Chapter 232: Death Banquet

The cool morning light awakened the sleeping Great Orc Prairie. Early birds spread their wings and glided across the sky, leaving behind a string of crisp chirps. The night's dew dripped away or caught the sunlight in dazzling refractions. Tender green grass lifted its head, and the prairie radiated life and vitality.

The Blood Axe Clan's camp also began to bustle. Cooking smoke curled into the air as the orcs emerged from their tents one after another to return to their posts.

In a clearing outside the camp, Gnosh Bloodaxe brandished his axe, honing his combat skills. He had received news from the White Dragon Lord last night and was so excited he hadn't fallen asleep until midnight. Tonight, they would launch the general offensive against Blade Fortress.

Ten days had passed since the orcs first showed up to provoke the humans and shoot their guards. The armies from all over the Luonan Empire had finished gathering. Now, at least four hundred thousand elite human soldiers were amassed inside Blade Fortress.

The school of fish had gathered in one spot; it was time to haul in the net.

However, this battle had nothing to do with the orcs. Three powerful Guardians would strike personally to reduce Blade Fortress to ruins.

Gnosh Bloodaxe put away his axe, wiped the sweat beading on his body, and followed the scent of food back to camp.

After wolfing down his breakfast, Gnosh Bloodaxe waited a moment before grabbing the Bone Whistle hanging around his neck and blowing it.

Answering their chieftain's call, the elite warriors of the Blood Axe Clan quickly led their worgs over and assembled before Gnosh Bloodaxe.

"Move out!"

Gnosh Bloodaxe swung onto his worg and led his troops galloping toward the front lines.

Even though the battle had nothing to do with the orcs, there was no way Gnosh Bloodaxe would pass up this perfect opportunity to witness history.

Ten thousand worg riders fanned out into a line and swept across the prairie to clear out the human scouts.

Caught in this carpet search, countless scouts died under the worg riders' blades.

...

Beside a lake somewhere on the Great Orc Prairie, the White Dragon Lord and the gold dragon, Leopold Chodmartin, were drinking water.

After drinking his fill of the sweet lake water, the White Dragon Lord spoke.

"Leopold, have you ever seen a Titan?"

The White Dragon Lord's words stirred up bad memories. A ferocious look crossed the gold dragon's face before he quickly reined in his emotions.

"I have, of course I have. I've even killed a few on the Abyss Blood War Battlefield."

The White Dragon Lord asked.

"Can you tell me about their abilities and fighting styles?"

The gold dragon pondered for a moment before answering.

"Just as the inherited memories record, the Titans are like us dragons—they come in many varieties. They have an innate mastery over elemental energy, which they condense into a Spear of the Titans. Also, most of them are experts in martial arts. When it comes to magic, they're a notch weaker than the Dragon Race. Generally, their opening attack is always a Spear of the Titans, and then they try to close the distance."

"But here in the Madilan World, there is no elemental energy, so I don't know how these Titans will fight."

After a brief silence, a look of pain crossed the gold dragon's face.

"Amos, if you ever run into Titans and Demons at the same time on the Blood War Battlefield, you have to kill the Titans first. Otherwise, they won't hesitate to stab you in the back while you're fighting the Demons."

Seeing the pain and fury on the gold dragon's face, the White Dragon Lord realized there was definitely a story there.

Sure enough, the gold dragon continued.

"I used to have a brass dragon friend. He was a chatterbox, so I didn't actually like hanging around him much, but we went to the Blood War Battlefield together and fought in dozens of battles, big and small. That last time... I'll never forget that battle."

Thick hatred welled up in the gold dragon's eyes.

"The two of us had teamed up with a dragon from another plane. We were in the middle of hunting a Legendary Demon when a squad of Titans ambushed us from behind. I was the only one who luckily managed to escape. By the time I rushed back with reinforcements..."

The gold dragon trembled with agitation, his breathing ragged. He took a deep breath and spoke.

"I only found their bones!"

The White Dragon Lord couldn't help but shudder.

The irreconcilable blood feud between dragons and Titans wasn't just talk.

Both were higher lifeforms with inherited memories. The heritage passed down through the generations recorded the hatred between the dragon ancestors and the Titans, making the descendants of both sides feel it as if they had experienced it themselves.

The accumulated hatred of countless generations meant that dragons and Titans would fight to the death the moment they met.

The White Dragon Lord patted the gold dragon with his wing to comfort him.

"Then let's kill a few more Titans this time and avenge them!"

The gold dragon quickly reined in his emotions.

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

Then, he added seriously, "I would have come this time just to kill Titans, even if you weren't paying me."

The White Dragon Lord teased, "I guess I don't need to pay you then."

"In your dreams!!!"

...

Blade Fortress.

The City Lord's Estate.

City Lord Sendra hadn't slept well for ten straight days. The number of orcs gathering outside the city just kept growing.

Even more unnervingly for Sendra, not a single scout sent deep into the Great Orc Prairie had returned alive.

According to the reports sent back by scouts monitoring the outskirts of the orc camps, every one of those orcs was equipped with iron weapons. Their elite troops even wore armor. Furthermore, they had herded their cattle and sheep right up to the battlefield—they clearly intended to fight the empire to the bitter end.

Where did these guys get the courage?!

The human population was a hundred times larger than the orcs'. Even if every single orc became a soldier, they couldn't bridge such a massive gap in numbers.

Even factoring in the weapons of war held by the dozen or so large clans—the dragons—there was no way the orcs could win this war. The Dragon-Shooting Cannons that humanity had specifically developed to deal with dragons were not just for show!

Yet the orcs had done it anyway!

City Lord Sendra couldn't figure it out. In fact, no one in the empire could. But they all knew one thing: war was coming.

Because of this, the Imperial Emperor had dispatched massive numbers of soldiers to the majestic border city of Blade Fortress, vowing to drain every last drop of the orcs' blood beneath the City Wall.

Now, two of the empire's three grand dukes had arrived at Blade Fortress, leaving only Grand Duke Singhasa behind to guard the Eye of the Earth. Along with the dukes came their own elite troops.

Thinking of the mighty armies brought by the two grand dukes, City Lord Sendra felt a little relieved. He rubbed his throbbing temples. Since he couldn't figure it out, he would just stop thinking about it.

With such a powerful force gathered here, there was no way the orcs could turn the sky upside down.

Sendra comforted himself with this thought.

He looked out the window at the setting sun, walked over to the floor-to-ceiling glass, and adjusted his formal attire in the evening light.

The banquet welcoming the grand dukes was about to begin, and as the city lord, he could not afford to be absent.