On the banks of the Gresmore River, stands Touris Castle.
Duke Baldur, Bodrick, stood atop the high castle walls, flanked by dozens of Sea God Knights and his deputy, Sir Hulf, also the deputy commander of the Sea God Knights.
Gazing into the distance, the Duke saw nothing but the vast vampire army, with endless ranks of zombies filling his view. However, these creatures were not of concern to Baldur; a single charge by the knights could scatter these frail zombies, and even peasant infantry could easily defeat these walking corpses.
What truly worried Baldur were the several squads of Grave Guards, undead warriors in rusted breastplates wielding rusted weapons, equipped with shields and swords or halberds. The arrows shot by ordinary peasant archers could not harm these formidable undead warriors, and in close combat, the peasant infantry stood no chance against these fierce fighters. Baldur had to rely on the protection of the castle walls and the bravery of his knights.
The vampire army was large but lacked siege weapons. Baldur's forces were fewer but had high walls and deep moats. The two forces were at a stalemate, with the vampire army attacking at night and ceasing during the day. The reversal of day and night was painful for the human troops, as the undead did not need rest, but humans did.
"The undead are coming again." Baldur noticed the zombie army mobilizing once more. These zombies, lacking any defense, staggered forward on foot. A small group could be easily crushed by a charge from the Sea God Knights, like tearing through cloth.
Facing tens of thousands of zombies, however, Baldur could only defend. Any knight caught in such a sea would surely perish.
Touris Castle's walls were sufficiently tall and sturdy, with white giant stone walls rising over a dozen meters. Although the undead managed to construct simple siege ladders, few could make it onto the walls. On the wide ramparts, peasant infantry and archers prepared nervously, their faces showing signs of fatigue and malnutrition. Sergeants rushed about the walls, "Prepare for battle! Show courage! The Duke is watching over us!"
Despite their exhaustion, the peasants stood up to fight. Even the most cowardly among them would erupt with immense courage when their home was threatened.
"Fire arrows!"
Thousands of peasant archers drew their short bows, and a dense volley of arrows flew from the walls, felling the advancing zombies in droves, like cutting wheat.
However, Baldur's face showed no joy. He knew well that these zombies were not dead but merely temporarily lost control. As soon as the necromancers regained control, the zombies would rise again.
The tide of corpses reached the walls, and with shouts from the Blood Knights and Grave Guards, several ladders were raised. At the top of each ladder stood a Grave Guard, unaffected by gravity.
The first ladder hit the wall, and the Grave Guard atop it leaped onto the ramparts, killing several peasant archers with a sweep of its weapon.
"Close combat!" Baldur immediately roared.
"Close combat!" The sergeants echoed, and the archers retreated in disarray. Groups of spearmen, wearing simple leather armor with few wearing breastplates, pushed forward with their spears. The Grave Guard was impaled by several spears and fell from the wall.
Ranger knights surged forward, cutting down any isolated Grave Guards.
"One, two, three, push!" Under the Sea God Knights' command, the soldiers worked together to overturn the ladders, sending climbing zombies tumbling down.
In the castle's towers, trebuchets cranked and hurled massive stones at the enemy outside the walls, each strike crushing groups of zombies.
Several kilometers from the castle, in the vampire camp, the Red Duke watched the ongoing battle at Touris Castle with frustration, yelling out his hatred and stress. For many days, he had been unable to breach the castle walls.
Without breaking through Touris Castle, how could he advance on Baldur?
The flood summoned by the Lady of the Lake had severely impacted Duke Konrad's domain. It took the Red Duke months to assemble this army, but many siege workshops and tombs were destroyed by the flood, leaving his forces without powerful siege weapons and unable to breach Touris Castle.
Dozens of Blood Knights stood behind the Red Duke, key to the war's outcome. The Red Duke wisely refrained from acting rashly, waiting for reinforcements.
Blood Knight Merovech, once a Musillon Duke who fell into undeath and was defeated and cursed by the Lake Witch of his era, was leading several hundred Wight Knights. His fall and the horrific tales that followed are long stories. Like the Red Duke, he harbored deep hatred for the kingdom of knights, having personally slain a Knight King but ultimately defeated by the Lake Witch and the Grail Knights.
Now, with Morgiana grievously injured, Merovech could finally emerge. He was resurrected as another Blood Knight.
"We must take Touris, kill all the living, kill them all!" The Red Duke's remaining sentiment was rage, but this did not mean he abandoned thought. After two to three hours of fruitless attacks, he ordered a retreat.
The defenders once again valiantly repelled the enemy's assault.
Baldur stood atop the castle, the night wind and the stench of undeath assaulting his nostrils. Dressed in blue and yellow Sea God mithril chainmail, with the family crest of the Sea God's trident, he saw the tide of corpses retreat and immediately ordered, "Check the losses now. I need to know today's toll."
"Yes!" A Sea God Knight immediately went to carry out the order.
Twenty minutes later, in the cold tower of Touris Castle, Baldur, with bloodshot eyes, sat behind a table.
Sir Hulf, deputy commander of the Sea God Knights, entered, "My Duke, today's battle cost us nineteen knights, about three hundred peasant soldiers, and thirty-five sergeants."
The room was quiet. Baldur had no mood for the battle toll and gestured for Hulf to sit, "My deputy commander, how long do you think we can hold?"
"Perhaps... a month?" Sir Hulf sat down with a bitter smile, wearing armor made of enamel and turquoise, decorated with many seashells, symbolizing the glory he won for the Sea God. "But we will continue to fight, my Duke."
In truth, Baldur's Sea God Knights were no less formidable than the knights of Brittany, steadfast as the ocean and capable of crushing all enemies like a storm.
"Heh~" Baldur chuckled, pulling out several letters and orders, "Our King keeps emphasizing that I should hold and wait for reinforcements. But where are those damned reinforcements? My scouts report no sign of Konrad assembling troops. Instead, my new friend Ryan is trying to gather forces, and my old friend Francois is coming to my aid!"
"Wintertodt's reinforcements are on the way, expected to arrive the day after tomorrow by noon," Sir Hulf brought the scout's report. "But there's bad news. The undead are surely aware that our reinforcements are coming."
"Prepare for an
unprecedented assault tomorrow night," Baldur said softly. Hulf nodded, hesitating before speaking, "My Duke, perhaps you should take cover for the time being. Tomorrow night's onslaught might be fiercer than ever..."
"Where can I flee? To Baldur's Stream? Konrad?" Baldur asked emotionlessly.
"…Marinburg? My Duke, you are indispensable. The bloodline of the Sea God must not end here," Hulf's voice filled the room.
"If I die, there's my son, Fedmond. I'm old; death is not a curse to me," Baldur stood, refusing to jest, "Is this my fate? Do you know how angry I am? Our King has not supported me. I'm furious, burning with rage."
"I'm sorry, my Duke," Hulf quickly said.
"I will not flee. I will not submit," Baldur stood, looking towards the vampire army in the distance, shouting, "It's time to draw our swords!"
Rage engulfed the room as Hulf knelt, "My Duke! The Sea God Knights will always stand by you!"
"The descendants of the Sea God never fear any enemy!!!"
The next night, the Duke personally appeared on the front lines, wielding the golden trident of Manann, impaling an attacking Grave Guard, "For Manann, for Baldur!"
"For the Lady!" The Duke's presence on the front lines inspired endless courage in the peasants. They roared and fought bravely, spearing groups of enemies.
The Sea God Knights, cloaked in the trident of Manann, took up shields and cutlasses, ruthlessly cutting all attempting undead in half. The Grave Guards suffered heavy losses.
Beneath the pale moonlight, with the castle engulfed in smoke and battle on three sides, it seemed the Red Duke, knowing reinforcements were near, not only committed all his forces except the Blood Knights but also unleashed hordes of Bloodfiends and Bloodwolves.
"Bloodfiends! Take cover!" Swarms of bloodfiends appeared, swooping down towards the fighting troops on the walls.
"Fire arrows!" Sergeants shouted, and peasant archers desperately aimed at the bloodfiends.
Bloodfiends brushed aside the frail arrows with their wings. The archers' volleys lacked the power to kill, and they swept over the towers, grabbing a group of peasant archers and dropping them from the sky.
"Screams filled the air."
"Something's climbing up!" The Sea God Knights and hordes of Grave Guards were locked in fierce combat when Deputy Hulf shouted, "Duke, beware!"
Baldur cut down several Grave Guards and zombies, raising his trident to unleash Manann's fury. Hearing the knights' calls, he instantly switched from offense to defense as swarms of bloodfiends dove at him. Baldur blocked with his shield, the massive bloodfiends battering against it, knocking the Duke down on the wall.
"Duke Baldur!!" The Sea God Knights struggled to aid their Duke, but more Grave Guards climbed the wall, blocking their path.
"A Terrorgheist!" A peasant shouted.
In the distance, a massive Terrorgheist appeared against the night sky, resembling a giant bat with a skeletal face ablaze with ghostly blue flames. Its massive body stirred the wind, diving towards the wall.
Baldur, kneeling with his shield, attempted to stand as bloodfiends opened their maws, revealing sharp fangs and attacking. Several Sea God Knights raised their shields and tridents, fighting the bloodfiends as Baldur reached for his fallen trident, "Manann's Wrath!"
A torrent of seawater erupted, sweeping over the ramparts, shredding bloodfiends and Grave Guards in its wake.
As Baldur controlled the water, a massive claw struck him, knocking him down with a scream. His shield and trident flew away.
The Terrorgheist had landed!
The beast landed on the wall, roaring at Baldur, who lay on the ground, struggling to move back with no room to retreat against the battlements.
"Duke!!!" The Sea God Knights yelled, seeing Baldur in peril, their eyes filled with rage, but even the closest knight was about five meters away.
Was this the end? Baldur's eyes blazed with hatred as he attempted to draw his sword, determined to die alongside the giant Terrorgheist.
At that moment, near the wall, a green light shone, and a knight clad in green emerged, sweeping across the wall with a green longsword, beheading the Terrorgheist in a flash.
"Continue the fight! People of Brittany! Do not submit to darkness!"
"Advance!!!"
Updated! The Green Knight has entered the fray. Perhaps it's time for some votes?
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