He hesitated for a few seconds before nodding and sitting down.
He was a large man at 3.3 meters tall when standing with a broad chest that could rival or surpass Uncle Bruar's, he had dark red skin and black hair. Several tattoos covered his arms, Chronos recalled that amongst ogres such tattoos were only granted upon a successful victory in combat against a great foe.
On his head were two horns that had golden rings implanted in them, but he didn't know what meaning they carried.
For him to have that many tattoos meant that he must be a superb warrior amongst the ogres with many victories under his belt.
"Warrior, can you tell us what was going on here? We only came this way because we smelled something foul." Chronos asked.
Nodding the ogre organized his thoughts before answering.
"The black cloaked knights have been attacking islands in the central ocean recently and capturing the islanders. We didn't know what they were doing with them but after my island was attacked, I followed their boats back to the wasteland east of here where they had a large encampment with at least a thousand individuals locked in cages.
I thought I had avoided notice when I was attacked by three knights and two of those black robed priests. Despite killing two of them they eventually wore me down and captured me. Luckily my men who stayed on the boat were able to escape and deliver a message to our home.
After that they dragged me and others across the wasteland and into this swamp where they set up multiple ritual circles and began sacrificing us. This was the third site they've set up a ritual, in the first two they changed selected individuals into what they called devil beasts by sacrificing others. I think they were trying to create full devils, but the process wasn't complete."
"That's not good." Freydis commented from nearby. "If it wasn't our group that fought those devil beasts then there would have been heavy casualties, especially if they were used in an ambush. Do you know where the other two ritual circles are?"
"Yes, I can point them out on a map, but I have a request first."
"Depending on what it is I can accept or deliver it to those with greater authority. At the very least I can promise that my men will help your clan to the best of our abilities." Freydis guessed what he would ask for and preemptively accepted.
The ogre pondered on how effective the werewolves had been against the devil beasts before deciding that it was likely his best bet to help his people, maybe even better than getting help from the kingdom.
"Very well, I accept. The first ritual was done to the southeast beyond a crumbling fortress, and the second one was east of that same fortress. It looked like they were setting something up at the fortress as well, but we never got close enough for me to see it." He went on to give detailed descriptions of the locations and what had been there when he passed through.
According to what he had seen, each location had at least a hundred devil beasts locked inside of some kind of barrier, and it was concealed by an illusion.
Chronos and Freydis looked at each other, this was definitely a trap meant to kill them after they took over the fortress.
Even the devil beasts here had been strong enough to give high third rank knights trouble in battle, it was only because the wolves had learned to use their bloodline abilities that they had defeated them without significant injury.
Well, not a significant injury for a werewolf, if a human had taken some of the injuries they had, then that human would be crippled or bleeding to death.
For them it was just a matter of time before they were fully healed though a few of them would need at least a month to recover without healing magic.
"Do you have a way to contact Commander Stan?" Chronos asked.
"Yes, I have a whisper bird figurine. Mine can contact anywhere from here to home."
Turning around Freydis took out a bird figurine roughly the size of two fists and began dictating a message for the bird while Chronos made a mental note to get one of those birds for himself. But he wanted a bigger one that could send messages halfway across the kingdom.
He still wanted to travel and see at least some of the world before taking over for his parents. Although from the way things were going in the world right now, none of them would have a chance to relax until these new devils and the tears had been dealt with, and nobody knew how long that would take.
"Alright, I've informed the commander about the situation. We should start making our way to the fortress to help where we can. Everybody keep your nose to the ground, if we catch that foul scent again, we'll move to eliminate it. And Chronos, give us the system now, I'm hoping it will let the newly awakened master their powers faster." Freydis ordered as they prepared to leave.
One of the prisoners came up to them, "So what is going to happen to us? Many of us were born to bandits that lived on the edge of the wasteland before those psychotic knights destroyed our camps. You aren't even tying us up, what if we were criminals that committed heinous crimes in the kingdom?"
Looking at his emaciated body that had several scars on it and sensing his rank one trainee power level Chronos and Freydis just laughed at him. His face turned red in front of their laughter.
"Friend we are from the Ulv territory, in our home we only use ropes and chains on those who are an actual threat. In your current state even if I gave you my sword and stood still you wouldn't be able to hurt me, tying you up would be a waste of resources." Chronos stated.
Patting his shoulder Freydis continued, "If you want us to take you seriously then first reach the peak of the second rank. Even the pups back home could beat you within an inch of your life, if you don't want to be a bandit anymore then feel free to make your way to the Ulv territory. We don't care what your parents did and will only judge you for your own actions. Take it as a fresh start on life."
"You really think we can live normal lives? We're former bandits from the wasteland." Asked a man who was missing an arm.
"That's exactly my point. You're from the wasteland and most likely were born there. Nobody in the kingdom knows who you are and for some reason the Ulv territory seems to gather many weirdos and strange people that don't really want to be known. As long as you follow the law and keep from prying into other people's business, you'll be able to live normal lives there." Freydis said.
Some of the others looked skeptical at her words but what did they have to lose. Most of them had simply been born in a bad place and not chosen to be bandits, if given the chance to live a normal life amongst civilization many of them would take it.
It didn't help that there were only a few second rank soldiers among them and that wasn't enough to survive in the wasteland under normal circumstances. Now that there were strange knights going around capturing villages it was practically a death sentence to go back.
"How do we reach the Ulv territory?" Asked a tall woman who looked like she had seen fierce combat more than a few times.
"Go to the west until you leave the swamps then follow the road north past the Dracon fen temple. If you encounter any lizardfolk or nagas, tell them of your destination and they should be willing to guide you, if they don't think you're a threat that is." Freydis informed them.
After giving them some supplies they had found nearby, the werewolves bid them farewell before beginning their own march to the southeast. Only the ogre stayed with them while a few of the bandits started heading back to the wasteland intent on telling their village that they might have a new safe home in the Ulv territory.
"What's your name warrior?" Chronos asked the ogre.
"Gorvak Thalruun. I'm the captain of the guard for my island." He stated.
He seemed to be a man of few words but if he reached the captain's position then he must be skilled at his job.
"Well then Gorvak, I hope you're ready for a long run. We won't be stopping anytime soon." Chronos said.
Freydis howled to get everyone's attention.
"Keep up with me, if any of you fall behind, I'll have you doing full armor mountain runs for a month. I want to reach the fortress by tomorrow morning at the latest." Freydis called out just before she transformed into a wolf and began running.
Transforming into wolves the rest of them followed her lead through the swamp while keeping an eye out for the knights and priests that had escaped from them in the earlier battle.