Anub'arak's caution saved the Scourge from many losses.
He first sent the undead converted from human villagers to test the waters. These hundred-odd units were just meant to gauge the enemy's strength. But he didn't expect the enemy to be equipped with mortars. Most of those weak humans were wiped out before they even reached the enemy's defense line.
"It seems this will be a tough battle."
Brox snarled, "Are you planning to drag this out with them slowly?"
"No, quite the opposite. I intend to press the entire army forward and assault at all costs!" Anub'arak's answer stunned the death knight.
And the Crypt Lord immediately issued the order.
"Get on my back, I'll carry you into the charge." Anub'arak conveyed his thoughts through telepathy.
Brox climbed on, but before charging, he couldn't help but ask, "We're just charging straight in like this?"
"Pretty much."
"What about the mortars on the peaks on both sides?"
"Ignore them."
Brox was speechless.
It wasn't that Anub'arak didn't know the threat the mortars posed to his Scourge forces, but taking the positions on both peaks would inevitably come at an even more painful cost. There were definitely angels guarding those positions, trying to stop the Crypt Fiends from climbing up. During the climb, the Crypt Fiends had no defensive capabilities at all, like lambs to the slaughter in the face of angels. Even if they forced a breakthrough against the mortar squads at all costs, the casualties might not be lower than directly attacking the human defensive line.
Aiden had indeed left Kayle's right and left hands on the highlands on both sides, tasking Ophiel and Pamyel to ensure the safety of the dwarven mortar squads. He saw the Scourge forces first sending some human undead to probe.
Aiden thought of Timmy, whom he had encountered on the way. It was very likely that this adorable child's parents were among these undead.
He really didn't have a chance to save Timmy's parents, so the only thing he could do now was to avenge those villagers!
When the Scourge pressed forward with their entire army, he joined the front lines, Time Scepter in his left hand and Silver Judgment in his right, alternating between time magic and holy power, all to deal with these damned Scourge!
The eight mortars continuously fired shells, the exploding shells kicking up a large amount of dirt and gravel, and the shrapnel even wounded a significant number of Scourge soldiers. As the Scourge charged, the defenders on the hillside pushed all the collected rocks down. The stones rolled faster and faster along the hillside. Even if the Scourge soldiers didn't feel pain, being hit by the stones would leave them crippled and missing limbs, losing most of their combat power even if they didn't die.
Under the command of their commander, Anub'arak, the Scourge Legion charged forward fearlessly. These resurrected undead had no fear, their twisted wills filled only with hatred for the living and a desire for blood. Even though the mortars killed hundreds of Scourge, there were still more left, constantly surging up the hillside.
Brox wielded his rune axe, his eyes fixed on Aiden, who was slaughtering the undead warriors on the front lines: he knew that this person was the Lich King's most important target, who had even said that killing him was more important than spreading the plague!
He was getting closer and closer to that target, the desire for bloodlust dominating his will, only hoping that Anub'arak beneath him could immediately carry him to Aiden and then kill him with this rune giant axe bestowed by the Lich King!
But now it wasn't Brox who was driving Anub'arak, but the Crypt Lord controlling Brox. The death knight had no way to command it to do anything.
Anub'arak stopped more than twenty meters away from the human defensive line, and so did a dozen of his guards—beetles that looked almost exactly like him.
The beetles began digging here, their forelimbs waving quickly, and a foot-deep hole appeared on the ground almost in the blink of an eye. After a few more breaths, the insects' hind legs were completely submerged beneath the ground.
They were tunneling from underground, preparing to use their best method to raid the human position and create a central breakthrough!
The beetles' actions didn't care whether the humans noticed or not. Anub'arak was blatantly telling the humans: the Crypt Fiends are going to use this method to break through your position!
Aiden also noticed the digging beetles at the first moment.
He roughly estimated that there were more than two hundred Crypt Fiends. The Crypt Fiends' combat power was already much stronger than ordinary humans, and it was at night. If they broke out from the middle of the human defensive line by tunneling, it was indeed very likely to shatter the human defenses in one blow. And at their speed, the time left for Aiden to prepare was only one minute!
"What to do, what to do, should we retreat? Or send a group of people to specifically defend?" Aiden slashed down an orc warrior with his sword, his heart filled with anxiety. But reality demanded that he make a decision immediately. And this decision might affect the success or failure of the entire battle.
"Kayle, you three angels will focus on dealing with the Crypt Lord and the death knight later, and the remaining General Duminlan will lead half of the people to block the Crypt Fiends—"
"No need." Kayle solved five or six undead in front of her with one sweep of the Judgment of Retribution in her hand. She retracted her sword and said to Aiden, "Leave them to us. We will prevent the Crypt Fiends from coming out from underground."
"That's great!" Aiden was overjoyed. At the critical moment, the angel queen Kayle was still the most reliable!
Then Kayle recalled her two deputies and signaled to them.
The three angels each occupied a position. They raised the swords in their hands, summoned a beam of holy light from the Eternal Kingdom, and then inserted the brightly shining swords into the ground. The beams connected the three angels to each other, forming a triangle of holy light, and then spread outward. The entire ground was as dazzling as if it had been painted with a layer of golden paint.
Aiden immediately learned from the memory he had obtained from the transformation ceremony that this was a protective spell of the angel race called "Holy Sanctuary." This spell was very powerful, not only could it prevent the enemy from attacking from underground, but it would also cause damage to enemies who stepped into this land. It was originally a defensive spell set up by the Eternal clan in their resting places when conquering other races. It was also very suitable for Kayle to use it in this situation now.
However, this was a guiding spell, and the three angels had to continue casting spells in their own positions and could not be interrupted.
Now it was Aiden, Vayne, and Quinn's turn to protect the three angels!
Anub'arak, as the most powerful Crypt Fiend, was the first to tunnel to the center of the human position. But when its claws were about to break through the ground, a layer of golden film stopped it. It was scorched by the holy power after only touching it slightly, and its heart trembled.
The Crypt Lord immediately screamed and stopped his guards from continuing to dig over. Their strength was weaker, and they would probably be severely damaged if they collided with the light curtain!
Brox raised his axe and tried to break it, but the axe was as powerless as if it had been chopped on cotton, let alone break it. And his own hand would be burned if he touched it!
This thin light curtain blocked the Scourge, completely extinguishing Anub'arak's idea of a central breakthrough.
"Retreat, attack from the front!" Anub'arak roared unwillingly. He had no choice but to return the same way.
Back on the ground, Brox saw the angels guiding the ceremony with light all over their bodies at a glance. He immediately said, "These birdmen are casting spells and can't fight! Now is the time to charge! Kill them!"
But the undead who were fighting with the human soldiers in the front were all howling and retreating as soon as they stepped into the Holy Sanctuary. The weaker ones were even completely purified into ashes before they even stepped out of the gleaming holy land.
Anub'arak was shocked, how could he fight like this? That position had clearly become the angel's home ground, and any undead who entered it was already at a natural disadvantage.
"Charge! Otherwise, we only have a dead end!" Brox raised his giant axe and roared.
Anub'arak also understood that this was his only choice, but why hadn't the reinforcements arrived yet?
"You better show your greatest strength, I can't hold on for too long on that land of light. If we fail, you know what the ending will be."
After Anub'arak finished speaking, he carried the death knight and charged up. Although his army was retreating steadily, he and Brox had to make a brave assault!
Aiden led the army to drive the undead out of the sanctuary, and then guarded the land of light closely. Anyway, they were not in a hurry now, reinforcements might arrive at any time, they only needed to hold on.
But the undead were different, every minute that passed, the hope of escape was almost halved.
So, after seeing Brox charging up on Anub'arak, Aiden ordered: "Retreat back to the sanctuary and fight the Scourge!"
Then he said to General Du Minglun: "General, leave some people to specifically protect my angels. They are the key to our victory!"
"Yes, General!"
"Quinn, Vayne, block the death knight and the Crypt Lord with me! Don't let them get close to Kayle and the others!"
Vayne took off the crossbow behind her—she hadn't been using the crossbow just now because she didn't have many crossbow bolts left. There had been fierce battles today, first the southern front, then the northern front, followed by the pursuit battle, the elimination of the gnolls, and the current defense battle. So many high-intensity battles had consumed most of the holy silver crossbow bolts manufactured by the workshop in the past month. Now she only had six holy silver crossbow bolts left in her quiver.
She knew Brox's strength well. Now was the crucial moment to deal with the Scourge, so of course she couldn't save anymore.
Quinn didn't have many crossbow bolts either. Moreover, when chasing the Dreadlord with the angels, Desai Locke's counterattack before his death injured her a little, and she could only exert half of her strength now.
So now Aiden had become the main force against the two Scourge heroes!
He clenched his Time Scepter and Silver Holy Sword, feeling some pressure.
The most difficult battle since the isekai was coming!