GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

Sharon asked more questions. She was interested in knowing how a race with more potential than humans could be defeated and forced to relinquish their lands to humans. The other two also had more questions, which Deva replied to to the best of his abilities.

They chatted while waiting. Eventually, four large falcons flew down to carry them over the mountains. Their vantage point aboard the falcon granted them a nice view of what was going on down below. They finally saw the town in front of the fortress. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

They didn't see it earlier because they were far away from it. What they saw was the fortress because it was so big.

They didn't understand how far away they were from the fortress and how big it was until they became close to it. It reminded them of the Great Wall of China but bigger. The entire wall was the fortress. It barricaded the passage through the mountains and also served as a barrack for the soldiers stationed there.

They could see that the fortress was a hive of activity. The soldiers appeared to be preparing for war. The top of the wall and the other side facing the jungle were all fitted with ballistas and catapults, which were currently being cleaned and checked. It made them wonder what the soldiers were preparing for.

They saw the answer to that question very soon. They saw a tide of orcs on the opposite side of the fortress. The orcs had various colors, which was a sight to see. They had cleared a large area of the forest and used the wood and stones to build large weapons of war. They also had tents that formed a barricade around the siege weapons.

Taylor said, "I am guessing this is why the humans won't be in control of the fortress for long."

Deva said piously, "We will be victorious not because of the strength of our arms, but because the 9 Crowns has decreed it."

The former humans now turned heroes shared a skeptical glance. They didn't share the same faith in gods as the NPC.

Their way of life and the games they have played have made them think of gods as simply powerful mortals. Taylor himself has killed a lot of the so-called gods in many games. So they don't think they are going to win just because their god has decreed it to be so.

If anything, the sight of such fanaticism has made him believe that the power of gods might be exaggerated. It is because, just like love, faith tends to blind believers to the reality of the situation.

The reality of the situation is that the humans had already beaten the orcs before, and now they are flying over a mountain range in an attempt to avoid the fortress that sealed the mountain pass.

Deva claimed that it was the absence of mana, the lack of assistance from the gods, and the infighting between the orcs that made the ancient Orc Empire fall.

The priest believes that now that those problems have been solved, victory will be certainly theirs. But they are not so sure the humans should be underestimated.

After all, even Deva claims that the human race is currently the largest race. A weak race can't become the largest if they don't have something that makes them thrive over the others.

Sharon asked, "Will the gods be involved in this upcoming battle?"

Deva shook his head as he replied, "I do not know the ways of our god. The ways of the 9 Crowns is not for us to understand. We are to simply do what we have been asked to do." Taylor asked, "What is it then that we are to do? What part will we play in this war?"

He shook his head again. "I do not know either. I am guessing you will get to find out soon when we meet the 9 Crowns."

Black Knife shrugged and said, "It doesn't matter what we think. We are heroes now. All we have to do is listen to orders."

They stopped chatting when the falcons swooped down to deliver them to the largest tent. There were other orcs with golden armor around this tent. It made the heroes assume that they were priests and that this tent must be very important.

They were ushered into the tent by Deva. The tent revealed itself to be a temple. There were religious decorations everywhere. There was also a large altar at the center of the tent. People were surrounding it and bowing before it.

Deva said to them, "Kneel and bow."

The three of them listened to him. They mimicked the other priests around them and bowed. Soon a presence appeared amongst them.

The first thing that tipped them off to the strange presence was that they found it difficult to breathe. The presence made the air stagnant and sticky. Being around it was suffocating.

The three of them wheezed and struggled to breathe. They wanted to speak, but the air had become heavy. It was as if they had heavy water in their lungs. They couldn't exhale or inhale. Soon their vision narrowed as they began to lose consciousness. They fell to the ground, clutching their chest, and curled up in the fetal position. All of these happened in less than one minute despite them being strong enough to hold their breath for more than a minute.

Eventually the pressure eased enough for them to breathe again. It was slow and hard, but they could breathe. It meant that they wouldn't die.

They regained some of their strength and were able to look up from where they were on the ground. They found a golden figure standing above them and looking down on them.

The golden figure said, "Do you know why I selected you?"

They didn't know if they should answer. They also didn't know if their answer was correct,

and they didn't want to say the wrong thing. So they were silent as they contemplated. But the figure continued anyway.