Chapter 408 – Shouting

Town, attack, goatmen! These three keywords held extraordinary significance among all merchant caravans traversing the Desert.

Towns represented the lifelines of caravans. The cities in the Raging Wave Desert were often widely spaced, making it impossible for ordinary human teams to travel between them relying solely on carried supplies. Small towns adjacent to minor Oases undoubtedly served as supply stations for these caravans. Giant peak camels could reliably remember the locations of these towns, while merchants could replenish food and water supplies in these settlements.

Goatmen symbolized barbarism, bloodshed, and brutality. These semi-intelligent races have settled in the desert for generations and generally disliked producing their own food, obtaining survival resources through only two methods – hunting and robbing humans. Their plundering was insatiable; concepts like toll payments and sustainable development didn’t exist for goatmen. Caravans raided by goatmen would typically lose everything – people, goods, and camels – all taken away to be consumed.

With the presence of both “goatmen” and “towns” as keywords, the meaning of “attack” became abundantly clear. When sufficiently numerous, goatmen would assault human towns. A single misstep could lead to a small town’s complete destruction through such attacks. Moreover, given the extreme difficulty of desert travel, even if a compassionate Lord dispatched rescue forces, arriving cavalry would most often find only the burned ruins of a town.

Now, the merchant sent by the caravan to negotiate stopping fees at the town had returned with news of goatmen attacking settlements – specifically, one assault targeting three towns around a single Oasis. If these three towns fell…

At this thought, the merchants couldn’t help but feel chills run through their bodies. In this vast Desert, reaching the next Oasis required at least two more weeks of travel, yet their carried water supplies would only last three days. Most terrifyingly, this wasn’t the end – a troop of goatmen was already eyeing them menacingly, preparing to attack.

“What should we do? Those three towns must be finished. Without supplies and water, we’re all doomed!”

“Damnit! That apprentice mage’s prophecy wasn’t lying. I shouldn’t have come out to sell salt. Now I’ll die of thirst in the desert.”

“No, this can’t be true! That scout must be lying to us. How could goatmen possibly capture three towns…”

“Damn goatmen! They’re leaving us no way out. We might as well fight them to the death!”In this critical moment, the caravan merchants vented their emotions in various ways – some cowardly and despairing, some self-deceiving and refusing to accept reality, and of course some courageously foolish with blood boiling.” Within moments, the merchants who had been singing and dancing mere seconds ago now displayed the full spectrum of human reactions.

“Enough! All this shouting is making my head swell. Those daring to run desert trade routes shouldn’t have prepared for life-threatening situations? The goatmen haven’t even reached us yet.”Seeing signs of unrest in his caravan, the lead merchant inwardly cursed and immediately bellowed a command while simultaneously drawing the long blade from his waist. With his bulging muscles now fully visible, the lead merchant looked less like a trader and more like a bandit who robbed homes and looted villages.

Yet it was precisely this sharp ringing of steel being drawn that successfully calmed the riot-prone caravan once more.

Sweeping a fierce glare across the merchants, the lead merchant stood atop the performance platform and roared with all his might:

“Everyone listen up! To survive in this Desert, you can’t fear any damn goat-men! The nearest Oasis is a full three weeks’ journey behind us. Bypassing the town ahead means certain death by thirst! Tell me, do you want to die of thirst in the Desert, like those dried corpses we keep seeing?”

The lead merchant proved worthy of his position leading a trading caravan. The commanding presence he displayed at this critical moment was truly formidable. His roaring words ignited the merchants’ will to survive.

“No! We don’t want to become dried corpses!”

“Dammit, let’s fight those cursed goat-men!”

“If we’re going to die anyway, I’m not afraid of anything now!”

Instantly, the caravan’s morale surged dramatically.

“Then what the hell are we waiting for? Are those Scimitars on your belts just firewood? Draw your blades! We’re moving out now! Scouts say Hazelwood Town is still holding out. Our hundred-plus men can match a militia unit. We’ll join forces with the local militia, then fight our way out with the town’s supplies!”

Though hoarse, his rugged voice carried inspiring power. Under such encouragement, the merchants eagerly drew their weapons and began shouting war cries. The chaotic yet rhythmic chants resembled the legendary ancient War Song of warriors marching to battle – said to strike fear into enemies’ hearts!

Watching the merchants not only avoid cowardly panic but actually summon the courage to draw weapons for attack, even Ovakain was stunned:

“Are they really merchants? The merchants I’ve seen weren’t like this.”

Aisha, standing beside Ovakain, wore an expression of complete familiarity:

“They’re merchants alright – at least when doing business. But when ‘big opportunities’ arise, I suspect these ‘merchants’ won’t mind moonlighting as Desert bandits. Survival in this Desert doesn’t come easy. Their fierce temperament is understandable, isn’t it?”

Flashing Ovakain a wild, charismatic smile, Aisha drew the short blade from her waist and joined the merchant-turned-bandits in their war cries. As a mercenary in the caravan, she clearly couldn’t remain uninvolved.

Watching the vibrant young woman, Ovakain could only shrug helplessly and shake his head. Though he wanted to leave the caravan, until he could cast divination spells, he needed to secure sufficient supplies first. For a dragon requiring massive amounts of food and water, getting lost in this barren Desert would be no trivial matter.Now, the small town that could have provided supplies had been attacked. Whether out of consideration for benefits or the compassion of a Lawful-aligned professional, Ovakain could not simply stand by and do nothing.

In the end, with a bitter smile in his heart, Ovakain could only take out an ornamental longsword from his Storage Ring and raise it high.

“Hoo-hoo-hey, hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo, hey-hoo-hey”…

Powerful shouts echoed through the silent Desert. Listening to the ancient, savage chant ringing in his ears, Ovakain unknowingly felt tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. At this moment, he recalled once again the Half-Dragon Tribe from his childhood memories, remembering how the half-dragons had similar encouraging shouts when they went out hunting. However, when the half-dragons sang their War Songs with their deep, resonant voices, it was far more passionate than the roars of hundreds of humans.

(End of Chapter)