The Magic Empire for 20,000 years

Chapter 16, Section 15: The Magic War
To Saul's surprise, His Majesty Elion did not launch any large-scale offensives in the days that followed.

El-Erian simply ordered his subordinates to carry out various reconnaissance tasks.

Some mages released their flying magical pets, such as ravens, falcons, and owls, and cast "invisibility" spells on them. These pets hovered over the orc tribe to scout the situation and terrain, and then used the "telepathy" between their pets and their masters to report back in real time.

Mages skilled in divination are responsible for casting spells such as "Arcane Eye," "Eagle Eye," and "Sighting" to investigate the current situation of the orc tribes, and even casting "Interdimensional Detection" spells to consult powerful beings in other dimensions.

Some mages were instructed to hire villagers to collect the corpses of orcs and goblins in the wilderness and use "talk to the dead" to extract information from the dead.

Finally, some mages were responsible for attacking and kidnapping orc squads that were hunting or patrolling outside, bringing them back to the main camp, and using "mind detection" and various charm spells to directly question them.

Most of the spells required above had not yet been invented in the ancient Eldorian era.

But for Elian, who came from the end of time, this was not a problem at all.

He directly taught the necessary spells to the mages who were carrying out the mission.

Even if one is limited by the knowledge system of their own era and cannot learn spells that are too advanced for their time, they can still learn simplified versions.

Every day, El-Erian would receive and organize various intelligence reports in his camp on the hillside, summarizing them, eliminating useless or false information, and retaining the core intelligence.

Stacks of scrolls were piled up in front of Elian’s desk.

"Why don't we attack, Your Majesty?" a battle mage asked, puzzled.

Human civilization at this time had only existed for a few hundred years and had not yet experienced any substantial wars. His Majesty's current arrangements completely overturned his preconceived notions.

El-Erian patiently explained:
"Information and intelligence are a crucial part of warfare, determining how we plan strategies and design tactics."

As he spoke, he flipped through the intelligence documents in his hand:
"According to intelligence, the nearby goblin tribes are all very weak, practically vassals of the orc tribes. Once the orc tribes collapse, those cowardly goblins will scatter like birds and beasts..."

"This means that our real enemy is actually just the orc tribe. Defeating them will immediately eliminate the goblins and other weaker alien races..."

"The three major orc tribes—Blood Wolf, Flame Axe, and Frost Dragon—are rife with internal conflicts and distrust towards each other..."

"That's true, it gave us a good starting point."

Just then, another mage entered the tent, bringing new information:
"According to intelligence gathered by the Prophecy Squad, representatives of the three major orc tribes will meet in Rift Valley tomorrow night."

"It seems that our small-scale harassment of lone orc squads has been effective recently."

"The three major orc tribes have been forced to join forces to fight against us!"

Is it finally here?
El-Erian stood up and smiled:
"I've been waiting for this for a long time."

"Let's proceed according to plan!"

……

Today is a special day.

The chieftains of the three major orc tribes surrounding Eldoron will meet to discuss a joint effort against humanity:
"Although I'm a little reluctant, I still have to cooperate with those annoying guys."

As night fell, the chieftain of the Blood Wolf Clan led a large contingent of elite warriors from the tribe to the negotiation site.

“I know that we used to have a lot of hatred between us.”

"But now, we must put aside our past grievances and, with the orc gods as witnesses, together destroy the cowardly and cunning humans..."

In the early stages of the tripartite negotiations, everything went very smoothly.

Three groups of orcs from different tribes drank strong liquor under the moonlight, chatting and discussing how to form an alliance to attack the human settlements.

"Those stinking human mages live in floating cities high in the sky; we can't reach them."

"But now they seem to pity their pitiful and vulnerable kind who live on the surface."

"As long as we destroy one human village after another with overwhelming force, those stinking mages in the sky will have to come down obediently and be destroyed by us!"

Haug, an orc from the Bloodwolf tribe—the sole survivor of the attack on Rolling Stone Village—was overjoyed to see the esteemed High Chieftain and the chieftains of the other two tribes drinking together. They were finally willing to set aside their past grievances and fight together against the human mages.

Ever since witnessing the deaths of all his brothers and losing an arm in that great battle, Haug has developed a deep-seated fear of human mages.

Even when he slept on his straw mat every night, the sounds of fireballs exploding and lightning flashing during the great battle would reappear in Haug's dreams again and again.

Fear and nightmares haunted Haug forever.

"If an enemy terrifies you, the only way to dispel fear is to kill that enemy, offer his blood as a sacrifice to the orc gods, and wear his skull as an ornament around your neck."

This was a lesson the former Great Chief had taught him. Haug believed this lesson applied to him as well:

"As long as today's negotiations are completed and the three orc clans cooperate, even humans who can use magic will not be able to withstand our legion!"

"As long as the human mages are eliminated, the fear and nightmares will disappear!"

"Yes, that's right. The previous setbacks were tests given to us orcs by the orc gods, and a test of courage from the great Ger'ush. I will definitely overcome them."

"Humans are ultimately a gift bestowed upon us by the orc gods, but only warriors with both fierce fighting spirit and physical prowess are worthy of receiving this gift!"

At that very moment, under the silver moonlight, before the campfire, a strange change occurred.

"What did you say? Do you think I've forgotten? The great battle in the canyon between us and the Flame Axe Clan was clearly started by your Blood Wolf Clan!"

Perhaps it was due to drunken madness, or perhaps it was because the negotiations touched on painful past issues, but the red-faced chieftain of the Flame Axe Clan suddenly erupted.

He raised his spear towards the Blood Wolf Chieftain, cursing him incessantly.

"Stop making baseless accusations! If you hadn't broken your promise and suddenly betrayed the alliance back then, how could my eldest son and beloved wife have died at the hands of a bastard like you!"

The chieftain of the Blood Wolf clan was not to be outdone, and he also raised his giant axe.

For a time, the two powerful chieftains were locked in a fierce confrontation.

"Chieftain of Flame Axe, what do you mean by this? We're negotiating, put down your weapons!"

The Frost Dragon Chieftain, with his snow-white fur and white dragon blood, also drew his blood-stained battle blade and threatened the Flame Axe Chieftain:
“I heard from a scout that your Flame Axe Clan wants to take advantage of tonight to secretly kill me and Chief Blood Wolf and unify all the orc tribes.”

"At first I didn't believe it. I thought the scout must have made a mistake or been deceived by humans."

“But now, Chief Flame Axe, your attitude makes me suspect that this might be true.”

Chieftain Flameaxe's muscles bulged, and the volatile orc roared, his eyes blazing with fury, pointing his spear at the other two chieftains:

"Okay, I see now."

"You two are using the guise of negotiation to conspire against me, aren't you?"

"Have you forgotten who the most powerful orc chieftain in the valley is?"

"Did you think I'd be scared if we all attacked at once?"

This sudden turn of events forced the orc warriors from all three sides to simultaneously pick up their weapons and prepare for the potential battle.

The negotiations, which had been going smoothly, suddenly turned tense, and the air was thick with the smell of gunpowder.

"What's going on? Weren't the three chieftains just negotiating peacefully? Why are they suddenly going to fight?"

The orc Haug was bewildered, but his dull orc brain quickly provided an explanation:
"Hmph, it's all the fault of that damned Flame Axe tribe. They betrayed our alliance back then and killed my father. And now they're pulling this stunt!"

As a warrior of the Blood Wolf tribe, Haug raised his stone axe with his only remaining right hand, bared his teeth, and roared loudly, ready to fight at any moment.

"Ahhh!"

By this time, the orcs had drunk several rounds of wine and were in high spirits. Their old hatred surged up, and their bloodthirsty and warlike blood was churning in their veins.

In such a tense atmosphere, how could things not escalate into a conflict?

It's unclear which of the three orcs threw a spear first, but a great battle was about to break out.

In the canyon at night, under the silver moonlight, what was supposed to be a negotiation turned into a chaotic battle.

The orc warriors from the three tribes clashed and fought, their roars and howls shaking the forest and startling a flock of birds into flight.

This is the most devastating conflict between orc tribes in Eldoron and the surrounding area in the past three centuries.

Two thousand of the most elite orc warriors from their respective tribes were locked in fierce combat.

The war raged from the dead of night until dawn, until the east turned white, and blood flowed into rivers, staining the canyon red.

……

The horrific scene of blood flowing like a river was projected onto the surface of the golden basin.

In a tent a dozen miles away, Elian and the mages watched together as the "Sighting Spell" was displayed in a basin of water.

(End of this chapter)