The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

This was probably the most chaotic battle Laurie had ever fought since she started her career as a white-collar worker. Huge monsters, chaotic crowds, and desperate howls filled the entire battlefield.

Laurie had some regrets after the Doug Army soldiers stormed the Gray Collars' camp, because there were more of them than Laurie had imagined.

It's unclear whether Doug gathered all the humans in the surrounding area onto the Golden Harvest Plain. Even though many were turned into monsters behind Doug's army, many became food for the monsters, and many died under artillery fire, the number of people who rushed into the Gray Collar camp far exceeded the camp's capacity.

Gray-collar soldiers kept trying to command and control Doug's soldiers, but Doug's soldiers simply wouldn't obey orders. This was probably because Doug had never given them any command training, and these soldiers didn't even know how to form a basic formation.

Not only that, these soldiers were already blinded by fear. Even after reaching the Gray Collar camp, they did not stop, but continued to flee towards the rear of the camp.

Upon reaching the rear logistics camp, the Doug soldiers seemed to have rekindled their looting instincts out of fear, and began to plunder the camp before fleeing.

They could no longer be considered soldiers; they were merely a chaotic group of fleeing bandits.

The cooks in charge of logistics reacted immediately, putting on their armor and forming a human wall. Anyone who dared to rob them would be kicked. However, some fierce soldiers had lost their minds and pulled out their muskets to start firing at the cooks.

The entire rear camp was thrown into chaos.

A demon scout who had climbed onto Noam's back briefed Noam on the situation behind him. As the only demon god's offspring who had retained his self and reason, and also the mastermind behind these monsters, Noam opened all his mouths and whispered, "Humans, nothing more than this, ugly, filthy, in need of purification."

Even though it was just a whisper, Noam's words reached the entire battlefield and resonated in everyone's minds.

Hearing that the rear logistics camp was in chaos, Laurie had no choice but to send out another group of soldiers to fire into the air and actively drive away those who were causing trouble and looting in the logistics camp.

When those people saw the soldiers coming, they were terrified and immediately fled with the food they had seized, without causing any further chaos.

Laurie finally breathed a sigh of relief; at least it hadn't escalated into a large-scale firefight, otherwise he, as the one who let Doug's army in, would have been held responsible.

The rear was in chaos, and the situation on the front lines was no better. Because they had no idea what the enemy was really like, the soldiers who went to help cover the rear suffered heavy losses. Although they had artillery support, the number of enemy monsters kept increasing.

Some monsters, which grow to several meters tall by feeding on humans and corpses, rampage across the battlefield and can easily crush the Gray Collar army if not for artillery fire.

Braving the gunfire, Hammond, spear in one hand and sword in the other, rode his horse to the ground beneath a gigantic monster, aided by musketeers behind him.

Hammond used his Melting Spear to pierce the monster's hoof, pinning the massive creature to the ground. Then, he swung his Melting Sword, plunging it into the monster's leg, circling it once, and severing the leg off.

The enormous monster howled in pain because it was missing a leg, and lost its balance and fell to the ground.

Darcy, who was providing support from a distance, exclaimed, "Captain Hammond is just too strong!"

This wasn't just bravery; it was pure skill and daring. Even Lind, who was present, would have to marvel at the "Superman of the North."

Many professionals of Hammond's caliber wouldn't dare to ride a horse and engage in close combat with such a monster.

The monster's movements became increasingly ferocious, its tiny tentacles flailing wildly, while Hammond quickly ran away after succeeding.

But as soon as Hammond ran away, many humans covered in mud began to walk uncontrollably toward the monster, offering themselves up for it to devour.

After finishing the buffet, the monster's legs began to regenerate rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“These guys…”

Hammond cursed in despair. Those monsters covered in mud not only helped the monsters advance, but also served as food for them to recover from their injuries.

Coupled with their somewhat insane appearance, many soldiers with weak wills could not withstand the onslaught.

The artillery in the camp was firing incessantly, and the barrels were glowing red-hot for the first time. The previously gray-collared artillery had never faced such pressure before, and now they were all working overtime.

Even Laurie said that we must at least withstand this wave and stop worrying about the subsequent maintenance of the artillery and the firing interval.

If these monsters break through the Gray Collars' defenses on the Golden Harvest Plains and enter the rear, the consequences would be unimaginable. Blocking the enemy with the already constructed defenses is the best option Laurie can think of.

Moreover, Laurie discovered that these monsters seemed to want to wipe out the main force of the Gray Collars here, so they didn't run around randomly, but were advancing slowly and in perfect unison.

The formation of these monsters seems to be uncertain. Many monsters have different numbers of hooves. Some, due to the imbalance in the number of hooves, or even their different lengths, fall to the ground and slowly crawl.

Even so, Laurie felt immense pressure.

This was the first time the Gray and White Collar Army, which had always relied on its superior equipment to crush everything in its path, had encountered such a situation.

In addition, those giant fleshy monsters seem to have the ability to affect people's minds. Only by using the Melt-Cut Sword at close range, like Hammond, can those monsters be eliminated more quickly. However, the closer you get to those monsters, the easier it is to go mad. Several knights have already fled back insane ways.

Laurie wasn't sure if the other party really had this ability, but even if they didn't, Laurie felt her mind was about to be twisted in the face of such a monster.

For the first time since the start of the war, the Gray Collar army, which had been virtually undefeated, suffered a rout. This was because their enemy was no longer human. Faced with these completely illogical monsters, the Gray Collar soldiers did not collapse at the first touch, demonstrating an exceptionally high level of discipline.

"As humans, you are indeed very strong, but unfortunately, you are facing true gods!"

The giant monster that Noam had transformed into opened several mouths simultaneously, and these words seemed not to be transmitted through physical means, but rather resounded in the minds of everyone on the battlefield.

"Run! Run! You lowly humans deserve to be sacrifices for the Demon God's resurrection! But I will give you respect and let you be reborn as new warriors under the Demon God's command, to receive the baptism of holy blood!"

After saying that, Noam continued to spit out some black blood.

The front lines collapsed; Laurie's worst fears had come true.

Moreover, the silt known as holy blood can even revive the dead, making the corpse one of them.

The enemy numbers were too great; artillery could no longer cover the entire battlefield, and mud and monsters surged forth like a raging tide.

This is no ordinary war. The situation has exceeded everyone's expectations. Even the invincible Gray-White Collar soldiers have finally collapsed under these circumstances and are desperately fleeing backward.

The Gray Collar army, which had never experienced a large-scale defeat, suffered its first rout. Even while fighting and running, they could not stop the fleshy monsters and the mud-covered monsters.

Only elite troops like Hammond and Darcy were there to help cover the rear.

However, because Hammond was positioned too far back, a mud monster grabbed his arm, which was wielding the Melt-Slicer Sword. Even through his armor, Hammond could clearly feel the burning sensation on his arm.

"Humans are nothing more than ants trying to shake a tree in the face of divine power!"

Noam's soul-stirring voice plunged the battlefield into chaos once again. Even Hammond was filled with despair, fearing he was about to sacrifice himself and regretting that he would not live to see the reunification of the North.

Just then, amidst the chaos of the battlefield, where even the voices of their comrades were barely audible except for Noam's, a clear shout suddenly rang out: "Don't underestimate humans! You monsters!"

A clear voice pierced the air, like the first rays of dawn breaking through the deep darkness, causing everyone and every monster on the battlefield to pause for a moment.

Even though the sound was right next to their ears, everyone looked in the direction from which it came. They saw Isa leading a group of resistance fighters with outdated equipment out of the rear of the camp. Among them were even many Doug soldiers who had escaped in the chaos earlier.