“Run! Just run! I only need to be faster than everyone else!”

The strong and mighty Nuer, leader of the Ogres, had abandoned his heavy armor, revealing his gruesome wounds. All he wanted was to survive, and the guilt of fleeing and causing the complete collapse of his tribe did not faze him.

To him, his tribe belonged to him; he was their sky. The desire to live overpowered everything else; even if he ran, even if he abandoned his people, it mattered little to him.

If he managed to escape, he could gather a small group of survivors in the Wilderness, smaller than even the Ogres. With time, he could build another tribe, or at the very least pledge allegiance to Grugesh. Either outcome was better than dying by an unknown road.

However, Nuer’s plans conflicted with Richard’s. Regardless of the grand moral principles forbidding them from letting the tiger return to its lair, the mere sight of Nuer, a target in their midst, was enough to harden Richard’s resolve to kill him.

Richard and Ronen pursued Nuer relentlessly.

The man-eating demon warrior’s speed was impressive, and the two riders struggled to catch up.

“Chirp, chirp…”

As Nuer fled, a shrill cry sounded from above, and a shadow stretched over him as a Griffin’s sharp claws swiped at his head.

“Bang!”

In the end, Nuer was a seasoned warrior, and the Griffin’s talon strike, which was usually more than enough to dispatch any ordinary demon, was blocked by Nuer’s club in a backhanded swing. With a single flick of the wolf fang club, the Griffin plummeted to the ground, letting out a mournful cry as it landed.

Had Nuer lingered for even a second longer, he could have dealt the Griffin a killing blow—but he had no such intention. Richard and Ronen were still hot on his tail, and he dared not engage in a prolonged battle.

Yet even though Nuer had no desire to prolong the fight, Richard didn’t give him the chance. Almost as soon as Nuer took a few steps, another Griffin descended from the sky, charging directly toward him. More Griffins surrounded him, keeping Nuer pinned in place.

“Thwack!”

Richard’s sword stabbed through Nuer’s torso, and the griffon’s grip ensured that Nuer could not escape. Richard swiftly withdrew his sword, crimson dripping from the blade’s tip as Nuer’s blood spurted out.

The demon continued to swing his wolf fang club at Richard, attempting to attack, but once he realized that his chances of escape were slim, he displayed the ferocity expected of a cannibal demon. Unfortunately, before he could close in on Richard, another sword pierced the back of his torso.

Ronen’s blade effectively ended Nuer’s life, and the demon’s blood gushed from the wound as Ronen withdrew his sword, leaving only Nuer’s fingers twitching slightly—as if in defiance.

With the fall of the cannibal demon warrior, the battle came to a close. The only tasks remaining were mop-up operations.

Since Richard had ordered that no prisoners were to be taken, his subordinates pursued the fleeing enemy with relentless vigor. In the distance, bloodcurdling screams still echoed from time to time.

“Victory!”

As the last of the orcs fell, Richard once again received the familiar notification of triumph.

“6,200 experience points earned!”

“Congratulations! You have been promoted!”

Over the course of this battle, over four hundred orcs had been eliminated—some dozens more than the previous night, and with slightly more experience to be gained.

The progress bar for the ordinary orcs mission had already far surpassed its goal, but only two elite orcs had been killed, leaving the majority still to be defeated.

However, Richard had finally earned enough experience to level up, reaching level 6.

Richard opened his character window to take a look:

Level: 6 (5,260/15,000)

Strength: 15.1

Constitution: 14.6

Agility: 14.3

Spirit: 4.7

Skills: Beast Breathing Style (Grandmaster rank); Green Qi-Attracting Technique (Intermediate rank); Offensive Maneuvers (Intermediate rank).

Specialty: Leadership

Available skill points: 2

Units: Centaur chief (40); spearmen (102); sword dancers (15); marksmen (65); griffins (35); crusaders (23).

In the past few days, his forces had suffered eight casualties among the spearmen. Although they had won all their battles by overwhelming margins, spearmen were a tier-one unit, and even with Richard’s Offensive Technique buff, they were much weaker than the cannibals. The casualties were inevitable.

As his level increased, Richard’s attributes had grown as well, and he had gained a couple more skill points, though no new skills appeared. Richard was a bit disappointed; it seemed that new skills were unlocked randomly, and this time, he’d just been unlucky.

Without much hesitation, Richard added both skill points to Offensive Technique. Training could be done slowly over time, but aside from spending skill points, he had no other way to improve Offensive Technique.

After spending those two skill points, Offensive Technique successfully upgraded from intermediate to advanced, and its effect changed to a 45 percent attack bonus.

Never mind the other units, with the Knights of Lorent’s specialty and Richard’s advanced Offensive Technique, the crusaders were significantly stronger yet again. Richard suspected that he might not be able to defeat a crusader under his command now, but this was a happy problem indeed.

Once Richard upgraded Offensive Technique to master level, the crusaders, with their sharp blade skills and abundant battle experience, would likely be able to contend directly with elite knights.

“Lord Richard, shall we make camp for the night?”

After witnessing the strength of Richard’s forces firsthand, Baron Bandel had become even more deferential toward him.

What were noble titles anyway? With the Hunter family’s strength and their accumulated battle achievements, a title of nobility was already in their pocket. And with the Northern Expeditionary Army’s recent defeat, the Lancelot Family’s position…

Hastily securing the Hunter family’s support was most prudent.

“No need to make camp,” Richard replied. “Leave some auxiliary troops to clean up the battlefield, and let’s head to the shoals immediately; they won’t wait long for us.”

Richard, eager to upgrade, had no idea what Baron Bandel was thinking. He simply wanted to hurry to the shoals and join the other cannon fodder—no, allies—to annihilate the last, most powerful tribe of cannibal demons.

“Yes, my lord.”