The massive axe, carrying the black wind of Chaos energy, cleaved down. Kurzadh's pupils shrank abruptly. He gripped "Old Rotten tooth 's Staff" tightly in his right hand, and his entire greenskin musculature instantly tensed—Shaman Magic: Attribute Enhancement!
A pale green light surged along the bone staff, rushing into his limbs and bones. The muscles on his arms swelled by a size, his skin developed a tough keratinized layer, and even his reaction speed increased several times over.
"Bring it on!" Kurzadh roared, moving forward instead of retreating. He abruptly drew the cleaver from his back with his left hand—this was an iron blade he had forged from iron ore, three inches wide and three feet long, with a gleaming, polished edge that shimmered coldly under the moonlight.
He dodged the Wasaga's massive axe by shifting his body, and his iron blade slid down the opponent's axe handle, fiercely chopping into the gap between the bronze armor plates!
"Clang!"
Sparks flew. The iron blade was deflected by the plate but still managed to cut a deep gash into the Wasaga's arm.
Dark green blood sprayed out. Wasaga roared in pain, swinging the great axe back, which whistled through the air as it smashed toward Kurzadh's back.
Using the momentum of his forward charge, Kurzadh rolled on the ground. The massive axe slammed into the spot where he had just been standing, sending Kurzadh fragments flying and leaving a shallow pit in the earth.
"Greenskin bastard!" Wasaga was furious. He hadn't expected this greenskin Shaman to not only wield magic but also be so fierce in close combat.
He raised his massive axe again and lunged at Kurzadh, his iron hooves shaking the ground. Every swing of the axe blade aimed directly at a vital spot—he needed to end the fight quickly, sever this greenskin's head, and turn the tide of the battle.
Kurzadh held the iron blade, using the agility provided by the magic enhancement to weave through the gaps of the massive axe.
He knew his strength was inferior to the Wasaga's and could only rely on technique to maneuver.
When one cleave missed, a vulnerability appeared at the Wasaga's waist. Kurzadh seized the opportunity, thrusting the iron blade straight in, but it was blocked by the opponent's axe handle.
The two instantly became locked in combat. The clanging of the iron blade and massive axe, the thudding of colliding muscles, and the roars intertwined, making an exceptionally harsh sound in the center of the battlefield.
The Orc Boyz held their iron axes, watching the battle nervously. The hobgoblins forgot to shoot arrows, their small eyes wide and round. Even the goblins stopped gnawing, cocking their heads to watch the two massive figures.
The Wasaga's massive axe cleaved down again. Kurzadh couldn't completely dodge it. Although the iron blade blocked the axe edge, the sheer force jarred it loose, sending it flying out of his hand.
He took the opportunity to close the distance, wrapping his arms tightly around the Wasaga's waist. His green muscles erupted with astonishing strength, trying to throw the opponent down.
Wasaga roared, viciously ramming his horn into Kurzadh's chest—with a crisp snap, the black leather armor on Kurzadh instantly shattered. His chest bone ached painfully, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Die!" Wasaga seized the chance, pressing his left hand firmly onto Kurzadh's head, while his right hand swung the massive axe toward his neck.
In the nick of time, Kurzadh violently turned his head. The massive axe grazed his ear as it cleaved down, striking the ground.
He took the chance to open his mouth and bite fiercely into the Wasaga's arm—greenskin teeth are sharper than a wild beast's. He managed to bite through the bronze armor plate and tear off a piece of bloody flesh.
"Aow!" Wasaga screamed in pain, and the hand pressing Kurzadh's head loosened for a moment.
That was the moment! Kurzadh snatched the iron blade he had dropped from the ground, abruptly stood up, gripping the blade with both hands. Using the momentum of the Wasaga bending over, he fiercely chopped towards his neck!
"Pfft—!"
The iron blade, carrying the greenskin Shaman's magical energy, instantly severed the Wasaga's cervical spine.
Kurzadh chopped a few more times. Dark green blood gushed out like a fountain, and the Minotaur's head rolled to the ground, its eyes still showing ferocious disbelief.
Wasaga's massive body swayed and then crashed heavily to the ground, making the surrounding corpses tremble slightly.
Kurzadh gasped for breath, his chest rising and falling violently. The leather armor on his body was already fragmented, revealing the strong green physique underneath—his chest was covered in a bruise from the horn impact, and his arms and back were covered in deep, bone-visible wounds. Blood flowed down the grooves of his muscles, yet he still stood straight where he was.
He bent down, picked up the Wasaga's head, and raised it over his head with one hand, letting out a deafening roar toward the surrounding greenskins : "WAAAGH!!"
"WAAAGH!!!"
"WAAAGH!"
The greenskins instantly erupted! The Orc Boyz raised their iron axes, waving them frantically. Their shouts shook the trees around the battlefield, causing leaves to flutter down. The hobgoblins jumped up and down, shouting, "Boss is awesome! Chop up the Long-Haired Monsters!" The night hobgoblins, riding Death Crawlers, circled above the battlefield, shooting poisoned arrows at the remaining beastmen. Even the goblin raised wooden sticks, joining the shouts of "WAAAGH!", their small faces filled with fanaticism.
The greenskins , with their morale greatly boosted, charged at the remaining beastmen like madmen.
The previously deadlocked battle instantly tipped. The Orc Boyz could fell an Ungor with a single axe swing. The hobgoblin spearmen's long spears accurately pierced the beastmen's throats, while the goblins gnawed on the fallen beastmen. The entire central camp turned into a greenskin slaughterhouse.
U watched from deep within the camp, his eyes splitting with rage.
He had just gathered over two hundred remaining soldiers when he saw the Wasaga's head raised high by Kurzadh, and his heart felt a sharp pain, as if struck by a massive axe.
But he had no time for grief—a thunderous cheer suddenly erupted from the direction of the Katushir city walls. He looked up and saw the human soldiers on the city wall waving towards the greenskin direction. Though their faces were full of confusion, they couldn't hide their excitement.
On the front lines of Katushir, the fierce fighting had long exhausted both sides.
Caelesal's silver-white armor was stained dark red with blood, and her knight's sword was chipped, yet she still held the city wall stubbornly. The city militia soldiers were reduced to fewer than five hundred, and the Militiamen were almost completely wiped out. Even Escoville was personally wielding a longsword, standing in the middle section of the city wall to command.
But when they saw the greenskins rushing through the beastmen's central army in the distance, and witnessed Kurzadh raising the Minotaur's head, they instantly erupted in cheers—no matter who these greenskins were, they had come to help Katushir!
"Reinforcements! It's reinforcements!" a soldier shouted excitedly, his voice filled with the relief of surviving a disaster.
The morale on the city wall instantly reversed. The soldiers seemed to have been injected with a stimulant, waving their weapons and counter-attacking the beastmen below the city.
The beastmen front-line troops, who had been stubbornly resisting, were immediately beaten back step by step.
U knew that the hope of breaching the city was completely gone.
The central army was overrun by the greenskins , the Wasaga was killed in battle, and the front-line troops were counter-attacked by the humans. The current losses already exceeded half, and continuing the fight would only lead to total annihilation.
"Damn greenskins ! Damn humans!" He gritted his teeth, a hint of unwillingness flashing in his crimson compound eyes, but he still hardened his heart—where there is life, there is hope.
"Sound the horn! Retreat!" U roared at the messenger, "Tell the front-line troops to abandon the siege and move toward the central army!"
The urgent sound of the retreat horn rang out, spreading across the entire battlefield.
The beastmen who were attacking the city seemed to have received a pardon, throwing down their weapons and fleeing toward the central army's direction.
The human soldiers on the city wall did not pursue, merely leaning exhaustedly against the battlements, watching the chaotic herd of beasts in the distance, their faces filled with the relief of surviving a disaster.
But the greenskins would not give them a chance to retreat.
Kurzadh put down the Wasaga's head and led the Orc Boyz like a pack of hungry wolves, charging at the fleeing beastmen.
Riding the Furball, he shouted from afar toward U's direction: "Long-Haired Monsters! If you've got the guts, come and duel me! See if I don't chop off your bird head!"
U was gathering the remaining soldiers. Hearing Kurzadh's provocation, his raven wings trembled with anger.
He had personally watched how Kurzadh chopped the Wasaga to death. That guy's magic was strange, and his close combat was so fierce. Only a fool would duel him!
"Ignore him! Retreat quickly!" U roared at the remaining soldiers beside him, urging them to speed up.
He quickly tallied his forces—over three hundred remaining soldiers retreated from the front line, and over two hundred were left in the central army, totaling fewer than seven hundred.
The flank army was completely wiped out, the Wasaga was killed in battle, and the supplies, captives, and spoils of war all fell into the greenskins' hands.
He gritted his teeth and made a final decision: "Send three hundred Ungor and Gors to cover the retreat! The rest follow me! Break out toward the Northwest Forest!"
Over three hundred old and weak remaining soldiers were pushed out. They held rudimentary weapons and launched a suicidal charge against the greenskins —rather than being chopped to death by the greenskins , it was better to die with some "Dignity."
U, leading fewer than seven hundred elites, abandoned all supplies, even killing the captives to silence them, and sprinted toward the Forest of Gloom in the northwest direction.
Kurzadh looked at the covering beastmen charging toward him and grinned: "Chop them up! Don't leave a single one!" The Orc Boyz immediately swarmed them, slaughtering the over three hundred covering beastmen as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the Northwest Forest, Keziaz had been waiting for a long time with the night hobgoblins.
He had received Kurzadh's order, bypassed the beastmen's breakout route in advance, and hid in the bushes of the forest with over two hundred night hobgoblins riding Death Crawlers.
"They're coming!" Keziaz lowered his voice, signaling the night hobgoblins to prepare.
U rushed into the forest with his remaining soldiers, and just as he was about to catch his breath, dense poisoned arrows suddenly shot out from the bushes! The dozen or so Great Horned beast leading the charge were instantly hit. The poison on the arrows took effect, and they screamed as they fell to the ground, their bodies quickly beginning to convulse.
"Enemy attack! greenskins !" U shouted, but it was too late.
The night hobgoblins, riding Death Crawlers, rushed out from all parts of the forest. Some shot poisoned arrows, some used spider silk to entangle the beastmen's necks, and some even directly rode their Crawlers to ram the beastmen—the Death Crawler's chelicerae could easily pierce the beastmen's skin, dragging them into the bushes to strangle them.
The beastmen couldn't maneuver at all in the forest and were spun around by the night hobgoblins.
Some were hit by poisoned arrows and died painfully. Some were entangled by spider silk and strangled alive. Some, choosing the wrong path in their panic, fell into traps dug by the night hobgoblins and were impaled by sharp spikes.
U and the remaining soldiers fled frantically, but people kept falling.
By the time they rushed out of the forest and reached its edge, the original seven hundred-plus remaining soldiers were reduced to fewer than five hundred.
U looked back at the forest behind him, listening to the screams coming from inside. A hint of ferocity flashed in his crimson compound eyes: "Blackrock Clan... greenskin Shaman... I remember you! One day, I will bring the Chaos army and tear you all to shreds!"
With that, he led the remaining beastmen, rushing into the depths of the forest without looking back, disappearing into the night.
On the battlefield outside Katushir, the greenskins were frantically seizing the spoils of war.
The Orc Boyz carried massive axes, searching the beastmen corpses. The hobgoblins stuffed the food and ironware from the supplies into their arms. The night hobgoblins rode their Crawlers, dragging captured siege rams. The goblin, meanwhile, carried the Wasaga's head, following behind Kurzadh like a group of victorious little followers.
Kurzadh stood in the center of the battlefield, looking toward the Black Feather Forest in the distance, a smile playing on the corner of his mouth.
Although U had escaped, in this battle, the Blackrock Clan had not only eliminated most of the over three thousand beastmen but also captured a large amount of spoils. More importantly—Katushir owed the Blackrock Clan a favor.
On the distant city wall, Escoville and Antonio stood together, watching the celebrating greenskins below.
Escoville frowned, his tone complex: "These are the reinforcements you spoke of? greenskins ?"
Antonio smiled and nodded: "That's right. The greenskins of the Blackrock Clan are currently the most powerful faction in the Forest of Gloom."
Escoville fell silent.
He looked at the greenskin chieftain holding the Minotaur's head high. For the first time, he developed a different understanding of the 'greenskin' savage race.
And Kurzadh seemed to sense their gaze. He looked up toward the city wall's direction, raised the Wasaga's head, and let out another roaring "WAAAGH!"
Although the soldiers on the city wall didn't understand, they instinctively applauded—no matter what, these greenskins had helped them defend Katushir.
As night deepened, the battlefield outside Katushir was illuminated by bonfires.