Chapter Ten

Valcres, the Lord of Lion City, was in a good mood lately. A few days ago, he received several beastmen from the Merchants Guild. And to his utter delight, half of them were from the Wolf Tribe. His favorite delicacy. The meat he wanted the most. 

Valcres' steps were light as he strolled through his castle's dungeon. Accompanied by his guards, he looked through the metallic cages one by one, his eyes glimmering with delight as it feasted on the beastmen inside. 

"How about this one, Lord?" His Head Chef, pointed at a nearby cage. 

The guards immediately pointed the torch at it. The one inside shivered uncontrollably as an inaudible shriek escaped her lips. 

"A young woman from the Wolf Tribe. The Merchants told us she's a virgin. They've also made sure to take good care of her body." The Chef's voice was full of enthusiasm as he introduced the beastman. "As you can see, she hardly has any scratch on her. A rare find, indeed."

Valcres peeked through the iron bars. His figure that almost spanned two meters created a looming shadow. The beastman slowly moved back, until her back hit the wall. 

"How about her, Lord?" the Chef reiterated. 

An ominous silence befell them. Valcres stared at the woman. 

"Prepare the meal. I want it served in my room in an hour."

The Chef bowed his head. "As you wish."

On cue, the guards opened the cage, grabbed the shackled wolf beastman, and gagged her mouth. She struggled with all her might but the guards were stronger. With tears flowing down her eyes and unable to utter a single word through the gag, she silently cursed at the grinning Lord. 

"Ah, like usual." Valcres tapped his head with a finger. "Leave the head behind. I'll add it to my collection later."

After Valcres left the dungeon, a muffled cry echoed. The stench of blood permeated the air. 

***

After choosing his meal for the day, Valcres went back to his office. It was a large room at the fourth floor of his castle, with several windows overlooking a portion of the city. 

On the wall, a large portrait of a handsome young man with auburn hair hanged. He was wearing a full plate armor, with a long sword on his waist. 

"It's been years, huh?" Valcres reminisced. 

The young man was him, several years before he became the Lord of this City. Back then, he was merely the fifth son in a family of knights. Using sheer talent and cunning abilities, he killed his father and brothers, climbed the ladder, and became the Head of the Family. He then used his position to create a rebellion, on the pretext that the current City Lord was a tyrant and a psychopath. 

Becoming the Lord was not an easy task. The path he took was filled with so much blood. Without hesitation, he used the bodies of his enemies to climb to the top. 

As he stared at the young man in the picture, he realized how much things have changed. His lean body was now gone. In their stead were flabby fat and oily skin. His auburn hair was gone, showing a shiny bald head. He looked like a pig when compared to his previous self. He knew it, but it did not matter any longer. 

He had attained what he was longing for. 

His butler entered the room. "Sir, the feast has been prepared below."

Valcres salivated. "Just in time." He put down the documents he was holding and stood up.

"Also, you have a visitor," the butler slowly added. 

"Visitor?" he frowned. As the Lord of the City, it was near impossible to meet him directly without prior arrangements. From the way the butler said it, it seemed that the visitor was already inside his castle. 

Valcres immediately surmised. In the City, only two people could rival his authority. One was Alexander, the Mercenary Guild Master, and the other was Big Mona, the Head of the Merchants Guild. 

"Alexander's not here," said Valcres. "Kain or Big Mona?"

"It's the Head of the Merchant Guild, My Lord."

Valcres sighed. Although he owed the Merchant Guild a favor for always providing him with beastmen slaves, he did not want to meet that particular person. That man was shrewd. A sly fox. Someone probably even more cunning than him. 

After a long pause, Valcres decided. "To the Dining Hall."

"Understood."

***

[Vanguard Army – United Grakas Alliance]

After receiving an emergency message from an animal courier, the Vanguard stopped their advance. Rumors of how the scouts were discovered during their reconnaissance spread through their ranks. 

After camping out in the wilderness, the group they were waiting for finally arrived. 

Stone and his men looked famished, their reptilian faces sunken. Behind them, several unmounted burrcats followed. When the Scouts first set off for their reconnaissance mission, they numbered more than a dozen. Now, only four of them remained. 

Stone jumped down the burrcat and briskly walked towards the Commander's tent. The beastmen guarding the entrance looked at each other for a moment before opening the entrance's flap. 

Upon entering the tent, Stone was greeted with several pairs of scrutinizing eyes. There were five men in the room, sitting around a round table. On top of the table was a map. 

"Captain Stone." The man sitting at the center glared at him, his four muscular arms folded. "You're late."

"Commander Azura!" Stone quickly bowed his head. "I'm sorry! We had to stop for half a day to help the burrcats recuperate. It seems that a week of nonstop travel has ta—"

"—Enough." Another beastman with four arms interjected. "I don't need to hear your excuses. You adamantly told us in your letter to stop our advance and wait for reinforcements from the Main Army. Surely, you have a good reason for this?"

The beastman that spoke was the right-hand of Commander Azura and at the same time the Strategist of the Vanguard Army. He was the weakest beastman in this room right now, but due to his great intellect, he was highly regarded even within the Main Army. Some say that the real commander of the Vanguard was Lauro, the strategist, rather than Azura. After all, whatever Lauro says, Azura follows. 

The reason why the Vanguard accepted his pleas to stop the advance of the army was probably due to this beastman. At the very least, Lauro decided to hear him out. 

Since time was of essence, he merely wrote briefly about his encounter in Blackstone Town. These high-ranking officials have not yet heard of the full story. 

Stone breathed in. He started recounting the story even to the most minute details. 

After he was finished, the entire room was silent. 

Eventually, Lauro broke the ice. "Someone easily saw through the magic of the Lizardmen Tribe?"

Had the story not come from Captain Stone himself, they would have not easily believed it. After all, even Commander Azura himself would have a hard time detecting the presence of Captain Stone if he used his camouflage magic. 

According to Captain Stone, the human who cornered him like a rat was merely the commander of a private army of a small town. Why was such a formidable human living in such a remote place? According to Fior, Blackstone Town was a desolated place where even merchants seldom come by. It did not make sense that such a powerful human would choose to live in that town. 

"Stone." Azura's eyes glimmered. "Who do you think is stronger? Me or that human?"

Stone reflexively swallowed the lump in his throat. Cold sweat started forming on his forehead. This was bad. He could clearly see the desire for carnage within the eyes of Commander Azura. This beastman loved fighting strong opponents, and this was actually the reason why he chose to become the Commander of the Vanguard. Azura loved the sensation of charging head-on to war, even if the odds were greatly against their favor. If not for Lauro shackling him, the Vanguard Army would have been wiped out several years ago due to Azura's uncontrollable lust for the battlefield. 

How should he answer? He had seen Azura fight countless times before, but he was still unsure whether he was stronger than that human monster. 

"Answer me." Azura suppressed his growl. His humanoid body – four arms, fur-filled chest and tail – twitched in anticipation. 

Time seemed to freeze. Stone blurted out an answer, "It's probably the human, C-Commander."

He saw Lauro's eyes widen. Stone realized that he gave out the wrong answer. There was no stopping Azura after this. 

"Gahahahaha!" Azura rose from his seat, his laughter reverberating through the entire encampment. "Is that so?" Bloodlust permeated the air as his eyes glimmered in desire for carnage. "He's strong, huh? Stronger than me?"

Azura grabbed his weapon leaning on the table – an axe large enough to cleave a horse in half. "Lauro, gather the soldiers. We are moving out. We are to resume our march."

Lauro looked at Stone with disdain for giving the wrong answer, before replying to Azura. "But Commander Azura! We should at least ask for reinforcement from the Main Army! You've heard Captain Stone's story! That town has around a hundred soldiers and that human monster! Our goal is to capture the Eastern Region for General Urkawi! Capturing that town is just the first step! We should do our best to minimize our casualties!"

Azura scratched his ears. "Enough. This is an order from me, your Commander. We are moving out."

Lauro sighed. This was not the first time Azura ignored his advice. This was not the first time they charged head-on despite knowing the risks and the strength of their enemies. 

Lauro grunted. "As you command."

With heavy steps, Lauro went out of the tent and started gathering the soldiers. 

Their destination was Blackstone Town.