Chapter 290: Blizzard Dominion

"As far as I remember from the Imperial Archives, my great-great-great-grandfather and my grandfather fought against what they called the Ashen Orc Tribe, the Ashfang Gnoll Tribe, and the Cinder Ogres.

"Not only were they stronger than any similar creatures we had encountered, but their intelligence was also monstrously high, and they were capable of waging war against us.

"The main reason they overpowered us was that my great-great-great-grandfather possessed a terrifying army—ten S-rankers, one hundred A-rankers, and tens of thousands of B-rankers.

"He and my grandfather really went all out.

"But, of course, they still failed."

He shrugged. "Their failure is something we have to worry about.

"Although your forces are significantly smaller than those of my great-great-great-grandfather and grandfather, given your capabilities, the presence of an S-ranker, and your experience fighting monsters, you should be able to create a breakthrough."

Enzo frowned. He assessed the strength of his Guild members.

Aside from having a single S-ranker, there were fortunately four A-rankers in total, all of them NPCs except for him, a player.

Meanwhile, his friends had all reached B-rank and had grown considerably stronger than any other players.

His Guild possessed only five hundred B-rankers and ten thousand C-rankers.

Another twenty thousand were D-rankers.

"I suggest you give up the thought of bringing C-rankers and below with you when confronting them," said the Former Emperor.

"Like your knight said, monsters comparable to B-rank and above only exist there."

Enzo was stunned.

"How many monsters do we have to fight out there?"

The Former Emperor fell into deep thought. "At least ten thousand."

"Ten thousand?!" Enzo could not restrain himself from shouting.

They did not even possess a thousand B-rankers.

The Former Emperor shrugged.

Max suddenly chimed in, "It’s fine. The main reason the Former Emperor forbade you from including C-rankers and below is that they lack the equipment to fight against these monsters.

"Basically, these monsters were born with mana closer to that of demons, making them a type of dark entity.

"So, our weapons will definitely work against them."

The Former Emperor shook his head. "It’s better to preserve the ballistae and your Demon Hunters for the conquest later.

"We can’t afford to fight while half-exhausted."

The Former Emperor’s words were reasonable.

Enzo clenched his fists tightly and said, "We will try our best to pave a path for you and your Guild, Brother."

Max’s expression grew solemn.

The Former Emperor was surprised to see Max so concerned.

I guess he truly loves his brother.

The Former Emperor patted Max and said, "Don’t worry. We will intervene if we have to.

"Have faith in your brother."

...

Max returned to the backline, spreading the news to his high-ranking officials, such as Danny, Lancelot, Seraphina, and the others.

Danny, Lancelot, and Seraphina were the three who had successfully completed their class advancements in time.

Having trained in isolation under their respective mentors—Danny’s mentor was the Former Emperor himself, while Lancelot’s mentor was his father, and Seraphina’s was her foster father—they had managed to reach A-rank.

However, their foundations were far from solid, and they hoped to strengthen them through the upcoming war.

The Former Emperor, on the other hand, provided knowledge and tactics to Enzo and his Monster Hunters.

B-rank Scouts from the Monster Hunters Guild were sent out from time to time to gain a thorough understanding of the terrain and the monsters they were about to face.

It took exactly five hours of preparation, allowing the Demon Hunters and some of the Monster Hunters to get plenty of rest.

Eventually, the Former Emperor, Enzo, and the other high-ranking members of the Monster Hunters Guild concluded their discussion.

Enzo turned toward the borderline and ordered his horse to move forward.

The Monster Hunters followed behind him, while the Former Emperor also began following them.

Despite having fewer than a thousand members and facing monsters ten times their number, the Former Emperor was confident that he could command them to defeat the monsters.

Eventually, all the Monster Hunters passed through the borderline and were frightened almost immediately by the sudden change in the world.

They immediately panicked and searched for an enemy when a domineering voice echoed in their heads.

"Be quiet and observe your Guildmaster!"

They were stunned, but for some reason, the voice carried an extraordinary degree of authority, compelling them to obey his command and search for their Guildmaster.

To their utter surprise, their Guildmaster was gripping the reins of his horse, which was galloping forward as fast as it could toward the nearest Orc.

The Ashen Orc was almost twice the size of the Orc monsters they were familiar with.

Its appearance was even more terrifying, with dark grayish skin and faint red-orange lines of Abyssal Mana running across its body.

There were five Ashen Orcs, each at B-rank, with their leader at the peak of B-rank.

The Ashen Orcs were also clad in armor comparable to Epic-rank armor.

They carried a brutal yet practical mix of crude melee weapons.

At a glance, despite knowing that their Guildmaster was already at A-rank, they could not help but feel worried.

It was worth noting that every single one of them was at B-rank, yet they believed it would take five of them to defeat a single early-stage B-rank Ashen Orc.

Yet, as an early-stage A-ranker, their Guildmaster was seeking to fight them.

Although victory seemed assured, it might cost him dearly.

As Enzo tightly gripped the reins of his horse, he suddenly swung his right hand into the air, and a Legendary Cocytus Staff materialized.

At the same time, he cast a spell.

Frozen Kingdom.

A huge magic circle emerged from his staff, and in less than a second, the entire barren land was covered in frost.

It continued to spread until it encompassed the entire patrol group of Ashen Orcs, who were startled by the sudden change in their surroundings.

When they simultaneously turned toward the source of the mana that had weakened them considerably, a huge magic circle appeared above them.

Enzo was pointing his Legendary Cocytus Staff at them.

Blizzard Dominion.

He wasted no time casting two of his A-rank spells at all...