Lord: I can see loyalty.

The dark, swarming herd of beasts rolled in like a roaring tide, the muddy ground and giant trees trembling under the trampling of countless hooves, the stench almost suffocating.

"Hold your ground! Form ranks and raise your guns!" Jimmy reacted the fastest and gave the order without hesitation.

He stood at the very front of the Knights' wedge formation, his sharp eyes scanning the enemy. Faced with such an exaggerated charge, any fancy techniques were superfluous; only the purest courage and discipline mattered.

"Azure-Clad Knight, follow me!"

"kill!!!"

More than twenty Azure Peak Knights roared in unison, and their uniformly styled spears, forged from magic ore, were simultaneously laid flat.

Under the rigorous training of their commander Jimmy, even in such complex terrain, their ability to launch attacks and counter-attacks is extremely strong.

The distance between the two sides is rapidly decreasing!

Fifty steps! Thirty steps! Ten steps!

Just as the corrupt giant bear at the very front opened its blood-red maw, dripping with black mud, and was about to pounce on the front lines...

Jimmy made his move.

He did not rely solely on the force of his body's impact, but at the last moment, he suddenly twisted his body and, taking advantage of the bear's forward lunge, plunged his longsword into the bear's relatively soft armpit at a tricky angle!

"Aww!!"

The spear tip tore through the fur, muscle, and black grime on the skin, and blood gushed out instantly!

The giant bear let out a deafening howl, its charge abruptly halted. Its massive body staggered and swayed to one side, knocking a decaying wild boar flying.

Without pausing, Jimmy used the momentum to draw his sword, sweeping it horizontally to decapitate a rotting wolf that was trying to sneak up on him!

His movements were concise yet powerful, showcasing his intermediate-level skill in dune swordsmanship to the fullest. It was not just about swordsmanship, but also about integrating movement techniques and tactics.

"Well done, Commander!" The knights behind him were greatly encouraged and followed the gap opened by Jimmy, charging into the beast tide!

Long spears thrust, sharp blades slashed, and the roars of knights and the howls of beasts mingled together.

Although most knights failed to master the essence of magic ore weapons, the hardness and sharpness of magic ore weapons were a great advantage, making it easier to break through those hard mud shells and thick skins.

However, the number of beast tides was simply too great!

The knights' offensive was like hitting cotton; although it was powerful, it bounced back instantly... The beasts surged forward again, and the knights were stuck in the muddy path, fighting their own battles.

"Glenn! Left flank breach!" came Ansquie's roar as the deputy commander.

He was leading a makeshift force of militia and knights, desperately holding off an attack from the left flank, mainly composed of corrupted boars and wolves.

The shields in the hands of the knights and militiamen thudded and their spears broke.

"Hmm!" came a slightly suppressed voice in response.

Glenn's imposing figure charged towards the horde of beasts like a chariot. He ignored the small and medium-sized wild beasts that pounced on him, gripped the door-sized magic ore greatsword tightly with both hands, and unleashed the simplest and most violent slash without any fancy moves!

boom!!!

Where the sword wind passed, blood and flesh flew everywhere!

A rotting wild boar king was cleaved in two at the waist, its stinking entrails spilling all over the ground, while two wolves that pounced at it were knocked away by the back of the sword.

Glenn used overwhelming force to carve out a bloody, beast-free zone from the wild beasts, temporarily stabilizing the situation.

His eyes burned with rage, and every swing of his sword was an expression of his hatred for that black mud monster.

On the right wing, Xavier's performance was quite different.

He did not rush to the front, but calmly directed the moving formation composed of militia crossbowmen and spearmen.

"Crossbowmen should prioritize targeting Sky Birds!"

"Spearmen, form a formation and create distance from those giant pythons. That's right, maintain distance and wear them down!"

Under his command, the right-wing defense, though retreating step by step, was orderly and minimized casualties.

Xavier himself, wielding a slender rapier, moved along the edge of the formation, specifically targeting those troublesome targets that broke through the defenses.

In the center of the battlefield, Jimmy still led from the front, surrounded by knights and elite militia, like a pillar holding back the fiercest attack.

The one-eyed captain from Savannah village stood guard on either side of him, using his shield and battle axe to protect him from attacks from blind spots, working seamlessly with the other knights.

But the battle was still extremely fierce.

Soon, a knight revealed a weakness and was overwhelmed by the horde of beasts, while the militiamen fell with their final screams.

The corrupted beasts also suffered heavy casualties, with severed limbs quickly filling the swamp.

Supported by key figures like Jimmy, the human defenses, despite constant attacks, never collapsed and steadily advanced towards the other side of the swamp.

……

On the other side, Vio and the others cleared the beast-taming barbarians from the open space, rested briefly, and did not linger.

The sounds of fierce fighting coming from afar made them realize the gravity of the situation.

"The sound is coming from further ahead, deeper than where we are." Albright listened intently, her face grave. "Chief Jimmy and the others might already be ahead, but judging from this noise, they're probably in big trouble."

Vio closed his eyes, sensed the increasingly strong stench in the air, and, combining this with the sound, nodded: "That's right, we need to speed up and get to the support."

He glanced around at the team, who, despite their brief rest, still looked exhausted.

Vio took a deep breath, activated his sand breathing technique, and raised the "Southern Will" sword high, its blade pointing forward: "Fellow travelers of the South! Our brothers are fighting a fierce battle; every moment of delay increases the danger! Follow me!"

"Forward!" the Southern Militia roared in unison, their exhaustion overshadowed by their intense fighting spirit. They followed Vio and Gina, charging forward through the twisted forest along the marks left by the advance Cooper hunters.

The change in strategy led to increased efficiency. The pioneering Cooper hunters, true to their nature as children of the forest, always managed to find relatively easy routes with fewer enemies.

Occasionally, they would encounter small groups of Harlow barbarians, but the four of them—Vio, Gina, Albright, and Valerie—were enough to quickly deal with them.

However, the good times did not last long.

Just as they burst out of an exceptionally dense thicket, the scenery ahead changed, revealing a relatively flat but rugged depression, from which the sounds of knights fighting could be heard.

But immediately afterward, countless Haro barbarians sprang up like mushrooms after rain from behind the boulders opposite and on both sides of the depression!

Although the number is not large, roughly speaking, there are about a hundred people.

But in the center of this group of barbarians, several exceptionally burly barbarian warriors, their bodies smeared with intricate white mud patterns, surrounded several figures.

Those were several barbarian priests!

They were similar to the one Vio had killed before, draped in filthy animal skins and wielding wooden staffs wrapped in black mud and feathers.

The one in the very center was adorned with ornate animal hide and bone ornaments, and wore an ill-fitting, enormous green patterned mask. He stared intently at Vio and the others, uttering rapid, strange syllables.

As they chanted, the barbarian warriors in front of them became even more crazed, their skin glowed green, they panted heavily, and their aura suddenly increased!

This distance is enough for Vio to bring up the control panel.

【Characteristics: High Priest of the Earth, physically enhanced, devout】

High Priest? Vio's expression changed. Although he had never heard of him, he couldn't help but feel apprehensive after witnessing the abilities of the Earth Priest.

"Stop!" Vio raised his arm, and the team quickly contracted, forming a semi-circular defensive formation facing the depression.

The militiamen kept their eyes fixed on the enemy, their faces grim, taking the time to catch their breath and grip their shields and spears tightly.

Time is running out.

Vio slowly adjusted his breathing, his breathing technique accelerating, and a faint grayish-black hue appeared beneath his skin. He whispered to Albright and Gina beside him:

"We must act quickly; our target is those priests... especially the one in the middle."

He looked up at the earth priests who seemed to be preparing some kind of spell, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"charge!"