"Wait... look, what's that?"
Just as Doren was still lost in aimless thoughts, Jimmy suddenly tackled him down into the dirt of the hillside, stuffing his mouth full of foul-tasting earth.
The stench of rot and putrefaction—enough to make anyone from before the Great Cataclysm vomit for days and lose their appetite for a month!
But Doren didn't care at all now, not even bothering to spit out the dirt in his mouth.
Because through the mist, he saw a dense mass of humanoid figures.
They were coming fast! Almost instantly they had entered his field of vision—massive dire wolves, and mounted on them, howling wolf riders. A nightmare for every Northerner!
"Orcs! It's orcs!" Jimmy shouted, his face twisted in horror.
The two races had been bitter enemies since time immemorial; even lone individuals meeting each other would often end in bloody slaughter.
Pfft pfft!
The wolf riders surged forward in an instant—at this distance, fleeing was useless.
"Am I going to die here? Linda..." The shock was so great that Doren's mind went blank, and the last thing he thought of was still her.
But his well-trained body and reflexes had already clenched the steel longsword in his grip.
Yet just as these two unfortunate scouts prepared to fight to the death for their country, what happened was beyond their expectations.
"Awooo..."
Amid howling cries, the wolf riders surrounded them completely but did not attack.
"I... Wolf Rider Champion—Gold Fang Vovolf! Need to see your superior! Immediately!!"
The riders on both sides pulled back, and a wolfman riding an even larger dire wolf stepped forward, speaking in stiff Common.
At this sight, Jimmy and Doren exchanged bewildered glances, both feeling a strange sense of having survived against all odds.
High above, the orc chieftain Emperor Saladin and Elasstra faced each other: "The Brood Mother's Nest also threatens the survival of the orcs. By decree of the Chief Deity, we stand united in the matter concerning wizards!"
"Saladin—your hands are drenched in the blood of our Northern folk. You are our sworn enemy... even if we are destroyed by the Hive, we will never—"
A mage standing beside
"But the gods have indeed given us divine oracle..." Beside that mage,
"Your Majesty..." Seeing the hesitation on Elasstra's face, the dissenting mage cried out anxiously. It was clear he harbored a deep, visceral hatred for the orcs.
"Enough! I accept the proposal!"
Elasstra waved her hand, and the mage reluctantly withdrew.
"Good!" Saladin nodded. "I have brought the divine artifact Mjolnir, and dispatched our tribe's finest wolf riders and war beast legion. You will be glad of today's decision..."
"I only hope you keep your promise!"
Elasstra gave Saladin a long, penetrating look: "Furthermore, due to the hatred between our two races, I require your orc army to take a different route—we will converge at the marsh!"
"Well done!" After Saladin departed, Elminster said approvingly.
"No! I just feel I've changed a great deal—growing more realistic, and more cold-blooded..." Elasstra's expression was indifferent.
"Trust me, my adopted daughter. This is simply something necessary in the course of your life..."
Elminster slowly blew a ring of white smoke.
"So what you're saying is that the nearly thousand years I lived before were just me being in a little girl's stage? You pedophile!"
Elasstra shot Elminster a withering glare, bringing an unhealthy flush of red to his face.
...
The agreement with the orc army was settled just like that, and Doren and Jimmy, after receiving a warning, returned unharmed to their own unit—incredibly lucky.
Only, at this moment there was clearly a look of confusion on Doren's face, and he tried several times to speak but held back.
Finally, after everyone else had fallen asleep, he squeezed over to Jimmy's side and asked in a barely audible whisper: "Boss Jimmy, are those orcs really here to help us?"
"Should be. After all, no one dares defy the will of the gods, except those evil beings from other worlds..."
Jimmy rolled over, answering in a drowsy voice.
"But... weren't we and the orcs still... still at war before?"
Doren had originally wanted to use the word "blood feud," but then he realized he didn't really have any relatives or friends killed by orc fangs—most people he knew had been taken out by town constables and bandits instead. The word didn't quite apply.
"Doren, you need to understand—politics is very complicated... Alright, I'm exhausted today. Don't add to my burden!"
Jimmy rolled over again, while Doren stared up at the top of the tent, his eyes filled with complex emotions...
Rumble, rumble!
Wooden wheels rolled forward, clattering against the hard, uneven ground, axles creaking under the strain.
Doren followed aimlessly behind Jimmy, the longsword he usually protected so carefully now hanging carelessly at his waist. Deep dark circles hung beneath his eyelids—clearly he hadn't slept well last night and was still somewhat distracted.
The lengthy column stretched into a long dragon, and their fully armed strength kept ordinary predators far at bay, so the journey was relatively safe.
"Doren, snap out of it! Do you want Linda to become a widow?"
Jimmy clapped Doren on the shoulder, then suddenly tensed.
"Something's up!" At almost the same moment, Doren also spotted a dark shadow moving with incredible speed through the grass by the roadside.
*Swish!* Faster than him was a streak of silver light that seemed to shoot from Jimmy's hand in an instant, striking the shadow squarely and eliciting a squealing shriek.
"Nice shot!" "Ha ha, that's the boss for you!" "We've got something!"
The surrounding adventurers crowded over, watching with envy as Doren pulled a massive rat from the grass. A silver dagger was embedded to the hilt in its skull.
"Tsk tsk! That's a huge chunk of quality meat, Jimmy—you're buying tonight!"
The adventurers eyed the catch in Doren's hands, their eyes practically glowing green.
In the Age of Darkness, food sources were extremely scarce, and meat was a luxury reserved for the upper classes—ordinary people rarely saw it.
"No problem!" Jimmy surveyed the group and agreed generously: "Come to our camp tonight!"
This generosity immediately drew cheers from the other adventurers, who seemed to plunge into a sea of joy.
Doren watched the scene with envy: "That's right—I need to step it up too. At least bring something back! Leave the orc business to the higher-ups to worry about..."
But this resolution was shattered in the very next moment.
BOOM!
A massive fireball, blazing with searing heat, hurtled toward Jimmy's position.
The tremendous explosive force tore Jimmy's body apart in an instant, and the scorching flames reduced his remains to charred carbon.
Doren, having gone to retrieve the catch, was a bit further away and narrowly escaped—though much of his hair was singed off.
Surveying the devastated caravan, the scattered flames and panicking crowds, a cold gleam flashed in Doren's eyes.
"That's... a Fireball spell! A wizard attack!!!"
He knew very well the strength of
His decision proved correct—in the next instant, a terrifying barrage of spells descended!
[Cloudkill!]、[Monster Summoning!]、[Cone of Cold!]、[Banshee's Wail!]
Various mid-tier and even high-tier spells beyond 4th level, trailing brilliant light, bombarded the army simultaneously.
Powerful magical waves rippled outward, claiming countless lives.
"The attack is coming from the sky!" Doren widened his eyes, craning his neck upward, and finally spotted figures with wings on their backs, hovering in midair using the [Dragonflight] spell.
They wore proper mage attire, but their markings were unlike any wizard faction he had seen before—black cloaks emblazoned with a pair of glowing purple eye outlines, and at their chests, they wore a black disc holy symbol with a purple outer ring.
"The Shadow Mage Order!"
The sheer number of attackers made it difficult for Elasstra and Elminster to respond immediately.
After all, they could deploy only a handful of high-tier mages, and legendary powerhouses were even fewer—yet the enemy held a clear numerical advantage among high-tier casters. For the Silver Moon Alliance, renowned for its magical prowess, this was nothing short of ironic!
"This is only the beginning!!!"
Finally, when Elasstra and Elminster had rallied a force and were preparing to counterattack, the attacking mages withdrew in orderly fashion through their portals.
The black-robed mage leading them, just before stepping through the spatial gate, warned in standard Continental Common: "This is only the beginning!"
The portal vanished in an instant, leaving behind only the belatedly arriving Dimensional Anchor spell, which left Elasstra and Elminster's faces ashen.
"Why would human mages attack their own army?"
Doren felt as though fire was about to erupt from his eyes.
He simply could not comprehend such behavior.
"And... the Shadow Mage Order—what on earth is that?"
Doren recalled the new term he had heard earlier: "No matter what! Jimmy—I will avenge you!"
Looking at the ruined caravan, the lingering flames and blackened remains scattered across the ground, Doren clenched his fist in silence, swearing an oath of vengeance in his heart.