Seeing the Formation Company beginning to change their formation, Chen Yu decided to add some chaos to their plans. His gel body lightly touched a thick, sturdy magical pea seedling beside him.
【All Plants as Soldiers】
【Promote Growth】
The Dao art and talent were activated simultaneously, like dry wood meeting a spark—igniting instantly.
Hummm—!
Emerald spiritual light surged violently. The magical pea seedling seemed to be imbued with a wild vitality, swelling and mutating at an astonishing, frenzied pace.
Its roots violently tore free from the soil, twisting and coiling to form leg-like structures. Its main stem thickened dramatically, and several huge leaves at its top waved like arms.
The already large pea pods now swelled to the size of battering rams, their surfaces showing rough, woody grain. The pod shells opened slightly, revealing magical peas inside, each as large as catapult stones.
The animated Pea Shooter emitted a wooden, grating hum. Then, it strode forward on its root-formed "legs," thundering down from the city wall, charging toward the chaotic mercenary formation below.
Under Chen Yu's control, the pods at its top shot out massive peas with far greater power than before, striking the mercenary line like rapid-fire catapults.
Several elves witnessing this unexpected scene flashed looks of astonishment in their eyes.
Briefly animating a plant into a war puppet and enhancing its traits...
Wasn't that a Druid's ability?
Why did this Slime King seem to dabble in a bit of everything?
"Hold steady! It's just a fragile plant. Focus fire on it!" Galvin's voice remained steady as he swiftly gave the order.
Several mages immediately turned their attention to the rampaging giant pea, casting spells to hinder it.
Meanwhile, the Earth Elemental Giant, which had been continuously bombarding them from the rear, faced concentrated return fire from the mercenaries.
Magical arrows and energy projectiles slammed into its rocky body and metal components, sending shards flying everywhere.
The Earth Elemental Giant was too large and moved too slowly to escape quickly. The elves' fears were clearly coming true.
"Ouch! Ouch, that hurts!"
"Can't win this one! The boss said if we can't win, we run!"
"Let's bounce, let's bounce! Brothers, retreat!"
Panicked "Eeek!" sounds came from inside the giant.
The next second, under the stunned gazes of the mercenaries, the massive Earth Elemental Giant disintegrated like a pile of building blocks.
It instantly broke apart into numerous agile small Earth Elementals, which plopped into the ground and vanished without a trace, leaving only scattered broken stones behind.
"...They ran?" a mercenary muttered blankly, staring at the ground.
This sudden disintegration and retreat caused the mercenaries' newly organized concentrated fire against the giant to instantly miss its mark, creating another uncoordinated pause in their formation.
Galvin's brow furrowed slightly. The enemy's tenacity and slipperiness had clearly exceeded his expectations.
But the battle allowed no moment of hesitation. Without the slightest delay, he pulled two expensive scrolls, kept as trump cards, from his robe and tore them open.
【Bloodlust】
【Bear's Endurance】
"Now! Use the trump cards!" Galvin roared, bathed in bloody light.
"Yes, sir!" None of the mercenaries dared hesitate. They all simultaneously took out two scrolls each and tore them open.
Boom!
Dark red and earthy yellow magical radiance erupted simultaneously, enveloping the entire mercenary company.
Instantly, all the mercenaries' eyes became bloodshot, their muscles bulging. They felt a savage power surging within their bodies, while their physiques also became exceptionally resilient.
The desire to kill and their enhanced survivability made them let out wild war cries.
"Roar!! For the gold coins! Crush them!"
Their morale, forcibly boosted by the spell effects, even surpassed its previous peak.
The mercenaries roared like beasts and began a ferocious counterattack against the giant pea, showing no fear of casualties.
Bolstered by the enhancement spells, the mercenaries, like frenzied beasts, stubbornly withstood the pressure. After suffering several casualties, several squad leaders finally joined forces. Using weapons enchanted with anti-magic effects, they hacked the rampaging pea monster into pieces. Green sap and shattered pods scattered across the ground.
With this crisis resolved, Galvin immediately faced two choices: retreat or continue the assault.
But he knew all too well that he and these mercenaries had no path of retreat left.
If they chose to retreat now, not only would the massive funds invested upfront be a total loss, but the mercenary company, with its shattered morale, might suffer even heavier losses during the withdrawal.
He had no choice but to grit his teeth. He commanded the troops to barely maintain their formation, enduring the Earth Elemental Giant's harassing artillery fire while continuing their difficult advance toward the city wall, trying to muster their remaining energy to breach this damned fortress in one go.
Simultaneously, his sense of unease grew stronger.
He remembered the intelligence mentioning a Death Knight, but that figure had yet to appear...
Either the goblins' intelligence contained a major error, or these magical creatures still had trump cards up their sleeves.
Both possibilities were utterly terrible.
His gaze once again met the green slime behind the city wall's battlements. The feeling of being completely seen through was extremely unsettling.
Could it be they truly had another card to play?
Just then, movement caught the corner of his eye. The heavy city gate before them, which had been tightly shut, was now slowly creaking open with a low, grating sound, revealing a crack.
An intense, extreme sense of crisis instantly seized Galvin's heart.
"Not good!!"
He roared out a warning, his voice a hoarse shout. "The gate! Watch the gate!"
"Snort!!!"
A thunderous snort, like muffled thunder, emanated from the crack in the gate. Immediately after, a massive figure radiating a terrifying aura violently slammed the gate open.
It was Peachy who charged out.
Hot white steam blasted from her thick nostrils. Her enormous body, like an out-of-control chariot, charged forward with two ferocious tusks aimed directly ahead, launching a charge toward the mercenary formation with an unstoppable, brute force.
In that moment, it felt as if the very earth trembled.
"Hold the line!"
"Heavy shield team! Hold it!!"
The heavily armored warriors at the front screamed with desperate intensity. They drove their tower shields deep into the ground, their bodies pressed firmly against them, while simultaneously and without hesitation activating their protective scrolls.
The next instant, Peachy slammed into the shield wall like a mountain.
Boom—!!!
In the deafening crash, the outermost layer of magical protection shattered instantly, as if made of paper.
The two heavily armored warriors at the very front, along with their shields, were sent flying into the air by the terrifying force. They spat blood from their mouths and crashed heavily into the crowd behind them.
"Quick! Plug the gap! Hold it!" Galvin bellowed.
Heavily armored warriors from the rear rows immediately gritted their teeth and rushed forward. Using their shields and bodies, they desperately resisted Peachy's follow-up momentum, barely stopping the charge of this giant beast and preventing the formation from being shattered in a single blow.
However, just as all the mercenaries' attention was captured by this terrifying giant boar, a smaller figure leaped from Peachy's broad back, gliding into the air above the mercenary formation.
It was Little Ka.
It opened its mouth, a blinding red glow igniting deep in its throat.
"Boom!"
A scorching, incredibly hot stream of magma breath poured down like a waterfall of fire, precisely drenching the area where the mages and ranged professionals were gathered at the rear of the formation.
"Ahhhh—!!"
Pitiful screams instantly rang out. Several mages who hadn't had time to cast protective spells were instantly set ablaze, turning into shrieking, rolling human torches.
Nearby archers were also scalded by the searing heat waves and splattering magma, throwing their formation into chaos.
"What... what is that?!"
"Wings? Breath attack?!"
"It's a dragon! A subdrake! They actually have a subdrake unit!"
Panicked shrieks rose one after another.
The dragon race, even the subdrakes with diluted bloodlines, instilled a deep-seated fear imprinted in the genetic memory of many creatures.
The morale, which had been propped up by the enhancement spells, deflated rapidly like a punctured balloon. Many mercenaries already looked deathly pale, their bodies trembling, instinctively wanting to flee backward.
"Damn it!"
For the first time, Galvin's face clearly showed signs of composure breaking.
A subdrake? Was this something an A-rank bounty target was supposed to have?!
The intelligence was completely wrong!
Those damned goblins had given them false intel.
Damn it all!
No, he couldn't wait any longer for that possibly existing Death Knight. If things continued like this, the formation would collapse right before his eyes. He had to turn the situation around immediately.
A blazing fighting spirit flashed in his eyes. He forcefully kicked off the back of the Swamp Salamander mount, his whole body shooting into the air like an arrow from a bow.
Simultaneously, the air behind him distorted, faintly revealing the phantom of a gray eagle spreading its wings, ready to take flight, its gaze sharp.
The Gray Eagle.
This was the most primitive faith of the Douglas family knights, and their proudest emblem.
It signified that the knight had passed the family's most severe Gray Eagle Trial, officially becoming a Gray Eagle Knight.
This power had once filled him with pride, but also brought him shame due to his "betrayal." He had once sworn never to use this power derived from bloodline and honor again.
But now, for the sake of victory, he had no other choice.
Galvin soared into the air, the power of the wind seeming to gather and submit around him.
Holding his Knight's Longsword, as if riding the gale, he charged directly at Little Ka, who was in the air attempting to unleash another breath attack.
But several slashes were evaded by Little Ka's agile twists and turns, landing on empty air.
He finally stopped holding back his power.
【Gray Eagle Slash】
"Get lost!"
He roared, swinging his longsword. It actually stirred up a violent cyan storm, like the fierce claws of a giant eagle, savagely clawing toward Little Ka.
Little Ka sensed the lethal threat. In a panic, it bit down on the Magic Leaf it held in its mouth.
A thick, earthy-yellow protective shield instantly unfolded.
Boom!!!
The cyan storm slammed fiercely into the shield, emitting a teeth-grating screeching sound. The shield held for less than a second before shattering spectacularly. The residual storm force struck Little Ka heavily.
"Woo..."
Little Ka let out a pained whimper, lost its balance, and was brutally smashed down from the air. It crashed through several tree branches and tumbled into the forest to the side, temporarily losing its combat ability.
And at this moment, the small Earth Elementals were enthusiastically trading shots with the mercenaries.
"Shoot him, quick, shoot him!"
"Hahaha! Got a hit! Was my aim good or what!"
"Boss, did you see that? That was my shot!"
Excited voices seeking credit came from inside the giant, but they soon saw Little Ka lying motionless not far from them.
"Huh?"
"That... looks like the little buddy who was breathing fire earlier?"
"Teammate! A teammate got knocked down!"
"Quick, save the teammate! Let's bounce!"
The Earth Elemental Giant immediately disbanded. The small Earth Elementals dropped to the ground, scrambled to lift the dazed Little Ka with their many hands, and then took off running, vanishing in an instant without a trace.
"He created a storm with his bare hands and knocked down Little Ka?"
"Is this the true strength of an Elite Professional?" Chen Yu was slightly surprised seeing this scene, but fortunately, the Magic Leaf had blocked the attack, and Little Ka was fine.
Seeing Galvin begin to go all out, almost single-handedly reversing the situation, Eserin's expression turned grave.
"The Gray Eagle of the Douglas family... a once-prominent knight family of the White Horse Kingdom, famous for their family's 'Gray Eagle Trial' and their power to command the wind."
"Be careful. This knight is not easy to deal with."
"A knight?"
Chen Yu bounced around and looked toward the Death Knight waiting for orders in the corner.
"Arthur, go test his depth."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Arthur, who had been sitting quietly in the shadows of the city wall corner, slowly stood up upon hearing the command.
The ghostly blue Soulfire in his eye sockets burned steadily. His gaze quickly locked onto the knight below the wall who had just landed, still surrounded by subtle air currents.
Silently, he lifted the polished, gleaming bone spear and walked step by step toward the battlement.
The cold metal soles of his boots struck the stone bricks, emitting a steady, rhythmic sound that seemed unusually clear amidst the cacophony of battle cries.
The next moment, he leaped down from the city wall.
Galvin had just swung his sword to clear away a few annoying Poison-stinger Wasps when his intuition, honed by years on the battlefield, suddenly screamed a sharp alarm.
A sharp, deathly killing intent assaulted him from above.
Without a second thought, his body reacted on instinct. He violently raised his Knight's Longsword, holding it horizontally above his head, while the wind swirling around him instantly condensed.
Clang!!!
A deafening metallic explosion rang out.
A bone spear burning with ghostly blue flames, carrying a force application technique and impact angle that felt strangely familiar to Galvin, smashed heavily onto his blade.
The tremendous impact force made the Swamp Salamander beneath him let out a pained whinny, its four legs sinking deeply into the muddy ground.
Sparks flew. The ghostly blue flames and the cyan wind collided violently.
Galvin's arm muscles bulged as he desperately resisted the heavy blow. Using the recoil, he retreated slightly, his gaze instantly locking onto the attacker.
A Death Knight clad in worn-out knight's armor, with Soulfire dancing in his eye sockets, appeared in his line of sight.
Galvin was stunned for a moment. Then, his gaze, as if drawn by a magnet, fixed rigidly on the still vaguely recognizable emblem on the other's breastplate.
—Crossed longswords, a frost wolf holding its head high.
Arevalo!
His pupils contracted violently. The hand gripping his sword trembled slightly.
A name instantly surfaced in his mind.
A name he thought had long been buried in the dust of the border.
In an instant, shock, disbelief, indescribable guilt, and more—anger and frustration fermented by the passage of time—all collided violently in his mind.
"Arthur?!" Galvin growled out the name.
"You just won't rest, will you? How did you become this... ghostly form and still refuse to find peace?!"
"Why? Why must you appear here now, just as I've given up everything and prepared to escape this place? Why!"
Faced with Galvin's questioning, Arthur fell silent for a moment. His skull tilted slightly, as if he were trying hard to search through his already fragmented memories.
Finally, he spoke, sounding confused:
"You are?"