Chapter 1019: Genius of War
Leon taught Arno his combat methods, from the basics of spellcasting to the final killing blow. Every step was laid out in detail—so complex that Arno kept nodding, utterly awed.
If Leon had simply told him that extreme ice and fire would affect magical beasts, and that fusing the two was the most lethal way to weaken their fighting power, Arno probably wouldn't have believed it...
But now, after the most complicated explanation, Arno was utterly convinced.
Once Leon finished, Arno smiled and began to share the secrets behind these mana crystals.
"We, the Henry Family, paid a steep price to uncover the secrets of these mana crystals. We bribed an insider to infiltrate the upper ranks of the Blazeforge Orcs, and only then did we learn a little. But the real truth is known only to the very top of the Blazeforge Orcs—I don't know it myself.
You must have noticed it too: the magical beasts in the Blazeforge Battlefield are downright bizarre. They're Level Forty, but have no extraordinary powers, no demi-plane, not even awakened intelligence. They're easily the weakest Level Forty beings around.
And based on their bloodlines, these beasts shouldn't even be able to reach Level Forty. It's just their old fighting style, but with Level Forty strength tacked on.
Long ago, this place was the Blazeforge Pasture. After the eight branches of the Blazeforge Orcs came here, what they fought for wasn't the resources, but the mana crystals of these pseudo Sky Rank beasts.
After they arrived, they ignored the abundant resources—even though the herbs and materials here are far superior to anything outside.
After arriving, they went mad hunting these pseudo Sky Rank beasts, obsessed with increasing their stockpile of mana crystals.
Rumor has it, these mana crystals are the most precious things in the Blazeforge Battlefield. And they’re tied to a secret—or maybe a competition. Only the final victor gets the real prize, while the losers walk away with next to nothing.
Before humans ever set foot in the Blazeforge Realm, every time the Blazeforge Orcs advanced in power, it happened after the Blazeforge Battlefield opened.
What they gained from the Blazeforge Battlefield was the key to their overall advancement—and the most crucial thing was always the mana crystals from those pseudo Sky Rank beasts.
Everything else in the Blazeforge Battlefield is worthless. Only the mana crystals have any real value.
As for the greatest secret, we don’t know. But the Blazeforge Orcs definitely do. That’s why their top elites entered this time—including the Golden Orcs’ chieftain’s son. If he’s here, then they must have brought the Ancestral Warden. And the Golden Orcs’ Grand General is almost certainly here as well.
If we run into a Golden Orc squad alone, we stand no chance. Not even the Burning Tower, Dunespire Tower, Skyhold Fortress, or the Odin royal family could take them head-on.
That’s all I know. The rest is beyond me.
Among the Blazeforge Orc leadership, there’s a saying: ‘Winners gorge themselves, losers get nothing.’ The Golden Orcs rose from the eight branches and became the royal clan precisely because they won three consecutive battles in the Blazeforge Battlefield—that’s how they cemented their dominance.”
Arno laid out everything he knew in detail. Leon nodded thoughtfully, deep in contemplation.
There are far too many oddities here—a bunch of magical beasts that should barely reach Level Ten, now all at Level Forty. No demi-plane, no awakened intelligence, not even extraordinary power, yet their strength can't be underestimated. Their mana crystals are especially bizarre: they contain strong spatial power, yet magical beasts can't use it at all.
Once the deal with the Henry Family was done, Morgan rushed to leave, ignoring his wounds—he dodged Leon like the plague.
Ever since he stole an Ice Ape mana crystal from Leon, his luck’s been rotten. Not only did he suffer heavy losses, but everything he got had to be spat back out. Morgan suspects Leon is cursed with misfortune—the farther away, the better...
Marching with the group, Morgan kept trying to clear his name, testing if the Henry Family thought he was the infamous underwear thief. He bribed everyone a little, terrified they'd blab when they got home—if word got out, he'd be dead for sure, and nobody could save him...
Leaving Morgan's escape aside, Leon sorted out his spoils and led the team onward. The number of pseudo Sky Rank mana crystals in his hand kept growing, and his connection to that unknown place grew stronger. What was once just a vague direction now had a sense of distance. It wouldn't be long before they arrived.
Since these mana crystals are tied to a big secret and are the most precious thing in the Blazeforge Battlefield, Leon had every reason to head for the place resonating with them.
On the third day, Leon packed away the mana crystal from the Steel-Tusk Boar he’d just hunted, ready to move on, when his expression suddenly shifted.
His Mana Harness detected a faint trace of magical energy—a weak, but unmistakable signature only found in fierce battles. It had to be coming from several kilometers away.
Leon floated into the air and cast Eagle’s Eye, scanning the distance.
Instantly, he saw that thousands of meters away, the clouds had been shredded by a powerful force—a massive hole torn in the sky, as if someone had ripped the clouds wide open.
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Faint magical lights flickered in the distance: firelight, Battle Aura, dark clouds, meteors, and a starry, endless void...
Leon’s eyes narrowed. That crimson glow streaked with gold, the power to tear open the sky—this had to be a top Golden Orc from the Blazeforge royal clan.
The other firelight was pure elemental flame—no orc shaman could cast that color. That meant human mages, and that deep, starry void could only belong to Cloudspire Tower...
If it were any other human faction, Leon might have watched the chaos and strolled over, haggling like he did with the Henry Family. But Cloudspire Tower was different...
From the moment he opened his eyes in this era, Cloudspire Tower had helped him again and again. And Lord Joey was a respected elder—Leon couldn’t just stand by.
Most importantly, just by watching the changing lights, it was obvious: Cloudspire Tower was fleeing, and the Golden Orcs were hunting them down...
"Prepare for battle."
Leon barked the order, casting Flight Spell and soaring toward the fray, his team close behind.
Three minutes later, Leon spotted the Cloudspire Tower mages—but they looked utterly battered.
Star Sage Joey’s robe was riddled with tiny holes, its magical aura faded as if corroded. Once a priceless artifact, now it was little more than a regular robe...
Cloudspire Tower’s group was down to barely a dozen, all wounded—two missing an arm, their robes soaked dark red with blood.
They fought desperately as they fled, like exhausted beasts making their last stand—their spells weaker and less frequent than normal.
Behind them, a pack of Golden Orcs roared and jeered, treating the chase like some orcish hunting ritual. Relaxed, relentless, they blocked every counterattack and toyed with their prey.
At the center of the Golden Orcs, a towering figure stood out—2.6 meters tall, bronze-gold skin shimmering, covered in intricate tattoos. His golden hair was braided into dozens of plaits, four huge tusks jutted from his mouth, and a massive scar ran across his face.
He wore at least three or four hundred pounds of heavy armor and wielded a giant sword three meters long and half a meter wide—an imposing sight.
Even from a kilometer away, Leon could see it: magical waves, elemental surges, and howling winds all vanished three meters from this orc, flowing around him like water around a boulder.
Just the pressure radiating from his body suppressed everything within three meters. No ordinary orc could do this.
This was at least a terrifying being with one foot in the Sky Rank—and a top-tier one at that.
Within five meters of the giant orc, there were no other guards—just a laughing young Golden Orc in golden furs, his forehead adorned with ancient royal tattoos unique to the Blazeforge royal clan.
Leon’s gaze grew serious. That laughing youth must be Wilderkraf, son of the current Golden Orc chieftain. He wasn’t the one to worry about.
The real threat was the massive Golden Orc beside him—Gorswothy, known as the Golden Behemoth. He commanded all Golden Orc armies and even led the Blazeforge Orcs’ united forces against humans. A true war genius, Gorswothy understood tactics better than almost any human in the Blazeforge Realm.
His bloodline was exceptional. Not only was he a Ninth-Rank Orc Sword Saint, but also a Ninth-Rank Orc Warlock—both beyond the ordinary Title Archmage, yet he hadn’t reached Sky Rank.