The Ritual is Starting!

"What, a human female?"

When the Orc came to report, Benevolence was stunned. His head throbbed. He had just made peace with the Skalan Empire, and now he needed a human female as a sacrifice. Moreover, beautiful ones were requested?

Concepts of beauty were different amongst races, and it was difficult to measure the value of beauty. However, since it concerned the Ritual and the awakening of the Guardian, Benevolence asked, "How many beautiful human females do we need to sacrifice? We definitely can't get them from the Skalan Empire. We have to see if there's a way to find humans from other countries."

Before the Region Lord left, he had clearly said that he could not have any more conflicts with the Skalan Empire. Otherwise, Benevolence would be the one to suffer. He would not be able to suppress the Holy Land's anger. Moreover, the Region Lord valued the Skalan Empire. If he made a mistake, the Region Lord would not help him.

The Orc who came to report said honestly, "Lord Commander, how about we catch a few beautiful human women. I want one too."

"Silly." Benevolence scolded him with a smile. "Let's not create unnecessary conflict, but we still need to think of a way to get them as offerings. By the way, I remember that there are still some human bandits in the mountain outside the Skalan Forest. They might have women."

If they went to exterminate the bandits, they would not provoke the Skalan Empire. They could just capture the bandit women.

"But the sorcerer mentioned that beautiful women were needed."

"It's fine, as long as they are passable. Don't we also have women who love being beautiful? Let them be in charge of the makeup and dressing of the human women. There's nothing we can do about it." Benevolence was quite annoyed with the newcomer. After all, the beastmen who were preparing for the Ritual were all his own men. Those who could make him feel at ease and trusted naturally had a better relationship with him.

The Ritual was a top priority to the Skalan Tribe. It was as important as a war victory. No, it was even more important than that. A war could be lost, but there could not be any mistakes in the Ritual.

As long as the Guardian Beast woke up, everything would be fine. As long as they could persist until then.

"I wonder if the Divine Dragon of the Skalan Empire is awakening." Benevolence remembered that the last time they attacked the Skalan Empire, the Divine Dragon did not appear. There was no sign of it at all. Perhaps, the Divine Dragon of the Skalan Empire was in the same state as the Guardian Beast of the Skalan Forest.

"Lord Guardians, why on earth did all of you fall asleep?" He really did not understand. All of a sudden, the Guardian Beasts of the Forest fell into a deep sleep. It was said that the Guardian of the Orc Kingdom was also asleep.

Benevolence believed that the sudden appearance of a member of the Orc Kingdom at the Skalan tribe — no matter what that Orc called Keribud said — must be to gather information and see if the Guardian of the Skalan Tribe could wake up after this ritual.

It would be best if it could wake up. However, Benevolence was afraid that it would be the same as the previous years. There would be no change at all.

"I'm not the only one who's anxious." Benevolence head was as big as a cow's1.

He knew that all the powerful forces like the Skalan Empire were equally anxious. What was there to be anxious about? Of course, it was to guard against the Holy Land.

The Holy Land's intention was very obvious. They wanted to attack the entire world. They had the ability to do so. Now that the various forces now no longer had the protection of the Guardian Beasts, they must be thinking of ways to awaken them.

But none of them knew the way to wake the Guardians up. They could only bring everything they could think of to the Ritual as sacrifice.

No one wanted to be the blade of the Holy Land, and neither did the Skalan tribe. But the Guardian was still asleep, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. The only thing they could do now was pray that the Holy Land would give him more time.

Everyone hoped that their Guardian Protector would wake up soon. Only when it woke up would they be able to escape the control of the Holy Land.

It was only a matter of time before they submitted to the Holy Land. If they had the chance, they would definitely strike back.

The neighbors of the Skalan Forest, the Skalan Empire, probably thought the same. They might even currently be like Benevolence, praying for their Divine Dragon to awaken soon.

"Gather the soldiers of my tribe and prepare for the Ritual." Benevolence shouted and left the tent.

…

Benevolence had a swift and decisive character. He would do what he had set his mind to do. He would do anything that he could think of. He would definitely not procrastinate.

This was why he was able to sit in the position of commander and pull his clansmen together.

Back then, the beastmen were scattered, and every village lived their own lives. When they were bullied by beasts, they were anxious and afraid.

When he pulled them altogether, they no longer had that worry. Once Benevolence set out to do something, his orders and thoughts would align.

A group of clansmen immediately gathered and shouted.

"Prepare for the Ritual!"

"Prepare for the Ritual!"

"Prepare for the Ritual!"

…

About a thousand of the Skalan Tribe beastmen gathered. In the open space, Benevolence looked at them with satisfaction. The beastmen were tall and strong, and their military strength was not weak. In fact, once they stepped up, ordinary people would be so frightened that their legs would go soft. These were the men of the Skalan Tribe.

Mercy stood beside Benevolence and asked, "Why do you suddenly want to capture a human female? Aren't you afraid of conflict? It's not suitable for us to start a war with humans now."

If they were to capture their fellow humans now, their ambiguity would show instantly. By then, it would be difficult to even wrap things up.

Benevolence whispered, "Aren't there humans occupying the north? There must be women there. Let's level out these outlaws. That's a contribution to the human race. That area is where humans would pass by. How many people have gone there and gotten robbed, and raped? This is a good thing we are doing. How could the Skalan Empire blame us?"

Mercy thought for a moment and nodded. It was indeed like this. The northern region was full of human bandits. Every time someone passed by, they would hit the jackpot. Kidnapping a noble would bring home a huge sum of money. They would be so wealthy. The greed was insatiable.

Compared to them, the beastmen tribes ruled over the mountains.

But what kind of life did the beastmen lead?

How bitter were their lives?

This time, they could also use the excuse of gathering offerings for their Ritual to level out these bandits.

Mercy suddenly had an idea. "Commander, Sous is a human. He should know something about Bandit Mountain. Should we call him?"

Benevolence suddenly became serious. "Mercy, there is a saying among humans: those who are not of our race will have different hearts."

"However, they also hate the bandits in the mountains. It's a good thing to ask him, so as to prevent too many of our men from dying." Mercy's view of Sous had changed a little. He also understood the commander's considerations, but if they only brought Sous alone, what trouble could he stir?

After pondering for a moment, Benevolence nodded. "Alright, go and ask him."

…

At this moment, Sous was standing at one side. He watched as the Orcs gathered together like crazy. He did not understand why, but all of them had an imposing manner.

Those who did not know better would have thought that they were going into a great war. The aura that they emitted was simply unprecedented.

How terrifying!

Sous sighed. He could probably tell that these people were going to level out the bandits in the mountain. He knew about Bandit Mountain, for it was notorious. Many high-ranking officials and nobles were furious. They had requested the Skalan Empire to send troops to fight the bandits many times, but there had been no movement.