Craig cast one last unwilling glance at Castro high above, then turned and sprinted toward the source of the horn.
This was the Beastmens rallying signal. Once heard, regardless of where one was or what one was doing, all had to gather immediately.
Castro also heard the horn. The Beastmen who had been hiding from him now surged out of buildings once more, rushing toward the sound of the call.
Seeing the dense numbers, Castro was delighted and launched another diving assault.
A field of blood and carnage followed.
But there were simply too many Beastmen. Even though Castro had already slain over a thousand Beastmen in less than ten minutes, enough corpses to form a small mountain, it still wasn’t enough to inflict a fatal blow on a Beastmen army numbering in the tens of thousands.
Kap rode forward on a Level 15 dire wolf king three blades tal, his face grim, arriving at the front of the Dwarven city.
At that moment, a herald was blowing the great war horn, its deep tones booming through the valley like thunder.
Behind him, nearly ten phalanx formations had assembled, each consisting of a thousand soldiers.
The Beastmen army of over ten thousand had fully gathered in under ten minutes. The sight was truly awe-inspiring.
However, of the ten thousand, less than one-third were equipped with full armor and proper weapons.
The rest wore simple leather vests stitched from animal hides, and some even had bare torsos, thick, scarred muscles bulging from their bodies.
Kap urged his dire wolf forward to the front of the ranks, eyes burning as he locked onto the terrifying giant a thousand blades away.
Around Kosso now lay the corpses of nearly three hundred dire wolf cavalry. Yet the Bronze Cyclops had sustained little injury. The twin greatswords in his hands were repeatedly stained with blood, then wiped clean by fresh kills.
The average level of those wolf cavalry was between Level 7 and 9, with many elite Level 10 soldiers among them. But they had been slaughtered like helpless lambs, one strike, one kill.
These were the elite wolf cavalry that had brought countless nightmares to the Nolan Empire’s border forces.
The Beastmen’s most elite unit, being massacred. And not even covertly. Openly, brutally. Kap’s expression turned pitch black.
Even he would take heavy damage if surrounded by that many wolf cavalry, yet they still hadn’t broken through this damned giant’s defense.
Unacceptable!
His fury burned.
“Form ranks!! Deploy siege ballistae to slay the flying giant beast in the sky. Craig, come with me! I’ll kill this damned Cyclops myself!!”
More majestic than a lion, Kap spurred the dire wolf king into a charge straight at Kosso.
Craig, having just arrived on the battlefield, snatched a dire wolf from a fallen rider and immediately followed.
They had to restrain this giant, or their losses would only grow worse.
The commanding Beastmen officers instantly began coordinating the now-assembled army, preparing to hunt both the giant and the flying beast still rampaging in the sky.
“Prepare siege ballistae to kill the flying beast!!
Heavy infantry, ready yourselves! Follow Lord Kap to hunt the Cyclops!
Spearmen, protect the ballistae and archers!!”
“Three battalions of wolf cavalry, take three thousand troops to the city wall and defend against potential enemy reinforcements!”
“Arani, take your men and keep the Dwarves in line!!”
“Wild Boar, lead part of the troops into the city to put out the fires.”
“...”
Beastmen, truly a race forged in constant war, already recovering from the panic of a surprise attack in mere moments.
The high-ranking Beastmen commanders began issuing orders swiftly.
Just as the Beastmen forces received their orders and began to carry them out, Kap, charging toward Kosso, suddenly turned his head toward the mountain to the right of the Dwarven Valley, his expression darkening.
He sensed a dense surge of mana energy. Such an unrestrained magical aura could only mean one thing: a powerful spell was being cast.
Where did this spellcaster come from??
But before he could even speak.
In the dim sky above, it was as if the end had come. A massive crimson cloud spread across the heavens, casting its oppressive glow over the entire Beastmen army.
Mana surged wildly within the flame-colored cloud, and even Beastmen warriors with no magical talent whatsoever could feel the unnatural force in the air.
Kap's face darkened dramatically. The spellcasters of the Lionmane Tribe were still back at the tribe's territory; he hadn’t brought them to the Dwarven Valley.
He had no way to counter such terrifying magic at this moment.
“All forces, scatter!!” Kap had only enough time to shout a single warning.
Then a scene that sent chills down his spine unfolded before him.
Within the red clouds that lit up the sky, countless searing fireballs began to appear.
The fireballs varied in size, the smallest at least one blade wide, the largest reaching three blades in diameter.
Like falling stars, they trailed long tails of flame as they plummeted from the sky at terrifying speed, slamming directly into the dense mass of Beastmen below.
Boom~
The Beastmen had only just finished assembling, packed shoulder to shoulder, with no room to dodge. The scorching heat of the blast zones spread outward with deadly force.
A single exploding fireball could easily claim dozens of lives.
And the crimson cloud above began to expand madly, unleashing more fireballs like a meteor shower.
It truly was the end of days.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The ground erupted. The sky glowed only with blazing fire.
Chaos. Total chaos.
As dozens of fireballs exploded per second among the ranks of the Beastmen army, the hastily assembled force collapsed almost instantly.
Faced with this apocalyptic-level magic, an overwhelming force they could not resist or fight against, no one could summon the courage to stand.
Because it was meaningless. They could not fight the fireballs falling from the sky.
They fled in all directions!!
Every Beastmen madly ran for the edge of the crimson cloud’s range.
Those near the edges of the battlefield managed to escape quickly, but those trapped in the center had no chance, they could only struggle and fight their comrades for space to survive.
Some even knocked down their allies without hesitation just to flee faster.
Death was the greatest fear. Even the bravest Beastmen were powerless in the face of such annihilation-level devastation.
The Beastmen officers shouted themselves hoarse, but could not restore order to the chaos.
Disorder spread wildly with the spell falling from the sky.
Kosso let out a triumphant roar at the sight. He ignored the fact that the king of the Lionmane Tribe, Kap Lionmane, was now closing in on him.
Shaking off the wolf cavalry still pursuing him, Kosso charged into the densely packed Beastmen.
He wanted to kill more. He wanted to expand the slaughter.
For Dawn City!!
Beneath his armor, Kosso’s face was filled with excitement and ecstasy. He would once again earn glory for Dawn City and be rewarded by his great master!
Kap, however, gave up on chasing the damned giant and abruptly changed direction toward the source of the magic.
If he didn’t deal with the spellcasters, the Beastmen would suffer even greater losses!!
“Craig, go handle that giant, I’m going to slay the spellcasters!!”
Kap’s voice was thick with rage. From the moment he was jolted awake until now, not even fifteen minutes had passed.
And the Beastmen had already suffered losses too immense to describe. If he didn’t respond properly, the Lionmane Tribe could be reduced to a minor tribe from this day forward!
This grudge must be repaid in blood.
The enemy’s meticulously layered plan had completely disrupted his rhythm, making him feel as if every step he took was being manipulated by some hidden hand.
His warriors, awakened from sleep, were unable to reach peak condition. The darkness clouded their senses, slowing their reaction speed severalfold.
Then, just when the army was finally gathered, they found out that the steel behemoth in the sky capable of slaying hundreds of Beastmen, and the iron giant who had crushed their elite wolf cavalry, were merely bait.
The enemy’s true goal, was to lure him into concentrating his forces, then unleash a devastating magical strike!!
‘These damned, despicable bastards!! I swear to the God of the Hunt I will sever your heads!!’
And at that moment, Castro, circling in the sky, seeking his next opportunity, saw the chaos below and was overjoyed.
“Receive my master’s baptism, you filthy Beastmen!!”
He beat his bladed wings and dove again.
Just then, a massive fireball from the red clouds above slammed into Castro.
The fireball exploded, and although it failed to harm him, it wrapped his armor in a brief shroud of flames.
Now, Castro looked like a demon from hell itself, wreathed in death and fire.
Splat~
On the wide-open ground, the clustered Beastmen had nowhere to run. Beneath his bladed wings, none survived.
Shattered limbs covered the earth.
The searing fire mingled with the gushing blood, creating an eerily enchanting yet terrifying scene.
Whether it was the Bronze Cyclops or the King of the Dawn Bats, once clad in perfect-grade armor, the power they unleashed was utterly overwhelming to ordinary Beastmen.
At this time, Kap, riding the Dire Wolf King, had already followed the trail of mana and arrived at the source of the spellcasting.
In a massive battlefield nestled beneath a dense forest, there were actually hundreds of spellcasters present. At the center, two of them emanated clear Level 15 auras.
These spellcasters had taken carefully calculated positions, with everyone channeling their mana into the two Level 15 casters.
All of them are… Vampires? Sensing the familiar aura of low-level vampires among them, Kap’s expression darkened. Why would these cursed dark creatures target the Lionmane Tribe??
He narrowed his eyes, examining the Vampires’ ritual, and his face grew grim. “Damn bastards… Composite magic??
Vampires!! You should never have provoked the mighty Lionmane Tribe!!”
His bloodlust surged.
He deeply regretted not bringing the tribe’s shaman from the Lionmane homeland to the Dwarven Valley.
If the shaman had been here, they would’ve detected this treacherous ambush in advance.
“Well well? You’ve finally arrived. I’ve been waiting for you,”
Just as Kap was about to unleash a slaughter, two powerful figures appeared before and behind him.
Betty, wielding a massive sword, looked up at the lion-headed rider atop the dire wolf, the fire of battle burning in her eyes.
This was a formidable enemy.
And she, hungered for battle.
“Foolish human, despicable Vampire, you will suffer the full wrath of my fury!!”
Kap’s massive lion head twisted into a vicious snarl. His aura surged violently as he urged his dire wolf to charge straight at Betty.
These people, must die.