Translator: AnubisTL
Night had fallen over the Bonechewer Clan's territory when the adult stone giant, Targon, strode forward with heavy, earth-shaking steps.
Each footfall sent a tremor through the ground.
Standing ten meters tall, its massive body was composed of gray-white granite, with ancient bronze rings embedded at the joints, emitting a deep, metallic grinding sound with every movement.
The hulking ogres before it seemed like children who hadn't yet grown.
Even Gluttonous Demon Karu's size paled in comparison.
Gluttony Demons were advanced ogre variants that could reach legendary status with sufficient food, but giants themselves were creatures on par with dragons. As they aged, they had a high probability of achieving legendary status, making them no less formidable than Gluttony Demons.
Targon lowered its head to survey the ogre camp before it.
Dried animal bones hung from the crooked palisade walls. Multiple sorcerers were visible within the territory, and groups of well-fed, heavily armed ogre warriors, including numerous elites over four meters tall, sat around a campfire, tearing into the raw flesh of a large beast. Grease dripped into the flames, sizzling and spitting.
"You are the leader?" Targon's voice rumbled like two rocks grinding together.
The stone giant stared at the Gluttony Demon before it, which was taller and more strangely formed than the other ogres. Its eyes glinted with a peculiar light.
The stone giant recognized the Gluttony Demon at first glance.
It couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.
An ogre clan with a Gluttony Demon had potential far beyond ordinary ogre clans. Bringing it under its command would rapidly expand the Stoneheart Clan's familiar forces, making it easy to establish a foothold here.
Establish a foothold, accumulate strength, and return to the homeland.
This was the stone giant's aspiration.
As for the possibility of failure...
The stone giant Targon hadn't considered it.
Under normal circumstances, if an ogre were presented with both a dragon and a giant and asked to pledge allegiance to one, it would almost certainly choose the giant over dragonkind.
The reason was simple:
Ogres possessed extraordinary physiques, and their bloodlines actually contained traces of giant ancestry, forging a connection with the giant race. Moreover, the Ogre God was a minor deity within the Giant Pantheon, much like the Kobold God was a subordinate of the Dragon Pantheon.
However...
The stone giant Targon didn't know that it had arrived too late.
The Gluttony Demon had already submitted to the command of a more powerful dragonkind.
Ordinary ogres might revere giants, but the Gluttony Demon's potential rivaled that of giants. Those who hadn't been crushed by the stone giant's overwhelming force felt no such reverence.
Karu wiped the scraps of meat from the corner of his mouth and slowly rose to his feet.
He stood about six meters tall, his body appearing even more compact and muscular.
Though he was several head shorter than the stone giant, with his head barely reaching the giant's chest, Karu showed no fear. He strode forward, tilted his head back, and announced, "I am Karu, king of the Bonechewer Clan."
As he spoke, he seemed to realize his height disadvantage made looking up at the stone giant awkward.
Karu summoned two elite ogre warriors, instructing them to lift him by his legs. After much straining, they finally raised him so that his head was slightly higher than the stone giant's.
The Gluttony Demon nodded in satisfaction.
He licked the meat from between his teeth and gruffly asked the stone giant, "Big guy, what are you doing on my turf?"
Cracks resembling a smile appeared on Targon's rocky face.
"I come from the Steep Cliff Strait in the west."
He raised an arm and pointed westward. "The lands there are ten times as vast as these, and the game runs fat."
Hearing the word "prey," the young ogre warriors' ears perked up instantly.
Targon noticed this detail and continued, "My people are assembling a powerful army. Warriors as brave as you should stand with the victors. Then, there will be countless prey for you to feast on, enough to fill your bellies to bursting."
The stone giant was undoubtedly an intelligent creature.
It understood how to tempt the ogres by playing on their nature.
Karu blinked and took the raw liver handed to him by a sorcerer using the Levitation Spell. He bit into it roughly. "Sounds good, but the Bonechewer Clan is doing just fine."
He licked the blood from his fangs. "Why should we listen to you? Just because of your empty promises?"
"At least show us food, equipment, or some other resources. Then I might consider pledging my loyalty."
Though Karu appeared brutish, his mind was sharper than that of most ogres.
His personality was a blend of rough exterior and subtle interior.
This was evident from his first encounter with Garos, when he had tried to trick him into landing.
Targon's rocky eyebrows—actually two prominent stone ridges—furrowed. He had expected these simple-minded ogres to submit at once, but this Gluttony Demon was proving more cunning than anticipated.
Stone giants fed on minerals.
The creatures obtained from hunting could be given to the ogre clan.
However, the giants had few resources and equipment of their own, so they couldn't provide any to the ogre clan.
The purpose of gathering the chosen was to have them support oneself, not to drain one's own resources to support the chosen.
Before the stone giant could answer, Karu remembered Garos' instructions. Hiding his true intentions behind a simple and honest facade, he took a bite of raw liver and asked with feigned curiosity and casualness, "The western straits are quite distant from here. Why did you abandon your fertile territory to come here? It puzzles me."
The stone giant remained silent for two seconds.
Tell the truth?
To reveal to the Gluttony Demon before them that their clan had been defeated by a blue dragon, forcing them to abandon their territory and flee in disarray. After six years of wandering and hardship, with a few twists and turns along the way, they had finally arrived here seeking to establish a stable settlement.
The stone giant's expression remained calm as it replied, "To expand our territory."
In its deep, rumbling voice, it continued, "We were not content with the single western territory. Therefore, we dispatched some of our people to this place, intending to conquer it and establish a stronghold. From there, we plan to gradually expand the clan's dominion."
Its facial features were rigid, carved from stone, and showed little expression, appearing stiff and impassive.
This made it impossible for Garos, observing from the shadows, to determine the truthfulness of the stone giant's words.
"A stone giant clan seeking to expand its territory."
"From the sound of it, it's not traveling alone—other clansmen are with it."
"More giants might arrive later."
Garos, habitually considering the worst-case scenario, tentatively accepted the stone giant's words as true.
"Why does someone always have to come and disrupt my peaceful life?"
The thought of a large group of giants arriving made Garos uneasy, fearing discovery and death. This set his internal alarm bells ringing, filling him with a sense of danger far more intense than he had felt from the Blackrock Dwarves.
Dragons and giants were sworn enemies, their hatred deeply rooted in ancient blood feuds that permeated both bloodlines. A chance encounter in the wilderness would never end peacefully.
The moment Garos saw the stone giant, a primal revulsion and hatred surged within him, urging him to charge out and slay the creature. Only through his extraordinary willpower did he suppress this instinctual urge.
Garos despised being controlled by primal desires, like the innate hatred for giants. Such impulses only brought unnecessary trouble and conflict.
If possible, Garos would have preferred to coexist harmoniously with the giants.
But...
It was highly unlikely they would share the same sentiment.
(End of the Chapter)
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