Raven carefully looked over the front of the carriage.

As expected, the coastal road was blocked by a makeshift barrier of rock and wood. He would have to clear the way after getting rid of the people who were headed towards him.

“Sixteen of them, my lord. There are three orcs.”

Isla spoke as he climbed down from the horseman’s seat.

“They must be mercenaries. No sorcerers?”

“None. I’m sure if there are, they would’ve headed for the villa.”

“That must be it. Those stupid bastards think I’m too injured to fight.”

Raven sneered. Wizards and sorcerers were rare. There couldn't be more than thirty of them in the entire empire.

But this was Leus, and two powerful men, Toleo Arangis and Sagunda, were after him. They wouldn’t only send some random mercenaries they picked off the street. They were sure to have hired a wizard or a sorcerer.

Their sorcerer or wizard was probably sent to the villa where more manpower would be needed. Each wizard or sorcerer was capable of rivaling dozens of warriors by themselves.

“They have made ample preparations. Do you recognize where they are from?”

“Hm, maybe from the Ironclad Shark or Warship, either one of the two. Those two groups are the most famous mercenary groups based in the coastal and sea cities.

Isla was quite knowledgeable as he had journeyed from place to place before he met Raven.

Raven nodded and replied.

“Well, no matter. Let’s take care of them quickly and go.”

“Yes, the villa is probably in more danger…”

“Danger? Haha.”

Raven lowered the cloth of the helmet that covered the lower half of his face while chuckling.

“Did you forget who is at the villa?”

“…I guess I didn’t think hard enough.”

Isla tilted his head in confusion before an awkward smile crept upon his face as he remembered.

***

“This is strange…”

Golota, a wizard from the Southern Belmaro Tower, tilted his head.

“What’s wrong?”

A soldier from the Warship Mercenaries cautiously asked the sorcerer who had been deep in thought for a while.

“Didn’t you say there was only one sorcerer in the villa?”

“Yes. A druid among the group of orcs that the snake brought in.”

“Hmm, this is weird. But for some reason, I’ve been feeling something else since a while ago.”

“One more? Is there another sorcerer...?”

The expressions of the mercenaries turned grim. They had been steadily standing by with their weapons in their hands. If it turned out there was another sorcerer, especially a white wizard, they might have to revise their plan altogether.

“No, I don’t think it’s a sorcerer… How strange. I don’t think it’s a priest either, this is quite strange.”

“What should we do? Judging the current situation, if you could hold off the druid for a moment, we should be able to go in and take care of the enemy as planned.”

There was a fierce battle going on at the villa.

In the skies, griffons tore at each other with their fangs and claws. On the ground, orc warriors and human soldiers were in the midst of an intense battle.

All personnel had been dragged into battle, including the Pendragon griffons that were guarding the villa.

However, they were selected elites. If they entered now, they would be able to kidnap the duchess as planned. It was none of their business whether the Latuan Orcs or the sea griffons died or not.

“Tsk, well, we have no other choice. I feel the energy coming from inside the building. The energy doesn’t seem to be particularly great or anything, so I’ll go inside later and take care of it. Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

With glaring eyes, a dozen trained soldiers from the Warship Mercenaries stood up.

It was a request worth thirty gold bars.

They didn’t even have to take part in the battle. Each of them would receive two gold bars just for the simple task of kidnapping one woman.

Even if there was a wizard present, with Golota’s instructions, there shouldn’t be many difficulties.

“Divide into two groups as planned. Verom, get over to the watchtower.”

“Yes.”

The mercenaries began to move in perfect order. Their confident and nimble actions stemmed from their plentiful experience.

“That’s… certainly strange.”

Golota's expression remained uncomfortable as he walked behind the group with his staff in hand.

And… after the time passed for one to finish a meal, his uncomfortableness became reality.

***

“Kuwuaaahhhhh!”

“Kueuk!”

Boom! Kaboom!

The ferocious roars of the orcs resounded from all around.

The orcs didn’t play tricks when they fought. The most important thing was power and only power. Besides, their Orc Fear caused them to become more ferocious when they saw blood.

Even if their arms were cut off, even if their bones were crushed, if they could move, they would fight on and on.

Especially when their opponents were orcs, their spirit was roused even more.

- Battle is the ultimate value of our tribe!

Everything was gained through battle.

That was the law of blood that the orcs followed as worshippers of the earth god. That was why, even on their first encounter, the Ancona Orcs and the Latuan Orcs were all frenzied up.

When the fight began, the Latuan Orcs seemed to hold an advantage, having almost 40 warriors. After some time, however, the garden was overwhelmingly filled with more bodies of Latuan Orcs than the Ancona Orcs.

The reason was none other than the quality of their equipment.

Bang!

“Kuek!”

As soon as a Latuan Orc, who was armed with a simple knee pad and animal hide, was struck by a steel club, his head sank into the body and he immediately died.

“Kueeek!”

Another Latuan Orc, who was roughly dressed in old, worn-out leather armor, was uncontrollably bleeding as he was struck by a steel rod on his side.

As his colleague fell, a Latuan Orc holding a ragged cutlass lashed out in frenzy.

Bang!

“Kuek?”

The orc became bewildered. He had slashed down at the opponent’s shoulder, but the orc who smelled like dirt didn’t even budge.

“You seagull shit-eating orc bastard!”

An Ancona Orc armed with steel armaments produced by the Pendragon family shot out a red gaze from inside his helmet. As he slashed upwards with his steel club with nails at the end, a shriek was heard.

Thud!

“Kueeeeeek!”

The Latuan Orc fell while grabbing onto his groin. As the club lowered, blood and flesh splattered from where it had struck.

“Kuhehe! We have a scarecrow who lives just fine without an egg, but I don’t know how you’ll manage. Ptooey!”

The Ancona Orc spat and turned to face a new opponent. Then, seeing his comrade facing three orcs, he leaped to assist him.

“Gasp! Oh, earth god… Gasp! Gasp!”

Drool dripped down the chin of Kratul. He had poured out all his sorcery for such a long time. Energy depleted, he dropped onto the ground.

An orc druid’s unique ability to shake the earth and use roots didn’t really affect the orcs, so Kratul mainly resorted to using spells that roused the allied orcs’ blood and boost his comrades’ morale.

“Kueeeuuwkk! Die!”

“Fishy orc bastards! Kuaaak!”

The Ancona Orcs were in a frenzied state where their strength had increased by 50% from their normal power. Kratul shook his head as he watched each one of the Ancona Orcs go toe-to-toe with even two or three of their opponents.

“Pendragon scarecrow is amazing. Everything happened as he said. Kuhehe.”

He had been told to only use spells to assist his comrades. The spell, in combination with the excellent equipment provided by the Pendragon family, created an unstoppable force that crushed the pirate orcs with ease.

“Kueek!”

Moreover, as Pendragon soldiers aimed their crossbows at the enemy’s vital spots, the damage accumulated in the Latuan Orc’s forces.

“Kuhehe! I think we’re almost done here.”

Kratul turned his head towards the villa with a worried expression. He was worried about the inside, but he soon shook his head while letting out a chortle.

“Whether you are orcs or scarecrows, if you’re that anxious to die, then I won’t stop you. Kukeke!”

Just as Kratul spoke, dozens of shadows tossed hooks up to the second floor of the villa, far away from the battle.

***

“Boss, I don’t see anybody.”

“Retard! Look at the situation, of course, they’ve all headed towards the battle. The Duchess’ room should be located near the annex. I’ll head over there, so secure the corridors! A few of you can go downstairs.”

“Yes!”

The mercenaries hurriedly nodded their heads at the leader’s command. They had already familiarized themselves with the structure of the villa beforehand, so there was no hesitation in their movements. The leader of the mercenary group, who was walking with some of his men at the very back, turned his head slightly.

“What do you think, Mr. Golota?”

“Well, I can definitely feel the energy coming from the annex. But I still can’t quite place the identity.”

“What should we do? Maybe we should send my men first…”

“Hmph! You, who do you think I am?”

”Yes? N, nevermind.”

The leader of the Warship Mercenary group hurried and bowed his head. Even though he was one of the six leaders of the Warship Mercenaries, Golota was a renowned sorcerer in the South.

His specialty was psychic sorcery and poison, which allowed him to control the human mind as he pleased.

He didn’t even need to take out the pockets that were dangling from inside of his robe. Even now, a single wave of his hand would direct dozens of needles mounted on his wrist guard to fly. They would hit their victims and melt them from the inside. Their death would come while scouring up bloody bubbles.

“Make sure you secure the passage. I’ll take care of the opponent, whether they’re white wizards or necromancers.

“Yes.”

The mercenary leader bowed his head even lower. He did not forget to curse the arrogant old fool inwardly.

“Hm, that seems like the place. I can feel people’s presence. And that dirty energy.”

Golota’s eyeglasses stopped as it looked to a large door, several times larger than any other in the villa.

“It’s closed. I think they’ve locked it from the inside.”

The mercenaries pushed with all their might and even threw themselves at the door, but it didn’t budge.

“Move.”

As the mercenaries stepped aside, Golota walked to the front of the door and put his hand inside of his robe with a wry smile. This startled the mercenaries and they hurriedly stepped back. Golota took out his hand from inside the robe and chanted a dreary spell praising the disaster god.

A dark red flame erupted from his fingertips.

He pushed his finger into the door, and the dark red flame dug into the door and caused it to melt.

“Open.”

At Golota’s command, two mercenaries kicked the door which was now dripping down.

Bang!

The door flung open, and the mercenaries ran into the room with their weapons raised.

Whish.

The three mercenaries who had entered the room first heard the sound. A quiet noise of something breaking off.

“Uh…”

The three mercenaries took on a puzzled expression and looked back at their comrades. At least, they attempted to.

Three human heads slid off their bodies and fell to the floor, their facial expressions still unaware of their own death.

The eyes of the mercenaries, which had opened wide in shock, reflected a mysterious, beautiful face.

“…..!”

Their bodies froze at the unrealistic situation, and they looked blankly at the three jewels that were encrusted on the female knight’s forehead.

But one man, Golota, looked at her hand instead of her forehead as his body shook in fear.

At the tip of the glistening fingers, something elongated had sprouted. It was a sword of light.

[This is a place you can’t come into without Ray’s permission.]

The White Dragon muttered words that no one could understand. Her sword of light, Aura Blade, created a dazzling glow.