Empire Of Souls - Chapter 117 Taking Charge 3

Although not all the commanders and officers of the tribes stationed in the main camp were present in the command tent at that time, the highest level of commanders were. With the heads of the army cut off, the soldiers began to search for the highest ranking living commanders among the tribesman. Warriors rushed frantically everywhere in search of the rest of the commanders and officers while crazily searching for the assassins that Grobak mentioned.

Unfortunately, the assassins seemed to be everywhere and no matter which tribal commander they sought, by the time they arrived, they were all dead. This included all the warriors who were guarding them and even servants who were nearby. Dozens of Orc warriors, Human warriors and other tribal race members were slain with looks of terror and fear plastered on their faces. Each kill was smooth and deadly and it was clear that those who were killed couldn’t put up any meaningful resistance. The thought of this frightened many of the warriors who could only guess how powerful their enemy must be to accomplish this.

Grobak was temporarily resting in a tent and being served by several tribal servants and slaves. They were tending to his wounds. Grobak put on his best show of pain and looked weary as if he had just gone through the most deadly of battles and just barely escaped with his life. Inwardly though, he was laughing sinisterly and mocking the tribals as fools. This was quite a humorous situation for him, especially since he was the one doling out the humiliation.

“My warriors should be arriving soon.” Grobak mumbled under his breath.

‘It’s about time to act. Time for a massacre and for my master’s splendid debut. I can’t stop laughing thinking about it!’ Grobak silently mused.

A fire soon swept through the main encampment of the barbarian Horde. The entire camp was in chaos, with many powerful tribal chiefs and their officers being assassinated. Only some of the chieftains of the less influential tribes in the camp had been left alive. The terror caused by the assassinations and the blazing flames which spread rapidly through the camp caused the entire camp to spiral out of control.

Without the majority of their leadership, there wasn’t any coordinated efforts to reign in the chaos. Small pockets of order could be found throughout the camp, but the majority of the barbarians were struggling to control the raging flames while attempting to put an end to the assassinations. By the time the killings stopped, the situation was already unmanageable. They were like a brood of headless chickens rushing about. An army of trained soldiers might not have fallen into such a precarious situation, but the Horde lacked structure to begin with.

The Harkul tribe was the largest and most powerful tribe, but only the elites of the Harkul were disciplined. The majority of their warriors were much more unruly and it was even worse for other tribes. Without the influential chiefs and tribal officers, it was difficult to organize the warriors in the camp and many groups formed each with their own ideas and many tribes even began to come to blows from past grievances. They were using this opportunity for selfish gain and petty revenge.

For Grobak, this was an excellent opportunity. This also didn’t escape the eyes of the Human defenders on the walls of the settlement who were cautiously observing the chaos below. They weren’t sure exactly what was going on at first, but after observing for a long time, they realized that this was an opportunity to raid the camp. Once they felt certain it was not a ruse, their forces launched a swift attack. The Human elites poured out of the settlement’s enormous northern gate and viciously attacked the barbarian’s main camp. This only added to the chaotic situation and many Orcs were slain before the situation could be alleviated.

Grobak couldn’t stop laughing while he watched the enemy forces raiding the Orc camp from a nearby hill. He had already left after disappearing into the chaos and had rendezvoused with his own tribe. After retreating from the southern wall earlier, they had circled around and eventually arrived just out of sight of the main camp. Because of the fighting, no one had been paying attention to them after they had traveled out of sight of the walls and then circled around. It had taken a couple of hours for them to arrive back at the main camp, and they had only just reached their destination after the Human army launched their raid.

Grobak stood fully armored while leaning his axe over his right shoulder. He grinned menacingly, his sharp Orc teeth visibly frightening. Several of his trusted officers stood nearby. They were both Human and Orc barbarian warriors and his most powerful tribesmen who he had personally trained.

“Look at the chaos down there, hahaha. A little killing, some fire, and they fall apart. Of course, it helps when you have a convenient enemy nearby for just such an occasion. Thrauld, Do you know what I think they need right now?”

Grobak turned to a burly Human barbarian standing on his right. The Human was bald, with a long braided beard and a scar which cut across his mouth. He was wearing a fur vest with his chest otherwise bare. His pants were made of hide and he wore thick hide boots.

Thrauld glanced at Grobak with a questioning eye raised, “No chief.”

Grobak laughed, “A man of few words, aren’t you. But that’s why I like you. It’s certainly not because of your mind. Pay attention, all of you. It’s clear that they need a hero and it’s a good thing a hero has showed up, isn’t it?”

It took a moment for Grobak’s officers to get his meaning, but they soon laughed along with Grobak.

“So, this was the plan all along?” A taller than average and extremely muscular Orc asked.

“That’s right Ruhge, this was the plan all along. With their leadership mostly gone, who else can they turn to but the mighty Grobak? Hahaha, hmm by now our master should be finishing up over there. We need to take control of the situation before he returns otherwise he might think we are useless. We can’t have that now can we? Let’s kill some Humans and bring honor to the Horde!”

The Orc and Human barbarians around Grobak cheered, raising their weapons high. Although this whole situation was a farce, they were excited to begin fighting.

Grobak motioned behind him and one of the officers waved a flag he was holding. Soon, Grobak’s tribe of fifty thousand charged over the hill and headed down towards the main camp below. The Human expeditionary army was especially careful, although they had launched a raid on the barbarian camp, they didn’t let their guard down. Their scouts quickly noticed the large number of warriors approaching.

With word of reinforcements, the Human forces issued an orderly retreat. By the time Grobak’s tribe had reached the camp, the expeditionary army had mostly retreated into the walls. There was a minor skirmish with the rear guard of the army, but Grobak only put on a show while staying at a safe distance from the walls of the settlement. He had accomplished what he set out to do and it wasn’t necessary to launch an attack on the walls just yet.

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Although there was some resistance, Grobak quickly took control of the main camp. His tribe was powerful and without the Harkul leadership, it wasn’t too difficult for Grobak to cow the resistors into submission. There was some fighting and several hundred warriors were eventually killed before order was once more obtained. The fires were put out, those who didn’t submit were killed, and all of the chieftains still alive were gathered. Most of those who resisted were warriors of the Harkul, but even they eventually submitted because it was true that there was no Harkul leadership present and it was wartime. Grobak had acted to bring order to the camp using military law and most eventually accepted it, at least until the Harkul chief returned. They assumed that once he returned, Grobak would be forced to stand down and he was only acting as temporary leader. This was something they could accept due to circumstances.

Of course, at that very moment, the chief of the Harkul had already died. He would never return.