Real Mount and Blade Game

"Kill! For our fallen comrades! For our world!" Shen Mu's voice boomed like thunder, instantly igniting the pent-up anger and sorrow in the hearts of every soldier. He suppressed the excruciating pain that seemed to tear his soul apart, unleashing a surge of mental energy to precisely transmit his orders to every combat unit:
"Swadian Knights! Form the 'Iron Wall' battle formation to withstand the outer assault!"

"Holy Tree Knights! Unleash 'Holy Light Prayer' to strike the altar's foundation and suppress the corrupted core! Arya, your arrows will provide cover for the Holy Tree Knights!"

"Khergit tribe, move freely and shoot, focus on eliminating the skeletal wizards! Ralph! Rune bolts, target the altar core, Boom!"

"Alatan Khan! Bandits, charge with me! Straight to the location of the Defiler Devourer!"

The command instantly transformed into a thunderous operation!
The heavily armored knights roared all day long, their thick shields forming a continuous steel wall that firmly blocked the flanks and rear of the charge, withstanding the frenzied attacks of the skeletal warriors that surged like a tidal wave.

The Holy Tree Knights erupted with their most intense light, holy runes burning on their tattered armor. Like dozens of burning meteors, they charged straight at the altar, which reeked of death. The shockwave of the Holy Light Prayer slammed into the altar's base, hissing and scorching. Large amounts of the bones and rotting flesh that made up the altar dissipated into black smoke under the impact of the holy power. Aria's Vaegir archers rained down arrows like locusts, precisely striking the skeletal wizards who attempted to interfere with the Holy Tree Knights. A chilling breath instantly froze their wielding bone staffs and the ground, slowing their spellcasting.

“Buzz—boom!!!”

Captain Ralph's long-awaited moment had finally arrived. A thick spear of light, inscribed with ancient runes and radiating a blinding platinum glow, burst forth from the "Unyielding" ballista! This specially crafted rune-inscribed crossbow bolt, costing a fortune and one of only three remaining, carried the power of purification and order, and struck precisely the pulsating, filthy tumor at the heart of the altar!
A violent explosion accompanied by blinding light! The corrupted core emitted a chilling, piercing screech, blasting away large amounts of writhing flesh and spraying out dark purple energy like blood. The entire altar shook violently, its operation seemingly slowing down for a moment. Several of the skeletal wizards maintaining the altar were also thrown away by the shockwave, their cloaks shattered and bones scattered.

"Good opportunity! Follow me!" Alatan Khan seized the moment, and the bandits charged out like a whirlwind, their sharp scimitars slashing at the vulnerable necks of the remaining skeletal wizards.

Shen Mu followed closely behind, his gaze fixed on the severely damaged yet still pulsating core of the altar! The closer he got, the greater the pressure he felt, not only from the physical pressure of the endless onslaught of undead creatures, but also from the aura of annihilation emanating from the shattered subspace rift—an aura that seemed to freeze, disintegrate, and reduce souls to nothingness. This aura was extremely violent, seemingly the opposite of all rules, representing absolute annihilation.

However, just as Shen Mu's mental power was being suppressed by this violent aura of the end, a very subtle yet completely different fluctuation pierced through this thick layer of death and end aura with exceptional tenacity and was keenly captured by him!

This fluctuation… did not emanate from the sacred power of the Holy Tree Knights, nor from the orderly white light condensed from the indomitable fighting spirit of the Allied soldiers, nor even from the chaotic and violent power of the abyss or the undead. It… was a purer, more ancient power, carrying a barely perceptible… fragment of oppressive force! It clung weakly, yet stubbornly, to several scattered fragments of dark bone at the point where the runic crossbow bolts had blasted open the altar's core. These bone fragments shimmered with an unusual dark golden luster, seemingly struggling to maintain their last trace of "existence" amidst the filthy abyssal flesh and the final black tide!

Yenogu!
The name flashed through Shen Mu's mind instantly! This was a fragment of the remnant spirit of the gnoll god who had been severely wounded and even shattered by his Spear of Annihilation! This fragment of power... contained His remaining divinity, which was essentially superior to that of mortal beings! The abyss devoured Him, and His body became undead, but the fragment of divinity that constituted the origin of His existence was not completely assimilated by the end. Instead, it was stripped away by the "ending" and "annihilation" effects caused by the Spear of Annihilation, and deposited in this filthy land as "residue" of higher-dimensional power!

This fragment of divinity, though faint and containing corrupted madness, seems to possess an essential height that allows it to... connect different levels of rule power! In this chaotic power field, it has become an extremely small yet exceptionally crucial node.

An incredibly crazy idea exploded in Shen Mu's mind in an instant: the essence of Mount & Blade's rules is to materialize the order and laws of the Mount & Blade world, with combat skills, cooperation, and the will to win as the driving force.

It fights against chaos and end, but it also needs a "base" to accommodate its framework.

If we could absorb even a tiny fraction of this divine fragment representing the power of a higher level of origin... could it become a temporary amplification and anchoring point for the rules of Mount & Blade? Could it unleash power beyond its limits when confronting this terrifying rift of the end? Otherwise, with the current remnants of the army, there is absolutely no way to destroy this blasphemous altar that connects to the land of the end!
This was a gamble with one's life! Divinity was not something an ordinary body could easily bear, especially since this fragment was tainted by the madness of Yenogu and the filth of the abyssal undead. A slight misstep, and Shen Mu's fragile soul would be instantly torn apart and corrupted, becoming the next sacrifice at the altar, or utterly annihilated. At this moment, the wounded blasphemous devourer was clearly enraged. The entire altar erupted with even more intense black-purple flames, the tumor at its core rapidly writhing and regenerating, emitting a sharper roar. The rift in the shattered subspace was further torn open, and more of the final black tide was about to surge in! The undead legions on the periphery began their relentless assault on the allied forces' defenses amidst roars. The steel battle array began to tremble under the immense impact, and the purifying aura of the Holy Tree Knights was forced to contract continuously!
Time! There is no time left! The will of the sacrificed echoed in Shen Mu's ears, and the image of Caranzo's indomitable spirit flashed before his eyes! The sacrifice must not be in vain! The terror of the spirit world must not be allowed to descend!
"I'll risk it all!" A resolute glint flashed in Shen Mu's eyes. He gritted his teeth, mobilizing almost every remaining fragment of mental energy within the [Tallinn] network, concentrating all his power on the scattered fragments of bone scattered with dark golden light! He no longer resisted the excruciating pain from the shattered core of [Tallinn], but instead used it as a "tentacle," recklessly reaching for that stray fragment of divinity! It was like drawing radiation energy from the edge of a devastating nuclear explosion—extremely dangerous!
"Om-!"

The instant Shen Mu's spiritual power touched that fragment of divinity, an unimaginable, vast yet frantic and icy torrent of power, like molten lava mixed with polar winds, suddenly poured into his shattered spiritual sea!
"Uhh—!!"

Shen Mu let out a suppressed groan, as if his soul had been torn apart! His vision was instantly flooded with countless fragmented, bizarre images: the blood-soaked abyss of gnolls profaning their priests, Yenogu's defiant roars as he struggled within countless chains of rules, the chaotic, distorted starlight of the spirit realm, and the strange spectacle of the white light of order condensed from the rules of Mount & Blade being forcibly torn apart and pieced back together… These whispers and fragments of memory from the gods, mixed with the madness of the abyss and the curses of the undead, frantically assaulted his already fragile bulwark of will. His consciousness, like a small boat in a storm, was on the verge of being completely capsized and swallowed up in an instant. His body trembled violently, the veins beneath his skin bulged, displaying eerie dark golden patterns, and golden specks mixed with black, foul blood seeped from the corners of his eyes, nostrils, and mouth! The white light of order surrounding him became extremely unstable in an instant, sometimes dimming and about to go out, and sometimes bursting out with unprecedented brilliance. Within this light, there was a strange trace of indifferent pressure originating from a higher level of rules!

"Commander Shen!" The Alatan Khan and his guards around him were horrified to see this scene. They tried to step forward, but were pushed away by the chaotic force field that suddenly erupted from Shen Mu.

"Don't...mind me! Follow...orders!" Shen Mu squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth, each syllable sounding as if he had used up all his strength.

He was battling the maddening will brought about by the fragments of divinity! He desperately clung to a glimmer of light—the cry of the Allied warriors fighting to the death, the hope for survival of countless lives on the continent of Calradia, and the last remaining fighting spirit of countless fallen comrades in the [Tallinn] network! He did not seek to merge with or possess this divinity; he only needed its power attributes as a temporary fulcrum and "amplifier"!
"Roar--!!!"

The Blasphemous Devourer clearly sensed the forced seizure of the divine fragment and the strange changes occurring within Shen Mu. Its corrupted core unleashed an unprecedented roar, filled with intense threat and greed. Suddenly, countless thick, dark purple tentacles erupted from the entire altar, like octopus tentacles, carrying an aura capable of annihilating matter, and frantically stabbed towards Shen Mu, who was momentarily stunned and his aura chaotic due to absorbing the divine fragment!

The shattered subspace rift at the top of the altar was driven by it to collapse inward for a moment. Then, a thicker, more condensed beam of light, almost solidified into a blackish-purple crystal, was aimed at Shen Mu, who was undergoing a divine impact, and the core of the battlefield around him, like a spear of judgment!
The massive body of the Blasphemous Devourer, composed of countless twisted bones and rotting flesh, trembled violently. At its core, the energy source, inlaid with blasphemous runes and resembling a rotting heart, suddenly emitted a blinding blackish-purple light. It sensed it!

It sensed that fragment of Yenogu's divinity, originating from its former "ally" but now a part of its power, being forcibly absorbed by that insignificant yet damned Chosen One! This was not merely a loss of power, but a desecration of its very existence!

"Roar--!!!"

A roar filled with endless resentment and destructive desire tore apart the deathly silence of the ancestral tomb ruins. Below the altar, several enormous blackish-purple tentacles, formed from pure negative energy and abyssal filth, like venomous snakes emerging from the depths of hell, pierced towards Shen Mu, who was already teetering on the brink of collapse under the onslaught of divine fragments' power, with a piercing shriek that seemed to tear through space.
At the same time, the area above the altar, which resembled a huge scar formed by the collapse of the subspace rift, suddenly contracted the churning black tide of the end. Then, a jet-black beam of light, purely condensed from the "laws of the end" and exuding an aura of absolute annihilation, shot down precisely at Shen Mu and the core battlefield area around him like a spear of judgment!
A double kill! The Blasphemous Devourer intends to completely erase this variable, along with the power he just stole, from this world!

At this critical moment——

Shen Mu's eyes, which were bloodshot and almost bursting from the impact of the divine fragments, suddenly burst out with an unprecedented light that mixed pain, madness and extreme calmness!
"Ughhhhh—I'll...order it!!!"

A roar, inhuman in its intensity, exploded from the depths of his throat. He hadn't fully absorbed the fragment of divinity—the vast, cold, and frenzied torrent of power was far beyond the capacity of his shattered spiritual sea. But he had taken a more crucial step: he had forcibly intercepted the essential "power attribute" contained within this torrent, using it as a temporary yet incredibly powerful "fulcrum"!
This fulcrum anchors him to the core rules originating from the world of Mount & Blade—the [Mount & Blade Rules]!
Just as the dark purple tentacles were about to pierce his body, and the pitch-black final beam of light was about to completely annihilate him—

hum! ! !
An invisible wave of rules, far more powerful, condensed, and imbued with the sense of orderly judgment than ever before, suddenly erupted from Shen Mu's center!
This surge of energy was not a direct attack, but rather it instantly engulfed the entire remaining coalition forces!
Unit buffs! Rule resonance!
The Holy Tree Knights: The Holy Tree light that had been slightly dimmed by the purification of the altar suddenly became like solid liquid platinum! The light was no longer a gentle dispelling of darkness, but like scorching lava, carrying intense "purification" and "judgment" attributes, instantly vaporizing any low-level undead creatures that approached them! In their path of charge, the filthy ground was plowed into smooth furrows, and the corrupt energy at the altar's foundation was fiercely scorched by the intense light, emitting a sizzling wail. The knights felt an unprecedentedly clear connection between themselves and the power of the Holy Tree, as if every strike contained the wrath of nature and the might of order.

Swadian heavy knights: Outside their "Iron Wall" battle formation, a solid, metallic barrier of rules appeared out of thin air! This barrier not only greatly increased their physical defense but also possessed a strong "order repulsion" attribute. When the several deadly blackish-purple tentacles collided with the barrier, they did not penetrate or corrode as expected. Instead, it was as if they had struck a red-hot iron. The contact surface instantly erupted with blinding sparks of energy, and the tentacles emitted painful shrieks as they were forcefully repelled and burned! The knights felt as if their lances and shields had come to life, each block and thrust carrying the weight of rules.

The Vegia Icewind Archers: The arrows fired by Aria and her archers are instantly covered in a layer of crystal-clear, absolutely chilling ice crystals the moment they leave the bowstring! These ice crystals are not merely low temperatures, but contain the subtle power of the laws of "freezing" and "time slowing"! The arrows, upon piercing the undead creatures, not only freeze them into ice sculptures, but also seem to slow the flow of time in a small area around them, creating an excellent opening for other units to attack. Aria feels the icy wind power flowing through her fingertips become more tamed and powerful than ever before; each arrow seems capable of freezing a soul.

Rhodok's heavy ballista and crossbowmen: The specially crafted runic bolts fired from the "Unyielding" ballista, loaded by Captain Ralph, shone brightly in their flight, their inherent "anti-magic" and "explosive" rules amplified many times over! When they pierced the altar's core, which had been slowed by the previous explosion, it didn't trigger an explosion, but rather a small-scale annihilation storm of rules! The corrupted energy structure of the core area was forcibly torn apart and disintegrated, causing the altar's operation to instantly stagnate even more severely. The ordinary crossbow bolts fired by the crossbowmen also acquired an incomparably sharp "penetrating" rule, easily piercing the bone shields hastily erected by the skeletal wizards.

Khergit horse archers and bandits: Alatan Khan and his warriors felt their steeds seemingly riding the wind, their speed and agility increasing dramatically. The trajectories of their arrows became unpredictable, possessing the characteristics of "disrupting perception" and "precisely targeting weaknesses," like the venomous bees of death, precisely burrowing into the eye sockets of skeletal wizards, energy nodes, or the energy gaps exposed by damaged altars on the massive bodies of blasphemous devourers. Their guerrilla tactics were amplified to the extreme. (End of Chapter)