Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Calming his and wildly beating heart, he scrunched his brows before thinking over the actions of the orc general. From the pieces and bits of information that he had collected, he was able to know that objective of the high orcs or rather the orc general lay on the northern region of the forest.

However, what made him all the more confused was why did they need such a big army of orcs each of whose levels were more than level 300 and two orc commanders above level 380.

What and who was the enemy that the orc general was trying to subjugate with this much number? Simon pondered. An army of this size and strength was enough to easily trample multiple human cities and still have the manpower.

Even with the threat of the Orc general hanging over his head, he decided to silently follow the group. His inquisitive mind will never be content until unless he solves the mystery behind the high orcs mobilising so much power. It was to the point where he had totally forgotten his original goal of hunting the monsters for experience.

The orc army marched from the western region towards the northern part of the forest. Compared to the western region, the northern part of the forest was quite small and wouldn't even account for five per cent of the entire western region. That was how humongus the western region of the ghastly winding forest was.

An army of that size was bound to gather the attention of the inhabitants of the forest but their power and coordination that was unlike any other high orcs, was able to mow down anything and everything that came in their way.

No matter if it was the colony of the Anemodactyl, the pack of Stormwolves or the Killer Worker Bees, everything made way in front of their power. The same goes for the Adventurers that came delving inside the forest looking for the dungeon.

Those unfortunate and ill-informed ones who were brave enough to hunt monsters in the border areas of the northern region of the forest, attracted by the noise the orc army made while marching approached them carelessly and were killed instantly.

No matter how good those adventurers or their team were, in front of an army of hundreds of orcs above level 300, they were nothing but ants that came out of its hill. It couldn't even be called a stomp as it was an instant wipeout.

"Why are there so many humans loitering around in the forest?" Berigard asked looking at the corpse of the adventurers. Whenever he looked at the corpse, his eyes would burn with intense emotions which occasionally disturbed his calm.

The two orc commanders looked at each other before shaking their heads. Their territory was on the western side of the forest which was quite far from the North. Even if they wanted to, there was no way they would be able to gain any information on this part of the forest.

Be as it may, even they found it unusual for this many humans on the northern part of the forest. It wasn't surprising to find humans on the eastern side of the forest as it was inhabited by the weakest monsters and the ones among them who call themselves adventurers dwell inside to hunt some of them.

But even if they did, they usually wouldn't delve deeper. It wasn't like the adventurers didn't want to but they were afraid of the powerful existences that resided deeper within the forest.

Seeing that Bellock and Belmarch didn't have an answer, Berigard dropped his question before moving on.

"Don't let your gaud down and maintain your formation. We will soon enter its territory. Once it detects our presence, it will come charging at us" He said as he looked at the army behind him.

The two commanders raised their weapons high to rally theirs groups and increase morale.

Nodding his head, Berigard ordered his two commanders "Bellock, Belmarch you two will take the lead. Out of the lot, only the two of you are capable enough to endure the attacks from Lightning Draconic Serpent".

Next, he levitated up above the ground and used his [Tremor Magic] to create dozens of Golems made out of condense Earth. Each of these golems were more than ten meters in height and was releasing a sturdy aura.

Not only that, there were even some fine granules mixed with the earth to make them more powerful. SWISH'¦ with the point of his staff, the eyes of the dozens of golems shined before they started charging forward mowing down any trees or foliage in their path.

ROOAAR'¦ the orc army followed behind as to not get outshined. Far in the distance in one of the branches of a huge tree, Simon had an agitated look as he saw the army of orcs marching forward.

It was at this moment that he was finally aware of the objective of the orc General Berigard. His face visibly darkened as he thought about the target of their subjugation, the Lightning Draconic Serpent.

The Northern region of the forest was a dangerous place because of its three territorial rulers also known as the three overlords of the north. The Earth Splitting Lower Dragon whose territory once Simon had accidentally stumbled upon, was one of them. At that time, he was too weak to contend against it and had no choice but to run away for his dear life.

Now although he had grown strong, it didn't mean that the Earth Splitting Lower dragon was the same as ever. He wanted to battle against it once again but Simon knew that he wasn't ready yet and that was why he was biding his time increasing his power and painfully levelling up every day.

He had the fragment of pride which allowed him to multiply the experience earned through hunting monsters manifold. As long as he was alive, his growth was sure to outpace the growth of the three overlords of the north.

On that note,one of the trial Aldebaran had given to Simon was precisely to subjugate the three troublemakers of the north and bring them under his rule within two years.

He was extremely agitated not because of the orc general but because the target of their subjugation, the Lightning Draconic Serpent was one of the three overlords of the north which he had to subjugate to keep his words with Aldebaran.

If the Orc General Berigard gets to it first and manages to subjugate it, woulnd't he ultimately fail his trail? To make matters even worse, Simon did not know how powerful the other two overlords were.

If they were only as strong as the Earth Splitting Lower Dragon was half a year ago or slightly stronger, there was no way they would be able to contend against the powerful orc army or the orc general.

'No from the looks of how concerned and alert that orc general was acting against the Lightning Draconic Serpent, it might not necessarily be weak' Simon thought. Even though he did not how powerful the Lightning Draconic Serpent but given the preparation and prudence Berigard was showing, there was no way the overlords were weaker or else he wouldn't have gathered such a power army.

Simon surmised, he did not have any proof but the presence of the orc army was evident of the might of the overlords. It wasn't guaranteed that they will succeed; however, he still decided to trail them and if possible disturb them from achieving their goal.

Now that he knew about their objective, there was no way he would allow them to complete it, not on his watch. The dozens of golems cleared a path for the orc army as they proceeded towards a distant peak.

The peak was so high that it easily overshadowed and overlooked everything around it like a tyrant. There was only three of those in the entire northern region of the Ghastly Finding Forest and also the place where the overlord of the north resided.

None of the weak monsters dared coming near the peak as it marked the territory of the overlords. The instant the master of the territory sensed the presence of the foreign beings, it issued a deafening roar from its peak.

ROAAAAAAAARRRR'¦ the noise was so domineering that it instantly scared the monsters in a few miles away and froze the march of the orc army.

The Diluvian High Orcs although a mutated species far stronger than an ordinary high orcs, were still inferior to the Lightning Draconic Serpent who had a dragon bloodline. The suppression that these orcs felt from their bloodline was similar to how a low ranked demon felt in front of a higher-ranked demon.

The Lightning Draconic Serpent did not even attack yet the orc army felt a powerful force battering their body that originated from their bloodline. A dragon Bloodline no matter how impure, was always superior and more powerful than an ordinary monster bloodline.

"Hmph'¦ you think you can scare us off with just that. This time I brought all the power I have under me'¦ I'm going to subjugate you no matter what" Berigard shook off the suppressing effect and cast a [Gale Magic] spell [Gale Arrow Storm] towards the distant peak.

Wild winds that spun like crazy generated into a huge column of arrow before flying towards the hill.

BOOOM'¦ before the magic could even come closer, a huge breath of lightning came from within the cave of the peak and instantly dispersed each other.. A shockwave containing wild winds and rampant blue lightning wreaked havoc in a hundred-meter radius uprooting and scorching numerous trees in the area.