Empire of Souls 119 Calm before the storm 2

The bodies of the dead Orc chiefs and commanders had been removed from the command tent and buried while the command tent of the Horde had been cleaned and returned to its prior orderly state. The only difference was that now Grobak and his confidantes were in command and inhabiting the tent. There were also some new faces, these were tribal leaders who had not been killed by Nelay and had taken this opportunity to draw closer to Grobak.

Although they were taking a risk by doing this, they were willing to do this in order to seek future benefits. Building a close relationship with such a young and powerful chief who was clearly on the rise, could either be a blessing or a curse. Grobak's confidence, strength, and charisma had won them over and they had taken the opportunity to express their good will to him.

This might anger the Harkul and their chief, but with their combined strength, they didn't necessarily need to fear the Harkul any longer. Any future conflict between them would instead be in the shadows rather than out in the open. If they could survive and grow stronger, they had much to gain.

"Grobak, there are voices of discontent in the camp. It has been several hours since order has been returned to the Horde but not only have we not attacked the city, we have even pulled back our forces. Initially we thought this was out of caution to ensure no further losses to the Horde, but now there are many who question why we haven't yet returned to the siege. You even had the other camps return to the main camp. Is this a ploy of some kind? We just want to understand what you plan to do." asked a chieftain of a medium sized tribe who had developed a relatively good relationship with Grobak.

This was the reason why he had the confidence to bring up this thorny issue. Others would not be willing to do so, but this particular chieftain had been one of the first to express support for Grobak to take temporary control of the Horde.

Grobak wasn't angered by the question and gave a playful smile.

"Not to worry, I do have a plan as a matter of fact. I promise, that within a few hours from now, the Human settlement will have been completely and utterly destroyed!" Grobak replied with confidence that shocked many of those gathered within the command tent.

Only Grobak's own subordinates showed no reaction to his statement. They were all loyal followers of Grobak's master already and knew of his frightening strength.

"I see, so there is some grand plan! I didn't realize you already had everything in the palm of your hand, but how exactly will you accomplish this?" asked a questioning voice from outside the tent.

A powerful and sinister looking Orc entered the command tent with several subordinates in tow. This was one of the Harkul's remaining powerful commanders who had been overseeing the eastern siege camp and had only recently returned to the main camp after receiving the order to reassemble.

He had questioned the order initially, but still complied because he wasn't fully aware of the situation. By the time he had returned to the main camp, things had been settled and Grobak had already assumed temporary control. Although this angered him, he had yet to make any moves because he too had confidence in the return of the Harkul chief.

If this fool Grobak wanted to step out with his neck on the line, he wouldn't stop him. Especially since Grobak was of equal strength with him and had a powerful army of elites behind him. However, he had been one of the loudest voices of discontent once things hadn't progressed to his liking. While he would bide his time, he didn't mind making things slightly difficult for Grobak.

Grobak was aware of all this, but he didn't care. Soon, it would all be over and there was nothing this Orc could do about it. He didn't mind letting him strut around for a while like a fool. Once his master made his move, they would all submit. They had no other choice if they wished to live. Their chief was already dead, as were their ancestors. What did their petty strength amount to?

Grobak smiled once more at the entrance of these few barbarians of various races. His smile was both playful and wicked.

"You will see soon enough Ordak. Don't worry, it won't be long now." Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Ordak snorted, "If things don't go as you say, don't blame me for what comes next. You may be the temporary commander, but I never agreed to that. For now, I have accepted things but that is only because I don't want to see any more infighting and I do respect the fact that you at least brought order to the camp. As long as you fulfill your temporary responsibilities, I don't mind letting you show off a bit. Just remember who is really in charge here, it is my Harkul tribe. If those walls are not completely destroyed as you say within a few hours, then you should expect the wrath of the mighty Harkul!"

Ordak seemed especially pleased with himself and was happy to have found an opportunity to smear Grobak using his own words. He didn't believe for one second that Grobak could accomplish what he said and this gave him an opportunity to tear his authority down and take control once more. He didn't mind waiting for a few more hours.

Grobak gave a snarling grin in response and Ordak left with his subordinates while making plans for Grobak's inevitable failure. He didn't notice the menacing and murderous gaze that Grobak gave his back as he exited.

______________________________

Originally, the Horde had amassed an army of over one million and had surrounded the expeditionary settlement on all four sides. With the fighting over the past few days, they had lost a third of their number which was a staggering figure, but even with those losses they hadn't truly been hurt much.

Most of the dead warriors were cannon fodder, those of low Intermediate class and below. There were a sizable number of elites which died, but in the overall scheme, the losses were acceptable. With more than several hundred thousand warriors remaining, the Horde still greatly outnumbered the Human expeditionary soldiers within their stronghold.

This did not seem to be affecting the morale of the Humans within the settlement though. They were currently in very high spirits after having caused significant casualties to the Horde without taking many losses themselves. With the quality of their soldiers being on the whole, a level higher than the Horde, they had confidence in winning the war. They still were expectant of the arrival of reinforcements as well. The fact that reinforcements were no longer coming was not something they were aware of.

Only the surviving Dragonmen were somewhat concerned about this because they felt the reinforcements should have already arrived. It had been some time since the Harkul Chief went off to some far away place to fight with the Dragon lords who had accompanied them and yet no news had reached them since the fight began.

Was the Orc chieftain so strong that they were still fighting even now? What about the Dragon King, surely he should have arrived by now. These were the questions they asked each other, but these questions went unanswered.

Although they were concerned about this, they weren't too worried. They had absolute faith in their king who was an extremely powerful Demigod level being.

'Who could possibly defeat him? Especially when they were fighting on the same side as the Pantheon expedition. Only another Demigod level being could hope to fight their king and it would have to be an exceptionally powerful one. Their king was one of the greatest Demigods in existence, who could rival him?' many of them thought.

Even though the expeditionary forces were currently celebrating, they still kept up their guard. Soldiers were stationed along the walls, but because the Horde had pulled back quite a ways from the walls already they were not too concerned. What exactly the barbarians were up to was unknown, but they no longer attacked the walls or even approached the settlement.

Any movement would be quickly seen by the soldiers on the wall and the army could assemble quickly so the guards were relaxed and engaged in idle conversation.

Chapter end