“What is that?”

Marquis Wade wasn’t the only one to notice the movement in the direction of the cannibal camp. The four regiments engaged in battle also detected the unusual activity.

Those four enormous, three-meter-tall cannibal chiefs were exceedingly conspicuous. From afar, they exerted immense pressure on the Northern Expeditionary Army. The army’s senior officers all agreed: the chiefs could not be allowed to freely maneuver on the battlefield.

In a show of tacit coordination, the four Great Knights who had been overseeing the battle from the sidelines led their personal guards to engage the enemy head-on. Only by directly restraining these equals could the Northern Expeditionary Army hope to capitalize on their advantage in numbers.

The grotesque appearance of the Two-Headed Priest, on the other hand, coupled with his relatively slight build, allowed him to blend into the horde of cannibals, and for the time being, he went unnoticed by the Northern Expeditionary Army.

Compared to the regiment commanders engaged in battle, Marquis Wade, whose position gave him a broader field of vision, had a clearer view of the situation.

“There are too many young cannibals.”

Unlike the others, who focused their attention on the handful of cannibal chiefs, Marquis Wade took in more of the whole picture. In addition to those imposing chiefs, the composition of the entire cannibal tribe was now visible on the battlefield.

Normally, in a tribe of three thousand ogres, the number of young and middle-aged males would be between fifteen hundred and two thousand. At present, every single one of the ogres charging from their camp was a young or middle-aged male. Adding to the previous fifteen hundred, if this ratio held, then the tribe likely had no elderly, women, or children.

In a tribe of over three thousand ogres, at most only two or three hundred women and children were stationed outside the camp as decoys to fool the Northern Expeditionary Army’s scouts.

All of this was, of course, the work of the Two-headed Ogre priest. To set this trap, he had transferred all the young and middle-aged warriors from several large ogre tribes to the tribe currently engaged with the Northern Expeditionary Army.

Furthermore, he had gathered the elite soldiers from all four large tribes and presented an ostensible intent to advance east and destroy the northern lands’ production. This lured the Northern Expeditionary Army into attacking, at which point they would be annihilated in the Wilderness.

Yet what surprised the priest was the resolute stance of the Northern Expeditionary Army. Usually, to face a large ogre tribe, the Northern Expeditionary Army would mobilize a maximum of two divisions to meet them on equal footing.

Yet unexpectedly, the Northern Expeditionary Army sent nearly four full legions, transforming this engagement into an even match.

“Kill!”

“Bang!”

The Northern Expeditionary Army soldiers who rushed to intercept soon collided with the forces led by the Two-headed Ogre priest.

The Northern Expeditionary Army quickly realized that this horde of Ogres was different from the ones they had faced before.

“Damn, there’s so many Ogre warriors.”

Aside from the dog-headed people, who were essentially cannon fodder, the thousand-odd Ogres were all quasi-knight rank or higher, with dozens of them being true knights. Due to their innate racial abilities, human knights and great knights were at a disadvantage against these Ogre warriors and chiefs.

Without their numbers to compensate for their weaker individual strength, the Northern Expeditionary Army was quickly overwhelmed.

“Sir Lys, save me!”

Lys was the commander of the Northern Expeditionary Army’s First Legion and one of Flooding Snow City’s few great knights. Although he did not bear the prestigious Lancelot surname, he had still risen to the rank of great knight through his own strength, becoming one of the elite few at the apex of the northern lands’ pyramid.

However, Lys’s usual spirited vigor had vanished.

In his first exchange with a cannibal chief, he falls to his knees. A single blow from the monster’s mace left his hands numb, nearly wrenching the sword from his grip. Only by relying on his fiercely loyal, death-defying personal guard and a handful of knight-ranked officers was he able to hold his own against the cannibal chief.

Yet this balance did not hold for long. One of the knights under Captain Lys fell behind, his weapon smashed away by the cannibal chief’s mace, leaving him sprawling on the ground. The knight stared in despair at the Two-headed Ogre’s club as it descended, unable to do anything but cry out to Captain Lys for aid.

But Lys could not come to his rescue in time, and the knight died without even having the chance to scream, crushed like a bug beneath the cannibal chief’s mace.

Before Lys could mourn the loss of his trusted subordinate, the cannibal chief charged toward him once more. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and step forward to meet the attack.

A few cannibal chiefs could be held off with difficulty, but dozens of cannibal warriors overwhelmed the Northern Expeditionary Army’s lines outright.

Without enough knights to hold back the tide, the common soldiers were soon forced to face the powerful cannibal warriors head-on, relying solely on their mortal bodies to stave off the onslaught of these monstrous foes.

The ordinary soldiers of the Northern Expeditionary Army, faced with tanks, could only throw their lives into the breach. Their only hope was now in the hands of Marquis Wade, who commanded half a legion of reserves, as well as the cavalry flag group that had been maneuvering outside.

Marquis Wade, however, also faced a difficult choice. At this rate, the collapse of the army engaged in battle up ahead was only a matter of time, but he wasn’t certain that the strength he held in reserve would be enough to turn the tide.

This group of cannibals had proven far too formidable. Not only were they all young and strong, four chiefs and an abundance of demon warriors appeared all at once, completely beyond Marquis Wade’s control.

After a moment of hesitation, Marquis Wade issued the order for Veru to lead the cavalry in an attack.

Three regiments had already been pinned down by the enemy, unable to retreat. Cannibals ran faster than humans, and if they tried to retreat now, the result would only be an avalanche of rout.

Regardless of how strange these cannibals were, Marquis Wade had no choice but to brace himself and stake all his chips on this gamble.

Sometimes, war was like a game of poker, where the stakes were who could endure more, who was stronger, and who had better luck.

“Lancelot!”

“Lancelot!”

“Attack!”

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

After ordering Veru to attack, Marquis Wade also drew the sword at his side and personally led the last half of the reserve troops onto the battlefield.

Since he had already made his decision, Marquis Wade spared no hesitation in deploying all of his forces. At this point, any further reservations would have been foolish.

“Forward! Forward!”

The thunder of hoofbeats covered the sounds of slaughter on the battlefield as Veru, having received Marquis Wade’s permission, led his cavalry in a charge against the side of the giant demon.

The fresh cavalrymen, who had rested and prepared for this moment, lifted the spirits of the Northern Expeditionary Army soldiers on the verge of collapse. These veterans knew exactly what a concentrated charge by their cavalry brethren meant.

Compared to the Northern Expeditionary Army’s infantry, the cavalrymen caused a much greater commotion and were poised to deal significantly more damage.

The Two-headed Ogre priest seemed to have noticed Veru’s cavalry.

“Finally, they’ve come.”

“Shall we use it?”

“To secure victory, we must.”

“Very well, let’s hope this is the last time.”

After exchanging a few words, the Two-headed Ogre priest began chanting something incoherent. He then held his hands toward the sky and shouted, summoning a ball of red light from his palms.

“Go!”