Battle of the Extraordinary Legion (Part 1)

Battle of the Extraordinary Legion (Part 1)

In the first month of the coming year, amid the bitter winter snowstorms, the orcs of the Northlands truly could not hold on any longer.

The piercing cold needed the heat of fresh blood to drive it away, while the hunger in their bellies made the orcs wish they could devour the South's human grain stores at once.

Thus, led by the Black Goat Orcs, a vast tide of orcs appeared in Northwind Province.

"Take all their food!"

"I'm starving to death! I want meat! I want that fragrant barley!"

Amid the chaos, countless orcs charged into those warm territories, ravaging the lands until chickens scattered and dogs fled.

"Damned orcs! Soldiers, raise your swords and charge!"

A noble roared as he sat astride his warhorse, ordering his soldiers and slaves to charge the orcs.

Fear filled his eyes. He had not expected the orcs to arrive so quickly. By experience, should they not have come half a month later, after they had completely run out of food?

"Damn it, I should have listened to them and moved my possessions earlier."

No sooner had the noble spoken than he heard his soldiers continuously retreating from the front. The one giving the order was actually his Knight Retainer.

"Fall back! Fall back!"

"Everyone, retreat to the fortress and defend it!"

Terrified cries spread from horseback in every direction, and then they saw their lord glaring at them furiously.

"Costa, what do you think you're doing? That is my fortress! What are you trying to do? I'll cut off all your heads and stick them on the palisade!"

The noble roared, and the surrounding soldiers and slaves did not dare pass this Baron to head toward the tall, luxurious fortress.

"Lord Berner, run! There are too many orcs!"

"They can't even be counted! There are at least ten thousand of them!"

Costa rode his warhorse to Baron Berner's side and spoke in utter terror.

"Lord Berner, we can't beat them. We only have a few hundred soldiers, but the orcs are endless."

Only then did Baron Berner finally see the black tide in the distance, and his face turned pale.

"Quick, quick! Return to the fortress and hold it to the death."

The noble's whole body trembled. He had never seen so many running monsters, each one baring fangs and claws, savage and horrifying, as though they intended to gnaw through his Baronial Territory like bread.

But by the time he gave the order, it was already too late.

The soldiers were fleeing, and the slaves were fleeing as well. No one stopped the orcs' charge. In that brief pause, the nearest Black Goat Orcs had already rushed before the crowd.

"Kill all these humans! Everything will be ours!"

A Black Goat Orc roared, then rammed straight through the human before it.

Warm blood flowed over the orcs' bodies, gradually driving them into a frenzy until nothing remained in their eyes but pure slaughter.

"Kill them all!"

A dark gleam flowed over the Black Goat Orcs' horns. They, too, possessed their own extraordinary system.

Their goat-hoof-like hands gripped twin scimitars. From the looks of them, the weapons seemed to have been chopped off the heads of other Black Goat Orcs.

In an instant, the screams and wails, despair and bloodlust within the human territory reached their peak.

Tens of thousands of orcs flooded the territory in moments, then began the style of plunder unique to orcs.

Cold Mountain City County, the closest county beneath the Fragrant Mountain Plains, had assembled a defensive line with every effort the nobles facing a crisis of life and death could muster. They had already received word that the orcs had appeared.

Along with it came news of nobles dying.

"Baron Berner's territory is gone. Everyone is dead, including the Baron. Not a single person escaped."

"It wasn't just Baron Berner. The Knightdoms of Knight Yannis, Knight Sack, and the others were all swallowed by the orcs."

Cold Mountain City County's defensive line was actually made up of Cold Mountain City and fortresses halfway up several mountains that were covered by glaciers year-round. Eighty percent of the county's lords had already sent their possessions into the city and arrived with their entire families.

But war was not a game. It was truly a matter of life and death. So even with fortresses and cities that were easy to defend and hard to attack, these nobles could not feel at ease.

"Viscount Landa, the orcs are about to arrive. What are your thoughts? Are we just going to wait here?"

Quite a few nobles instinctively looked toward Viscount Landa at the center of the crowd. He was the governor of Cold Mountain City County and the only Viscount here.

"We..."

"We won't go out."

Viscount Landa was tense as well. Looking at the sky beyond the city, where the orcs already seemed visible in the distance, he did not dare take the initiative to attack.

"We only have fifty thousand soldiers. We can only fight while holding the defensive line. These orcs can't all gather in Cold Mountain County."

That night, while all the nobles slept soundly, countless orcish roars rang out beyond the city.

The startled nobles woke in panic, hastily dressed, and rushed to Viscount Landa's manor.

With a helpless expression, Viscount Landa said:

"There were only two or three thousand attacking orcs. Our cavalry dealt with them before they could even reach the city walls."

"Then... it's all right?"

A noble asked in disbelief.

"It's all right."

Early the next morning, the nobles who climbed the city walls saw an immense Orc Army. At its very center stood ranks upon ranks of Black Goat Orcs, mounted on powerful black goats that served as their steeds.

"Cavalry? How can the Black Goat Orcs have cavalry?"

A noble whose family had been established in Northwind Province for centuries cried out in terror, his eyes filled with despair.

"Back then... back then, Northwind Province suffered such grievous casualties precisely because the Black Goat Orcs had cavalry."

"But at that time, the Black Goat Orc cavalry numbered only five thousand."

After hearing this, Viscount Landa looked outside with a heavy heart. This Black Goat Orc Army... no matter how he looked at it, numbered no fewer than five thousand.

"It's over..."

Some nobles hurried down from the city walls and ran toward their own manors. They wanted to flee, to escape south.

Just as some nobles trembled in fear and sought to save their lives, the Orc Army outside Cold Mountain City split into two forces. One headed east, one west, while those remaining in place consisted of roughly seven or eight thousand Black Goat Orc goat cavalry and fifty thousand Black Goat Orcs.

They formed a pitch-black mass, even their eyes black as night, bringing immense fear to every soldier in the city for no reason at all.

"They aren't planning to attack us?"

A knight watched curiously. These Black Goat Orcs showed none of the mindless urge to charge that the other orcs had.

"Where are those orcs going?"

Someone was puzzled by the departing orcs. They had actually abandoned Cold Mountain City as well.

Suddenly, a noble began trembling all over. He pointed at the departing Orc Army.

"They... they're going to our territories."

Within Cold Mountain County's defensive line lay the territories of many Barons and Pioneer Knights. Though they themselves had fled into the safer city with their armies and wealth, their territories could not flee.

Nor could they avoid leaving behind serfs and some relatives and friends. After all, nobles were almost never a single unbroken line of inheritance. They had relatives, and these people helped them manage their vast territories.

The nobles had fled into the city for refuge, but these people had to remain in their own territories with some soldiers and slaves, resisting the orcs' harassment and plunder.

Otherwise, once the orcs left, their territories would be beyond saving.