Chapter 222 - Settlement Issues

Some scenarios were quite challenging, where the Hobgoblin Cavalry not only dismounted but even formed a step-ladder for each other. With the combined strength of three Hobgoblins, they managed to get their Ferocious Wolf mounts up over the four-meter-high low cliff, then climbed up them using the wolves’ reins.Four meters was already the height of most town walls.

Gaven never even had a chance to take action, spending more time watching Blood Claw lead the Goblin Wolf Cavalry in a demonstration.

Intent on showcasing his and his troops’ capabilities to the new lord, Blood Claw applied all of his knowledge to the utmost.

Ten kilometers, neither far nor near.

It took the Goblin Wolf Cavalry less than an hour to sweep the area.

Don’t think an hour is long—this is the Rocklands, with its highly complex terrain, and they were also engaged in intermittent combat.

Reaching ten kilometers in an hour, that speed was nearly unimaginable.

After leading them on a loop, Blood Claw returned from another valley, taking slightly longer this time, around an hour and a half.

That was the deficiency of the Wolf Cavalry, astonishing speed over short distances but lacking the endurance of warhorses.

If they continued their rapid assault, their speed would slow even further.

When Gaven led them back to the Black Reaper Camp,

the battlefield had already been cleaned up under Stelina’s command.

All the bodies had been gathered together, vassal troops in one pile, Jackalweres in another, and the surrounding area was already stacked with flammable wood.

As two torches were thrown in, the roaring flames erupted.

The Hobgoblins gathered around the pile of their fallen comrades, clapping their hands and stamping their feet, singing a rousing War Song without much signs of sorrow on their faces. To them, death was common fare; these warriors wouldn’t take long to resurrect in the God Kingdom of the Great Power Maglubiyet, to follow him in eternal holy wars within the Shura Field.

As for the pile of Jackalweres, as the flames blazed, their ghostly wails rose to the sky, and a dark fog surged upwards, condensing into a grotesque form of a Jackalwere, greedily tearing out the souls of all the Jackalweres and swallowing them, as if descending into another world.

This fog-formed Jackalwere seemed to possess its own consciousness, casting its malevolent gaze over everyone present, lingering longest on Gaven.

This caused many to tense up involuntarily, gripping their weapons tighter.

The feared attack never happened.

This was merely a shadow formed of dark fog, not a real Demon summoned into the Material Plane.

This apparition was the deity of the Jackalwere race, Yenogu, who had just come to collect his spoils of war. These Jackalweres, infused with the Power of the Abyss, were akin to those who signed a demonic pact; their souls would skip the step of Judgment and plunge directly into his Abyssal domain, becoming his new subjects.

This was the price of utilizing Abyssal power.

When all the Jackalwere souls had been harvested, the apparition dissipated, reverting to dark fog that melted away into the heavens and earth.

Only then did Lord Virginia get a chance to approach Gaven and whisper, "What’s going on?"

There was no need to ask to know she meant the matter of the True God Blood Oath.

The man before her was like an enigma.

Just as one veil was lifted and one believed to have a clear understanding of him,

a new veil appeared.

"It’s the work of the Fate Reshaper," Gaven didn’t beat around the bush but explained in a way that Virginia could accept, "Killing the big boss of the Black Reapers might have changed their fate, creating a remarkable destiny entwined, thus triggering a chain reaction."

Unexpectedly, Lord Virginia accepted this foggy explanation and seemed to understand it, musing, "The power of destiny is even more magical and stronger than I imagined. How do you plan to settle them?"

"Do I even need to say it? Of course, we’ll recruit them. Our territory’s biggest shortfall right now is a flexible and powerful army, and this solves it all at once," Gaven answered without hesitation.

Even without the True God Blood Oath, he would have certainly recruited these Hobgoblins.

"What I meant is, where do you plan to station them? Such an army will need considerable military logistics, and it’s not a small amount," Lord Virginia pinpointed the crucial issue.

Maintaining such a large force, particularly with hundreds of Ferocious Wolves, wasn’t a minor daily expense, considering the devastated state of these Hobgoblins, with only the strong spared by the Black Reaper.

This meant that while they were powerful, they lacked their already fragile supply line.

Sooner or later, they would depend entirely on the sustenance provided by Dragon Oak Territory. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ NovᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt

Scattering them and settling them in Blackwell Town or Eagle Cliff Town was one solution.

But Gaven was somewhat reluctant, especially with the support of the True God Blood Oath, believing that their strength was most potent when concentrated.

A thought crossed Gaven’s mind, and he said with a half-smile, "Could it be that you’ve thought of a suitable place?"

Lord Virginia responded with a smile, "Don’t you think Tear Lake Valley is quite suitable? If you tell me that they don’t need the assistance of Spring Bud Forest for their supplies, just pretend I didn’t say anything."

"You want me to guard your doorstep again."

"Shouldn’t I?"

"You should, of course you should."

In the midst of their laughter, the two had reached an agreement.

Gaven pulled out a dagger to use as a pen and rapidly sketched a simple map in the dirt, marking a spot and saying, "Even for guarding the door, there’s no need to be so close by. The most suitable site for establishing a military encampment would be right here at this point."

The map drawn by Gaven was simple enough.

A straight line running from east to west was marked as High Road.

To the north of High Road, a line was flanked by three black dots, labeled Pitfall Town, Blackwell Town, and Eagle Cliff Town respectively.

To the south of High Road, directly below the space between Blackwell Town and Eagle Cliff Town, was marked Tear Lake Valley.

The new spot he pointed out was positioned on High Road, nearly equidistant from Blackwell Town, Eagle Cliff Town, and Tear Lake Valley.

Before Lord Virginia could speak, Gaven began explaining the rationale: "From here, supporting three points would be cost-effective, to say the least, with the furthest not more than ten kilometers away. If the enemy does not take this place down, they would inevitably face an attack from both front and rear. Yet, if they attacked here, they would face an encirclement from three sides. That’s one point.

Secondly, the convenience of supplies. In the later stages, not only can the three towns sustain this military town, but a portion of the food from High Road could be directly transferred here too. After all, the Spring Bud Forest area has relatively limited farmland, and foraging alone provides a very limited supply. Supporting just Eagle Cliff has been challenging enough—adding another military town could prove very difficult to sustain..."

Gaven paused slightly and added, "If you consider opening a few large farms in the Spring Bud Forest, I can think about placing the military town in Tear Lake Valley."

Lord Virginia rolled his eyes at Gaven, "If I dared to give such an order, by tomorrow thousands from the Fae Race would come knocking, and by the day after, it could escalate to the Fairy Court. I wouldn’t be Lord for long then. The pace of establishing those large farms would not keep up with the speed of their destruction. You sure do come up with ideas, suggesting starting farms in the Fairy Wilderness."

"That was not a joke, just kidding!" Gaven chuckled awkwardly, knowing that his joke was out of place and quickly steering the conversation back to the matter at hand, "Thirdly, with their presence here, the safety of High Road entering the Rocklands would significantly improve, allowing us to accelerate the road construction plans."

"Sounds indeed like a good location," Lord Virginia admitted after listening, nodding his head, "Only, this means you’ve added another construction site. Can your Gnolls keep up?"

If one carefully counted, there were quite a few large construction projects in Dragon Oak Territory.

The Dragon Oak Dragon Nest, the construction of the roadway from Eagle Cliff Town to Blackwell Town connecting to High Road, and now a military town had been added to the agenda, not to mention the subsequent maintenance of High Road.

Gaven sighed, "An empty canvas allows for free painting, and everything must be done by our own hands. But the good thing is that it’s enjoyable, and once successful, the reward will be remarkable. Let’s go meet my future General."

Of course, the future General Gaven referred to was Blood Claw.

Seeing Gaven and Lord Virginia approaching, Blood Claw hurried over and kneeled on one knee, "Blood Claw has seen the Leader. Thank you, Leader, for extending a helping hand regardless of past grievances."

"Stand up, stand up and talk," Gaven said, smiling and helping the Hobgoblin Warlord, who was kneeling on one knee, as tall as himself, to his feet, "To be honest, this is not our first encounter."

The usually unreserved Hobgoblin Warlord now couldn’t help but show a bittersweet smile, "Leader, you recognized me."

"Fate, it’s all fate," Gaven chuckled, "Who would have thought we would become family after all these twists and turns? Black Reaper has done a lot of bad things, but they did one good thing here. Tell me about your experiences after leaving Blackwell!"

"As ordered." Blood Claw briefly recounted the events after leading the Blood Claw Tribe into migration.

One could only say that their luck was down, and their fortune adverse.

Just as they were ready to rise and eliminate their long-time rival, the Pitfall Tribe, they encountered the rising Blackwell Tribe.

After initiating migration, thanks to his supreme command and the prowess of the Hobgoblin Wolf Cavalry, they had just begun to turn the tide.

However, they collided head-on with the eastward advance of Black Reaper and barely withstood the shock of the vassal troops, only to be ravaged by a crazed pack of Jackalweres, leaving them no choice but to be swept along.

Just as he used his own cunning and the mobility of the Hobgoblin Wolf Cavalry to secure the lead among the vassal troops within Black Reaper, they ran into Gaven’s Dragon Oak Territory once more.

But this time, he made a wise choice not to clash with Gaven, instead returning on his own to backstab Black Reaper.

Blood Claw was also a talented individual, undaunted and determined no matter the hardships faced, using his resourcefulness to seek greater power and a larger space for survival.

In the last three months, he truly underwent a baptism of blood and fire, growing into a qualified Hobgoblin Warlord.

If Blackwell had faced the Blood Claw of now at the start, it’s likely Blackwell would have become history.

Of course, Blood Claw wasn’t the only one who grew. The pace of Gaven’s growth startled Blood Claw as well, and this was only the tip of the iceberg he could see. If he saw the full picture of Dragon Oak Territory, he would exclaim that he made the wisest choice of his life.

"You’ve worked hard," said Gaven, wanting to pat the other’s shoulder but finding it too troublesome, so he patted his arm instead, "You will temporarily command this army. Pack up all the resources you can take from this place and bring them all with you. I will arrange a new station for you."

"At your command," Blood Claw responded loudly, full of drive. He had thousands of sturdy Hobgoblins at his disposal, and with sufficient resources and time, he could forge a formidable iron-blooded legion—his greatest dream.

With the True God Blood Oath in place, many things became much easier.

When using Blood Claw, Gaven didn’t have to be wary or suspicious, at least until the other faced a temptation greater than the punishment of Maglubiyet, the True God.

Blood Claw also didn’t have to worry about Gaven harming him. The True God Blood Oath may not have binding force on Gaven, but no Lord, especially ambitious ones, would refuse the loyalty of strong, devoted soldiers.