Free Web NovelCHAPTER 38 — BLOOD AND IRON
Steel screamed against steel.
The valley erupted into absolute chaos.
The neat formations that had stood proudly only moments before dissolved into desperate clashes as Rhazakar's warbands crashed into the defenders like a tidal wave.
The first rank of Stonehide warriors locked their shields together.
"HOLD THE FUCKING LINE!" Gorvak roared.
The impact nearly drove them to their knees.
Several minotaurs were thrown backward, but the line held.
Barely.
Above the battlefield, Ashwing Harpies dove through clouds of arrows.
"Left flank!" Kaelyra shouted.
"Wyverns incoming!"
Dozens of harpies broke formation to intercept.
The sky became a whirl of feathers, blood, and steel.
Vespera towered over the battlefield in her Abyssal Naga form.
Her obsidian scales shimmered beneath the crimson glow of burning siege engines.
A troll charged her with a tree-sized club.
She coiled beneath the swing, wrapped her tail around its torso, and hurled it into two more charging monsters.
The ground shook.
The System flashed.
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Enemies Defeated
+145 Experience
+98 Abyss Essence
Battle Synchronization:
Active
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"Queen!"
Lirael's voice cut through the noise.
"The center's collapsing!"
Vespera looked.
Rhazakar's elite berserkers had broken through the first defensive wall.
They weren't fighting for territory.
They were carving a path directly toward the Sanctuary Core.
"Damn it..."
She transformed.
Dark mist engulfed her enormous form.
Seconds later she landed lightly in her human form atop a ruined barricade.
"Listen to me!"
Her voice carried across the battlefield.
"Fall back to the second line!"
"No one fights alone!"
"We move together!"
Some younger goblins hesitated.
One panicked soldier cried, "We're surrounded!"
Vespera grabbed him by the shoulder.
"No."
"We're regrouping."
"There's a difference."
The terror in his eyes eased.
He nodded.
"Yes... Your Majesty."
On the opposite side of the battlefield, Rhazakar laughed as another barricade exploded.
"Is this it?"
He swung his colossal sword, sending three defenders sprawling.
"I was promised a queen!"
"All I see are frightened children playing at empire!"
One of his commanders grinned.
"My Lord, their left flank is breaking!"
"Good."
"Drive the bastards into the canyon."
Kragga heard him.
Her tusks curled into a savage smile.
"Oh, you loud son of a bitch..."
She planted her axe into the earth.
"Broken Axe Clan!"
Hundreds of orcs answered with a deafening roar.
"WITH ME!"
They slammed into the Blood King's left flank like a battering ram.
Axes rose and fell.
The advance stalled.
Sylvana knelt, pressing both palms against the blood-soaked ground.
"Spirits..."
"I need everything you've got."
The earth answered.
Massive roots burst from beneath the battlefield.
They wrapped around siege towers, split supply wagons apart, and dragged monstrous war beasts to the ground.
Blood King's soldiers shouted in panic. freewebnσvel.cøm
"What the hell is happening?"
"The ground's alive!"
High above, Kaelyra spotted a squad of enemy assassins slipping through the confusion.
"They're heading for the Queen!"
She folded her wings and dived.
Too late.
One assassin lunged from the smoke.
A poisoned blade flashed toward Vespera's back.
Darius intercepted it.
Steel rang.
The assassin staggered backward.
"You'll have to get through me first."
The assassin sneered.
"Gladly."
Across the battlefield...
Captain Rowan fought beside goblins and minotaurs without thinking.
Hours earlier he would never have imagined it.
Now it felt natural.
He looked around in disbelief.
"I'm defending monsters..."
An elderly goblin beside him laughed while reloading a crossbow.
"No."
"You're defending your friends."
Before Rowan could answer, another wave crashed into their position.
"Less talking!" the goblin barked.
"More stabbing!"
At the center of the battlefield...
Vespera transformed once more into her Abyssal form.
She surged forward through the enemy ranks, scattering warriors in every direction.
Her golden eyes found Rhazakar.
Across the battlefield...
He found her.
Their gazes locked.
The noise around them seemed to disappear.
Rhazakar rested his greatsword across one shoulder.
A savage grin spread across his face.
"There you are."
"I was starting to think you were hiding behind your people."
Vespera's tail tightened around shattered stone.
"I stand with my people."
"That's the difference between us."
Rhazakar laughed.
"Fine."
He pointed his blade directly at her.
"No more armies."
"No more speeches."
"You."
"Me."
"Let's see whose dream survives."
He charged.
The earth cracked beneath every step.
Vespera lunged to meet him.
The Queen of the Abyss and the Blood King collided with enough force to shake the valley.
End of Chapter 38
