"AWOOOO~!!"
A long, drawn-out horn blast echoed from afar. The moment he heard it, Lucius's body reacted instinctively!
He summoned every ounce of strength to drive his thigh muscles into the ground, propelling his body to the right, narrowly avoiding the Greenskin's axe strike.
"Bloodmother!"
Not far from where Lucius and the Orc fought, a Khorngor—covered in wounds and soaked in both his own and his enemies' blood—let out a roar.
With a throwing axe, he smashed the Greenskin from behind, sending it face-down into the dirt.
Watching the massive figure collapse toward him, Lucius didn't have time to think; he reflexively raised his longsword.
A massive force traveled through the hilt into his arms, but at the same time, the blade pierced the Big 'Un's jaw.
The falling weight of the Orc pinned Lucius to the ground, and a cold sensation pressed against his face.
He thought death had finally come and closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh of relief.
When he felt no further movement, he opened them to find the hideous face of a Greenskin frozen above him, staring eye-to-eye.
Lucius's weapon had entered its throat and, pressed by the Big 'Un's weight, had burst out the back of its neck.
The flat of the blade was pressing against his face, which was the source of the cold he felt.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was alive, but in this situation, living now only meant waiting to die later.
The Khorngor whose throwing axe had saved Lucius walked over.
He hoisted the Orc's corpse and tossed it aside, then extended his left hand to the fallen Lucius.
Lucius froze, looking up at that face—soaked in blood, topped with horns, and looking even more murderous and terrifying than a Greenskin.
He used all his strength to prop himself up, grabbed the Khorngor's hand, and was pulled from the ground.
An inexplicable surge of energy flowed into his limbs; he felt as though he had the strength to keep fighting.
But even more Greenskins were closing in on them.
At this moment, there were no other allies near Lucius and the Khorngor; they were trapped in an encirclement.
A human and a Beastman stood back-to-back, fighting side-by-side.
A hundred and fifty years ago, after the failure of the Great War, this would have been impossible.
Before some Beastmen followed the "All-Father" away from Chaos, crossed Athel Loren, and became the Forest Beastmen free of corruption, such a thing was unheard of.
Even today, a hundred and fifty years later, in the Old World—the Empire, Bretonnia, and the Southern Kingdoms—the status of Beastmen remained incredibly low.
Accepting them into an army was a near-zero probability event, unless as camp followers or slave labor.
"We shall fight as brothers until death, yet I do not even know your name."
Lucius stepped on the Big 'Un's shoulder, pulling his blood-slicked weapon from its throat with effort.
He pressed back against the Khorngor's spine, wary of the Greenskins surrounding them from all sides, and muttered to himself.
"I am Lucius Corens."
"Kats. Kats Bloodhoof."
The Khorngor's voice sounded incredibly heavy, like the beating of a drum covered in thick hide.
"The Bloodmother watches us! Today, we ascend to the Black Iron Throne together!"
"Blood for... the Bloodmother!"
Kats's roar went from a low rumble to a high-pitched scream, containing a blood-hungry madness.
The emotion in that war cry was so fervent it ignited a craving for glory and an honorable death within Lucius's own heart.
"Skulls for the Throne!" the man growled, echoing the Khorngor's shout.
The Greenskins seemed to sense the intense battle-lust of these two—the Beastman Big 'Un and the human "stuntie."
Though calling him a stuntie wasn't quite right; he looked like he could WAAAAAGH! a bit, at least for a human boy.
They gripped their weapons and closed the circle.
"AWOOOO~~!!"
Another long horn blast sounded. A commotion rippled through the Greenskins.
They not only stopped their advance but began looking around, appearing confused.
Lucius and Kats didn't understand what it meant and maintained their back-to-back defensive stance.
"BOOM-BOOM~~!!"
A sudden, rapid beat of war drums echoed from outside the city.
The sound made many Greenskins look even more bewildered and panicked.
Many "Good Boyz" and Big 'Uns even dropped their aggressive postures, scratching their heads and looking left and right.
A moment later, some Greenskins turned and ran back toward where they came from.
Others stayed in place, seemingly losing their desire to attack for the moment.
This was an incredibly strange occurrence for Greenskins.
Lucius couldn't fathom the scene, but his gut told him that maybe he and Kats would have a chance to arrive at the Bloodmother's domain a bit later, for that eternal struggle for glory.
"Toward the banner... there are the fewest enemies. We can try to break out..."
Kats stood back-to-back with him, his beast-eyes constantly scanning the surroundings.
"Agreed. While a glorious death is fine, if I can kill one more enemy for His Highness on his great journey, my glory will be even more dazzling."
Lucius endured the throbbing numbness in his legs, moving his heavy muscles.
Gritting his teeth, he said, "I can still run. If I can't make it, you go on ahead."
The two gripped their weapons and moved slowly, heading toward the city center.
Just as they intended to take advantage of the Greenskins' sudden confusion to break out, several screeches pierced the sky.
Large shadows streaked across the ground over the heads of the Orcs, Lucius, and Kats.
"Griffons..."
Kats reacted to the screeches instantly, his tone turning fanatical: "It's the Griffons!"
Before Lucius could process it, he heard Kats mutter: "It's the Chosen's mounts... that unique, majestic roar."
In his crimson beast-eyes, a trembling emotion called joy overflowed.
"Prince Al has arrived on the battlefield!"
The Khorngor suddenly stepped away, breaking their back-to-back stance.
With a sword in one hand and an axe in the other, he knelt on one knee in the center of the battlefield, looking up at the sky.
Lucius was so panicked he didn't even have time to call Kats back before a winged monster descended from the heavens, crashing into the Greenskin ranks.
"ROAR!"
A majestic aerial predator of the wilds, a Wyvern that soared between the mountain peaks!
It spun in place within the Greenskin huddle, sending Orcs flying and clearing a space.
Its lizard-like head tilted down, its beast-eyes looking at the praying Kats and Lucius.
Branded upon the Wyvern's forehead was a mark—a hexagram set within an eight-pointed star!
A Tribal Wyvern!
"My Father's grace flows within me. Today—I shall fight to the death here in His name!"
Kats shouted, standing tall.
"Sons of Al!"
The Khorngor let out an earth-shattering roar, his figure rushing out like a crimson whirlwind!
He charged straight into the Greenskin positions.
"FOR THE TRIBE!"
A Griffon suddenly dropped altitude, flying low over Kats's head, charging with him into the Greenskin ranks, instantly crushing several Orcs.
Kats split a blocking Orc Big 'Un with his axe and took its head with a clean sword stroke.
He ferociously pounced on another Orc Boy who was dazed by the sudden change.
After taking its head with ease, he transformed into a killing machine.
The man and the beast, who had never trained together, coordinated seamlessly.
Amidst enemies numbering a hundred times their own, they whipped up a gale of death!
Lucius watched the scene, dumbfounded.
Didn't they say they were breaking out to wait for backup?
In a team fight of 2 against N, his teammate just used a flash to initiate.
In his shock, Lucius also suddenly realized the truth.
The Wyverns, the Griffons, the fanatical Kats, the Greenskin retreat, the appearance of the Tribal Monster Legion...
Every sign pointed to a single reality:
The reinforcements from the main tribal camp had arrived!