Divine Kingship

Chapter 540 The Second Orc Invasion War

After their altars were destroyed multiple times, the orcs discovered that the threat came from the sky.

This means that the ground defenses are practically non-existent.

The White King attacks from the sky on a flying mount, a method that is extremely difficult to defend against.

The orcs attempted to organize several defenses and counterattacks.

However, ranged attacks from the ground were hardly able to penetrate the White King's layers of ice defenses and reach the flying bulls and horses.

This tactic is truly beyond the norm, but unfortunately, it still faces too many limitations in this era.

The sustained combat capability of flying oxen and horses is limited.

Even though the flying oxen and horses carrying three people are now the strongest and most durable flying oxen and horses, they are still exhausted from continuous combat in such extreme cold temperatures.

Supplies can actually be replenished locally; plundering some of the orcs' food supplies is enough to sustain the fight.

But the fatigue could not be relieved.

Especially with the orcs constantly trying to organize defenses and encircle and intercept them, the flying oxen and horses could hardly get enough rest.

“The target is almost completely destroyed; we should try to return,” Rand suggested, glancing at the map again.

After looking at the map from Rand's hand, Berlan agreed with Rand's point of view.

The known altars were mostly destroyed, with only a few remote and scattered ones left untouched.

The flying oxen and horses were exhausted and had to prepare to return home.

Fighting alone is very risky.

The White King's power is indeed unmatched, but it's impossible for him to fight the entire orc race alone.

Otherwise, the White King could have wiped out the orcs by simply heading north and wreaking havoc.

The power of a king is limited; otherwise, several kings would have ruled the world long ago.

Even someone as powerful as the White King could be exhausted and die if surrounded by tens of thousands of orcs.

Furthermore, the orcs still have Grand Duke Vladimir behind them, which means that there might still be a pseudo-Azure King appearing on the battlefield.

It's not impossible that even Grand Duke Vladimir, far away in Purgatory, might personally launch an attack on the White King.

Grand Prince Vladimir, far away in purgatory, would inevitably have to pay a heavy price if he wanted to interfere with the main world.

But if a fatal injury can be inflicted on the White King, then any price might be worth paying.

Therefore, without flying oxen and horses for mobility, venturing deep into enemy territory alone is extremely risky.

So now we have to turn back.

Actually, this operation wasn't entirely smooth sailing.

Because some altars were actually surrounded by captured sacrificial offerings, that is, human captives.

It was clearly impossible for Rand to leave with these prisoners.

However, the trio was not too ruthless; at least under these circumstances, they did not go so far as to destroy the prisoners and the altar together.

After destroying the altar and clearing out the surrounding orcs, they distributed weapons and food to the prisoners.

After that, it's all up to their luck. Right now, the orcs' focus should be on defending against this flying trio and organizing an attack on the human defenses.

The snow and wind can now conceal the traces of their escape.

Although the extreme cold will greatly deplete one's physical strength, overall, while the chances of survival are not very high, there is still a probability.

Hopefully they'll have better luck, but Rand and his team won't do anything more.

……

A few weeks later, after a troublesome detour, Ellie, Berlan, and Rand returned to the northern defenses.

A menacing orc army was already looming in front of the defensive line.

Behind the defensive line stood the human army, ready for battle.

Rand also saw the prince and princess of the Takagi Kingdom, who were still pretending to be each other, and no one knew what they were up to.

Spring is coming, or if you just look at the calendar, today is already spring.

The reason why winter doesn't feel over might be because the ice and snow in the North haven't melted yet, or it might be because the cold glint of swords makes it hard to imagine spring.

"It seems that spring planting will be delayed." Rand, riding on his flying bull, looked back at his own massive human army, many of whom were conscripts who could only be used for defending the city.

There are very few soldiers in this world who are not engaged in professional life. Even the regular soldiers recruited by nobles have to go back to farming every now and then.

The nobles had very few soldiers who were truly fully engaged in military service.

Rand probably has the highest proportion of soldiers who are fully dedicated to their work in the world.

However, even in Rand, nearly half of the soldiers were not fully off-duty, but rather part-time, meaning that many soldiers had to farm.

That's just how productivity is in this world; there's nothing that can be done about it. While agricultural production in Rand has increased due to Rand's improvements, it's still limited. It's already quite remarkable that it has achieved what it has in this era.

Soldiers who are not engaged in production have a much higher combat effectiveness than those who are not. This is why, when the invincible fleet of the Kingdom of Bolen invaded Crescent Moon Harbor, the soldiers of Rand were able to maintain their morale and combat effectiveness in such a bloody and high-pressure positional battle.

Soldiers who are not engaged in full-time work have another great advantage: they can be less concerned about the seasons. Spring planting and autumn harvest are irrelevant to them, and they can fight at any time.

This is an advantage that other non-professional soldiers do not have. Non-professional soldiers, especially conscripts who are villagers temporarily recruited, can cause a huge blow to the territory's production if the season is bad.

If no one sows in spring and no one harvests in autumn, the land will soon become a wasteland.

Berlan stared ahead, his voice so low that only Rand and Ellie beside him could hear: "We can only try to finish this as quickly as possible."

Because of Rand's appearance, the industrial structure of the White Kingdom has changed somewhat, and the White Kingdom no longer uses ordinary villagers in battle; the White Kingdom is a kingdom of knights.

This will reduce the losses suffered by the White Kingdom due to the spring campaign.

However, in the event of war, it is still necessary to conscript laborers to accompany the army and undertake the important task of logistics. It is not appropriate or conducive to combat if the knights personally handle logistics issues.

The sound of bugles could already be heard in the distance.

The orcs launched an attack.

After giving the thirteenth son of the Black-Brown Marquis in the Royal Guard a look, Rand paid no further attention. The Royal Guard would take care of his safety, and as for anything else, Rand had the important task of commanding the battle and was unlikely to charge into battle alongside these knights.

Yes, charging in. In a battle of this scale, it is very dangerous to cower on the city walls and passively defend, as this would allow the enemy to choose to advance or retreat at will and use various tactics.

Therefore, unless the troop strength of both sides is too disparate, the appropriate strategy is to periodically send soldiers out of the city to fight, destroy the enemy's siege equipment, and disrupt their deployment. Of course, if the troop strength is too disparate, then the only option is to remain within the city walls and stall for time.

In terms of sheer numbers, humans actually outnumber orcs, but orcs possess the ability to transform into infernal beings, making them significantly stronger in individual combat.

“We’ve destroyed most of the altars. Even if there are any hidden ones that haven’t been discovered by our people, there won’t be many,” Rand said.

White King Berlan knew what Rand meant.

The orcs' previous attack was presumably aimed at taking human people as sacrifices.

But now that the altar is almost completely destroyed, the orcs are still launching an attack, which is quite intriguing.

“Either the orcs only need one altar to complete the sacrifice, or… they may not need an altar at all,” the White King deduced.

Rand remained silent for a moment, then looked at Ellie and asked, "Madam, what are your thoughts?"

Ellie had been pondering this question for a while: "A large-scale sacrificial ritual can't be too simple. I'm more inclined to believe that the enemy has made other preparations elsewhere."

Therefore, the most likely candidate is the Wisteria Kingdom.

The Northern Allied Nations have always wanted to settle scores with the Wisteria Kingdom, but the orc problem has never been completely resolved, and now Grand Duke Vladimir is planning another descent.

This forced the Northern Alliance countries to exercise restraint.

They even took the initiative to ease relations with the Wisteria Kingdom to prevent it from taking any extreme actions.

From a political perspective, recognizing the Wisteria Kingdom as a member of the Northern Alliance is a wise choice to maintain current stability, and then we can settle old scores later.

Unfortunately, not everyone in this world is a qualified politician.

And if the crack has truly formed, then it will remain there, and a broken mirror cannot be mended.

Neither the Wisteria Kingdom nor the other nations of the Northern Alliance will ever forget the betrayal.

Therefore, when faced with this issue, Ellie will immediately suspect the Wisteria Kingdom.

The White King nodded slightly, clearly harboring doubts: "I have already deployed all available investigative resources to the Wisteria Kingdom."

Rand remained silent again, and now more and more suspicions were pointing to the Wisteria Kingdom.

After a while, he suggested, "My personal suggestion is that we transfer some troops to the Wisteria Kingdom now. The threat from the orcs here isn't actually that great, while the threat from the Wisteria Kingdom..."

“A reasonable suggestion, I will arrange it immediately.” The White King accepted Rand’s suggestion.

In a sense, Rand was the Minister of Military Affairs of the White Kingdom, and compared to the other subjects of the White Kingdom, King Bolan of the White Kingdom trusted Rand more.

This wasn't due to a personal relationship between the two parties, but rather because while the ministers of the White Kingdom were loyal, they each represented their own interests. However, Rand was different... In a sense, the interests of the White Kingdom were Rand's interests.

Berlan made arrangements quickly.

Meanwhile, fighting has already begun on the main battlefield.

Marshals and leaders from various countries stood on the city walls.

In these large-scale battles, each faction is responsible for a specific area.

There used to be a marshal who could oversee all the kingdoms, but as time went by, and that marshal grew old, there was no one who could truly command respect.

Rand may have that kind of prestige in the future, but not now.

Actually, it's not far off. If there were a vote, at least the Kingdom of Takagi, the Kingdom of White, and the Kingdom of Shimotsuki would support Rand to become the marshal.

But RAND is still too young, and has not shown his face enough in front of other Northern Union countries. Also, everyone is now quite familiar with how to conduct segmented operations, so there is no real need for a marshal.

As for the White Queen... her White Kingdom affiliation is too deep, and people cannot fully trust her to be fair and just.

Rand gazed at the battlefield where snow was swirling; this was the second orc invasion he had witnessed. The orcs' infernal ferocity and savagery remained vivid in his memory.

Huge stones, pulled by catapults, hurtled onto the city walls.

Rand could hear the rumbling sound of stones crushing the air and the tremors of boulders embedding themselves in the city walls.

The White King is already preparing to make his move.

Large swathes of frost, like sharp blades, sliced ​​across the orc's body.

Then the city gates opened, and the knights charged towards the orcs.

The knights' lances pierced the flesh and blood of the orcs, but many knights were also dragged off their horses by the infernal orcs, followed by screams that were swallowed up by the wind and snow.

Rand breathed softly, his warm breath condensing into white frost in the cold air.

Rand was already used to the brutal scenes of war.

“You can save some of your strength,” Rand said to the White King. “I think the orcs have more or less prepared ways to deal with you, so I suggest you save some of your strength to deal with them.”

The White King then stopped attacking; the current losses were nothing to her, especially since she already possessed Rand.

Rand's presence will greatly increase her margin for error.

However, even if Rand hadn't said anything, she would have stopped immediately; her initial attack was merely to announce her presence to the orcs.

However, the White King was actually very curious: what would be the orcs' means of dealing with her?

Is it a trump card like that of the Queen of Lenza?
Or perhaps the orc race has already produced a second king?
The White King Berlan wasn't a battle maniac, but she did have the blood of the White Kingdom's royal family flowing through her veins. If there was an opportunity to gain glory through battle, she wouldn't mind using her power. Also, she actually quite enjoyed the time she spent fighting alongside Ellie and Rand.

"It seems the target has appeared." Because of Raven Cola's vision, Rand can spot the target from a great distance.

After some time, a burly, infernal orc with pointed ears and red eyes, wielding an arcane rune warhammer, appeared in the White King's field of vision.

Judging from his aura, he's probably about as strong as the orc hero who fought Land back then, or even stronger.

If that orc hero hadn't died at the hands of Rand, he would probably be an orc king by now, causing immense trouble for humanity.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs" in life.

Ow—

The infernal vampire orc wielding a runic warhammer let out a deafening roar, as if freezing the swirling snowstorm for a moment.

Some of the human knights who got too close even collapsed with blood coming from their mouths and noses.

The knights who had been charging immediately turned their horses around to return, but the new mixed-race orc hero's target was not these knights.

The scarlet gaze fixed on the beautiful, icy blue eyes on the city wall.

(End of this chapter)