Chapter 256: The Beast God's Transformation Technique

Charlot Mecklenburg led the orc labyrinth guards on a seemingly aimless march for several days, finally confirming that Tumisan had not continued to follow them.

He remained uncertain about the orc saint's intentions. Tumisan had arrived mysteriously and left without explanation.

In the interim... there had even been moments of weeping.

Upon calming down after the encounter, Charlot was entirely certain that Tumisan had not come to assassinate him. Charlot was not prominent enough to warrant the intervention of a saint-ranked being.

He speculated that Tumisan might have been injured at the time, possibly evading the pursuit of a human saint. However, Charlot had no concrete evidence. Moreover, he doubted that a human saint, upon encountering an orc labyrinth guard, would take the time to distinguish it as part of the West Wind Knight Order, let alone spare them. Most likely, the human saint would kill them all in one fell swoop.

Charlot redirected his orc labyrinth guards toward Silver Dove Castle, while taking a few days to delve into the Beast God's Transformation Technique.

Charlot possessed the extraordinary ability of Bloodfire Transfiguration, but it only allowed him to transform into a mass of bloodfire. Unlike versatile transformation techniques, it was primarily used for escape or healing wounds and was of little use in combat.

The Beast God's Transformation Technique, on the other hand, was touted by Tumisan as a formidable secret art. Tumisan claimed to have received enlightenment from the Eternal and Illusory Dragon on a stormy night, which led to the creation of the technique.

In truth, the technique merely allowed orcs to transform into humans and humans into orcs, without any additional extraordinary abilities.

Moreover, due to the structural differences between orc and human bodies, humans could not cultivate the orcs' bloodthirsty combat energy, and orcs could not operate human secret arts. After transforming, their strength could not be transferred, leaving them as ineffective as a "blank slate."

It was a transformation technique with no value beyond changing one's biological form.

Even within Tumisan's own Orc Assassin Alliance, the Mask of the Cat was more popular, as it did not diminish the user's strength. For orc assassins, it was a useful auxiliary tool, but few bothered to practice the Beast God's Transformation Technique.

Tumisan himself had described the Beast God's Transformation Technique as a simple minor spell.

He had not lied. The technique was no more profound than the Cat Transformation, though its practice was far more demanding. It required a deep understanding of each type of orc's anatomy to ensure seamless transformation.

Charlot spent five or six days studying the anatomical structures of Hundred Bears, Big Bear, and Honey Bear. His efforts allowed him to transform into a diminutive bear-person over two meters tall.

After transforming into a Redback Bear Warrior, the Blood Glory within Charlot's body was sealed and rendered unusable. Although his strength increased, Blood Glory had never been known for raw power. His body became clumsier, though his innate agility remained unaffected.

After this experiment, Charlot refrained from attempting to transform into other types of orcs.

...

He eventually made his way back to the "faithful" Silver Dove Castle.

When Charlot appeared beneath the walls of Silver Dove Castle, countless residents climbed the ramparts, waving their arms and cheering to welcome the return of the West Wind Knight Order.

Charlot's return to Silver Dove Castle felt more like coming home than returning to Seagull City. He even recognized many of the city's residents.

Waving as he led the West Wind Knight Order into the city, Charlot noted that many of his soldiers hailed from Silver Dove Castle. The order had repeatedly defended the city against the Southern Orc Tribes and the South Seraph restorationists, earning them immense local goodwill. The residents admired the West Wind knights more than their own Silver Dove Militia.

After Charlot's departure, he had left the city in the care of Dubin Alger, Yellow Bear, and three other knight orders. Upon his return, he resumed control of Silver Dove Castle, throwing himself into its affairs with unrelenting fervor.

A letter from Clair Bretagne soon arrived at Silver Dove Castle, requesting Charlot to organize another shipment of supplies for South Seraph and to send additional reinforcements, including the three knight orders.

In Clair Bretagne’s letter, Charlot learned that while the Byron riders had not yet arrived, forces of the Black Phoenix Dynasty had invaded South Seraph, and fierce battles were ongoing.

Sighing deeply, Charlot noted that this was still the early stage of the war. Most regions of the Fars Empire remained unaffected by military mobilization. Life in Strasbourg continued as usual, with shops open and residents largely untroubled.

However, as more nations joined the conflict, Charlot was certain that these tranquil days would soon be a thing of the past.

Contemplating Clair Bretagne's letter for a full day, Charlot began organizing supplies for the front lines. At the same time, he ordered the West Wind Knight Order to leverage Silver Dove Castle's bustling commerce to stockpile food and necessities. He also selected a site within the city to construct a massive warehouse.

Officially, the warehouse was intended to store supplies purchased by the West Wind Knight Order, but it secretly connected to Machubi, Mostar Castle, and Cappadocia.

Charlot dispatched messengers to Mostar Castle and Machubi, instructing Dolores Soumet to begin constructing additional warehouses.

The materials stored in these warehouses could be accessed from any of Charlot's labyrinthified cities—a precautionary measure for the future.

As Clair Bretagne had not released Gwen the Dappled Stag and Bancroft the Swift Wolf, Charlot had no choice but to entrust the transportation of supplies to Dubin Alger, Yellow Bear, and Anastasia, who led three knight orders to South Seraph.

With their departure, Charlot once again found himself alone.

The West Wind Knight Order’s key members—Dolores Soumet, Anastasia, Belisa, Dubin Alger, Yellow Bear, Gwen, and Bancroft—were all absent. Charlot was left with ordinary soldiers of the order and over a thousand orc labyrinth guards, including nine transcendent warriors.

Barely a few days after Dubin and the others departed, urgent news from the front arrived. Clair Bretagne requested Charlot to send another batch of soldiers.

Charlot was reluctant to part with more soldiers of the West Wind Knight Order.

As the Chinese adage goes: "A kind heart cannot command soldiers."

Yet Charlot would rather forgo the title of an excellent strategist than send his loyal West Wind knights to die in a meaningless war.

To Charlot, the war in South Seraph held no significance.

Nonetheless, he could not outright refuse Clair Bretagne's request. After half a day of deliberation, Charlot decided to leave behind a thousand soldiers, selecting as many Silver Dove Castle locals as possible. He personally led the rest of the West Wind Knight Order and the orc labyrinth guards to South Seraph.

To Charlot, leading the troops himself would at least allow him to protect more of his men.

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