As soon as our one hundred automatic defense turrets simultaneously targeted and fired at the enemies,
The leader of the white knights, who was charging at the forefront, raised his massive bow.
He drew the bowstring gracefully, as if plucking the strings of a harp...
Dooong-!
As the bowstring vibrated, a dense white mist instantly filled the air.
The turquoise mana bullets fired by the automatic turrets poured into the mist,
Ripple...!
The mist rippled like water and completely absorbed the projectiles.
The mana bullets caught in the mist disintegrated and vanished, as if decomposing at an accelerated rate like a corpse.
Simultaneously, the 111 white knights also readied their bows. They all lifted their bows to the sky and fired arrows.
Sssss-!
Thud, thud, thud!
The barrage of arrows fired in an arc soared high into the sky.
'Plague arrows!'
The arrows, like rockets leaving smoke trails, soared while scattering a dark aura behind them.
These plague arrows would form contaminated zones on impact.
Standing on the edge of the fortress wall, I waved my flag horizontally.
"I can handle defense too-!"
Shooosh!
Following the path of my flag, a new magic wall rose in the air, blocking all the falling plague arrows.
The magic wall struck by the arrows immediately decayed and blackened, but as I retrieved the decayed magic wall, it instantly purified and disappeared in the air.
Just entering my zone of invulnerability neutralized the effect of the plague arrows.
While I created layer upon layer of magic walls to block the plague arrows, my one hundred automatic turrets fired another round directly at the white knights.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The leader of the white knights spread the mist once more to block the barrage.
Thud, thud, thud...!
The volley of arrows fired by the white knights was again blocked by my magic walls.
The turrets and archers of both sides were attacking each other, with their leaders defending the attacks.
The distance between the two sides was gradually closing.
Soon, I could see the faces of the approaching enemies.
The faces of the centaurs with white cloaks fluttering were blackened and twitching with decay.
"Kellibey!"
Staring at those faces, I shouted to Kellibey inside the fortress.
"Time for 'Construction'!"
"Leave it to me!"
Kellibey brought out the prepared equipment.
It was five massive stakes with a dark red aura flowing from their heads.
These stakes were made from the magic cores of Cerberus, the hellhound general, and his lieutenant, Orthros.
"Not as powerful as mana core missiles, but..."
Kellibey placed the stakes in the air, and they floated and aligned in position.
"But these can be reused, and more importantly,"
Kellibey lightly spun around, holding a hammer-
"They're perfectly optimized for 'this purpose'!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang-!
He struck the heads of the stakes in sequence, launching them like hockey pucks.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud-!
The five stakes flew and embedded themselves into the ground between us and the white knights.
And then.
Boom!
The ground where the stakes were planted shattered.
Cracks spread instantly, causing the ground to collapse. From the fissures, blazing red lava erupted violently.
The white knights, who had been charging boldly, halted in confusion.
This equipment was hastily developed right after it was confirmed that our opponents were the Apocalypse Knights.
A terrain-shattering device, recreating the hellish landscape of the hellhound guards, made from their magic cores—
"'Earthbreaker'!"
Although it's designed solely for terrain destruction, its effect is devastating against cavalry!
The white knights, charging like a storm, were forced to break formation and slow down before the collapsing ground.
And my automatic turrets, unwavering in any situation, precisely targeted the enemies—
And mercilessly unleashed a barrage of mana bullets.
The leader of the white knights urgently spread the mist, but it couldn't fully protect the cavalry in the collapsing terrain...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The white knights caught in the wide barrage collapsed, spewing blackened blood.
***
"Huff..."
Hearing the distant explosions, Torkel took a deep breath.
Dududududu-!
The red knights, brandishing huge greatswords and cloaked in red, were charging relentlessly towards the first forward base.
The incarnations of war and slaughter.
The ground beneath them ignited with a trail of embers.
"Shoot! Don't let them approach-!"
At Torkel's command, archers and artillery units unleashed a barrage of attacks.
The red knights, however, deflected the attacks with their greatswords or barreled through, advancing relentlessly.
They seemed like beings created solely to charge at enemy lines. They expertly deflected and absorbed all our interceptions, pushing forward doggedly.
"Damn...!"
Realizing that ordinary ranged attacks were ineffective, Torkel glanced at the sky behind him and waved his hand.
"Damien! We need fire support!"
The airship La Mancha was hovering far above, monitoring the situation of all the forward bases.
Would Damien notice his request and respond in time from such a distance?
For a moment, Torkel worried, but it was unfounded.
Damien immediately caught the support request and initiated the firing sequence.
Right after Torkel's request for support.
Clunk...!
The lower hatch of La Mancha opened,
Thwooosh-!
And a mana core missile was launched, heading towards the red knights.
Made from the mana core of the mantis general, 'Bride Devourer,' this missile flew accurately across the distance and struck the center of the red knights.
Boom-!
With an enormous explosion, a fierce blade-like shockwave swept through the area.
Indeed, the mana core missile had one of the greatest destructive powers as a single attack means in Crossroad. If the opponents were an ordinary monster army, this single blast would have annihilated them.
But this is the endgame of the Apocalypse Knights.
A formidable army with the power of nightmare generals.
Dudududu-!
Through the dense smoke, the red knights emerged.
Many had perished, and most survivors were injured by the immense explosion and subsequent shockwave, but the red knights did not stop.
"..."
Torkel's eyes met the enemy commander's.
Covered in arrows, the commander of the red knights had reached the front of the forward base and was ablaze.
The face of the centaur, whose blood-red cloak fluttered behind him, was engulfed in flames.
At that moment, Torkel realized.
The current defensive equipment at the forward base could not stop their charge.
If they were to face them here, significant damage would be inevitable. The forward base might be slaughtered by these incarnations of war.
In that case-
"I will go out and buy us some time."
"What?"
"Please follow the prepared plan. Then."
"Torkel?!"
Despite the surprised voices around him, Torkel stood on the edge of the fortress wall and jumped down without hesitation.
Thud-!
With a heavy thud, Torkel landed on the ground and slowly stood up.
His face was covered by a champion's helmet, his massive armor looked like a rock, a giant shield on his left arm, and a huge mace in his right hand.
Torkel's appearance was no different from that of a mythical hero.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Torkel banged his shield with his mace and looked ahead.
"My name is Torkel!"
Walking slowly forward through the dust he raised, Torkel introduced himself.
"I was the captain of the Leprosy Extermination Squad, the deputy commander of the World Guardian Front's melee unit, the greatest shield of Crown Prince Ash, and the gatekeeper of Crossroad, the entrance to the human world."
Standing alone in front of the forward base.
"..."
The red knights gradually slowed down and eventually stopped at a distance from Torkel.
Thud, thud, thud.
The commander of the red knights stepped forward alone, approaching Torkel.
Torkel grinned and raised his mace.
"I challenge you to a duel between commanders. Will you accept?"
"..."
A duel between commanders.
In this age where the romance of the battlefield has disappeared, it was an extremely anachronistic request.
But the Apocalypse Knights are all ancient specters.
Even though they have fallen to monsters, they still honor such an anachronistic request.
Clang...!
The commander of the red knights slowly raised his greatsword, pointing it at Torkel.
The tips of the mace and greatsword lightly touched each other, and then.
"...!"
"...!"
The two massive warriors charged at each other fiercely.
The centaur warrior swinging a flame-wreathed greatsword and the human wearing armor like a mountain, clashed.
Thud-!
***
The second forward base.
Where Evangeline was the commander.
Dudududu-!
The black knights were approaching.
"Damien! We need fire support!"
Evangeline requested bombardment, and Damien responded promptly.
Thwooosh-!
Boom!
The mana core missile of the mantis general 'Wingless Mantis Lord' exploded.
Following the tremendous explosion, a harsh sonic wave swept through the area.
"Nice shot! Wow, that was awesome!"
Amazed by the power of the mana core missile, Evangeline's jaw dropped, but soon she frowned.
Dudududu-!
Many had fallen, but the black knights, still robust, charged out of the explosion.
All the black knights, holding scales in their hands, were surrounded by water shields.
Seeing this, Evangeline clicked her tongue.
"Who would've thought I'd see someone using scales as a weapon..."
Among the four units of the Apocalypse Knights, the only one primarily using magic, the magic cavalry unit.
That's what the black knights were, and their magical tools were these scales.
The commander of the black knights held a particularly large scale made of chains. As the black knight commander approached the fortress, Evangeline saw his face.
A centaur with a face covered in swirling dark blue water.
"Come..."
Recalling the prepared strategy, Evangeline took a deep breath,
Clink-
The black knight commander suddenly raised the scale in his hand high.
Then pointed at Evangeline with his other hand.
"...?"
Unable to understand the intention, Evangeline tilted her head. What does this mean?
Shooosh!
In the next moment, a water shape formed on both sides of the black knight commander's scale.
One side resembled Evangeline, a girl knight, while the other...
"What."
Was the figure of a plump pig.
The scale wavered, measuring the weights of Evangeline and the pig, and then tilted sharply to one side.
...Towards Evangeline.
The black knight commander laughed, covering his face. His subordinates laughed and pointed at Evangeline.
"...What the, what does that mean."
Although she didn't fully understand, Evangeline, feeling extremely irritated, shouted.
"What does that mean?! Why are you laughing, you bastards-?!"