Real Mount and Blade Game

On the command platform, where the walls were firmly planted, a biting wind whipped up battlefield dust, carrying with it the smell of gunpowder, decay, and an overwhelming aura of death.

Shen Mu's profound gaze pierced through the swirling holy light curtain, firmly locking onto the core area of ​​the Longcheng ruins to the west, a place soaked in death.

The invisible string in the air was stretched to its limit.

The urgent warning from the lookout pierced his consciousness like a needle—the deep darkness and bleak grayness in the distance were expanding and colliding at a visible speed! It was not the usual deathly aura, but a torrent of power overflowing from two enormous creatures tearing and devouring each other.

“The wrecked remains of the Abyss…and the remnants of the Seventh Dynasty’s undead army…” Shen Mu’s whisper was almost inaudible. His cold face remained expressionless, only a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. “They’ve started fighting again.”

Caranzo and Legolas looked at him almost simultaneously. Caranzo's resolute face was tense, his eyes burning with a deep-seated hatred for the Abyss and absolute faith in Shen Mu's judgment.

Legolas closed his eyes slightly, his long, pointed elven ears twitching almost imperceptibly, his forest senses spreading like ripples on water. He then opened his eyes and nodded solemnly: "Yes, Commander. Two corrupt rules are clashing violently, on a scale far exceeding any previous one... even... the energy center seems to be shifting."

Move? Shen Mu frowned slightly.

The movement of the energy core means that the center of the battlefield is shifting, or... something is actively pulling the battlefield.

"The Abyss devours the undead legion to complete its evolution, while the 'Ashes of the Dead' see the Abyss as an irreconcilable enemy that tarnishes its final 'glory.' They are both products of the intensification of that 'thing' deepest within the ruins of Long City." Shen Mu's voice clearly reached the ears of the core generals around him. "Every battle they wage is adding bricks to the final calamity. The Shadow of the End awaits, awaiting a chaotic peak."

“Us?” Bandak gripped the hilt of his sword at his waist, his knuckles turning white from the force.

“We,” Shen Mu turned around abruptly, his movements swift and clean, his dark cloak fluttering in the wind, “to be the last 'cleaners'!”

The command spread like an invisible ripple throughout the entire fortified system: "All members of the Holy Tree Knights! All members of Swadia! Second and Third Assault Teams of the Khergit Bandits! Assemble!"

"Fortress Forest Ballista! Thorn Root Matrix Node! Warm-up and calibration, target: Abyssal Corpse Cluster Rear Guard!"

"Rhodok crossbowmen, Vaegir archers, stand by the bastion arrow towers, prepare for long-range deep fire support!"

"Barrier defense system, activate 'Silent Watch' mode. Do not fire unless ordered to engage the enemy! Maintain the basic weakening area of ​​Holy Light Tower Forest!"

"Legolas! Your senses cover the entire army. Focus on detecting that 'moving point of light' at the heart of the battlefield. Report any unusual activity to me immediately!"

"Kalanzo! You stay and take control of the situation! If the black mist core on the west or the undead gray mist on the east launches a large-scale attack on the barrier, activate the second stage of the 'Ring of Thorns' strangulation defense! If I do not return... you will be the supreme commander here!"

“Commander!” Kalanzo stepped forward, his eyes filled with undisguised worry. Venturing deep into the core ruins that had become a furnace and meat grinder was far more dangerous than any previous reconnaissance mission.

“Carranzo,” Shen Mu’s gaze was as steady as a rock, “the safety here is more important than my life. Protect it!”

He said no more and quickly walked down from the platform.

Already assembled beneath the main gate of the fortified city were a full hundred silent, mountain-like Holy Tree Knights clad in gleaming silver patterned heavy armor, and an equal number of imposing, awe-inspiring Swadian heavy cavalry clad in full plate armor.

On either side, two hundred elite Kujit bandits, clad in light but tough scale armor, carrying compound recurve bows, and wielding scimitars or spears, stood like a pack of wolves on the hunt, their eyes sharp and bloodthirsty.

The massive root system gate slowly rose amidst the heavy, continuous sound of gears and winches.

Shen Mu mounted a specially made black warhorse covered in mithril scales.

He didn't give a motivational speech; his gaze simply swept over the gleaming, menacing faceplates, and then he swung his arm forward with a sudden movement! "Target! The core of Longcheng! Advance!"

"For the fortress! For the commander!" The silent army erupted in a thunderous roar.

Iron hooves thundered, and the earth groaned! Hundreds of elite knights, handpicked and representing the strongest land assault force of the stronghold, transformed into an indestructible silver-black spear, carrying the blessing of the afterglow of the Holy Light Tower Forest, and fiercely pierced the lifeless ruins!

The progress is going even more smoothly than expected.

Shen Mu took the lead, like the tip of a sharp blade. He was enveloped in a faint repulsive field composed of pure sword intent and spiritual will.

Those scattered, sluggish, and unresponsive guards of inferior remains or skeletons, who lingered at the edge of the ruins, were crushed as if by an invisible giant hand before they even got within a hundred meters. Some were instantly ignited by golden-white purifying flames and turned into dust, while others were shredded into a sky full of bone fragments and filthy blood by the sword energy that had been condensed to the extreme! This was an absolute crushing of power, an instinctive expulsion of inferior filth by will.

The entire cavalry group maintained a breathtaking charging formation without the slightest hesitation.

The Holy Tree Knights protected the flanks and the vanguard, their mithril greatswords gleaming with runic light. Any obstacle that dared to block their path—collapsed giant concrete beams, vehicle wrecks sunk deep into the ground, or even decaying and twisted building structures—was reduced to flying fragments by precise slashes or violent impacts, carving out a steel passage to the core area.

The Swadian heavy cavalry, like the core of a rock, maintained the stability of their charge formation. Any stragglers attempting to meet them head-on would be instantly crushed and pierced by their heavy hooves and enchanted lances.

The Khergit bandits, like the most agile venomous snakes, darted, patrolled, and lurked around the perimeter of the group. Their sharp eyes missed no rustling of grass or whiff of movement, and their precise arrows silently sniped several skeletal archers hiding behind the ruins and inferior skeletal wizards attempting to summon small orbs of filthy energy.

They swept across the old road where a reconnaissance squad had fought a bloody battle not long ago, rushed through streets ravaged by artillery fire and still littered with the remains of Abyssal gnolls, ignoring the chaotic turbulent currents of energy fields left behind by fierce battles along the way.

Shen Mu's riding skills, combat intuition, and precise grasp of energy flow, which were almost integrated into the rules, allowed this steel torrent to maintain an astonishing speed in the complex ruins environment.

"Report! Three kilometers ahead! Energy conflict index has surged! High-energy biological signals are converging in large numbers!" Legolas's voice rang out directly in Shen Mu's mind through the consciousness link, carrying a hint of urgency and seriousness.

Shen Mu's eyes narrowed. Without Legolas's reminder, the chilling, violent, and corrupt aura that swept over him was already tangible, mixed with a deathly stillness that froze his very soul.

"Slow down! Spread out your assault formation, then form defensive alert!" Shen Mu's voice instantly transmitted to all the warriors via the mental link. The galloping hooves suddenly slowed, but the formation shifted smoothly like flowing water.

The Holy Tree Knights quickly assembled at the front, their greatswords raised, their heavy shoulder shields forming a moving wall of silver mirror light.

The Swadian heavy cavalry spread out slightly to the flanks, slowing their horses, and pointed their lances diagonally forward, becoming anvils ready to launch another charge at any moment.

The Kujit bandits scattered like ghosts, taking up high ground or cover, nocking their bows and scanning the edge of the swirling fog ahead with alert eyes like the most sophisticated scanners.

The procession quietly came to a stop, the horses reined in without a sound.

The sight that met their eyes was far more shocking than any horror legend. They found themselves in a relatively open, broken area that resembled a former city square.

Ahead, as if cut open by an invisible wall of laws, one side was filled with thick, ink-like black mist that reeked of sulfur and exuded an extreme desire for destruction!
The other half is a necromantic gray mist filled with cold, deathly silence, gray and white mixed with the smell of rust and dust, carrying eternal decay and hatred!

The black mist and the gray mist, like two surging waves stirred up by an invisible giant, are now colliding violently!
At the point of convergence, there was no deafening explosion, only a tooth-grinding, incessant "crack! crack!" sound, like ten thousand bones shattering, and a mournful wolf howl from the depths of the abyss's black mist, filled with violent pain and endless greed!
The sound seemed to penetrate directly into the marrow, corroding the soul. Within the gray fog, there was a deathly silence; the silent madness was all the more chilling.

Through the edge of the churning mist, one can see countless bizarre and twisted abyssal wrecks—their forms are even more ferocious, with protruding bone spikes, wounds flowing with burning, viscous blood, and some even growing rough bone wings or multi-segmented limbs—they are frantically tearing at the gray mist with corrosive claws and spewing shadow energy!

Their numbers were dense, like a black tide. On the other side, the legion of skeletons from the tombs of the Seventh Dynasty was equally astonishing.

At the forefront were phalanxes of skeletal infantry, carrying enormous, rusty and cracked bone shields and clad in gray-black bone armor. They silently defended with their shields and launched precise and deadly counterattacks with their broken or rusted bone weapons.

On slightly higher ground behind, there were rows of skeletal archers who mechanically pulled on their massive bone bows. With each release, a "rain of bone arrows" composed of pure negative energy, fragments of resentment, and hard bones would whistle and crash into the depths of the black mist like gray hailstones!

Even more chillingly, high up in some broken buildings on the edge of the gray fog, one could vaguely see a few slightly larger skeletal sorcerers, their hands holding eerie green flames of the dead or grayish-white orbs cursed with slowing effects, aiming at the large mutated individuals or suspected commanders among the inferior skeletons.

The Skeleton Legion's unit coordination is surprisingly exquisite, employing a completely undead ancient legion combat style, imbued with a cold, almost lawful order.

The Abyssal Corpses, with their superior individual vitality, corrupting energy, and near-infinite numbers, charge forward relentlessly.

The black mist spread, attempting to erode the boundaries of the gray mist; the gray mist, in turn, pushed back against the solid defenses, its icy power of death stubbornly freezing and annihilating the filth of the abyss.

In the center of the battlefield, filthy black ice, frozen bone powder, and burning fragments of dead soul energy intertwined, forming a chaotic and terrifying absolute dead zone! The scale of forces deployed by both sides far exceeded what the reconnaissance team had encountered earlier.

The laws of the air were distorted to the extreme, and the faint remaining power of the Holy Light Tower Forest was almost completely repelled. Shen Mu could clearly sense that with each fracture of a bone, the necromantic essence and abyssal filth energy that escaped did not dissipate, but were greedily absorbed and assimilated by the churning twin mists representing the wills of different factions!
Every collision adds fuel to the fire of each other's core strengths!

They were fighting, devouring each other, and feeding together a terrifying being lurking at the heart of the ruins.

"Commander, that 'point of light' at the core... or rather, that 'thing'... is located deep beneath the point where those two wisps of mist meet! It's... absorbing the energy dissipated from the battle! At the same time... influencing and guiding the direction of this fight! It's slowly moving northwest!"

Legolas's voice carried a hint of fear and exhaustion; continuously monitoring such a high-energy core point was clearly extremely taxing.

Northwest?
Shen Mu's mind flashed instantly to the topographical map of the ruins of Longcheng and the intersection of the mausoleum complex mentioned by the prisoners Zhang Song and Zhang Bo.

The directions match!

The fragments of Yenogu's divine remains and the half-divine hand are the catalysts at the heart of the battlefield!

“Very good.” Shen Mu’s response was unusually calm.

He had all the information in his mind, and there was no hesitation in his cold eyes, only absolute control and patience before the hunt.

"All troops, listen to my command!" Shen Mu's voice, delivered through a divinely inspired mental link and with clear instructions, resonated with every soldier, carrying an unquestionable authority. "Form ranks! Remain in place!"

"Knights of the Holy Tree! Construct the 'Wall of Sighs' defensive array! Activate the purification runes on your shoulder shields to form the first ring-shaped protective barrier! Maintain it!"

"Swadian Heavy Cavalry! Dismount! Spears arrayed, shields raised! Connect the Holy Tree Knights' defensive perimeter! Connect!"

"Kujit bandits! Disperse to designated concealed positions! Maintain the highest level of awareness and alert! Targets: outer perimeter of the battlefield, air, and underground! Any unit found to have strayed from the battlefield—whether it's a skeletal creature, a skeleton soldier, or a strange energy entity—shoot it without authorization!"

"Activate all energy shields to the maximum! Do not use active attack skills that consume stamina and battle qi unless absolutely necessary!"

The commands were clear and efficient. The entire assault group quickly transitioned from standby mode to a highly secure defensive tortoise-shell formation.

The Holy Tree Knights stood shoulder to shoulder, their massive shoulder shields, gleaming with holy runes, tightly linked together, forming an energy barrier that shimmered with a soft yet resilient silver light.

The Swadian heavy cavalry behind them dismounted, removed the heavy kite-shaped tower shields fixed to their saddles, and stood them up heavily with a "thump! thump! thump!" The shields fit perfectly with the shoulder shields of the Holy Tree Knights, and their long lances pointed diagonally forward like a forest, forming a second, more physical-protective, sturdy barrier.

The Kujit bandits vanished like falcons behind the surrounding broken walls, empty floors, and huge rubble, their presence almost completely concealed, leaving only their sharp eyes and arrows held back.

The entire defensive perimeter resembled a steel nail embedded in the edge of a battlefield where giant beasts clashed, yet it exuded a tranquil aura of "no war here."

They became bystanders on the edge of the storm.

At that moment, Shen Mu himself became the core of the entire defensive perimeter.

He sat upright on his horse, at the center of the inner circle, heavily guarded by the Holy Tree Knights.

He didn't draw his sword, but slowly... closed his eyes.

The next second, a faint yet pure white light suddenly shone from between his brows! This light was neither battle aura nor magic, but carried a cold sense of order that transcended the rules of reality!
Immediately afterwards, the light surged!
Countless fine data streams, as dense as electrons and as flowing as liquid platinum, gushed forth from it!

They are not physical forms, but rather a visual manifestation of pure spiritual energy.

These data streams, centered on Shen Mu, began to flow, weave, and combine rapidly in mid-air!
The air began to vibrate slightly.

A peculiar resonance arose between Shen Mu, the data stream, and this land dominated by the dual rules of the abyss and the undead.

Visible to the naked eye, the flowing white data stream was greedily drawing on the last remaining energy from the holy light of Tallinn that permeated the space, the pure fighting spirit and willpower dissipating from the warriors' bodies, and even the extremely weak but real environmental free energy!
They are captured, purified, and recombined by the data stream!
Under the precise guidance of the core rules of the data flow, this accumulating energy begins to solidify! It grows brighter and stronger!

Finally, three meters above Shen Mu, an energy wheel several meters in diameter, constantly rotating at high speed, was formed, composed entirely of soft white-gold light!

The structure of this light wheel is extremely complex and precise. Its edges are covered with countless tiny, high-speed rotating runes and geometric circuits, while its core faintly reveals an ancient, abstract emblem carrying a cold and hard fighting spirit—a symbol of the mysterious "Mount & Blade System" deep within Shen Mu's origin!

The light wheel slowly rose and fell, rotating endlessly, emitting a powerful energy fluctuation that was upright and pure, yet contained a hint of absolute erasure.

It wasn't dazzling; the soft light even illuminated the patterns on the armor of the knights who were on high alert. But against the backdrop of the terrifying double mist where the abyss and the undead were battling, this circle of light stood out, like the chillingly calm extreme in the eye of a storm!
It is gathering power! It is waiting! It is... forging its sheath! A destructive sword powerful enough to tear apart both the filth of the abyss and the hatred of the undead!
Shen Mu remained seated with his eyes closed, as firm as a rock.

He seemed to merge with the halo, his aura becoming ethereal yet heavy as the deep sea.

All the Holy Tree Knights, Swadian Heavy Cavalry, and Khergit bandits focused their gazes on Shen Mu and the halo, their eyes filled with awe and fervent confidence.

The strongest blade of the barrier is tempering itself to its most lethal state amidst the raging tide of the double mist, all for that earth-shattering blow—the final judgment!
The wolf howls from the abyssal black mist grew more ferocious, and the rain of bone arrows from the necromantic gray mist grew denser.

Both sides seemed to sense the deadly threat gathering in this suddenly appearing, peaceful corner! But they had no time to pay attention to anything else; their battle had reached its most critical moment!
The entire battlefield was like a pot of lava about to explode, and Shen Mu and his troops were the sparks that would ignite the final destruction!

At the heart of the battlefield, the "moving light spot" guiding the direction of the twin mist tides, pulled by the remains of the ancient god Yeno, seemed to be drawn by invisible threads, moving steadily, slowly, yet with an unstoppable gravitational pull, towards a region in the northwest where despair and the remains of gods converge...

The Shadow Hunters, with their deeply fortified defenses, have already drawn their invisible bowstrings to the brink of death. (End of Chapter)