Real Mount and Blade Game

On the command platform, Kalanzo's hand rested on the hilt of his sword, his face ashen; Bandak's eyes, sharp as a hawk's, were fixed on Irian; Legolas, meanwhile, stared intently at the ancient armor patterns on Irian's body, his gaze complex, as if lost in some distant memory, which ultimately turned into a barely audible sigh.

The soldiers held their breath, awaiting the man's final verdict.

Shen Mu remained expressionless, his gaze sweeping over Irene like a scalpel, analyzing every detail and every energy fluctuation.

A few seconds of silence followed, a rare luxury on the battlefield. Finally, he spoke, his voice like tempered steel, clear and calm, echoing in the tense, pin-drop-worthy air:
“Erien, the ‘former’ Seventh Chanter. The Black Emperor’s proposal… makes sense.” Shen Mu’s voice was devoid of any emotion, as if stating a fact unrelated to himself. “The Abyss is indeed the primary threat. Your destruction will indeed lead to a surge in the Abyss’ power, threatening the safety of the fortress. The covenant is acceptable.”

In the eyes of the Necromancer Elf Erion, the eerie green vortex seemed to ripple almost imperceptibly. Her deathly pale face remained expressionless, but the deathly aura surrounding her seemed to loosen slightly—a kind of…acknowledgment?
Shen Mu continued, his tone resolute and leaving no room for doubt: "But the alliance is based on mutual trust. Since the Black Emperor is willing to provide intelligence, that's excellent. And my sincerity—"

He raised his hand and pointed to the southwest of the battlefield, where the black fog was the thickest. He could clearly see a large number of Abyssal Skeletons surging within it, frantically charging towards a breach in a defensive line composed of Seventh Dynasty Black Iron Skeleton Heavy Infantry that was almost crumbling.

"See that area? It's attacking your flank defenses. Their presence weakens your suppression of the core Abyss minions."

Shen Mu's finger hovered in the air, as if pointing at an invisible tactical sand table: "The mobilization of my heavy equipment will take time, but the elite assault force is already on standby here. As the first demonstration of the alliance's 'sincerity,' in half an hour, I will command the first and third combat squads of the Holy Tree Knights, the Swadian Heavy Knight Company, and a part of the Khergit Raid Battalion under my command to launch a fifteen-minute 'anvil and judgment' coordinated strike against the area under the precise cover of Rhodok crossbow bolts and Vaegir arrows."

His instructions were as precise as a set of blueprints for a sophisticated siege engine: "The Tree Knights are responsible for breaking through the formation, eliminating elite units at pinpoints, and clearing obstacles for the subsequent charge; the Swadian Heavy Cavalry are responsible for frontal assault and division; the Khergit Bandits are responsible for flanking maneuvers, cutting off their retreat and dispersing flank support; ranged firepower will provide constant suppression, prioritizing the elimination of ranged units and key nodes that pose a threat to the charge. What you need to do is stabilize that breach in the collapsing line for at least 5 minutes before our attack, and when we launch our attack, suppress the deeper Abyss reinforcements with a rain of bone arrows to prevent them from interfering with our assault."

Shen Mu's sharp gaze pierced through Arian: "This cooperation is the 'down payment' of our alliance. If completed, it will prove the Black Emperor's control and sincerity. Afterwards, based on the changes on the battlefield and the value of the intelligence you provide, we will discuss further cooperation. Arian, take my exact words and the precise action plan back to His Majesty Anhe. If he agrees, act immediately. Otherwise, the alliance will be null and void, and my forces will act independently according to the established plan, bearing the consequences themselves."

This was not merely agreeing to the covenant, but rather defining the initial scope, objectives, and execution methods of the covenant in an extremely tough and clear manner, simultaneously shifting the risks and responsibilities to the undead side and forcing them to take substantive cooperative actions first.

Erien's lifeless, swirling eye seemed even more profound.

Without hesitation or any unnecessary movement, he simply nodded slightly: "A wise judgment, an efficient command. Commander's sincerity and demands are clear. I will faithfully report your will and meticulous tactical arrangements to His Majesty Anhe. Please wait a moment; the Black Emperor's will will respond swiftly."

His figure began to be enveloped again by the surging gray fog, clearly preparing to return to report and mobilize troops.

Just as Irian's figure was about to completely disappear into the gray mist, a sudden change occurred!
On the eastern side of the battlefield, near the edge of the core area of ​​the abyssal black mist, a figure stumbled and broke through the thin gray mist barrier like a wild dog branded with a hot iron and thrown wildly, rushing at high speed toward the assault group—or rather, toward the disappearing Erion.

It wasn't humanoid, nor was it a skeleton; it was a... twisted undead gnoll!
Its form was far more twisted and broken than that of a typical gnoll mummy. Most of its bones were missing or broken, and the remaining skin and tendons were a charred, inky black, covered in congealed dark red filth.

Its movements were extremely uncoordinated; it charged on all fours as if in a spasm, each fall producing a sickening, grinding sound of bones grinding together.

The only thing intact was those eyes—burning with the crimson flames of madness and despair before the soul was extinguished.

This gnoll necromancer's goal doesn't seem to be attacking, but rather... sending a message?
It charged closer to the front line, perhaps wary of the ready-to-fight human arrows and the cold blades of knights' lances, or perhaps exhausted, and suddenly stopped.

Then, it did something even more bizarre and insane—it used its claws, now reduced to bone fragments, to frantically pound its cracked, nearly shattered head, emitting hysterical howls filled with endless pain and fear.

The howl was not the roar of an ordinary beast, but rather a filthy, universal language, clearly discernible and originating from the abyss, that pierced the minds of all the living like a sharp knife scraping through metal.

"Aaaaaah—roar!! Deception! Lies! Ankh!! You... vile bone thieves!! We... our master! The great... Shadow... is... is suffering!!!"

The voice was broken and intermittent due to extreme pain and frenzy, filled with deep-seated hatred and accusations against the Seventh Dynasty represented by Eleon.

It suddenly turned to Shen Mu, its crimson eyes almost bursting from their sockets, filled with desperate pleading and a mad urge to take everyone down with it: "Humans! Powerful... Commander! You're... watching a show?! Fools! You've been... been fooled!! They're... surrounding... surrounding Him! Not the Abyss... but our... true rulers! That... that great... Shadow of the End!"

The gnoll necromancer convulsed violently, seemingly enduring some terrible internal tearing, forcibly piecing together the information with its last ounce of willpower: "He...He is about to collapse! Anhe's lackeys...several times...Black Iron Bones...are tearing at His divine essence!! He is calling...calling for the last loyalty of my race...but...but the response...is only...your mockery...and the...slaughter of these treacherous dead bones!!"

With its last breath, it roared out the most piercing message like a dying curse: "Open your eyes! Anhe's purpose... has never... ever been to fight the Abyss! He wants to take this opportunity... to completely obliterate... to completely devour... our master's... core!! He is stealing... Yenogu's... divine power!! If... if our master... the great Emperor Yenogu... He completely perishes here... then Anhe... that dead emperor... will become the first... god of the dead... to truly revive in this plane... and wield the power of the divine remains!!!"

In those frenzied words, the name "Yenogu" seemed to carry the power of some kind of law, causing the foul energy flowing across the battlefield to momentarily halt. "The next one to be devoured by Him... is you!! The human race!! All the flesh and blood behind your laughable light screen!! No one... no one can withstand it!! Roar—!!!!"

Before the final roar had even faded, the gnoll necromancer that had brought the news suddenly swelled violently, and countless black runes on its surface slithered and shone wildly like living snakes!

The next second, in full view of everyone, accompanied by a muffled explosion and splattering dark green, viscous flesh and bone fragments filled with pure filth and curses, it actually exploded on the spot into a cloud of rapidly rising, highly toxic smoke that emitted a pungent sulfurous smell!
Clearly, the transmission of this information itself triggered some kind of pre-set, malicious restriction!

The entire assault group, including Kalanzo, Bandak, and even some of the mentally resilient Holy Tree Knights, was shocked by this sudden, insane self-destruction and the information it contained!

The scene of the undead gnoll's desperate accusation, the soul-shaking effect of the name Yenogu, and the final blasphemous self-destruction all brought a strong visual and soul-stirring impact.

The air was filled with a nauseating smell of poisonous fumes, as well as an overwhelming sense of shock and chill.

Countless gazes instantly focused on Shen Mu.

Shen Mu's expression remained deep and still, as if the thrilling scene from just now had never happened.

But he did not give any direct orders. His gaze slowly shifted and landed on the undead wood elf, Erion, who was temporarily paused by the shockwave of the gnoll's self-destruction and was now re-condensing gray mist.

That look was no longer the cold, negotiating demeanor of before, but a deliberate "hesitation"—a scrutiny imbued with deep pressure, demanding an explanation from the other party for such shocking information.

That invisible pressure, like a cold iron hand, gripped the core of the churning gray fog.

Forcibly left behind, the dark, writhing lines on Erion's deathly pale face now flowed and twisted as if alive, and for the first time, a glimmer of extremely complex light clearly swept across the depths of the eerie green vortex eye.

The light contained an ancient sense of vicissitude, an indescribable weariness, a hint of cold anger at being offended, and... a kind of resolute confession forced upon them after their schemes were exposed.

Faced with Shen Mu's "coercive" silent gaze and the sudden surge of almost tangible vigilance and interrogative killing intent that rose within the entire assault group, the gray mist surrounding Arian fluctuated violently for a moment, and then... slowly subsided.

He straightened his broken wood elf body, reshaped by the power of death, but the deep-seated solemnity that belonged to the former chief chanter had not completely disappeared.

"Hmph... The desperate roar of dying ants. The death throes and inflammatory rhetoric of filthy creations. Disgusting." Arian's voice was even colder than before, with a hint of barely perceptible anger arising from the partial revelation of the truth.

He paused, as if organizing his thoughts, or perhaps suppressing the anger that stemmed from a forgotten ancient era.

Finally, he raised his bony finger and pointed in the direction of the gnoll's self-destruction, and further in the area in the center of the battlefield shrouded in thick black mist and intense energy fluctuations. There, indeed, were increasingly dense, crashing sounds of pure, cold death energy colliding—sounds that perfectly matched the gnoll necromancer's final accusation!

“However…” Arian’s voice suddenly dropped to a low crescendo, as if whispering from the deepest abyss, each word carrying a weight heavy enough to freeze the soul, completely abandoning any ambiguity of negotiation, “Its last mad words… were not wrong in one respect.”

The gaze of the undead wood elf, those two eerie green vortexes, pierced through the tight military formation before him, through layers of spatial barriers, seemingly meeting directly into the terrifying blood-red wolf eyes of the far west. His voice was devoid of emotion, merely stating an ancient, bloody truth:
“Commander, the ‘Shadow of the End’ you speak of… it has never been a ‘ruler’ born naturally from the power of the abyss.”

A chilling smile seemed to curve at the corners of Ereen's lips, like bones rubbing against sand: "Its essence... is the undying resentment and shattered divine essence at the very core of the gnoll god Yenogu, who was severed from his divine remains and fell to this world. Over countless years, it was discovered, corrupted, distorted, and ultimately 'hatched' by the will of the abyss! A... mad god's shadow that refuses to perish and thirsts to rekindle its throne with the fires of the abyss!"

"Roar—!!!" As if in response to Erion's announcement of revealing his true name, a wolf howl filled with boundless rage, pain, and a divine pressure that shattered the soul suddenly tore apart the entire battlefield from the core of the distant black mist!
The earth trembled violently, and even the holy light curtain in the direction of the fortified walls was rippled with visible waves!

Unmoved, Ereen continued to reveal a truth that was enough to suffocate everyone: "The intelligence your captives brought back is true. The 'cursed object' that the Greenleaf Group discovered at the intersection of the core imperial tombs of the Seventh Dynasty—is precisely a fragment of Yenogu's broken divine claw and the core fragment of His demonic scepter, a symbol of endless thirst and destruction! It is the coordinate of His resurrection that He intended to plant in this world! The filth of the abyss has tainted them, giving birth to this greedy wolf's shadow!"

His voice grew deeper and more dangerous, as if proclaiming the end of the world: "His Majesty Ankh's purpose has never changed—He will utterly eradicate this filthy divine shadow!" (End of Chapter)