Chapter 745: Bloodier truth

The slaughter continued. Orion and Leonidas’s forces had suffered vast losses.

To replenish their forces quickly and continue north, their only option was to summon a large undead army.

Summoning an undead army required corpses—it required sacrifices.

The countless enemies before them were the designated offerings.

Therefore, they had to die!

Of course, Orion didn’t need to handle these matters personally. Once he gave the orders, his Legendary powerhouses could carry them out.

What Orion needed to do now was to relocate suitable members of his Horde to the Emerald Dream Realm, one by one.

If half the Dusk Continent was managed well, Orion could soon ascend to the Archlord level.

This matter was both urgent and crucial for Orion.

“Hahaha, did you see that? Wherever the dragon passed, they all pissed their pants and fled in terror!”

Perhaps having had his fill of fun, Leonidas reverted to his human form and rejoined Orion.

“Bro, according to you, those two Archlords wouldn’t dare to intervene personally. Would they really be willing to let their kin and soldiers here be slaughtered by us?”

Before relocating his people, Orion wanted to confirm a few more things.

Leonidas understood the question behind Orion’s question. He pointed to the battlefield and asked,

“Little bro, if the enemy wiped out all the people you and I brought, what would happen to us?”

“We’d suffer heavy losses, but our foundations would remain. We could still stage a comeback.”

Orion answered without a second thought.

And indeed, it was true. Orion’s foundations were in the Valkorath Realm and the Titanion Realm.

“See? You haven’t even advanced to Archlord, yet you have your own lines of retreat. Do you think those veteran Archlords wouldn’t?”

“To put it bluntly, before the war even broke out, they would have already transferred away important personnel and resources.”

Orion had a sudden realization and nodded in deep agreement.

“Bro, what if they are the native inhabitants of their original world?”

Orion raised another question, wondering about the fate of native populations.

“A native’s home base generally doesn’t change, but that doesn’t stop them from sending their descendants to other worlds to spread and flourish.”

“How do you think the other races in your Horde’s world came to be?”

“Which races there are truly native?”

“When a new world is discovered, weak natives either submit immediately or are wiped out at the first opportunity.”

From Leonidas, Orion learned an even crueler, bloodier truth.

Of course, the implications of this information made Orion even more expectant.

“Bro, are you saying there are still undiscovered new worlds?”

Orion gazed at Leonidas, hoping for the answer he envisioned.

“That’s for sure. Think about it—wasn’t our old world vast?”

“Even a universe that enormous could merge into this world.”

Leonidas’s voice suddenly became profound and ethereal, lending him an inscrutable air.

“Now, try to imagine: how big is this world really?”

“Endless? Or a world in a grain of sand?”

“Bro, there will be many more bizarre things in the future. Don’t be surprised by anything you see.”

“What we need to do is lie low and endure. Lie low and endure until the very end.”

Only when this final sentence was uttered did Leonidas emerge from that ethereal state.

“Thank you for your guidance!”

Leonidas nodded.

“Little bro, let’s put aside those vague and ethereal matters for now.”

“Let’s talk about the current situation.”

Orion nodded, his expression one of respectful attention.

Leonidas pointed to the great northern mountain range, his tone grave.

“The fact that the races over there can coexist with our enemies on this side, separated by mountains, indicates only one thing: their strength is no less than that of those here—possibly even greater.”

He used “enemies” to describe both factions because when Orion and Leonidas invaded the factions on this side, those from the north sent no aid.

“Also, the fact that your Shadow Paper Figure was destroyed means the races over there are very wary of us.”

“It will be very difficult to just steamroll your way through.”

Leonidas concluded that a direct, overwhelming push was not viable.

Orion agreed with this point.

“Bro, what do we do next?”

Orion deferred to Leonidas, who had more experience invading large worlds. His understanding of such situations was, in most cases, deeper than Orion’s.

“First, rest and reorganize. Second, accumulate strength. Third, improve your own power.”

Rest and reorganization were for the wyvern and cave spider armies; both needed time to breed new generations.

Fortunately, after this war, Orion and Leonidas would receive countless dark source crystals and corpses for food, giving them the resources to mass-produce cannon-fodder troops.

Accumulating strength was for the undead armies.

Many undead would be summoned next, and these undead armies would need graveyards for the undead and skeletons to slumber in.

They would only be awakened when war began.

Without deadlands to sustain them, many undead and skeletons would naturally dissipate.

With too many undead, Vexis and Rumbold simply couldn’t manage them all.

Thus, building deadlands and graveyards became a necessity.

Furthermore, if war broke out with the northern enemies and the conflict once again reached a stalemate, having graveyards to fall back on would ensure the undead armies’ supply lines remained intact.

Vexis and Rumbold would have an easier time then.

The point about improving personal strength was mainly directed at Orion.

“Little bro, if you can advance to Archlord before we go to war with those on the other side of the mountains, our subsequent battles will be much easier.”

“A shift in top-tier combat power has a greater impact on the overall strategic situation.”

Leonidas said this very seriously, with utmost gravity.

“You saw it too: the avatars of those two Archlords weren’t weak. Their true bodies are likely even stronger.”

“They might even be at peak Archlord strength. When they can no longer sit still and decide to enter the fray personally, the pressure on us will increase significantly.”

This was also the truth, and a prediction for the future.

Of course, if it truly came to that, Leonidas’s true body would also descend; he wouldn’t fear his opponents.

But then again, as mentioned before, if he could avoid using his true body, Leonidas absolutely would.

Wouldn’t it be far better for the true body to lie low and pull strings from the shadows?

“I understand!”

Orion took Leonidas’s advice to heart.

Their next steps were to recuperate while gathering intelligence on the northern half of the continent.

“Little bro, to tell you the truth, I can vaguely sense that the number of Archlord powerhouses on the other side of those mountains will be greater than here.”

“The next war will likely be even tougher.”

Leonidas’s tone was heavy, and his gaze towards the north was solemn.