When Dona Gracia completed his words, a silence that would last for ten minutes began inside the tent; everyone knew who the story was about, but there was nothing to say.
"If you are not going to eat, I am clearing the table!"
His armchair disappeared the moment he stood up; his butler was not wasting time, and it was certain he would also make the table disappear if no reaction came. Boss stood up, grabbed the table with both hands, and dragged it to where he sat. The giant orc wasn't going to use a plate; for him, the whole table was a plate.
The fat man left abruptly just as he had come, leaving behind two bewildered orcs. Wind of Death managed perhaps the military force with the best espionage network, but even she had only just been informed of this incident.
"If what he told is true, there is no option other than the person who could know this being in that hall!"
Wind of Death, leaning her back against the armchair and sinking into the soft leather, understood she needed to restructure her relationship with Batu along with the new information she received. At first, she had seen him as a troublemaker trying to establish his own power, a clever bandit who waylaid people, and had wanted to form an alliance, but now things were going to change.
Even though she had said she would give the Middle Region, the Sand City, to the forces managing it, they had to rethink what they would do from scratch since a new heir had appeared. Even if Batu never brought up the subject, he could claim the throne that was his right when the war ended.
"You don't need to think this much! Everything will eventually run its course!"
While Boss, speaking with his mouth full, scattered food, Wind of Death focused on what was said rather than the image; the man was right, they first needed to reach their goals, then they would have time to think about what to do.
An hour later, the rain started; the activity inside the camp and the sounds of footsteps on the ground turning to mud were also heard from the tent the two orcs were in. The precipitation was increasing its intensity moment by moment; the door opened for the second time, this time the thing entering was not golden glimmers.
When the heavy smell of blood reached her nose, Wind of Death had taken her weapon into her hand, and Boss was already making his move. The glimmer produced when metal struck metal illuminated the darkness; this way, they could see the smile of a familiar face.
"They will definitely come tomorrow. The riverbed will expand with the rain; we must take position accordingly!"
Batu's swords, who entered soaked from head to toe, were covered in blood, and judging by the twitching of the muscles on his face, it was understood he had come out of an intense battle.
"What if they try to attack tonight?"
"Such a thing is impossible. If I know that masked son of a bitch even a little bit, he will gather all his strength to take revenge!"
The two orcs looked at each other; hearing these words upon what Dona Gracia told a few hours ago had become meaningful.
"If that's the case, let's decide what we will do before our visitors arrive. Go and clean yourself up first; we will gather everyone here in half an hour!"
When Batu left the tent, the leader of the Elite Ten entered and took action to deliver the necessary news to the others. It was going to be a long night, the activity had begun, and theirs was not the only front experiencing such nights.
Every day and every night passed noisily like this in front of the giant wall in the southern part of the continent too. The bombardment that was ongoing when Nafız left was still continuing; both sides were waiting, but the boiling inside had begun.
"How much longer will we turn a blind eye to this disgrace?"
"You might like retreating behind the wall and hiding, but we came here to show ourselves!"
The leaders of the forces arriving on behalf of the Lands of Light were starting to grumble the moment they caught the two generals of the Mercenaries. Their target was opposite them, practically offering himself on a silver platter on the platform within his army, but they could do nothing but sit with their hands tied.
"Please be calm. Our goal is not to defeat the enemy who came right up to the front of the Death Pass, but to prevent them from going further from here."
Balbazar had taken on the job of speaking; he had to take responsibility after his partner in this mission had returned from the brink of fighting with the leader of the allied forces a few times. It was obvious he was at his limits too; as someone living on battlefields, he could barely withstand the insistences of the youths at ages that could be considered children.
"You ensure they don't go forward, but who will ensure they go back? It seems they have a lot of money to spend, and unlike you, they are not dependent only on the supply of the Empire of Machines!"
Unlike the arrogant attitudes of Ventus and Nympha, Solo from the Companions of the Earth came up with a logical question. Staying on the defense was easy, effective too, but no one knew how much longer the enemy backed by the Orc Empire could continue this attack.
"I want one more day from you; if the bombardment is still ongoing, I will not prevent you from making an attack!"
After getting the final concession, Balbazar quickly walked away from the young mages; he couldn't hold them any longer, and the person who was supposed to lead the allied army hadn't yet come out of the room he entered.
"Our wait has finally come to an end, the hunt begins tomorrow!"
Ignis moved towards the place where his own units were, practically radiating flames; the others were going to follow him, only Franz was watching the enemy from over the wall, and in those moments, his gazes locked onto his ultimate target.
What a coincidence that Joshua was looking at him too, and when the eyes of the two young men met, their destinies were sealed to each other even though they themselves weren't aware of it yet. Even if the others didn't know exactly, Franz knew his position inside Niconya and his closeness with the killers of the person he called brother.
His eyes were radiating light, his desire to kill had reached the skies, but opposite him was someone who transformed thanks to Mora and inherited the legacy of the man who founded the Holy Blood Cult. Those arriving as support forces on behalf of the Lands of Light might have put him on the target board, but he had also signed the death warrant of everyone opposite him.
One more day, just one more day would pass calmly because the Hell Realm Army also had to do something. Nafız had set a time limit when she left, and they knew that if they hadn't done anything by the time she returned, very bad things would happen to them.
Those who didn't know Nafız could perceive this as an empty threat or words said in a moment of anger, but if they saw her once, they would immediately abandon these ideas. Fortunately, the Blood God was far away; she had given the first aid to her friend who lost his left arm and eye, and was waiting for him to regain consciousness.
Inside the secret facility, she was alone with the mutated orc army; Wrestler had returned to his owner's body during the healing process, and White Well's corpse had already been torn into pieces as small as grains of sand.
"Are you still hungry?"
Hours later, the Orc Chief Alyon opened his eyes, and this was the first thing he heard.
"And how, I'm dying of hunger!"
When Alyon spoke, the members of the Neo-Orc army who entered their cages began to shout, roar, and make sounds that had no precedent before. They were greeting their leader, perhaps they were joyful because he was alive, but these attitudes of theirs were enough to drive Nafız crazy.
"Man, just a few hours ago you were tearing yourselves apart to take my life, now you are howling like pups seeing their owner. Shut up!"
When the biggest predator in the environment roared, all sounds ceased; Alyon made a move towards his left side to stand up, but as he was about to fall due to his missing arm, he was caught by Nafız. It hadn't been long since his loss; it wouldn't be that easy to get rid of old habits.
"Don't sulk, we will find a solution for it!"
Alyon, standing up with Nafız's help, walked next to his new warriors biting the huge leg piece he took from his friend. When he got in front of them, four thousand mutant orcs came out of their cages, surrounded him, and knelt down to greet him.
"I'm not sad for my arm and eye; I've more than gotten their worth. Four thousand warriors aside, you are no longer the only one blessed by a god!"