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The southern expedition of the orcs was no secret, and the Temple had long made preparations. Unfortunately, while they acted swiftly against the orcs, they were bogged down by numerous internal conflicts. This left them with limited forces that could be mobilized in the short term, forcing them to concentrate their troops in the vital Golden Plains region. As for another potential battlefield, Fontainebleau, they could only spare a small number of members to warn the Duchy of Langton against surrendering. This obvious strategy of sacrificing the Duchy of Langton ultimately became the reason for Duke Xilin's betrayal. While I was still in the duke's mansion, I learned of the Temple members' whereabouts through telepathy and dispatched the ice elemental warrior Zha, who was close to the rank of Sword Saint, to exterminate these human elites.

Zha, once a barbarian Sword Empress, has now become a powerful battle slave completely loyal to me. After mastering the supreme skills of the Nine Yin Manual, her combat prowess has continuously soared. The ability "Destiny's Path" of the divine weapon "Spear of Absolute Destiny" is like having the permission to constantly undo moves in a game of chess. For a novice, even with this permission, it's impossible to defeat a grandmaster. However, when both players are of similar skill, this permission becomes an absolute advantage. When Zha's memory was erased, she could not break my "Qiankun Extinction Blade" and was captured. But now, having fully integrated the Nine Yin supreme skill "Zhu Long Yin Shen Spear Technique," if we were to fight again, I doubt I could evade her fatal strike.

As for the thirty-some barbarian warriors, they are the result of a new collaboration between my dragon "Winter Night" and the lich "King of the Undead." Upon learning of Zha's mutation, the alchemy-obsessed lich conspired with the white dragon to find a method to artificially control the mutation of barbarians into humanoid elementals. Using the forbidden spell remnants of the Star Host Sea and the "Ice Magic Book" that records the ice sage's magic, they succeeded in creating thirty-three after sacrificing thousands of barbarians. Since the forbidden spell's power cannot be replicated, these "Xiva Warriors" are not as pure as Zha and can only draw limited power from the Ice Plane. However, they retain the ability to cultivate battle qi. As for why they are all female, the now completely skeletal "King of the Undead," now a golden skeleton, explained that only a few females have more completely retained the bloodline of the ice elemental giants, and only they have a chance to succeed. These warriors, who also had their memories erased, were placed under Zha's comprehensive training and have now officially entered the battlefield.

"Zha, you and your subordinates stay here. If the Duchy of Langton mobilizes troops, strike directly, assassinate the leaders, and create chaos. Winter Night, let's rendezvous with Katherine and the others."

My war scroll has only just unfolded.

Chapter 93: Seizing the Country and Initiating the War Map

The Duchy of Langton, a nation founded by descendants of heroes from the "Glorious Battle" four hundred years ago, is witnessing an unprecedented scene today. Well-equipped and highly trained troops of the duchy are receiving orders to lay down their arms in batches, and the solid city gates are being opened one by one. Teams of green-skinned half-orcs, long-haired werewolves, and horned yak orcs are marching into human cities, taking over the powerful city defense weapons. Many find it hard to believe that this proud nation has changed hands in just a few days.

The Duchy of Langton, with a history of over two hundred years, is ancient compared to the elven kingdoms that have histories spanning tens of thousands of years. However, if compared to the dynasties of my previous life, it would not be considered a short-lived dynasty. By the standards of my previous life, subjugating a human nation to a visibly different alien race would have met with continuous resistance. However, due to the cultural gap and the constant struggle between divine and royal powers, a solid national belief system had not taken root here. The exclusion of orcs had not penetrated deeply into people's hearts. Thus, while our progress was not entirely smooth, the resistance was far less intense than I had anticipated. Only two forces of about ten thousand troops refused to surrender, and several mages launched suicide attacks. Additionally, many civilians organized resistance, but they posed no threat to our overwhelmingly superior forces and were quickly subdued.

At the center of the capital of Langton, "White Rose City," the once towering ducal mansion no longer serves as the private residence of the Duke of Langton. Today, a young snow wolf warrior stands atop a soaring tower, overlooking the entire city. Behind him are two stunning women, one with golden hair piled high, wearing a sapphire battle suit covered by exquisite mithril armor. The other has wavy, ocean-colored hair, dressed as a mage, holding a dragon bone staff enveloped in cold mist.

"As of today, all twelve cities of the Duchy of Langton have fallen into our hands. The two cities that refused to surrender were breached yesterday, and we are currently conducting cleanup and reorganization. Additionally, all surviving mages from the duchy have surrendered, and the Langton troops that surrendered number one hundred and fifty thousand, currently being reorganized. The only issue is that one of the duchy's two Sword Masters has been killed by Lord, but the other is still at large. If he joins forces with the resistance elements in Langton, he could cause trouble for our army's logistics." The report came from Elder Hake, the leader of the human mercenary group that first joined my ranks. As a descendant of a fallen noble family, he had many grudges with the nobility of the Duchy of Langton. This made him one of the few humans to participate in the invasion of the human world. With his guidance, we not only solved information problems but also avoided unnecessary violence when communicating with humans, preventing the accumulation of unnecessary hatred. Therefore, both I and Katherine have entrusted many civil affairs to this elder.

"Don't worry, they will eventually show themselves. This level of resistance cannot hinder our progress." I waved my hand and continued, "Has the inventory of the Duchy of Langton's strategic reserves been completed?"