BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Each step was like a heavy hammer, pounding against everyoneâs heart.
The soldiers on the Fiery Sun Kingdomâs front lines watched in terror as twenty moving mountains of flesh charged toward them.
Before these Giant Beasts, the simple fortifications they had hastily constructed were as fragile as paper.
"Fire! Fire!"
A commander from the Fiery Sun Kingdom roared himself hoarse.
A dense volley of arrows rained down upon the Mammoth Herd, but most bounced off their heavy Iron Armor with a series of sharp clangs. The few that found gaps in the Armor were unable to pierce their coarse, tenacious hides.
Raylo had recently tasked the blacksmiths traveling with Gao Wenâs camp to upgrade the Mammothsâ defensive armor. The results were clearly remarkable.
"Mages! Stop them!"
Several Mages from the Fiery Sun Kingdom began chanting Spells. Fireballs, Wind Blades, and Earth Spikes continuously bombarded the Mammoths, exploding in brilliant bursts of elemental light.
However, this Magic, fatal to any ordinary soldier, merely earned angry roars from the Mammoths. Their charge didnât slow in the slightest.
The two Mammoths at the head of the charge smashed directly into the cheval de frise and earthen walls on the riverbank.
CRASH!
Splinters of wood and chunks of earth flew into the air.
The defensive line, stained dark with blood, was instantly torn wide open.
The Mammoths didnât slow. They sent enemies flying with their unstoppable tusks and crushed any soldier who dared resist into a bloody pulp beneath their mountain-heavy feet.
A Knight from the Fiery Sun Kingdom roared, spurred his warhorse, leveled his Long Spear, and attempted to challenge the unshakable Giant Beast.
However, when his Long Spear struck the Mammothâs leg, it didnât even leave a scratch. An instant later, a colossal foot came crashing down.
The warhorseâs mournful whinny and the crack of splintering bone were drowned out by the thunderous impact.
"Follow me!"
Kaine, commander of the Amber Knight Order, raised his Long Sword high and let out a furious roar.
Hundreds of Knights from Amber Territory followed in the path forged by the Mammoths, driving like a sharp wedge deep into the Fiery Sun Kingdomâs chaotic formation.
Meanwhile, the battle in the sky had reached a fever pitch.
"Knights, with me! Tear them apart!"
Riding his Storm Griffin, Ed led the charge, streaking like an arrow straight for the enemy Pegasus Knight formation.
Behind him, an aerial force of ten Griffin Knights and a hundred Pegasus Knights followed in a tight wedge formation.
"Engage!"
The Fiery Sun Kingdomâs Pegasus Knight commander gave the order.
The two aerial forces clashed violently above the pontoon bridge.
A Griffinâs claws could easily tear through a Pegasusâs flesh, but the Long Spears and Bows and Arrows of the Pegasus Knights posed a grave threat to the Griffin Knights.
Ed had a clear objective: the enemy commander.
He urged his Griffin to nimbly dodge two magic arrows, then pulled up sharply before diving straight for the enemy commander.
"Youâre courting death!"
The enemy commander snorted, raising his Knightâs Long Spear. Its tip blazed with a blinding light as he charged to meet Ed.
CLANG!
Their Long Spears clashed violently, erupting in a brilliant shower of sparks.
âEdâs target wasnât the Knight himself. The commander was also an Earth Knight, so Ed wouldnât gain much from a one-on-one duel. His real objective was the Pegasus beneath him.â
Seizing the opportunity, he struck like lightning, his spear plunging into the Pegasusâs neck.
Blood gushed from the Pegasusâs wound as it plummeted from the sky.
As they clashed fiercely, the battle at lower altitudes was no less spectacular.
The two Pegasus Mage Squads from Black Stone Territory and Amber Territory, twenty Mages in total, swept across the battlefield at low altitude under the command of Alina Great Mage.
"Chain Lightning!"
The Mages targeted the dense enemy infantry formations.
Serpents of blue-purple lightning arced through the ranks, each leap accompanied by screams and the stench of burnt flesh.
Fire support, covering fire, battlefield control...
Under Alina Great Mageâs direction, the small Pegasus Mage unit had a terrifying impact, one far disproportionate to its size.
Raylo sat calmly astride Baofeng, observing the entire battlefield from high above and hundreds of meters behind the front line.
The scales of battle had tipped decisively.
In the skies, the Fiery Sun Kingdomâs Pegasus Knights were utterly routed.
The dozen or so survivors fled in disarray, pursued by Ed and his Griffin Knights. Like a flock of sparrows scattered by an eagle, they were no longer able to form an effective formation.
On the ground, the scene was even more brutal.
The Mammothsâ charge had lost none of its momentum. Their colossal bodies trampled through the enemy ranks, and with every swing of their long tusks, they sent soldiers flying, men and Armor alike.
Kaineâs Knights from Amber Territory followed the Mammoth Giant Beasts in small squads, methodically cutting down the scattered and disorganized enemy soldiers.
Without command and with their formations shattered, the Fiery Sun Kingdomâs bridge garrison were now nothing more than lambs to the slaughter.
On the far end of the pontoon bridge, the banners of the Thunder Dragon Duchy began to surge forward.
Masses of infantry flooded onto the bridge, a tide of soldiers rushing toward the blood-soaked bridgehead.
Victory seemed to be within their grasp.
Rayloâs gaze swept past the chaotic battlefield, settling on the distant horizon.
There, a gleam of blinding gold was rapidly expanding.
It was a cavalry force, a unit utterly different from the defenders they had just routed.
They were clad in matching Golden Full Body Armor that reflected a searing light in the sun.
Their lances were leveled, the cold light from their tips converging into an aura of unstoppable killing intent.
The Fiery Sun Knight Order!
And a full hundred-man squadron, at that!
Meanwhile, high in the sky, what looked like a white cloud was rapidly approaching.
It was another squadron of a hundred ridersâa Pegasus Knight squadronâswooping in at high speed from the flank, their menacing charge aimed directly at the bridgehead.
The enemy reinforcements had arrived.
"Baofeng, down."
Raylo gently patted his mountâs neck.
The Storm Griffin King let out a low growl, tucked its wings, and dove like a tawny meteor toward a hastily built command platform on the ground.
It landed steadily, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Raylo vaulted off.
"Alex!"
Raylo commanded.
"Yes, my lord!"
"Take the reserve Griffin Knights and Pegasus Knights and intercept the reinforcing Pegasus Knight Order!"
"As you command!"
Alex turned and with a shout, raised his arm. The waiting aerial forces immediately took to the sky, rising like a dark cloud to meet the enemy Pegasus Knights.
"Monk!"
"My lord!"
Monk stepped forward.
"You will lead the Earth Dragon Knights and the two hundred remaining Knights from Black Stone Territory. Meet the Fiery Sun Kingdomâs âgolden tin cansâ head-on!"