Chapter 2: The “Face-Saving” Retreat

Chapter 2: The “Face-Saving” Retreat

“Retreat! If we retreat, we’ll lose! We promised His Majesty the King to stop the Dwarves from advancing and drive them back into the mountains!”

Baalman exclaimed.

He gazed at the battle ahead, thinking maybe it was still possible to turn the tide with a desperate effort.

Though Baalman didn’t voice his thoughts, O’Fart next to him saw right through it: “That’s already impossible. Baalman, you must listen to me! If we retreat now and explain the situation to His Majesty, we might still earn his forgiveness. But if we keep making mistakes like this, we’ll never have His Majesty’s forgiveness.

We need to preserve the kingdom’s strength; it can’t be wasted because of your stubbornness. If you waste the kingdom’s strength here, how will we resist the Dwarves’ invasion next?

So, if His Majesty finds out, he definitely won’t forgive you.”

He rattled off his words in one breath, not giving Baalman a chance to interject.

After he finished, he fixed his gaze on Baalman, breathing heavily.

Baalman was stunned after hearing O’Fart’s words.

His mind raced with thoughts about what O’Fart had said.

In the end, he sadly realized that it seemed to be the truth.

His Majesty wouldn’t hold too much blame for a single defeat.

Plus, he would surely have opportunities to redeem himself later.

With that in mind, Baalman’s heart lightened considerably.

“Relay my orders! All troops retreat!”

Only after Baalman issued the command did O’Fart finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He dreaded the idea of Baalman clinging to his own thoughts because then they would truly be doomed.

Soon, Baalman’s command spread throughout the army.

The infantry who hadn’t engaged with the Dwarves yet heard the order and immediately took off running back, almost throwing their armor aside.

The cavalry also quickly broke free from the Dwarves clinging to them and galloped back.

“Your Majesty, the humans are fleeing!”

A personal guard beside the Dwarf King spoke up.

“I see that.”

The Dwarf King replied indifferently.

He found that defeating the humans didn’t bring him as much joy as he expected.

Today, he realized that humans weren’t so strong after all; they were painfully weak.

Weak to the point of being utterly defenseless.

Look, those human infantry hadn’t even engaged with their soldiers and were already scared out of their wits.

And they, the Dwarves, had been oppressed by such pathetic beings.

It truly was laughable!

But next, the Dwarves would break free from this oppression.

Humans would no longer be able to oppress the Dwarves.

At that moment, a boundless desire erupted in the Dwarf King’s heart.

Not only did he want to free the Dwarves from human oppression, but he also wanted to gain more.

First the Elves, then the humans, and now it was the Dwarves’ turn.

And he would become the greatest Dwarf King in history!

With that thought, the Dwarf King finally smiled with delight.

Though it was a smile, the personal guard nearby felt an inexplicable sense of fear.

In that instant, their King seemed to change, becoming somewhat different.

They couldn’t quite put their finger on it, but the Dwarf King’s aura felt transformed.

The Dwarf King took a deep breath and shouted to the soldiers: “All troops, hear my command! Chase after those humans and let them know the might of the Dwarves! The wrath of the Sons of the Mountains is far from over!”

Upon hearing the command, the Dwarves immediately pursued.

At this time, the artillerymen also ceased their bombardment of the humans.

After firing for so long, the artillerymen were tired, and the cannons were too.

The barrels glowed red hot, desperately needing to cool down.

If they continued firing, they might just blow themselves up.

But the humans couldn’t care less about that.

After Baalman ordered the retreat, the entire human army fell into disarray, the command system on the brink of collapse.

Under the influence of fear, soldiers only knew to run back.

Such a scene left Baalman’s face pale with fury.

This was utterly humiliating.

Though he ordered the retreat, he had hoped for a face-saving retreat, not a complete rout.

They hadn’t even engaged the enemy, and now it had come to this—how would he face anyone upon returning?

Regarding Baalman’s exasperated expression, O’Fart was completely unconcerned.

As long as the soldiers could return safely, that was all that mattered. With Baalman absorbing the blame upfront, even if it was embarrassing, no one would link it back to him too much.

He was just a trailing Mage!

As for the pursuing Dwarves, O’Fart merely glanced at them and then looked away.

That could also be said to be the Dwarves’ fatal flaw.

With their naturally short legs, and weighed down by heavy armor, it was a miracle they were moving at all in such a situation.

However, the human soldiers were in desperate need of breaking free from the Dwarves’ pursuit.

After all, the Dwarves’ stamina wasn’t a laughing matter.

For a while, they might not catch up, but they could wait until the humans tired themselves out and then “slowly” overtake them.

Just then, O’Fart noticed that the Dwarves’ artillery had stopped firing.

So, he ordered the Mages to cease casting their magical barriers.

Next, they summoned magic to create a long and thick wall in the earth to block the Dwarven pursuers.

After finishing the spell, O’Fart said to Baalman, “General, we should retreat now too!”

With that, he took the lead with the Mage squad.

At this point, Baalman could only follow with his personal guards in retreat.

In that moment, his mind was racing with thoughts about how to explain this to His Majesty and how to quell any unfavorable opinions that might arise from today’s battle.

Watching the sudden wall block the Dwarves’ advance, the Dwarf King was furiously livid.

“Where’s the Wrath of the Mountains! Keep attacking, smash this damned wall to smithereens!”

At that moment, a Dwarf Engineer who had been diligently taking notes spoke up, “Your Majesty, we can’t fire the Wrath of the Mountains right now, or it will blow itself up first. Just like humans, it needs some rest before it can fight again.”

The Dwarf King shot a glare at the Engineer, who remained unyielding and composed.

He was stating facts, thinking of the Dwarves’ best interests.

Considering the current capabilities of the Dwarves, creating another “Wrath of the Mountains” wasn’t an easy task.

Though he didn’t care, the other Dwarves beside him were sweating bullets.

After a moment, the Dwarf King seemed to cool down.

He no longer looked at the Engineer and shifted his focus back to the abruptly rising wall.

His gaze seemed to carry the intent to burn a hole right through it.