"Duke!" Count Anthelm de Cuileux shouted urgently, "Behind you!"
François could already feel the cold wind at his back, but he didn't have time to turn around.
At that moment, a thunderous roar split the sky, and a bolt of lightning struck Ghur.
A golden griffon swooped down from the heavens, and Ryan finally appeared.
Sensing the power of chaos, Ryan had immediately headed this way on Imperius. However, a griffon and a walking bolt of lightning made for too obvious a target. The entire battlefield saw he intended to support François. Kemmler had ordered a large group of bloodthirsty ghouls to stop him, and Ryan had to fight his way through, even sustaining injuries, to get here.
Despite being struck by lightning, the undead Champion of Chaos did not stop his assault.
"Psyker Spear!" Following the lightning was a two-meter-long psyker spear. The two-meter-long glow exploded in the air, turning into a rain of destructive light.
Ghur finally paused, stepping back amidst the destructive light rain. Ryan's interference had prevented his attack from delivering a fatal blow to François. The giant axe, with its black jagged edge, only struck François' steed's hindquarters, causing the warhorse to scream in pain and lose control.
François tried desperately to regain control of his beloved horse, but the pureblood elven steed instinctively bolted in agony, causing François's movements to be severely distorted. The sword that was meant to cleave Kemmler's head in half only struck his shoulder.
"Ugh!" The undead wizard screamed in pain, clutching his shoulder and retreating. He frantically ordered Ghur, "Kill him! Kill him! Kill him now!"
At this moment, the surrounding undead Chaos chosen warriors finally came to Kemmler's defense. They protected him with pikes and heavy weapons, forcing Karad and Anthelm, who had followed François into the command post, to retreat.
"Damn it!" François could not control his horse. The pureblood elven steed, driven mad by pain, bolted toward the ancient tomb army's banner.
Turning his head, François saw that Kemmler was now protected by undead Chaos chosen warriors, making it impossible to force his way through. In frustration, François cleaved the guardian of the ancient tomb army's banner in two and then cut down the banner itself.
Then, François, usually elegant and wise, roared like a villain, "Kemmler! Mark my words! In the name of the Lady, I will return to take your head!"
"I'll be waiting, François!" Kemmler, barely standing with the help of his guards, released his grip on his shoulder. The 15-centimeter-deep wound and the black blood seeping from it nearly drove the undead wizard mad. "Ghur! Kill him!"
"As you command, my lord!" The Chaos Champion nodded and immediately charged at François.
"Curse it!" Having missed such a good opportunity, François dismounted, preparing to face Ghur directly.
"I'll join you!" Ryan also descended from the sky, his body bearing many wounds. The griffon Imperius, also seriously injured, shrieked as it glided back to the Bretonnian army, crashing to the ground and lying still.
François noticed the pieces of ghoul flesh on Ryan's body. He gripped his unicorn sword tightly, "Is your griffon alright?"
"It will fly again." Ryan, covered in blood, held his warhammer tightly.
Ghur appeared before them.
"Very well, let's face him together, as father and son-in-law!" François didn't thank Ryan because there was no need.
"Prepare to die, mortals." Ghur said no more and immediately engaged Ryan and François. His black giant axe withstood the combined attack of the two paladins without losing any ground.
The black giant axe first blocked François's unicorn sword. Duke Winford shouted, "For the Lady!"
"For the Lady!" Ryan's hammer of Thor struck Ghur's shoulder plate, the chosen champion's attack capable of shattering any heavy armor and turning its wearer into a bloody pulp.
Ghur seemed completely unharmed. His blood-red Barosh armor rang crisply under Ryan's heavy blow, and the Chaos Champion swung his axe in a sweeping arc.
François immediately retreated, while Ryan blocked head-on. Sparks flew as the hammer and the black axe clashed. Ghur roared in fury, unaffected by the collision, ignoring physical constraints as he swung his axe again.
The three of them were locked in fierce combat. Every undead near them was shattered by the battle's aftershocks.
Ghur's strength was astounding, surpassing even the "Red-Eyed" Egil. This undead warrior held his ground against both Ryan and François. Though often hit, he seemed unharmed, fighting at full strength. His axe parried Ryan's hammer of Thor and François's unicorn sword, preventing any advance.
The battle raged on. Both Ryan and François were injured, while Ghur's attacks were reckless and relentless. Despite their combined efforts, they only managed to chip away at Ghur's armor, achieving little else.
It seemed a powerful force was protecting Ghur.
On the other side, with the help of the undead Chaos chosen warriors, Mathieu Bard forced Karad back with his sword. Looking toward the command post, he saw the ancient tomb army's banner fall. The Duke of Mousillon felt a chill. Ignoring Karad's challenge, he rushed back on horseback.
He found Kemmler protected by the grave guards and chosen warriors. The undead wizard clutched his shoulder, the unicorn sword's holy power corroding his body.
"We should retreat now, Lord Kemmler." Mathieu Bard sighed in relief. Kemmler couldn't die, not yet.
"I will destroy this land, I swear!" Kemmler finally gave up the fight, clutching his wound in agony. The pure power of the unicorn sword was gradually eroding his control over the ancient tomb army. "Retreat! Retreat south!"
With that, his strained nerves relaxed, and the undead wizard howled in pain from his heavy wounds and the sword's power, unable to speak further.
This affected the battlefield. The hordes of zombies and skeletons moved sluggishly, many collapsing where they stood. Skeleton warriors crumbled into piles of bones, and the remaining undead grew weaker and slower.
The ancient tomb army began to retreat, collapsing before the allied forces.
Covered by the grave guards and chosen warriors, Mathieu Bard commanded the undead army's orderly withdrawal.
Ghur transformed into a whirlwind, forcing Ryan and François back with a spinning slash. The Chaos Champion then took a blast from Veronica's light mage mount head-on, disappearing in the explosion.
"Ah, it's a shame we couldn't kill Kemmler, but at least we won the battle." François's armor bore many marks from Ghur's attacks, but most were minor wounds. As Ghur disappeared, François gripped his unicorn sword, "Ryan, Karad, Anthelm, there's no need to pursue."
Ryan silently nodded, covered in blood and injured.
"Not pursuing?" Anthelm gripped his knight's sword, coming to François's side, "Cousin, are you alright?"
"Thanks to Ryan's support, I might have died otherwise." François examined the gashes in his armor from Ghur's axe, looking toward the ancient tomb army's retreat. "The troops are exhausted. We need time to regroup and find a way to counter those undead warriors and the Chaos Champion. Our attacks have little effect on them, whether magical or physical."
"I wonder where Kemmler unearthed and revived these undead warriors. They're incredibly powerful." Karad sheathed his holy sword Durandal, speaking quietly. "Only blessed weapons and the beams from that war machine seem to harm them. I've seen knights impale them with lances to no avail."
"I killed two of those undead warriors," Anthelm sighed, looking over the battlefield's ruins. "You're right, cousin. Without a way to deal with those undead warriors, even if we catch up to Kemmler and his army, we can't win."
"And that Chaos Champion, damn, he's almost invincible." Ryan quipped, "In our therapy center, such guys are electrocuted."
"Electrocuted?" François asked curiously.
"Nothing, just a treatment method." Ryan chuckled, looking at the fallen banner of the ancient tomb army. Wiping his face, he said, "Though we didn't fully succeed, this is still our victory!"
"Yes, this is our victory, Bretonnia's victory, humanity's victory!" François addressed the troops, "The undead army has retreated. By the Lady's grace, we have triumphed, breaking the ancient tomb army and thwarting the undead's plot. This glorious victory will be celebrated forever. My knight brothers, soldiers, all who fought against the undead, let us cheer for victory!"
"Victory!"
"Victory!"
"We won!"
The battle of Blackstone Keep ended with the undead's forced retreat and Kemmler's loss of his foothold in Bretonnia. The vampires were left with only Mousillon as their stronghold in eastern Bretonnia.
Bretonnia suffered losses of 700 knights and about 2,500 peasants, while the ancient tomb army was nearly wiped out, except for two grave guard regiments, one undead knight regiment, one binding knight regiment, a few bloodthirsty ghouls, and Kemmler's and Mathieu Bard's guards.
After the battle, the knights cleared the field.
Spoils were limited against the undead, which the knights cared little for. They took pride in their defense of the realm and collected the weapons and armor of the fallen knights for their families and retainers.
Halberdier Raymond walked among the corpses, feeling melancholic. Unlike his comrades, he didn't search the dead but
found a place to sit, staring blankly ahead.
Of the over 300 halberdiers, only about 100 remained. Many of Raymond's familiar comrades had died. The survivors, some maimed, huddled together, crying out in despair. They faced retirement and a pension from the count's treasury, settling outside the town.
"What are you thinking, soldier?" A voice came from behind him.
"I'm thinking this is war." Raymond replied absentmindedly, sighing. "Just earning a living. This is the outcome of choosing the army: either die in battle or bask in victory until the next war, hoping for promotion."
"You desire promotion, young man? Where is your captain?" The voice, tinged with amusement, asked.
"Over there." Raymond pointed nearby.
The captain's body lay in several pieces among the gore.
After the captain's death, Raymond had rallied the halberdiers to form a last line of defense, holding off the skeleton warrior's relentless attacks until the undead army's collapse.
Surviving the terror beast's jaws had given Raymond immense courage, believing his deity protected him.
He thought the same when he skewered a bloodthirsty ghoul.
"I saw your bravery, soldier. I saw you survive the terror beast and rally the troops." The voice continued with a hint of a smile. "Kneel, soldier, and tell me your name."
Raymond felt something was off. He stood, nearly stumbling.
Before him stood Ryan, fully armed and wounded, accompanied by Veronica the Garland witch and kingdom knight Hex.
"Kneel, soldier, the count commands it!" Hex's face bore fresh claw marks from a bloodthirsty ghoul, making him look fierce.
Raymond's legs wobbled as he knelt, "Count, I meant no offense..."
"Your name?"
"Raymond..."
"Very well, Mr. Raymond, from today, you are the new captain of the halberdiers!"
"Yes, sir!"
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