Chương 349: 349：Ascending to Godhood

Following this battle, the very fundamental nature of Greywater Village had shifted. It was no longer a dilapidated, passive border outpost waiting to be swallowed by the massive Orc hordes. It had evolved into a heavily fortified bastion directly threatening the Orcs' vital territories. It had officially transformed into the absolute core strategic pivot for the entire human faction in the North! As long as Greywater Village stood unbroken, the human defensive lines remained absolute!

And accompanying this massive geopolitical shift was an even deeper, profound transformation violently taking root in the hearts of Greywater Village's 2, 900 soldiers and civilians. As dawn broke, Knight Felix walked down the barracks corridor, his hand resting casually on his sword hilt. He paused, looking at a group of soldiers gathered nearby.

"Did you hear? Last night, the Lord charged completely alone into an army of ten thousand Minotaurs..." whispered an old veteran missing his left arm. He should have been discarded by the military to starve, but Soren's ironclad pension policy had granted him a secure, comfortable life.

"I saw it with my own damn eyes!" A frontline elite infantryman standing next to him violently leaped to his feet. His face was flushed crimson as he roared with absolute pride, "The Lord didn't even use magic! With just a longbow, shooting through a howling blizzard from five hundred meters away, he blew a hole straight through Warchief Blackstone's heart with a single arrow! And then, through sheer terror alone, he routed ten thousand Minotaurs!"

"The Lord is a god! Only a god could lead us to a zero-casualty victory against the Centaurs, and then deliver another miracle like this!"

"Exactly! The Lord abolished our lowly statuses! He gave us armor better than the Royal Guard in the Capital, and he even shared the very Snowflake Beef eaten by the Orc Overlords with us..." The soldiers' voices grew louder and louder, rapidly merging into an unstoppable, overwhelmingly fanatic wave of emotion. Felix watched this scene in profound shock. It suddenly hit him.

In this cruel, unforgiving Dark Age, when a single man could continuously shatter common sense, leading people deemed absolutely worthless to forge one impossible miracle after another... he was no longer just a simple Lord or military commander. In the hearts of these soldiers—men who had witnessed the miracle of zero casualties, eaten Royal-grade Snowflake Beef, and been promised lifelong disability care—Soren had completely transcended the realm of mortals.

He was quietly morphing into an absolute, inviolable faith! Just then, the resonant toll of the morning bell echoed through the air. Without a single officer needing to bark an order, the entire camp—from the heavily armored frontline elites to the women, children, and elderly in logistics, and even the recently surrendered Centaur youths—all 2, 900 citizens of Greywater Village ceased their movements simultaneously. They didn't turn to pray to the Moon Goddess as they usually did in the past.

Instead, they turned to face the stilted wooden command post where Soren resided. They dropped to one knee, smashing their right fists heavily over their hearts.

"Absolute loyalty to Lord Soren! Greywater Village is immortal!" It was a cult-like, religious devotion that utterly transcended the fear of death! Following this campaign, within the borders of Greywater Village, Soren had officially ascended to godhood! Meanwhile, within the Orc Alliance, at the Capital of the Blood Province. Deep inside the Governor's Estate, a roaring fire burned violently in the hearth.

Yet, its blazing heat could do nothing to dispel the suffocating, oppressive air hanging heavily in the grand hall. Standing before the massive strategic sandbox in the center of the room was the Governor of the Blood Province, his hands clasped firmly behind his back. His face was deeply haggard. His eyes, once burning with unbridled ambition and arrogance, were now dead-locked onto the section of the map representing the Misty Swamp.

Standing beside the Governor was an elderly Orc gripping a bone staff embedded with priceless gems. He was a senior councilor of the provincial 【Supreme War Council】, acting as the absolute voice of the Orc Alliance's core aristocratic class. Within the Blood Province, the 【Supreme War Council】 was the ultimate strategic decision-making and power-supervising body.

This massive institution was comprised of the chieftains of ancient, established clans, the Shamans of the 【Spire of Shadows】, and several veteran Grand Warlords. They weren't just responsible for coordinating multi-branch military operations and massive logistical supply chains across the province; they held direct supervisory and impeachment power over the Governor's military actions.

"Lord Governor, I do not understand. I truly do not understand." The elderly councilor let out a long, heavy sigh. He swirled a goblet of crimson hard liquor in his hand, his brows furrowed in deep confusion. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"To eliminate this massive threat, we have already given Blackstone more than enough support. A full aerial squadron of twelve Wyverns! That is a devastating force capable of effortlessly shattering the defensive lines and seizing a massive fortress heavily guarded by human regulars!" The councilor slammed his goblet down on the edge of the sandbox. Pointing an irritated finger at the ragged flag representing Greywater Village, he spat, "Not to mention the 【Spire of Shadows】.

Even Zagar, an elite Shadow Priest wielding high-tier magic, and his entire squad of 【Son of Titan】 monstrosities were deployed!"

"With aerial predators that can casually rip human heavy infantry phalanxes to shreds, and shadow magic that has flawlessly assassinated high-ranking nobles of the Silvermoon Kingdom without detection... With a loadout that has guaranteed absolute victory in every past campaign, how in the hell are we taking such catastrophic casualties against a pathetic two-thousand-man settlement like Greywater Village?!"

"How did a cunning, veteran operative like Zagar end up losing his life?!" Currently, the latest intelligence acquired by the capital's 【Supreme War Council】 was entirely outdated. It was still stuck at the phase where the massive Centaur army had just approached the Greywater Village defensive lines, and the Minotaur legions were sluggishly advancing through the swamp.

This severe communication lag, combined with their deeply ingrained contempt for human forces, caused the old councilor to display a blindingly foolish level of optimism.

"However, at the end of the day, they are nothing more than a few thousand humans struggling in the mud." The councilor downed his blood-wine in a single gulp. He casually flicked the wolf-fang flags representing the Orc legions, pushing them all toward Greywater Village's marker, as if directing a mop-up operation with a preordained conclusion.

"Based on standard projections, Greywater Village's defensive lines have absolutely been reduced to rubble by our powerful aerial squadron."

"Their supplies are undoubtedly depleted. Those lowly human soldiers likely don't even have the strength left to grip their spears." The old councilor offered a cruel, dismissive smile, attempting to comfort the Governor.

"While the battle hasn't gone as smoothly as we anticipated, and the loss of the Wyverns and the Shadow Priest is indeed painful, war requires bodies."

"As long as Warchief Blackstone utterly razes Greywater Village and brings back the severed head of that human commander named Soren... as long as he secures this final victory, it will perfectly mask all of his tactical blunders." The councilor even made an incredibly arrogant, absolute declaration: "Lord Governor, stop pacing around looking so profoundly troubled.

I wager that by this very evening, Warchief Blackstone will use his communication slate to transmit the glorious news of Greywater Village's total annihilation!" Hearing the councilor's blindly optimistic drivel, the Governor of the Blood Province didn't relax in the slightest. On the contrary, a violent, unprecedented wave of pure anxiety crushed his chest, suffocating him.

He couldn't be as utterly blind as these old fools who sat comfortably in the 【Supreme War Council】 all year, judging the reality of war based on rigid paper reports. He knew the absolute terror of that man named Soren better than anyone. His own nephew—Mog, the prodigy he had placed immense hope in—had died an incredibly pathetic, humiliating death right there in that mudhole at Soren's hands! The Governor outright ignored the councilor's optimism.

His face was ice-cold as he planted both hands firmly on the edge of the sandbox. Analyzing the gruesome details of the campaign with terrifying clarity, he spoke:"Councilor... do you truly believe this is merely a simple tactical blunder?" The Governor abruptly snapped his head up, locking his dead gaze onto the old councilor.

"Twelve Wyverns! More than half shot completely out of the sky in a single day!"

"This absurd, catastrophic casualty rate severely eclipses the price we paid during a frontal siege against a fortress defended by tens of thousands of Holy Halycon Empire regulars!"

"And Zagar? A Shadow Priest armed with countless lethal contingencies, alongside his 【Son of Titan】 monstrosities that literally cannot feel pain! Completely annihilated by Greywater Village! We didn't even get a single intact corpse back!" The Governor began pacing frantically around the sandbox, practically vibrating with severe agitation. He understood the horrifying implications better than anyone.

The defensive firepower violently erupting from Greywater Village had repeatedly, fundamentally shattered his entire understanding of humanity.

"Look at this so-called encirclement!" The Governor pointed violently at the densely packed markers on the sandbox.

"How in the hell is this a simple rebel-clearing operation anymore?! This has violently escalated into a massive, regional theater war requiring over thirty thousand of our absolute elite main forces!"