That night, the two friends didn't open their mouths again; they curled up in a corner of the same space and slept, just as they had long ago when they seized Ayıboğan's tribe. After cleaning the infection covering the wound, it had to be given some time to heal, and in their current situation, focusing on current issues was of vital importance.
As the first rays of morning hit the continent of the Wild Swamp, a woman was approaching a military base equipped with heavy security measures, far from the orcs' new base. This person, who had spent the entire night walking, was exhausted; she could only respond to the questions of the guards surrounding her by showing the seal in her hand. She had no other choice, actually; the organ necessary for speaking had been forcibly ripped from her. She had returned to the base—which she once left with her nose in the air—in a state of humiliation that she couldn't have encountered even in her worst nightmare.
"Gregoria, my beautiful niece, you've finally returned to me safe and sound!"
Lord Galeno wore a festive expression as if a sun of smiles had dawned on his face. He ran to the side of his niece, who had been a captive for a long time; his first thought was that the forces sent had accomplished the mission. According to him, the most reasonable explanation was that they must have sent Gregoria back to his safe arms via a teleportation jewel. The old man wasn't entirely wrong; his niece had used a teleportation jewel, but it wasn't his own soldiers who gave it to her—it was his greatest enemy, Nafız, herself.
Upon seeing the young girl's state, Lord Galeno would pause for a moment; his niece's lowered head and her aura that smelled of death were harbingers of something gone wrong.
"Everyone get out, now!"
The place where the commander shouted furiously was the large garden at the entrance of the grand villa allocated to him. Though the stunned servants and soldiers were initially confused about what to do, the moment they felt the waves of rage rising from the old man, they began to flee from the nearest exit.
"Gregoria, my dear, my brother's legacy, what happened to you?"
The young woman didn't answer; she stood like a statue, save for a tremor racking her body. At this, Galeno reached out both hands and grabbed his niece by the shoulders, aiming to make her feel better, but his strength would fail him after a groan came from Gregoria's throat. He didn't need to channel his energy; the bruises on the neck area and the sound he heard would settle everything for the army commander. The ground he stepped on began to crack; upon realizing that what he saw as a bluff was real and that his niece had been tortured, Galeno vented his anger without restraint.
"Inform all border and support units; have two-thirds of their warriors ready by tomorrow morning. When the sun rises again, I will go to crush those wretched orcs with my own hands!"
Lord Galeno, who had maintained his calm and cautious attitude throughout the entire process, had now lost his mind to a fit of madness. Taking a large portion of the forces under his command, he was going to uproot the orcs who had ended his niece's life.
While the Black Lilies, occupying the region on behalf of the Hell Realm, were experiencing chaotic times, Alyon and Nafız were already awake, discussing their next steps with the two commanders under them.
"Jurij, we are leaving this place before evening today!"
The three people in the room, including Alyon, looked at the female orc as if they had heard the strangest thing in their lives; they had just learned that they would abandon the point they had defended to the death for so long, the very day after their great victory.
"Don't look at my face like that, you morons. What we've done until today was great, but believe me, the real fun is just beginning!"
Last night, Nafız had sent the final drop that would overflow the cup of the experienced commander they had pushed to his limits. She knew very well that the return of this would be completely different from previous attacks.
"Mistress, what is our movement plan?"
Fox Jurij would be the first to adapt to the situation, living up to his name; he asked for the content of the order before asking why or how.
"Our targets will be the border outposts and support headquarters in the region besieged by the Black Lilies. If I'm not mistaken, Galeno will be here by tomorrow at the latest, dragging a massive force behind him!"
"He must be driven mad with rage right now; he'll bring his units by the shortest possible route. As for us, we will circle around them and raze the points where the number of warriors has decreased, one by one!"
"When night falls, we will first move towards the border of the Orc Steppes and draw an arc. The moment the enemy leaves their own lands, we need to split into two branches and attack the targets rapidly!"
"Jurij, you and Alyon will deal with the border outposts; meanwhile, Dimitar and I will take on the task of bringing down the support headquarters!"
The others at the table needed some time to digest the plan Nafız explained in one breath; so much so, they couldn't even think of the background woven like embroidery behind the terror of the tasks assigned to them.
No matter how much they appeared to be allies, the owners of the two neighboring occupied zones essentially loathed each other. Even if Nafız wiped out the entire siege power of the Grey Hyenas, Galeno would only make a symbolic show of support. When this happened, it was certain that the Druid Liberation Army, led by the two orcs, would begin to be seen as a threat to the remaining three regions; their room for maneuver would narrow considerably as they drew all eyes upon them. Nafız's goal in attacking two mismatched entities at the same time wasn't to bite off more than she could chew; she was going to tear off and chew her target enemies bit by bit.
"You are continuing to spread the powder potions I handed over to you throughout the entire region as I told you, right?"
One mystery that the two commanders, who formerly fought for the Grey Hyenas, couldn't solve was the blood-red powders the female orc pulled out of her inter-spatial ring whenever they ran out. Day and night, they had ordered the soldiers in their units to sprinkle these strange potions onto the soil; although they were dying of curiosity, they had no choice but to accept this event—which they didn't dare ask the reason for—as the natural flow of life.
"Alright, enough jaw-flapping. Everyone to their posts, march, march!"
Time was tight, and there was a great deal of work to be done. When they received permission to leave, the two commanders would speed toward the exit door at full throttle, as if they had sal ammoniac rubbed on their asses.
"Alyon, I'm sure you'll handle your part for the plan to succeed. When we meet at the northern tip of the continent, show me the best Alyon possible, okay?"
The hulking orc, understanding his friend's goal, responded only with a bright smile. Taking his new weapon, which he carried like a toy, he would leave the side of Nafız, with whom he had just had a somewhat rough heart-to-heart.
Preparations would continue all day long on the two fronts that had become enemies with a hatred that penetrated to the bone. Meanwhile, in a completely different place on the same lands—entirely isolated from the events taking place—interesting things were happening.
"Commander! We have learned that Lord Galeno, the Siege Commander of the Black Lilies, is gathering the majority of his forces to march upon the Druid Liberation Army located in our region!"
The soldier, opening one leaf of the high wooden door decorated with gold leaf, spoke anxiously; the gloom of the walls decorated with various paintings and heavy velvet curtains seemed to suffocate him. In the middle of the room he entered, a bed large enough for at least ten people to lie in side-by-side caught the eye. When the red tulle surrounding it parted slightly, the messenger who brought the news almost fainted.
"I don't give a f*ck about his Lord or his power, let the dogs eat each other!"