Chapter 437: Casualties and Victories!

"My lord, the battlefield has been fully accounted for."

"This time, we took eight hundred and seventy-three heads of orc servitors and one thousand three hundred and eighty-nine heads of orcs!"

"Excellent! Ha ha! Wonderful! Over a thousand orc heads—this achievement is undoubtedly the greatest glory of this entire army!"

"Indeed! Congratulations, my lord. Add this to our previous thousand-plus orc heads, and we've reached over two thousand. The King will surely grant you a new fief for this!"

Inside Castle Kalle, as Laurent announced the headcount, the great hall erupted in cheers.

This haul alone matched all their previous major battles combined.

Gervas's lips curled with joy, and his subordinates each offered their flattery.

After a brief pause, Gervas turned to ask about casualties.

This was something he cared deeply about.

"My lord, the Storm Guard lost nine men dead, twelve severely wounded—but thanks to Lady Isabella's aid, none of the severely wounded are in mortal danger; thirty-five suffered minor wounds, all still fit for battle!"

As he reported the casualties, Laurent's face showed no emotion.

Even Migen and the others couldn't help nodding.

Clearly, they were 'satisfied' with the death toll.

After all, war never comes without loss.

Compared to the losses of other nobles' troops, the Storm Legion's casualty-to-kill ratio was undeniably a resounding victory.

But Gervas, a man from the modern world, long indoctrinated with the equality of life,

still couldn't help frowning slightly at the death toll.

After all, when he recalled his subordinates—each looking at him with hopeful eyes, laughing and joking before departure, their families clinging to them in tearful farewells—

now they returned only as cold corpses, their living forms never returned to wives, children, or parents.

It pained him deeply.

"Bury the fallen guards properly, mark their graves clearly. When the war ends, we will return to bring them home. They are heroes of the kingdom—and heroes of Stormhold!"

"Yes, my lord!" At Gervas's words, whether knight or common guard, every eye shone with gratitude.

To treat their subordinates as heroes—such a noble could only be their own lord.

And to promise to retrieve their remains after the war—few nobles could ever manage that.

Often, merely digging a shallow pit to bury the guards was considered generous enough!

…

Time turned to the next day.

The siege of Lindongcheng continued.

The human position grew increasingly dire.

The Orc King received good news daily—but this morning, with Moral's return from the west, his good mood shattered.

"What happened? Three thousand tribal warriors and three thousand servitors couldn't overcome a thousand humans?"

"Even if every human could fight one-on-one against our warriors, that still doesn't justify your defeat and the loss of over a thousand tribal warriors—are you all useless gluttons?" The Orc King's roar nearly burst Moral's eardrums.

The junior chieftains and captains trembled; Moral could only force himself to speak: "Your Majesty, we were nearly taking Castle Kalle."

"But then, sudden thunderous explosions and flashes of fire erupted from within Castle Kalle—in that instant, large numbers of our warriors fell!"

"The explosions and fire even shattered the gentle slope below Castle Kalle… our warriors, stunned by this sudden event, believed it divine punishment and immediately broke and fled!"

"Seeing the situation, we realized further combat was impossible. To minimize losses, we issued the retreat order..."

"Explosions and fire? Shattered the slope below Castle Kalle? Tell me every detail—leave nothing out!" The Orc King finally stepped out of his rage.

He knew Moral's abilities well.

So he understood: Moral and his men had truly encountered something beyond their power.

"Your Majesty, this is how it happened..." Moral wasted no time, recounting every detail since their arrival at Castle Kalle.

The Orc King frowned as he listened.

"Are you certain you felt no magical fluctuation?"

"Your Majesty, I did sense faint magical fluctuations—but they were extremely weak, weaker than half of a mid-tier spell!"

Moral had also considered human magic.

But human mages always emitted obvious magical signatures when casting.

On that day, from afar, he hadn't sensed any fluctuation until the moment of explosion—only then did faint ripples appear.

Yet even those ripples were too weak to support such an explosion.

Hence his uncertainty—he'd instinctively suspected divine punishment.

"Perhaps it's a new human magic. These humans may be weak in body, but their minds are sharp!"

"As for divine punishment—if humans truly had divine protection, would they still be trapped inside Lindongcheng?"

Moral and the junior chieftains froze, then suddenly understood.

Of course—if humans had divine aid, would their army still be besieged in Lindongcheng?

"Your Majesty is wise!"

The Orc King's expression remained unchanged. "Now, let's discuss whether this was truly a human scheme. Moral, speak."

"Your Majesty, the human noble named Gervas himself admitted it was their plan!"

"Moreover, as we retreated, they sent Storm Hawks to pursue us—resulting in the death of one Blood Bat Knight who sacrificed himself to cover our withdrawal!"

"Therefore, I believe the human's claim is likely true—we were truly outmaneuvered!"

As he spoke, Moral's eyes burned with hatred.

Twice!

He had been outwitted by humans twice.

Both times, over a thousand tribal warriors had perished.

Thus, he now hated Vireld with every fiber of his being.

The Orc King pondered. "Logically, the human army is already trapped. They should be desperate to break out—not plotting to ambush a thousand of our orcs fifty miles away!"

"Also, according to scouts, there are five such checkpoints around Lindongcheng—three on the western side."

"If humans truly intended to ambush us, the forces in the other two checkpoints should have moved too. Did they stir when you returned?"

Moral hesitated. "Th-this, Your Majesty—the two other human checkpoints showed no movement at all. In fact, when they saw us, they cowered inside their wooden fortresses, too terrified to move!"

"Yet, Your Majesty—if not a human scheme, then the Gray Stone Bridge was already too coincidental. And how could the men of Castle Kalle have pre-positioned magic on the slope unless they knew in advance we'd attack? How else could they have prepared?"