Cthulhu Gonfalon

“The Orcs are charging up the western wall!”

“Reserves troop!”

“There are no more reserves…”

“Come fight me if you’re not afraid of dying!”

Soon, following the thick smoke that shot up into the sky, the cries of killing gradually died down. Another fortress had fallen.

The present king of the Kingdom of Eager was looking at the magic map, which showed another area that turned from blue to red. His expression was so gloomy that it almost seemed as though a thunderstorm was about to happen.

But in the end, he managed to hold himself back and asked in a sullen voice, “The reinforcement troops… have they not arrived?”

“Re… Reporting to Your Majesty. Reinforcement troops from the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs are still on the way. The rugged terrain is making travel difficult for the marching army. Reinforcement troops from the Commonwealth of Gold Coins are being blocked by that group of Marsh natives and have yet to be able to break through. As for the Duchy of Griffon…” reported the officer in charge of intelligence. After a brief hesitation, he said honestly, “They have recently deployed another batch of troops, but these troops were sent to support the defense line at the Great Wall.”

King Igor’s body trembled slightly, even his voice was somewhat quivering as he said, “Over at the Duchy of Griffon… what’s their take on this?”

“They say… the defense line at the Great Wall is of utmost importance. They even say that, since the Kingdom of Eagle has always been able to hold off the Orc army in the past, it will also be able to do so this time…”

King Igor was silent for a long time. Then finally, he struck the sturdy conference table with one heavy blow, and the table instantly collapsed.

As anyone could see, this time, the Duchy of Griffon was clearly making use of the power of the Orc army to defeat the Kingdom of Eagle. It was believed that when the Kingdom of Eagle had lost all its main force, the Duchy of Griffon would immediately send its troops in and take down Eagle Wing City in the guise of saviors coming to the rescue. Its true intention, however, was to seize the throne of the Kingdom of Eagle.

But being able to identify its true intention did not mean that there was a solution for this problem. The Duchy of Griffon had indeed deployed all the troops it could over to help maintain the defense line at the Great Wall. They certainly had not lied about it.

The defense line at the Great Wall was of utmost important. This statement was certainly true. The elite forces of the humans were concentrated there. If the defense line at the Great Wall was breached, it would mean they had directly lost in this unified battle.

But… how could the defense line possibly be breached! If that group of Orcs had the capability to break through the defense line at the Great Wall, why would they bother coming over to attack the Kingdom of Eagle!

King Igor did not say anything at all. He only sulked and felt angry. After a long while, he pulled a long face and said to his ministers, “What do you all think about… where else can we find troops to reinforce us?”

“Your Majesty, if we had known where to find reinforcements, we would have gone looking for them,” the prime minister of the kingdom replied with a sigh.

The king also heaved a deep sigh.

This was the greatest problem for the Kingdom of Eagle at the moment—even if they wanted to seek reinforcement, there was simply nowhere they could turn to for help.

Strictly speaking, the Orc Empire and the Duchy of Griffin were the only countries bordering the Kingdom of Eagle. The Orc Empire was an enemy, while the Duchy of Griffon was not considered much of a friend either. At present, the ones who had really put in the efforts to accomplish some real work were unexpectedly the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs and the Commonwealth of Gold Coins. These two countries, under normal circumstances, were not even close acquaintances of the Kingdom of Eagle. However, one of them paid no heed to injury and forcefully sent its army over as reinforcements. Its army had to cross over mountains and hills, even to the extent of having to cross the Mountain of Broken Clouds, which was deemed a natural barrier, just to arrive at the Kingdom of Eagle. The other country was fighting the Marsh natives at the moment, where both sides were badly battered. They only prayed to break through all barriers, cross the area at the northern edge of the Great Marsh, and then cross the Graystone Mountains to finally hurry over to rescue the Kingdom of Eagle.

As neighbors who had never shared much relationship with the Kingdom of Eagle, the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs and the Commonwealth of Gold Coins had done very well. There was no way anyone could find fault with them any further.

If anything, they could only blame that bunch of traitors from the Duchy of Griffon for being downright scoundrels!

“That bunch of traitors! They want us dead, would it be that easy!” King Igor growled angrily. “No matter what, we will hold out till reinforcement troops make it here!”

“Send my order to assemble all local militia and border garrison. We will form a follow-up force to support the northern defense line!”

The ministers obeyed at once and hurried to draft the edict.

At this moment, a minister close by said in a low voice, “Your Majesty, it seems that the battle line is already not very far from here, do you want to retreat?”

King Igor froze for a moment, then glared at him fiercely.

That minister’s face registered a bitter expression, but he insisted, “Your Majesty, if you retreat now, there won’t be much impact on the army’s morale…”

King Igor certainly understood his intention—it was better to retreat now than later when the enemy arrived at the city. It was much better than fleeing in a sorry state when the city was compromised.

But he merely sneered. The smile on his face was cold, without any hint of warmth.

“I will not retreat,” he said after the smile. He spoke very slowly, stressing on every syllable, and said, “The city remains, I live. The city falls, I die. It’s either I win this battle, or if not, this is where my burial ground shall be!”

The ministers’ faces all changed instantly. But before any of them could speak, the king went on to say, “Since the establishment of the Kingdom of Eagle, there have been many kings who died on the battlefield while fighting against the Orcs who have come to invade us. One more of me won’t make a difference, but one less of me… that will be a disgrace to the Igor family.”

He sighed deeply as his gaze swept across the worried faces of his ministers. Very earnestly, he said, “Gentlemen, I understand you all. But… to tell you the truth, I’m afraid we really can’t win this battle. So at least, I want to be like a king and die at a place where I’m supposed to be when I have to die. Do you all understand me?”

“And…” he started. After hesitating for a moment, he still said what he had in mind. “Perhaps, if I die here, ‘that one’ will step forth to save the Kingdom of Eagle, on account of the dead…”

The ministers knew exactly who he was referring to when he mentioned, “that one.” They all believed that if that one were to intervene, then no matter how strong the Orc army was, it would not necessarily be able to take advantage of their plight at all. But that person’s status was on a totally different level. It was simply not very convenient for him to make any move.

So… as the king said, it was worth risking his life even if it was just fighting for a possibility to get him to help them.

The ministers were silent for a long while. Then at long last, all of them began laughing bitterly.

“Fortunately, I have a son. I don’t need to worry about having no posterity.”

“I only have a daughter. This is a great loss for me this time!”

“My son went to Void City to attend school some time ago. What a delightful and fortunate thing to know that he has not returned this time.”

“Congratulations! Congratulations!”

Since ancient times, it was always said that if the lord were to suffer, it would be the humiliation of his ministers. And if the lord were to be humiliated, then his ministers deserved death. Since His Majesty, the king, was already prepared to die in the battlefield, then naturally, they would have no other choice but to follow in the king’s footsteps. And for them, the southernmost end of the defense line of the northern fortress group where the sturdiest fortress stood would be their burial grounds as well.

King Igor could not help laughing as he looked at the bitter yet determined smiles of his ministers.

“All these years, we have gotten along pretty well as a king and his subjects. Let’s make this last journey together enjoyable for us all.”

On the same day, the king of the Kingdom of Eagle made a solemn announcement. He would personally stand guard at the fortress and persevere till the Orc Army was repelled. It was either that, or he would die on the battlefield. Other than that, there would be no third choice!

The news arrived as a shock for the heads of the other countries. But they also felt that this was to be expected. Only the Duke of the Duchy of Griffon smiled triumphantly, for he was delighted that his overt plan had worked.

However, his joy came a little too early.

Just as the Orc army had broken through another fortress and was a distance of about four fortresses away from the one that King Igor of the Kingdom of Eagle was stationed at, the grounds of the eastern plains of the Duchy of Griffon suddenly cracked. Countless holes were formed, and from underground, a great army of pygmies and underground creatures rushed out and took straight to the capital of the Duchy that was located in the plains.