Knight Lords: Infinite Simulation and the Path of Light

Chapter 102 Return to the Ancestral Land
Lion-man capital city - Vigoara
"Kudo~ This mission was clearly assigned to me."

Since the meeting ended, the young lionman has been very dissatisfied with the final result. Originally, it was his Blood Lion army that was to be reorganized into the affiliated tribes, but unexpectedly, his father announced that it would be Kudo.

The lion-man with two scars on his right eye suddenly stopped in his tracks, his golden-brown eyes coldly fixed on the lion-man youth who was chattering incessantly behind him.

"Kutara~ If you're not satisfied with the result, you can talk to Prince Kurador, or we orcs can resolve the issue the way we orcs do~"

As he spoke, Kudo stretched out his palm, his sharp nails quickly extending and pressing against Kutara's chest.

Kutara was clearly caught off guard by Kudo's sudden reaction, and stood there stunned for a moment. After all, the two had always been good friends, hunting together, going on pilgrimages together, and fighting with children their own age together. Although they were of different social statuses, Kutara had always regarded Kudo as his best friend.

This mission was supposed to be mine, but I didn't expect it to be assigned to Kudo in the end. I just wanted to complain to Kudo as usual, but Kudo seemed like a completely different person.

"Kudo? What's wrong? I just... I just..."

"Who are you? Young Master Kutara? Is there anything else you wish to instruct?"

Hearing Kudo's words, the lion-man boy stood there stunned. Kutara didn't understand why things had turned out this way, since they had been wrestling together just yesterday.

Kudo looked at the dazed Kutara and instinctively reached out to pat the latter's shoulder. But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he remembered what Prince Kurador had said to him the night before. With that thought, Kudo stopped himself and left without looking back.

It wasn't until Kudo had been gone for quite some time that Kutara, who had been standing there, came to his senses. Not knowing what to do, Kutara slowly walked back to the camp. The lion-man guards standing outside the tent quickly gave Kutara a chest-beating salute.

"Young Master, the Prince summons you to the war camp to see him."

Distracted, Kutara gave a perfunctory reply and headed toward the battle camp. Along the way, large groups of lion warriors quickly assembled at the command of their captains. Kutara loved this scene and atmosphere the most; at times like these, he could feel the blood in his veins burning.

But today, no, to be precise, just now, I had a conflict with my best friend, and I don't even know what I did to offend him. My mind was a mess, and I don't know how much time passed before I arrived in front of the battle camp.

"Father, are you looking for me?"

Pushing open the felt curtain of the tent, Kutara listlessly walked in, looked at Prince Kurador sitting in the main seat, and slowly walked over to sit on the wooden chair next to him.

"Kutara~ come here~ sit closer."

Hearing his father's call, the lion-man youth moved his chair closer. Just then, a large hand landed on his head. Kutara was startled by this sudden action and turned to look at him with a surprised and astonished expression.

Prince Kurador, who always presented himself with an air of authority, saw Kutara turn to look at him and, unusually, revealed a smile that wasn't too unpleasant.

"Kutara~ Time flies so fast. I can't believe you've grown up so much."

Looking at his equally strange father, the lion-man youth Kutara was completely bewildered. Everyone today seemed odd, speaking and acting strangely. Kutara opened his mouth but no sound came out. He stared blankly at the blood lion leader, who was so different from usual, unsure of what to say.

But Prince Kurador was clearly not too concerned about his youngest son's reaction, stroking Kutara's furry head as if he had returned to that summer many years ago.

"If one day the Blood Lion Tribe needs you to lead it, can you promise me that you will use all your strength to protect it?"

Kutara, still reeling from what had just happened, was clearly not fully focused and replied absentmindedly:

"Of course, the Blood Lion Tribe is my home, and I will do everything in my power to protect it."

After speaking, Kutara realized what question her father had asked, and suddenly raised her head, looking at her father in confusion.

"Me? I'm not really capable~ No, no, I don't mean I'm unwilling to protect, it's just that there are my brothers ahead of me, it's not my turn."

Looking at his youngest son's silly expression, Prince Kurador smiled, revealing his pearly white teeth, and reached out to give the latter's head a couple of firm rubs.

“I know you’re unhappy that the task that was originally yours was given to Kudo, but I have to consider it. Now I need you to do something more important.”

Hearing that there was a new mission for him, Kutara immediately perked up. After all, Kudo was no longer around, and he was quite bored staying in the royal city. Apart from fighting with the children from other tribes, there was nothing else to do. Moreover, with Kudo gone, he was likely to lose to them.

"What kind of task is it, Father? I've recently learned a new move, so you can assign me some more challenging tasks."

"I can't say for sure yet. Talizanya will go with you. You'll find out when you get there. You should listen to Talizanya along the way."

After listening, the lion-man youth nodded. Tarizanya was his father's captain of the personal guard, and he had always treated him as an elder. Since his father told him to be more obedient, he would obey.

Prince Kurador, seated in the main seat, gazed quietly at his youngest son for a long time. Only when Kutara shifted uncomfortably did Prince Kurador wave his hand at the restless Kutara, signaling that the latter could leave.

"Kutara~"

The lion-man youth, who had reached the entrance of the camp, heard his father calling him and turned around in confusion.

"What's wrong, Father?"

"fine"

A little confused, Kutara lifted the felt curtain and went outside.

North of the ancestral land
A fierce gale howled past, making a sound like howling. The extreme cold, more brutal than in previous years, made every step of the expedition team heading to the rift extremely difficult. Since all the tribes of the entire Orc Empire were to participate, each tribe's expedition members, guards, and servants numbered in the tens of thousands. This group of tens of thousands stretched out across the snowfield in a massive procession that stretched for dozens of miles.

At the center of the group, the Tauren priest Mordor, the initiator and organizer of the previous meeting, was also in the expedition. The old Tauren sat in a sled made from the skeleton of a Basil colossus. Through the gaps in the felt window, faint green lights could be seen flickering inside. Inside the sled, besides the old Tauren himself, was Prince 'Wrathful Flame' Gakudbala from the half-dragon race. Compared to a month ago, the Tauren priest appeared even older. His already emaciated body now bore several horrifying wounds. Strangely, although these wounds looked frightening, no blood flowed from them; they only appeared exceptionally terrifying and eerie.

"Lord Mordor, please stop divining. What difference would a worse outcome make for us orcs? You are already severely injured by the backlash of the rules. If this continues, what if something happens to you... I won't be able to explain this to the emperors."

Hearing the half-dragon prince's advice, the old minotaur slowly opened his eyes, and the crystal ball in front of him, which was emitting a pale green light, gradually dimmed.

"It's alright, it's alright, Gakudebala. My time is already running out. I can't break through to the legendary level anyway. Living a few more decades or a hundred years doesn't mean much to me. I'd rather take advantage of my current abilities to prepare for the future of our orcs. That way, I can return to the land of my ancestors with peace of mind."

Looking at the venerable old minotaur before him, knowing that the other party's mind was made up and that it was not something a junior like himself could influence, he stopped trying to persuade him and instead inquired about the situation of the ancestral land.

“Lord Mordor, I also came here in winter more than ten years ago. I remember it wasn’t this bad then. Although it was cold, it wasn’t nearly as cold as it is now. The visitors from my subordinate tribe, the Mamba Snake People, have already triggered their body’s protective mechanisms in the cold and fallen into a deep sleep, while all of their guards have now frozen to death.”

Hearing the half-dragon prince's question, a hint of worry appeared in the old minotaur's cloudy eyes.

“You’re right, Jagudebala, it has indeed gotten much colder here. I wanted my servant to find some Night Moss for medicine, but he searched for a long time without finding any. Finally, he found a little bit behind a sheltered boulder.”

Hearing the old minotaur's words, the half-dragon prince's expression changed. Clearly, the half-dragon prince knew very well what the Frostmoss was. This magical potion, which only grows in extremely cold regions, used to be an easy-to-find herb in the Ancestral Lands.

Whether the cessation of growth of the Night Moss is due to the increasingly cold climate or other factors, neither of these situations is good news for the Orc Empire.

"Lord Mordor, you prefer that scenario to occur."

The old minotaur, no longer performing divination, took out his alchemy tools, put a few herbs into a small pot, and soon the faint, fragrant aroma of herbs filled the entire snowmobile.

"It doesn't matter anymore, Gakudebala. For us, all these changes only strengthen our resolve to carry out the southward plan. Have a cup, I recently developed a calming herbal tea, it will relax you."

The half-dragon prince silently accepted the porcelain bowl handed to him by the old minotaur, nodded, and took a small sip. In this respect, the old minotaur was indeed right; any adverse situation only strengthened the orc empire's resolve to execute the plan.

After several days of trekking, the tens of thousands of visitors finally arrived at the place that had been shown in the old minotaur projection.

At this time, many of the orcs in the group had frostbite of varying degrees, and quite a few were unable to withstand the severe cold and froze to death on the way.

As the camp was quickly set up, the old Tauren led representatives from various races toward the massive fissure—or rather, the fissure. From the air, it had become a canyon two to three kilometers wide.

However, they have not yet been able to successfully explore what lies beneath the canyon. Previous explorations all ended in failure due to various circumstances, and ultimately, due to the heavy casualties, they had to abandon the exploration of the area below.

"Vogart, has anything unusual happened recently?"

As the temperature in the canyon became increasingly cold, the area was originally guarded by the Lion-Man tribe of the five royal families for the past five years. However, due to several cases of Lion-Man soldiers freezing to death, the guard was temporarily reassigned to the Ice Bear tribe, who lived nearby.

In response to the question from the minotaur priest, the Ice Bear Clan chief, Vogart, who was stationed there, quickly came over and respectfully bowed to Mordor.

"Reporting to the Grand Elder, in addition to the fact that the crack has widened and formed a canyon as you have seen, the powerful wind wall that erupted from below after the crack initially formed has now weakened a lot. The Snow Wind Eagles can now fly over there, and we are preparing to send people over to investigate."

The minotaur priest nodded, handed the bone staff to his attendant, and walked stiffly toward the edge of the cliff, slowly bending down.

The powerful airflow blowing from the bottom of the cliff made the old minotaur's few remaining strands of white hair fly wildly, and the old minotaur lying on the ground seemed to sense something.

Most of its body and head were plunged below, and beams of light several meters long shot from its eyes, as if trying to see what was below.

Just as the half-dragon prince standing to the side was worried that the minotaur priest might accidentally fall, the old minotaur seemed to have been hit hard and was sent flying backward, spitting out a lot of blood from his mouth and nose.

The half-dragon prince, whose blood was about to freeze, was startled by the sudden turn of events. After regaining his senses, he quickly ran over and helped the old minotaur up.

"Lord Mordor, what's wrong? Has something happened?"

The old minotaur struggled to sit up, wiped the blood from his mouth, and stared intently at the cliff. His expression was indescribably strange.

"Tell them to stay away, to leave immediately, and to retreat ten kilometers away. I am going to perform a sacrificial prayer."

Seeing the fierce expression on the old minotaur's face, the half-dragon prince clearly understood that something terrible had happened, and he immediately roared at the representatives of the various races beside him.

"Now return to camp and retreat ten kilometers with your men as quickly as possible."

After a flurry of activity, the orcs, who had just set up camp, hurriedly packed up their belongings.

Half an hour later, the half-dragon prince, covered in thick fur, walked to the old minotaur's side, bent down, and said...

"Lord Mordor, they have already evacuated."

The old minotaur, sitting cross-legged on the snow, nodded with his eyes closed. The magic emanating from his body formed a protective shield, keeping out the cold wind and snowflakes.

"Thank you for your hard work, Gakudebala. I'm going to start setting up now. I'll need you to stay by my side and protect me. If anything happens during this process, don't hesitate to kill me with all your might."

Upon hearing the old minotaur's words, the half-dragon prince trembled involuntarily, clearly understanding the meaning behind them.

"Yes, Lord Mordor, please rest assured."

(End of this chapter)