Chapter 383: The Terrifying "Purpose"
From deep in his heart came a fear, a sense of frustration at failing his mission, and an intense desire to survive. These feelings all drove the Troll Warlord to say these words.
"Oh? A coward for once?"
Beelzebub sneered, preparing to make his move.
No matter what this troll was planning, as soon as he was touched by the paralyzing toxin, his condition would be completely compromised.
At that point, wouldn't he be at their mercy?
"No rush, tie him up!"
A clear voice came from behind Beelzebub, and the Troll Warlord, who had been in utter despair, looked incredulously at the tall figure of the Arcane Master.
It was him!
It really was him!
Without hesitation, the Troll Warlord threw himself to the ground, his head touching the dirt, and spoke in the Common Tongue with a strange accent:
"Great Arcane Master, please hear me out. I can make all the trolls surrender immediately!"
Beelzebub, who had stopped mid-swing, looked thoughtfully at the "cowardly" Troll Warlord and muttered softly:
"This guy surrendered so fast, I almost feel bad about cutting him down."
The surrounding soldiers burst into laughter, seeing the kneeling and begging Troll Warlord brought a sense of satisfaction to them.
The exhaustion from the overnight march suddenly vanished without a trace.
Slowly lifting his staff, a dark gray light fell on the Troll Warlord.
He suddenly felt his once-powerful body grow weak, and his usually light armor now seemed to weigh him down.
Understanding this was just a casual spell from the Arcane Master, the Troll Warlord lowered his head even further, respectfully calling out:
"Everyone, stop! Drop your weapons and surrender!"
The slightly weakened but loud voice quickly spread throughout the entire troll camp.
The troll soldiers who had gathered around looked at their kneeling Warlord, their eyes filled with hesitation.
Just then, another tall Troll Warlord stepped forward, glancing at his kneeling "brother," and urgently shouted:
"Didn't you hear the order? Surrender immediately!"
"If you surrender, you'll have full meals every day in the Bay!"
Full meals?
At this, the surrounding trolls, without much struggle or thought, dropped their weapons immediately.
Now, it was the soldiers' turn to be stunned!
The proud and rebellious trolls were surrendering in droves.
That indescribable feeling electrified everyone's nerves.
Matthew glanced at the other Troll Warlord, who was half-kneeling, and blinked unconsciously, but without wasting words, he loudly commanded:
"All trolls, return to your tents! Anyone who comes out will be killed on sight!"
As if fearing the other trolls wouldn't understand, the Troll Warlord didn't forget to shout out the order at the top of his lungs.
Matthew had no intention of getting bogged down in the camp, leading the surrendered Troll Warlord out of the suddenly silent troll encampment.
Dozens of anxious troll guards followed at a distance, showing a loyalty to their Warlord that was beyond words.
Matthew immediately instructed the patrolling adventurers to cautiously enter the troll camp and tie up all the surrendered trolls.
These were not just four or five thousand troll soldiers but also four or five thousand strong "contributors."
Of course, how to handle them in the future was still uncertain.
For now, Matthew wanted to properly interrogate these two Troll Warlords.
What he found shocked him!
These two were actually old acquaintances of Matthew!
The first Troll Warlord to surrender.
He was none other than the first and most dangerous troll Matthew had encountered—Shadow Hunter Lokfar!
Yes, the very same Shadow Hunter who had tried twice to assassinate Matthew's illusion, only to fail both times!
The other Troll Warlord.
Was Batum, the troll leader who, after Matthew had taken over the troll fortress, led an attack to retake it but ended up fleeing halfway through!
Logically, these two shouldn't have met.
But here they were, leading a force of 5,000 trolls—what an "impressive" feat!
Matthew naturally had a lot of interest in these two unique trolls. He pointed to the weakened Shadow Hunter and spoke calmly:
"Explain."
"Why did you bring trolls to me? And why did you choose to surrender?"
Though Matthew's tone was light, it made Shadow Hunter Lokfar's heart pound with anxiety.
This smart troll knew very well.
If he couldn't provide a satisfactory answer, then what awaited him was inevitable.
Most likely death!
No, worse than death!
Quickly organizing his thoughts, Lokfar tried to keep his explanation concise:
"The Gurubashi trolls have all gone mad. They've lost their sanity and become bloodthirsty monsters."
"I brought these trolls mainly to escape, to avoid being hunted by the Gurubashi trolls."
"Luckily, we met you, otherwise, we would have been in deep trouble!"
Mad?
Running away?
Matthew wasn't surprised that they had chosen him.
Batum, kneeling beside them, also seemed to have adapted to his role. He bowed his head and continued:
"That's right, those Gurubashi trolls have completely lost it."
"They've turned their blades against any intelligent creature in the Dark Forest, planning a grand blood sacrifice to appease the Blood God!"
"All trolls who are not part of the Gurubashi will become sacrifices for their ritual!"
The Blood God?
Sacrifices?
Hearing this, Matthew instinctively tightened his grip on his staff.
Because he knew the Blood God existed and had fought against Him, he understood just how terrifying He was!
If the Gurubashi trolls were preparing for a massive blood sacrifice, they would need to kill many living beings to create offerings.
In that case, joining forces with the orc army was undoubtedly an ideal "choice"!
If that was the case, then everything made sense!
Watching Matthew fall into contemplation, Shadow Hunter Lokfar felt immense pressure, cold sweat soaking his back.
This wasn't what he had imagined at all!
In his plan.
He would attack the eastern plains of the bison, gather enough food, and then lead the trolls he had recruited.
He would then surrender to Bay Territory.
At that point, he would have at least some leverage.
But now it was completely different—his life and the fate of the trolls he led were entirely in the hands of this mysterious Arcane Master.
Beside him, Batum grew anxious as he watched the adventurers subduing most of the trolls. He blurted out:
"Besides sacrificing to the Blood God, they also plan to carry out large-scale slaughter to summon a manifestation of the Blood God's avatar!"
The Blood God's avatar?
Thinking of those troublesome, terrifying creatures from his memory, Matthew's eyes rested on Lokfar and Batum:
"The information you've given is valuable. You've earned yourselves some temporary freedom."
"However, I have a task for you."