"Tell me, what do you know about our next target, the five headquarters?"
The time to assault the inner region had come; since Nafız was aware of this, she had already determined the place where they would start the job.
"Since there's no sound, you have no information, then let me tell you a bit about this place!"
"The place we will attack is a support headquarters protected by walls ten paces long, with a water canal of eight paces built around it, where at least thirty thousand soldiers live!"
While Nafız was giving the numbers, the druids' eyes almost popped out of their sockets; compared to the outposts they had captured before, this place was like an impregnable fortress.
"While our total fighting power is one hundred and fifty druids, two orcs, and one Power Animal, I ask you, one of you explain to me how we are going to capture this place!"
The druids were looking blankly at the female orc's face like students who got a question from a place they didn't expect; they had let themselves go with the flow of events so much that they hadn't felt the need to make any foresight.
"Look, I harbor a great sympathy for you because of your clean hearts and honesty, but if you are going to stick your noses into my business, you need much more than that!"
"I will tell you what I plan only once; if you come to me without thinking you have a better idea after this, know that I won't be this polite!"
Although the words spilling from her mouth contained a veiled threat, the energy the female orc radiated said the exact opposite.
The uneasy druids felt as if they had heard the sentence "If you cross me again, you die!" with their ears due to the pressure coming upon them.
"The soldiers outside will be our Trojan horse; they will enter inside the headquarters with a lie I want them to tell and present it to us on a silver platter!"
Nafız's eyes were shining; achieving success as a result of a well-made plan gave her as much pleasure as suppressing the enemy with brute force.
While the druids, who didn't know what a Trojan Horse meant, looked at her in confusion, the female orc had no intention of explaining it to them.
After talking with the other orc warriors for a while, her head was very clear as she advanced towards the captives; she calmly explained to them one by one what they needed to do.
"If you apply what I say to the letter, you can all survive, and you have my word, when we take the headquarters, I will offer you two options!"
There wasn't a big promise offered; since their lives were at stake, the soldiers weren't expecting more anyway, but no matter what, a hazy dream of a path other than death appeared in their minds after these words.
"You can set off; we will be there at the planned time too!"
When Nafız left, the deputy commander immediately stood up and started calling out to the soldiers under his command.
"Listen to me, you sacks of shit, memorize well what you are going to say. A golden opportunity has fallen into our hands; if you want to live, do whatever is said!"
The soldiers were aware of the situation, but they couldn't help asking a question nagging at their minds.
"Commander, will this orc be able to handle those in the headquarters?"
Facing what he heard, the man who had now risen to the status of commander started laughing out loud; making his gaze mysterious as if he had discovered something very important, he would answer.
"Let me tell you something you haven't heard before; I obtained this information while rummaging through the commanders' correspondence!"
"That orc's name is Blood God Nafız, and the other huge one is Alyon. The male one is the grandfather of the Lord currently ruling the Orc Steppes and the father of the ruthless warrior Ölümün Rüzgârı, who is the commander of the Orc Armies!"
"Do you know the might of the Orc Lord? The man just sits on his throne, but he can take the life of any living being living on his lands whenever he wants. Even the supreme warriors and grandmasters of other civilizations cannot resist this; it is said that as long as he is on the Orc Steppes, there is no one who can defeat him!"
The soldiers, who were entranced as if listening to a story, shivered with fear at what they last heard; could such absolute power exist on earth?
"What is said is that Nafız and Alyon were born in a small abandoned tribe and turned into warriors great enough to manage to take all the Orc Steppes under their control within a few years."
"First, they made the tribes and cities kneel, then by defeating the previous Orc Lord in a great war at his home, they captured the entire continent. Doesn't this scenario sound familiar to you too?"
"They have already started the job with small outposts, and their new target is the support headquarters; I tell you friends, the Wild Swamp is entering a process of change, and nothing will be the same as before."
"Fame, honor, victory—are these valuable things for mercenaries like us? We fight only for money and a comfortable life, and I say, as long as we stay in the ranks of these orcs, good fortune will wink at us!"
"There's even a legend that during the last war, Blood God Nafız entered an extraordinary spiritual state and killed hundreds of thousands of people!"
This last sentence struck the minds of the captive soldiers like a nail; although they thought this could be real after seeing the slaughter just now, their logic, sharpened for years, told them not to believe.
The owner of the words, the deputy commander, had neither an extraordinary appearance nor brilliant military victories; he was a man who had to constantly keep a low profile and suck up to his superiors because his background was weak.
He would seize opportunities by adapting to developing situations; since he developed his intelligence on every subject, he wouldn't leave the initiative to anyone.
Contrary to improving his body, which gave a worn-out appearance due to thinning hair as he reached middle age, he was investing in his mind, which he saw as the greatest weapon he would use to bring himself to comfort.
As a shark swimming in murky waters, he had smelled the blood; it was understood from his words that he wouldn't hesitate to step through this opened door.
"Commander Dimitar, how can you be sure they won't throw us aside after using us?"
The past of two orcs having a massive backing on the immediate neighboring continent should have been enough to dazzle the soldiers, but while living every moment with their heads on the block, the reservations of these people, seen as the first to be sacrificed, were endless.
"My soldiers, contrary to what is thought, these orcs do not harbor a bone-deep hatred for humans; as far as I could learn, they allied with many humans in the war they fought before, and even protected them by taking them under their patronage!"
"According to a rumor spreading from ear to ear, just because Nafız beat a human loyal to her, she brought her best friend Alyon's daughter to the brink of death!"
The event that happened in the Holy Lands many years ago had long turned into a legend; the story, spreading from tongue to tongue to emphasize the justice of the female orc nicknamed Blood God and her rewarding of loyalty, would be spread to the seven corners of the world by merchants.
"Everyone also knows that they removed taxes from the Trade City that supported them and left its administration entirely to them!"
The only thing the soldiers saw from the first time they encountered them was two orcs committing brutal massacres, but after what they listened to now, they understood that these people's treatment of their friends was as passionate as the violence they showed to their enemies.
"I say let's mind our business, do the given task, and face the fate awaiting us at the end."
Although not a good orator, Commander Dimitar had managed to unite the four thousand soldiers who came under his command for a cause. This man would not stop his suggestions along the way, keeping them constantly alert; when the big headquarters appeared before them, he leaped forward making his final warnings.
"Help, enemies are after us!"