Chapter 338: Artifact! Artifact! (6000-word chapter! No more today)

[Blessing 6: Favor of the Torch Goddess] (Limit reached) The Torch Goddess inexplicably bestowed a blessing on Rand again.

Rand now finally fully understood the effect of this blessing.

It should be the perception of camp rather than the perception of justice and evil.

But this camp division does not seem to be based on Rand himself, but on the camp in which the Torch Church is located?

It may also be reflected based on the inner judgment of the person scanned by this blessing.

This is not yet certain.

But basically, Rand can judge friend or foe based on his own alignment.

Friendly ones are the red color of the flame.

If it is an enemy, then it will be the grayish white color of ash.

Neutral is colorless.

This perception effect becomes more blurred as it is farther away and clearer as it is closer.

At present, the effect does not seem to be that great, but at least it can help distinguish between friend and foe.

In other words! It can detect the mole!!!

Originally, Rand's territory was constantly expanding and the population began to increase. Rand could basically guess that there would be traitors or spies from other forces sneaking into his territory.

Rand's ruling model is not friendly to the infiltration of moles and spies, but of course it is impossible to completely eliminate it.

But don’t worry too much now, you can just go back and use this blessing to scan it when the time comes.

Who is the traitor? Who is the loyal minister? It will be clear at a glance! After the city was burned down by fire, Rand retreated.

Now Rand has retreated to a city behind the border city.

Compared with the south, the north is more vast and less populated.

The White Kingdom is a relatively powerful country in the Northern Alliance, but it does not have many central cities with large populations.

The border city that was burned down by Rand could barely be considered a big city.

But it is far inferior to the big city where Rand is now.

This city is a hub city in the north of the White Country, and all the population Rands evacuated from border cities are settled here.

Rand decided to have a decisive battle with the orcs here.

Rand knew very well that a raging fire could not burn all the orcs to death.

But in theory, it should be able to burn the orcs to collapse.

Rand had been demoralizing the orcs ever since he first met them.

They cannot sleep, eat or get clean water.

Rand also destroyed their baggage, leaving them with no clothes to keep warm and no place to rest.

Just when they thought they could get a break.

Rand used a raging fire to destroy the place where they were about to rest.

Rand had no idea how many ruins were left of the city, but it was definitely no longer a place to live.

And now, it is winter.

According to the time of year in previous years, it is estimated that it will snow in the next few days.

The orcs had no houses to live in, and there was no food left for them in the city. Even if there was any, it had been burned down.

The water sources near the city were also polluted by Rand.

Rand left no room for maneuver.

This is what war is like. Being kind to your enemy means being cruel to your own people.

Rand sat habitually on a reclining chair on the top of the city wall.

He really hoped that the giant-like orc general "Blood Axe" would be burned to death in the city, but he knew very well that this was obviously impossible.

So he sat on the top of the city wall, with his power armor.

This is the place where he prepared for the final battle.

"How many knights do we have left?" Rand asked Olenna.

After retreating to the city, Rand gave Olenna and Elsa a thorough physical examination.

Now Elsa is still lying in bed and can't get up.

As Olena was examined first, she has recovered now, but her face is still a little red.

"There are 1,056 people left, and the casualties are severe." Olena reported a number.

Rand waved his hands, expressionless, and continued to sit on the chair on the top of the city wall.

Looking to the north, that is the direction of the border city.

if.

If the orcs can still organize an attack, it will be in that direction.

Rand had tortured the orcs to the bottom of their morale, but his own morale was still okay.

Although they actually suffered considerable losses.

Most tactical actions are accompanied by sacrifice.

In order to pull flexibly, you need to take off the heavy armor, otherwise you will not be able to turn flexibly.

They also have to face orc priests, beast-eared people with sensitive facial features, and disgusting creatures like harpies.

In order to deal with the harpies, Rand equipped the knights with crossbows.

and the reconnaissance teams that have ambushed the Harpy many times.

Overall, Rand still has more advantages.

The harpy's reconnaissance caused a lot of trouble for Rand's plan.

But there are many tall trees in the country of Takagi Kingdom.

Rand hid in the trees, and the harpies, which were not numerous, could not stop Rand's harassment.

But even so, there were nearly 1,500 knights when they set out.

Now there are only a little over a thousand left.

Casualties reached a horrific one-third.

Although Rand tried hard to arrange rotational rest for them.

And supplies, at least, have always been sufficient.

Much better than orcs.

But Rand felt that his side could no longer withstand this flesh-and-blood meat grinder.

Such casualties are far beyond the range of losses that a normal army can bear.

We are all ordinary people. Even if the morale is high, it is still hard to bear to see the comrades around us dying one by one and being covered in blood.

Fortunately, the decisive battle is almost here.

Ellie looked at the power armor beside Rand, which was hoisted onto the city wall by a sling. "Lysa and I made this thing for you, but it's not for your use right now."

Rand nodded to show that he knew.

Seeing that Rand didn't understand what she meant, Ellie became anxious and said, "You can only drive this thing for five seconds. Do you want to drive it to duel with an opponent like that?"

"I definitely can't beat him." Rand is very self-aware.

This power armor is not enough to help Rand defeat the strong orc. Gundam may be able to do it, but this thing is not enough.

"Then why did you put this thing here?" Ellie demanded.

Rand replied naturally: "But this thing can keep me from being beaten to death for a while."

"Then what?"

"Then I can hide in the Mother Goddess's kingdom," Rand explained.

"Is it really safe for you to go to that kind of god's kingdom?" Ellie was still worried.

Ellie knew that Rand could somehow survive the self-sacrifice, but she still felt that if humans faced the gods directly, they would suffer irreversible consequences.

For example, this dark voluptuous goddess might make Rand become... more lustful?

Ellie still thought it would be better not to be influenced.

Rand didn't care at all. If he was going to be affected, he would have been affected a long time ago, and it wouldn't have happened now.

At this time, the prince and princess, with frosted faces, also came out of the city and onto the top of the city wall.

"Long time no see?" Rand smiled.

In fact, it didn't take long, but the prince and princess retreated separately from Rand.

Rand attracted the hatred of the orc generals.

The prince and princess led the soldiers defending the city to retreat.

The prince and princess personally led them to retreat and comforted them, which was also effective in relieving the soldiers' emotions and stress.

The prince and princess didn't know how to look at Rand.

When they first met this overly young White Country general, they even thought Rand was a pretty boy.

He achieved his current position by deceiving Prince Ellie.

Then they heard Rand's scolding.

Then they decided to come to Takagi Kingdom with Rand to "die".

That's what they thought at first.

They had already seen what orcs looked like when they fled from the royal city.

Although Rand's cavalry is elite, their numbers are limited.

In their imagination, this was just a grand and gorgeous death.

Until Rand began to explain tactics to them.

They didn't quite understand the tactics that were explained at first.

He just stood beside Rand and watched him make arrangements and give commands.

Then we discovered that the orcs were really being weakened.

Then there was the later defense of the city, and then there was the raging fire in that border city.

It was all extremely difficult, and both of them were seriously injured, but it was still like a dream.

Such a large orc army, as numerous as ears of wheat in a wheat field and as numerous as the trees in the Tall Wood Kingdom, actually became so devastated in Rand's hands.

Now they were a little jealous of Ellie and the White King, who were so lucky to find such a military commander who was like a military god to protect the homeland security of their country.

"Okay, long time no see~" The one who spoke was still the "Prince". As the elder sister, although she was dressed as a man, she was a little more generous than the princess.

This was incomprehensible to the two young royals.

Rand could understand.

After all, although he suffered heavy losses during this period, the success of his tactics in the face of such a terrifying number of orcs was also largely due to luck.

Although Rand didn't know why, these two people still didn't worship him.

But Rand admired these two people very much.

One look at the thin arms and legs of these two people, they must have lived a life of luxury since childhood.

But now they followed him, ambushed among trees and mud, fought with the warriors, ate the same food, and had no complaints from them.

Perhaps without their help as direct descendants of the royal family to stabilize the morale of the army and gather the hearts of the nobles of the Takagi Kingdom, he would not have been so successful.

"What's the matter?" Rand asked.

They looked at the huge power armor next to Rand and didn't understand what it was.

They whispered, "Will the orcs come again?"

"It should be." Rand said.

"We want to learn more knowledge." said the prince and princess.

They knew very well that Rand was a noble from the southern Frostmoon Kingdom, and after marrying Prince Ellie, he would probably rarely come to the White Kingdom.

As for the Takagi Kingdom, it may never come again.

They need to learn more now.

Rand turned his gaze back to the north, in the direction of the border city, and cleared his throat: "You have already understood the sword of the monarch, and the sword of the noble lord is about governing the local area, promoting agriculture, leading the army to fight, making the knights and soldiers believe in themselves, and making ordinary villagers obey themselves."

Rand paused for a moment and said, "You have already done a better job. When Gaomu Kingdom is restored in the future, you don't need to do it yourself. Just appoint the right ministers. You just need to understand what the noble lords should do."

As for the knights' personal fighting skills, Rand felt that there was no need for these two royal nobles to learn any, and there was no need for the prince and princess to personally go into battle and kill the enemy.

Otherwise, he would end up like Prince Alex, dying at the hands of someone stronger than him.

Rand wanted to say that they had already mastered the art.

Rand didn't have much time to be their teacher, so many things could only be condensed as much as possible, although Rand felt that even if he didn't teach them, they would become legends in the future.

Unfortunately, Rand was a casual player of Deep Moon and had never heard of their deeds. Just like Olenna, Rand didn't know that there was a character like Olenna in Deep Moon.

The prince and princess were a little disappointed.

In fact, they also wanted to learn some knowledge related to force, but Rand didn't seem to be good at this.

And they are unwilling to teach them these.

Although they feel that force is actually the last resort that can be used.

If I could really become someone like the White King, even if my country was destroyed and my family was ruined, I could still restore it.

"Here it comes." Rand said lightly.

The prince and princess looked towards the north.

There was a slight vibration from the ground.

After a while, a black line could be seen in the distance.

"How can they still fight? Didn't we destroy their supplies?" asked the prince and princess.

It was not Rand who gave the answer, but Olenna: "Humans are also on the orcs' diet, and orcs may also be on the orcs' diet."

The prince and princess understood.

Now they envied Ellie even more.

The orcs were so powerful, so determined, and so resolute in their will to fight.

Orcs like these are no match for Rand.

The orcs and purgatory made a deal.

Despite great sacrifices, they reached shore in the dangerous waters.

Even though they were tortured by Rand's harassment tactics, they still have the courage to fight.

And such an orc army could not defeat Rand.

Yes, they thought Rand would win.

Or already won.

It was really lucky for the Takagi Kingdom that such a person could be born, but there was only this one chance to experience it.

The orc army soon arrived at the city.

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The number is far less than what we encountered before.

And it is obvious that the orc generals did not divide the orc army into multiple routes.

They already knew they were doomed to fail.

At least not on this route.

The orcs' momentum is far less than before.

Appearing listless, painful and depressed.

Most of the orcs who came to the city were charred and their skin was festering.

And Rand was still sitting on the top of the city wall, just like last time.

On top of the city wall, Rand's family flag was still fluttering in the wind.

The orc army stayed outside the range of the ballistas on the city wall.

The orc general's huge body makes him quite conspicuous in the orc army.

But the distance was too far for Rand to see clearly, and he could not sense the favor of the Torch Goddess.

Rand could only determine the location of the orc general through the general's banner.

Rand arranged for several knights to leave the city.

When the knight got closer to the orc army, he shot arrows.

The arrow hit the orc general in front of him.

A letter from Rand was tied to the arrow.

The letter said in Orcish: "Surrender. I am still short of laborers. At least you won't starve to death if you work for me."

The orc general tore up the letter of surrender.

When the orcs first invaded, they were actually trying to gain a piece of land for survival. The best outcome would be if they could unite and occupy a piece of land in the north to establish a country.

He himself actually didn't mind being enslaved at first, as long as he could survive and increase the orc population.

There will definitely be a chance in the future.

But now, with the emergence of figures like Rand, it is too difficult for the orcs to gain a foothold in the Northern Union.

At least that's what he thought, and he felt there was no hope at all.

It is better to retreat back to the North now.

Now the orcs' population has been greatly reduced, and the land in the north is already able to support the orcs.

The next opportunity will probably be after Rand dies of old age.

I hope this human monster doesn't live too long.

As for himself, he planned to make a final attempt with these remaining orcs.

If I could kill Rand...

If I could kill Rand...

maybe……

In front of "Blood Axe" there is a large vat.

Inside is the Orc Shaman’s latest configuration, the “Fire Soup”.

Blood Axe drank the fire soup for the fourth time.

The power of purgatory completely burned his sanity.

In the last bit of consciousness, he just roared.

"charge!"

The orc army, with their skin ulcerated and almost naked, charged towards the city wall.

"Blood Axe" turned into a burning monster, like a demon from purgatory.

After drinking the "fire soup" for the fourth time, Blood Axe did not become stronger, but at least he could once again drive his scarred and broken body to continue fighting.

"We may not be able to stop him," Ellie said.

Rand said it was okay.

"You don't really want to duel him with this, do you?" Ellie asked anxiously.

Rand nodded.

"I don't agree!"

"I can't die."

"I don't agree!"

"You can't even beat me with this thing, what's the point?"

"I have this." Rand took out a pendant.

[Eternal Frozen Furnace]

【Type: Energy】

[Ability: Unknown]

Of course Ellie knew the Everfrost Core.

But he still said, “I don’t agree.”

Rand thought that Ellie would be amazed when she saw the pendant and would complain to him why he took out such a magical artifact now.

"Why?"

"A normal person would die if he used this thing. It can even freeze the soul."

"I can't die."

"I don't agree!"

Rand hugged Ellie, bit her lip with his teeth, and then licked his own lips which had turned a little red.

Rand entered the power armor.

His strong physique enables him to drive this iron coffin.

The favor of the Torch Goddess prevented him from becoming blind.

With the help of a sling, Rand slowly descended from the city wall to the ground.

Rand grasped the huge steel sword.

After being completely transformed into hell, Blood Axe's skin has turned scarlet red.

The scorching flames of hell were still burning on his body.

Rand drew his sword and slashed.

It collided with the halberd of "Blood Axe".

It's like two mountains colliding.

The permafrost core has started.

Rand felt his consciousness stagnate for a moment, and it became difficult for him to think.

At Rand's feet was the altar.

He can sacrifice himself any time now.

In fact, Rand tried to sacrifice others on the altar.

However, if you want to sacrifice the enemy on the altar, you must at least make the prey weak enough, at least to a certain extent, unable to resist or escape.

Otherwise, unless the evil god personally casts his gaze, sacrifice will be impossible.

Otherwise, if we just bury an altar where the king-level professionals must pass, wouldn't it be easy to eliminate the king-level professionals? But sacrificing oneself would be much more convenient.

It's just not necessary right now.

The severe cold infected Rand's body like maggots in his tarsal bones, causing him unbearable pain, but he would not die for a while.

In this state, Rand still can't beat the higher-ups in the den, but he is countless times more durable than them.

It might be possible to kill Rand now only if a king-level professional comes in person.

This power armor artifact cannot be easily destroyed.

Moreover, the kinetic energy provided by the permafrost core allowed Rand to resist a little under the constant beatings.

After being completely in purgatory, "Blood Axe" has completely lost his mind, and only has the obsession of destroying Rand left.

This also helped Lander hold back his hatred and prevent him from attacking the city wall.

Rand soon began to bleed from his mouth and nose.

The internal organs were broken.

Then came to the kingdom of the Mother Goddess.

He hasn't been here for a long time, and the Mother Goddess is still as charming as before.

Too bad he has to go back soon.

The Infernal Blood Axe, which had lost its target, was about to attack the human city when Rand's attention was attracted again.

On the city wall, the top leaders in the hideout who were trying to prevent other orcs from invading were already getting a little anxious.

Want to go down to the city to help Rand.

But they all got slapped by Lisa.

Rand believes that Lysa is the most reliable person in the den.

In fact, most of the top leaders in the den also think so.

With Lisa's obstruction, the top leaders of the hideout were able to remain calm.

Rand felt some pain.

The opponent has to hit you dozens of times before you can fight back.

The power armor made of artifact material ensured that Rand would not be killed in one blow, giving him room to sacrifice himself.

But it didn't ease Rand's pain.

Every time I was hit by the "Blood Axe", it felt like I was hit by a battering ram.

Damage to internal organs is also extremely painful.

But Rand felt that his perseverance was still good.

At least when he was fighting against the White King, he persisted for a long time.

Now he felt like he could last a whole day.

The orcs' attack was not fierce.

Even if it was a suicide charge, the bodies of these orcs would have been broken into pieces long ago.

They are no match for the soldiers in the city.

After more than half a day, the remaining orcs had been almost wiped out.

Rand persisted.

Although he was already losing consciousness, he felt that he could still hold on a little longer.

It's just that the power armor can't seem to hold on any longer.

The power armor's energy system has been corroded by the permafrost core.

It was already very difficult for Rand to operate the power armor.

On the top of the city wall, the top leaders of the hideout looked at the duel below the city with some trembling.

But Lisa said at this time: "You can go and help him."

The top brass at the hideout were surprised that Lysa would disobey Rand's orders.

Lisa spread her hands and pointed towards the city and the top of the city wall.

Countless soldiers had bloodshot eyes.

Their marshal, the hero who led them to stop the orcs, is now fighting against the orc generals for them alone.

They could feel Lord Lander's pain.

And the heart is also in pain.

Such pain has become unbearable for them.

"I can't stop it."

…

The setting sun is blood-red.

It's winter.

The first snowflakes of winter fell from the sky.

The city gates were opened and knights, soldiers, nobles, and citizens poured out.

The crowd drowned the huge, burning orc.

(End of this chapter)