The day after the gnolls left, the serfs hiding in the castle returned to the village. Under the knights' command, they cleared away the traps they had set and threw themselves into busy work, striving to shed their identities as slaves.
Under Belder's guidance, the territory's army trained even harder, improving their strength.
Under the instruction of their respective knights, the many knight squires steadily improved in strength.
Orlando and Hebrew trained with their contractors every day, deepening their connection in hopes of linking their Battle Qi as soon as possible and forming the war beasts recorded in the Mysterious Orb.
Meanwhile, the castle's second phase of construction also began, with the goal of completing it by March of the coming year.
As the lord of Lake of Praying Stars, Velin had not been idle throughout December.
He rose on time every day and trained to strengthen himself.
Compared with the tranquility of Lake of Praying Stars, the rest of Carrod Province had fallen into turmoil. In the west of the Kingdom of Isia, many monsters crossed the buffer zone and reached the borderlands, clashing with the Kingdom Army and the private forces of other nobles.
At the same time, the matter of the allied forces from four territories seizing the Mountain Copper mine was discovered.
In a magnificent castle in the southwestern region of the Ironforge Mountain Dwarf Kingdom, Dwarf Marquis Dallag Ironforge sat upon an iron throne, listening to his subordinate's report as his expression darkened considerably.
"My lord, according to the report from the Griffin Knights, all two hundred-plus people escorting the Mountain Copper ore have gone missing. Using the tracking Magic Scroll you provided, we found the last traces of them two hundred kilometers from the border of the human Kingdom of Isia. This is what we found." The dwarf took a Centaur warrior's Command Token from his robes and presented it with both hands.
Standing to Dwarf Marquis Dallag's left, a High-Silver Warrior in Silver-white Armor descended the steps, accepted the Command Token, and respectfully handed it to the Dwarf Marquis.
Dallag carefully examined the Command Token and immediately recognized it as one unique to Centaur clans. It was made from the bones of powerful Centaurs and represented the Centaur race's heritage.
"What else did you find?"
The dwarf kneeling in the center of the hall lowered his head. "My lord, aside from this item, no other clues were found."
"It seemed these rats were quite cautious. They even used Deodorizing Potion."
His tone was calm, but it carried a bone-chilling coldness.
The dozen or so High-Silver Dwarf guards stationed in the hall felt immense pressure, as though they might suddenly drop dead at any moment.
The reporting dwarf, standing at the very center and directly facing Dwarf Marquis Dallag's Soul Intent grade aura, collapsed onto the floor without daring to make the slightest sound.
A short while later, a Mid-Gold Dwarf Warrior entered the castle hall and knelt to receive orders.
"Karak."
"My lord." Mid-Gold Dwarf Warrior Karak answered loudly.
"I am giving you three hundred Iron Hammer Warriors, one thousand Goat Knights, and three thousand Dwarf Warriors. Reclaim my losses tenfold from the Centaur clans."
"Yes."
Karak caught the Command Token Dallag threw to him, bowed, and then left the castle hall.
Several minutes later, Dallag spoke again. "Monitor the human markets. The moment there is any news of Mountain Copper ore being traded, report it to me immediately."
"Yes, my lord." The reporting dwarf scrambled away from the place.
Dallag rhythmically tapped the iron throne, producing dull thuds as he muttered as if no one else were present, "Such a crude frame-up. Don't let me find out who you are."
As for why he knew the truth yet still intended to attack the Centaurs, he had his reasons.
After all, he could not simply suffer losses for nothing. Since he could not find the culprit at present, he would recover tenfold from the most direct and most obvious target.
This batch of Mountain Copper ore had been mined from a sparse, scattered copper deposit in the wilderness. It was transported once every month.
To avoid accidents, the person in charge of the escort was merely a High-Silver Dwarf Warrior. Every Gold-grade combatant in his territory was the focus of attention from all sides and could not disappear for long.
"Ten years from now, His Majesty the King will launch a war to reclaim the lost territories from the Ilia Kingdom. I must speed up the gathering of minerals, the forging of weapons, and the training of troops if I am to secure enough benefits in that war."
Five thousand well-equipped soldiers left Dwarf Marquis Dallag's territory and headed west into the Graylight Wasteland, marching directly toward Centaur territory.
At a Centaur clan camp, the severed heads of over a thousand Centaurs were neatly piled in the wilderness.
Gold Warrior Karak held the Centaur clan chief, who was only Silver Mid-Tier, and viciously slammed him to the ground. Stepping on his head, Karak took out the Command Token and asked, "Tell me which clan this belongs to."
"You filthy, lowly Dwarves! This is the Graylight Wasteland. My god will surely punish you!" The Centaur clan chief glared at Karak viciously, utterly unafraid of death.
"I have no intention of offending Kairon, the Centaur God, but that is no excuse for you to disrespect me."
With a wave of Karak's hand, more than twenty Centaur foals were blasted into pulp by iron hammers.
"As long as you tell me which Centaur clan this Command Token belongs to, I can leave behind one Seed for your clan."
"Dream on."
Afterward, the more than one hundred captured Centaurs all died beneath the Dwarves' iron hammers.
The arrogant Centaur clan chief also had his head smashed apart by Karak, who removed one of his fangs as a collectible.
Karak then led his army onward, plundering Centaur clans, seizing horses and other valuables, and searching for the Centaur clan connected to the Command Token.
After consecutively wiping out six Centaur clans and killing more than four thousand Centaurs, Karak finally obtained the information he wanted.
A minor branch of the Twilight Hammer Clan, one of the Thirteen Chosen Clans of the Centaur Gods, the Maglam Clan had a population of fifteen thousand and commanded eight vassal Centaur clans. It had been thriving near the border of the Ironforge Mountain Dwarf Kingdom.
Recently, after Mam, chief of the Maglam Clan, learned that the Azure Purple Horse his daughter Ariya had been escorting had been lost, he immediately stripped her of her status as young mistress and imprisoned her, intending to arrange her marriage with an equal neighboring clan in the coming year.
In addition, Mam was actively preparing as well, selecting brave Centaur warriors and archers. Once the monster army probing the human border withdrew, he would lead his forces to take fierce revenge against the humans.
For now, however, he could neither go nor dare to go, fearing that he would be used as cannon fodder.
At this very moment, the Dwarf army led by Karak was also approaching the Maglam Clan. They did not know that they were about to face a devastating blow.
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