Greem might have aided the three Swamp Giants as an ally.
However, when the Ango’rosh ogres had been routed, the Swamp Giants did not behave in a friendly manner towards Greem. If Greem hadn’t shown the Giants the strand of hair that Sage Moat had given him, they might have even have assaulted him.
The stubbornness and inflexibility of the swamp creatures couldn’t be more obvious!
The leader of the three Swamp Giants approached Greem and sniffed the hair as hard as he could. He then spoke in his deep, low voice, “This is the smell of the Swamp Sage. It seems like you are indeed our ally. Speak, runt. How do you intend to deal with these annoying ogres?”
“Attack…of course, I’ll attack them!” Greem had a helpless smile on his face. “The Ango’rosh ogres are helping the sporepeople with their evil deeds. Naturally, we should teach them an unforgettable lesson. What could make them more angry and upset than raiding their home?”
“You want to invade Stonehammer Camp? There are over a thousand Ango’rosh ogres there.” Surprise appeared on the Swamp Giant’s mossy face, but he quickly became excited. “I like you. The Swamp Sage might be smart, but he’s way too hesitant. We should have put together our powers and chased away those evil-doing bastards of the Marsh Wetlands a long time ago! If you really intend to attack the ogres, then count me in. Swamp Giant Angor is willing to follow you!”
“Swamp Giant Korath is willing to follow you.”
“Swamp Giant Korath is willing to follow you.”
Even Greem didn’t expect that his seemingly thoughtless proclamation of war would resonate so profoundly with the Swamp Giants as to make them declare themselves allies.
Now that the Swamp Giants had volunteered themselves, Greem accepted their offers without any hesitation. He had planned to start a storm in the Marsh Wetlands, to begin with.
Greem and Remi led the Swamp Giants in a different direction. They passed through several ponds and rivers and arrived at the so-called Stonehammer Camp. Swamp Giant Angor kept letting out deep, resonating growls throughout the journey.
Swamp Giants continued to appear from deep within the Marsh Wetlands as they marched. By the time they arrived at Stonehammer Camp, a crowd of twelve Swamp Giants followed behind Greem.
The strongest among these Swamp Giants was Third Grade Tarut, while the rest were young First and Second Grade giants.
The squad stopped close to Stonehammer Camp and observed the camp from a distance.
By human standard, this so-called Stonehammer Camp was hardly a proper camp.
They did not even have crude wooden fences, let alone a proper wall around the grounds.
There were only mushrooms in the Marsh Wetlands. It was too hard to find suitable lumber for the construction of a wall. Stonehammer Camp was only some high ground surrounded by several waterways and ponds.
The ogres had marked the boundary of the camp with thick, five-meter tall stone pillars. There was a pillar every dozen meters, with nothing in between them. It was an extremely crude arrangement.
The ogres had already caught wind of the Swamp Giants’ arrival. A large horde of ogres stood on top of their hill, forming a thick wall of flesh and prepared to fend off the giants’ invasion.
In truth, the Ango’rosh ogres had flown into a frenzy when they heard that the Swamp Giants were marching on Stonehammer Camp. With their numbers and power, they were more than prepared to charge out and face the giants on the open field. However, when the leaders of the ogres found out that there was a fearsome high-grade adept among the Swamp Giants, they used their authority to suppress the ogres’ commotion. They then set the battlefield at the edge of the camp.
However, Greem thought that the concerns and actions of the ogre leaders were utterly unnecessary.
Such crude defenses were of practically no help in a battle. Rather than stay cooped up behind those pointless stone pillars, it would have been much better to go on the offensive. At the very least, that would have given them more room to move about and, therefore, more tactical options!
There were quite a few Swamp Giants here, but Third Grade Tarut was the most respectful towards Greem. The rest of the Swamp Giants were only following Greem out of courtesy or simply because of the crowd.
The reason was simple. Their understanding of power was just different!
The Third Grade Swamp Giant had begun to come into contact with the higher powers. He had started to experience the terror of principle forces. That was why he could deduce the might of a Fourth Grade adept from a foreign plane just by comparing Greem to what he knew.
Meanwhile, ordinary giants still had yet to break free of their habits as lesser creatures. They still judged the might of a creature by their size and the development of their muscles.
“Lord Greem, how do you think we should wage this war? Our side seems to be far inferior in strength.” Tarut was obviously a Swamp Giant with excellent thinking and learning skills. He squatted down and communicated with Greem with his loud, booming voice.
His companions didn’t seem to agree with his viewpoint and started clamoring. The First Grade giants, in particular, were loud.
“Fight, however you like. There’s no need to be all that serious!” Having experienced a dozen bloody and cruel planar wars, such a small ‘skirmish’ was nothing in Greem’s eyes. To be brutally honest, this was hardly a war. It was, at the very best, a scuffle between two villages. “We are not alone. Once the fighting starts, Moat will certainly reinforce us!”
“But……” Tarut still appeared concerned.
“What is it? Are you afraid? If you Swamp Giants are so scared, you can stay behind. I can send my fire creatures to the frontline in your place!” Greem coldly said.
“Afraid? Lord Greem, please retract your assessment of us. We Swamp Giants will never feel fear even in the face of death. Death for the Swamp Giants is returning to the embrace of Mother Swamp. Our souls are eternal.” Clearly provoked by Greem’s words, Tarut beat his chest with his hand as if his honor had been slighted.
“Then take out the courage and might of the Swamp Giants and show me your power! Don’t worry; I will send my army of fire creatures to aid you.” Greem was already dissatisfied with how Moat was dragging his feet.
Alice was in urgent need of the Primal Water. He did not have too much time and effort to spend wasting away waiting.
Compared to the slow, composed planning and strategies of Moat and the other leaders, Greem was far more aggressive in his approach. At any rate, the Marsh Wetlands was not his territory. Someone else would manage the carnage after all the destruction had been done. Greem had nothing holding him back and fully intended to escalate the scale of war as quickly as possible.
Greem looked across the battlefield. The bulky figures of the ogres were squashed together, making it hard for him to find the Fourth Grade ogre leader, Gorefist.
As such, Greem gave up on searching for Gorefist and focused on the fighting at hand instead.
He waved at Tarut and stepped onto the battlefield.
With every step he took, his body rapidly grew in size.
Flames surged out of his ‘skinny’ body, causing his body to swell in size. By the time he arrived within a hundred meters of the Ango’rosh ogres, he had transformed into a flame giant shrouded in a raging fire.
When his half-meter-thick feet stomped against the muddy ground, the shapeless forcefield of flames and the incredible heat he radiated spread out in every direction.
The damp and wet ground instantly dried and hardened. The moss, lichen, and colorful mushrooms growing on the land withered and burned in an instant. Even the ponds and pools nearby started to bubble and let off steam as their muddy waters boil!
Both parties involved in the conflict looked at this fearsome flame giant that had appeared out of thin air in horror. They could sense the overwhelming and terrifying flux of fire that he was giving off. Everyone’s hearts beat uncontrollably. For the first time, they witnessed the terror of a high-grade adept.
“Sickles of flames, contract manifested for the first time; Flamegate!”
A short chant reverberated across the battlefield as an unusual door made of fire appeared before the flame giant. A connection arose between the flame giant’s staff and the Flamegate. Overwhelming fire energy started to surge towards the door.
The Flamegate tore open space and summoned a massive army of fire creatures from the distant Fire Elementium Plane.
The Flamegate opened, and countless fire creatures swarmed forward. Among them were low-grade creatures like fire spirits, flamespirits, fire giants, flame hounds, firebats, and intermediate-grade creatures such as the Blazefire flamespirits, flame giants, molten giants, and fire sprites.
Of course, Greem also saw high-grade fire creatures within the army, such as flame fiends, Fire Lords, and phoenixes.
At the same time, a deep voice rang out in Greem’s mind.
“The quality of your fire energy is very excellent. As an equal exchange, I can temporarily lend you my army of fire. Remember, I couldn’t care less if all the First and Second Grade fire creatures were to die. However, for every Fire Lord that becomes a casualty, you will have to compensate me with a hundred units of fire energy. Do we have a deal?”
Greem’s heart trembled.
He could sense that the individual that had established a connection with his mind was a Fifth Grade Fire Lord at the very least. In truth, at his level, he should be referred to as a Fire King.
Since the Fire King was willing to offer goodwill towards him, Greem naturally had to accept the offer.
They communicated briefly through the Flamegate, exchanged their fire brands, then ceased their communications.
While Greem had been communicating with the Fire King, the swarm of fire creatures had already engaged the Ango’rosh ogres!
