Verc travelled with his army for a week, and about halfway their destination—he separated with them.
The collective march had been steady and quiet up to that point, with the heavy boots of the orcs and the light footsteps of the dark elves keeping a rhythmic pace along the winding dirt paths of the western forest.
When they reached the designated fork in the road where the ancient trees began to thin out into separate trails, Verc pulled back on the reins of Bong, signaling a halt to the entire vanguard.
He went straight ahead, while the army split into two and went to the surrounding area of where Verc was going.
The young leaders, Tatum and Jed, quickly and efficiently divided the sixty-four warriors into two equal columns, their expressions serious as they prepared to execute the flanking maneuver. The left column began to veer toward the dense thickets bordering the northern marshlands, while the right column shifted their path toward the rocky ridges that overlooked the lower valleys.
Verc remained on the central road, his figure solitary as he watched his soldiers disappear into the heavy foliage, leaving him completely on his own.
His army will reach the other tribes first, and he will reach the centaur tribe a few more days later after them.
In this way, by the time Verc reached the centaurs—his army had already engaged with the surrounding fight; cutting any possibility of reinforcement.
The other monster clans would be far too occupied defending their own territories and resources to answer any emergency distress, even by the centaur tribes.
Verc plans to really isolate the centaurs and take care of them himself.
... ... ...
Then, after a week of their department from the village—Verc met with Skul and the three new kobolds, while the army met with Scally and the other three new kobolds.
The rendezvous occurred just as the dense forest began to transition into the wide, open plains that defined the western territory. The small lizard-like scouts seemed to materialize out of the thick shadows of the brush, their dark scales blending perfectly with the damp earth as they approached their respective commanders. The separation of the scout team had worked perfectly, providing both the main army columns and the lone lord with a direct line of real-time intelligence before they crossed into enemy borders.
And as soon as they joined each of the forces; they started reporting the informations they gathered so far.
*****
(Verc’s POV)
"Hmm... thanks."
I said to Skul and his subordinates as they finished their reports.
I nodded my head slightly, gesturing for the small creatures to stand up from the damp grass while I processed the massive amount of structural layout and numbers they had just provided.
To summarized—the centaur tribe’s settlement is a clearing twice the size of our base.
The sheer scale of their living area was immense, stretching across a massive expanse of flat grassland that allowed them absolute visibility over the surrounding entry points. It wasn’t just a simple cluster of primitive huts like the ones the gnolls used; it was a fully established, organized compound that showed a high level of societal development.
Unlike the wolf-kins; they have wooden walls around their tribe to protect them.
The defensive perimeter consisted of thick, sharpened logs driven deep into the earth, reinforced with heavy cross-beams and lookout platforms that were constantly manned by armed sentries. The construction was sturdy enough to withstand direct impacts from large forest beasts, showing that they took their security seriously despite their absolute dominance in the region.
Their gates are wide too.
Skul and the others think that it’s for them to go out of their base as fast as they can,
The small scouts had observed the daily patrol rotations, noting that the centaurs never hesitated or slowed down when exiting the perimeter, utilizing the massive clearance to maintain their maximum velocity right from the threshold.
Centaurs, being humanoid with the lower body of a horse, they need wide gates for them to come out fast from their village.
Their unique physiology gave them incredible power on the open field, but it also came with severe structural requirements that dictated how their architecture had to be built. A standard, narrow fortress gate would create a massive bottleneck for a creature of that size, completely ruining their primary tactical advantage during a sudden deployment.
After all, they’re at disadvantage when fighting in tight spaces.
If they were caught inside a narrow ravine, a dense thicket, or a crowded corridor, their long lower bodies would become massive targets that were incredibly difficult to turn or maneuver quickly. A single obstacle could trip them up, leaving them vulnerable to infantry attacks from the flanks where their heavy hooves couldn’t reach.
They have massive sizes, so they can’t fight close together or they will hinder each other.
If their ranks were packed too tightly during a chaotic melee, their massive flanks and hindquarters would constantly collide, disrupting their balance and preventing them from swinging their weapons with full force.
So their fighting style is using their speed, power, and height advantage like a cavalry force, just much more terrifying.
They didn’t need horses because they were the horses themselves, combining the raw, crushing impact of a full-speed cavalry charge with the intelligent weapon handling of a trained humanoid warrior. Standing much taller than a regular human or an orc, they could look down on the battlefield, using heavy spears and massive bows to impale their targets from a position of absolute physical dominance.
’Hmm, can I face a cavalry on my own?’
I asked in my head.
I pictured the image of hundreds of heavy hooves charging across the flat grass. Facing that kind of momentum without a front line of iron-clad shields to absorb the initial shock was a tactical nightmare for anyone.
But with a shrug of my shoulders after—
I simply rolled my neck to loosen the muscles, a low sense of curiosity overriding any potential concern as I looked down the straight path toward the plains.
"Guess we’ll find out soon."
I just muttered that.
There was no point in overthinking when the actual battlefield was only a few miles away.
Anyway, according to Skul and the others, there are roughly 500 population of the centaur tribe.
The number was surprisingly compact for a faction that claimed absolute lordship over the entire western sector of the forest.
I thought there will be more than them, but centaurs apparently have a hard time populating.
Their birth rates were incredibly low, acting as a natural biological restriction that kept their overall numbers from expanding into thousands of active citizens.
It’s diffucult for them, and unlike other monsters who birth to multiple babies at a time—they give birth to one or two commonly.
Where a single gnoll or goblin female could produce an entire litter of offspring multiple times a year, the centaurs had to invest a massive amount of time and care into a single descendant.
They take nine months in pregnancy as well, just like humans. Other races, especially monster races—takes much less so they can repopulate fast.
This long biological cycle meant that every single loss on the battlefield was a massive, irreplaceable blow to their tribe’s long-term survival, explaining why they preferred to collect tributes rather than engage in continuous, costly wars with the surrounding clans.
"Hmm..."
With all the information I received from the scout team—I started thinking on how I should deal with the centaurs.
... ... ...
... ... ...
... ... ...
*****
After meeting with the scouts—Verc travelled for a few more days.
He maintained a slow, deliberate pace through the final stretch of the forest, keeping his mana signature completely masked to ensure that the centaur sentries on the high platforms wouldn’t detect his approach. The air became noticeably drier as the dense trees began to thin out, replaced by the tall, golden wild grass of the western plains.
And after a total of 10 days after leaving the village... he reached outside the centaur village.
The long journey had been entirely uneventful, allowing him to arrive at his destination with his physical energy and mana reserves at absolute peak capacity.
"..."
Verc was hinding from afar in the forest.
He crouched low beneath the massive root system of an ancient tree that marked the very boundary where the woods completely ended and the flat plains began. From this dark, shaded vantage point, the entire layout of the enemy settlement was laid out clearly before his eyes, about a quarter of a mile away across the open grass.
There are no hills near the centaur tribe, after all—they know it can be used against them if someone were to attack them.
The terrain around the wooden walls had been systematically cleared of any natural elevated structures, boulders, or deep depressions that could provide cover for an approaching enemy force or allow archers to look down into their courtyard.
Unlike the wolf-kins, they picked the placement of their settlement properly.
They had utilized their deep understanding of cavalry warfare to select a location that maximized their own strengths while forcing any potential attacker to march across a completely open field with zero protection from their heavy ranged units.
"..."
Verc watched the cantaur village from afar.
His eyes tracked the steady movement of the guards walking along the top of the wooden barricades, their long spears catching the afternoon light as they scanned the horizon.
He had already dismissed Skul and the other kobolds as soon as they finished reporting to him days ago.
Verc was really planning to handle the centaur tribe all on his own!
"Hmm... I hope they’re as welcoming as the wolf-kins."
Verc muttered, and without further ado—BOOM!
The ground beneath his boots completely shattered as he released a massive, sudden burst of internal mana through his legs!
He jumped upwards!
His body shot skyward like a cannonball, the sheer physical power of his ascension cutting through the air with a loud, whistling screech.
He jumped so high that he passed the thick canopy of the forest!
The entire landscape opened up beneath him, revealing the vast expanse of the western plains, the winding riverbeds, and the complete interior layout of the centaur compound below.
There was a huge smile on Verc’s face!
The feeling of the wind rushing past his face and the anticipation of the upcoming confrontation brought a genuine amusement to his expression as his arc reached its peak.
And in the next second—
B O O O O M—!!!
The descent was blindingly fast, his body dropping straight out of the sky like a falling meteor!
Verc landed straight in the middle of the centaur tribe’s village!
"I’m here to talk to the chief."
Verc then said that with a casual look on his face after standing up properly.
His voice was calm and steady, completely unaffected by the violent landing that had left a noticeable crater in the middle of their floor.
He was brushing off dusts from his outfit.