The sun rose in the east, and the morning light slowly illuminated Constantine City. The once prosperous city was now damaged everywhere.
Residents' houses were reduced to rubble. Fires engulfed several blocks of buildings. Corpses and blood littered the streets. The conditions were in stark contrast to a month ago.
Fortunately, most of the destroyed buildings were only residents' homes. Public facilities, high-rise buildings, and government buildings were all covered with magical protection and used better materials, so they were still standing strong.
Estevan, standing 200 cm tall and clad in his magical armor, sat in the mayor's chair of the City of Constantine. The Orc leader used the mayor's office as his own.
Meanwhile, two girls, trying to hide their fear, stood on either side and massaged the Orc leader's left and right hands.
There was a knock on the door, and Estevan immediately gave the order.
"Come in."
From behind the open door, Estevan saw one of his generals, Darius. A 210 cm tall green-skinned orc, he was also a Master Wizard, aka a fourth-level Wizard.
"Shiyou, the Ylvania Empire's army will arrive in two hours," Darius reported to Estevan. He used the name Shiyou, a title for the Orc leader.
"I understand. Gather the troops and generals immediately. We will carry out the war according to plan."
"Understood. I'll go now."
Estevan kissed the two girls beside him one by one, then stood up and walked away. The decisive battle had arrived. As long as the orcs won this war, he and his army would have a foothold in Constantine City.
Then, using Constantine City as an anchor, they could continue to expand their territory, swallowing up the small areas around Constantine City.
Facing such an important battle, Estevan was not nervous at all; he was confident.
Riding his beloved wolf, Estevan and his guards left City Hall and went to the Military Headquarters near the south gate.
At Headquarters, Estevan and the Generals briefly reviewed the plan they had devised. After finishing, Estevan asked the head of logistics a question.
"Did he keep his promise?" asked Estevan.
The head of logistics nodded his head. "Yes, we have obtained 50,000 sets of high-quality adamantite armor, 500 magic cannons, 100 airships, 10 purple class magic tools, and 1 golden class magic weapon..."
A smirk appeared on Estevan's face. With this, he became even more confident in his victory.
Some time passed, and Estevan gathered all his troops in front of the city gates to welcome the arrival of the Ylvania Empire's army.
From a distance, Estevan could see the Ylvania army approaching. Millions of troops, hundreds of airships, four thousand wizards, and a level five Wizard. This was the largest and most magnificent army Estevan had ever faced.
The Ylvania army continued to advance until it finally stopped 500 meters from the orc army. Estevan looked up, his eyes narrowing as he saw Duke Alexander standing on one of the airships. Duke Alexander stared back at Estevan coldly.
Estevan snorted in annoyance. He raised his hand and pointed forward. A large trumpet, a purple-class magical weapon, was sounded by his general. The sound of the trumpet instantly ignited the orcs' spirits.
"Attack!" Estevan gave the command.
The two armies charged towards each other. They collided, several people were thrown back, and the battle began.
The brave and brutal orcs met the Ylvania Empire's disciplined and persistent army. The battlefield was chaotic, casualties were mounting, but both sides intensified their attacks.
As time passed, the orcs' superiority became more apparent. One reason was the 50,000 orcs wearing heavy adamantite armor on the front lines.
Furthermore, the orc race had never lived in peace; battle and war were eternal themes in their lives. They were accustomed to war, accustomed to life-or-death situations, and they did not lack the courage to sacrifice themselves.
This is in stark contrast to the Ylvania Empire. The Moenstadt Mountains in the south and the Constantine Wall in the north practically shield this country from war.
The Ylvania forces, unaccustomed to combat, now face the greatest challenge Ylvania has encountered in the last ten thousand years.
As soon as the orcs gained the upper hand, the Ylvania army's initial enthusiasm to repel the orcs slowly waned. The cruelty of real war was different from the romanticization of war in stories. The bitter reality hit them hard.
The Ylvania army's near-collapse immediately caught the attention of the Ylvania army leaders.
"Your Grace, our forces are at a disadvantage. If we allow this to continue, our forces may collapse."
Duke Alexander glanced at his subordinate, then ordered, "Sir Ivan, please command the wizards, it is time for them to enter the battlefield."
"I understand, My Lord Duke."
While Ivan left, Duke Alexander remained silent, watching the battle from above.
An orc who had reached the rank of Grandmaster, then a set of adamantine armor, magic cannons, airships, all indicated that several countries might be behind the rise of this orc leader... Troublesome, what were they planning?
Duke Alexander sighed softly. He felt that the storm of change was drawing nearer.
Meanwhile, the arrival of the wizard's forces brought a breath of fresh air to Ylvania army. The Ylvania army may have lost to the orcs, but the Ylvania wizards were clearly superior to the orc wizards.
After all, this was an era of rapid magical development. Although Ylvania was not as good as Rhineland, it was still superior to the orcs in terms of the spells and meditation techniques they had developed.
The course of the war, which had initially been tilted in favor of the orcs, was now back in balance. Estevan had also deployed all the orc wizards. Everyone who could participate in the war had been sent to fight. Only Duke Alexander and Estevan had not yet entered the battlefield.
"Flames! Mass burning!"
"Rain of oil!"
"Raging winds of chaos!"
Several spells combined by the Ylvania wizards created a deadly attack against the orc army. All of this happened at many points. The superiority of Ylvania's spells began to show.
Estevan, who saw this, immediately gave an order.
"Everyone! Target those wizards first! As long as they are down, the rest can be dealt with!"
"Yes, Shiyou!"
The orc wizards and brave orc warriors immediately attacked the Ylvania wizards. A brutal battle ensued. Neither side cared about casualties, the Ylvania wizards and orcs attacked each other, ignoring the ordinary people who were falling around them.
The battle continued. Three hours after the battle began, the death toll had reached hundreds of thousands on both sides. The stalemate continued.
That said, the wizards of Ylvania were in dire straits because some wizards, especially level two wizards, were running out of mana. There were about 700 level two wizards out of the 1,000 wizards that had been sent.
Seeing the state of the battlefield, Duke Alexander knew it was time for him to go into battle. He did not care about the lives of ordinary people, but wizards were valuable assets. If left unchecked, how many level two wizards, or practitioners, would die on the battlefield?
Understanding this, Duke Alexander jumped off the airship. He hit the ground very hard. Even so, he stood firmly without a single scratch on his body.
"Grandmaster Alexander Romanov, nice to meet you."
Alexander introduced himself. As fellow Grandmasters, respecting other Grandmasters was an important code of conduct.
Estevan immediately returned Alexander's greeting. "Grandmaster Estevan Gazette, nice to meet you."
"Let's begin," Alexander said briefly.
"Right," Estevan nodded in agreement.
A moment later, the battle between the two Grandmasters began. Neither of them was serious enough to unleash all their abilities. Nevertheless, the battle was enough to make all the orcs and humans fighting pause for a moment, witnessing the grandeur of a high-level wizard duel.