The Attack Arrives

More than ten days had passed since Lantresuo left that day. Though he had looked dashing when he departed, Chain Lightning was not so easy to endure, so he had not gone far. Saiyba naturally knew this and had been sending his men out to search everywhere these past few days, but there was no news yet. After all, even an injured Gold Tier Sword Saint was not easy to find.

Outside Saiyba's Ogre camp, five black-robed orcs were discussing something.

"Why hasn't Saiyba made a move after all this time?"

"I don't know. Lord Gul'dan only sent me to assist Saiyba. Should we wait a little longer?"

"Lord Gul'dan needs us, yet we're wasting time here. No more waiting. Let me ask Saiyba what exactly is going on!"

"That works too. Go ask Saiyba. We need to get back as soon as possible—things have already begun on Lord Gul'dan's end."

"Exactly. If we return too late, there won't be a place for us. The sooner we return, the better."

"Then I'll go now."

"Mm!"

"Fine!"

At last, the five finished their discussion, and one of them hurried toward Saiyba's tent.

Inside Saiyba's cave, Saiyba was not sitting in his stone chair as usual. Instead, he paced back and forth across the hall.

"Saiyba, when can we make our move and bring the Behemoth to Lord Gul'dan?!" The speaker was the one among the five orcs who had come to question Saiyba.

"My lord, it's not that I don't want to act. Some trouble has come up."

"What trouble could be more important than Lord Gul'dan's affairs?!"

"This—there's a surviving member of the Fireblade Clan who wants to steal the Behemoth." Saiyba's eyes spun in both heads, but he did not tell the orc the full truth.

"Is it the Fireblade Sword Saint?" The orc looked troubled upon hearing Saiyba's words. A Fireblade Sword Saint was no easy opponent. If it really was a Sword Saint, then he truly had the strength to seize the Behemoth.

"Yes, it's the Sword Saint!" Saiyba shouted.

"Then? Is he Heroic Rank?" Hearing that the opponent truly was a Sword Saint, the orc's heart sank.

"Uh—no. He's Gold Tier."

The orc pondered for a moment before telling Saiyba, "There are five of us this time, all Gold Tier. With you, a half-baked Heroic Rank, there shouldn't be any problem. Let's get the Behemoth first!"

There was certainly risk involved, but a Gold Tier Sword Saint had not yet reached the effortless freedom of movement of a Heroic Rank Sword Saint. To return to the Shadowmoon Clan as soon as possible, the risk was worth taking. Thus, the orc had Saiyba gather all his Ogres and decided they would directly assault the Pebble Clan today to seize the Behemoth. Meanwhile, he went to find his companions and provide covert support for the operation.

"Fine, as you say, my lord." Saiyba wore an equally excited expression. He had originally worried that Lantresuo would disrupt things, leaving him unable to explain himself if the operation failed. Now that someone else could take the blame, he happily went to carry out the order.

Ooo—ooo—ooo.

As the melodious horn echoed through the mountains, the Ogres Saiyba had sent out quickly ran back in a chaotic mass, then followed Saiyba as they charged toward Bandar City of the Pebble Clan.

Lantresuo, who had been evading the search, also heard the horn. At first, he thought Saiyba's two heads had collided and somehow made him clever enough to devise a feigned retreat. But when he emerged from his hiding place, he discovered that it was not that idiotic Ogre coming up with some scheme—Saiyba had truly stopped searching for him.

"What's going on? Saiyba is just letting me go? He must have something more important to do. Perfect, I'll ruin it for you." Lantresuo sheathed his longsword on his back and soon caught up with Saiyba's force by following the tracks of the returning Ogres.

"Isn't this direction the territory of some small clan? What is Saiyba going there for?" Looking at the disorderly Ogre force ahead, Lantresuo truly found them unbearably pathetic.

Behind Saiyba's force, there was not only a mantis, but an oriole as well.

"Is the Fireblade remnant Saiyba mentioned him?" one black-robed orc asked his companion.

"Probably. Otherwise, who would follow an Ogre force of nearly a thousand men alone? Anyone else would have fled far away the moment they saw them." The one answering was the black-robed orc who had questioned Saiyba.

"Who cares whether it's him? Just kill him!"

"Hey, don't be reckless. He's a Sword Saint, after all. Be careful."

"The five of us should strike together. Before he notices us, let's focus our fire and take him out in one volley."

"We should summon the demons first, just in case." The leading black-robed orc was clearly more cautious and made a suggestion.

"Fine, let's summon demons to stand guard."

"Right. We'll do as you say."

The five began their summons. Before long, five demon hounds appeared beside the black-robed orcs.

"Now let's focus our fire." As he spoke, the five exchanged glances and nodded, then all hurled their Shadow Bolts at Lantresuo.

Sensing a vicious gust from behind, Lantresuo instinctively dove forward. An explosion sounded behind him. When he turned back, the place where he had been standing had become a huge crater, and all the surrounding grass had withered.

"What kind of power is this?" Before Lantresuo could think further, several more Shadow Bolts flew toward him. Only then did he clearly see what was attacking him.

Seeing the devastating state of the crater behind him, Lantresuo did not dare arrogantly take the attacks head-on. He could only dodge to the side, but as he did so, he also used Shadowstep.

"Lord Saiyba, there are sounds behind us!" Saiyba, at the head of the force, heard the report.

"Don't mind it. Our target is the valley ahead. As long as we take it, I guarantee you'll eat and drink like kings!"

"Oh! Oh! Oh!"

Hearing Saiyba's words, the Ogres were pumped up as if injected with stimulants. One by one, they grew excited and followed Saiyba at full speed toward the valley ahead, paying no heed whatsoever to what was happening behind them.

"Lantresuo Fireblade, you're a joke!" Saiyba, running at the front, recalled the throat-slitting gesture Lantresuo had made on the day he fled and muttered to himself.

"How could my life, Saiyba's life, be taken by a mere Gold Tier? I'm Heroic Rank!"

Meanwhile, in Bandar City, Leolox, who had just been sent flying by the Behemoth, was setting up his little brother, while Leiluo received word from his subordinates and hurried toward the city gates with his men.

Panting heavily, Lantresuo looked at the few vicious dogs before him. He did not know why, but despite never having seen them before, the smell on them filled him with intense disgust—that strong stench of sulfur.