The Woodland Guards' arrows fell like torrential rain, shooting rapidly and accurately, causing many Beastmen to fall immediately, forcing them to scatter in search of cover.
In the forest, this was the advantage of the Wood Elves; their archers had long range, high accuracy, and unmatched firing speed. Only these children of the forest possessed such elite bowmanship.
Ryan carefully observed the Beastmen's camp.
Indeed, the elite Beastmen forces had been drawn away, leaving only the minimum defense forces.
This was a godsend opportunity! Ryan turned to Gabriel and Julius, saying, "The outcome hinges on this moment; this is our last chance."
"The camaraderie between the Winfort and Bastonne people will never be forgotten by our Red Dragon family. Now, let us draw the final curtain." Marquis Gabriel donned his crusader helmet, the red dragon statue atop shimmering. He drew his longsword, ready as the third son of the Duke of Red Dragons.
Julius approached from behind, also wearing a crusader helmet, topped with a statue of a pure white pegasus: "Ryan, it's an honor to fight alongside you. I will continue my path until I become a Grail Knight."
The stoic eldest son of the Duke of Winfort also gripped his longsword, raising his shield emblazoned with his family crest: "For the Lady, for chivalry, for our nation."
Then came Surya, the tall and stalwart lady knight, fully armed behind Ryan. She first glanced at Ryan, then at her brother, curling her lips into a smile, her azure eyes fixed on Ryan, shining brightly: "Sir Ryan, it's my honor to fight beside you. You saved our army; without you, we might have perished."
"It's thanks to a serf named Denis, not me." Seeing the lady knight, Ryan suddenly smiled.
His warm smile contrasted with the sternness of the previous battles: "So beautiful, so strong, so gentle, Miss Surya, I'm happy to campaign with you."
"Me too... Sir Ryan."
The Beastmen, having reacted to the surprise attack, raised their shields and charged at the allied forces, their heavy hooves churning the forest soil: "Destroy... humans, destroy... pointy ears!"
The thick shields blocked the rain of arrows, forcing the Woodland Guards to retreat. The Eternal Guards, wielding heavy shields and long spears, advanced, pressing their large kite shields into the ground, forming a dense spear wall.
"Soldiers, follow me, advance!" Ryan, leading from the front, charged at the approaching Beastmen, leaving a few knights and serf troops to protect the flanks: "Forward!"
"For the Lady! For Bretonnia!" The human forces engaged the formidable Beastmen head-on.
"For the Lady!" Ranger Knight Hex, seeing the Beastmen, his eyes turned blood-red. His lands, his kin, all perished at these beasts' hands. He sought vengeance!
Drawing his bastard sword, his silver-grey cloak billowed behind him: "Advance!"
"Heave! Ho!" Soldiers formed a tight formation, most of the charging Beastmen slamming into shields, then impaled by spears: "Ha!"
Then the Eternal Guards and soldiers lifted their shields, rotating ninety degrees to reveal the dark interior of their line.
From within, dismounted knights surged forth, shield in one hand, sword in the other: "Forward! For the Lady!"
"For the Lady!" The first wave of Beastmen was swiftly slain by the knights, who charged into the ranks of the Beastmen in groups.
Following, the soldiers and Eternal Guards advanced in a spear wall, crushing any stragglers.
The first wave of over two hundred Beastmen collapsed, scattering in retreat.
"Kill! Exterminate these Chaos spawn!" Olivier followed Ryan, shouting.
"Advance! Children of the forest!"
War erupted fully, with humans, Elves, and Beastmen clashing on the battlefield.
In the distance, within the lush forest, the core of Beastmen faith—the Warpstone—stood as the key to the war's outcome.
Indeed, when facing a disciplined and orderly military formation, the Beastmen struggled, their numbers dwindling under the allied forces' assault.
"Boom!" At the frontline, a huge explosion sent several Beastmen flying, the dust and fear causing retreat, angering the Minotaur Seg guarding the Warpstone.
It was Ryan, the Grail Knight, hammering the ground with mighty blows.
"The Lady's champion, Ryan Macado, stands here!" Ryan declared, raising his warhammer.
"Ah!" After a brief silence, a Doombull charged at Ryan with a roar.
Ryan swung his warhammer, the force of the blow felt across the battlefield.
"Thud!" The Doombull's head spun several times on its neck before falling.
In the blood-soaked forest, the allied forces roared like thunder: "Champion! Champion!"
The call of war, the call to victory!
"The forest calls us to hunt, children of the forest! Forward!" Lord Dalina, wielding a starfire composite bow: "The wild hunt begins! For Athel Loren!"
Noticing several Chaos Spawn attempting to infiltrate the allied lines, Lord Dalina drew an arrow, the bow glowing with the Hunt God's light. The starfire-tipped arrow, blazing a trail through the dense forest, detonated the Chaos Spawn, turning everything within three meters to ash: "Rangers! Target the Chaos Spawn, protect our allies!"
The elite Rangers, masters of archery, silently and lethally acted, their black-feathered arrows striking without deviation or pause.
Chaos Spawn approaching the human lines were detonated by the Rangers, exploding in the distance.
On the flanks, the Ranger Knights and Woodland Cavalry coordinated brilliantly, thwarting Centigor ambushes. The Woodland Cavalry, showcasing their mounted archery skills, inflicted heavy losses on the Centigors.
In retaliation, many Centigors threw axes, causing casualties among the Woodland Cavalry, resulting in a stalemate.
"Ha!" Julius, with golden hair flying, sliced open a Doombull's chest. As a legendary knight, he had slain dozens of Doombulls and Beastmen.
"Ugh!" Another Doombull charged, but Julius deflected its attack with his shield, then pierced its heart: "Die, beast!"
Beastmen fell before the knights and Eternal Guards. Led by the Grail Knight, their weakness in direct combat and teamwork was exposed, unable to resist the knights' advance, falling in defeat.
This was the nature of Beastmen; unable to leverage their strengths in direct combat, they were no match for humans, especially with their numbers dwindling and lack of elite forces.
Similar scenes unfolded across the battlefield, with the knights' powerful charges breaking the Beastmen.
Soldiers and Eternal Guards advanced in groups.
Elite heavy knights crushed the last resistance.
Woodland Guards and Rangers sniped any fleeing targets.
Leading the charge was Ryan, his hammer sending Beastmen flying, unstoppable at the forefront.
"Ugh!" Three Doombulls charged together.
Ryan blocked with his warhammer, the poorly made axes unable to penetrate. Then, extending his right hand, a long psychic blade emerged, slicing through the Doombulls, cauterizing their wounds.
"For the Lady!" No creature could
's march. Some Centigors threw axes at him, but with superhuman reflexes, he caught them mid-air and hurled them back, slicing half a head off a Centigor.
In the desperate situation, humans and Wood Elves executed a masterful combined operation. The Beastmen warbands that ventured out to fight were utterly defeated.
The allied forces pushed to the entrance of the camp, the thick gates barring the knights' path.
But for Ryan, this was not an obstacle. He raised his warhammer.
"Boom!"
"Crash!"
The gates of the Beastmen camp collapsed, opening the path to the Warpstone to the allies.
Through the dust, humans and Elves filled with hatred charged into the fragile Beastmen camp.
"Advance! Leave no survivors! Against these Beastmen, we need no mercy!" Ryan roared. "My warriors, destroy everything you see!"
"Yes!"
Then, Ryan's gaze turned towards the Warpstone.
It was a massive blood-red rock, from which Ryan could feel terrible Chaotic energies flowing. The rock was covered in Chaos symbols, with skulls tied with simple ropes and fixed with wooden stakes.
These were the skulls of knights, identifiable by the helmets still on their heads, indicating their duchies.
Weapons, armor, banners, and dismembered corpses of knights seized by the Beastmen surrounded the stone, along with ankle-deep piles of bones, accumulated from dark blood sacrifices performed by Beastmen shamans with their captives.
The bones and flesh of knights built this Warpstone.
"Ah! Is that?" Marquis Gabriel stared, the veteran knight of over twenty years immediately crying out, his eyes reddening: "That's... my brother's skull, yes, it must be him. I can't be mistaken."
Surya also entered the camp, the duke's daughter witnessing such a horrific scene for the first time, vomiting on the spot and covering her mouth. Ryan approached, offering his water flask: "Drink some, then fall back, Miss Surya. You're not fit to fight now."
"Thank you, Sir Ryan." She drank deeply, then retreated under the knights' protection.
Ranger Knight Hex saw his father's skull atop the Warpstone. The young knight clenched his teeth with venomous hatred: "It's time, time to turn these bastards to ashes!"
"For this Warpstone, we've shed too much blood, made too many sacrifices. How will the young face this hatred? The endless cycle of generational enmity, I feel, must end now." Ryan also clenched his teeth, Chaos repeatedly corrupting the material world. Though humans might repel them, the damage caused never truly vanishes.
All humans could do was to drive evil back into its realm, then wait for its return.
"Ah!" The allied forces charging into the camp met fierce resistance. A Wood Elf Eternal Guard's shield was cleaved in two, falling to the ground. Before he could rise, a large axe decapitated him.
Blood splattered, the Eternal Guard, trained for decades, was torn apart: "Ah!"
The Doombulls and Minotaurs had finally joined the fray.
"Now, only these creatures stand in our way, Marquis Gabriel? Julius? The Doombulls are yours." Ryan's lips curled into a broad smile, his face alight with fervor. "As for the Minotaur, leave it to me."
"My sword has longed for Doombull blood," Gabriel stepped forward, the Duke's third son smiling. "My father will appreciate this gift."
"The Antreli family never fears a formidable foe. I, Julius Antreli de Winfort, swear to the Lady, I shall secure victory for her!" Julius nodded, his face as cold as midwinter.
"The final battle begins!" Ryan raised his warhammer, spotting his target.
Fifty meters away, the Minotaur emerged through the dust.
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