Ambush and Counterattack

As the night fell, the guards of the arena locked all the iron gates, ensuring there were no oversights, and everyone except the guards left. In the dirtiest dungeon, the orcs sat silently, all eyes fixed on Barok, with a mixture of excitement and nervousness in their gaze.

Barok seemed oblivious to the impatient looks of his kin, quietly holding the scroll made of animal skin, fully immersed in observation. Several young ones couldn't contain their excitement and were about to speak up when they were fiercely silenced by the elders Ziyad and Cecil.

With a few low growls, the earth dog Rack wagged his tail as he trotted into the dungeon. Finally, Barok lifted his head upon seeing Rack happily wagging his tail, knowing that the guards outside had already left and wouldn't come to patrol this area again tonight. He finally smiled and stood up abruptly. "It's time, my brothers! Let's go and reclaim our freedom!" With a wave of his hand, a large pile of leather armor, swords, and shields fell to the ground from his storage ring. One thing the arena didn't lack was weapons. Although they would be strictly collected and locked away after training, no one paid attention to the weapons storehouse during normal training. He took advantage of the distraction to sneak in and use the storage ring to collect a large amount of elite weapons and armor. It was time to seize the horses, and tonight was the perfect opportunity.

He swiftly lifted the stone slab on the ground, revealing the entrance to the sewer. "Quick, everyone, down here immediately. The Gravel Wasteland is beckoning us." As the orcs picked up their armor and weapons and jumped into the sewer, Barok followed suit, pulling down the stone slab to cover the entrance. Led by the earth dog Rack, the group of orcs waded through the sewage, enduring the foul stench, and swiftly moved forward.

They had traversed this path at least three or four times, eliminating all possible accidents and dangers. Besides a few rats and ubiquitous blood-sucking leeches, they encountered almost no obstacles. After two hours had passed, they had walked out of the city wall and were outside the city.

Unaware that in the mage tower of the academy, the old orc Zakari was guarding the core control area of the alert magic array, observing the flashing magic points emitting alarms. He hadn't left here in the past few days, fearing being discovered by others. After all, Dean Bartes had more than one confidant, and several other mages had the right to enter the dean's mage tower... Fortunately, because of the recent disappearance of a faculty member, the mages were all focused on that matter, and thus this place remained undiscovered.

When the flashing red dots turned into green ones, indicating that the invaders had left the sewer, Zakari finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly acted to cover all traces...!

Barok, with his terrifying strength, forcibly bent the iron fence at the end of the sewage passage, climbed out of the dirty ditch, and the stench clung to all the orcs. But this couldn't overshadow the joy of gaining freedom. They breathed heavily, as if the air here was exceptionally fresh. Some orcs hugged each other, unable to contain their excitement.

"Don't rejoice too soon; we're not out of danger yet," Barok said solemnly. "A few miles to the west, there's a mansion with hundreds of Blue Steppe grassland horses. Follow me immediately; we're going to take them back and ride home! But before that, we need to engage in a battle. Only those who survive can truly claim freedom."

The orcs nodded fiercely, their faces fierce with determination. At this moment, their fighting spirit was raging, and no one could stop them from seeking freedom.

Orcs' eyes could see in the dark, like elves in the forest, something humans could never match. Barok had familiarized himself with this route last night, leading them forward as if it were daytime. Along the way, there was a small lake where they washed away the filth from their bodies, and now the mansion was within sight!

The mansion had a small castle, but the hundreds of horses were surely kept outside. Through the wooden fence, they could almost see the large group of strong creatures and hear their neighing. Barok restrained the orcs from making any noise, especially warning the earth dog Rack not to roam around... This guy was a level six magical beast; if he accidentally revealed his presence, the entire herd might be startled. Once the horses panicked and ran wild, their plan would be ruined.

Fortunately, Rack was giving face to his orc brothers, obediently sticking out his tongue and acting silly, without any out-of-line behavior.

As Barok worried that Rack might stay in dog form for too long and truly become foolish, he quietly approached the location of the horse herd. Among the herd, a particularly robust steed caught Barok's eye; it was the leader of the herd. With a slow chant, the shaman's totemic power radiated, effortlessly gaining the approval of the lead horse. Even when Barok beckoned all the orcs to climb over the wooden fence and enter, none of the horses made a sound. The guards patrolling the small castle remained oblivious.

The process went surprisingly smoothly, but Barok dared not be complacent. Quietly opening the stable door, each orc led two steeds, following him as they walked out. Once they opened the crude wooden gate of the mansion, they would be able to gallop freely, with no one able to stop them.

Suddenly, a bright light shone around the stable, and countless torches were lit. Hundreds of fully armed human soldiers appeared seemingly out of nowhere, emerging from their concealed hiding places, surrounding them completely. Barok's heart sank, realizing something was wrong! Had Celine leaked their plan?

"Ha ha, something indeed happened as expected. I never thought it would be you lot showing up here!" Sethston's obese figure emerged from behind the soldiers, accompanied by a familiar figure, guarded by a squad of martial warriors, staring intently at Barok. Among the orcs present, only this one was truly dangerous.

The herd of horses began to panic, but Barok calmed them down and herded them back into the stable. All the orcs gathered around him, their swords pointed at the hundreds of soldiers, showing no fear and no retreat.

"Sethston, I just want to know, how did you know I would come here?" Barok couldn't believe he had been betrayed by Celine. That woman had always looked at him with undisguised desire. As a shaman capable of seeing into souls, he couldn't believe he had been deceived by her.

"Oh, and I must thank your charming wife, Mrs. Celine. I never thought the respected lady would betray her husband for an orc." Sethston said without a hint of respect for the mistress. Just now, the Duke's confidant Burman rushed over and delivered the Duke's orders. He also let Sethston know something... Mrs. Celine was about to become a plaything for Alvin. The so-called Duchess would soon become a joke. How could he continue to show respect? And perhaps... if given the chance, he wouldn't mind enjoying her charms. After all, such a charming woman would make any man's heart race.

Yesterday, Celine's hasty actions to change horses had made the naturally suspicious Sethston very wary. Out of caution, he had strengthened the mansion's defenses, but not to this extent. It was tonight's orders from Burman that led him to gather all the forces of the mansion to go to the royal city together. He hadn't expected them to stay put, only to unexpectedly find the orcs, surrounding them completely. Although the young orc shaman was fierce, he was still just one person. Sethston had at least dozens of martial warriors by his side. He didn't believe they couldn't kill him.

"Orcs, although I don't know how you escaped, I can give you a chance. If you surrender, I can let you return to the arena to participate in next month's gladiatorial performance, perhaps with a chance of freedom. But if you resist, you will all die here today." Sethston said smugly.

Barok breathed a sigh of relief internally, knowing Celine hadn't betrayed him! He smiled and suddenly said, "You know, I used to think you were very clever, at least a cunning guy, but now it seems otherwise. Let me give you some advice..." He looked at the puzzled Sethston and continued, "If you manage to survive, remember never to waste your time talking useless words to your enemies, or let your enemies delay time. Otherwise, you won't even know how you died."

Almost subconsciously feeling something was wrong, but it was too late. Sethston had just stepped back when Rack, the earth dog who had slipped behind him unnoticed, suddenly transformed into a mighty wolf larger and more robust than a steed, accompanied by a low growl. The next moment, it became a terrifying six-level frost giant wolf, its massive jaws easily crushing the head of a martial warrior in front of it. Dozens of palm-sized ice rings appeared around the giant wolf, and the Frostblade Magic was instantly activated. After a scream, at least ten martial warriors guarding Sethston were caught off guard, even unable to release their qi before being cut into pieces, dying in a miserable manner.

"For freedom, kill all these humans!" Barok roared, drawing his battle axe. Sixteen ice rings, identical to those around the Frost Giant Wolf, appeared around him, and the rarely used Beast War Qi filled his body. Like a gust of wind, he rushed forward, cutting down the human warriors in front of him as if cutting vegetables. In just a few seconds, he reached Sethston, leaving a pile of corpses behind him!

The orc warriors returned one after another, easily slaughtering the panicking human soldiers in the dark night. The orcs could hardly believe the outcome; just moments ago, they had been in despair, and now everything had changed drastically, all because of Barok... and his earth dog... if that was truly a dog! — Twenty martial warriors were almost invincible to them. In less than half a quarter of an hour, they were all dead, and the orcs now worshipped Barok, not just feared him.

"Tidy up and take all the horses with us. The commotion here will soon alert the city, and we must leave quickly." Ordering the orcs to act, Barok's gaze fell on a crawling figure on the ground. Burman hadn't died, and he was planning to escape!

"Don't kill me, don't kill me, Bar... Barok, don't kill me. I'll tell you all the secrets, just spare my life. Really, you'll be interested in what I have to say." Burman retreated in terror, frightened by the approaching Barok.

"Speak, and if your so-called secrets aren't weighty enough, you'll still die." Barok teased Burman like teasing a dog, while the tongue of the Frost Giant Wolf Rack was drooping behind Burman, dripping with saliva, landing on his neck, terrifying him to the core.

"Tonight, tonight, Duke Delta is holding a ball, but he has another plan. He intends to drug Lady Celine and give her to Prince Alvin..." Burman's words were cut off as Barok grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him up, his face iron blue, roaring ferociously, "Explain everything clearly, don't leave out anything, or I'll make you wish you were dead...!"