Chapter 367

"Brave and mighty!"

"Haha, the orcs fled! We've won!"

"We've won! We repelled the orcs! Brave and mighty!"

Instantly, cheers erupted throughout the camp.

Of course, these cheers did not come from Gervas's subordinates.

Gervas's men were veterans who had weathered storms long ago; they no longer cheered over such minor victories.

All these cheering voices belonged to Mil and the others' subordinates.

Of course, it wasn't just the soldiers ecstatic—Mil, Ian, and the other barons were equally beaming, as thrilled as if they'd won a massive battle involving tens of thousands.

"Haha, exhilarating! Truly exhilarating! Gervas, we really defeated the orcs!"

"Yes! Gervas, listening to you was right—we actually won! This is a major achievement!"

"Gentlemen, this is not yet victory!" Yet Gervas's expression remained calm.

"Don't joke, Gervas—look at all these dead minotaurs on the ground! At least eighty or ninety orcs!"

"You don't know—the heads of northern orcs are the most valuable; each is worth at least one gold coin, because they're so hard to kill!"

"Exactly, Gervas—with so many heads, we're definitely getting rewards this time! After all, lately the southern front has heard nothing but news of our kingdom's legions being crushed by orcs!"

At that moment, Mil suddenly realized something and grinned slyly, "I get it! Gervas, you're afraid we'll steal your credit, right?"

"Don't worry—we know the rules. We won't take your credit. These orcs were mostly killed by you and your men; we just assisted you."

"Of course, to make it look better, we'll each take five or six heads for show—one gold coin per head—we know the rules!"

Clearly, Mil and the others had misunderstood.

Gervas wasn't generous, but he wasn't stingy either.

If he was eating meat alongside these men, he'd certainly let them drink the broth.

The key question was: was such a tiny achievement worth this much joy?

"Gentlemen, we'll discuss reward distribution later. My point is—are you satisfied with just this little bit of credit?"

Everyone froze.

"Gervas, what do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" Gervas smiled faintly. "There are still eight or nine hundred orcs over there. Don't you want to go get a few more?"

"This… this isn't wise?" The men were stunned.

Killing a few orcs in the camp had already made them ecstatic.

Now Gervas was suggesting they go to the main camp—where eight or nine hundred orcs waited.

"There's nothing wrong with it! We charge now, kill another one or two hundred orcs, and we'll likely drive them off."

"Then how do you calculate the credit? Defeating over a thousand orcs and rescuing the main camp?!"

Mil and the others' hearts pounded violently.

The credit was indeed tempting.

But their doubts didn't vanish: "But Gervas, can we really pull this off?"

"With me, it's certain."

The men fell silent, took a deep breath, then nodded: "Alright, Gervas—we trust you!"

Immediately, Mil and the others halted the cheering troops, abandoned clearing the battlefield, and each deployed two-thirds of their men to follow Gervas toward the main camp.

Soon, the group arrived at the outer perimeter of the main camp.

At this moment, the orcs attacking the main camp had all surged past the palisade.

Inside the camp, screams of battle mingled with towering flames.

"When the time comes, do this…"

"Lord Gervas, will this work…? I mean, will the orcs fall for it?"

"Of course they will. You saw the orcs who attacked our camp—they went berserk the moment they saw their kin killed by humans."

"Take these orc heads as bait—no orc can resist."

"But remember—don't carry too many; too many are hard to control!"

"Understood, Gervas!"

…

"Commander Lein, think of something quickly!"

"There's no other way—we must keep fighting these orcs!"

"But how many of our men will we lose if we keep this up?" The nobles were nearly jumping out of their skins with grief.

They had indeed held the orcs back, preventing them from breaching the camp's core and causing chaos.

But their losses were enormous—seven or eight hundred peasant soldiers and elite guards were already dead.

As for the orcs, only dozens had been wounded.

Judging by the situation, these orcs could keep fighting for a while longer.

If that happened, their losses would be catastrophic.

So the minor nobles' hearts bled, begging Lein—the commander—to find a solution.

"No matter how many die, we must hold! If we retreat now, the orcs will gain even greater advantage—and suffer even heavier casualties!"

"Commander Lein, that's not what we mean. We're asking—can you summon all the legion guards? Their equipment is superior; they're far more combat-effective than our peasants!"

"No. The vanguard camp has only two thousand legion guards—already one thousand are engaged in battle; the other thousand must be held in reserve."

The nobles grieved for their peasant soldiers; Commander Lein grieved just as much for his legion guards.

"But Commander Lein, our peasant soldiers have already suffered so many losses!"

"If this continues, we could easily lose three or four thousand!"

"Everyone, losses are unavoidable; discovering the orc ambush tonight is already a blessing in misfortune!"

"Do you think the northern border lost a third of its territory because the orcs' combat power is too strong?"

"Before, rumors claimed our Northern Army was incompetent and cowardly; now everyone should know these orcs' combat power!"

The nobles were instantly speechless; two days ago outside Black Dragon City, they had indeed been cursing the Northern Army's incompetence.

But now it seems...

"You green-skin fellows, look over here!"

"Hmm?"

Just then, a shout reached everyone's ears.

"What's happening?"

"I don't know!"

The nobles immediately froze.

But scanning around, they couldn't find where the shout came from.

"Green-skin monsters, over here, behind you!"

Actually, not only were the nobles curious about the shout; the fighting orcs were equally curious.

Because they knew clearly that "green-skin beast" and "green-skin monster" were derogatory terms humans used for their Behemoth orcs.

Just as they called humans "two-legged sheep."

"Roar, roar, roar!"

With this second reminder, the orcs finally discovered where the two-legged sheep provoking them were located.

However, when they saw what those two-legged sheep were holding, they became even angrier!

"Damn two-legged sheep, how dare you insult the orc warriors like this!"