The vast orc army marched across the Flower Plains.
Wildflowers swayed in the gentle breeze beneath their feet. Marigolds, cornflowers, and vast expanses of purple lavender stretched to the horizon, meeting the distant mountains.
The frost wolves snorted restlessly, accustomed to the cold of snowy lands and unfamiliar with this warm, humid environment.
Some wolves even stopped, lowering their heads to sniff the flowers on the ground, only to be impatiently yanked away by their owners pulling on the reins.
Karl rode on the back of his frost wolf mount, leading the vanguard of the formation, his gaze fixed on the sky.
Two suns hung in the heavens.
The one in the west was the normal sun, mostly obscured by clouds, its light dim.
But directly above the Forge Region, another sun hovered.
"Shaman Dudo, what is happening?" Karl frowned as he spoke.
The old orc beside him, clad in a feathered cloak, slightly straightened his hunched back. His cloudy eyes stared at that solar apparition for a long time. A gurgling sound came from his throat, as if conversing with some unseen entity.
After a long while, Shaman Dudo finally spoke. "Reporting to the Commander, there are rumors that the sun deity Ignis actually fell long ago. His divine kingdom descended from the heavens, the sun's remnants scattered across the Material Plane. These demons... are very likely seizing the sun's power."
The orc chiliarch beside him asked incredulously, "Stealing a deity's power? Have these demons gone mad?"
"Perhaps not power," Karl said, his eyes still fixed on the solar apparition. "But relics. Relics of a deity."
He offered no further explanation, simply raising his hand and swinging it forward.
"Advance. Reach there before sunset."
The command rippled through the ranks like a wave. Horn blasts sounded, low and drawn-out, echoing across the Flower Plains.
The orc army resumed its march. Over ten thousand warriors, several thousand frost wolves, trampled over flowers and grass as they pressed toward the heart of the Forge Region.
Iron hooves and boots crushed blossoms into the soil, leaving a bare, ugly scar in their wake.
Karl stared at the increasingly distinct city silhouette on the horizon.
He didn't know what awaited them there.
But he knew that the glory of orc warriors lay not in waiting, but on the path of the charge.
...
At the heart of the Forge Region, atop the high tower.
This tower once belonged to the Sun Church, the tallest structure in the Northern Territory, built of white marble. Its spire was once gilded, glittering in the sunlight.
But now, the gold had long since peeled away. The marble was blackened by smoke, and dark red patterns crawled over the tower's body, becoming the symbol of demonic occupation of this land.
In the circular room at the tower's peak, Morrigan's figure stood by the window, gazing at the distant, black mass of the orc army as he slowly spoke.
"The souls are still insufficient. If not for those slimes causing trouble, we would have already knocked open the gates of the divine kingdom."
Casaric walked over, his eyes looking through the window, surveying the approaching orc army below. Tens of thousands of orcs, like a swarm of black ants, slowly moving across the Flower Plains.
His dark red skin was covered in burning runes that seemed to flicker in rhythm with his thoughts and breathing.
"Now is also fine," Casaric chuckled. "We've arrived just in time."
"Regardless, we have finally reached this step."
"Come then," he murmured, as if speaking to the distant orcs, yet also to himself. "The more, the better. Let all your souls become the fuel for forging my crown."
...
By afternoon, the orc army had reached the core area of the Forge Region.
This was once the Northern Territory's most prosperous city, Forge City, both the holy city of the Sun Church and a place that attracted artisans from the White Horse Kingdom to gather here.
The orc army marched into the wide streets. The buildings here were tall and sacred, but everywhere was a scene of devastation. The statue of the Sun God Ignis that once stood in the central square had long been toppled, shattered into several pieces lying in the ruins.
The streets were empty. Windows were broken, door panels askew, walls covered in dark red blasphemous symbols.
But the city was not completely dead.
Chen Yu floated above the city, his Divine Sense spreading out, covering the entire area.
He saw things moving within those broken buildings.
Demons.
Many of them, scattered widely, like a net enveloping the entire city.
They were not gathering, not setting up defenses, just quietly staying put, as if waiting for something.
What concerned Chen Yu more was the high tower at the city center.
The tower's body was covered in dark red patterns, and ominous energy fluctuations emanated from its peak.
His Divine Sense tried to probe inside the tower but was blocked by an intangible barrier, like some demonic magic.
Nilly lay on the balloon, squinting as she looked down. "Strange. They're not setting up defenses, just letting the orc legion march in like this. Are they planning something bad?"
Leon nodded. "Auntie is right. Demons wouldn't abandon such an important place. They're very likely waiting for something."
Chen Yu's Divine Sense swept over the streets again, and suddenly he noticed something abnormal.
In the corners of those broken buildings, shadows were squirming.
One, two, three... figures clad in black robes silently emerged from the shadows, faintly encircling the orc army.
In their hands, they all held something very familiar to Chen Yu—golden holy chalices.
Holy Chalices.
The sacred relic of the Xirik Church.
He thought that after the Slime Kingdom confiscated that chalice, such things should have vanished. He never expected to see them here, and twelve of them at that.
This is bad.
Chen Yu finally understood.
These demons and New Sun followers might seem powerless against the orc army, but their target from beginning to end was actually these orcs. That's why they deliberately let them in.
Below the balloon, Karl clearly sensed something was wrong too.
The orc commander abruptly reined in his frost wolf and raised his hand. The entire army instantly halted.
His ice-blue eyes swept the surroundings, sharp as blades.
"Wolf Cavalry!" Karl roared. "Drag out the rats hiding in the shadows!"
But it was already too late.
The twelve New Sun followers simultaneously raised their chalices.
No incantations, no rituals, just a simple, synchronized motion.
Shadows gushed forth from the chalices, spreading rapidly like ink drops in water.
Shadows rose from the ground.
They began spreading from the locations of the chalices, like a black tide, swiftly swallowing the surrounding streets, buildings, and squares.
Where the darkness passed, light was devoured, sound absorbed, even temperature plummeting sharply.
Things crawled out from within the darkness.
Like shadows given substance, with vague humanoid forms, stumbling toward the orc soldiers.
Seeing the shadow curtains rising around them, the orc army instantly fell into chaos.
"Torches!" Karl bellowed.
The orcs frantically lit torches. Orange-yellow flames flickered in the darkness, barely illuminating a few meters around them. But there were too many shadows, surging from all directions like a black tsunami.
An orc warrior brandished his torch, trying to drive away the approaching shadow creatures. As the flames swept over them, the shadow creatures let out silent roars, parts of their bodies melting away. But more shadows surged forward, entangling his legs and dragging him into the dark depths.
A scream lasted only a second, then abruptly ceased.
Another orc squad stood back-to-back in a circle, torches facing outward. Shadow creatures prowled just beyond the ring of fire, not daring to approach but not leaving either.
They were waiting. Waiting for the flames to die, waiting for an opportunity.
In less than three minutes of contact, over a hundred orcs had already been swallowed by the shadows.
On the balloon in the sky, Nilly whispered, "Your Majesty, what should we do?"
Chen Yu indicated he was powerless too.
He couldn't use Holy Light, couldn't use holy magic, didn't even know a proper exorcism incantation.
He could only protect Nilly and the others from being swallowed by the shadows. As for these orcs, he couldn't help them.
He found himself missing Lya, Rem, and Casimir, who constantly muttered "Slime God bless."
Those three might usually seem unreliable, but in a situation like this, they were actually quite dependable.
Soon, within the orc army, Karl took action.
The orc commander leaped down from his frost wolf's back, crashing onto the ground.
Ice-blue light erupted from his body. Frost spread, a gale surged, actually forming a blizzard.
The cold air formed a visible fog. Wherever it passed, shadows melted like snow encountering sunlight.
Karl straightened up, crossed his arms over his chest, veins bulging, then violently tore them apart to the sides.
"Open for me!"
Where the storm passed, the shadow curtain was forcibly torn open, creating a passage. Shadow creatures on either side of the passage were frozen, turning into nothingness.
A path toward the high tower was violently carved out.
Clearly, when these shadows were given the power to interact with the physical world, that power also became their greatest weakness. Even frost could easily annihilate them.
Chen Yu watched from the balloon with some surprise.
So the orc commander was also a level 12 berserker.
"Charge!" Karl roared, his voice hoarse from the explosive power. "Follow me! Charge into that tower! Drag out the scum inside!"
The orcs erupted with earth-shaking battle cries. Holding torches, they followed Karl into the frost passage, sprinting madly toward the high tower.
Shadow creatures tried to close in from the sides, but Karl continuously swung his fists, stirring up tornadoes.
And Chen Yu naturally wouldn't let the Xirik Church succeed, secretly lending a hand.
His Divine Sense transformed into intangible tentacles, weaving through the battlefield, pulling orcs about to be swallowed by shadows back to safe areas.
Or interfering with the shadow creatures' movements, allowing the orcs' weapons to strike home.
With their covert assistance, the orc charge proceeded exceptionally smoothly. Though casualties still occurred, they were far fewer than anticipated.
In less than ten minutes, the vanguard had charged to the foot of the high tower.
Karl punched open the tower door. The heavy oak door shattered into splinters like paper. Orcs flooded into the tower, rushing up the spiral staircase, their footsteps echoing in the empty interior.
Chen Yu's balloon drifted to the tower window, looking in through the broken glass.
The tower interior was empty. No furniture, no decorations, only those dark red patterns on the walls slowly squirming, like the blood vessels of a living creature.
Several demon corpses lay on the stairs, seemingly freshly dead. Not killed by orcs, but by suicide, or sacrifice.
Something's wrong.
Chen Yu's Divine Sense swept through the entire tower.
No living beings, no energy fluctuations, even the barrier that previously blocked his probing had vanished.
It was as if... as if the people here had left long ago.
At that moment, the solar apparition in the sky suddenly changed.
That sun emitting white light began to blacken, foul blackness seeping from within.
The blackness rapidly spread. Within seconds, the entire solar apparition turned pitch black, emitting an ominous dark red glow.
But the next moment, even more intense light burst forth from the blackness.
Sacred light erupted, dispelling the blasphemous blackness.
The shadow curtains under the sunlight rapidly melted like spiderwebs encountering fierce flames. Shadow creatures let out silent wails, their bodies disintegrating into black smoke. Then the black smoke was also purified by the light, vanishing without a trace.
The light lasted about five seconds, then gradually dimmed.
The solar apparition returned to its original white light, still hanging in the sky, emitting light and heat, eternal and unchanging, as if the earlier transformation was just an illusion.
On the top floor of the high tower, a blurry shadow materialized.
It was Morrigan.
Compared to before, his shadow was so faint it seemed about to lose form. Clearly, the earlier blasphemous act had inflicted severe damage upon him, nearly causing him to vanish.
But he was still smiling.
Facing the orcs who had ascended the tower, he bowed. "Thank you for your assistance. Without your souls, the ritual would not have proceeded so smoothly."
"Hmph."
Karl's battle axe was already raised, but Morrigan merely smiled at him, then leaned backward, merging into the shadows on the floor and disappearing.
The orc commander's axe swung through empty air, only shattering the floorboards.
Dead silence filled the tower.
The demons and New Sun followers had all left, leaving them standing there dumbfounded.
The orcs looked at each other, then began searching under Karl's command.
They kicked open every door in the tower, smashed every wall, even pried up the floorboards. But they found nothing.
No demons, no followers, no altar, not even a proper magic formation.
Only in the center of the tower's top floor, on the ground, was a charred mark shaped like a forcibly closed fissure, its edges still retaining a faint aura of the Abyss.
Casaric had long since left through the Abyss fissure.
They achieved their objective, then fled.
"Damn it!" Karl's roar shook the tower itself. He punched the wall, marble cracking in a spiderweb pattern.
The orcs stood amidst the ruins, panting heavily, covered in blood and sweat, weapons still in hand, but the enemies were gone.
They were like beasts that had been played, full of strength but with nowhere to vent it.
The balloon in the sky slowly approached.
Nilly looked down at the orc army below, plunged into confusion and rage, her face devoid of its usual playfulness. She pursed her lips, her expression serious.
"Teacher Tam seems to have said that sun remnants can be used to forge a crown. If that demon succeeds in casting the crown and completes the Trial of Kingship..."
She didn't finish, but the meaning was clear.
Chen Yu fell into deep thought.
He finally understood.
Understood why he was having nightmares.
Casaric was forging a crown.
Once completed, he could pass the Trial of Kingship, gain the plane's recognition, and ascend to legendary status.
By then, no one in the entire north would be able to stop him.
The Slime Kingdom? Orc tribes? Human kingdoms? In his eyes, they were probably no different from moss monsters in the swamp.
All just prey waiting to be slaughtered.
Thinking of this, Chen Yu felt troubled.
Leon walked to his side. "Your Majesty, what should we do now?"
Chen Yu thought for a moment.
"The orcs will definitely come to find us."
"The eastern coast is no longer important. What matters is that we must gather all our forces, besiege the Royal Capital, and stop Casaric before he completes the crown."
"And we must be quick."