"Report." At this moment, another guard entered and saluted the Grand Marshal, "General Buck from the Felic Iron Wall Fortress requests an audience."

"A stationed general leaving his defense area?" Chief of Staff Gonzales of the Justice Alliance hummed lightly. He and his staff wizards were particularly sensitive to anything related to the nation of Felic, as it represented something contrary to the gods, although currently not a major threat and still reliant on Greater Frey. The Chief of Staff had a strong distaste for everything about this country.

"Let him in," the Grand Marshal waved his hand, allowing the guard to summon Buck, who was waiting at the door.

"Your Excellency, General Buck has left his post without orders, solely for one reason." Buck, not heeding anyone else’s expressions, slightly bowed to the Grand Marshal and said, "Someone sent Buck a relic, still stained with his blood, and touched by the warmth of the blood still on it, Buck disobeyed orders to come here."

"What is it?" the Grand Marshal asked sternly.

"A memory crystal that records the elite students' battles in the land of evil. It was secretly brought back by mercenaries and militiamen, intended as a gift for you, but it was hijacked midway. Survivors contacted the Thieves Guild and begged for help from Felic's generals thousands of miles away. Our Felic's strongest mobilized and fought a day-long battle in the land of evil to retrieve it. Just a few hours ago, it was being played in the tent of a Duke of the demon race in the Burial Grounds." Buck slowly extended his hand, presenting the blood-stained memory crystal to the Grand Marshal, then bowed slightly and turned to leave.

"Stop, you have abandoned your post, you should report to the military court for punishment," Chief of Staff Gonzales snorted.

"I’m sorry, but in light of the Alliance's persecution of our elite Rody, our king has declared our army's temporary withdrawal from the Alliance until a satisfactory response is given. Until then, Felic's forces will no longer serve the Alliance under the threat of assassination by its own," Buck said with a slight smile. "Chief of Staff, you may lodge a protest with our nation's envoy, but you no longer have authority over me."

"Felic is withdrawing from the Alliance?" the Chief of Staff was furious, glaring at Buck.

"It seems not only our country wants to exit the Alliance. Nearly all nations with elites persecuted by the assassins are contemplating this, a total of nineteen countries," Buck said calmly. "Our soldiers came to the Alliance to die honorably under orc axes, not to suffer and die under the despicable assassinations of human traitors. Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, once you see this, you will understand why our king is so angry and why such an enraged decision was made..."

"General Quentin, go and check on the situation of the militia and mercenaries immediately!" the Grand Marshal ordered solemnly.

"No need, Your Excellency," Buck replied coldly. "If you are referring to the six hundred militiamen and a dozen mercenaries who escaped from the encirclement of tens of thousands of orcs in the land of evil, then there is no need for an investigation. They are all dead. The last survivor was found by me in the tent of a demon duke. We defeated the demon guards and repelled the demon duke, but we couldn't save his life. It was the searing blood of a mercenary that touched my heart, which is why I decided to bring this memory crystal for you to see, Your Excellency. General, Chief of Staff, and gentlemen, you need to know more…"

"All six hundred militiamen are dead? We just brought them back into the Alliance!" The Grand Marshal's eyes burned with intense fire.

"I think if they had known that the Alliance would secretly execute them or hand them over to the orcs and demons, they would have preferred to stay with Rody," Buck said somberly. "Regarding this matter, I just want to say, our nation will not let our people's blood be shed in vain. Farewell!"

After Buck left, the command room fell into dead silence.

Although Felic was a small country and its withdrawal seemed insignificant, if, as he said, all nineteen countries of the elites withdrew, then several generals present, including General Quentin of the Norn Empire, were from within those nineteen.

If the Justice Alliance saw the withdrawal of nineteen countries, it would face immediate disintegration. If the orc and demon armies attacked at such a moment, the consequences would be unimaginable. Thinking about the news of the gods' victory and the three-day celebration, if this wasn't a divine decree but a plot by human spies colluding with demons, then with the army divided and indulging in festivities, humanity could face a fatal catastrophe.

The generals broke out in cold sweat thinking about this.

"Play the recording!" The Grand Marshal thought further ahead than anyone else. He was filled with nothing but anger these days. If it weren't for the emergence of a military genius like Rody, all the human spies wouldn’t have been exposed so soon. If they hadn’t been so eager to eliminate Rody, the conspiracy might have remained hidden until the day the army reached the city walls.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Guard, secure the door." Although the Chief of Staff was against Felic, he still hoped for humanity's victory, not its demise.

Fearing that the generals' indignation during the playback might let out some information that shouldn’t be spread, he quickly ordered the guards to stand watch.

The memory crystal slowly played the original recording. It was clear that the footage was taken in the Evil Forest, everything damp and wet.

The filming started from the ground, showing disordered earth, broken swords, burning tents, and flags. Then came severed limbs and blood, a large area of scorched ground, and shockingly stained with blood, atop which lay countless orc heads.

Then, a bearded mercenary came close and whispered softly, "My name is Maru, the leader of the Marspike Mercenary Corps. We were hired by the Mercenary Guild to enter the Evil Forest to track the orcs and film their gathering places. Sadly, we didn’t achieve this and lost our deputy leader and over two hundred people. However, when I realized I had survived, I felt I still had some value. Although I can't provide the Justice Alliance with the orcs' gathering places, I can record a hero for them."

The generals, seeing the piles of orc heads, felt their blood boiling.

When they saw that the human militiamen were indeed wielding wooden spears, they were somewhat astonished. Were they really able to kill the physically formidable orcs with wooden spears? How was that possible?

"Did everyone see that? That is the hero I wanted to film, him, that young man as handsome as a god," bearded Maru pointed at Rody, who stood atop the orc heads, calling out to everyone, and said softly, "I regret missing a victorious battle to film. It was a brilliant victory against over three hundred orcs, and Sergeant Rody, with just his hundred elite students, achieved such a victory. I couldn't believe my eyes. But what can I say? The fact is right before me! In fact, I should have filmed Sergeant Rody like this since yesterday, but fear made me forget everything. Fortunately, I remembered this morning that I still had the memory crystal. Truly a blessing from above..."

"That's Rody?" The Grand Marshal stood up excitedly.

Not only him, but all the generals present also etched into their memories the young man with a smile as bright as the sun.

Under the dawn light, he truly looked as heroic as a god.

"Comrades, look at what's under your feet. What are you stepping on? Orc heads! Orc corpses!" They saw Rody in the recording shouting, "Are they strong? Are they terrifying? Are they invincible? Tell me, who toppled them to the ground? Who chopped off their heads?"

"It's us... Long live humanity!" Hundreds of voices erupted in a celebratory roar, many with tears streaming down their faces.

"Long live humanity! Long live!" In the command room, the watching generals also shouted excitedly, again and again, feeling a fiery surge of energy within.

"Is there anyone among us who dares not pick up a weapon to fight? Heroes, where are your weapons?" Rody in the recording, raising his wooden spear, shouted, "Follow me, and I will lead you to stand on the corpses of orcs and cheer for victory, time and time again!"

"Long live victory!" Stanley and others rushed to Rody, cheering and tossing him into the air.

"Long live..." The militiamen hugged each other excitedly, weeping, while others brandished spoils captured from the orcs, the frenzied crowd shouting victorious chants. Some students knelt on the ground, raising their swords, dedicating this victory to their loved ones or revered elders.

"My father, your son is not a failure, I am a hero. Though you cannot see, I have not let you down!" When Maru came over to film, General Quentin heard his son Kaili's crying prayer.

"My son!" He, usually composed, jumped up excitedly, pointing at the screen and roaring proudly, "That's my son! My son!"

"I always said I was an elite, I'm a damn elite! I killed five orcs, five by myself! I'm so damn awesome! Did you see this handsome guy? Come on, be jealous of me!" Of course, the one who burst into expletives excitedly was Stanley, shouting loudly towards Maru's camera, but soon, the mercenaries and militiamen lifted him up and tossed him into the air.

"This is the head of an orc shaman. Although I didn't kill him, I also stabbed him with a knife," Jesse, holding a head, boasted to Maru, "Quickly film me, capture my most handsome look, or I'll fix you up! Hey, Lopek, don't steal my head..."

"Don't film me, I feel sick!" another elite student who was vomiting.

"Film him, this guy pretends to be refined. How come he wasn't showing his knightly manners when he was stabbing the orc in the butt just now? Aim at him, film his face, let his fiancée see clearly, this guy is a maniac! He killed at least three orcs, one of which he stabbed to death in the butt with a long spear. Remember this freak... Erin, this guy has a special liking for butts, you still like me, right... Ah, help, this guy is going to stab someone in the butt with a wooden spear again!" A brother ruthlessly exposed him, angering the vomiting student who grabbed a militia's wooden spear and chased him, shouting.

"What an interesting kid, he still vomits after killing the enemy!" The Grand Marshal burst into laughter watching this.

"Hahaha!" The generals also laughed heartily, as if they were transported back to their youthful days, just like these young men in front of them, enjoying jokes and playful banter, trying hard to impress girls.

"Let me tell you the truth, actually, I'm the most handsome, of course, apart from the boss and Chris!"

Before Lopek could finish, a flurry of mud flew over, smearing his face. Jesse kicked his face, smearing the muddy sole of his boot on Lopek's nose, laughing uproariously, "Handsome, eh? Let's see how long you can stay handsome!"

In the subsequent intermittent filming, the generals began to understand how the miraculous boy Rody led the militia and companions in sneak attacks on the orc camps.

First, careful reconnaissance by the air force, then luring magical beasts to charge into the orc camp. When the orcs were almost done fighting the magical beasts, a beautiful assistant magically enhanced everyone, and then Rody led them into the attack.

Rody did not lead them in shouting and charging but silently, stealthily ambushing, assassinating the injured orcs, masking their actions with the roars of magical beasts.

By the time the orcs realized the humans were there, it was too late.

Often, the shaman and distant troll spear throwers were the first to be killed by the elites, especially the mana-consuming shamans, who were almost immediately assassinated by Rody and the beautiful assistant. With no one to command them, the leaderless orcs were quickly overwhelmed by the humans.

The generals were surprised that most orcs seemed to chase after Rody, as if drawn by some allure.

With the orcs outnumbered and mostly drawn away by Rody, the shamans dead early, and no one to command, the orcs were quickly slain by the elites. Subsequently, each orc chasing Rody was intercepted and killed by human warriors, and the last one to fall didn't take more than an hour. The generals were shocked by this efficient stealth attack.

A single human warrior indeed had difficulty killing a physically formidable orc, but when ten elite warriors attacked simultaneously, the orc had no chance to struggle.

That's why there were consecutive enemy kills by human elites, with zero casualties.

As the generals watched this, their expressions suddenly became serious.

The Grand Marshal's body trembled slightly, as they saw another scene: the militiamen warmly welcoming the human reinforcements... the very ones who plunged a sword into Rody's chest.

"We're saved! We're saved! The Alliance hasn't abandoned us! By the Light of God, they've sent reinforcements! Long live!" Maru's excited voice nearly brought the generals to tears.

Yes, soon, these reinforcements would turn into everyone's nightmare...