Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 171 Champion Duel
As Muradin's pre-war mobilization ended, the dwarves' morale was high. They roared and looked through the gaps in their shields at the overwhelming demon army coming forward.

Waves of red monsters poured into the canyon like blood. Bloody battle flags made of human skin covered the dim sky, and the entire battlefield looked like a doomsday scene.

The first ones to rush over were undoubtedly the Chaos War Mastiffs with ferocious fangs and sharp claws. Each of these war mastiffs was more than one and a half meters long, and when they jumped, they were even higher than dwarves.

They are agile and cruel by nature. Once they bite the target's thigh, they will not stop until they have torn off a large piece of bloody flesh.

As they roared and howled as they charged, thunder-like sounds of explosions rang out one after another on the battlefield.

In an instant, a large number of projectiles shot out from the rear of the dwarf army, and countless Chaos War Mastiffs were torn apart in an instant. Their flesh and blood bodies faced such horrific killing, and most of their bodies were smashed. The large-caliber muskets gave them powerful killing power. Any projectile hitting the monster's body would be torn apart from head to tail by the lead block, leaving terrible wounds.

A single volley from the Thunder Gunners resulted in the loss of dozens of war mastiffs in the dense wave of monsters.

The dwarves on the front line immediately raised their battle axes and cheered excitedly: "Excellent fight! Just like that, let's beat these monsters!"

"Again! Again!"

A huge thunderclap responded to their request. Smoke filled the air behind the dwarf army formation, and hundreds of thunder guns opened fire again in succession. Amidst the huge explosions, lead bullets were like hail, and arrows were like sleet, and the monsters suffered heavy losses.

A large number of Chaos War Hounds were shot dead before they even had the chance to get close to the Dwarf phalanx. Some timid or injured monsters even turned around and fled, howling in fear, and collapsed and scattered.

The power of the dwarf's muskets truly amazed the human knights. No wonder this is the unique extraordinary power of the dwarf race.

But in this dark world where evil spirits run rampant, it is impossible to stop the waves of monsters by relying solely on long-range means.

Although a large number of Chaos War Mastiffs were frightened and fled, the Flesh Hounds in the Red Tide were not affected at all.

These monsters are no longer mortal, they are all demons ridden by Khorne. Their bodies are far larger than the most ferocious war mastiffs in the world and are even bigger than a bull, so they can carry the bloodletters wielding two-handed giant swords.

However, few vampires are ferocious and powerful enough to tame these giant hounds. Every vampire who breaks into the lair of the flesh hounds in the chaotic wasteland will be torn to pieces by these behemoths.

Even if a huge blood beast encounters this kind of hunting dog, a fierce battle will break out between the two sides, just like a battle between giants, and the loser will become the winner's meal.

This flesh hound is the demon most hated by mages, wizards, and dragons. Besides its immense speed thanks to its sturdy limbs, it also sports a massive steel and copper collar on its back, seemingly grown there. This is a gift from the Blood God, protecting it not only from physical damage but also from all manner of magical and mental attacks.

These flesh hounds are not afraid of any powerful wizard and can tear the wizard apart before he can even recite a powerful spell.

Now they encountered dwarves. Both sides possessed demonic physiques, making them a natural rival. The lead bullets from the muskets hit their brass collars and were directly shattered.

The massive hounds, over a meter tall, roared as they charged into the dwarven formation, only to be stopped by the shield wall. The mountain shield formation proved incredibly effective, and even the monsters, no matter how massive they were, couldn't directly destabilize the iron shields formed by dozens of dwarves.

The dwarf formation did not move at all, but the monsters as strong as steel bulls were dizzy from being hit. A large number of monsters even piled up like a mountain in front of the mountain shield formation. The monsters at the back jumped directly from the small mountain where the monsters in front piled up, and then crashed into the dwarf shield wall and fought with the dwarves holding huge axes.

Both sides were extremely tough and brave, and the battle was like a huge collision between iron pillars.

The monsters' sharp claws and steel teeth bit into the dwarves' plate armor, making harsh scratching sounds, and the dwarves' battle axes chopped into their backs as if they were hitting steel bones.

The two legions, one black and one red, immediately engaged in a brutal battle on the gloomy, dark gray battlefield of the Grey Mountains, which was as dark as cast lead.

The dwarves' muskets continued to fire, and the thunderous lead bullets hit the monster's body again and again, and blood splattered all over the battlefield.

Muradin, the powerful dwarven commander, is the focal point of the battlefield. As a dwarven general, he possesses two shieldbearers according to his strength and qualifications. This greatly enhances his combat power, defense, and toughness.

This is a unique display of the dwarf racial ability. In order to enhance the combat effectiveness of the dwarf hero, a general or lord may fight while standing on a shield.

Ordinary generals are carried by two loyal and powerful servants. These servants have the unique ability [Commander Beware!], which allows them to share vision with their masters through shields, so that the dwarf generals will never be attacked by surprise.

But at the same time, they can use martial arts, strength, initiative and attack attributes separately with the generals on the shield.

This made Muradin, standing on the shield, transform into a terrifying killing machine. The monsters that ordinary dwarves had to fight fiercely to kill were completely vulnerable to his battle axe. Every time he swung his battle axe, a flesh hound was killed by it.

Even when facing the siege of three flesh hounds, it was able to handle it with ease. With a single whirlwind slash, it could kill all three monsters in less than a second!

Another champion-level dwarf ranger, Dogrin, was like a heroic unit, roaring on the battlefield with the dwarf's unique deep voice. He held a large-caliber dwarf musket in his left hand, boldly approached the monster's head and fired at close range, directly smashing the monster's brains into pieces. In his right hand, he held a terrifying war hammer, and every time he swung it, he would knock down a flesh hound that pounced on him.

Inspired by the two of them, the dwarves roared and fought, battle axes flew, and countless Flesh Hounds fell, but the dwarf line was not in disarray. If the monsters only relied on Chaos War Mastiffs and Flesh Hounds, they would never be able to shake their defense line at all.

These ultra-lightly armed troops are excellent at pursuit, but if they were to charge head-on into a solid wall of chubby, heavily armored dwarves, they would only end up with bloody heads.

The battle lasted for several minutes. Although the monsters left all kinds of hideous wounds on the dwarves, causing heavy injuries and bleeding, they were unable to kill any of the heavily armored dwarves.

This made Muradin excitedly wave his battle axe on his shield and roar at the top of his voice: "Ahaha! Damn monsters, keep coming, let me show you the power of the dwarf battle axe!"

Su Li and Hirud stood on the cliff face, one in front of the other, watching the fierce fighting unfold below. Su Li couldn't help but sigh, "These chubby, heavily armored dwarves are like iron blocks. They're still much tougher than us human infantrymen."

On the same defensive front, human infantry was deployed on the left wing and encountered the enemy a little later, but their front looked much more chaotic than that of the dwarves.

On the front line of the fierce fighting, both sides fought fiercely, and there was no way they could maintain their formation like the dwarves.

And this was the result achieved by the commander-in-chief, Orstein, who served as a foot knight and personally commanded the battle.

Hildurde comforted Su Li, "It's not easy for the territory's armed retainers to face the demons of Khorne head-on and achieve such a victory. After all, they are just ordinary humans. Those extraordinary elites have been selected by us to join the cavalry."

Su Li nodded slightly. It was true. One couldn't ask too much of the armed attendants.

If they were not all believers of the Sun Goddess, well-trained on weekdays, and baptized by God-chosen priests at church on weekends, who would have dared to imagine that, given a spear, an ordinary human would dare to fight a terrifying demon head-on?

The fact that human beings can stand firm in this dark world shows that their courage itself is as great as that of monsters and demons.

But this desperate world is always so ruthless. A hemp rope will break at the thinnest part, and misfortune will find only the unfortunate.

The human defenses were already precarious, yet the demonic army chose this very spot to launch a breakthrough. A powerful Chaos Champion, wielding a great axe and riding a massive fleshhound, burst through the horde of monsters and crashed directly into the human defenses.

It held a huge bronze axe burning with flames in each hand, and the axe blade flew among the crowd, chopping off four heads in the blink of an eye!
Even on the cliff, Su Li could feel the fear of the human armed servants below. More than a dozen armed servants standing in front of him held their spears tremblingly and retreated step by step in fear.

This made the Khorne Champion laugh excitedly: "Hahaha, I can already sense your disgusting cowardice! I will chop you all into pieces! To complete my goal of chopping off 200 heads today!"

200 heads chopped off!
This is not impossible for the Champion of Khorne.

In a fairly evenly matched battle, a chosen one or champion favored by Khorne can often wreak havoc on the battlefield wielding a giant blade of slaughter, killing more people than a squadron of demons.

If it is really allowed to continue slaughtering without restraint, the human army may suffer heavy losses!
Orstein then rushed forward with a war hammer in his hand. He suddenly jumped up and smashed the war hammer hard on the head of the monster's mount.

Shoot people first, shoot horses, and capture thieves first.

This champion of the Sun Goddess always uses various tactics perfectly in battle.

The flesh hound obviously couldn't withstand such a fierce attack. Its limbs collapsed and it staggered to the ground.

Without giving it a chance to stand up, Knight Orstein's pet, the lion mastiff, suddenly pounced on its body and bit its back frantically.

The Khorne champion holding a battle axe immediately became furious and raised the bloody battle axe to chop the wild dog into pieces!
But Knight Orstein was just as fast. He did not block the opponent's battle axe, but instead smashed his hammer straight at the opponent's head.

He was betting that the war had just begun and the other side had not yet had enough fun, so he would never be willing to fall so easily.

Followers of the Sun Goddess always plan everything before fighting and are good at crushing their opponents with overwhelming tactical advantages.

And everything happened just as he expected. The blood-red eyes of the Khorne champion were filled with the desire to kill, and he was not willing to fall so easily.

He could only withdraw the giant axe, parrying the Orstein Knight's hammer with one hand, and swinging the giant axe at the Orstein Knight's head with the other hand. Only defending and not attacking was not the creed of the Khorne Champion.

He roared angrily, "I will chop you all into pieces and use your heads to please the great Blood God."

This is the teaching of Khorne: mercy is an excuse for the weak. Do not let any prey go, or you will become the prey of the Blood God!

Amid his angry roar, the war hammer and the giant axe collided, and both of them staggered back a few steps at the same time.

At this moment, the two of them finally took their opponent seriously at the same time.

On this bloody battlefield, the champion warriors of the Sun Goddess and the Blood God Khorne engaged in a fierce battle.

Su Li was watching in shock from the cliff. The strength of the monster army was far beyond his imagination!

A random demon could actually engage in a fierce, agonizing battle with the mightiest champion commander of the Hessen Territory. Looking down from above, one could see golden auras and blood-red axes clashing across the vast battlefield, their blows piercing flesh. The Orlstein Knight was frequently slashed back, while the Khorne Champion was repeatedly crushed to the ground. Any other warrior would have been hacked to pieces by such a terrifying onslaught, yet the two men roared and fought without a pause.

Su Li took a deep breath and asked Hildurde, "Aren't we going to execute our tactics yet? If Commander Orstein dies, our losses in this battle will be too great."

Hildre said firmly, "It's not time yet. Commander Orstein must persevere. He still has the Earthblood Potion in his hand, so he won't fall so easily."

Su Li felt his scalp tingling and asked, "How long do we have to wait? A Khorne Champion is so terrifying. I can't imagine how powerful the combat power of that huge Khorne Chosen is."

Hildurde frowned and looked into the distance. The Chosen One of Khorne, who was over thirty meters tall, was advancing rapidly in the huge wave. He did not hesitate at all, which meant that these monsters rushing over were just appetizers for the blood tide!

Hirud said solemnly, "Although Khorne's followers sometimes see him appear in the form of terrifying hounds, giant mastiffs, and wild and unruly young bulls, in reality, there are very few animals directly associated with him. Only some animals are sometimes driven to the forefront of his army's battles, which means that these animals are more likely to be simply slaughtered in Khorne's glory."

"So we must withstand the first wave of these monsters before we can face their main force. Executing this tactic now would mean the battle is over before we even engage them. The main force of the monster army will bypass this rock-covered canyon and continue south of the Crimson Highlands. We must let the main force of the monsters in and inflict heavy damage before we can completely drive out this demonic army!"

Upon hearing this, Su Li felt the blood in his body run several degrees colder. The war was already so horrific, but it had not yet entered the stage of real fighting. Were all these monsters just appetizers driven by the Blood God to bathe in his glory?

Su Li regretted intervening in this war! Is there no one in this world who can stop these rampant demons without him? It's not like the empire can't function without him.

Fortunately, he was not that fragile and he quickly adjusted his mentality.

Indeed, he wasn't the sole savior. Even without him in the southwest and southeast of the empire, humanity was still able to hold its ground and gradually curb the rampant monsters.

But here in the Grey Mountains Province, it is very likely that if he did not intervene, a large number of dwarf fortresses such as Redbeard Keep would disappear silently and completely under the ravages of the demons.

Once the rampaging demon army moves south, he will have no ability to resist!

In this dark world, humans and dwarves must unite and help each other to resist the darkness and survive together.

Just like the battlefield at this moment, the human front is in some danger, but the dwarves did not stand idly by.

A dozen dwarf detonator miners, regardless of the risks, crossed the battlefield and appeared in the jagged human lines. They suddenly threw terrible detonator explosive packs to the front of the front line of the battle, where the monsters were most concentrated.

Amidst the earth-shaking roar, flames exploded and countless demonic monsters were blown to pieces!
The huge blow and the terrible sound instantly triggered the fear in the beasts' genetic instincts. A large number of hounds wailed, their hair standing on end, and fled in panic.

More than forty bloodletting vampire cavalrymen and Red Crown cultists who were fighting hard in the human line were frightened by their mounts and evacuated in a hurry.

Knight Orstein decisively seized the moment when the opponent's morale was shaken, and suddenly burst out. The lion flames on his body surged, and the hammer in his hand burst out with surging golden light, directly hitting the chest of the Khorne champion.

This two-meter-tall, heavily armored man was actually knocked back more than eight meters. A huge dent appeared on the powerful armor enchanted on his body, and his chest was completely shattered and flattened.

Knight Orstein continued to advance violently, stepping on his body and smashing down the monster with the golden hammer in his hand again and again. The monster's flesh and blood flew everywhere, and its entire head was completely smashed!
In this duel between the champion of the Solari and the champion of Khorne, Orstein finally won the victory by chopping off the monster's head, holding high his huge blood-red helmet, roaring to the sky, and raising his arms!
The demon hounds were so frightened that they didn't even dare to look back, and fled the battlefield in fear.

But before the humans and dwarves could catch their breath, a huge black shadow burning with blood and fire enveloped the entire battlefield!

(End of this chapter)