Twenty thousand warriors were waiting in regular formation, with their blood-colored armors, weapons of all kinds resting on their backs, and shining eyes. The Hell Realm, within the five years the administration changed hands, seemed to have managed to cease being six separate sects and become a single fist.
No one could deny the share of the Instructors of the Orc Steppes Academy. These people, who mentally managed to whip the weakest race on the World of the Six Civilizations into shape, had done a good job with the Hell Realm, which went through a heavy war and was swaying on a massive wave of change.
Instructors might be the most important factor regarding training, but if they couldn't get enough support behind them, what they could do was limited. Jashua, acting just like Khan, even more ruthlessly than him in some matters, had given full support to the guest instructors.
Even though orcs could act roughly while trying some training methods due to their large population, the Hell Realm, which lost the vast majority of its population to form a single administration, couldn't do this. A logical person's way of thinking should be like this, but Jashua didn't hesitate for a moment to act in the exact opposite direction.
He prioritized quality over quantity. What he experienced since Gulag's cave where his life changed had shown him this. If a person had enough power, the numerical superiority of those opposing them meant nothing.
There could be no other reason for him marching on an army of fifty thousand with twenty thousand people, and attacking while the defending side was behind a pass that seemed impossible to breach. The principles he followed might not provide him numerical superiority, but when an expert eye examined the weapons and armors of his warriors, they could tell us other things.
Even though the Orc Steppes couldn't support with its military power, it wasn't withholding the battle gear produced by its artisans from its allied civilization. The orc artisans, whose fame began to spread across the World of the Six Civilizations, had used everything they learned in the production of these weapons and armors.
Their contributions were great in all uniformly dressed warriors standing so majestically. The army was so impressive that Jashua couldn't get enough of watching them on the small hill he climbed to call out to them.
"Noble warriors of the Hell Realm!"
He himself was also dressed ready for battle at any moment, and along with the vibration he added to his voice, his words, after entering his warriors' ears, first stopped by their hearts, then went to their brains.
"Those who came here walking through paths of fire, it is time to reap the rewards of the suffering you endured. Taking our place next to our eternal and everlasting enemy, we are going to bring down the houses of the degenerates who trespassed our lands on their heads!"
When the warriors of the Hell Realm army, who didn't use shields, stomped their right feet on the ground, a small earthquake felt even from thousands of paces away occurred. They were at least as determined and sure of themselves as their leader.
"Our first target is the Death Pass, known by an arrogant name. Behind it, alongside the Mercenaries, the mages of the Five Factions of the Lands of Light will be waiting. Here is your opportunity; will you be the warriors declaring to the whole world that the Hell Realm, mocked as the sick man, is born from its ashes?"
"Yes, sir!"
While the one-word answer rose to the skies creating an echo as if it would stretch on forever, the clouds over the twenty-thousand-strong army didn't know where to flee out of fear. The Hell Realm was ready for battle, they knew what they would face, and obviously, they didn't have the slightest fear.
"He wasn't a very soft kid anyway, but since becoming the King of the Hell Realm, he has completely turned to stone. I was a bit worried when he cut half of the power in his hands, but I can say he got a good yield at the end of the harvest!"
Nafız was speaking with the air of a painter introducing her work put on exhibition to her guests, and the group behind her had no chance but to confirm her. Hueso, the leader of one of the two major sects surviving on the Hell Realm, his granddaughter, Alis, and the Elemental Ten members, remaining nine people, were agreeing with these words, every word of which was true.
Even though they didn't have command over the details, the Elemental Ten members, knowing the relationship between Jashua and Nafız, were beside themselves. You could attribute the reason for this to the excitement of going to war, Jashua's latest state, or the fact that they had recently lost their leader, but the truth was very different.
They were all familiar with the Power Animal concept and had caught the chance to see it with their own eyes during their training inside the Orc Academy. Unfortunately, they were all First Level power animals; even if they were appealing enough to make one jealous, they had lost all their charm after what they heard a few days ago.
When Alis said during a conversation that she was Nafız's power animal in the past, they couldn't speak for a while, couldn't move, and if the others hadn't come to their rescue, they couldn't even manage to breathe. As if seeing a Second Level power animal for the first time wasn't enough, when they also learned she had gained her own will, the state of astonishment descending upon them hadn't yet disappeared.
"Just as our king treats himself regarding fulfilling the responsibilities placed on his shoulders, he treats others in the same way. Even though everyone says he has turned into a ruthless tyrant, as an old-fashioned man, I like his principles. Obey or die, I think it's a simple but effective motto."
Hueso, the Leader of the Holy Bone Sect, as the most important witness of the continent's turbulent years, knew how authority weakness led to great disasters. In a geography where you would end up in a pitiable state if you pitied, he was as sure as his name that the one who struck first would always win.
"Bringing the headless sects to their knees, destroying the one that didn't fall into line was relatively easy. The real test begins now. If Jashua wants to remain as king, he must leave this war victoriously. I assume the Orc Empire will not allow the Hell Realm right next to it to be dragged into chaos once again."
Alis was looking at events from a different angle than Hueso, whose patriotic side prevailed. Jashua, who managed to fill the void formed after the Royal Family, which the Holy Blood Sect overthrew with an operation she was also in, had to overcome the last obstacle before him.
If he couldn't do it, he would be the only loser. Maybe he would stay at the head again and keep his seat for someone of his lineage to continue the rule, but a giant like the Orc Empire wouldn't allow him to act as comfortably as now.
"It is impossible for such a thing to happen. Our king, routing the enemy, will bring the joy of victory back to the lands of the Hell Realm. And how could we fail anyway? My grandfather, you, me, and most importantly the Blood God Nafız is here. If you ask me, those who should worry are none other than the enemies hiding behind the Death Pass."
Muslo, the granddaughter of the Holy Bone Sect Leader, neither crushed her husband's words nor held back from supporting her grandfather. She was no longer the girl whose war with the Holy Fire Sect was prevented; during the five-year cleansing period, there hadn't been a day her hands weren't stained with enemy blood.
The Elemental Ten were silent; in a place where they weren't taken into account as battle power, how could they dare to speak, but Nafız, whom they had been traveling with for a while, hadn't forgotten them. When the words of the important people of the Hell Realm ended, taking the druids she went next to behind her, she would say a few words.
"Don't underestimate these youths at all. I didn't bring them with me to watch the war. If there are mages the Lands of Light sent, we have our druid warriors like lions too. I assume some things have become clear in their minds after the reward dungeon they entered, and when they face the enemy, they will show us all what they learned."
When the Elemental Ten members, whose chests puffed up with the unexpected support, gave their greetings by bowing their heads, the Hell Realm army began its march. The war, whose plans had been made for a long time, had practically begun; the next stop was to confront the enemy in front of the Death Pass.