Real Mount and Blade Game

On the west side of the fortified walls, the scorching battlefield before the entrance to the ancestral tomb has transformed into a desperate vortex that devours lives.

The final wolf shadow released from the core of the abyss—a terrifying will twisted from the resentment of corrupted divine remains and shattered divine essence—seemed to finally smell the deadly aura emanating from the sword of Damocles hanging precariously behind the thorny ramparts.

It is not a living being, it has no physical form, and it is more like a concentrated outburst of the will of the abyss.

It is no longer content with slow erosion.

In an instant, the thick black mist covering the battlefield churned violently, as if being torn and compressed inward by billions of invisible arms, condensing into thick, dragon-like streams of dark color that almost absorbed all light.

These corrupting divine forces, imbued with the ultimate filth, resentment, and greed, no longer surged about in a chaotic manner, but instead had a clear, violent, and incredibly precise target—the wall of ashes that the undead legion was desperately trying to maintain!
Boom! Rumble—!
The first stream of "black turbidity" crashed hard into the right flank of the skeleton formation's defensive line.

The sturdy skeletal shield melted, carbonized, and disintegrated the instant it came into contact with the black mist, just like ice and snow under the scorching sun! Behind the shield, the skeletal warriors, who were gleaming with ghostly blue soul flames, didn't even have time to utter a cry of pain. The soul flames were forcibly extracted and extinguished the moment their armor and the bones supporting their bodies made contact. Their gray-white skeletons instantly lost their luster and turned into dust, which was greedily sucked into the black mist that surged up afterward.

This is just the beginning.

More "black turbid streams" surged forth like living giant pythons, strangling the undead legion's main camp from all directions.

The defensive barrier formed by the gray fog groaned under the crushing force, crumbling and collapsing in large swathes.

The ash essence that constitutes the main force of the legion, the order imprints that sustain the existence of countless skeletal warriors, has now become the most tempting bait, being frantically torn apart and devoured by the black mist. With each wisp of ash essence it devours, the murky black current grows stronger, its color deepens, and the oppressive aura it exudes becomes heavier!
The vanguard of the undead legion, those Black Iron Skeleton warriors who once dominated the battlefield of Ashes, collapsed and vanished in swathes before the naked eye.

The pale green ghostly flames, remnants of the forcibly transformed soul fire, scattered across the battlefield, only to be captured, crushed, and absorbed by the greedy black mist.

The entire left flank of the undead has fallen completely, leaving the central defenses wide open! The gray fog area is shrinking rapidly, like a sandcastle being battered by a giant wave, being fiercely swallowed and covered by the boundless sea of ​​darkness.

"Your Majesty Anhe—!"

A piercing mental scream, filled with unprecedented panic and rage, tore through the chaotic energy field, pierced through the thick light barrier of the thorny wall, and directly impacted the command core area where Shen Mu was located.

The undead messenger, once the seventh chanter, Ereen, was now trembling violently, his skeletal body pulsating with intense, eerie soulfire.

"Commander Shen Mu! The Abyss Core is out of control! The Shadow of the End is frantically draining our clan's core power! The frontline legions are on the verge of collapse! Quickly! Attack! Attack the Ancestral Tomb Core! Destroy it! Otherwise, it will complete the catalysis of the resentment of the divine remains and ignite the complete 'Flame of the Wolf God's Resentment'!"

Arian's mental fluctuations were filled with desperate urgency, almost a roar, "The Black Emperor's covenant demands your action! The time to fulfill the covenant has come! Our people are bearing the greatest pressure for you! Tear apart the Dark Realm! Now!"

Within the command cluster, all the officers' eyes instantly focused on Shen Mu. Kalanzo gripped his sword hilt tightly, his knuckles white, his burning fighting spirit almost piercing through the light barrier and striking the core of the abyss.

Sweat beaded on Bandak's forehead as he reported in a low, urgent voice that the energy readings were climbing exponentially: "Commander! The core energy intensity of the Black Domain has surpassed its previous peak! The concentration of Necromantic Ashes... has plummeted exponentially! Our detection spells indicate that an ultra-high energy reaction point is forming deep within the Ancestral Tomb!"

Legolas's tightly closed eyes snapped open, his emerald pupils reflecting the destructive energy vortex in the distance, a hint of fear in his eyes: "Commander, the intensity of the clash of the corrupted rules... exceeds our monitoring limit! That's... that's close to the energy level of the precursor to igniting divine wrath! Aereen wasn't exaggerating!"

Everyone's nerves were on edge, their blood seemed to be boiling, and they were all waiting for Shen Mu's order to launch a full-scale attack, unleashing their accumulated power at the core that was breeding the cataclysmic disaster.

However, Shen Mu stood at the very front of the command platform, his figure as upright and still as a mountain.

His deep gaze pierced through the light and shadow of the thorny barrier, locking firmly onto the increasingly frenzied, dark core area that was devouring massive amounts of ash.

Faced with Ereen's desperate cries for help and the anxious gazes of all his generals, he spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable, icy power that suppressed all the restlessness like a stone thrown from ice:
"Quiet."

"Order—All troops—stand by!"

"Maintain the energy output level of the 'Wall of Sighs' core array unchanged. Increase the strength of the Thorn Barrier by one level, entering 'Limited Bearing State'! Expand the warning range to three kilometers outside the Ancestral Tomb energy field. All units, according to the seventh shift rest sequence, rest on the spot, replenish combat supplies, check equipment nodes, and be ready to execute my next order at any time."

what? !

The entire command cluster, including Erion outside the light screen, was momentarily stunned and greatly taken aback.

"Commander!" Kalanzo could hardly believe his ears, his voice rising with urgency, "The undead legion is being torn apart! The black mist will only grow stronger after it devours them! Yenogu's flames of resentment are about to..."

"I said—stay put!" Shen Mu suddenly turned his head, his gaze sweeping over Caranzo like a cold blade. "The enemy hasn't revealed its 'tenderest flesh after shedding its skin,' so why enter that boiling cauldron? The abyss's greed is never truly satisfied. Its current madness is precisely when it is hungriest, most focused, yet most likely to overlook its own weakness!"

He ignored the astonished crowd and turned his gaze back to the battlefield.

There, as the undead legion collapsed on an even larger scale, almost several complete skeletal formations were wiped out by the sweeping "black turbidity," and a gray mist several times larger than before was sucked into the core of the abyss's dark domain with a mournful cry.

The black light at the core was no longer profound, but had transformed into a chilling, seemingly timeless darkness, its oppressive aura causing even the sturdy thorny barrier to vibrate slightly and at a high frequency! Ariane's soulfire flickered violently, almost bursting forth, his mental fluctuations filled with rage and incomprehension: "Shen Mu! You have betrayed us! You watched helplessly as our warriors were reduced to nourishment! The power of the Abyss is about to complete its final transformation! By then, it will be too late! What are you waiting for?! Destruction?!"

Shen Mu seemed not to hear Ariane's hysterical questioning. He closed his eyes. In everyone's eyes, the commander seemed to have given up observing, letting the hourglass that would decide fate slip away.

However, beneath his calm, abyss-like exterior, a completely different, vast, and subtle power was quietly being activated.

Unseen by anyone, deep within Shen Mu's brow, the mark that signifies his connection to the core of the [Tallinn] rule network is emitting a pure white light at an unprecedented frequency.

This light did not spill outwards, but instead extended instantly along countless invisible data streams and rule chains to the entire fortress defense system, connecting to every well-trained soldier, every charged crossbow, every weapon shimmering with different brilliance, every inch of land imprinted with defensive array patterns, and every warrior's heart beating for survival in the desperate battlefield!

He was not standing idly by; rather, he was weaving an earth-shattering web of rules—the ultimate resonance!
Battlefield information was flowing, integrating, and optimizing at an ultra-high speed deep within his consciousness:
The carrying capacity and cooldown of Holy Light runes on the shields of Swadian heavy infantry;

Energy conversion efficiency curves for the tips of each icy arrow in the Vigveer Archer's quiver;
The charging progress and optimal salvo angle of the Rhodok Heavy Ballista Matrix Node [Light of Destruction];
Real-time battlefield micro-energy flow distribution based on the latest reconnaissance data from Khergit scouts;

The Holy Tree Knights' [War Song] aura amplification and [Judgment Spear] projection array preheating synchronization rate;

A dynamic model of the coverage and energy penetration of arrow barrages and rain in Elf Forest;
Fine-tuning parameters for the long-range firepower coverage range of Senmu Fortress;

Most importantly—the energy transmission channel of the core node of the Thorn Barrier "Wall of Sighs" magic array has a maximum capacity…

And, most importantly, most secretly, and most destructive of forces—deep beneath the entangled walls, the unused [Root Strangulation] energy accumulated at the core of the thorny root matrix is ​​frantically absorbing the residual energy dissipating from the battlefield through the "Tallinn" rule network. It has even cleverly "hitched a ride" and absorbed a portion of the pure ash primordial energy leaked from the power devoured by the undead legion, transforming it into an extremely pure ultimate Mount & Blade rule power containing the essence of "cutting," "crushing," and "annihilation of order."

This force, guided by Shen Mu's will and rules, is silently being constructed and condensed in the space behind him along special energy channels.

Like a top-notch symphony conductor, Shen Mu remained silent in the eye of the storm, yet he used his mind to manipulate the string tension, reed vibration frequency, and drumhead tightness of every instrument, all in preparation for the final, one and only perfect chordal burst.

On the battlefield, the abyss's gluttonous feast had reached its climax. The turbid torrent was unstoppable, and the last organized skeletal giant of the undead legion let out a silent roar in its frantic struggle, before being completely pierced and torn apart by several thick streams of turbid blackness!
The immense, tsunami-like source of ash was forcibly drained and merged into the core of that desolate darkness!
Buzz—! ! !
A buzzing sound, inaudible yet undeniably resonating with all living and non-living souls, originating from the realm of rules, erupted from the depths of the ancestral tomb!

The dark domain at the core of the abyss suddenly changed shape!
It was like a giant egg carrying a demon, which throbbed violently. The "gloomy darkness" color on its surface began to show strange flowing light. An even more terrifying pressure, as if it possessed primal bestial hunger and resentful divinity, was like a beast that had been sleeping for millions of years opening its scarlet eyes and slowly reviving!
Arian's mental state was reduced to nothing but despair and resentment: "It's over... The flames of resentment... are burning... Shen Mu... you... have failed His Majesty... have failed the last hope of the living..."

Inside the fortress command cluster, the atmosphere was incredibly tense. The soldiers gripped their weapons tightly, their palms sweating profusely.

The officers stared intently at Shen Mu's retreating figure, their teeth clenched. Even Caranzo's eyes flickered with an indescribable wavering.

Time... seems to have truly come to an end.

Just as this nascent, unprecedented, ultimate pressure was about to erupt completely, and even the light barrier of the thorny fortress was violently distorted and deformed by this invisible compression—

Shen Mu's tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open!

There was no despair or panic in his eyes, only a deep, star-like calm, and beneath that calm, an intense, icy, absolute control over the timing of the killing.

He spoke, his voice as calm as a breeze across an icy plain, clearly penetrating the very soul of every soldier, every knight, and every warband:

"Tallinn Command - Coordinate Correction: Ancestral Tomb Core 'Primordial Divine Remains Node' Beam Intersection Point - Seventh Parameter Axis".

"Energy Channel Link: Root Thorn Core Reserve, Thorn Barrier Overload Mode, Swadian 'Will', Rhodok 'Explosion', Khergit 'Mobility', Sacred Tree 'Judgment', Elf 'Penetration'... Synchronization Begins."

"Mount & Blade Rules - End: 'Soul Rift, God Shatter'"

"implement."

The final command was not a heavy hammer, but a cold, merciless wedge that precisely cut into the cracks of the gears of fate.

Above his head, the power of the ultimate Mount & Blade rules, which was originally formless and intangible and could only be perceived by Shen Mu himself, finally materialized above the huge light screen of the Thorn Barrier at the moment of synchronization!

A complex and intricate phantom of a "Wheel of War," whose specific form is indescribable and which is woven from pure energy rules, spanning half of the battlefield, suddenly appeared, accompanied by a soul-freezing buzz and countless subtle energy "slicing" rules!

There was no dazzling light and shadow storm, no earth-shattering roar.

Only one absolute order, absolute destruction, an invisible "blade of the end" formed by countless microscopic energy "slashes," seemingly capable of cleaving through chaos, pierced through the void in an instant, surpassing the limits of light, space, and the reaction speed of all beings present. It struck precisely at the core of the abyss's dark domain, where the creature had just undergone its ultimate transformation, its surface radiant with light, but its internal structure, weakened by greed and devouring, was in a state of flux, its rules and structure most fragile and unstable.

At that moment, the core of the nascent "Flame of Resentment" was born! (End of Chapter)