“Bang!”

The cannibal demon warrior, who had already been forced back by Veru, once again charged forward to engage him.

Upon closer inspection, it was possible to see that the skin of the cannibal demon warriors glowed faintly red, and their muscles bulged as if they had grown significantly stronger.

“Clang!”

Sword and metal club collided, sending sparks flying and filling the air with an ear-piercing screech.

Veru parried the club with a powerful burst of energy, deflecting it aside.

The cannibal demon warrior, unable to withstand the force of Veru’s attack, took a step back, clearly on the defensive.

Yet despite having the upper hand, Veru felt no relief; rather, his heart sank.

Although these cannibal demon warriors were not weak, their skill placed them at the middle of the pack among knights. Without any other variables at play, Veru, with his half-step Great Knight abilities, was confident he could defeat one in thirty moves or fewer.

But now, for some unknown reason, the cannibal demon warriors had significantly increased in strength.

Veru was shocked as soon as he exchanged blows with the enemy. With the red line’s amplification, the Ogre warrior’s strength had risen to rival the peak of the knight tier, leaving only Veru capable of maintaining the upper hand.

The handful of knights who had followed him into the charge quickly found themselves at a disadvantage.

Few had the skill to keep up with Veru’s charge; all were at least quasi-knight level, yet even they were knocked off their horses.

Of course, knights did not die from simply being knocked off their steeds; many could flip and get back on to continue fighting. However, without their mobility, they steadily lost ground against their strategic objective: the Two-headed Ogre priest.

“Die!” Holding his sword in both hands, Veru launched a fierce attack against the Ogre warrior, forcing it into retreat.

Veru’s swordsmanship and personal cultivation were undoubtedly at the top of the knight tier; in some respects, he had already surpassed it.

Even the two-headed ogre, possessing the peak knight’s strength, could only block Veru’s full-power assault.

Clang!

Pfft!

After a dozen exchanges, Veru found an opening and shoved the two-headed ogre’s weapon aside with his longsword. Then, with a flip of his wrist, he stabbed the beast through the stomach.

“Hmph!”

The two-headed ogre let out a muffled grunt as the blade pierced its abdomen, but it retained the ability to fight. Its empty hands clenched into fists, and it attempted to smash Veru, who stood before it, but with the strength it possessed, a blow from its fist would not be unlike being hit by a heavy blunt weapon; it could very well deal fatal damage.

Veru, however, would not give the two-headed ogre another chance. He charged straight into the beast, using his entire body to wrench his sword free. The impact sent the two-headed ogre flying before it could land a single blow.

Blood spurted from the freshly drawn blade, splashing onto Veru’s armor and dyeing its bright color a dark crimson.

Veru, however, showed no mercy. He leapt toward the fallen Ogre warrior, struggling to rise, and slit its throat in one swift motion.

Yet killing an Ogre warrior with such effort did little to change the course of the battle. The red light had bolstered the Ogres, but not all of the Northern Expeditionary Army’s knights possessed Veru’s strength.

Humans were naturally weaker than Ogres, and their disadvantage was exacerbated by this enhancement. The knights had already been barely holding their own, and now, with the Ogres’ newfound boost, the battlefield swiftly tipped in favor of the enemy.

More and more casualties piled up among the Northern Expeditionary Army’s knights, and their ordinary soldiers were soon forced to face the Ogres head-on, their numbers dwindling rapidly.

Veru’s cavalry likewise lost their advantage in this final stretch, blocked off just a few steps away from the Two-headed Ogre priest. The dog-headed people, who had momentarily been cowed by the cavalry’s charge, seemed to have regained their senses; they swarmed toward the knights, who had lost their speed advantage.

The Ogre warriors had thrown many of the Northern Expeditionary Army’s cavalrymen and their horses to the ground.

In a sense, cavalrymen without their speed advantage were worse than infantrymen. At least infantrymen could form ranks and oppose the Ogres, but most of the time, cavalrymen had no choice but to face them alone.

“Through!”

Veru, seeing the Two-headed Ogre priest close at hand, grabbed a nearby battle bow. With a draw as powerful as a full moon, an arrow imbued with energy flew with pinpoint accuracy toward the Two-headed Ogre priest.

Yet the priest was even more wily than expected and collapsed to the ground the instant he sensed danger, thereby dodging Veru’s arrow.

Several Ogres then positioned themselves closely around the Two-headed Ogre priest, forming an impenetrable wall of flesh. Veru lost any chance he might have to strike the priest.

“Damn it.” Veru furiously tossed aside his bow and returned to hacking away at the Ogres with his sword.

“Thud!”

“Ah!”

“Charge the flanks, all units!”

After slaying another Ogre, Veru shouted orders to the remaining cavalrymen.

Watching another valued subordinate get crushed to death by the Ogres, yet powerless to come to his aid, Veru felt his own strength waning. He was already under siege by two Ogre warriors, and his depleted energy reserves left him teetering on the brink of collapse.

Veru had no choice but to abandon his plan to break through the Ogres’ defenses and kill the Two-headed Ogre priest. Instead, he ordered his subordinates to change their course slightly. The main force was only a few dog-headed people, after all.

Aside from the Two-headed Ogre priest’s tightly guarded position, their flanks were still vulnerable to the Northern Expeditionary Army’s cavalry.

Retracting their forces and regrouping for another charge would be far preferable to getting trapped in this quagmire.

While Veru’s unit was merely at a disadvantage, the other units of the Northern Expeditionary Army were nearing the brink of collapse.

The First Legion held up relatively well. It was the most elite unit of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and they had received support from Marquis Wade’s reserve troops, so their morale remained stable. Even though the sudden surge in power of the Ogres inflicted heavy casualties upon them, the soldiers of the First Legion remained resilient.

However, the other two legions struggled to hold their ground. The berserk Ogres caught their soldiers off guard, crushing those in front and sending them flying backward, which further exacerbated the psychological pressure on those remaining.

“Chī!”

After slaying another Ogre warrior, Marquis Wade looked up to survey the battlefield. The situation was even worse than he had anticipated. Veru, whom he had placed great hopes on, had not achieved satisfactory results.

“Kill! Death to those who retreat!”

Marquis Wade had no other choice but to have the Northern Expeditionary Army dig in and continue fighting. He didn’t know what exactly that red light was, but the Ogres’ heightened battle capabilities absolutely could not persist indefinitely.

As long as they could hold out until the Ogres’ condition subsided, the Northern Expeditionary Army would still have a chance.

It must be said that Marquis Wade’s insight was commendable. The berserk effect of the Two-headed Ogre priest’s magic would not last beyond two hours, and in fact, would leave the Ogres weakened for a period afterward.

Time was now the key to the entire battle. As long as the Northern Expeditionary Army could hold out until the berserk effect ended, the crisis would naturally resolve itself.

The sounds of battle cries and screams filled the air above the battlefield. The Ogres, each one enhanced by the berserk magic, ravaged the Northern Expeditionary Army’s lines like a bulldozer, soldiers were smashed away one after another, yet more stepped in to replace them mechanically.

Both sides became locked in an odd stalemate; while the Ogres wasted mostly physical strength, the Northern Expeditionary Army paid for their end with lives…