The Calamity of Tribal Annihilation

As the new vein of ore was gradually mined, almost all the orc tribes gathered around the mine, with nearly a thousand people setting up tents near the mine and huddling together. They were not careless; after all, the wilderness was fraught with danger. Norman, the shaman, not only erected totem poles here but also arranged for the strongest orcs to patrol and stand guard every night.

During Norman's teachings of shamanism to Ba'alor, they inevitably neglected their vigilance. Outside the settlement, a group of orcs silently fell to the ground with several faint sounds and dim flashes of cold light. Their necks were slit with sharp swords. The faint light of the totem poles suddenly flickered, but the shaman did not notice. And the exhausted orcs would not notice either. A large number of humans had surrounded the area.

The process went surprisingly smoothly. Dozens of patrolling orcs were ruthlessly silenced, blocking all the escape routes for the orcs. These were all slaves that could be sold, so it was best not to waste energy and capture them all alive. Huda and Sava personally led their strongest men towards the central largest orc tent. They intended to kill the orc shaman first. Once the orcs lost their spiritual support, most of their resistance would dissipate.

If the mercenaries really managed to surround the shaman's tent, Norman and Ba'alor would have no chance of survival. Perhaps the ancestral spirits intervened. In the most critical moment, a piercing roar came from the distance: "Norman, you're surrounded by mercenaries! Get up and run!"

The roar finally alerted everyone. The sleeping orcs jumped up, grabbing iron picks, spears, and clubs as weapons, and rushed out of their tents, disregarding their nakedness. Huda and Sava cursed angrily, giving the order ruthlessly: "Kill all the resisting orcs! Don't let a single one escape!" The mercenaries emitted ferocious roars and laughter, charging at the bewildered orcs, mercilessly hacking with their swords and axes, and dozens of orcs fell in a pool of blood in an instant.

Huda and Sava led a few battle qi warriors to charge towards the central shaman's tent. With five swords slashing down, accompanied by waves of battle qi, the tent was torn to shreds, but there was nothing inside! Misa, behind Huda, with sharp eyes, saw two figures escaping quickly in the distance and shouted, "There, they're escaping!" Everyone immediately activated their battle qi, doubling their speed, and chased after them like arrows. In an instant, they caught up, and the swords wielded with battle qi struck the two fleeing orcs. With two muffled groans, the orc heads were separated from their bodies, dying a gruesome death.

Several people were stunned. Why were the orc shamans so weak? Turning around with their swords, they realized they had killed two ordinary middle-aged orcs. Huda recognized Norman the shaman and immediately shouted, "It's not the orc shaman. We've been fooled by that old bastard Norman. Quick, let's go back!"

As his words fell, a circle of earthy light burst out from the orc settlement, accompanied by several screams. Several human mercenaries were impaled and killed by earth spikes suddenly bursting from the ground. The old shaman Norman stood under the totem pole, holding a wooden staff, angrily waving it. The mercenaries struck by it were immediately sent flying, their tendons broken and bones shattered!

"Foolish old bastard, kill him!" The brutal deaths of his subordinates enraged Sava, who led his two battle qi warriors to charge forward. Huda signaled to Misa with his eyes and subtly slowed down their pace. He somewhat understood the power of orc shamans. If they forced the shaman to fight desperately, he could still take a few people down with him...

Approaching the direction of the sound they heard, behind them were the pitiful cries of their tribe being ruthlessly slaughtered—children, women, elderly, and the weak—cruel humans spared no one. It's over. Our tribe is finished! Norman wept bitterly, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably.

A figure darted out of the darkness, grabbing Norman and pushing him to the ground. In the flickering firelight, the wrinkled face of an old man was revealed. "Norman, have you lost your mind? You didn't inform the lord about the newly discovered ore vein at the first opportunity. Instead, you decided to secretly mine it yourselves. Don't you know that this is not good for the orcs? It's the root cause of disaster! I'm afraid I'm too late. Everything cannot be undone now. Huda of Black Crow Town has colluded with the Scorpion Mercenary Group. They intend to wipe out your tribe, and no one can stop them. Even if the lord baron knows about this now, it's too late. Greed, greed. Have you lived to such a despicable level?" The old man scolded angrily.

"Maximo, I just wanted my tribe to live a little better. At least I wanted more of them to survive this winter. It's too late to say anything now. It's all happened. My tribe is finished, and these brutal mercenaries will show no mercy. Maximo, my only human friend, please help me one last time, just like you helped me escape from the arena years ago."

Old man Maximo realized what Norman wanted to do. He knew this stubborn old orc too well. He sighed and looked at the unconscious orc boy nearby. "Old friend Norman, no need to say more. I'll take care of this child for you. Before he has the power to seek revenge, I won't let him face any danger, I swear in the name of my ancestors."

Norman woke up Ba'alor and made him see the face of the old man. He said to the still confused Ba'alor, "Ba'alor, this is Maximo, my most trusted friend. Remember his face. He will take care of you in the future! Listen, don't seek revenge until you're absolutely certain!"

Upon hearing the distant, piercing screams, Ba'alor, who had just grasped the situation, turned pale. Before he could speak, the old shaman knocked him unconscious again with a punch and gently let Maximo hold him.

"Maximo..." Norman hugged the old man tightly. "My life has been full of hardships, but meeting you, a friend from a different race, is my greatest fortune. Farewell. Please take care of this child for me." He turned and left...

"Human, your brutality will surely bring disaster upon you. The spirits of nature will punish you, and you will meet a terrible end!" Norman roared, his fur standing on end on his face and body. He forcefully thrust his wooden staff into the hard ground, loudly chanting ancient shamanic spells. The animal-skin robe on his body rustled as if blown by the wind. Rings of earthy light emanated from the totem pole behind him, becoming brighter and doubling in range!

"No, the old beast is fighting desperately. Retreat!" Huda whispered to Misa behind Sava, and the two of them quietly stopped in their tracks. A shaman fighting to the death could unleash terrifying power, and Sava was in big trouble. This was something Huda was delighted to see!

Sava also noticed something amiss. How could an ordinary orc shaman unleash such powerful force, akin to that of an intermediate battle qi warrior? As the earthy light grew brighter and the ground seemed to tremble, his unease grew stronger. He shouted, "Back...!"

Unfortunately, it was too late. Norman's shamanic spell, fueled by his burning soul, had already been completed. Behind him, a giant halo of a sand python seemed to appear, stretching out its over twenty-meter-long body and pouncing on the nearest Kasim and another battle qi warrior.

Sava's two subordinates blocked the violent impact, but they did not expect the most lethal attack to come from underground. Dozens of sharp earth spikes suddenly burst out, piercing their bodies. Their battle qi was all used to resist the sand python formed by earth elements, leaving them unable to react to the underground attack. Before they could even scream in agony, Kasim and the other person were already pierced and torn apart.

"Roar, damned orcs, I'll kill every last one of you!" The brutal deaths of his subordinates drove Sava mad. He fiercely swung his long sword towards Norman, who was already devoid of any strength, killing the old shaman with a smile on his face that seemed both relieved and pained.

With his two most powerful subordinates dead, Sava felt that even if he earned a lot of gold this time, it was a heavy loss for him. Still filled with resentment, he crazily slaughtered the terrified fleeing orcs! If it weren't for Huda's concern about the loss of slaves, he wouldn't have been stopped, and few orcs would have survived...

As the sky gradually brightened, the slaughter had ended. No one could escape, even those orcs who had run far were ruthlessly killed by humans. Outside the mine, bodies lay everywhere. Old people, children, women, stared with unblinking eyes in death.

The remaining living orcs were forced together. Nearly a thousand orcs had been reduced to less than five hundred, and many others had died. In contrast, only a few dozen human mercenaries had died.

"Quick, gather them up. Make these orc scum carry all the ore they can." Huda ordered, "Someone from Black Crow Town will inform Baron Monro. We must leave as soon as possible before the lord leads his soldiers here. We can't go back to Black Crow Town. Head east and leave the wilderness through the eastern mountain pass."

To some extent, they were plundering the wealth in Baron Monro's territory. Although the baron was almost insignificant in noble circles, for the mercenaries, he was still a powerful figure. Their third-rate mercenaries couldn't afford to provoke him and needed to flee as soon as possible!

Regardless of whether the orcs were injured or not, they were forced to carry the heavy ore. All the ore that had been mined had to be taken away, while the unmined ore could only be sighed at. Thinking that if it weren't for Sava's sudden appearance, he could have hidden the mine's secret completely and obtained much more wealth, Huda was filled with anger.

Seeing Sava's two trusted aides dead, he couldn't help but feel pleased, but deliberately showed a regretful expression. On the way back, Huda said to Sava, "Captain Sava, we've made quite a harvest this time. Look, Misa and I put in a lot of effort. Shouldn't we reconsider the distribution ratio? How about 60-40 in my favor?"