It is a habit of the orcs to say, but when they are about to make an oath, they will always say that the contract with each other will not change for as long as the Wuthering Plains.

There is little need to be asked whether these vows have been kept, but it seems that the Wuthering Plains have not changed for tens of thousands of years, long cold winters, short springs and autumns, hot and muddy summers, continuous barren grass and gravel under the grass, winds that are always in your ears, and herds of horned deer and argali, and the tents of the orcs and the colorful poles erected by the priests— Dried organs and entire skins (humans, elves, and orcs) hung from them to ask for blessings and blessings from their god, the beast god Kawuha.

But in recent decades, the Wuthering Plains seems to have changed a little, and the pass that connects the rich lands beyond the plain has an additional wall, and the huge stone bricks of the wall are poured with a solution of black iron and bronze, which are glittering under the polishing of the wind and sand, and beyond this wall, there are thousands of stone igloos, in fact, not so much a hut as a hiding place, which can only be stuffed with a maximum of three people, and the entrance is so narrow that the fat people have to take off their cloaks and even robes to squeeze in, but this also ensures that when the orcs attackSome of those who are unfortunate enough not to enter the pass in time can take advantage of it for a while - as long as they remember to fill the entrance to the hut with stones. Some daring, nowhere else to go outcasts and slaves used the huts as free dwellings, and when they found that no one drove them, they even planted and kept livestock not far away. Of course, it was dangerous to be caught between the orcs and the defenders of Thundercastle, but here they didn't have to pay taxes to any nobleman, they didn't have to toil all day on someone else's land, and they didn't have to worry about someone driving them into the ranks of the soldiers—to wear down the enemy's forces with their bare hands.

There was a reason why Lehman did not drive away the outcasts and urge them to pay their taxes, and there was a reason why he was supposed to have his soldiers hidden in these small stone houses to observe and alert the orcs, but now, at the slightest change in the orcs, the outcasts would jump out of the stone houses and run under the walls to shout. Although they were human beings, there was no doubt that he preferred to ensure the well-being of his soldiers and his people rather than outcasts.

The current lord of Thundercastle has been here from the royal capital since the day he came of age, and then, like every lord, except for the annual debriefing or the wedding celebration of the Norman king, the birthday celebration, he is like a cold iron nail, nailed to Thundercastle unwavering, although to this day, there are still people who criticize his and his brother's lineage, but apart from this, they can only talk about his and his brother's heirs. Thankfully, his brother and his queen finally had a healthy son, and they built a huge temple for Flo for this purpose, which was within the royal capital, and required every family in the royal capital to dedicate a daughter to be Flo's handmaiden- At first, this will was resisted by many people, although Flo's priest was no longer synonymous with prostitution, but people could not help but be suspicious, and in the end it was the queen who intervened, or rather, the ladies who were lucky enough to pray to Flo, and indeed became pregnant— This has always been the case with human beings, and when they received the fruit of Flo's gift, even the most old-fashioned and mean people began to loosen, after all, a son is the most orthodox heir than a daughter who had to choose as a last resort.

Now, even in the inner city of Thundercastle, there are earthly mansions erected for this amorous goddess, and Lehman has gone to offer sacrifices, although he is neither for the heir nor for love, no, he does not think that his love needs to be prayed to this goddess, and from the bottom of his heart, he is even jealous of her, because Afra, the maiden whom he loves so much, is the chosen person of this god. He had quietly visited her, and compared to him, who was old, gray, and his eyes were dim, she was still as gorgeous and vibrant as a summer pomegranate flower, and the gods had bestowed her with eternal youth and life, when he was already like a branch and a leaf.

Lehman, when he read the word shame in his books, never imagined that it would be quoted on him, that he was the son and brother of the Norman king, and that he was born of noble blood and extraordinary, and that every teacher praised him for his intelligence, agility, and vigor, and that the maidens pursued him, and the boys followed him, and he fantasized that when he became an old man, he could still be as majestic and powerful as the bards.

But that was only before meeting Afra.

Lehman walked up and down the walls, the chill of stone and metal spreading from the soles of his feet to all around him, and sometimes he cursed in the darkness why he was the prince of Norman, and if he had not fulfilled his obligations, he might have left everything behind to follow the true god of his heart, and he would serve Crefa as her knight, bowing as she passed, and plucking a small flower that had been caressed by the soft horns of his robe after she had left.

But none of this is possible, he wakes up at dawn, puts on his boots, armor, and sword, and spends his days and years on the walls overlooking the pass and his territory, and this is how his ancestors spent half their lives, and so does his father, and now it is him, and his heart calms down when he sees his knights, soldiers, and people, and he looks at Norman from afar, where there are more, tens of millions of people being guarded by him and his warriors, and his sacrifice is never worthless.

Just three days earlier, the king had written to him to tell him that his little nephew had been able to grab a wooden sword and swing it so vigorously that he had almost struck the nose of a maid, and he proudly claimed in his heart that the baby might in the future be more powerful than his father and uncle, and Lehman could not help but smile at the thought of this, but he immediately became sad, for the queen had not given up the idea of letting him marry a certain lady, and the king, queen, and ministers had repeatedly retreated, from insisting that he marry a Norman noblewoman, to if Afra of Kriffa was willing to become the queen's sister- Yes, if she wishes ......to change a guardian; Well, they are not unacceptable to a noble lady of Crefa, and by today, they have given in to the point that as long as Lehman does not get involved in Crefa, everything can be discussed.

Alas, it would not be impossible if Afra wished, but, thinking mischievously to his heart, Lehman had reminded them that the queen should go to Fro's temple and pray a few more times, so that his little nephew would have more brothers, and he had already determined that he would not marry anyone, let alone have children out of wedlock, and he would choose an heir from among his brothers' sons.

"Your Excellency. ”

A voice interrupted Lehman's reverie, and he turned away, his servant respectfully awaiting his response: "What's the matter?"

"There's a merchant who wants to see you. Hu Cong said, "Very urgent. ”

This merchant was also inherited by Lehman from Dylan, and after Dylan's death, his Chamber of Commerce was also torn apart, but after the loss of those ill-intentioned conspirators, there were still a few shiny little stones in the gravel, and the guy who could reorganize and operate the Chamber of Commerce under the suspicious eyes of the king and his knights was certainly not an ordinary person, not to mention, this one also gained the trust of Rajger and Lehman, but this time, the news he brought was not optimistic- You know, although the war between humans and orcs has never subsided, after the orcs invaded Norman, the hatred of humans for them climbed to a high point, for which the Norman king at that time Berdwin also issued a decree to prohibit merchants from continuing to trade frequently with orcs - although this will has become almost a dead letter today due to the strong opposition of the profiteers - only slaves are still strictly forbidden to enter Wuthering Plains, as for the rest...... Even the smuggling of black iron became an open secret, Lehman stopped it, but the orcs were not stupid, especially their first king, when he announced that he would exchange gold and precious stones, and pyroxene for black iron, before several, tens, hundreds of times the benefits, no matter how severe, no cruel, no amount of detailed laws could contain the foolishness of the merchants.

"Eleven caravans haven't returned to Thundercastle as scheduled?" Lehman asked, confused, his heart pounding as he thumped.

"Yes," said the merchant who was no longer young, so he no longer followed the caravan with a gray face, "First four of the chamber of commerce, and then I asked the others to inquire about the situation elsewhere, Your Highness, seven caravans also disappeared suddenly, there was no response, there were no survivors, Your Highness, although on the Whirling Plains, strong winds, wandering orcs and wolves could bring disaster to a caravan at any time, and the size of the caravan was large and small, but this situation has never happened...... Your Highness, I hired someone to look for them, but the person I hired is also gone, and in just ten days, I don't know if I'm too nervous, but ......"

"You're doing a great job. Lehman raised his hand and didn't let him continue. Instead, he summoned his retinue and asked him to spread his will to every corner of Thundercastle to find out how many caravans had not been able to return to Thundercastle.

The results came out quickly, from the first thirteen days, Thunder Fort only had caravans going out, and there were no caravans returning, because the Wuthering Plains was vast, and it was normal for a caravan to wander around and not return for several months, but in thirteen days, there should always be caravans returning one after another, no, it means that something dangerous and terrible must have happened.

Lehman quickly decided: "From this moment on, no caravans are allowed to leave Thundercastle, all those who want to enter the pass are to be screened one by one, and they are not allowed to stay inside or outside the city walls, outcasts...... It is only possible to take shelter in a prison for the time being. He stood up, the wind blowing through his sideburns, still warm, but the war had begun.

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With a roar, Gersh leaped from his throne, his broadsword flashing with a thrilling cold light in the air, and in one fell swoop he cut off the Assassin's arm, which flew in the air along with the treacherous dagger, and he didn't look at the screaming human, and with a quick turn he cut off the noisy head. Blood rushed from his neck into the air, bursting into a shower of blood at the top, draped the aging orc king in a drenched scarlet cloak.

"Is that your determination?" asked Gersh, mockingly and bitterly, "a human?"

"Of course not. One of his courtiers replied, "It's better if you let a human kill you, Gersh." ”

"Don't call me Your Majesty anymore?" Gersh snorted, even if he had to face a dozen strong orcs in armor and armed weapons at the same time, he did not have the slightest fear, he became Gersh, became the leader of the tribe, became the king of the orcs, he did not come with his lips and tongue like a human, he was also a warrior, experienced in a hundred battles, and had many merits.

"Orcs weren't supposed to have a majesty in the first place. The orc minister replied, "The only supreme being is my god Kawuha. ”

Gersh's face, which had not changed even when he was assassinated and betrayed, suddenly cracked with anger, and he seemed to want to say something, but a whining and flying axe interrupted his words, and the orc king leaned over, seemingly slowly, but unavoidably grasped the handle of the broadsword and swept sideways, the knees of the other attacker were suddenly cut off, and when he fell uncontrollably, Gersh stepped on his back, jumped up violently, and after dodging the exchange of a pair of black iron hammers, he turned around, leaned upward, and disemboweled a guy who tried to attack his back, and before the hot internal organs could fall to the ground, Gersh rolled over, struck the third man in the ankle with his elbow, and with the crisp sound of bones shattering, he clamped the broadsword under his armpit, and the tip of the sword pierced the throat of the former.

Under the triangular space between the dead and the broadsword, Gersh stood up calmly, and he snatched the deceased's hatchet with one hand, and with the other he grabbed the corpse, lifted it up to his shoulders like a shield—with the buzzing of birds, the three crossbow arrows fired by the rebel standing in the distance were all fed to the poor accomplice, Gersh couldn't help laughing, and then threw it with all his might, and the flashing hatchet split the skull of the rebel who was busy loading the bolts again.

"He's no more weapons!" shouted one of the courtiers, but he screamed like a female when he saw Gersh bow his head, grab the corpse's knees and arms, and rush towards them like a siege vehicle armed with a dense spear tip. Screaming certainly couldn't kill an enemy like a boulder, and Gersh knocked three orcs to the ground in one fell swoop.

"Disappointing. Gersh said, looking at the first courtiers who showed hostility to him, they were all orcs whom he trusted, and he gave them infinite glory, mansions and livestock, slaves, and so they repaid him.

The orc didn't show much panic: "It's you who disappointed us," he said, "you have changed us, you have turned the orcs into humans, you want to be a human king, but we don't want to be a human - you have forgotten the pride and dignity of being an orc, die, Gersh, if you are willing to die like this," he said, "I will tell your subjects that you were killed by humans, and you are still a hero worthy of their respect and remembrance—perhaps...... You will also be able to return to the feet of the great god Kawuha...... Pray at His feet for forgiveness of your sins. ”

His words silenced Gersh for a moment, and then the orc king suddenly grinned, "What did I think it was?" and he said, "That's what it is." ”

His contempt made the rest of the orcs look indignant.

"I never believed it," said Gersh, taking a deep breath to admit that he had never believed in Kauha, even if it was an imaginary thing for him, but, until today, when he said it, he realized that it was really his mother's pleasure!"I don't believe in Kauha," he said, "He is our god, but he has never protected us, he only wants blood, death and war, and as for whose war, whose death, whose blood - he does not care." "Gersh was almost certain from the time the potion brought by the red-robed warlock, tacitly approved by the priests of Kawula, was poured into the throat of the orc child, and the many events that followed made it clear to him what this ugly one-eyed man really was—the orcs believed in him, and could say give everything for him, but did Kawuha really care about them? no, in the eyes of this evil god, all life was nothing but slaves and livestock, with rivers of blood and bones...... He won't give the orcs hope, and he won't give the orcs a future.

In the fifty years that he became the orc king, he did not allow the priests to execute slaves, captives or orcs on a large scale to sacrifice to Kawuha, and even the number of sacrificial animals was limited, and the priests were emulated by him in a so-called temple and sanctuary, and he gave them many nominal privileges, using solemn or comical excuses to control their contact with the outside world, he used to think that they had really succumbed, or were at a loss, but he was wrong, the power of the gods was never something that an orc could guess, the orc Kawuha was a stingy god, but he sensed that someone was shaking his foundations, his actions will be as swift and violent as a thunderbolt.

"Big mistake. An unfamiliar voice replied, and then Gersh and the rebels saw a group of priests walking in from outside the temple - their faces were somewhat familiar to Gersh, their bodies should have shrunk due to aging and lack of activity and time, but today Gersh saw only a group of strong orcs who were not inferior to his guards, and they walked up to Gersh and spread out to the left and right, revealing several orcs with terrified faces:" My god Kawuha still has a preference, for example, the flesh of the blasphemer has always been one of his favorite sacrifices, Gersh, be honored, your filthy soul will become the decoration on the toes of my god, and you will be trampled under his feet, crushed to pieces, and wail for ten thousand years. ”

Gersh looked at the orcs who had been caught by the priests, they were all his children.

The priests forced the young orcs to swallow the potion, and then left the king's temple with the uninjured rebels, and locked up the mad, irrational, just want to eat fresh flesh with their old father, and the temple would soon be reopened so that every orc could see what happened to the blasphemer.