The night was as dark as ink.
Within the Orc Camp at the Gallant Cavalry Kingdom Ruins, chaos reigned like a boiling cauldron.
The violent tremors of the earth, even from dozens of miles away, still echoed clearly here.
For the Orcs, who usually only believed in muscle and strength, it was the first time they felt a primal terror from the depths of their being.
This was not the shudder of facing a formidable enemy, but the helpless insignificance of an ant before the wrath of the heavens.
Bonfires toppled from the shaking, tents swayed precariously, and terrified howls and panicked roars rose and fell in waves.
“Earth Mother is enraged! The goddess is going to punish us!”
“Nonsense! It must be human magic! Those cowards actually dared to fight back?!”
“It’s from the south! The sound came from the south! The Wolf Rider Vanguard must be in trouble!”
“Should we… should we retreat?”
Panic spread through the camp like a plague.
The Orcs whispered among themselves, and their once-high fighting spirit had long since been washed away by the unknown terror.
Shala Wiseclaw stood atop a high spot, overlooking the chaotic camp below, her fox face so dark it seemed it could drip water.
Could the divine oracle… really have been wrong?
No, impossible!
The great Master never errs!
If there was a mistake, it must be elsewhere!
“Silence, all of you!”
“It’s just a bit of noise, and you’re all scared out of your wits?!”
Shala’s gaze was as sharp as a blade, sweeping across the crowd.
Every Orc who met her eyes instinctively lowered their heads.
“The divine oracle never errs! The only ones who make mistakes are foolish mortals!”
She offered no further explanation, simply pointing out a few of her most loyal Foxfolk Guards.
“I want to see for myself what dares to defy the will of the gods!”
“The rest of you, stay where you are!”
“If anyone dares spread rumors or shake the army’s morale again, I’ll skin her myself and make her into a staff ornament!”
***
When Shala, with her trusted guards, braved the stinging stench of sulfur and steam to struggle their way to the middle of Sunset Canyon, even she—a Shaman long accustomed to blood and death—couldn’t help but gasp.
There was no path ahead.
Or rather, the entire canyon had been completely blocked by a new “mountain” that had been “piled up.”
All that remained before them was a vast, steaming muddy marsh, with scattered bits of driftwood, boulders, and…
Some unidentifiable severed limbs, wordlessly recounting the terror of a disaster like divine punishment.
“Th-this…”
A Foxfolk Guard’s lips trembled, unable to form a complete sentence.
Shala’s pupils contracted.
Even with all her Shamanic imagination, she couldn’t fathom a force capable of such utter destruction.
“Dig! Dig for me!”
She snapped out of her shock, screaming hysterically, “If they’re alive, I want to see them! If they’re dead, I want to see the bodies! I need to know what happened here!”
The Foxfolk Guards leapt off their mounts, torches in hand, wading deep into the sticky mire, clawing and hacking through the giant graveyard in a desperate search for any sign of survivors.
Minute by minute, despair crept in.
Just then, a fox maiden suddenly shrieked in delight, “Here! There’s someone alive here!”
Everyone turned to look. Beneath a boulder half-buried in mud, a thick arm was stubbornly reaching upward.
Their spirits lifted, and they rushed over, digging frantically.
Soon, a figure, covered head to toe in mud and looking utterly wretched, crawled out from the swamp.
“It’s Commander Piggelu!”
Amazingly, aside from some scrapes and a bit of exhaustion, this pig-headed female officer seemed to have no fatal injuries.
“Cough, cough… ptooey!”
Piggelu spat out a mouthful of muddy water, shook her groggy head, and, seeing Shala before her, her beady eyes were filled with the dazed look of one who had survived disaster.
“Piggelu! What happened?!”
Shala seized her by the collar, shrieking.
“I… I don’t know…”
Piggelu was still muddled, rubbing her still-ringing ears, trying to recall.
“I just got news from Sharpclaw that everything at the canyon mouth was normal, so I ordered the whole army to speed up… then… then the mountain just collapsed…”
She haltingly recounted all she’d seen and the mysterious note she’d received, then, gazing at the apocalyptic scene before her, couldn’t help but sigh, “I knew it… I knew humans couldn’t be that stupid, there’s no way they wouldn’t set up any ambush…”
Before she could finish.
“PAH——!!!”
A crisp slap landed hard on Piggelu’s already swollen cheek.
A pair of narrow fox eyes now brimmed with bloodshot madness.
Shala was trembling all over, not from anger, but from fear.
“Are you… doubting the Earth Mother?!”
Piggelu was stunned by the blow, clutching her face, her small eyes full of grievance and confusion, mumbling, “B-but… that’s what really happened…”
“Shut up!!!”
Another slap sent Piggelu completely reeling. Shala let go, letting her collapse to the ground like a pile of mud.
She couldn’t let this stupid pig keep talking.
If she did, the “divine envoy” authority she’d worked so hard to build would collapse completely…
Without another word, Shala gathered the few battered survivors they’d dug out and, face dark as night, returned to the main camp at the Gallant Cavalry Kingdom Ruins.
By now, news of the vanguard’s annihilation had spread through the camp.
Panic gripped everyone, morale hit rock bottom.
Shala sat in her tent, her nails digging so deeply into her palm that she didn’t even notice the blood.
When she’d requested Wolf Rider support from Great Chieftain Sariel, she’d sworn on her life: in seven days, Sunset Fortress would fall; in one month, the entire Valoran Kingdom would be swept aside!
But now, let alone Sunset Fortress, they hadn’t even touched the enemy’s walls, and the elite Wolf Rider unit was almost completely wiped out.
If the Great Chieftain demanded accountability, she would probably have her soul ripped out and burned with Magic Fire for ten thousand years!
No! She couldn’t let it end like this! She had to find a way to turn things around!
Otherwise, once morale broke, this army would be finished!
The thought brought a hint of madness to Shala’s eyes.
She climbed to the central platform in camp, faced the dejected Orc soldiers, and declared at the top of her lungs, “Build an altar! I will pray to the great Earth Mother for a new oracle!”
This was a desperate gamble.
Before, all oracles had been “received” in private and then passed on by her.
If she prayed openly now and the “Earth Mother” gave no response, her last bit of authority would be destroyed.
But she had no choice.
Soon, a crude altar built of obsidian and giant beast skulls stood in the camp’s center.
All the Orcs gathered around, their eyes full of doubt, confusion, and a final sliver of hope.
Shala took a deep breath, knelt before the fearsome Earth Mother Statue, and began to pray loudly in the ancient, obscure Orc tongue.
Honestly, she had no confidence.
This was just a performance, a last-ditch effort to stabilize morale.
Her “Master” was powerful, but rarely responded directly to her prayers.
Yet just as Shala was about to give up and make up a “divine oracle” herself—
Suddenly, a change occurred!
The eyes of the Obsidian Earth Mother Statue, without warning, lit up with two ghostly green flames!
A wave of unspeakable terror, mingling holiness and evil, swept over the entire camp!
Every Orc, Shala included, collapsed to their knees, bodies trembling, not daring to lift their heads.
Then, a deep, hoarse voice, as if from the depths of the underworld, echoed directly in everyone’s mind.
“My… children…”
On the ground before the statue, light and shadow twisted, and a clear image appeared out of thin air—it was the walls of Sunset Fortress!
In the vision, the number of human soldiers was clearly visible—scattered, probably fewer than ten thousand in total.
“Attack… Corrupted Marsh…”
“Bring the one… called Wendy Black… as a sacrifice…”
“Capture… alive… bring… to me…”
As the voice faded, the oppressive force and the vision vanished.
The ghostly fire in the statue’s eyes quietly extinguished, and all returned to normal.
The camp was utterly silent.
A full ten seconds passed.
“A miracle! It’s a miracle!”
“The Earth Mother has manifested!”
“ROAR——!!!”
A tidal wave of roaring instantly swept away all reason among the Orcs!
Their eyes now held no trace of doubt or fear—only endless fanaticism and fighting spirit!
So the humans’ numbers were so few!
The god had already shown them the path to victory!
Shala herself was still prostrate, shaking with excitement.
She hadn’t expected that, while she only intended to put on a show, her Master would actually respond in public!
And to specifically name the prince of the Cavalier Kingdom!
Just what was so special about this Wendy Black, that the great Master would value him so much?
Ecstatic joy and jealousy rushed through Shala’s mind.
She sprang to her feet, raised her bone staff high, and issued a new command.
“Full army, change direction!”
“Target: Corrupted Marsh!”
“For the Earth Mother! Capture Wendy Black alive!”
***
Meanwhile.
On the walls of Sunset Fortress, the atmosphere was a sea of celebration.
The female soldiers cheered and hugged, tossing their helmets into the sky, rejoicing in this incredible, almost casualty-free victory.
Astreia stood among the crowd, basking in the joy of triumph, yet couldn’t help but glance at the beautiful youth standing in the night wind, a faint smile at his lips.
But she didn’t notice the ever colder, more venomous gaze of the former chief scribe, Edwin Veid…