Cthulhu Gonfalon

The battle with the King of Wild Boars was not the most dangerous one that winter. The most dangerous one was that battle where they crusaded the ogres' camp.

There was a tribe of ogres in Dahl Hill who lived by the edge of the marshes in the mountains. In the past, Baron Dahl had never thought of waging a crusade against them. First, though the ogres were named as such, they did not take humans as a staple food. They did nothing more than occasionally go down the mountains to catch one or two humans to make a little improvement to their meals, and those they caught were normally farmers and the likes of them. To Dahl Hill, these people were honestly too insignificant. Second, those ogres were extremely powerful. Their camp was also situated in a very dangerous location, so he was not very certain.

Just how strong were these ogres in particular? He was not sure, but he was sure that there was a Shaman among them.

A tribe of ogres with a shaman, compared to another without one, would be entirely different. The latter was probably still closer to wild beasts, but the former could nearly be seen as a barbarian race. Wild beasts and barbarians of equal strength were vastly different in the danger that they posed.

And the campsite of the ogre tribe was not an easy place to attack. It was located on the mountainside where only one steep mountain road could lead the way to it. If not for the hunters who walked about in the wilderness amidst these mountains throughout the years, it was likely that no one would have made it to the campsite because they would have fallen into the mountain valley, without even leaving behind a complete corpse. As such, those hundreds of elite soldiers that Dahl Hill was so proud of having were of no use; even among the archers, at most, only one-third of them could successfully make it through this steep mountain road.

After crossing this mountain road, what exactly was the layout of the campsite of the ogres? How many ogres were there in the camp? Other than the Shaman, how many ogres had advanced into becoming ogre warriors? Was there a tribal chief? Were there any two-headed ogres as mentioned in the legends?

All these things were unknown to him.

Baron Dahl was a businessman. He was good at doing business but not good at fighting wars. But he was nothing like those well-known rulers in history, who were fatuous, self-indulgent and thought themselves so smart that there was nothing they could not achieve. He threw his weight around and had to have a say in everything, but when it was time to mobilize his army to fight wars, he would listen to all arrangements made by that elderly knight and appear to be someone who placed full trust in his men—of course, to tell the truth, there was nothing much to doubt. Everyone was a Dahl, and if he could not even trust his own kin, who else could he trust?

That elderly knight might be getting on in years and was no longer able to participate in this winter's clean-up operation of magic beasts, but the years of experience he accumulated would not die off along with the aging of his body. On the contrary, the older he got, the more tenacious he would be. He had long carried out a meticulous and thorough analysis of the various demons and ghostly creatures in the territory and listed several series of combat strategies. At a critical juncture when confronted by enemies, the soldiers just needed to act according to his strategy, so even if they did not win the battle, they would not suffer a crushing defeat.

In the series of strategies that he came up with, there was only for the ogre camp: Unless the ogres themselves made a mess. Otherwise, the army could just stand guard at the foot of the mountains and find ways to lure the ogres out. If they were unable to draw the ogres out, then they would rather abort the plan than head up the mountain.

Most of Dahl Hill's knights were students of this elderly knight, and there were even knights who were his nephews, so of course, they would not go against his wishes. Besides, even if they had any intention to defy his wishes, Baron Dahl would personally disagree with them. Hence, a group of them went on an expedition to sweep through the entire territory. After almost every dangerous magic beast had been wiped out for good, they had originally wanted to return in great triumph.

But at that moment, they felt a terrorizing power skim across the sky. It then left far into the distance.

"A dragon?!" said that elderly priest who was the first to react. He had worked in Void City and had frequently met with the church's knights. The sight of the captain of knights flying past him while sitting astride a dragon was no novelty to him. The feeling the dragon gave him then was quite similar to what he felt at present.

No, the feeling he had back then was slightly weaker than what he felt now, probably because it was under the constraint of Lord Gerald, so it did not dare to go rampant.

In other words, was it only a dragon that had just flown over everyone's head?

At this point in time, everyone had tilted their heads back to look up into the sky. However, dark clouds were gathering in the sky, so how was it possible for them to see anything happening up in the sky?

But that imposing power earlier on was unquestionably something that could not be falsified.

Didn't everyone see how all the horses in the army had gone soft in their knees where they sprawled onto the ground, not daring to move an inch? Other than the dragon, would anything be able to wield such power?

"Why is there a dragon passing by?" said Baron Dahl. At that moment, he was quite near to where the clergymen were. Hearing what the elderly priest said, he wondered and said, "We have never seen a dragon appearing here before."

"Maybe it was just passing by," said the enlisted mage. "Young dragons often wander about in search of treasure. It's not surprising if one were to pass by occasionally."

"Such a small place like ours, what treasure can it hold?"

The enlisted mage shook his head. Of this, he truly had no idea.

If he knew what treasure this territory held, he would have secretly dug it up for himself. There was no way he would leave it around for the dragon to add to its collection!

"My lord… I think just now the dragon seemed to be… coming from the direction of that mountain where the ogres live," said a knight all of a sudden. "Could it have just robbed the ogres?"

The moment this was said, the crowd froze in momentary shock.

It might sound somewhat ridiculous and absurd, but thinking about it carefully, it did make sense. The ogres had occupied the mountains for so many years. They might have saved some precious things that were attractive enough to make the dragon be a willing robber for once.

A group of ogres was certainly very powerful to Dahl Hill, but would they even matter to a dragon?

The moment their thoughts arrived at such a conclusion, everyone felt relieved.

No matter what, those ogres were harmful to Dahl Hill. If the dragon could finish them off, that would be a good thing!

Baron Dahl lowered his head and started muttering to himself.

He contemplated for a while, then turned his gaze towards that thief that he had hired at a high price. But immediately, he shifted his gaze away to where the two paladins from the Church of the Void Mask were.

"There is something that I would like to ask of the both of you," he said. He smiled before going on to say, "May I trouble the both of you to make a trip over to somewhere near the campsite of the ogres and find out if the ogres are in a frenzied mess now? Do we… have an opportunity to strike them unaware?"

In the end, he still had to come out with this intention.

That elderly knight, who was a distant uncle of his, once said that to deal with the ogres, the army should never go up the mountains, unless something unforeseen happened among themselves. In other words, if there was internal disorder for the ogres themselves, then it was not possible to send just a few elites to exterminate them all.

The two paladins were not as cunning as the baron, but they had understood what he meant. They exchanged looks and then looked at Bishop Kabbalah.

The clergymen of the Church of the Void Mask were under the rule of this bishop.

"If your body can take it, then there's no harm in making a trip," Bishop Kabbalah said. "But you must be very mindful of your safety. If we want to deal with the ogres, there will be plenty of chances in the days to come. If you really can't go, after some time, I can also request the headquarters to send some help…"

With his words, naturally, the two paladins would have more confidence for they knew what to expect. They bade their farewells and left on their horses. About an hour later, they returned to their troop.

They brought news that affirmed everyone's speculation.

The ogres were attacked by the dragon and not only were they in a chaotic mess at the moment, but it also seemed like their head, the shaman, was dead.

This was a golden opportunity not to be missed. He had to send his troops to attack the camp of ogres!