Chapter 252: : Apocalypse (I)

After the destruction of the Crete Empire, the Holy Seville Empire also collapsed during the ghost outbreak. The southwest region of the Holy Seville Empire was reduced to mere ruins, while weeds took over several major cities. Orcs still suffered to this day from the severe trauma that the ghost disaster caused.

For this reason, a large number of orcs began to migrate to the south. The central province became an area where people and orcs lived together. They even established new countries, where they lived together in peace.

After a series of annexations and integrations, more than a hundred years later, a large number of mixed-race orcs eventually dominated the population. The beliefs of the Church of Light and the Faith of the Sun became intricately woven into the public's chosen religion.

In Maple Leaf City in the Urabell Kingdom, a wooden sign that indicated an allegiance to a mercenary union was noticeable outside of a local tavern. It was this city that was largely responsible for the demise of the Crete Empire.

Hundreds of thousands of orc slaves had rebelled, and this city was the last place where they retreated. Count Titer then ordered that the Nami Riverbed be dug out. Within a hundred miles, the city became like a vast swamp, which led to the deaths of millions of orc slaves.

Now, over the past hundred years, this original city had become known as the Kingdom of Urabell. Also, Maple Leaf City was no longer the political center, but just a ruined small city.

On the first floor of the tavern, there were men in knight's armor, outfitted with swords and steel shields. There were also glory knights and archers with long bows.

Also at the tavern also tramps, beautiful waiters, and scantily clad dancers. Under all of the dancers' skirts, black cattails could be seen peeking out. This was because all of them had some human and orc blood, which resulted in such physical characteristics.

"One more dance!"

"Beatrice, don't be a maid here. Why don't you come with me? I promise you'll have everything you want!"

"Carol the Dwarf! You didn't die in the Grey Castle. Those da*n barbarians didn't kill you?"

"I'm tough! This pair of axes! See?"

"Are there any good jobs around here lately? These nobles and kings are fighting all day. I risk my life to earn so little!"

Those sitting within the tavern quarreled with and scolded one another. However, no one dared to cause trouble here, as the mercenary union was just upstairs.

In this central province, the outbreak of war had led to the emergence of a special organization, which was known as the mercenary union. Over the past decades, various mercenary teams emerged from this collective union.

Some of them had only three or four members, while others had thousands. Eventually, the mercenary union became a full-fledged management organization.

Within the tavern this night, most of the patrons were mercenaries. Some were experienced fighters, while others were Blood Knights. There was even one who was sitting at the corner of a table who looked like a Temple Knight.

There was also a young man, who was wearing a white cloak and armor, which signified that he was a mercenary priest. Among the others, some of them appeared to be wizard apprentices.

If these people had met decades ago, they would have fought each other fiercely. However, in this tavern, they sat together and drank in peace.

Over two hundred years had passed since the emergence of the extraordinary powers. Nowadays, priests, Temple Knights, and wizards had begun to appear in large numbers.

In every kingdom, there were priests and red cardinal bishops who mastered the extraordinary powers. Even the smallest cities and towns had priests who had extraordinary powers.

This meant that the wizards who had been active on the mainland could no longer do whatever they wanted, at least not like they could hundreds of years ago. Now, any ill-intentioned action would lead to a large number of Temple Knights and priests coming to suppress them.

At the same time, the rituals of the baptism ceremony of priests and the inheritances of the Temple Knights were not as strictly adhered to as before. Thus, there were a large number of idle priests and wandering Temple Knights who roamed the land. Although they were loyal to their respective gods, they did not fight for any official party.

Because extraordinary powers now appeared everywhere, they all lost their old high statuses. This meant that the wizard apprentices, priests, and knights did not receive as much attention as they used to. After all, each small town had its own churches and priests now.

Within each small city in the orc kingdom, there were also teams of Holy Knights. Some of the priests and Temple Knights who were unwilling to be nobodies in small villages chose to leave. Therefore, in the central province, Temple Knights, priests, and wizards formed their own mercenary corps in order to make a living.

The mercenary union was located on the second floor, just above the tavern. It had a receptionist and guards. At the moment, many mercenaries were waiting to be assigned their next jobs or checking with the reception desk on their statuses.

"Great job, 100 gold coins! Go to Misty Forest to catch a magical beast cub!"

"The Dean Principality is experiencing civil strife again. Duke Dean recruits mercenary corps to help suppress the rebellion. Pay will be on a daily basis..."

"The Red Caltrop Chamber of Commerce is employing mercenaries to escort them through the Bull Mountain Range to the Kingdom of Mara."

"Lord Huggs is looking for someone to investigate the strange things that are taking place in his territory. Let me know if you want to take over!"

The lobby was very busy. There were job lists hanging on the wall, while letters possessing orders arrived constantly.

The mercenary union used ravens as the messengers for these letters. This kind of raven had been bred from jays. Although it didn't have the jays' extraordinary powers, the species could speak!

This method of message conveyance, which was said to have originally been used by the wizards to communicate with each other, gradually became popular among the kingdoms. This growth in popularity then naturally led to the popularization of cultivating jays.

At the same time, jays, which were loyal to human beings, had become a very popular noble pet on the mainland. Every jay egg could now be sold at an auction for a high price.

Lynn Ahenaten, who was dressed in polished armor, stood in the mission lobby. Behind him was a two-meter-tall half-orc. This half-orc had two curved horns and a grim face.

Lynn Ahenaten was a native half-orc from the central province. His mother had tiger blood, as she was a descendant of the orcs who escaped from the north. She had migrated to the central province to escape the ghost breakout.

It could be seen from his strong body and facial features that, under the influence of his mother, Lynn Ahenaten had joined the town's Knights' team when he was a teenager, then was later chosen by the town's Holy Knights. At that time, he was officially made a Temple Knight.

Lynn's father claimed to be a direct descendant of Ahenaten, the oldest king. This would make Lynn the heir of the Ahenaten family, also known as the Golden Family.

Nevertheless, the Ahenaten family had disappeared for a long time, and Lynn himself did not really believe his father's claims. But, after Lynn became a mercenary, in order to gain fame, he added Ahenaten as his surname in order to show his noble blood.

However, only a few half-orcs believed it. Most of the half-orcs merely laughed at him.

"After we make some more money, we must build a large mercenary crop! Then, everyone will know our names! Wake up. Let's see if there are any good jobs today. Otherwise, we're all going to starve!" As Lynn was trying to motivate his colleagues, many of them did not pay much attention to him.

Theirs was a small mercenary team that had just recently been formed. The members had come from all over the world, and there were eight of them in total.

Lynn's mercenary team had originally wanted to name themselves the Golden Dynasty or the Paladin, but they were told that these two names had already been taken by two other mercenary teams. So, they chose the name Stormy Mercenary.

"We really need a job to make a lot of money!" Lynn said, unrelenting. "How about this one? Escort the deported Prince Monar back to the Kingdom of Mara, then help him ascend the throne. Wow, the reward is good. We can get a huge territory, the title of Earl, and countless lovely king heads (gold coins) with that reward!"

Lynn picked up a job notice at random, and as he read it aloud, all of his team members quieted in an instant. Then, Douri, who was a half-orc with sheep's blood, patted Lynn on the shoulder and said, "That notice has been on the list for more than half a year. To bring the deported Prince to the throne, you need to fight the current King of Mara, and he has at least a hundred thousand soldiers in his army! And we, uh... There are only eight of us! So, would you like to recruit a few more?"

Everyone looked at Lynn as if he was a fool. At this moment, he felt that not one of his men trusted in him.

He actually momentarily thought about leaving the team, then just laughed and said, "I'm kidding, I meant the following one, regarding the Red Caltrop Chamber of Commerce. The reward is attractive. And, we just need to protect them through the Bull Mountain Range into the Kingdom of Mara."

As he spoke, he attempted to cover his embarrassing blunder by moving quickly to the next job notice. The group then quickly left Maple Leaf City to embark on its first mission.