"Aaaah!" With a loud crash, the Minotaur's shoulder armor collided violently with the Wandering Knight's shield. The immense force from the arm made the Wandering Knight involuntarily scream in pain. His arm was paralyzed by the strong impact, and although the shield was not destroyed, his body staggered backward, losing control over the shield and quite exposed.
The Horned Beast nearby witnessed this scene and immediately hurled its javelin. The dirty, filth-covered bone tip pierced through the seams of the Wandering Knight's chest and shoulder armor, deeply embedding into his shoulder. The Wandering Knight screamed again as he retreated, dropping his Longsword to the ground. He clutched his wound and fell, losing his ability to continue fighting.
The Wandering Knight fell, and the Minotaur, shaking its head, recovered quickly from the previous dizziness. But before it could rise, a loud gunshot rang out from behind the Wandering Knight, and a blood hole burst open on the Minotaur's head. Its mighty figure collapsed with a thud.
It was Mather, who, wielding a musket, saved the Wandering Knight's life and dragged him back to their line. At this moment, Aik finally dressed properly and ran up: "Mr. Goodson! How are things, are you okay?"
"Aaaah! Kill it! Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!!!!" The Wandering Knight named Goodson clutched his injury in agony, and Aik quickly gave him some emergency bandaging before hurrying into battle.
"Damn it, why didn't we use the musket earlier?" Laine's warhammer swept across from below, striking the Minotaur's knee. After the Minotaur fell, Laine immediately finished it with another hammer strike, then faced another charging Minotaur: "Damn it, why are there so many?"
The Beastmen flooded into the camp, and the guards and mercenaries formed a defensive position with their wagons. They raised their shields, hiding behind the cover, struggling to resist the Beastmen's assault. Only the eastern entrance was guarded by Laine alone, heroically holding off the onslaught of several Minotaurs and Horned Beasts.
But this couldn't last long; how could the fragile wagons withstand these ferocious Beastmen? A Minotaur laughed as it shattered a wagon to pieces with a hammer, allowing several Minotaurs to pour in. They laughed wildly as they lifted terrified horses into the air and tossed them backward, while the ravenous Chaos War Dogs and Horned Beasts eagerly awaited their feast. Brave mercenaries charged in with long spears, but the Minotaurs easily grabbed the spear tips, swiftly decapitating two mercenaries.
As the defense line was breached, Horned Beasts and Chaos War Dogs burst through the gap, storming into the camp. The mercenaries and guards were forced to fight on their own; in the blink of an eye, more than twenty mercenaries and guards, including a Wandering Knight, were gutted, becoming the Beastmen's meal.
Blood and mutilated bodies covered the camp's interior—this was no resistance; it was a massacre!
"Hold them back! Hold them back!!!" Viert watched in horror as a Minotaur bit off half the face of his fellow team member, revealing stark white bone. The poor mercenary wasn't even dead yet, howling in agony. The deputy leader's eyes were filled with fury, his blood boiling. The Elite Tier Great Swordsman charged forward, striking fiercely. The Minotaur held its war axe with one hand to block while, under Viert's gaze, it crushed the mercenary's skull: "Failure... human... food!!!"
"Eat... eat!" The Beastmen overturned wagons, and the tent canvases were torn open. The following inferior Horned Beasts began to ransack the tents, searching for whatever they desired.
A few inferior Horned Beasts just lifted the flaps when a flash of cold light appeared. Their throats and eyes split open in an instant, and they fell down screaming.
A slender hand gripped a rapier, its tip stained with blood.
"You are quite skilled, aren't you?" Teresa stood with the help of Amelia, gritting her teeth. The female sorcerer leaned heavily on her magic staff and said, "Dammit, of all times."
"Lady Trovik, are you alright?" The female mercenary voiced concern but kept her eyes on the chaotic camp, filled with burning hatred.
"I'm fine... cover me; I need to prepare a spell!" Teresa hastily stood, and being the first time she encountered such an ordeal, the female sorcerer took a long time to react. Despite feeling tremendously uncomfortable, with Amelia's help, Teresa escaped the scene, pain shooting through her nerves repeatedly, making movement extremely difficult.
"Lady Trovik, please move to a safer area first; it's difficult to ensure your safety in this situation." Amelia's rapier flickered, and another inferior Horned Beast had its eye and throat gouged out.
"That's not a problem~ Ice Barrier!!!" The female sorcerer was already prepared to cast, her concentrated magic power forming a spiked ice wall. The pursuing Beastmen crashed into it, leaving their flesh and blood in tatters. Amelia hurriedly helped Teresa onto a horse, and Teresa, gritting her teeth against the pain, retreated to a safe location.
On the other side of the battlefield.
Laine, covered in blood, swept his great hammer across, mashing several Horned Beasts into pulp. After forcing back yet another Minotaur, the Kingdom Knight finally found a moment to catch his breath. He looked back at the smoke-filled camp, instinctively sensing bad news.
He did not blame the night watch mercenaries for not noticing earlier because Laine knew that Beastmen footprints in the forest were almost unpredictable. These creatures knew the most complex and impassable beast paths and trails within the forest, terrains considered dead ends and obstacles by humans but passable to Beastmen.
"Who else~" Laine knew now was not the time to ponder. He raised his warhammer, striking the head of yet another charging Minotaur, sending its skull spinning twice on its neck. Then he extended his left hand, the Spiritual Blade on his wrist piercing through the jaw of a sneaking Horned Beast, piercing through its entire head. The White Wolf Knight twisted his wrist, sending the Horned Beast's head flying. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel⸺fire.net
His Extraordinary Physique and genetics granted Laine a robust body and tough skin, allowing him to keep fighting.
By now, it was already the fourth wave of Beastmen he had repelled.
The Beastmen were also shaken by this human's ferocity. The remaining Beastmen, seeing the piled corpses, hesitated, afraid to move forward. Instincts warned them that this human was powerful, fearsome.
While the Beastmen hesitated, so did Laine.
The situation at the camp had deteriorated to its worst; he could see Rost, injured, grappling with a Horned Beast using a Long Spear, his body covered in wounds. Estelle kept drawing her bow, her once sleek blonde hair now drenched in sweat. Viert continued to fend off enemies with the two-handed greatsword, though he already showed signs of exhaustion. Mercenaries and guards fell continuously, and their corpses became the Beastmen's meal on the spot.
More than half of the convoy had been lost, and despair was painted on everyone's faces. They hadn't noticed the Beastmen's reduced numbers, that more than half the front-line Minotaurs were dead or wounded, and that corpses of Horned Beasts, inferior Horned Beasts, and Chaos War Dogs littered the camp.
But their numbers still exceeded the humans significantly. If it continued ... Laine instinctively reached behind him, gripping a hilt.
The silver skull assured orb glowed brilliantly white, and all the Beastmen felt an overwhelming terror from the depths of their souls, instinctively retreating wildly, tearing others apart to escape.
"So, it's time to use it, isn't it?"