Chapter 410 - 158: A Misty Storm

Chapter 410: Chapter 158: A Misty Storm

North of the pass, by the Ili River.

A city stands at the confluence of the Ili River and the Darling River.

Thirty years ago, the city was called Julian. Now, it is the territory of the Beastman Empire’s Centaurs.

As one of the few regions with arable land in the Beastman Empire, Julian was highly coveted throughout the entire Empire.

The entire River Valley Region was divided in two. The south was ruled by the Centaur Royal Family, while the north was the territory of the Mountain Rock Grizzly Bear Race.

News of the human counterattack had long since spread throughout the Empire via various channels.

By this time, countless goblins and kobolds had gathered outside Centaur City, along with many other strange and lesser races. Kobolds made up the vast majority.

Now that winter had passed, the goblins preferred to live out in the open, while the kobolds were fond of congregating in caves.

This naturally gave the kobolds a much higher survival rate than the goblins and other races. Of course, it also helped that the larger clans favored kobolds, offering them aid when necessary.

Outside the city, Chief Liete of the Centaurs waited anxiously.

"Father, I’ve heard the Mountain Rock Grizzly Bear Race broke away from the Beastmen’s control long ago.

Can we really expect them to help us fend off the humans now?"

The speaker was Hall, Liete’s son and the Young Master of the tribe.

Liete was one of the princes of the Centaur Tribe.

Empires don’t collapse in a day, and the Beastman Grassland had been teetering on the brink for a long time.

Races like the Mountain Rock Grizzly Bear Race, located on the fringes of the Empire, hadn’t traveled to Madar Mountain to pay tribute in a long time.

Chief Liete frowned; he couldn’t be sure about that either.

The Mountain Rock Grizzly Bears hadn’t responded to the message he sent.

"I heard that the Mountain Rock Grizzly Bears have been plagued by a Beast King from the Demon Beast Mountain Range. I used that to entice them. They should come.

Besides, I recall that hundreds of years ago, when the humans had the upper hand, the bears suffered considerable persecution at their hands..."

Chief Liete grew less confident as he spoke. A Mountain Rock Grizzly Bear’s lifespan was only sixty or seventy years.

Hundreds of years ago... that would be their ancestors’ ancestors.

But it couldn’t be helped. This was the only way Chief Liete could reassure himself.

He desperately needed reinforcements from the Mountain Rock Grizzly Bear Race right now.

Chief Liete had already learned who his opponent would be—the very same Robson who had previously crushed Prince Odoruo!

After Prince Odoruo had fled back, he had made a point of telling Chief Liete about the battle.

The Prince’s assessment was just three words: "Elite and unstoppable!"

Chief Liete knew Prince Odoruo’s capabilities well. After all, the Castros were part of the Centaur Royal Family.

The Prince had set out with an army of one hundred thousand, yet fewer than a hundred had made it back.

He, Liete, had only managed to scrape together a motley army of forty thousand. Even if he rallied every last centaur, from the youngest to the oldest, he would only have a little over sixty thousand.

The Gray Rock Bear Race had made a name for themselves with their brute strength. They were some of the best heavy infantry in the entire Empire. With their help, the tide of battle would surely turn, even if just a little.

"Chieftain! Chieftain!"

"An army is approaching from the front!"

Suddenly, a group of riders came galloping from the distance.

Chief Liete was overjoyed.

"I knew it! The Mountain Rock Bear Race would honor our old ties!"

Hearing this, Hall let out a great sigh of relief.

With the help of the Mountain Rock Bear Race, their chances of a successful defense had greatly increased.

’An army of tens of thousands... Even if the numbers are inflated, it would still take the humans a few days to slaughter that many pigs, right?’

A tremor ran through the ground. Suddenly, Liete frowned.

"Father, what’s wrong?"

Seeing Liete’s expression, Hall knew his father must have noticed something, or he wouldn’t look like that.

His own power was less than Liete’s, so he naturally couldn’t perceive what was happening in the distance.

"Why is there a... banner of the Royal Court up ahead?" Liete asked, frowning.

"The Royal Court?!" Hall was stunned.

"Could it be that the Royal Court sent reinforcements?!" Hall exclaimed.

But Liete shook his head.

"No, it’s just a single banner. Beneath it are still those Bear Race folk," Liete said.

"Huh?"

"No matter. Let’s go take a look."

...

"Uncle! Chief Moer!"

"Finally, you’ve arrived!"

Liete led his tribesmen forward to welcome the arriving reinforcements.

Ahead was none other than Moer, Chieftain of the Mountain Rock Bear Race, and Liete’s own uncle, Horn, the Royal Court’s sole Legendary-ranked Extraordinary.

"Uncle, you’re here... did the King send you to help us?" Liete asked in confusion.

If the Royal Court had really sent Horn to help him, Liete felt that while victory in this defensive battle wouldn’t be guaranteed, his hopes would be significantly boosted.

To Liete’s disappointment, Horn just shook his head.

"The Royal Court sent me to warn you about the recent threats from within the Empire."

As Horn spoke, he produced a letter from his robes, handed it to Liete, and then gestured to Moer at his side.

"This is Chief Moer of the Mountain Rock Bear Race. I specifically invited him to help you," Horn said.

"Hmph. All these years and the Beastmen still haven’t made any progress," Moer couldn’t help but sneer.

The primary reason the Mountain Rock Bear Race had withdrawn from the Beastman Empire was their inability to tolerate the constant infighting among its various factions.

However, Liete was in no mood to discuss this with Moer at the moment.

"What do you mean, Uncle? What do you mean by ’be careful of the Gray Dwarves’?" Liete asked with a frown.

After all, both the Gray Dwarves and the Centaurs were located in the eastern part of the Empire. The Gray Dwarves’ seat of power was significantly closer to Liete’s lands.

Horn frowned, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke slowly.

"According to intelligence from the front, the Grey Dwarf King withdrew his army without authorization after the human reinforcements arrived.

His Majesty was furious and wanted to punish him for his crime, but who would have thought the man would flee all the way back to the Royal Capital.

His Majesty was so angered by this that his old wounds flared up..."

"Rumor has it that morale at the front has collapsed. What’s worse, the Grey Dwarf King has sent messages to many other Beastman Tribes, urging them to lay down their arms and return home," Horn said.

Liete’s face fell upon hearing this.

"What is happening? Have the Gray Dwarves gone mad?! The great enemy is upon us! This..."

The various races within the Empire had long been divided into a Pro-Emperor Faction and an anti-emperor faction. The Centaur Clan was, through and through, part of the Pro-Emperor Faction.

From Liete’s perspective, the entire Empire was facing the iron fist of the Human World. They might not be able to resist even if they all worked together, yet the Grey Dwarf King was choosing this very moment to create a schism.

’Even if everyone has their conflicts, now is the time to put aside our differences and work together.’

At this thought, the joy Liete had felt at receiving aid was instantly replaced by a deep gloom.

"Sigh... The Gray Dwarves claim the First Prince deliberately set up their Crown Prince. And it’s true that their Crown Prince is dead.

Who knows?

They probably figure that even if the Human Alliance Army charges onto the Beastman Grassland, the first ones to suffer will be the Emperor Race and the Emperor’s followers... Sigh. Who can say?"

"In any case, we should also prepare for the worst. The Emperor... he’s only a Legendary First Tier... and he’s well into his seventies, with all those wounds."

"What on earth is happening?" Liete asked in bewildered alarm. "Before, there were only minor issues. How does it feel like the Empire is now teetering on the brink of collapse?"

"Sigh... who knows?" Horn repeated.

...

After seeing Horn off, Liete was completely distracted until Moer’s voice broke him out of his reverie.

"You ask me to bring my men here as reinforcements, but you don’t even give us a single weapon. Isn’t that a bit much?" Chief Moer demanded angrily.

As he spoke, the entire ground seemed to shake.

This was a unique talent of the Mountain Rock Bear Race: the ability to stir the earth elements within the ground. It was somewhat similar to Beast Blood Boiling or a Gnoll’s howl.

Except the talent of the Mountain Rock Bear Race was more distinctive.

Liete finally snapped out of his daze and looked at the assembled Mountain Rock Bear Race, unable to stop a frown.

’Is this really the once-famous Mountain Rock Bear Race? Not one of them even has a decent set of clothes.’

’If Horn hadn’t introduced them, I’d have thought they were a bunch of wildmen who’d come here to beg for food.’

"Hmph! You look down on us? Give us proper weapons and armor, and my thousand clansmen will prove to you that the reputation of the Mountain Rock Bear Race wasn’t built on nothing!"

Chief Moer seemed to read Liete’s mind and spoke with resentment.

"Hall, take Chief Moer and the warriors of the Bear Race and see that they are well taken care of," Liete ordered.

’No matter what, they are here to help, after all.’

’Since that’s the case, I should treat them well.’

As soon as Liete finished speaking, the previously boisterous Chief Moer fell silent.

His tribe had recently been plagued by demon beasts and hadn’t had a proper meal in a long time.

If not for this, he would never have agreed to Horn’s request and submitted to another’s authority.

After settling the matter with the Mountain Rock Bear Race, Chief Liete gazed westward, inwardly debating whether he should dispatch troops to keep an eye on the Gray Dwarves.

He didn’t entertain the thought for long before abandoning it.

’My resources are limited. I can’t even deal with the human army right in front of me.’