Ignoring the scattered islands, the continent as a whole looked like a bloated cross.
The Lyon Empire sat at the center of that cross, with the Court of the Silver Moon lying at its far end. The kingdoms along the vertical bar were, in order, the Emerald Dreamwood, the Lyon Empire, the Golden Kingdom, Alkhemia, and the Court of the Silver Moon. Along the horizontal bar were the tiflings' Unholy Kingdom, the Lyon Empire, and the Orc Kingdom.
Lyon bordered four neighboring powers. Three belonged to non-human races, and the last, the Emerald Dreamwood, followed a completely different faith. In other words, Lyon was surrounded by enemies on all sides. Even so, its national strength sufficed to suppress all four neighbors so thoroughly that they could barely breathe.
It was hardly unusual for Lyon to wage war against the orcs. Even a desolate wasteland like the desert had conflicts with Lyon, so it would be even stranger if a fiercely warlike race like the orcs didn't have a conflict with them.
In fact, Lyon and the orcs had fought many small-scale wars over the past century. The orcs usually suffered losses, but thanks to their treacherous mountainous terrain, they were always able to hold their ground.
The mountains there were like spears driven upside-down into the earth. Proper roads were almost impossible to find. Only the orcs, who had evolved to move almost like mountain goats, could live freely in such terrain.
So when Lyon suddenly launched a surprise attack on the Orc Kingdom, it caught everyone completely off guard.
Setting aside economic strength, the Orc Kingdom's military power was likely second only to Lyon itself. In other kingdoms, the phrase "every citizen a soldier" might be an exaggeration, but in the Orc Kingdom it was simply reality.
Any orc over the age of ten was stronger than a human militia fighter. They were born with powerful bodies, fearless courage, and became competent warriors with but a little training. Orc legends, tempered by their harsh environment, never turned out half-baked.
And they had no interest in knightly honor or one-on-one duels. They would swarm their enemies without hesitation, and they had no qualms about slaughtering ordinary soldiers. Lyon's paladins were powerful, yes, but they couldn't all be equally strong. A legendary warrior killed in swathes on the battlefield, and even Lyon would wince at the losses.
In earlier wars, knowing they couldn't defeat the paladins directly, the orc champions targeted the rank-and-file soldiers instead. The casualties had once been so catastrophic that a thousand-man force—paladins plus auxiliary troops—was reduced to nothing but its commanding officer.
It had been a humiliation for the Lyon Empire, but the elusive orc warriors were simply impossible to deal with on home ground.
This time, therefore, Lyon chose not to send a massive army. Instead, the Silvermoon Knight led the expedition personally with a mere thirty companions. Ten were legends; the rest were high-ranking paladins or priests of light already standing at the legendary threshold.
Without the burden of ordinary troops, they could advance incredibly quickly. The Silvermoon Knight launched the first strike before the orcs could even react.
At the border between the two nations stood Tusk City, the only gateway into the mountains. The city rose like the curved tusk of a wild boar, stabbing toward the sky.
Even if you could fly, you still had to pass over Tusk City. The surrounding areas were perpetually covered by thunderclouds, much like the Golden Desert. Long ago, some bored legendary mage had used Terraform to create this bizarre weather phenomenon.
The orcs had originally chosen this region precisely because of that natural barrier. After many years of effort, they had turned the thunder-covered mountains into their territory.
Tusk City was the only entrance into the range. Countless Lyon soldiers had died before these sheer cliffs in the past, never managing to break through the city's defenses.
This time, however, Tusk City lasted only half an hour.
A dazzling beam of sword energy, larger than the mountain itself, descended from the sky like a cascade of moonlight. The tusk pointing toward the heavens was split in two. The gates shattered, and seventy percent of the city's defenses were destroyed. Shouting praises to the holy light, Lyon's soldiers charged through the broken gate, purifying every orc who refused to surrender.
There were originally two orc legends in the city. But the moment they appeared, that terrifying beam of energy struck again. One slash killed one of them instantly. His door-sized battle-axe, his thick armor, and even his steel-like body could not withstand the brilliant beam. He was sliced cleanly in half from head to toe.
The second legendary orc saw his companion die and was consumed by both terror and fury. His intense emotions drove him into a berserk state, and his body swelled as if inflated. He grew into a monstrous giant four or five meters tall as he prepared to avenge his comrade.
But before he could do so, several paladins surrounded him.
Sacred Slash, Sacred Slash… and Sacred Slash again!
The orc lasted only a few minutes before the holy blades chopped him into minced meat.
The battle had simply unfolded too quickly. The orc army didn't even have time to assemble. By the time the mage corps that should have supported the legendary warriors were able to react, the fighting was nearly over.
In the entire battle, the most decisive factor had been the Silvermoon Knight's two strikes.
One had split the city, and one slew the enemy. By then, Tusk City was half-ruined.
Though many orcs remained, the loss of leadership left them in disarray. As a few legendary paladins swept through the city several times, the orcs collapsed completely, fleeing in all directions.
Including the final cleanup, the battle lasted less than an hour. Tusk City had fallen into Lyon's hands.
What followed was the construction of a temporary teleportation array. Then, Lyon troops began arriving one after another. The first wave consisted entirely of spellcasters. They expanded and reinforced the teleportation circle, then continued transporting more troops over.
Using costly mass teleportation, Lyon transported three thousand soldiers to Tusk City in a single day—at a cost far higher than a conventional battle involving ten thousand troops.
But the advantage of speed was unparalleled. Within a day, Tusk City had completely become Lyon territory.
With so many spellcasters present, the ruined city was quickly repaired. Layers of defensive magic fortified the city into an even more imposing bastion.
The second day after Tusk City fell, the orcs began gathering their forces to retake the crucial gateway into their mountains.
An assembled orc army was terrifyingly powerful, especially their mage corps. Their combination spells allowed them to summon colossal fireballs capable of destroying cities in a single strike.
But before the orc army could even approach the city, Lyon sent out their legendary paladins, each carrying a Time Stop scroll worth hundreds of thousands of gold.
They hid nearby using Greater Invisibility; then, when the orc army appeared, they simply unleashed the scrolls.
The paladins hurled the Time Stop scrolls like artillery shells, sending them flying hundreds of meters into the orc ranks.
Lyon was all but using gold as a weapon. Several Time Stop scrolls detonated, freezing ninety-nine percent of the orc army inside temporal stasis and turning them into lambs for the slaughter.
The few powerful orcs capable of resisting the spell received special attention from Lyon's champions. The ambush slew another legendary orc and gravely wounded two more.
What followed was a one-sided massacre. The priests of Lyon unleashed Dawn Radiance. Each explosion wiped out swathes of enemies: orcs fell like wheat before a scythe.
A surprise attack, followed by an ambush, pushed the battle into a self-reinforcing cycle.
Tusk City became Lyon's forward hub. Vast numbers of troops were transported there and began altering the terrain, filling steep ravines with magic and turning rugged mountains into passable roads.
Lyon's champions, meanwhile, did not rest. Using Tusk City as a base, they spread out like blooming flowers, fighting battles all over.
For legendary warriors, natural terrain was hardly an obstacle. This was especially true for the Silvermoon Knight. After the war began, he had acted only eight times. Five cities were split apart by his blade. Three legendary orcs died by his hand.
In just ten days, the Orc Kingdom had lost five legendary warriors. Their losses were so terrifying that even the fearless orcs chose to retreat and consolidate their defenses rather than attempt to reclaim their lost cities.
After reading Black Rose's report, Ambrose felt a lingering chill of fear. [Megaman Tiga: This old man's strength is a bit ridiculous… Isn't he supposed to be dying soon? How is he still this terrifying?!]
A single slash had split a city; another had killed a legend. If the old man had been thirty years younger, the other kingdoms might already have surrendered.
Ambrose had conned the Silvermoon Knight out of dozens of millions of gold. If the knight had decided to break his oath and strike him down, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
[Black Rose: He is close to death. I can feel it—he's not far from the end. Perhaps that's exactly why Lyon chose this moment to launch a surprise attack on the Orc Kingdom. The orcs are their final enemy. Once it's dealt with, Lyon's only real opponent will be the tiflings. The Emerald Dreamwood would never take the initiative to wage war.]
Ambrose agreed with Black Rose. Druids would never provoke Lyon first. They would most likely hide behind their Dreamveil Barrier like turtles in their shells.
If that happened, the Lyon Empire's precarious situation would become far safer.
Ambrose understood clearly that Lyon was preparing for the coming upheaval. The Lord of Dawn must have already given them a warning, urging them to eliminate potential threats in advance so they could focus entirely on the upcoming catastrophe capable of bringing down gods.
He asked another question. [Megaman Tiga: Lady Rose, have you been in the Orc Kingdom these past few days?]
[Black Rose: Yes. When I learned of Lyon's troop movements, I traveled through the underground tunnels into orc territory. Thanks to Lyon's invasion, I've gained quite a harvest: three legendary orc corpses, and the soul of one legend. I plan to use them to create a legendary undead, but I'll need your help.]
[Megaman Tiga: You want to modify that orc's soul?]
[Exactly. The orc failed to ascend to a divine realm after his death, but his will is extremely strong. Using conventional methods to alter it would easily cause irreversible damage. You specialize in soul modification, so you should be able to help with this, right?]
Ambrose hesitated for a moment before replying. [Megaman Tiga: I can try, but I can't guarantee success.]
Souls were extremely fragile. To modify them safely usually required the subject's full consent. Ambrose wasn't confident in his chances, but for such a difficult job, Black Rose would surely be willing to pay handsomely.
After discussing business, Ambrose turned his attention back to the Orc Kingdom. Judging by Lyon's current momentum, the orcs really might be wiped out within a month.
[Megaman Tiga: Lady Rose, how long do you think the orcs can hold out?]
[Black Rose: Hard to say. That depends on how many more days the old man can stay alive. Lyon's offensive has already begun to slow. In my opinion… the Silvermoon Knight probably doesn't have much time left.]
