Real Mount and Blade Game

Beyond the formidable walls, the golden realm of holy light resembled a pure kingdom created by the gods in the ashen hell.

Under the brief but brilliant light, Shen Mu's heavy cavalry displayed a lethal efficiency that made the abyss tremble.

With each slash of the Holy Tree Knight's mithril greatsword, a platinum tail of flame trailed behind, precisely shattering the scythe demons that were closing in on the base of the tower or trying to pounce on the gaps between the heavy cavalry.

Those terrifying burning scythe-like bone claws let out a piercing wail before the mithril and holy flames, and the core node's crystal core burst and was purified by the precise piercing.

The two hundred Swadian heavy cavalrymen, however, transformed into the most terrifying grinding wheels under the protection of the Holy Light.

The steel lances, propelled by the charge, easily pierced the brittle, weakened bone armor of the Abyssal Skeletons, as if tearing apart rotten paper. The heavy cavalry swords, carrying a ferocious force, cleaved through swathes of the surging Skeletons.

Each hoofbeat was accompanied by a piercing crack of bones and a burst of dark red sparks.

"Kill! Purify the Abyss!!" The battle cry of the Swadian knights reverberated amidst the clash of steel and the cracking of bones.

These once fearless and despicable corpses appeared clumsy and fragile under the full suppression of the Holy Light Torch Tower.

Their frenzied, bone-like claws could only leave shallow marks and charred sulfur stains on the steel armor plates. The faint glow of the dark red crystal core was completely suppressed by the light of the towering trees, greatly weakening its explosive power.

Where the heavy cavalry charged, piles of bones were repeatedly crushed and trampled, and murky smoke from burning sulfur rose up.

"All ranged units—target! Reinforcements outside the light screen! Covert fire! Support the knights' charge!" Shen Mu's icy voice echoed once more through the fortress command chain. He showed no emotion whatsoever at the glorious victory below the city, only the most precise commands.

The city wall responded instantly with an even more violent explosion!

Buzz! Bang! Buzz! Bang!
The heavy ballistae of Senmu Fortress unleashed a second wave of rune root spears. This time, they were no longer obstacles, but instead, with devastating momentum, they crashed into the Abyssal Corpse remnants that were still trying to pour in through the gaps in the mist and light curtain, exploding into balls of holy flame and bone fragments!

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!" The Vaegir archers unleashed a torrential rain of arrows, like golden hailstones, whistling sharply as they slammed into the swarm of wrecked soldiers outside the gaps in the heavy cavalry charge.

The arrows, imbued with the golden light of the Holy Light Tower Forest, easily pierced through the decaying bones, pinning more monstrous remains to the ground.

The Rhodok heavy crossbowmen, like the indifferent Grim Reaper calling out names, accurately fired their triangular armor-piercing arrows into those inferior skeletons that were trying to swell their crystal cores at the edge of the light screen and detonate themselves, exploding them prematurely while they were accumulating energy!
Within the light barrier, the small area reached by the holy light truly became an absolute dead zone for the minions of the abyss.

The scythe demon's assault was quelled by the Holy Tree Knights, and the tide of inferior beings rapidly shrank and disintegrated under the combined onslaught of heavy cavalry and ranged fire.

On the scorched black earth, burning bones and foul-smelling, viscous blood flowed everywhere, only to be scorched and purified by the lingering warmth of the holy light.

The soldiers atop the ramparts witnessed this devastating scene, and their tense expressions eased slightly. A sense of security built upon absolute power began to grow within them—at least under the radiance of Tallinn, they held an overwhelming advantage!

however--

hum! ! !
A silent yet soul-shaking tremor suddenly swept across from the far west!

It was not a sound wave, but a violent outpouring of pure willpower, as if the entire decaying city ground suddenly sank downwards!
Immediately, the last vestige of security in everyone's hearts shattered completely like fragile glass!

"Awooo—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The wolf howl, piercing the heavens and tearing the sky apart, resounded with a deafening roar in the deepest part of the core black domain!

This time, it was no longer the silent roar filled with calculation and scrutiny that came before.

This time, it is an ultimate declaration filled with the fury of being offended, the ferocity aroused by the insignificance of ants, and the overwhelming killing intent of undisguised destruction!
Above Longcheng, the thick, mountain-like black and red pillar of light supporting the Shadow of the End suddenly erupted with a blinding, bloody light!
The wolf shadow phantom suspended at its top seemed to solidify several times in an instant. For the first time, its two mountain-like abyss-blood diamond giant eyes clearly, straight, and with a soul-freezing malice, locked onto the fortified barrier and the core area surrounded by the Holy Light Torch Towers!

It's watching! It's watching Shen Mu!
Almost at the very moment when the aftershocks of that earth-shattering wolf howl were still violently reverberating in the air, the edge of the abyss fog to the west, which had become like a solidified pool of ink, suddenly boiled over!

Countless pairs of eyes, pulsating with a deeper, more intense crimson abyss fire, shone like burning stars from the thick, blood-red mist!

Then came the roar! A roar that was deeper, more orderly, and contained a purer will to destroy than the previous monstrous howls!

"Roar--!!!"

Countless tall, hunched skeletal figures broke free from the shackles of the thick fog!

Abyssal Necromancer Gnoll!
Their numbers far exceeded the sum of all previous reconnaissance encounters and probing attacks! They were no longer sparse squads, but rather a torrent of bones pouring out from the depths of hell, converging into an unstoppable, pure flood of death and destruction!

The dark red abyssal fire in their eye sockets leaped wildly, connecting with each other as if forming a surging sea of ​​blood-red flames!
The black iron scimitar in his hand reflected the light of the tower and the crimson flames of the abyss, chilling him to the bone!

They were not scattered or frantic, but under the unified command of some terrifying will, they charged forward with an extreme, ruthless, and collective attitude, braving the rain of arrows and crossbows pouring down from the city walls!

The spearhead—once again—is aimed directly at the formidable walls, at that Holy Light Tower Forest burning with golden light!
The previous "probing" and "assessment" have come to a complete end. The Shadow Wolf of the End now has a clear understanding of the limits of the Tower Forest and the defensive strength of the Elf Forest.

Now, it will use this boundless horde of undead jackals, and these new forms of minions containing even purer abyssal death power, to completely annihilate the entire fortress along with that blinding holy light!
"All troops—!!!" Shen Mu's icy voice, like a blade tempered by millennia of ice, exploded in the ears of every soldier the moment the wolf howl ended, "Highest intensity response! The Abyss's final assault—has begun!"

Beyond the light barrier, the final boundary between holy light and the abyss instantly descended into the most violent and bloody—intense and brutal struggle! The abyss's ultimate power officially crushed the bulwark of light!
The echoes of that earth-shattering wolf howl still reverberated among the crumbling ruins, tearing at the nerves of every steadfast defender. Yet, the abyss's response was far faster and more violent than any fear could possibly evoke!

"Roar--!!!"

With a unified roar like a molten lava tsunami, the army of abyssal wreckage—led by an endless, more condensed, and more ferocious abyssal undead jackals—burst forth like a destructive torrent erupting from the rifts of hell, completely breaking through the boundaries of the viscous, inky black mist!

Their crimson abyssal fire eyes merged into a burning sea of ​​blood, even more intense than the previous wrecked creatures! The black iron scimitars reflected a cold, evil light, and under the absolute control of some higher will, with a resolute determination to destroy the light before them even at the cost of their own annihilation, they ignored the rain of arrows pouring down from the city walls and the heavy spears crashing down, and launched a desperate all-out attack on the fortified walls and the blazing forest of holy torches!

The objective was crystal clear—crush the barriers and extinguish the towers!

The moment they plunged into the light barrier, the golden radiance of the Holy Light Torch Tower suddenly surged! The runic sphere at the top of the tower spun wildly, and the immense purifying power pressed down on each of the intruders.

"Sizzle—!" The dark red abyssal energy that hit the gnolls boiled and evaporated violently, as if it had encountered strong acid and oil. The thick gray-black bone armor on their skeletal bodies made a cracking sound as if it were about to be burned, and their running and charging speed visibly slowed down! The dark red flames dancing in their eyes flickered painfully, and they let out a shrill howl.

This suppression of holy light is the cornerstone of Shen Mu's steel defense line!

"Heavy cavalry! Provide alternating cover! Retreat back to the fortifications!" Shen Mu's icy voice, like the clang of metal on metal, instantly severed the torrent of Swadian heavy cavalry still relentlessly pursuing and crushing the enemy below the city. The order was not to be questioned.

"Regroup! Withdraw in formation! Defend the city gates for the lord!" The knight captain's roar echoed across the battlefield.

The thunderous roar of hooves abruptly changed. The torrent of heavy cavalry, which had been relentlessly crushing the scattered carcasses of the enemy just moments before, instantly transformed into a moving steel jungle.

The heavy cavalry on the outer perimeter reined in their horses and turned around in perfect unison, their heavy tower shields stacked upon each other to form a mobile shield wall, protecting their comrades on the inner side; the knights on the inner side turned their horses around, maintaining a vigilant posture, and under the protection of the shield wall, like the receding tide, began to retreat efficiently and orderly along the cleared passage toward the side gate of the fortified stronghold.

On the city wall, full firepower!

"Fire arrows!! Maximum density! Target—the vanguard of the assault group!"

"Ballista! Disrupt their advance!"

"Rhodok crossbows! Keep a close eye on the gnolls with the deepest markings! They're the elite!"

Bandak's rough roar mingled with the clang of weapons. Arrows rained down like locusts, spears flashed like lightning, and the golden flames of the Holy Light Tower Forest intertwined to form a fire net, tightly covering the heads of the gnolls who charged into the area of ​​the light barrier.

Under the intense light, even the bone armor of these Abyss elites was more "fragile" than before. The Vegia archers' triangular armor-piercing arrows easily tore open the gaps, and Rhodok's heavy crossbows could even pin the smaller gnolls directly into the scorched earth!

Gnolls were repeatedly hit in the knees and eye sockets by precise shots, staggering and falling to the ground, where they were trampled and crushed by the onrushing frenzied brethren that followed.

The Holy Tree Knights stood like the anchor of the tower, guarding the most crucial point. Any gnolls or scattered scythe demons that attempted to directly attack the tower's base would be shredded to pieces by their cold mithril greatswords.

The battlefield exhibited an astonishing tiered defensive posture.

The outermost layer, the light of the Holy Light Tower Forest itself, is a continuous area of ​​group weakening and energy burning, forcibly reducing the combat power and speed of all those who rush in.

The outermost layer consists of the city walls and the long-range firing points on the tower tops (archers, ballistae, and crossbowmen) forming a crossfire network to carry out long-range projectile attacks, focusing on striking charging formations and elite units.

The middle layer, with its retreating heavy cavalry and the Holy Tree Knights surrounding the base, forms a solid bulwark and mobile defensive force against any breaches.

The inner layer, with its revitalized root walls and the close-range cold arrows of the Wood Elf hunters, forms the last line of defense.

Beneath this three-dimensional, impenetrable wall of destruction, despite the sheer number of abyssal gnolls and their unwavering will to charge, seemingly endlessly surging from the black mist, their momentum was forcibly slowed and severed by the suppression of multiple holy lights and the continuous barrage of firepower.

Most of the gnolls were killed in large numbers before they could even get close to the city walls, amidst the light barrier, a hail of arrows, and the interception of heavy cavalry and sacred tree knights.

Their skeletal remains burned and shattered in the holy flames, the filthy energy was constantly purified with a hissing sound, and the burning sulfur ash piled up layer upon layer in front of the barrier.

Shen Mu stood on the watchtower, his cold gaze sweeping over the carnage below the city. Even without the aid of the system's vision, the battlefield situation was crystal clear.

He keenly observed that those scattered jackals who were fearless and even charged through the first few lines of defense under long-range firepower found themselves in an even more desperate situation when they finally rushed to the incredibly sturdy living root wall of the Root Barrier!

They don't!

These most elite minions of the abyss had absolutely no siege equipment! No ladders, no battering rams, no catapults!

Even the most basic "corpse mountain tactic," which relies on climbing up piles of bones, became almost impossible due to the continuous arrows from the city walls and the rapid purification of the remaining bones by the flames of the Tower Forest!

Only a few gnolls futilely hacked at the thick, life-giving roots of the living thorn trees and the reinforced wooden walls with their black iron scimitars, which burned with the power of the abyss.

"Clang! Sizzle..."

The collision of the scimitar with the hardwood sparks and produces corrosive black smoke, occasionally leaving deep scorch marks and corrosion marks on the tough, revitalized root wood.

However, the root wall's structure was exceptionally resilient thanks to the elves' natural magic and the continuous growth of vines. Combined with the rolling logs and stones hurled from above, the scorching boiling oil, and even the wood elves' precise arrows aimed at the joints of the chopped sections, these scattered gnolls that reached the base of the wall posed no real threat in the short term. Their frenzied hacking was more like a desperate outburst.

Shen Mu's thin lips, hidden beneath his helmet, tightened almost imperceptibly.

Without any means of siege warfare... the attack of the End Wolf Shadow, which poured out its core necromancy power, seemed like a raging torrent, but in essence, it was still a... meat grinder!
It was using the energy from the lives and remains of these elite undead gnolls to continuously irrigate this land near the fortress, accelerating the spread of the black mist and its depletion of Tarlin's energy.

The filth and remains scattered by each fallen gnoll made the black fog below the city thicker and its erosion of the holy light barrier stronger.

The wailing of the dying gnolls echoed below the city, their lives being transformed into a deadly swamp by cold calculations.

The bloody battle continued, holy light burned, and the blood of the abyss stained the earth black. The fortified walls stood firm as a rock, but Shen Mu knew in his heart that this terrifying expenditure was merely accumulating energy for the next, even more deadly impact from the End Wolf Shadow, which stood like a mountain deep within its core, coldly observing everything. (End of Chapter)