Linde's voice was hoarse like a broken gong, yet it carried a resolute power that tore through the silence and severed despair, and it suddenly exploded in the sky above the battlefield!
He pointed sharply at the smoking giant cannon deep within the Ork camp:
"Target! The Orc cannon! Destroy it! Take it! The blood of Grinburg cannot be shed in vain! For the Kree Empire! Kill—!!!"
This roar was like a thunderclap, waking the Kree soldiers from their daze!
They saw the inextinguishable flame in their commander's eyes! They saw the weapon that had just brought destruction now smoking, like a wounded beast!
Revenge! Seize the cannon!
The morale, crushed by despair, was instantly ignited by an even more ferocious rage for revenge and a desire to seize the fruits of victory!
"For the Kree Empire!!!"
"Kill all the Orc bastards!!!"
"Capture that cannon!!!"
A deafening roar instantly shattered the deathly silence!
The remaining Silver Lance Knights, Holy Punishment Knights, Greenburg garrison, and even some flank units of Sass soldiers who had just been stunned by the shockwave, all unleashed a ferocious power far exceeding their previous strength, like wounded beasts!
Linde took the lead and charged like an arrow toward the gap in the Ok heavy infantry that he had blasted open with his sword!
Priss followed closely behind, the holy light upon him burning brighter than ever before, as he raised the holy emblem high:
"Holy Spirit bears witness! Purify the blasphemous instrument! Holy Knights, follow me—purify!"
The Holy Knights roared with holy war cries, their holy light forming a continuous barrier, like a moving bulwark of light, crashing into the Orc heavy infantry attempting to close the breach.
The holy light scorched the rough skin of the Orks, making a sizzling sound and bringing immense pain and chaos!
Aster, covered in blood and his silver spear broken, now wielded a battle axe he had picked up from the ground, like a raging lion.
"Silver Lance Knight! Charge! Target—the fort! We'll die on the fort!"
The Orks were also plunged into great chaos and panic.
The forced firing of the Crystal Cannon clearly exceeded its design limits. Not only did the cannon barrel turn red and twist, but the base also cracked in many places, and the energy conduit hissed and sprayed dangerous energy sparks. The mage group responsible for charging it also suffered heavy casualties. The survivors were all depleted of magic and mentally exhausted, and some even showed terrifying signs of crystallization and disintegration!
The Kree elite, led by Lind and driven by vengeance and the will to seize the cannon, displayed a fighting power far exceeding their expectations!
The gap that Linde forcibly tore open became a fatal weakness!
"Block them! Protect the Crystal Cannon!"
Okor roared in despair and charged toward the breach himself, brandishing his giant axe.
But it was all too late.
Like a golden meteor, Lind crashed into the Orc army once again!
This time, his target was clear—the turret base! He ignored the weapons slashing at him from all sides, and the sword light, empowered by the power of light veins, was like a scalpel, precisely severing the limbs of the Orc warriors who tried to stop him!
Pris's holy light was like a hammer of judgment, each swing carrying the power to purify heretics, burning and knocking away swarms of Orc soldiers who approached the turret!
Astaire's remaining forces, like sharp knives, were firmly pinned to the base of the turret, locked in a fierce battle with the surging Orc elites, with lives being lost every second.
The battle entered its most brutal and chaotic phase, reaching a fever pitch.
The Kree and Orcs engaged in a fierce and desperate battle over the smoking, dangerously imposing Crystal Skeleton Cannon.
Blood and flesh flew everywhere, and roars and screams mingled.
On the other side of the battlefield, the exhausted Sassians witnessed the horrific scene of Greenburg's instantaneous annihilation, and saw that Lind's Kree army, instead of collapsing, unleashed an even more terrifying fighting force, charging towards the core of the Orks like madmen. Their morale... completely collapsed.
"Monsters...they're all monsters..."
"Greenburg... is gone... the Orks' cannons are broken too..."
"Run...run away quickly!"
Fear spread like a plague through the Sassi army.
Faced with the Kree's frenzied counter-charge, many Saz soldiers began to ignore their officers' reprimands and turn to flee.
This fierce battle lasted for an unknown period of time.
As the setting sun painted its last rays upon the ravaged, blood-soaked land, the shouts and cries of battle in the heart of the Orc camp finally subsided.
Linde, leaning on his nearly blunted longsword, knelt beside the scorching hot crystal cannon base, breathing heavily.
His armor was tattered, covered in knife marks and dents, and he was covered in blood, some of his own, but mostly of his enemies'.
At his feet lay the lifeless corpses of the Orks.
All around were layers upon layers of corpses of Ork heavy infantry and Kree warriors, almost piling up the turret base into a small mountain.
Pris's white robes were already stained beyond recognition by blood and mud. He leaned on his longsword, his holy light dimmed, his face pale, but his eyes were still sharp. He directed several equally exhausted Holy Punishment Knights to carefully use holy light spells to imprison the still unstable, flickering crystals and energy conduits on the cannon platform to prevent them from exploding.
Astaire leaned against the corpse of an Orc soldier, his chest heaving violently, one arm hanging limply at his sides, blood soaking through his bandages.
Beside him, only a handful of Silver Spear Knights remained standing, each wounded, yet their eyes still burned with an indomitable flame.
Lilens directed the remaining soldiers to clear the battlefield, drive away sporadic resistance, and quickly establish a makeshift defensive perimeter around the Crystal Skeleton Cannon.
Nix hovered like a ghost along the edge of the battlefield, watching warily in the direction of the Sassin camp—which had fallen completely silent, with only burning tents and scattered figures fleeing in disarray.
The battle is over.
Exhausted and having paid a heavy price, the Sassians ultimately could not withstand the pressure from Lind's desperate last stand and the psychological impact of the instant annihilation of Grinburg, and were completely defeated.
Linde raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the scorched earth soaked in blood and fire, across the deep pit ruins that had swallowed everything he had, and finally landing on the twisted, scalding, dangerously aura-filled replica crystal cannon that he had ultimately seized.
The fruits of victory, as if watered with the bones of Grinburg and the blood of countless soldiers, were so heavy they were suffocating, and so bitter they were hard to swallow.
He slowly stood up, his steps a little unsteady, yet unusually firm.
He reached out and touched the scalding, dark purple cannon barrel, engraved with eerie runes, feeling the remaining destructive power within it.
What's lost is lost. But the future must be in our own hands.
He turned around, his gaze passing over the battlefield strewn with corpses, landing in the direction of the defeated Sassians, and also in the more distant, dark depths where the Shadow Abyss lay hidden.
In those eyes burned a determination colder than the flames of Grinburg.
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