Chapter 73: The Treemen Mobilize
“Warriors, it’s our time to shine! Charge with me!”
Mackart, the First Warrior of the Treemen, shouted, leading the way as he rushed towards Silnas Fortress.
Though the Treemen looked rather slow, they were taking big strides with impressive speed.
Thus, the Treemen advanced quickly, radiating an aura of ferocity.
The human forces still besieging the fortress had no idea that trouble was quickly looming behind them.
After launching a full-scale attack, the humans soon realized that the elves’ will to resist far exceeded their expectations.
Even after breaching the city gates, there was no intent to retreat.
This was completely different from their earlier experiences at the landing point.
This unexpected resistance hindered the human advance, making each step forward exceedingly difficult.
After all, the individual quality of the human soldiers was still inferior to that of the Elven soldiers, and now their numerical advantage was hard to leverage.
Inside the fortress, Hela signaled the attack and said to Airael, “Your Majesty, I have released the attack signal as instructed. Please hurry and leave this dangerous place.”
There was an undertone of urgency in her words.
However, Airael didn’t seem to care at all. She responded to Hela, “Teacher Hela, I can’t leave just yet! We must hold the city gates and walls; only then can we achieve victory. Since the gates are gone, let me be the new gate of this fortress!”
She said it with a serious expression.
The surrounding elves were taken aback by her words.
In fact, Airael was also taking a gamble.
At this point, she really had no choice but to place her bets.
If they didn’t gamble, retreating would still mean defeat. But if they did gamble, and the Treemen’s surprise attack proved effective, they could win this battle.
Seeing that Hela was still processing what she said, Airael decided to ignore them.
Instead, she turned to the Elven soldiers holding back the human onslaught and shouted, “Warriors of the Elven race, I am your queen—Airael! Although our gates have been breached by the vile humans, please trust me, we still have a chance for victory. From now on, I will fight by your side to defeat the despicable human race!”
With those words, Airael raised the Staff of Eternity high above her head and struck it down onto the ground before her with force.
In the next moment, a golden magic circle appeared under her feet, and magical elements wildly gathered around her.
Lightning!
Then, Airael unleashed her strongest magic at her disposal.
This time, the lightning sphere she controlled pierced through the air, bypassing the Elven soldiers ahead and landing among the human lines further ahead.
The point of explosion sent arcs of lightning and shockwaves, disturbing numerous human soldiers.
“Fight! Fight! Fight!…”
The Elven soldiers simultaneously chanted, pushing the front line back a bit and compelling the human soldiers to retreat.
Watching this unfold, Airael’s face broke into a smile.
This was the effect she wanted.
As long as they could hold their ground, the approaching Treemen could disrupt the now-disorganized human troops, giving them at least a sixty percent chance of victory.
Moreover, the elves had not yet reached a desperate situation.
Just as Airael contemplated certain elves, others were arriving with reinforcements.
The crisis at the front had already reached the Inner Fortress.
After hearing this news, Sally, who was tasked with guarding the Inner Fortress, immediately gathered her team to support the soldiers retreating from the front lines.
Of course, the more important task was to retrieve Airael, who had yet to return to the Inner Fortress.
In addition to this, there was also Domiya, the Grand Mage, leading a team.
Even though their combined force wasn’t large, they provided a robust new strength for the tense Elven lines.
Thus, upon their arrival, Airael quickly briefed them on the situation, readying them to join the battle.
The incoming reinforcements bolstered the Elven defense, making it momentarily more solid.
At that moment, the Treemen also broke through the forest and arrived on the battlefield.
As part of their dramatic entrance, a group of human scouts was thrown out from the forest by the Treemen warriors.
Although these scouts had spotted the swiftly advancing Treemen warriors earlier, they had already become prey to the Treemen in the woods.
The forest belonged solely to the Treemen!
The disposed human scouts lay motionless on the ground, clearly dead.
As Mackart observed the human army, engrossed in their siege efforts, he didn’t say much, merely uttering a single word: “Kill!”
Then, his massive form charged headlong into the human forces.
The other Treemen warriors closely followed behind him.
At this point, it was impossible for the human army to miss the Treemen’s appearance.
Victor watched the sudden emergence of the Treemen warriors, his expression shifting drastically, then exclaimed in surprise, “What are those things?”
“They must be Treemen,” Suratu replied calmly.
Yet inside, he was anything but calm.
The arrival of the Treemen shattered their initial plans.
This race had not appeared in the public eye for quite some time.
So much so that Suratu had nearly forgotten about them.
Looking at the unstoppable force that the Treemen warriors presented, Suratu continued, “Your Highness, we must act quickly to stop them; we cannot let the Treemen continue to advance.”
In that moment, Victor regained his composure and began organizing a defensive line as Suratu suggested.
However, at this point, the human army was primarily focused on the siege, and it was chaotic.
The troops Victor recalled were unable to form a cohesive formation in a timely manner.
A loose and disorganized setup would not withstand the charge of such massive Treemen.
Though the Treemen wielded no weapons, their enormous bodies served as their best weapons.
For example, their arms could stretch and contract, turning into flexible branches that could bind or strike human soldiers.
Thus, with just one charge, the makeshift human defense was utterly shattered.
Countless human soldiers were hurled into the air by the Treemen’s onslaught and came crashing down to the ground.
Then, amidst the chaos, Treemen warriors, led by Mackart, began their merciless slaughter.
The human soldiers found themselves utterly powerless against them.
“Damn it, where the heck did these guys come from?” Victor gritted his teeth, glaring at the rampaging Treemen warriors.
If these Treemen continued their advance, the entire human formation would soon collapse.
And they would be defeated.
