Chapter 332

======[Northern Army]======

A straight-line dash through the forest.

For the knights, a grueling march that was nothing short of horrifying had begun.

“Incoming projectiles! Raise shields—!”

The knights in charge of defense simultaneously lifted their shields.

The rocks and wooden spears hurled by the beastmen violently pounded against the shield wall.

“Ugh…!”

The knights felt pain as if their arms might break, but they didn’t let go of their shields.

If they couldn’t hold on, it wouldn’t be their arms but their necks that would break. Both for themselves and their comrades running beside them.

“Don’t stop! Keep running! Don’t let them latch onto us!”

Valdemar, leading the charge, swung his greatsword to deflect a boulder and shouted.

“Shoot! It’s fine if you don’t hit! Just slow them down!”

Karl’s command followed.

The master-level knights were too busy, so it was his job to direct the inner knights.

“Damn beastmen!”

“Fall back!”

Knights without shields kept running while constantly counterattacking.

They hurled spears to pierce trees and drew their bows toward the barely visible sky.

Unlucky beastmen who got hit screamed and fell.

There wasn’t enough time to aim carefully, so not many were hit, but it was enough to slow down the barrage of projectiles.

While the knights fought, the masters were also busy engaging in combat.

Their role was crucial to breaking through the forest filled with beastmen.

They had to stop the charging warlords trying to disrupt their formation while also clearing a path forward.

There was no time to gang up on a single warlord like before.

“Don’t you dare stand there!”

“Denied!”

Abigail, charging through the trees, was knocked down by Aingen’s counterattack.

Though Aingen’s skill was inferior to Abigail’s, the electrified saw-toothed sword allowed him to create an opening and deflect the attack.

“Running away, Valdemar?”

“No, my lord is advancing. Don’t you know that, beast?”

Richard, a master of Faelun, parried a polar bear beastman’s punch with his greatsword.

Even with a perfect stance, the force nearly broke his arm, but Richard showed no sign of strain as he swung his sword.

“You think I’ll let you go that easily?”

“You know me well! Do I look like I’d let you go easily?”

Lyudmila’s thrown spear clashed with Milia’s arrow, scattering a blizzard of snow.

Milia, wielding a short iron bow instead of her usual longbow, was at a disadvantage in power compared to the spear.

But if one arrow wasn’t enough, she could shoot two or three.

By the time Lyudmila threw one spear, Milia had already drawn her bowstring three times.

Most arrows flew toward the spear to cancel it out, but a few were aimed directly at Lyudmila.

This forced Lyudmila to stop throwing spears and dodge frantically.

“That damn archer…!”

Lyudmila, rolling on the ground again, gritted her teeth.

She had no choice but to dodge the arrows. Getting hit directly in her still-unhealed state was far too dangerous.

“I’ll crush you, humans!”

Victor, the elephant beastman, swung three curved swords wildly.

His massive size and wide attack range made it impossible for a single master to stop him.

“Where do you think you’re going, beast!”

There were six masters of Faelun, excluding Valdemar.

Originally, there were seven, but one had fallen in battle against monsters in the Venes territory, leaving only six.

“I’ll carve that trunk of yours!”

Two of them took on Victor, while the remaining two cut down beastmen blocking the path alongside Valdemar.

Leonor, Damien, and Freide moved fluidly within the formation.

Damien leaped up whenever there was an opening to strike down beastmen attacking from above, while Leonor and Freide ran around reinforcing weak points.

—

“This is bad…! We can’t stop them…!”

Nazar, the fox beastman, bristled with frustration.

He had been confident that the humans would eventually realize the purpose of the delaying tactics, but their response was too quick.

They were willing to take some losses, focusing solely on breaking through the forest.

Even as some fell to projectiles and others bled from the warriors’ attacks.

The beastmen, too, were weakened from the continuous fighting and couldn’t stop them.

Even with hit-and-run tactics using the terrain, casualties were inevitable, and the injuries from their attacks weren’t easily healed.

‘At this rate, they’ll break out of the forest by tomorrow!’

His perked-up ears trembled with dismay. After that, delaying tactics like this would be impossible.

In open terrain, every attack would come with countless sacrifices.

‘In that case…!’

Gritting his teeth, Nazar kicked off a tree and launched himself.

Toward the king, who was locked in a fierce battle against the Beastman Devourer.

The Winter Wolf and the Beastman Devourer.

Only those two were completely separated from the formation.

Every time they clashed, the shockwaves swept the surroundings, making it impossible to fight near allies.

Of course, Rurik, who only needed to break the enemy formation, tried to charge toward the humans whenever he could, but Hashal took on some risk to…

It was thoroughly blocking it.

“Where do you think you’re going with just one arm?!”

“Grrrr…!”

At the point where his arm was gone, the skilled fighter had become a step above, so even Ryurik couldn’t find an opening.

Even if he tried to cut off his neck and throw it toward the enemy lines, Ha-shal-leur’s charge was much faster than his regeneration and landing.

The advantage of the forest terrain meant nothing in front of her.

The crimson tentacles stretched out like spider legs, grabbing onto the surrounding branches, and she leaped through the air, pushing off the ground and tree trunks, reminiscent of Abigail’s tactics.

If there were a monkey beastman, would it be like her?

She was a woman who wielded the beastman’s unique tactics better than any beastman.

“You were acting all cocky saying winter had come, but did spring arrive already? It’s not cold at all!”

“That sounds great!”

Jin, upside down like a handstand, swung his sword.

Ryurik, leaning back to dodge, spun around and kicked Ha-shal-leur.

[How dare you!]

The curtain of Life Force, blooming like a flower bud, blocked Ryurik’s claws and shattered.

The weakened kick landed on Ha-shal-leur’s armor.

“Ugh!”

Even weakened, the beastman king’s strength, weight, and momentum were concentrated in that one strike. The armor that took the kick shattered into pieces.

Ha-shal-leur, floating in the air, exhaled sharply and flew backward. Or rather, she tried to.

-Swish!

The crimson tentacle that sprouted from her left arm wrapped around Ryurik’s leg like a chain.

Ignoring the searing pain as if her side had been torn apart, Ha-shal-leur pulled her left arm with all her might.

Her body, which had been flying backward, came to an abrupt stop.

The shock of the sudden stop made her shoulder ache as if it would dislocate, but at least she prevented the distance from widening.

“If you wanted to kill me, you should have gone for the head!”

Ha-shal-leur, baring her fangs in a smile, grabbed the entangled tentacle and leaped.

Her body shot toward Ryurik like lightning.

“Next time, I will!”

Ryurik roared fiercely and severed the Life Force chain binding his leg with the blade on his left arm.

A sharp pain twisted his face. Blood dripped from his calf, likely cut when he kicked.

======[Varyakrus]======

Varyakrus, the beastman nation founded by Ryurik.

At the fortress on its front lines, six great warriors had gathered.

Oleg, who had rushed to the fortress with all his might, and five of the eight great warriors who had remained in Varyakrus.

They were waiting here, prepared for any emergency, while the other three guarded the capital, Novgorod.

And now, the emergency they had been waiting for had just arrived.

“His Majesty needs us?”

“Yes. We could have destroyed Faelun Castle if we fought a little longer, but Valdemar’s reinforcements arrived too quickly. Unfortunately, we had no choice but to retreat.”

The jaguar beastman, Arseny, tilted his head and looked at Oleg.

His attitude suggested he couldn’t believe it.

“Hard to believe. I didn’t think there was anyone who could stop His Majesty.”

The lioness beastman next to Arseny, Kseniya, flicked her tail against the floor and muttered.

The Ryurik she had seen was a monster, far from the word “defeat.”

“But it’s true, Kseniya. Have you heard of the Beastman Devourer? The human hero, as the rumors say, lived up to his reputation. He held his ground against His Majesty. Moreover, we were short on great warriors. With human masters ganging up two or three at a time, even His Majesty couldn’t hold them off.”

In reality, it was more than just holding ground—he had even cut off one of Ryurik’s arms.

But Oleg didn’t elaborate on Ha-shal-leur’s strength. They wouldn’t believe it until they saw it themselves.

“The main force is currently retreating toward the north wall. The pursuers are following, but they don’t have large numbers either. If you join us, we’ll have a good chance.”

Oleg’s words were true.

With four hundred pure-blood warriors and five great warriors, they had enough to handle the pursuers.

“Hmm… It seems His Majesty is indeed in danger.”

The gray bear beastman, Yevgeny, stroked his chin.

The saber-toothed tiger beastman, Lavrentiy, next to Yevgeny, looked at him intently.

Yevgeny gave a slight nod.

“What do you think will happen if support is delayed, Oleg?”

The final question came from the rhinoceros beastman, Maxim.

“…Even His Majesty cannot win without your support. Varyakrus will lose its king.”

“I see… That’s how it is.”

Maxim sighed after hearing Oleg’s answer.

Meanwhile, Arseny and Kseniya were also exchanging meaningful glances with Yevgeny.