In the chilly desert night, the orcs who successfully ambushed the merchant group panted heavily and held their torches high.
They mumbled in a language that was slightly similar to the glacier orcs' language. They walked back and forth in the messy camp, searching for their spoils of war.
And in the camp of the merchant group's master, starting from Dean and Louisa, Old Hammer, Quick Rope, Mickey … The human captives who surrendered had their heads in their hands. They lined up in a line and were escorted by fully armed orcs to the enemy's leader.
Thales was among them, and he followed behind Dean. Perhaps it was because of his age and size, but Thales was not escorted by an orc in a rude manner like the others. Even so, when he walked past the ferocious-looking foreign species on the sand, the gazes and weapons of the enemies on both sides still made him feel a chill down his spine.
The murderous aura and appearances of the orcs made him feel rather uneasy. Almost every warrior had a lot of new and old wounds on their bodies. It was obvious that they were brave warriors who had been through hundreds of battles. They looked at the group of captives with disdainful eyes and deliberately tapped the weapons in their hands. As the weapons clanged, Thales could not help but remember the scene six years ago when the diplomat group walked past the Northland Infantry Regiment under Broken Dragon Fortress.
They were just as nervous and suffocating.
But they were even more desperate than back then.
Aside from the dozens of orc warriors, three unique orcs stood in front of Tormorden's goods and watched the captives approach with cold eyes.
Thales was not unfamiliar with them.
There was a cold-faced orc with white lips and an abnormally large black bow on its shoulder. It was the one who killed the mercenary, Palka, with one arrow during the battle between the Sharpshooters.
There was a ferocious creature who carried a greatsword, had a bare upper body, and had bulging muscles. Its forehead was painted black. It stroked the wound on its chest, and there was a terrifying, ferocious smile on its face. The Northlander, Kant's death was attributed to his horizontal slash.
There was also the ferocious orc who had blue paint on his face and was stroking his spiked mace. It had been chasing after Thales since the beginning of the battle. Now, its gaze had never left the teenager, and its sharp teeth were grinding against each other in hatred.
It mouthed to the prince from afar, "Flaca."
The blue-faced orc clenched his fist and tightened his grip on his spiked mace.
'Flaca.
'Flaca again.'
Thales mumbled quietly. He had a bad feeling about this.
But these three different fellows couldn't hide the elegance of their leader.
The pure black orc with a broken arm was draped in a rare snow-white fur. He lowered his head and looked at the iron fork on his right wrist. He casually sat on a large pile of goods, as if he had blended into the silence of the surroundings. He waited for the arrival of the captives under the illumination of the torches.
Its different posture and height proved its status.
The captives were brought in front of it one by one and lined up horizontally. The rude escorts pressed or kicked them, forcing the defeated to kneel before their leader.
Thales sighed softly and knelt down in the sand.
Under the night sky, the half-naked orc carrying a greatsword next to the leader let out a huff and signaled his subordinates to throw a torch over.
It raised the torch and roasted the wound on its chest. Amidst the merchants' gasps and the sizzling sound of the flames, it sighed with satisfaction.
After the wound was healed, the Orc walked step by step past each of the kneeling captives, illuminating their faces.
Thales narrowed his eyes because of the light and the heat.
The leader, who sat on the goods and stared at the iron fork, slowly raised his head and looked at his spoils of war.
There were more people who survived in the merchant group than he imagined. At least eight or nine people knelt among the captives. They also had their arms crossed and shivered under the orc's gaze. Perhaps it was because the battle started too suddenly and the enemy's ambush was too successful. Those who picked up weapons were basically killed mercilessly in the first round. The others who did not have time to arm themselves were soon scared out of their wits by the horrifying battle situation. Under the ferocious faces of the orcs, their bleeding weapons, and their terrifying roars, they curled up on the ground and raised their hands to surrender.
Thales, who saw their expressions clearly, dared to say that these merchants had probably never seen so many orcs in their lives.
The flames were scattered by the cold wind. In the face of the ferocious faces of the orcs, the captives' hearts were like dead ashes.
The frightening silence lasted for a long time. During that time, the night wind and cold, accompanied by the noise of the looters in the distance, added a hint of sadness to the scene, as if it was an execution ground.
"Outsiders."
Finally, the pure black leader spoke. Between his twisted and terrifying lips, his accent in the lingua franca was as smooth as ever. It was so fluent that it was hard for people to believe that it was spoken by an orc. "You are here …"
"Who's in charge?"
There was a commotion among the captives kneeling on the ground. Many of them subconsciously turned their heads.
Thales saw from the corner of his eye that the big-bellied Tormorden was also kneeling on a remote side of the group with his hands over his head.
But the wealthy merchant group owner, whose ancestor was acquainted with the Virtuous King, who was so arrogant that he could not stop talking about business, was no longer there. What was left was a pitiful man who could not stop shivering. Tormorden seemed to be frightened by the appearance of the orcs. He just shrank his head back and did not even dare to raise his head.
The fat Tormorden knelt on the ground and trembled like a sieve. He tried his best to curl up his muscles and bones, as if every inch of his body exposed in the cold wind would bring him losses.
He did not make a sound in the face of the leader's question.
The pure black orc leader looked around at the captives and sneered with a sonorous voice. "Hmph, so …
"So, outsiders, you don't have anyone who can speak to you who can negotiate with me, even if I have to start thinking about who to keep and who to kill?"
These words made many of the captives tremble even more violently.
'This is an orc who is proficient in the human language,' Thales thought. 'This is rare.
'And according to Dean, they are not exiles who are scattered and alone, but from a large tribe?'
When he thought of this, Thales noticed that Dean, who was beside him, sighed.
The latter moved his knees and prepared to stand up.
But before the bald mercenary could do anything, there was a slight commotion on the other side of the group of captives.
"We surrendered, and you promised to spare our lives, Orc."
An armored girl put down her hands and stood up in an eye-catching manner among the kneeling people. She straightened her back and looked at the enemy with a calm expression.
"F * ck." Thales heard Mickey curse softly on the other side.
"I am." In the dark, Louisa's expression was a little gloomy, but her voice was extremely clear and steady.
"I am the leader of this group, Louisa Dante."
Unarmed, she said softly, "You can negotiate with me."
The commotion happened again.
But this time, the ones who caused the commotion were the gruff orc warriors. They whispered to each other in a roaring voice.
The pure black orc's facial features moved slightly. It changed its sitting posture, placed its elbows on its knees, and leaned forward. It seemed to be very interested in this woman who stood out among the crowd.
"I only promised the lives of this person and that Sorino." The orc pointed at Mickey and Thales with the iron fork on its wrist. "I did not include the other outsiders, and you …"
The three orcs below the leader looked at each other in pairs, bared their teeth, and let out deep laughter that sounded like the howling of a cold wind.
"Look, my Holy Guards are laughing." The leader turned to Louisa with a smile.
"The people outside the desert have fallen to the point where they let a powerless female lead them?"
On the other side, Old Hammer and Mickey let out soft curses.
In the face of the orcs' gazes, Louisa calmly inhaled.
"Then you could've given me a weapon and an opponent."
I can prove to you which one is more powerless, your promise or my sword. "
The Beastman who was bare-chested and holding the torch gasped for air, patting the wound on his chest and saying something.
The leader responded to it, causing many orcs to laugh.
It turned its head.
"You do not need to prove it, brave warrior Louisa Dante. I know very well that many females in the world are much more terrifying than males."
Louisa froze for a moment.
"And according to my loyal Holy Guard, Lucana the Unstoppable," the pure black orc said slowly, "he acknowledges your strength. That strike you gave him was so painful that it pierced into his bones."
Louisa glanced at the greatsword-wielding orc and noticed that it was baring its sharp teeth at her.
The leader continued to speak with great interest, "He also said that if you were an orc, then he would take you home right now and treat you as his most cherished wife. He would protect you with his blood and sword, and protect the strong children you give birth to with him until his War Soul completes the Desert God's test and returns to the land of his ancestors."
Mickey cursed under his breath.
But Louisa only sneered.
"But I am a human."
The leader nodded.
"But you are a human. You cannot become one of us." The pure black orc gestured at Lucana with its chin.
"So he had no choice but to eat you."
'Eat.
'Eat?'
Thales felt a chill in his heart. For some reason, he remembered the sand scorpion he ate.
And the Bloody Thorn Lizard.
Louisa sighed.
"This is considered racial discrimination."
The leader seemed to be amused. It opened its mouth and let out a series of terrifying laughter.
"Is this a normal situation?" Thales whispered to Dean, who was beside him, "Do all the orcs who capture humans first play a joke on them before they heat up the cauldron and cook them?"
"I don't know. After all," Dean's lips did not move.
"There are not many people who can return alive after being captured by orcs to tell stories."
Thales shuddered a little.
Louisa raised her head.
"So, was it you?"
The female leader fearlessly faced the orcs who were glaring at them. "Kill those desert bandits.
"People who hunt and kill all living things in the desert on a large scale."
The leader narrowed its eyes.
"So you discovered it."
Its deep voice rang out.
"Those corpses."
Dean frowned a little.
Louisa nodded.
"There are quite a number of powerful individuals in those camps. There are even exiles from large tribes, but they were unable to fight back." The female team leader looked around at the dozens of orc warriors around her. "I'm guessing that it was you who used numbers, battle tactics, and formations. You used the brave warriors of the tribes, who were almost like an army, to slaughter them alive."
"Just like tonight, for this surprise attack, you even removed your heavy armor and came with light equipment just to catch them off guard."
Dean sighed softly beside Thales' ear. "She is trying hard to make herself look stronger … It is said that orcs, especially people from large tribes, respect the strong and warriors. They value honor."
The orc leader smiled. It raised the iron fork on its broken wrist and pointed at Louisa. "Very good. Is there anything else you want to say?"
Louisa took a deep breath, nodded and continued, "Shattered Stone Tribe, I know you."
The leader did not move.
Louisa spoke without fear in the face of the leader and his three terrifying subordinates.
"You are one of the Eight Great Tribes under the Dragon Skeleton King in the desert. You suffered great losses in the Desert War and had no choice but to flee to the depths of the desert.
"But why? Why did you take the risk to leave the depths of the desert and come to a place so close to the Constellatiates' forces? Why did you go around killing people like crazy?
"This is not in line with the rules of the desert! Even you! "
The leader smiled again.
Compared to his subordinates, especially his three so-called 'Holy Guards', this orc smiled more often and more frequently.
It was also more unsettling.
"The rules of the desert?"
"Very good. You can live, woman." The orc leader nodded slowly, ignoring the sword-wielding orc Lusana's roars of protest. "For your good fighting skills and knowledge. As for whether you will follow us back or … we will see."
"What about the others?"
"The others must prove their worth." The orc leader turned his head and swept a sharp glance at the captives with his yellow eyes. "And the reason why I attacked and captured all of you is because I want to know one thing."
The mercenaries frowned at the same time.
"What is it?" Louisa asked, puzzled.
In the firelight, the orc leader narrowed his eyes.
"More than ten days ago, I received a report." It stepped on the sand and straightened its huge body that was as tall as two men. "Many people, whether they are Barren Bone people, orcs, desert bandits, or small tribes and groups, are fleeing from the north and the east."
'Fleeing?'
Doubt rose in Thales' heart.
This doubt also spread to the captives, but the situation in front of them made them have no time to think about it.
The orc slowly walked to the leftmost side of the captives and passed each of them step by step.
As they watched this ferocious creature approach, many of the merchants trembled in fear. Thales swore that he could even smell the faint stench of urine.
"I am very puzzled. What made these scumbags dare to ignore the majesty of the Dragon Skeleton Throne, forget the terror of the Desert God's Altar, and flee into the depths of the desert, into the orcs' and Barren Bone people's territories, into the private plots of the Eight Great Tribes and the Five Great Tribes, and into the dangerous forbidden zone that everyone in the desert knows about?
"And according to these refugees," the pure black orc walked past Tormorden, who was lying on the ground and looked like a trembling caterpillar.
"Not long ago, a group of thousands of elite cavaliers entered the desert."
Beside Thales, Dean held his breath.
"Thousands of people?" he whispered in puzzlement.
What Dean did not know was that Thales' heart skipped a beat at that moment.
'Cavaliers.
'Cavaliers?
'Cavaliers who entered the desert.'
The pure black orc walked past Louisa, patted her shoulder with his huge left hand, and curled his lips. "In the past ten days, they occupied almost all the strongholds in the oases, chased away all the natives, and killed those who did not want to leave."
The mercenaries kneeling on the ground looked surprised and looked around.
"It's them? It's not you? "
Louisa cried out in surprise. "The ones who carried out the purge and hunt in the desert are … that group of cavaliers?"
'That group of cavaliers.'
Thales stared at the sand in front of him. His expression was stiff.
The orc turned around.
"Just like you, we also encountered countless corpses and camps along the way. There were only more of them than what you found."
The orc walked past Old Hammer and Quick Rope, and his voice became colder.
"That's not all.
"They were merciless and did not care about the cost. They slaughtered all the bipedal creatures they saw on the way, regardless of whether they were desert bandits, exiles, Barren Bone people, orcs, or ordinary smuggling merchant groups. They cleared the entire northern periphery of the desert.
"They almost turned a small part of the desert into a no man's land."
'Slaughtered.'
Thales felt cold sweat slide down his back.
"This is not the end."
The orc walked in front of Dean.
The pure black orc leader lowered his head and cast a profound glance at Dean.
"They did not leave. Instead, they maintained the defense line, which they paid a heavy price for. They transported supplies day and night, fed their horses and replenished their grass without restraint, just so that they could stay in the desert for one more day."
Dean narrowed his eyes. "What?"
"Their roaming cavaliers moved around and patrolled back and forth. They killed anyone they saw, drank water they saw, and gnawed grass they saw. The entire northern end of the desert was disturbed by them."
Moved around.
Patrolled back and forth.
Thales felt his breathing become slower and slower.
The orc continued to move forward. The friction between his huge feet on the soft sand was chilling.
"We hunt, graze, and use them as food to fill our stomachs. But even the stupidest of our tribesmen knows that when we get what we need, we must keep the cubs and not touch the seedlings."
The slightly panicked Thales could feel the orc's footsteps getting closer.
"This way, we will still have food in the coming year … But these people?"
"Be it water, pasture, firewood, or campsites … These assassins on horseback take them without any hesitation. They consume all the resources in the desert without stopping. They neither fight nor occupy the place. They waste a disproportionate amount of money, food, and manpower just to clear this desolate wasteland, leaving behind a barren land where not even a single blade of grass grows. Even the caravans cannot stay in the campsites that have been cleared!"
The orc walked past Dean and finally stopped beside Thales, who was at the furthest side. He stopped beside the youngest human.
Thales was still holding his head. He saw the orc's sturdy calf from the corner of his eye and felt it speak above his head.
'This is bad.
'This means …'
"Based on my experience, these cunning humans must have ulterior motives when they behave abnormally.
"Just like what they have done in the past.
"But since they have taken action, we must also take action of our own." The orc leader narrowed his eyes and looked at the captives. "This is the reason for us to head north.
"This is the reason why I have decided to lead a large group of tribal warriors to the far east and north in the desert."
It gritted its ferocious teeth. "So, outsiders.
"Over the past month, you are the only ones who came from the direction of Blade Fangs Dune. You are the only ones who set off from the same direction and place as those mad cavaliers.
"You are also the only ones who might know their intentions."
The captives kneeling on the ground had different expressions.
On the sand, rows of orc warriors stood around them coldly, looking at every single human captive who was either trembling or puzzled.
The expressions of the three Holy Guards did not change. They waited for their leader's next words.
Finally, the pure black orc slowly extended its hand and raised the iron fork on its wrist. Its tone was cold.
"And you will tell me.
Why. "
It spat out a name that made everyone frown.
"Constellation.
Why are they doing this? "
The mercenaries stared at each other. Even the merchants were shocked and bewildered.
"Why did they send so many troops deep into the desert?
"Why do they have to lift every layer of sand here?"
Why do they not hesitate to spend money, food, and human lives? "
Under the assault of the chill, Thales felt a chill on his neck while he was still in shock.
A cold iron fork was pressed against the prince's neck.
As the mercenaries cried out in surprise, Thales was forced to raise his head by the strength of the iron fork. He looked at the orc leader's bright yellow eyes.
Thales met its gaze in a daze. He looked at the scars on its face and its inhuman face. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the armor under its fur. He looked at the faint bloodstains and scratches on it. He felt his body go numb.
It was different from the other orcs he had fought against.
Its eyes were calm and steady.
It seemed to hide many secrets.
"There's someone." The orc raised its gaze and looked at the others. Its hands did not stop moving. It still hooked Thales' chin with the iron fork.
"Can you tell me?"
There was no response.
There was only the howling of the cold wind in the sand.
And the crackling of the flames.
But at that moment, only Thales knew.
The truth that this pure black orc tried so hard to obtain …
The secret that caused the desert to be in turmoil …
It was trembling slightly under its iron fork.
'What should I do?'
Thales thought desperately.
At that moment …
"That's enough.
There is no need for the famous Kandarll Nushan in the desert to make things difficult for a human, Sorino. "
It was a gentle and mature male voice.
Just like the day he saved Thales.
The moment he finished speaking, the orcs began to discuss among themselves. They seemed to be in a slight commotion because of a certain name.
Thales, who was so nervous that he was almost suffocating, felt his neck tremble slightly.
Finally, his neck relaxed. The iron fork left his artery.
Thales sighed in relief and started to breathe again. He anxiously thought about what he should do about the predicament in front of him.
The pure black orc turned around. Its gaze made all the orcs quiet down.
"Who is it?" It slowly walked to Thales' side and the speaker's side. It stared at the bald human. "The person who spoke to me … Who is it?"
The speaker raised his head, put down his arms, stood up, and looked up at the orc.
"I am Dean. I can be considered … Louisa's assistant."
In the next second, the orc's iron fork was pressed against Dean's neck.
Louisa gasped softly.
But the bald mercenary did not move. He just let the orc size him up.
The orc leader lowered his head and stared at him for a long time.
"Human, you left a deep impression on me during the battle just now.
"You have skill and intelligence."
The orc leader narrowed his eyes. "You know who I am?"
The captive nodded with an indifferent expression.
"I know.
"I recognize your arms. I recognize the color of your skin."
Dean stared at the orc without blinking.
"You are not a pure-blooded mixed … pure-blooded desert orc. You have the blood of glacial orcs, so your skin color is different from theirs."
'Damn glacial bastard,' Dean thought in his heart.
Thales looked at the orc's skin. When he saw the black color, he understood.
Surprise appeared in the orc leader's eyes.
Dean sighed softly.
"You are Kandarll Nushan.
You rose to power as an exile, and you are a Mutant Blood who has ruled the desert for twenty years.
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