The Far East Prairie Steppe is vast, its area nearly equal to that of the O'Brien Empire, or two Rhine Empire. Sparsely populated, the steppe is home to many nomadic tribes, constantly fighting and forming alliances, creating a chaotic landscape.
The southern tribes all submitted to the "Golden Royal Court," while the northern tribes all submitted to "White Deer Mountain."
The Golden Royal Court is built atop a towering mountain on the grasslands. Legend has it that this mountain was moved from the sunken homeland of the orcs by the god of destruction.
As for the God of Destruction, he fought and died to protect the last remaining bloodline of the orcs.
In the gleaming golden hall, a barbarian with features of both orc and human was bowing down before the throne, while beside him stood a colossal beast, five meters tall, with thick limbs and a body entirely silver-white— the Silver Behemoth.
Behemoth are a race whose talents rival those of dragons. The weakest Bronze Behemoth are at least level seven, Silver Behemoth are generally level eight to nine, and the king of the Behemoths Golden Behemoth, is born with Saint-level!
The Behemoth was once allied with the Orcs, and they watched over each other for generations.
However, following the great war ten thousand years ago, the orc race was reduced to very few, and only a handful of Behemoth remained. Even the king of the Behemoths Golden Behemoth, had become extinct.
On the throne sat an elderly "orc," with rust-red skin, four exposed fangs, disheveled hair, and a staff inlaid with a skull. He appeared to be an orc priest.
"Bulake, warrior of the Golden Royal Court, you have successfully gained the approval of the Silver Behemoth. Now, lead our warriors and steeds to slaughter those who oppress us and destroy that weak Rhine Empire."
The barbarian named Bulake rose to his feet and shouted, "I will lead the charge!"
"Charge! Slaughter! Charge! Slaughter!" The others in the hall echoed the shouts.
When the orcs arrived on the Yulan Continent, their people were few in number, but ten thousand years was enough time for them to recover some of their strength.
However, different races are irreconcilable, and humans have been constantly trying to weaken the orc race. Fortunately, the God of Destruction left behind a powerful treasure that deterred two human gods and a large number of Saint-level, preventing the orcs from being wiped out. The battles from below the Saint-level have never stopped.
The orcs were eventually forced to intermarry with humans, giving rise to the barbarian race, which barely managed to stop the human invasion.
Now, the barbarian genius Bulake, has risen to prominence, possessing level nine strength and becoming invincible below the Saint-level. The Golden Royal Court believes that with the threat of the orcish treasures, and without the Saint-level intervening, Bulake is invincible.
Thus began the retaliatory actions against humanity.
Over the past five years, the Golden Royal Court and the Rhine Empire have been constantly at odds, until recently when Bulake killed the opposing army commander, delivering the decisive blow. The Rhine Empire has suffered a heavy blow and can only be forced to defend itself.
The eastern part of the Rhine Empire is now free to be plundered. As long as they obtain sufficient weapons, armor, and food, the Golden Royal Court's strength can leap to a new level in just over a decade.
At that time, they will annex the northern tribes, then advance westward again to attack the Luo'ao Empire, making humanity tremble under the swords of the descendants of the god of destruction.
"The barbarian armies are divided into many groups, plundering the entire eastern border of the empire. Our army is insufficient in number and can only hold off the three largest groups. As for the other small tribes' plundering teams, we can only rely on the militia formed by the people," Barek said, describing the current situation.
The Rhine Empire's army now faces not only a problem of numbers, but also a problem of supplies.
Previously, the army's supplies had all been seized by the enemy. When Barek gathered the remnants of his army, he could only keep the more elite and combat-effective ones, while the rest were sent back to the rear to build a second line of defense.
With no surplus food supplies, the army can only maintain a maximum of about 80,000 men. Apart from the 10,000 elite cavalry brought from the capital, the rest are infantry. The army has no food to supply the warhorses, nor enough arrows to supply the archers.
Barek was an excellent general, as had been proven during the struggle for the throne, but even the most skilled cook cannot make a meal without ingredients.
"Can't we send out Necromancy?" Jason knew the Rhine Empire's greatest asset.
With the Violet-Eyed Family's Saint-level restricted by Beirut, Necromancy are the pillars of the nation, both at the Saint-level level and in the secular world.
"The Necromancy cannot be used." Barek shook his head. "The reason we have the support of the Yulan Empire and the Luo'ao Empire is because we are both human. Once the undead appear on the battlefield, it's hard to predict the attitude of the other two sides."
Jason shouldn't have been too involved in the war; his job was to oversee the army.
In this world of swords and magic, conflict is inevitable. Especially when it comes to wars between humans and orcs, it's difficult to distinguish between good and evil. This is not the human society of my previous life, where there were clear definitions of justice and Evil in war.
If Jason hadn't witnessed the horrific scene of the massacre, he probably would have only taken action when facing an opponent at the Saint-level.
"We need to dampen their spirits, lead our elite troops to find that Bulake, and launch an ambush." Barek was very confident in Jason and Veronica's abilities.
The battle at War God Mountain had not yet spread widely across the continent, but as the Rhein Imperial Family, upon hearing that a member of the Rhein Royal Family's Saint-level was "causing trouble" at War God Mountain, they would naturally send people to pay attention to the matter immediately to avoid triggering a diplomatic incident, and they also learned of Jason and Veronica's formidable strength.
"That barbarian seems to have comprehended the Edicts of Destruction, and his understanding of the law alone has reached the peak of the Peak Saint," Jason commented.
A genius comparable to Olivier —of course, Olivier before her Soul Mutation.
Veronica suddenly wondered, "What will White Deer Mountain in the north do in response to the Golden Royal Court's actions?"
"White Deer Mountain is merely a tribal alliance, lacking absolute control over its member tribes. Being nomadic peoples themselves, they won't attack the barbarians of the steppes for the sake of the Rhine Empire," Barek explained. "Similarly, the Yulan Empire has only promised not to attack the western part of the empire; only our ally, the Luo'ao Empire, is willing to send troops to defend some cities in the northeast."
Jason was helpless in this situation. The top-tier deterrent power within the Golden Royal Court was no less than that of the Rhine Empire, and as a Saint-level, he was unable to influence the balance of power among the various forces on the Yulan Continent.
Although not explicitly revealed, the Luo Ao Empire, the Church of Light, and the Church of Darkness all possess hidden combat power capable of threatening "god-level" beings. Jason knew that the Pope of Light could summon projections of lower-level gods from the God of Light plane, beings powerful enough to kill ordinary lower-level gods.
Unless Jason can break through to the Deity-level.