Chapter 884: The Tribe
Wagner personally led the charge, with Doug darting ahead to rally the George Family’s forces as they stormed the tribe.
Unlike the main fortress, this tribe had no ancestral blessing or protective barrier. The George Family brought at least five hundred men—mage legion, sword legion, and even twenty sharpshooters.
Including their magical beast mounts, supply wagons, various siege equipment, and logistics crew, their total force numbered a thousand.
With every preparation in place, attacking a tribe whose elite had been wiped out and whose strongest fighters were all wounded was almost laughably easy...
With siege engines deployed, the mage legion’s relentless bombardment, plus the sharpshooters and sword legion, it took less than half an hour to flatten the tribe before them...
A swarm of troops poured into the tribe like locusts, looting everything in sight. Every Black Iron Orc within was slaughtered...
Wagner’s smile nearly split his face as his points skyrocketed by almost a hundred thousand.
Doug greedily eyed the spoils scavenged from the Black Iron Orc tribe—not just rare ores, but a trove of precious gemstones, and more magical herbs and resources than the George Family would harvest in a month in the Blazeforge Realm.
Just think, it takes the George Family working nonstop for a whole month in the Blazeforge Realm to gather this much!
This tribe may be small, but these resources have been accumulating for years—each one a rare treasure. Especially the magical gemstone veins; the George Family couldn’t scrape together this much in half a year.
“Ah... Ancestors bless us, to have such a clueless commander! If he hadn’t agreed to our terms, how could we have gotten all this so easily? We barely lost anything, yet gained so much—and the points are piling up fast...”
Wagner couldn’t help but let out a delighted moan.
The tribe was cleared out in no time. When Leon kept his word and finished the vanguard’s task, he stayed far away, refusing to go near the Black Iron Orc tribe at all.
This put Wagner at ease. He felt more and more that having a foolish temporary ally—one willing to take all the dirty, dangerous work while leaving the easy riches to them—was a stroke of luck.
“A bit stupid, sure, but isn’t that even better?”
While the George Family picked over the battlefield, reaping the fruits of victory, Leon’s side was still in low spirits—everyone except Leon himself...
Hubert set his warhammer Slaughter on the ground, leaning on it as he glared at the rampaging George Family in the distant tribe, baring his teeth in annoyance.
“Master Merlin, let’s go take them out! That pretty boy, and that Doug—I’d love to snap his neck...”
Hubert blurted out, and the William brothers, plus Kurum, immediately perked up, as if just waiting for Leon to give the word for a fight.
"Master Leon, this is so unfair! Why do we have to take on the most dangerous and exhausting tasks, while they get the easy jobs and reap all the rewards?"
Based on the points here, all we did was drive off their vanguard and wipe out a few elite troops, so the points we got are just for killing individual Black Iron Orcs. The big haul comes from exterminating the tribe—and those foolish Black Iron Orcs must've hoarded plenty of treasures over the years, now all gone..."
Leon just smiled and shook his head, looking completely unconcerned.
"It’s fine. These battles are necessary anyway. You’ve all gotten stronger so quickly—more fighting can only help. Just think of it as training. As for the George Family, it’s not time to use them yet. If they want the spoils, let them have them..."
With Leon saying it was just training, no one had any objections. The spoils didn’t matter much to anyone, anyway.
After following Leon for so long, their horizons had expanded without them even noticing. Even their appetites had become more refined.
Even the most ordinary mage in the legion wielded a Dragon Scale Staff forged from Primordial Venom Dragon scales and other rare materials. Their core meditation laws and magus runes were all top-tier.
Their robes were all personally crafted by Leon, and outside the legion, each one would be worth as much as a Soulbound Relic.
And their daily meditation took place in environments with dozens of times the normal mana density...
Step by step, their tastes had been refined. The stash from a little orc tribe—just a pile of materials—barely registered. No one cared much for it.
Thinking this, everyone looked at the George Family members celebrating in the distant tribe and couldn’t help but feel a bit contemptuous—those hillbilly bumpkins who’d never seen real treasure...
The first tribe went down without a hitch...
Wagner was thoroughly satisfied, since Leon had followed that unbelievable agreement to the letter—even better, even dumber than expected...
Wagner finished looting in no time and sped off to the next tribe, while the intel was rushed to Leon as fast as possible.
"The next tribe is one of the stronger ones near Radiance Fortress. The chieftain is an eighth-rank Sword Saint, known as the Black Iron Orcs’ Fang, with some special abilities. According to the intel, he’s not at Radiance Fortress—he’s in his tribe now, along with a dozen Sword Saints and plenty of Greatsword Masters. The tribe numbers nearly six hundred..."
Leon glanced at the report, said nothing, and tossed it to Kurum. From here on, the Mage Legion could handle things.
Besides the Mage Legion, Leon sent the three William brothers and Hubert to fight—no one else needed to get involved.
Reina had been advancing rapidly lately. Her level hadn’t changed much, but her life essence had evolved, boosting her combat power. No need for Reina to join in this time.
Same with the Alchemical Golem and Anderson—and Leon himself. The strongest in the squad wouldn’t be fighting.
Four ninth-rank Title Archmage-level fighters going up against these minor tribes would be a waste. Better to let the freshly-leveled Mage Legion and Hubert get some practice.
Besides, with the George Family present, Leon had no intention of getting involved...
Soon, they arrived at the second tribe. This one was clearly twice as large as the last, with much better defenses—spiked walls all around, squat buildings built to withstand blows, and every wooden structure specially treated to look like steel, impossible to burn...
With the allied army charging in so brazenly, the Black Iron Orcs responded at once.
Just like before, the Black Iron Orcs sent out their elite first. The chieftain, wearing a bone necklace, led the charge.
It’s the Black Iron Orcs’ tradition—the strongest always fight at the front. Only those who survive countless battles earn the right to lead.
The George Family stayed back to watch, even sending people ahead to block off escape routes. They looked completely unconcerned about Leon going back on his word.
Leon’s Mage Legion struck first, joined by the three Williams casting spells. Same as before—they let the Black Iron Orcs approach, while the Mage Legion gathered power.
When the Black Iron Orcs were within a hundred meters, something changed. The chieftain activated his battle aura, channeling crimson energy into the bone fang necklace around his neck.
A crimson glow swept over them. Suddenly, every Black Iron Orc seemed to swell, veins and blood vessels bulging as if about to burst.
In an instant, their aura surged by twenty percent. Mixed together, it felt like a rampaging Abyssal Demon had burst from the depths—crimson and black energies gathered above, forming a massive, shifting demonic head.
The demonic head’s hollow, sinister eyes stared at the Mage Legion, its jagged fangs trembling nonstop.
“Well, would you look at that—Abyssal Demon fangs, and from a Fang Demon at that. This Abyssal Demon must be at least Sky Rank. Even if those fangs are cast-offs, they’ll massively boost the bloodline power of these orcs...”
Anderson exclaimed in surprise, then all three of his faces returned to their usual bored expressions as he watched the battle.
“Merlin, what on earth are you playing at? Come on, tell us—don’t say you’re just being nice, not even you’d believe that. What kind of trap did you set for these Odin Kingdom idiots? Damn, I almost want to take them out myself.”
Leon glanced at Anderson but said nothing, just quietly watching the battle unfold ahead.
The power of the demon fang necklace drove the Black Iron Orcs’ strength past their limits, awakening the Abyssal Demon blood in their veins.
Still dozens of meters away, the chieftain Fang swung his greatsword, releasing a crimson battle aura slash over ten meters long. Wisps of black energy swirled around it, forming demonic heads that instantly dissolved into abyssal mist.
Meanwhile, on the Mage Legion’s side, elemental flames erupted all on their own. Fifty members of the legion seemed to stand in a sea of fire, the blazing flames covering over a hundred meters.
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