couldn't help but exclaim.

"The Golden Royal Family intervened to mediate, and the war is over, but I expect the Royal Family will also have a hand in that Magic Stone Vein. They got benefits without doing anything—truly impressive!"

Renn put down the intelligence in his hand. This war would certainly have far-reaching effects, especially in the Rage Bear Territory.

Belmont had just inherited the title of Grand Duke and already lacked prestige; now, having suffered such a major defeat, his prestige as the new Grand Duke of the Raging Bear had been weakened to its lowest point.

"With nearly half of the army of over a hundred thousand killed or wounded, the battle was indeed brutal. However, as long as the high-end Professionals didn't suffer large-scale losses, other casualties will recover within a few years."

As Renn spoke, he shifted his gaze to Klimp, the commander of the Shadow Guards.

"Klimp, your strength has improved very quickly. It seems the effect of the Shadow Potion is quite good!"

Klimp, standing before Renn, had already reached the Silver Peak, and his aura was significantly different from before. His body seemed capable of absorbing light, keeping him shrouded in shadow.

This was the effect of the Gold Rank Shadow Potion refined by Master Kapdo.

Last July, when Dora ascended to Legendary, she blessed a batch of magic plants. Among them, three magic plants broke through to the Gold Rank: the Nine-Colored Flower, the wind spirit sacred tree, and a shadow vine.

Renn possessed more than one shadow vine, and with that Gold Rank shadow vine, the quantity of Shadow Potions refined was quite large, all of which were provided to the Shadow Guards.

The Shadow Guards' heritage originated from the former Sacred Mountain. Although it wasn't a particularly powerful inheritance, it was enough to support Renn in establishing the Shadow Guards. After Renn broke through to Legendary, he optimized and improved the Shadow Guards' secret inheritance techniques.

The Gold Rank shadow vine also filled a missing link in the Shadow Guards' core heritage, allowing Renn to stably cultivate Gold Rank Shadow Guard Professionals in the future.

Klimp was now in a state where he was about to break through to the Gold Rank. He had received Renn's focused cultivation because of his outstanding talent, and Klimp had not disappointed the effort Renn invested, performing excellently in both personal strength and the expansion of the Shadow Guards.

"Yes, Lord, Master Kapdo's potion is very powerful. I feel it won't be long before I can break through to Gold Rank."

"That couldn't be better!"

"The expansion of the Shadow Guards must continue. Within three years, I need the Shadow Guards to be spread across the entire North and to have stable intelligence acquisition channels in other parts of the kingdom."

"Everything will be as you wish, Lord!"

Klimp had long since proven his ability, and Renn was relatively at ease with the development of the Shadow Guards.

"Where are those Fel Orcs now?"

Renn turned his attention back to his surroundings. The development of the Shadow Guards could not be completed overnight, and Belmont's failure would not affect him for the time being. The movements of the Fel Orcs, however, concerned how he should choose to act next.

"The Evil Beastman army has finished assembling and is on its way south. The army numbers over thirty thousand, and they should be commanded by a Legendary Evil Beastman general. As for the specifics, we cannot get too close to the Evil Beastman ranks to investigate."

"The methods of those Blood-Robed Priests are bizarre and unpredictable, and there are Evil Beastman Stalkers waiting in the shadows for an opportunity. Our movements are very restricted."

The opponent that was the Fel Orcs gave Klimp a massive headache; it was the first time he had encountered such a troublesome enemy.

"No matter, that's enough."

An army of thirty thousand Fel Orcs with a Legendary commander—the scale and strength were already powerful enough. It was only now, after Renn had Eric clear out the Evil Beastman outposts near the Iron Wall Fortress, that the Fel Orcs had finally responded.

"Their reaction speed is truly slow!"

"Send orders for Eric to withdraw to the fortress. The fortress is to enter a state of combat readiness to prepare for the attack."

"Send news of the large-scale southward movement of the Fel Orcs back to Rage Bear Fortress. Tell His Grace the Grand Duke that the Iron Wall Fortress is in critical danger!"

Renn's request for reinforcements received no response from Rage Bear Fortress; the communication array could not be connected. Meanwhile, the Fel Orcs arrived as expected.

Five days later, amidst the swirling wind and snow, tens of thousands of Fel Orcs were at the gates.

"It's the first time I've seen such a large scale of Fel Orcs. Just how many of these monsters are there in the northern wasteland?"

Eric looked at the Evil Beastman ranks covering the hills and plains outside the city, and his heart couldn't help but grow nervous.

"The area of the Wasteland of Chaos to the north is larger than the area of the entire kingdom. This amount of Fel Orcs isn't much to look at."

While answering Eric, Renn stared at the core of the distant Evil Beastman army. There was a powerful aura fluctuating there; that was exactly where the Legendary Evil Beastman commander was located.

Most of the Evil Beastman army wore crude armor, with not much clothing on their tall bodies. The intense blood qi emitted by the ranks melted the nearby ice and snow.

"The physical fitness of these monsters is truly formidable; this bit of wind and snow doesn't affect them at all."

"We never expected to rely on wind and snow to defeat them. If we want to eliminate them, we must rely on the swords in our hands."

Renn mounted Reck and stood in mid-air above the fortress so that everyone could see him.

"Warriors of the raging bear!"

"The time to defend our home has come. Prepare for battle and kill all those Fel Orcs!"

The massive war machine that was the Iron Wall Fortress began to move at Renn's command.

On the other side, the Evil Beastman army charged forward without any pause, their method of attack simple and crude.

The great war erupted instantly!

The Evil Beastman priests cast spells in unison, and a massive Blood Cloud rose to cover the Iron Wall Fortress. Inside the fortress, Mage Alman had long been waiting in the Mage Tower. Facing the Blood Cloud, the Mage Tower within the fortress immediately responded.

Intense mana fluctuations clashed and exploded in mid-air, and finally, the Blood Cloud was dispersed.

"The human mages have become stronger again."

"Increase the offensive! Create a breach so the Stalkers can find an opportunity to kill those mages!"

"Battering rams, get ready!"

At the Evil Beastman commander's order, countless distorted shadows pounced from the flanks toward the fortress from within the darkness. At the rear of the Evil Beastman army, a tall and terrifying war machine was being assembled.

As the commander, General Blood Flame Zaguka had come prepared this time.