On the other side,
Far away from the desert huge army of beastmen were heading towards the red fort Margraviate,
In lead there were 4 more generals two were at level 70 one werewolf, named General Ragnar Blackmaw.
One kobold general, named General Skritch Venomtail.
Other two are at level 80, powerful aura eminating from them.The two generals are one from orc tribe, an orc genral, named General Gorthak Bloodtusk, he is at level 80 as general Veymar. Cleavers were rattling on his back.
And the other one from minotaur tribe, level 80 named General Taurus Ironhorn. A huge blade is resting on his back...
This was the main force of the Beast Imperium, the army that would attack Red Fort tonight.
This time to fight against one of the child of Valerius family. Beast emperor did his best, he also knows that family is not simple so he send 6 of his generals to invade this small red fort. Even he sends a million troops with them...
Even he himself fears facing the Valerius family alone. If the Human Emperor hadn't supported him, he wouldn't have taken this action at all... he would have just attacked the human territories controlled by the Human Emperor instead.
At the front of the column, General Gorthak Bloodtusk snorted, his face was ugly , although they took their human forms but their distinct nature showed upon their face...
"No way," he growled. "Where are Veymar and Brakkar? They took four hundred thousand beastmen with them. By now they should be riding back with the heads of those humans."
Beside him, General Skritch Venomtail and General Ragnar Blackmaw both nodded.
"Yes!" Skritch hissed, flicking his tongue. "At this hour the war should already be over. We'll get the news soon."
Only General Taurus Ironhorn said nothing. His brow was furrowed beneath his great horns.
At the speed Veymar's vanguard had marched, they should have crushed that small margraviate days ago. The Red Fort had no food, no medicine. It should have fallen in a single night.
Is he thinking too much... or did something unexpected really happen there?
Taurus glanced back at the dust cloud behind them. They still had six hundred thousand beastmen left . This is the elite core beastmen, stronger and better equipped than the four hundred thousand sent ahead but no scouts had returned.
And that silence worried him more than any human sword.
At that moment, a wounded wolf soldier came running toward them, breathing heavily.
His fur was matted with blood, his armor shattered, his body covered in deep wounds. He stumbled with every step, but he didn't stop.
Seeing him, Taurus immediately frowned. "Bring him here," he ordered.
A soldier rushed forward and dragged the wolf to the feet of the four generals.
The moment the wolf saw them, he broke down in tears. Between ragged breaths, he told them everything that had happened.
How a level 80 divine archmage had suddenly appeared in Red Fort. How General Veymar died with his skin turned completely black from lightning. How a terrifying level 70 human general took the head of General Brakkar in a duel. How the humans suddenly received support from another duchy and with a total of 280,000 human troops, they slaughtered at least half of the beastmen army without suffering any major losses.
And how, in the end, the remaining half surrendered.
He had run for his life... and he hadn't stopped until now. He said it all in one breath.
General Gorthak's face twisted in rage. He grabbed the wolf soldier by the head and crushed it in his fist.
"They died in battle," he roared, "then why are you here? You should have died there too!"
He threw the corpse aside and sneered. "Hmph! Those two , Veymar and Brakkar bragged before they left that they'd take Red Fort by themselves..."
General Ragnar and General Skritch stood grim-faced. Brakkar was as strong as them. If he died there, it meant they would have to face those same enemies alone.
Even the thought made them shudder.
General Taurus let out a cold laugh.
"The Emperor was right," he said. "That family is not simple at all. That's why every emperor has been wary of them."
He turned his massive head toward the vast desert, where Red Fort lay.
"Let's march to Red Fort as fast as possible. We need to take revenge for our brothers... We'll take Red Fort tonight."
While on the other side, Aleric and Generals Corvin, Lucan, and Varrus alongside Aldric, Zephiron and Torin were already waiting for the main force to arrive.
The soldiers had been treated. Every man was back at full health and already in position. After the first war, at least 275,000 of them remained.
Aleric had even given each soldier a pill to carry, a single trump card to save their life once during battle.
Their morale was high now. They knew they finally had a real chance to win this war.
Suddenly, the ground trembled.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
In the distance, a massive beast army appeared, marching toward Red Fort with their flags held high.
From a mountaintop far away, General Kaine and Hadrian watched everything.
General Kaine immediately stood up from his seat. He stared at the massive army and the generals leading it and then he burst into evil laughter.
"Hahahaha! Good! Good! They sent Gorthak and Taurus too! With those two here, this time I want to see what you're going to do, Aleric Valerius!" he said, glaring menacingly toward the red walls.
Beside him, Hadrian clenched his fist. He wanted to fight alongside Red Fort but he still needed to hide his identity.
Aleric's face turned grim as he looked at the massive army of 600,000.
Zephiron, standing beside him, commented, "My lord! There are two generals in the front at the same level as me. Although I can fight them both at the same time, it'll be really difficult to win."
Aldric spoke up from the side, "Don't worry, Zephiron! Just keep them busy, we'll take care of the others first."
Corvin and the other generals nodded in agreement.
But Aleric was still thinking about the human soldiers . Their numbers were less than half of the beastmen army, and the enemy's weapons were far better than the scouts' army they had faced before.
Torin sensed his tension. He stepped forward and placed a hand on Aleric's shoulder.
Aleric looked at him and felt instantly relieved. He didn't know why, but whenever he looked at Torin, the weight on his chest eased.
Torin said quietly, "My lord. We'll fight to the last man standing. Believe in your generals. Believe in your soldiers."
Aleric took a slow breath... and nodded.
After reaching a distance where the huge wall was clearly visible, General Taurus boomed his voice across the desert.
"Aleric Valerius! You fool, you dare take our army hostage?"
General Gorthak continued, his voice like grinding stone, "Release our soldiers and surrender with those filthy villagers. We'll give you a quick death or else we won't spare a single child in your territory!"
From atop the red wall, Aleric shouted back with the same fire.
"I may be an abandoned son of the Valerius family but I have always followed one rule of my family: follow your heart. And my heart tells me to protect every single citizen of my territory. I will not surrender until my last breath remains inside me!"
Even the soldiers on the wall, and General Hadrian watching from the mountaintop with the Red Cloaks, felt their hearts burn hearing those words. This is the spirit a lord should have .To protect his people, he would fight till his last breath.
General Kaine sneered from his seat on the mountain.
"Hmph! Fight till your last breath? Today at least, a hypocrite like you will die here. Hahahaha..."
Everyone around him looked at him in disgust again... but said nothing.
Hearing those words, General Taurus sneered and said in the same cold tone, "Attack! Kill every single person inside Red Fort."
The huge army moved.
Zephiron shot into the sky, lightning crackling around his body as he flew straight toward them. General Taurus and General Gorthak immediately rose to meet him, and the three clashed in mid-air with a thunderous boom.
Aldric immediately chose General Ragnar and charged to fight him, while Corvin took on General Skritch.
This time, Torin and Aleric also joined the war themselves. They fought back-to-back, cutting down the captains of the beast army who tried to break through the line.
The human soldiers moved as well, holding formation under General Lucan and General Varrus as they fought against the massive beast army.
But only a few minutes passed, and the human soldiers were already surrounded by the huge beast horde. Many of them died ,even though they had the miracle medicines in their pouches, there wasn't time to use them.
General Lucan and General Varrus both felt helpless. They couldn't hold back an army this huge. This was a true advance army, far stronger than the scouting force they had faced before.
On the side of Zephiron, Aldric, and Corvin, the battle was at a standstill . None could gain the upper hand.
But on the ground... the war was already at a terrifying disadvantage.
Taurus laughed while parrying a terrifying lightning blade cast by Zephiron.
"Hahaha! We might not be able to do anything to you but on the ground, your lord will die soon!"
Zephiron glanced down and saw he was right. Aleric was at a disadvantage. Even though he was at Knight level and using the Valerius swordsmanship, fighting against this many enemies was not easy.
General Gorthak took the chance and attacked him from behind but a bolt of terrifying thunder struck down from the dark clouds above and smashed into Gorthak's weapon, forcing him back. Zephiron was still fully focused, even while fighting two level 80 generals at once.
On the mountaintop, seeing Aleric and the human army of Red Fort at a huge disadvantage, General Kaine was so happy he stood up from his seat, cheering for the beastmen army.
"Hahahaha! Valerius! Those traitors will face their own demise soon!"
"One of the dearest children of Archduke Valerius is going to die here today. I want to see his face at this moment, Hahaha, what great news! What great news!"
Hadrian clenched his fist, silently praying in his heart,
'Master... where are you? If you don't show up soon, Lord Aleric will die here.'
He gritted his teeth. 'No ! before that, I'll intervene myself... I'll fight against that massive army...'
He was desperately hoping for Selene to show up at this moment.