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Seeing the blazing wall of fire and the enemy fleeing in all directions, Dolo snorted white steam from his nostrils and raised his axe, ready to charge into the enemy lines.

But he was stopped by Langpu.

"It’s time to retreat, Commander Dolo."

Dolo turned around in confusion, his red eyes full of resentment: "Langpu, with the situation like this, you’re telling me to retreat? Did you take bribes from those humans?"

Langpu replied calmly, "This is the master’s order. Do you also intend to defy it?"

Dolo spat on the ground, growling fiercely, "Langpu, don’t be so smug. I’ll report your lack of action in this war truthfully to the master."

"Hmph, let’s go!"

The hobgoblin commander then gathered his troops, preparing to retreat north of the pass.

Despite his anger, Dolo hadn’t lost all reason; he knew Langpu wouldn’t say this without reason.

Langpu ignored the enraged hobgoblin leader, instead pulling a special green-footed drake horn from his dimensional pouch, engraved with magical runes.

He activated it with ease.

Immediately, the majestic voice of the red dragon, recorded through magic, echoed across the battlefield like thunder.

"Followers of Embers Nest—"

"Obey the order, the whole army retreats!"

Langpu followed, shouting loudly:

"This is the master’s command, the will of the great red dragon!"

The ogres crushing soldiers into pulp raised their heads, the chimeras that had been rampaging turned their three heads in confusion, the lizardmen pulling bloodied spears from enemies paused, and the wyverns soaring with fire-breathing dives spread their wings, beginning to ascend.

Although Embers Nest’s kin didn’t understand why they were retreating, there was clearly no room for defiance against the red dragon’s orders.

So, even in the midst of a brutal slaughter, they reluctantly left the battlefield, following the command to withdraw. The ogres and hobgoblins ran, the ground dragons moved slowly, while the wyverns and chimeras flew in the sky, all heading toward the follower camp north of Terrell’s Maw.

Soon, only blood, the bodies of humans and monsters, and still-burning embers remained on the ground.

"Am I dreaming?"

"They… left?"

"The gods be praised, those monsters have retreated!"

"I… I actually survived…"

"Oh, heavens—"

The allied soldiers, who had just experienced brutal combat, stood in place, stunned. Most were covered in wounds and blood, dazed, mumbling to themselves as if in a dream.

This inexplicable "victory" didn’t inspire the usual cheers; instead, they felt a profound sense of relief from having escaped death.

The aide rode up, panting heavily as he reported, "My lord, my lord! Embers Nest’s followers have all retreated!"

Robert wiped the sweat from his forehead, finally exhaling in relief. At least he didn’t have to worry about a direct attack on their base.

But faced with this situation, he was still puzzled: "They clearly held the absolute advantage. Why did they retreat?"

Lord Shroud, the "Gray Hawk," had already withdrawn from the front lines, standing nearby in thought before he spoke softly, "Red dragons are greedy, stingy creatures that rarely grant blessings. Perhaps the power of these creatures wasn’t given freely. And every power has a price."

"In other words, they might be burning their own life force."

Robert pondered briefly before asking, "So you mean…"

"Embers Nest fears prolonged war?"

Shroud’s voice was raspy: "It’s just a reasonable guess."

"All I can say… is that it’s possible."

Robert walked out of the tent, looking at the receding figures of the wyverns in the sky, finally gritting his teeth as he made a decision.

"Then pursue them!"

"This is the allied forces’ last chance."

"We cannot let them recover again!"

The blaring horns of a charge sounded. Under Robert’s orders, the allied soldiers moved forward to reclaim their former positions, though their pace was slow.

The soldiers trudged forward wearily, even their horses whinnying in exhaustion.

"Soldiers, victory is within reach!"

"These monsters can’t hold out much longer!"

"You will be heroes of the North, preserving order!"

The officers shouted with enthusiasm, but the soldiers merely looked on coldly.

"Victory? What a joke."

"Has this guy ever seen a wyvern’s fangs?"

"Has he ever been struck by an ogre’s club?"

Grumbling voices rose in the ranks.

These soldiers, who had faced brutal combat, now harbored a desire to avoid further battle. They only refrained from deserting for self-preservation. Despite the officers’ repeated insistence on the monsters’ retreat, the soldiers maintained a slow pace, fearing they might catch up too quickly.

Their passive resistance to combat could not be punished by the officers through military law.

………

North of Terrell’s Maw.

Langpu stood halfway up the mountain, overlooking the slow-approaching allied forces below, a hint of an expectant smile on his ugly face.

"People of the North."

"You’ve finally come to meet your deaths…"

Surrounding him were the followers of Embers—ogres, hobgoblins, kobolds, lizardmen—even the captured nobles had been brought here.

They were still noisy, the frenzy from battle not yet fully subsided.

"I killed twelve humans with my hammer."

"Haha, I crushed them alive."

"It’s a pity, I wanted another taste of blood."

"Tsk tsk, isn’t there some right here?"

As they spoke, the monsters’ greedy eyes shifted toward the noble captives.

Viscount Luton was terrified of the monsters around him and anxiously asked the tiefling, "My lord, why… why did you bring us here?"

"Please ensure our safety."

Medrolash smiled without answering.

"I was just getting into the fight, and now we’ve retreated."

"Yeah, I only got six hundred contribution points."

"Is the war over?"

"Is there a final mission or something?"

"Isn’t there supposed to be a cutscene?"

The players, following the task prompt, also gathered at the camp on the mountainside, watching with interest.

Seeing the allied forces drawing near, Langpu merely raised his staff.

【Wall of Stone】

The ground rumbled loudly.

A thick stone wall slowly rose, sealing the only remaining exit from Terrell’s Maw and trapping the nearly ten thousand allied soldiers in the valley.

"This is what the master called ‘catching a turtle in a jar,’ I suppose."

Langpu looked down at the astonished allied forces below, muttering to himself.

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