The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Faced with these sudden changes, Laurie immediately issued a retreat order.

These monsters are of unknown nature, have unknown weaknesses, and we don't even know what they are. At this point, retreating to rest and regroup before carefully studying these monsters is the right decision.

Hammond, who was at the forefront, witnessed firsthand how the monsters, transformed from demons, were relentlessly devouring the ordinary humans behind Doug.

Those humans either became food for the monsters or were transformed into monsters covered in rotting flesh and sludge by the spewed black blood.

If hell truly exists in this world, Hammond thinks it's nothing special.

"You bastards!"

In any case, the people behind Doug's army were mostly innocent civilians sent to the battlefield by Doug, and they were all citizens of the North, but now they have either become monsters or monster food.

The Doug army was in complete chaos and no longer obeyed any commands. They scattered frantically in all directions. Some who instinctively wanted to escape back to the rear immediately regretted it. In addition to the monsters that the demons had transformed from the holy remains, the humans who had turned into mud were also under Noam's control and began to attack the fleeing humans.

"Run away!"

A human, seemingly still self-aware, was being controlled by a mass of silt. It stretched out a mud-like arm towards its companion while shouting in a hoarse, distorted voice.

"Let's go!"

Such things kept happening behind Doug's lines, and the entire situation was on the verge of collapse.

Those who fled to the flanks also met a bad end; the demons seemed to have been prepared all along, with demon soldiers and monsters even on the flanks.

The battlefield has become a buffet for those monsters.

"Sacrifice...sacrifice..."

The monsters whispered incessantly as they drove the humans beneath their feet.

Some of the professionals in the Dog Army also realized what was happening. Some spellcasters tried to attack the monsters, and it did have some effect. However, there were just too many monsters. Even the Gray Collars' artillery had to keep bombarding to eliminate a squad of monsters, let alone the Dog Army behind them where monsters were clustered together.

Those professionals quickly grasped the situation: death was inevitable on both sides and behind them; the only way to survive was the camp of the gray-collar workers.

The ordinary soldiers also realized this situation, and all of them were swept up in a frenzy and rushed toward the gray-collar camp.

Although Hammond was reluctant to watch the monsters devour the people of the North upon hearing the retreat horn, he still decided to retreat.

Seeing the Doug soldiers rushing towards the Grey Collar camp, Hammond shouted, "Doug soldiers, we'll cover your retreat! Don't panic! Try to maintain formation! Didn't that damn Doug teach you how to retreat?"

Hammond's voice pierced through the chaotic battlefield. This was probably the most surreal moment Hammond had ever encountered in all his years of fighting—he was actually commanding the enemy army to retreat towards his own side.

Unfortunately, retreat training seemed to be absent from Doug's daily training. The soldiers scattered and fled across the battlefield like wild horses, their minds consumed by fear, with only the desperate escape route in their sights.

Dust and smoke filled the air, accompanied by chaotic footsteps and intermittent shouts. Everyone was running desperately, pushing, tripping, and trampling each other—a scene of utter chaos, as if all order had completely collapsed at that moment.

Even the Darcy troops that were supporting Hammond from behind were thrown into disarray by the surge of people; these soldiers had long been consumed by fear.

The ordinary soldiers that Doug had piled up on the Golden Harvest Plains finally came in handy. Besides becoming sacrifices to the monsters, they also successfully broke up the Gray Collars' formation.

These soldiers in gray and white collars were caught in a dilemma: whether to fire or not. Although the other side was the enemy, judging from the current situation, these enemy soldiers were nothing more than ordinary people driven by fear.

Laurie immediately gave the order not to fire on the charging soldiers. If they did, the situation would become even more chaotic, and the soldiers would charge the Gray Collars' camp even more frantically.

After all, going back to find the monster would mean certain death, but as long as they rushed to the Gray Collar's camp, there would still be a chance of survival.

Even if we take a step back and say that it's better to die at the hands of humans than to be eaten alive by monsters, it's still better to die at the hands of humans.

"Spread out and get ready to face these guys!"

Laurie knew that the situation was urgent, and even if she gave orders haphazardly, she couldn't do nothing, otherwise the situation would only worsen.

"But sir, those are enemy troops, and the scene is too chaotic; it will be difficult for us to manage."

Laurie's advisors remained somewhat rational. Laurie's order was a bit too crazy. If there were spies mixed in with the enemy soldiers who charged, it would be very difficult to find them later. Moreover, if the Doug troops accidentally fired their weapons, the two sides of humans would start fighting each other.

"Do as I say, and I'll take full responsibility for any problems that arise!"

Laurie's thinking was simple: these were Doug's soldiers, but they were also citizens of the North. And now the North clearly had a new enemy, so the Doug's soldiers were no longer relevant.

Since the situation will only get worse no matter which option we choose, we might as well save the person first.

Moreover, these people rushing over are completely mixed up with the gray-collar army that is going against the flow to stop the monsters. If they open fire now to stop them, there will not only be friendly fire, but it will also turn into a firefight. There are too many of them. It would take a long time to kill them in a line. It is better to save firepower and ammunition to deal with the subsequent monsters.

"Tell White to block those demon monsters that are coming at me! Get the artillery ready! Use Captain Hammond as the boundary and cover Hammond's troops' retreat!"

"Stop saving money! Bomb them all! Bomb them to hell!"

Hammond, who was covering the retreat, saw the fireballs fired from the magic cannons landing behind him and knew that Laurie was urging him on.

Many Doug soldiers hadn't escaped, but there was no time to worry about that now. Laurie had already done more than enough by accepting the Doug soldiers who had already escaped.

Hammond sighed as he watched the Dogg soldiers burning along with the mud monsters, and spurred his horse back.

Meanwhile, on the other side, White was cursing, "We've done everything we can to hold them off, but where the hell is the artillery support?!"

Many of the knights on White's side were wounded. These knights had figured out that melee-focused Melt-Cut Spears and Melt-Cut Swords were more effective at damaging these monsters.

Ray guns can also cause damage, but they are not as direct as molten-cutting spears and molten-cutting swords. Ordinary firearms can suppress the enemy, but they cannot cause effective damage.

In the end, these knights still had to personally take matters into their own hands and cut down the enemy.

Fortunately, with the fire support of ordinary armed soldiers in the rear, these knights have begun to figure out the patterns and are able to deal with the monsters. The bad news is that even so, in the ensuing battles, these knights are still being slapped and injured by the monsters.

And these monsters will only increase in number, and they will not even spare corpses, feeding madly on the battlefield.