Real Mount and Blade Game

He abruptly slapped away the quiver, gripping only the longbow in his hand. His figure transformed into a streak of green light, bursting forth with unprecedented speed, relentlessly chasing after Shen Mu's rapidly receding silver figure.

The remaining rangers, now somewhat calmer, had no further hesitation. They discarded their spare quivers and excess equipment, and recklessly used the elves' extraordinary agility to the fullest, fleeing for their lives through the ruins and rubble.

However, the claws of the abyss are even faster!
Dozens of skeletal gnolls let out excited and cruel howls. Their strides were incredibly large, and their skeletal bodies left dark red sulfur trails in the black mist. They swung their black iron scimitars through the air, each swing seemingly cutting through the distance, as they fiercely pounced on the fleeing reconnaissance squad!
Hundreds of Abyssal Skeletons, like rabid dogs stimulated by bloodshed, their dark red crystal cores flashing wildly in their eyes, crawled on all fours, their bones creaking and scraping, tearing through the ruins with all their might, relentlessly pursuing the fleeing elves! They roared, and some even detonated small fragments of their crystal cores while running, using the recoil from the explosions to accelerate wildly! Dark red energy fragments followed like a meteor shower, threatening to engulf any lagging elves at any moment!

The distance between the two sides was rapidly closing! The cold scraping sound of bone claws, the heavy thud of bones on the ground, and the sharp howl of jackal scimitars cutting through the air, mixed with the increasingly clear stench of sulfur, were almost right behind the fleeing elves!
A young forest ranger stumbled as a piece of collapsed steel bar fell from the side, and he staggered! In that instant, a wrecked winged creature with deformed, outstretched wings, pouncing like a blood-red lightning bolt, swooped down! Its sharp, bony claws gleamed with a deadly glint, aiming straight for his back!

despair!

At this critical moment——

"Holy Tree Knights! Clear the road!" Shen Mu's cold, emotionless voice, like a pre-programmed gate command, suddenly rang out in the gale!

Rumble, rumble—! ! !
Ahead, to the side and behind the fortified walls, lies the edge of a relatively open but half-shrouded, abandoned commercial district!
The earth trembled violently!

The thick, leaden-gray sky seemed to be torn apart by a tremendous force!
Ten silver bolts of lightning, like judgment thunder that had been lurking in the shadows of the abyss, suddenly burst forth without warning from behind a huge pile of concrete rubble, from the hole torn open at the bottom of a crumbling building, and even from a deep pit filled with putrid water on the ground!
It's the Holy Tree Knight!
They were clad in mithril heavy armor personally overseen by Shen Mu, the runes on the armor surface flowing with platinum-gold holy flames of order! The warhorses beneath them were also covered in mithril plate armor engraved with runes, like mobile steel fortresses!
The leading knight was none other than the captain, whose spirit was closely connected to Shen Mu's core. He held aloft the mithril greatsword, seemingly forged from stars, its cold blade pointing directly at the pursuing gnoll squad!

Their charge wasn't aimed at the reconnaissance team, but rather ruthlessly and precisely sliced ​​through the gap between the reconnaissance team and the pursuers! Like the most merciless wedge, it fiercely drove into the gap only a few hundred meters away from Shen Mu and his group!
The timing was impeccable! It was launched just as Shen Mu led his team, "dragging" the pursuers, into the designated area!
Boom! Crack ...

The silver torrent of steel collided violently with the surging crimson tide!
There is no temptation, only destruction!
The Holy Tree Knight's steel lance, like a hammer of judgment, pierced and purified the first few Abyssal wraiths charging at the front, along with their shattered crystal core fragments!
The mithril greatsword, imbued with overwhelming divine power, slashed down! A skeletal gnoll attempting to parry had its black iron scimitar, along with its hard arm bones and half its body burning with abyssal fire, cleaved in two by the silver light amidst a piercing tearing sound! A torrent of raging platinum holy flames erupted from the wound, instantly incinerating the shattered remains! Several other skeletal creatures following closely behind were also swept into the purifying stream of light and burned!
"For order!" The chilling battle cry of the Holy Tree Knights echoed across the battlefield amidst the explosions.

There was no passionate fervor, only metallic coldness and efficiency! The knights' formation was like a precise meat grinder, instantly shredding the most formidable vanguard of the pursuers and spreading chaos like a plague!
Shen Mu didn't even glance back at the tragic yet glorious battlefield. The instant the Holy Tree Knights roared and charged, he had already taken the lead, carrying the elves rushing towards him like a cold whirlwind carrying life, relentlessly breaking through the heavily fortified city gates that had already been breached!
The heavy city gates slammed shut behind them, the tremendous impact serving as a heavy final note to end this desperate raid.

Inside the fortified walls, deafening cheers and urgent orders instantly overwhelmed them.

But Shen Mu did not falter in the slightest. He walked straight to the command platform at the core of the fortress, his gaze beneath his helmet seemingly piercing through the thick wooden walls, still firmly fixed on the churning abyss core in the west, where energy was violently disturbed by the Holy Tree Knights' fierce attack.

He heard Legolas and the others behind him breathing heavily, like bellows, as if they had survived the ordeal.

However, in his cold perception, the End Wolf shadow hovering above the demonic pillar in the distance, its abyssal blood-diamond-like giant pupils, gleamed with an even colder and more greedy light due to the failed pursuit and the newly emerged power of the Holy Tree Knights…

The abyss's dining table has been invaded. And the predator's response will be unprecedentedly fierce. The next encounter will be a more direct clash between the steel order and endless chaos!
Shen Mu continued walking without stopping, heading straight for the core command platform of the fortified stronghold. The clanging of his mithril heavy armor sounded particularly cold and heavy in the fortress's uniquely somber atmosphere. Behind him, Legolas and the surviving Twilight Rangers finally stopped, leaning on their bows and breathing heavily, their faces still showing lingering fear. Kalanzo and several generals who had heard the news, including the Rhodok Sergeant Major, the Vaegir Archer Captain, and the Commander of the Holy Tree Knights, had anxiously rushed to the command room.

"My lord!" Caranzo spoke first, his bushy beard still stained with sulfur ash, his voice urgent, "The commotion outside... Are you alright? It seems the Holy Tree Knights..."

Shen Mu pushed open the heavy wooden door with a swift, cold motion, interrupting Kalanzo's words. He didn't turn around, nor did he pause for a moment to comfort or recount the thrilling reconnaissance encounter; he walked straight into the command room filled with tactical sand tables and projection crystals. He went directly to the huge three-dimensional energy sand table, which depicted the ruins of Long City. On the sand table, the area that originally symbolized the struggle between the Black Iron Skeleton Legion and the Abyss Undead forces had been instantly marked by Shen Mu's mental power, turning into a large expanse of deep black symbolizing "completely devoured."

"I'm fine. The Holy Tree Knights are holding off the pursuers." Shen Mu's voice came through the visor, still calm and without a ripple, as if the life-or-death chase just now was merely a routine patrol. He raised his hand, and a faint light pointed precisely to two locations marked on the sand table. "Targets: West Industrial Park and Central Plaza, confirmed."

He paused briefly, his icy gaze from beneath his helmet sweeping over the generals who had followed him in, especially Caranzo's inquiring look and Legolas's worried expression. "Legolas's previous report was entirely accurate," Shen Mu's voice was like a judge's pronouncement, carrying absolute certainty. "The Abyssal Corpses and the remnants of the Seventh Dynasty's undead legions are engaged in a... a desperate, all-or-nothing battle. And—"

His fingers tapped two spots on the sand table again, his cold gaze like a searchlight, focused on Caranzo's face.

"—The abyss is the predator, and the undead are the prey. What we witnessed at the edge of the plaza was not an isolated conflict, but a systematic, complete crushing and digestion."

A stifling silence fell over the command room. The confusion on the generals' faces was replaced by solemnity, and a deeper chill settled over them. Kalanzo subconsciously touched the skull he had previously been so proud of, a trophy hanging at his waist. A muscle twitched on his rough face, as if he were finally understanding that the trophy in his hand represented nothing more than a scrap on the table of the truly terrifying abyss. His previous elation and his boastful declaration, "So what if it's the abyss?" now seemed utterly naive. It wasn't that he had misjudged the situation, but rather that he had failed to grasp the true nature of this devouring—the abyss wasn't driving out competitors, but harvesting the last of its "nutrients."

“But sir,” Caranzo’s voice was much lower, filled with confusion, “since they are fighting to the death and suffering heavy losses, wouldn’t that mean…” He couldn’t finish his sentence, clearly realizing that his previous thoughts were too optimistic.

"The brief window of opportunity is about to close." Shen Mu coldly shattered his hopes. "The demise of the undead legion is happening far faster than expected. The core will of the Abyss," he pointed to the core point on the sand table—the area representing the core of the Shadow of the End, swirling with viscous black mist—"is rapidly absorbing its last essence. It is efficiently reaping it through the skeletal jackals!"

As if to confirm Shen Mu's words, a wood elf technician operating the tactical light screen exclaimed, "Sir! The energy readings of the core black domain! That... that huge dark red energy pillar, it's continuously increasing! And... the feedback from the outer light screen shows that the energy from those remaining inferior remnants... it's still flowing towards the core! Like... like a stream flowing backwards!"

"Hiss..." Several generals gasped. This raw data proved Shen Mu's assertion more powerfully than any words—the Abyss was accelerating its feeding and consolidating its power! That brief "breathing period" and the "undead resistance" observed by the scouts were simply the undead's last gasp before their complete annihilation!
Legolas closed his eyes, and the desperate whispers of the forest's will became clearer. "They are wailing... their final death, being dragged into eternal darkness..." he added in a low voice, his face pale.

Shen Mu turned back to the panoramic observation window. The silhouette of the mithril heavy armor, bathed in the dim light of the day and the golden glow of the Holy Light Tower, resembled a cold statue. He gazed at the ever-expanding abyssal core on the sand table, his voice like the sharp crack of tempered iron, striking the taut nerves of every general:
"Maintain the highest level of alert, and execute the plan as scheduled. Reinforce the defensive nodes of the 'Thorn Ring'. Notify Bandak that all ballistae in the Forest Fortress are ready to fire. Order all Towerlings to keep detection mode active. I need to know every single point where the core Dark Domain energy is surging! The digestion of the Abyss... has reached its final stage."

He didn't use the phrase "they weren't on the same side" to emphasize it again, because everyone already understood the cruel truth—they were indeed not on the same side, but the outcome of that fierce "death struggle" was only one: the Abyss completely controlled all the remaining death power in the city, becoming even stronger and more greedy. The Elven Forest Barrier would no longer be just an outpost blocking the wandering undead, but would directly face the final, and most ferocious, impact of the Abyss behemoth that had devoured the essence of the undead throughout Long City.

The generals' faces were ashen. Caranzo slammed his fist into his chest armor, the sound dull and heavy. This time, there were no words of ambition, only an iron will. Within the fortress, the brief, fervent fire ignited by the knights' return with their spoils had been extinguished, replaced by a heavier, more unwavering, icy resolve. The countdown to the storm had begun silently.

The heavy city gates slammed shut behind them, cutting off the roars and howls of the fierce clash between the Holy Tree Knights and the Abyss's minions outside, and temporarily shutting out the suffocating stench of sulfur and the chilling killing intent. The temporary safety within the fortress did not bring any relaxation; urgent orders and the suppressed breathing of the soldiers mingled together.

Shen Mu stood before the three-dimensional sand table in the command room, the surging abyssal black domain in the energy projection resembling a festering wound. When the wood elf technician reported that the core energy pillar was continuously strengthening, his gaze beneath his visor suddenly froze into an ice spike.

"Messenger!" The voice pierced through the noise of the ramparts.

"My subordinate is here!"

"Summon Bandak immediately, and assemble all ballista commanders at Senwood Fortress. Inform the Rhodok Armory: equip all sniper crossbows with anti-magic arrows, replenish the Vaegir Arrow Towers with Holy Light-infused arrows, and prepare seven days' worth of hay for the Khergit stables." The orders meshed precisely like adamantine gears, leaving no room for questioning.

As Bandak strode in, Shen Mu's fingertips were already pointing at the extended line of the sand table: "Move the twelve heavy ballistae of Senmu Fortress forward three hundred meters to the outer fortifications of Pangen Wall. Cover the boundary between the light curtain of the tower and the thin mist—I want your crossbow bolts to pierce the skulls of jackals."

"Yes, sir!" Bandak saluted, his rough hand gliding across the rangefinder crystal at his waist. "Add scorching rune root spears, specifically for attacking clustered targets."

Shen Mu nodded, his gaze shifting to the Rhodok and Vaegir officers: "Increase the Rhodok crossbowmen to eighty, occupying all the upper ramparts. Organize the Vaegir archers into three volley fire sequences, ensuring a continuous rain of arrows. Tell the soldiers: the dark fire in the skeletal jackal's eye sockets is the bullseye." (End of Chapter)