Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords.

Chapter 495 The End
Bernard also took a sip, his gaze fixed on the leaping flames, somewhat lost in thought: "Yes, those who know how to enjoy life are all dead, while those who don't, like us, are still struggling here."

“Don’t be so pessimistic, old man.” Li Wei patted the governor’s shoulder with his greasy hand, leaving a clear oil stain on his exquisite breastplate. “Once we’ve sorted out the trouble here, I’ll treat you to some of the strong liquor produced in High Cliff Fortress. I guarantee it’ll be more potent than this.”

Bernard looked at the oil stains on his breastplate, gave a wry smile, but didn't wipe them off: "I hope that day comes."

No war can end in a short time, let alone a war between nations.

Based on the previous speculations of his advisors, it was impossible for any king to enter the Persian Gulf in just a few years, let alone now that he was associated with evil.

“Li Wei, to be honest, what do you think of the situation in the north of the Persian Gulf Empire? During the time you were gone, I sent out scouts to investigate one after another, but none of them came back. Later, to avoid such meaningless losses, I directly arranged for soldiers to guard key military locations in the south, but not only did I not see a single demon come to support Wirtz, I didn’t even see any civilians or soldiers.” Bernard looked north and took another sip of wine.

Logically, with such a major event occurring in the Persian Gulf Empire, there should be civilians fleeing. However, after besieging Wirtz for so long, not a single person has survived and made it south, as if everyone in the northern province where the Persian Gulf Empire's capital is located has collectively died.

Li Wei's smile faded. He removed the roast chicken from the fire, tore off a leg, and handed it to Buji, who was sitting on his lap. The little elf immediately put down the rib and happily took it to gnaw on.

Li Wei didn't know any divination techniques, so he could only guess based on the current situation: "To be able to destroy Wirtz, a city with a population of over a million, in an instant, there must be so many demons. Their marching movements couldn't be hidden at all. The nobles of the Persian Gulf Empire couldn't possibly be unaware of this, yet they still allowed them to come south here. The situation is probably not optimistic."

Finally, the lord told a lame joke: "It can't be that the king of the Persian Gulf Empire has really gone mad and joined forces with the devil."

Although the king of the Persian Gulf Empire was cruel, the label of "madman" was clearly given to him by them, simply to justify their actions.

No one present laughed; frankly, no matter which guess it was, the outlook was not optimistic.

Bernard tightened his grip on the wine glass with his one arm.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't have dared to make a guarantee before, but now, anyone who wants to try can come and try, whether it's a demon or these Persians."

Levi's tone, brimming with confidence, resonated with Bernard.

The governor looked at the young man's resolute profile, a confidence that was almost arrogant, forged through countless life-and-death trials.

“I believe you,” Bernard finally said, downing his drink in one gulp. “What do you expect me and the Stormrage Knights to do in tomorrow’s battle?”

“Your knights are precious treasures, don’t waste them on this meaningless meat grinder.” Li Wei finished the remaining roasted chicken leg in a few bites, threw the bone into the fire, sparking a string of sparks, and grinned. “I’ve prepared a gift for these demons. Tomorrow, the warriors of High Cliff Fortress will come as backup to completely wipe out the remaining demons in Wirtz City. Your cavalry only need to patrol the outskirts, intercepting and killing any monsters trying to escape the city, not letting a single one get away. Then, regroup the troops and prepare to march north.”

“North…” Bernard gazed at the dark night sky to the north, as if he could feel the despair emanating from that land: “The civilians there…”

"Do your best and leave the rest to fate." Li Wei's voice was cold yet realistic. "We are not gods, we can't save everyone. First, we must make sure we don't get caught up in it ourselves before we can talk about salvation. To put it bluntly, as long as the warriors of Gaoyabao live, it doesn't matter if all the Persians here in the Persian Gulf Empire die."

……

The next morning, before dawn, a thin mist shrouded the ruined city of Wirtz.

However, beyond this silent mist, another scene sent a chill down the spines of all the soldiers in the expeditionary camp, including the battle-hardened Bernard and his Storm Howling Knights.

As far as the eye could see, the open fields outside Wirtz were densely packed with silent troops.

They are not living things.

The pale bones gleamed with a cold, hard luster against the overcast sky, and the eyes flickered with a ghostly blue flame of the soul.

The swords and shields looked tattered and worn, actually because they were tainted with the aura of the dead and had a decaying smell, but their sharpness was not diminished in the slightest, and they were held tightly in the hands of these undead warriors.

They didn't breathe, they didn't whisper, only the teeth-grinding "crack" of bones grinding together, and an invisible, cohesive, deathly resentment that seemed to lower the surrounding temperature.

The number is a staggering several hundred thousand!

Among them were more than a dozen giants, each with a blade height of sixty or seventy.

Undead Scourge!

Bernard gasped; he finally understood what Levi meant by "gift."

He instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword. Even though he knew these undead were "friendly forces," the instinctive fear humans have of the undead was still hard to suppress.

The knights behind him stirred slightly, their warhorses pawing restlessly and neighing softly.

The lord stood at the front of the camp, with the Lich King Ubigail, shrouded in black robes and exuding a strong aura of death, beside him, and a frost giant who looked exactly like Ragnaros, wearing a ring of frost and water on its finger.

The lowly undead could not survive in the sunlight for long, so he projected Lagras, and had the projection use the rings of frost and water to create a cloudy sky, and even a few snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

"Begin, Ubigail," Levi commanded calmly.

"As you wish, my respected sir."

The Lich King nodded, raised his skeletal hand, and paused slightly on the staff in his hand, which was inlaid with a huge dark gem.

There was no earth-shattering roar, but the fire of the soul in the eyes of those hundreds of thousands of dead suddenly surged!
The next moment, the silent sea of ​​the dead surged.

With stiff yet unwavering steps, they surged silently into the city of Wirtz like a gray flood bursting its banks.

The sounds of bones grinding together blended into a symphony of death.

The demons within the city seemed to sense this completely different and abhorrent aura as well, and immediately erupted in chaotic and violent roars.

Even these surviving demons actively emerged from the ruins where they were hiding, rushing towards these uninvited invaders.

The battle breaks out instantly!

Low-ranking imps, lesser demons, skeleton warriors, and zombies clashed together. Claws tore through pristine bones, rusty swords slashed into demonic bodies, and crimson demon blood and grayish-white bone fragments flew everywhere.

The most striking figures on the battlefield were those towering figures.

Several enormous undead frost trolls, their bodies covered in eternal frost, roared as they charged toward a Balor fire demon that had just risen from the burning ruins.

The Balrog's furious roar was deafening. It wielded its flaming whip, each strike carrying an intense heat capable of incinerating everything. When it struck the undead frost trolls, it instantly ignited their decaying bodies, causing them to crackle and burn. But the undead knew no pain. Even engulfed in flames, they charged forward fearlessly, their massive, icy fists slamming down upon these demon generals.

The forces of ice and fire collided violently, producing a hissing sound and generating a large amount of white mist.

The undead frost troll possesses immense strength; a single punch from it can even cause a Balor fire demon to stagger.

The Balrog's fiery whip wrapped around the neck of a troll, roared, and ripped its head off. But the headless troll skeleton continued to smash the Balrog with its instincts, and the intense cold emanating from its body constantly eroded the Balrog's fire shield.

Meanwhile, other powerful undead creatures, undead knights, and zombie warriors also sought out the high-ranking demons in the city, engaging in one-on-one battles between high-level units.

This was a war of pure attrition, brutal to the extreme.

The undead are tireless and fearless of death; their sole mission is to carry out the Lich King's will and overwhelm their enemies with sheer numbers.

Demons are born in the most evil and barren land of the Abyss, and their very nature is filled with evil and bloodlust. When faced with a battle where it is a fight to the death, their fighting spirit is no less than that of a berserk minotaur.

The two sides fought fiercely in every corner of Wirtz's streets, squares, and ruins.

The demon's roar and the groan of the undead formed an eerie contrast.

The allied camp was deathly silent; everyone was speechless, stunned by the unimaginable scene before them.

Although the street battles they had experienced were brutal, at least they were battles between survivors.

Before us lies a clash between two evil races, a true meat grinder.

Bernard watched as a Balrog, besieged by several undead frost trolls and countless low-ranking undead, finally let out a defiant roar and collapsed to the ground, its demonic blood staining a large area of ​​land and even setting the soil ablaze.

The undead also suffered heavy losses, but he knew that more undead were getting up from the ground. The Balrog who had just fallen immediately got up and continued to advance over the remains of his companions.

He let out a long sigh of relief, finally understanding why Li Wei had said his knights were precious treasures and didn't need to be thrown into this meaningless meat grinder.

In a war of attrition of this magnitude, even the most elite living soldiers would not last long.

This battle, filled with carnage and death, lasted for an entire day. The intervention of hundreds of thousands of undead warriors greatly accelerated the capture of Wirtz City and also gave the demons a hard time.

Even demons felt a genuine fear of the undead, these living dead.

Because they are even deprived of the right to leave their corpses behind, their fallen companions will almost immediately get up and bite them hard.

They fought their way through, leaving no corpses, only skeletons and rotten flesh scattered on the ground.

The cleanup work then fell to Gaoyabao.

“Now…” Li Wei’s voice broke the silence. He looked at the High Cliff Fortress warriors behind him, who had assembled and were eager to fight. “It’s our turn. Clean up the remaining enemies. Remember, don’t let any demon that can still move escape!”

Orc warriors, bear-men knights, and the Unsullied erupted in a frenzied battle cry, their fiery fighting spirit, a stark contrast to the silence of the undead, was a trait only the living possess.

Led by Zart, Layton, Worebel, and others, this powerful new force, like a tiger released from its cage, followed closely behind the undead sea and stormed into Wirtz City, beginning to clear out the demon remnants that had been consumed and scattered by the undead.

Bernard snapped out of his daze, mounted his horse, and raised his longsword with his one arm: "Seal off all exits! Not a single fly is allowed to escape!"

The elite knights responded with a thunderous roar, their battle auras blazing forth like a whirlwind as they began their mission of clearing out and sealing off the outer perimeter.

The expeditionary soldiers also began to follow behind the warriors of Gaoyabao, slashing at some of the demons hiding in the sewers or corners.

Li Wei stood still, calmly gazing at the city that had been completely swallowed by death and war, lost in thought.

As the sun set and the moon rose fully, the city of Wirtz was a scene of ruins and bloodshed, with corpses lying haphazardly, a testament to the demons' tragic end.

The initial force of over 100,000 undead actually increased by tens of thousands by the end. Even Ubigail's spatial ring could barely hold that many undead.

Fortunately, these undead are not living beings and can be placed freely in the spatial ring.

This battle left everyone in awe and made them fully understand why Gonda had fallen and become a paradise for the dead.

This kind of opponent, whose numbers seem to increase with each battle, is extremely troublesome for anyone who encounters them.

"That's just because I eliminated the high-end combat power of this group of demons in advance. Although it's a realistic situation, the outcome of war now is not determined by the lowly soldiers and scoundrels, but by the top experts on each side." The lord revealed the essence in one sentence.

This world is different from the previous one; it is a world where great power belongs to oneself.

The more powerful a side has, the greater its chances of winning.

This is why, as long as one's side has a dragon knight, even if the officers say nothing, the morale of the soldiers and rabble will be high.

Even ordinary people understand this principle.

The demons' high-end combat force consisted of only a few Balor Fire Demons and Abyssal Dragon Beasts. Even though they were all epic-level powerhouses, they were powerless to turn the tide under the undead's fearless siege and could only die in the northwest.

Bernard spurred his horse to Levi's side, the warhorse's iron hooves thumping dully on the ground congealed with dark red blood.

He gazed at the city, which was gradually calming down but still filled with the smell of death and sulfur, and his one arm unconsciously rested on the hilt of his sword.

"It's over..." The governor's voice carried a hint of weariness, and a deeper worry: "It was much faster and much more brutal than expected."

As a governor commanding hundreds of thousands of soldiers, he should not show obvious expressions. Even in the face of a landslide or tsunami, he should remain calm as a gentle breeze.

But in front of Li Wei, he would always find himself unable to resist shedding this facade.

(End of this chapter)