144 War of the Empire Conclusion (1/2)

In Year 45 of the San Calendar, the kingdoms of Engido and Misea sent troops to invade the Duchy of Schinlas. In the crisis, the Duchy joined forces with the various large clans that were scattered on the eastern lands of the orcs, raising an army of 120,000 to face the Engido and Misea allied army.

Nearly 300,000 troops from both sides met and fought in Ramun. The Misea army, which had arrived first, began attacking the city immediately. The hasty Misea army was dealt a severe blow by the Grand Duke of Schinlas, when it was driven out to the Valley of Ramun in tatters.

The Schinlas coalition was chasing them down. At that time, Engido's King Verthandi divided her forces into two sections. She led one section to rescue the besieged army of Misea in the Valley of Ramun, while Allen lead the other section, detouring to the rear of the Schinlas forces to cut off their escape route and supply chain.

The Schinlas coalition, which had surrounded the Misea army, immediately reversed its course. It fell into a heavy encirclement itself, trapped within the Valley of Ramun. The army of 100,000 was trapped for an entire month, before their supplies ran out. The Grand Duke committed suicide, and the army surrendered to Engido.

After that defeat, of the five orc nations of Menkaure, Engido, Beira, Misea and Schinlas, only the kingdoms of Engido and Beira remained. The Kingdom of Engido occupied most of the orc lands.

Other than the lands belonging to the Kingdom of Beira, there were only some scattered lands that were unclaimed by the nations,which were inhabited by a few isolated orc clans. They lived alone, removed from the world, and rarely communicated with outsiders.

In the same year, the King of Beira died from an illness. A month after the prince succeeded him, Beira surrendered to the Kingdom of Engido. From then on, all of the orc lands were unified by the Kingdom of Engido. This was an unprecedented affair.

Many empires had occupied up to half of the orc lands, before halting. The halting was due to the age of the founding monarchs, the internal rebellions, and the increasing pressures from within. As such, they lost the chance to unify the land.

Verthandi relied on the combination of her divine authority and leadership as a ruler to take advantage of the orcs' strong desires for peace, after so many wars. All of the orc lands finally fell under her control as one unified empire.

Sarga City, the thousand-year holy land of the orcs and the birthplace of the first King, had lain abandoned since the Twelfth Orc King, Wolf King Costa, had perished in battle against the human Golden King Ahenaten. It had been rebuilt as a teeming metropolis.

The magnificent city now stood as a strong fortress. According to Verthandi's old strategy, the Tribal Reform Program was implemented in the orc lands. A large number of landless poor were relocated to the south, with the goal of having them inhabit the lands that used to form the Kingdom of Menkaure, while forming new cities and villages.

More than 100,000 people were relocated to the city of Sarga, set to begin rebuilding the new royal capital. Perhaps it should not be called a royal capital, but rather an imperial capital, which eventually became a huge metropolis. Many people wished to live here, but even more people gathered to seek the lucrative potential that was available within the capital.

Gradually, merchants arrived, as markets and shops began popping up. People from all walks of life began to settle there. Throughout its construction, little by little, it really became a large city with a diverse population.

Verthandi had led a large army through the Ayers Mountains, arriving at the sacred city of the orcs, which had slept for a millennium, as its next master. The city's towering walls, its hefty majesty, and its gate that could allow ten carriages to enter at once, was now all hers.

All of the people in the city came out to look at the legendary Orc King, the master of the Sword of the King, and God's chosen messenger. A large number of soldiers kneeled by the city gate, waiting for Verthandi to enter her new capital.

But, Verthandi was looking elsewhere. Her gaze rested at the foot of the Ayers Mountains.

There once was a small town called Ayer there, which was a sparsely populated town, filled with simple and kind people. There had been many cat-people and dog-people living there at one time.

In fact, it had been her childhood home. She closed her eyes, as many wonderful memories appeared vividly in her mind...

Daddy! Daddy! What are you looking at?

Daddy! Daddy! It's raining outside.

Daddy! I'm hungry!

Daddy, where are we going?

Verthandi could almost see the tall, handsome man before her, with his usual calm and gentle smile, only for her.