Real Mount and Blade Game

A fierce energy storm raged before the entrance to the ancestral tomb, mingling with the radiance of holy light, the cold ashes of the undead, and the pungent stench of the abyss's filth and turbidity.

With the amplification provided by the "Thorn Garden" rules, the human alliance, with its deeply entrenched defenses, advanced step by step, leaving bloody footprints in its wake, despite immense pressure.

The shield wall advanced with a clang, sharp blades slicing through filthy bodies, and light arrows and crossbows tearing through the approaching shadows. Each step forward was paved with severed limbs of the grotesque and fallen bodies of valiant soldiers.

Just as Shen Mu had observed, and in line with the ruthless reality of the battlefield—the power source of the Abyss Skeletons, the almost endless tide of miscellaneous soldiers, was now at its last gasp after a fierce war of attrition with the Seventh Dynasty's Black Iron Skeleton Legion and repeated erosion by the "Thorn Barrier" of the Holy Light's Judgment.

Like crude iron blocks repeatedly hammered on an anvil and tempered in a furnace, their quantity is still considerable, but the primal power and will to resist they contain are now worlds apart from their initial destructive momentum.

Their momentum as they charged toward the human ranks remained fierce, carrying the last madness of the Abyss. However, faced with the slowing effect of the Vaegir's icy wind arrows, the sheet damage of the Rhodok's Radiant Burst Crossbows, the Khergit's precise and wide-ranging arrow rain, the pressure point strikes of the Holy Tree Knights' Judgment Spears, and the precise spear formations thrust out from behind the Swadian heavy infantry's shield wall, the impact of the Abyssal wrecks was like a black tide crashing against a reef, disintegrating and annihilating in large swathes.

Shen Mu's command was seamless, with precise scheduling through the [Tallinn] network.

His voice, cold and efficient, echoed in the mental links of every company commander: "First echelon, cone-shaped piercing, spearheads to break through the frontal assembly. Vaegir, freeze the flank surge points. Sacred Tree Second Team, use the power of judgment to cover the scum spewing point behind the protruding boulder on the right flank." The orders were executed without fail. The human alliance advanced at a speed far exceeding the previous stalemate. The holy light barrier, shimmering with thorn patterns, was like a heavy bulldozer, crushing and pushing aside the last batch of Abyss Guards who were stubbornly resisting against the ruins of the ancestral tomb entrance! The "wall of contamination" at the entrance, constructed of foul energy, shattered under the bombardment of dense light arrows and a "spear of judgment" that concentrated the power of the Sacred Tree Knights and the elven arrows, revealing a deep, ominous dark passageway behind it—the final path to the burial site of the ancient god Yeno.

Just as the human ranks tore through the entrance defenses, a startling change occurred in the gray mist region on the western side of the battlefield, which had been severely damaged by the abyssal black mist and almost fell into silence. Instead of completely dissipating, the dim ash mist re-condensed and surged in a strange and tenacious way.

"Commander Shen, look over there!" Legolas, who had been maintaining his connection with the natural forces of the battlefield, urgently reminded him. His elven eyes pierced through the chaotic energy flow, capturing the faint yet incredibly tenacious blue soulfire flickering within the ashes. The skeletal remains scattered across the scorched earth seemed to be drawn together by an invisible magnet, crackling and reassembling. Shattered arm bones were rejoined, broken ribs were pieced back together, and broken leg bones regained their footing. The extinguished eerie green soulfire in their eye sockets, like lingering sparks, was rekindled, lighting up one by one with difficulty, yet with unwavering stubbornness, until finally merging into a cold, blue-green ocean.

Countless skeletal soldiers, perhaps more broken and mangled than before, possessed an even more resolute and ruthless will within them. They picked up their rusted black iron swords and shattered bone bows once more. There were no slogans, no roars, only the silent will of the dead driving their fragmented ranks. Ashes swirled and compressed in their coalescing, reconstructing the outline of a colossal figure—the "Skeletal Giant Shadow" previously shattered by the abyss! It seemed to have shrunk somewhat, its entire body covered in charred and cracked surfaces, its soul fire pulsating violently and erratically deep within its chest, as if it might collapse again at any moment. But it rose, its empty eye sockets fixed on the dark domain at the entrance to the ancestral tomb, exuding both ultimate allure and threat.

"For His Majesty Anhe!" A familiar mental wave, echoing with the spirit of the living, swept across the core area of ​​the battlefield—it was Ereen! His fragmented figure appeared before the reassembled skeletal legion, nodding slightly towards the command post where Shen Mu was located. A mental communication message came through: "His Majesty's will, the objective, remains unchanged! Purify the divine remains, now is the time! Seventh Dynasty army, attack! With the combined power of the living, charge into the ancestral tomb!"

As soon as the words left his lips, the shattered yet chillingly powerful legion of skeletons began its heavy march. No longer the orderly square formation of before, but like a torrent of broken bones, accompanied by the grating noise of skeletal remains grinding against each other, they surged once more from the west towards the core area of ​​the ancestral tomb, the last stronghold of the abyssal forces. They did not hinder the human alliance; instead, on the flank of humanity's "Thorn Garden," they formed a cold, torrent of bones and ash, pressing and pounding against the remnants of the abyssal scum emerging from the entrance. Ashes and holy light, two opposing forces, now, in their shared struggle to destroy the common source of abyssal calamity, advanced side-by-side in a brief but perfectly synchronized manner!
"Roar—!!!" A louder, more frenzied wolf howl, filled with soul-tearing pain and boundless resentment, suddenly erupted from the deepest part of the ancestral tomb!

The howl transcended the limits of sound, forming tangible shockwaves. The entire ruined land of Longcheng groaned and cracked under its pressure. The "Thorn Garden" light screen, with its intertwined walls, trembled violently, like a thin veil in a gale. The soldiers' blood surged, their mental world seemed to be torn apart by sharp claws, and those with weaker wills instantly collapsed, bleeding from all seven orifices. Those abyssal wreckage being rapidly cleared away, upon hearing this howl, seemed to have their remaining chaotic consciousness forcibly ignited, erupting with a frenzy far exceeding their limits. They no longer merely mindlessly charged at the human defenses; their attack trajectories became more bizarre and cunning. Some wreckage even began to twist and swell, bursting open with blood and pus, causing widespread corrosion; others increased in speed, transforming into self-destructing fireballs that hurtled towards arrow towers or crossbow positions.

Even more terrifying, the thick, inky black mist deep within the ancestral tomb began to violently churn and expand. Thick tentacles of black mist shot out from it, like giant black banyan tree roots, brutally piercing the surrounding ruins of Longcheng, twisting the earth, and even the destructive energy permeating the air. Accompanied by a sickening sizzling sound, these tentacles greedily absorbed all absorbable energy, then quickly retracted. Immediately, the core of the black mist, like a filthy womb, began to "give birth" even more rapidly and violently!
This time, the surging forth were no longer the relatively ordinary inferior skeletons or mutated gnolls. Instead, they were the incredibly strong "Abyssal Corrupted Giant Skeleton Gnolls" that had appeared before, even more twisted in form, their bodies covered in writhing, lifelike armor of rotting flesh, wielding enormous, ferocious bone weapons; there were also some never-before-seen "Abyssal Drainers," their bodies flowing with boiling black oil-like substances, their forms unpredictable, radiating extreme mental pollution; and "Swift-Spiked Demon Hounds" moving with incredible speed, as if composed of sharp bone spurs. These new forces, carrying the frenzied will of the End Wolf Shadow, surged forth from the depths of the entrance tunnel like a black oil torrent, far exceeding the numbers of previous summons, instantly filling the area near the entrance and once again significantly hindering the advance of the human and undead alliance! The Abyss's trump card seemed to be even more corrupt and stubborn than anticipated.

However, the most unpredictable change in the battlefield situation came almost immediately after that crazy new round of summons.

Just as Shen Mu was coldly observing the attack direction of the newly emerging elite Abyss troops, preparing to direct targeted sniping, the battle situation took a turn that astonished everyone (except Shen Mu). More than 80% of the overwhelming, aggressive new Abyss army did not immediately and with full force rush towards the human "Thorn Garden" defense line, which was at its strongest and radiant with holy light!
Their primary target was the seemingly less threatening Seventh Dynasty Skeleton Legion, which had only recently managed to rebuild itself!
"How could this be?!" Kalanzo exclaimed from the command platform. Bandak's knuckles turned white as he gripped the heavy crossbow. Legolas's expression instantly turned extremely grave. The newly emerged Abyssal "Corrupted Giants," "Absorbers," and "Swift-Spirit Hounds," as if armed with precision-guided deadly weapons, savagely and with a deep-seated greed and hatred, crashed into the still-unstable, shattered ranks of the skeletal legion!
"Sizzle!" The filthy tentacles seized the skeletal soldiers' limbs, instantly corroding and softening them, turning them into grayish-white powder that was absorbed. The heavy skeletal warhammer of the corrupting giant slammed down, shattering swathes of black iron bones like rotten wood, extinguishing their soul flames. The "Swift-Spirit Demon Hound" transformed into streaks of black lightning imbued with the filth of the abyss, weaving through the skeletal mass. Wherever it passed, skeletal soldiers fell like mowing grass, their limbs scattered, their soul flames instantly drained.

Most deadly of all was the thin "gray mist"—it was the very foundation of the Seventh Dynasty's undead legion, the embodiment of their remaining power and legionary order. Now, under the concentrated and ferocious onslaught of the Abyss's main force, the cold mist protecting the skeletal legion, like ice cubes thrown into boiling water, rapidly dimmed, thinned, and dissipated at a visible speed and with an unstoppable force! Without the gray mist's support, the skeletal legion was like a sandcastle exposed to the scorching sun.

The colossal skeletal shadow let out a silent roar of grief and rage, frantically tearing apart a decaying giant skeleton with its claws. But its own charred body was instantly covered with several "Absorbers" and even more "Swift-Spiked Demon Hounds." Its movements grew increasingly slower, and the wildly pulsating soul fire within its chest, gnawed by the abyssal power, flickered rapidly, eventually fading into a dim, almost extinguished state… Erien attempted to maintain the battle line, but his bizarre, neither-living nor-dead body was also pierced by several attacks, flashing with an unstable, eerie light, his figure seemingly on the verge of disintegration. The remaining strength of the entire Seventh Dynasty's undead legion was being dismembered, devoured, and annihilated at an alarming rate under this premeditated, thunderous attack!
Shen Mu's insightful observations and ruthless judgment:

The clamor of the battlefield, the roars of soldiers, the sound of bones shattering, and the howls of the abyss seemed to freeze at this moment. The officers and soldiers of the human alliance, with their strongholds, were both defending against the scattered elite abyss troops rushing towards them and watching in astonishment the sudden, almost one-sided massacre on the western battlefield—a brutal devouring of the non-living among themselves.

"Why?! What are they doing?" Caranzo looked anxiously at the motionless Shen Mu, his voice filled with confusion. "Instead of attacking our strongest forward line, they're gnawing on that already crumbling skeleton?"

“Because of nutrients…” Shen Mu’s voice remained clear and cold amidst the energy storm, like a tempered steel blade. Deep within his eyes pulsed a torrent of data and a level of insight into rules that was incomprehensible to ordinary people. “Anhe’s legions… their essence… is the distorted extension of Yenogu divinity on the side of the dead… their core is the portion of 'divine dust' that the Seventh Dynasty stole and transformed from Yenogu over countless years!”

His gaze pierced through the chaotic battlefield, locking onto the core of the ancestral tomb's dark domain, which had become even more solidified by devouring the undead, with faint, blood-like veins appearing within, and even emitting a faint, greedy heartbeat:

"Before, the abyss fought against them, which was a mutual cancellation at the level of rules. Now, it is about to win, and it no longer needs to fight. What it needs is... the most direct and core nutrients to accelerate its 'transformation'! The divine dust of the dead, although deformed and weak, is closer to Yenogu than the soul imprints of us pure living beings! Devouring them is far more likely to transform them into the Shadow of the End... the highly efficient fuel to ignite the 'Fire of Divine Resentment' than attacking our 'Thorn Garden,' which is a tough nut to crack!"

“Erien and the Black Emperor Anhe…they underestimated the Abyss’s thirst for the core remains of the Yenogu…and its instinctive predatory priority.” Shen Mu’s lips even twitched slightly, as if mocking some unseen mastermind. “They…are the sweetest prey in the eyes of the Wolf Shadow!”

He abruptly looked up, his voice instantly piercing through the [Tallinn] network, resounding like a bell in the minds of every officer and elite soldier: "Thorn Barrier! Maximize energy output, switch to inner arc compression defensive array! Sacred Tree Legion, abandon the forward push plan, immediately withdraw to the strongest range of the Barrier aura! Rhodok Heavy Crossbows, load rule-annihilation rune bullets! Target—the Ancestral Tomb entrance passage node, area blockade and suppression! Khergit Sentinels, abandon harassment, flank and retreat, patrol and guard against anomalous energy attack points!"

"Sir? We..." Bandak said urgently, looking at the entrance that was so close at hand.

"The abyss's last strength is currently 'feeding' with all its might. It has indeed become stronger, but it has also exposed its most fatal weakness—its 'focus'... is its greatest vulnerability right now!" Shen Mu's icy voice was resolute, carrying an unquestionable determination. "Hold your ground! Reorganize your formation! Await... the inevitable... internal conflict that will occur after the abyss is saturated!"

His deep gaze swept over the legion of skeletons being rapidly dismembered and devoured on the west side, finally settling on the colossal skeletal figure that was fighting frantically, its soul fire flickering and about to go out:

"Let the abyss 'eat its fill' first... When its body is filled with 'divine dust' that cannot be digested instantly, when the 'resentment' from the same source, forcibly devoured, explodes within it... that is when we will give it... its true... 'end'!"

The holy light still shone brightly on the fortified walls, but the human army at this moment resembled a ferocious beast that had sheathed its claws and gathered its strength. Beside the abyss's final, frenzied feast, they held their breath, awaiting that fleeting moment of fatal weakness, brewed by their own greed. (End of Chapter)