Eleven hours after the offensive began, the once dark sky was already illuminated by the sun.
The forest regions surrounding the Papal States were littered with traces of battle; the raging war spread like wildfire across a carpet.
A strong wind swept across the land, dispersing the smoke from the forest, but it could not dispel the heavy, pungent smell of blood.
Burville, his entire body soaked in blood, snorted his broad, bull-like nose and plopped down on the corpses of several enemies. He took a deep breath and then asked Kellogg beside him, "How many is that?"
As the lizardman wiped his dagger with the clothes of the fallen soldiers, he hissed and said, "Hiss... So far, we've captured six small outposts, two medium-sized strongholds, and just this large enemy camp."
Bulwell reached out his hand to the lizardman.
The latter hesitated for a moment before handing over his dagger.
Bulwell lifted his heavy chainmail and slowly plunged the blade of his dagger into his wound.
With a roar, Bulwell forcefully pulled outwards, and a spherical lead bullet fell out of the wound.
"These shameless and despicable cowards!"
Hearing the minotaur's angry curses, the lizardman narrowed his eyes and smirked slightly: "Hiss... The word 'despicable' has never existed in the dictionary of war."
Bulwell glared at Kellogg and tossed the dagger back to him.
Ackerman knelt on one knee in the pool of blood, tightly holding the right hand of a dying elf, and whispered, "My brother, your time is coming soon."
This elf had clear features, a handsome appearance, and looked very young.
He was hit in the lower abdomen by shrapnel, and blood blisters appeared at the corner of his mouth. The intense pain contorted his face, but his voice sounded incredibly relaxed.
"What I didn't expect was... that a dark elf would preside over my ceremony at the moment of my triumph..."
Ackerman slowly leaned down and whispered in the elf's ear, "I'll tell you a secret. Compared to the shamans of your kind, my relationship with the Dragon God is much closer... I can put in a good word for you and save you from queuing..."
The elf smiled happily.
With his last breath, he looked at his people around him, nodded, and said, "The light of God has descended, and I must go first. I will await your arrival in heaven..."
Ackerman placed his hand on his chest and whispered, "All for the glory of the Dragon God."
The crowd: "All for the glory of the Dragon God."
The elf slowly closed her eyes.
Ackerman sighed almost imperceptibly, stood up, leaving the mourning to the others, and walked over to Randall, asking, "Did you find anything?"
Randall was holding a palm-sized black iron ball in his hand, with a gunpowder fuse directly above it.
Upon seeing Ackerman's arrival, Randall said, "I can't be wrong. I saw the Southern Empire use this weapon during the battle of Lone Rock."
"They called these spherical bombs 'thunderfire bombs,' which were filled with gunpowder and barbed wire. When they exploded, they could kill and cover a fairly large area with the help of shrapnel and flames."
After placing the fireball in his hand into Ackerman's hand, Randall picked up something from the ground that resembled a small iron millstone.
“This thing is new; I’ve never seen anything like it before.” Randall pointed to Joonella, who was lying on the ground doing research, and said to Ackerman, “But I heard from that young scholar that this bomb-like thing has some kind of sulfuric acid detonator. If it’s buried in the ground, anyone who steps on it will trigger an explosion.”
"Ionella called this bomb buried in the ground a landmine."
Looking at the fireball in his hand and then at the landmine Randall was holding, Ackerman frowned and said, "It seems the enemy has some hidden trump cards that they haven't revealed yet."
Randall put down the heavy landmine in his hand and said, "We didn't encounter these weapons during the attack on the outposts on the outskirts of the forest. They only started to appear one by one as we moved closer to the enemy's main camp."
"Therefore, I guess. First, the number of weapons like lightning bombs and landmines should not be too large; second, in the last orc attack, the appearance of the Dragonbone Knights forced the enemy to reassess the strength of both sides, which is why these weapons, which were originally the enemy's trump card, were used so early."
Ackerman pulled the fuse off the bomb, then placed it on the ground, saying with a headache, "Let's leave the firebomb aside for now, landmines are a big problem."
“Don’t worry too much about these landmines.” Joonella walked toward Ackerman with two giant wolves. “These war beasts have an extremely keen sense of smell; they can detect these explosives buried underground.”
Randall nodded and said, "Moreover, there aren't many of these mines; most of them are buried around the enemy camp, as long as..."
Noticing the honeycomb on Randall's keel suddenly begin to shake, Ackerman asked, "What's wrong?"
"The Third Column has captured the Valley Camp, and the Eleventh Column has captured the Perse Camp. These two units are currently working together to attack the enemy camp on the Far Ember Hills..."
"Then what?"
"These two units have encountered a fierce counterattack from the enemy and are requesting assistance from all nearby friendly forces."
Ackerman pondered for a moment, then shouted to the soldiers behind him, "Leave a team behind to handle the aftermath, the rest of you pack your bags and get ready to depart!"
After a brief rest, the unit resumed its eastward journey, heading towards the Far Ember Hills on the map.
After marching for only fifteen minutes, the soldiers could hear faint explosions coming from afar.
As Ackerman listened to the sounds from afar, he said with a puzzled look, "It's a bit strange. Even a large enemy camp couldn't possibly hold out for that long when attacked from both sides by two columns."
Randall looked up and exclaimed in surprise, "Look!"
Ackerman looked in the direction of the sound and saw three Valkyries riding griffins toward the battlefield, each griffin carrying a large bag of spore parasites in its claws.
"For an enemy of this scale to mobilize the Valkyries and have two columns request reinforcements, there is only one possibility."
Ackerman and Randall exchanged a glance and said in unison, "Enemy command post!"
Ackerman leaped onto a nearby tree and shouted to his troops, "Listen up, everyone! Drop all unnecessary burdens! Grab your weapons and armor and advance at full speed to the battlefield!"
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