Charge!

When a territory is small and the population is sparse, the absence of any single individual can have a significant impact.

Just as the Minotaur Butler's death initially made Landen very uncomfortable for a while, Hogg's departure with a hobgoblin to follow Vivian has now almost returned Landen's strength to square one overnight.

Of course, these were necessary actions. The Minotaur Butler's death concerned whether Vivian would immediately act against Landen. Sending Hogg and the hobgoblin knight order was a display of Landen's strength to Vivian, giving her something to consider and weigh the worth of acting against Landen.

Vivian is willful, but she is now the matriarch of a city and harbors grand ambitions. Therefore, she has become much more restrained in her actions. Even when facing Landen, her brother whom she desperately wants to eliminate, she begins to weigh the pros and cons, the potential losses, and whether those losses are worth it.

Thus, the more strength Landen possesses, the more hesitant Vivian will become.

Of course, there is a limit to such displays. If Vivian feels that Landen's strength is enough to threaten her, she might be provoked into acting recklessly. However, Landen is still very far from that point; a hobgoblin knight order or two is nowhere near enough.

Despite losing most of his subordinates, Landen cannot simply stop everything and wait for them to return. In fact, not long after Vivian and her group left, Landen began strategizing in his office.

As a lord, what could be more important than developing his territory, aside from preserving his own life? Although Landen has subdued a mind flayer family and created such a hobgoblin knight order, these are merely changes among his subordinates. His territory, however, has not changed much; it remains desolate, wild, and barren.

The next morning, just as Vivian led her troops out of the Youweimas Area, Landen, accompanied by Avina and a few dark elves, also departed the bunker.

Since Vivian's troops had previously resided in the bunker, the bear hobgoblins captured by Hogg were confined to the Magra Caves, where the hobgoblins lived.

Landen quickly arrived at the Magra Caves and then just as quickly departed, with a bear hobgoblin added to his retinue.

Bear hobgoblins are a type of hobgoblin, possessing the tallest stature among all hobgoblin varieties. Adult bear hobgoblins are roughly the same height as adult humans. Their skin is not green like that of hobgoblins or great hobgoblins, but a brown color covered in thick, coarse fur. Coupled with their shovel-shaped ears, they bear a strong resemblance to brown bears, hence their name.

With their strong, ferocious physiques and their inherently wicked and greedy nature, bear hobgoblins have only two pursuits in life: food and treasure. As wanderers, they only remain in one place for extended periods for these two things.

This particular bear hobgoblin tribe is much larger than a normal one, indicating a leader of considerable strength. However, it is clear that the leader met his end during the charge of the hobgoblin knight order.

They had arrived here over a month ago, shortly after Landen had woken from his coma. According to the Minotaur Butler's report, traces of bear hobgoblins had appeared in the stalactite area by the Blackwater River. They had settled in the stalactite area from that point until Hogg and the hobgoblin knight order captured them all.

The stalactite area, as its name suggests, is named for the large expanse of stalactites. These stalactites are not natural formations but the remnants of some intelligent civilization. Where there are ruins, there are naturally artifacts. However, this ruin was discovered long ago and had been thoroughly searched by countless individuals before Landen. Consequently, Landen visited it only once, as a tourist, and never paid it any further attention.

Yet, it turned out that both Landen and all the other explorers who had searched there were mistaken. The fact that such a large tribe of bear hobgoblins had resided there for over a month clearly indicated that there was still something there, and likely something valuable.

How could Landen possibly not investigate such a lead?

Landen and his few subordinates thus temporarily took up residence in the stalactite area. Meanwhile, Vivian's troops also halted their advance.

More accurately, she was intercepted.

On the other side was another troop, led by a male dark elf. Vivian had never seen him before, but upon seeing his heavily made-up face, adorned with dark eyeshadow and more feminine than any woman's, Vivian knew his identity.

Aino Qivita, the youngest son of the Qivita family. He is a pervert with an extreme pursuit of appearance, surpassing any woman's, but also a genius. His talent for leading troops in battle is highly valued by the Matriarch of the Qivita family.

Simultaneously, he is also a genius warrior who has entered the Silver domain.

"Vivian, do you really think we would give you a fair chance to fight beneath Morata City?" Aino asked Vivian, his brows furrowed deeply. It was evident he was in a foul mood, not because his family was under attack, but because Vivian before him was too beautiful. Aino, with his perverted obsession with appearance, detested seeing anyone more attractive than himself, regardless of gender.

"So, you plan to ambush me here?" Vivian replied calmly.

Aino is a genius at leading troops, so his choice of location was certainly not poor. They were currently facing each other across a passage nearly a hundred meters long. This was the only route to Morata City; taking any other path would require a detour of several days, and that route held its own dangers.

The passage was very narrow. Given the slender build of the dark elves, only two could pass side-by-side at most. The sides of the passage rose directly to the cavern ceiling.

At this moment, several burly green-skinned giants stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the middle of the passage. They were orcs, a race only found in the surface world. Each held a massive tower shield, arrayed side-by-side. Behind them, a contingent of lizardfolk, armed with spears and shortbows, waited in readiness. Further behind them, troops composed of dark elves and dark dwarves stood ready to provide support.

This formation completely blocked the passage.

"Is there a way to break through?" Vivian asked her three subordinates.

The Spider Queen's Priest and the Dark Dwarf remained silent. Only the Black Robe replied, "I can prepare a large-scale spell to blast through the shield formation."

"How long will that take?" Vivian asked.

"Three hours," the Black Robe replied.

"And once the shield formation is broken, can you charge through?" another voice chimed in. It was Hogg, the Beast-eared Cutie, sitting atop a Vulture Turtle with a bored expression. "Besides, I want to go back and see the Lord soon. Wasting time like this isn't good."

Vivian raised an eyebrow, about to speak, when she saw Hogg suddenly leap up, pointing forward. Two words came from her small mouth.

"Charge!"