Chapter 453 - 201: The Stunned Centaurs
Chapter 453: Chapter 201: The Stunned Centaurs
General Ries brought himself to a halt, but the Centaur Warriors in the same rank weren’t so lucky.
"Hack!"
Chief Mole bellowed at the warriors beside him, and the warriors of the Gray Rock Bear Race immediately raised their axes and brought them down.
These were battle-axes Robson had specially designed for the massive frames of the Gray Rock Bear Race! They were made specifically for cleaving through horses.
As the axes whistled through the air, the gateway tunnel was instantly filled with flying flesh and bone. Many Centaur Warriors were split in two before they even had time to scream.
"For Lord Robson!"
"Attack! Attack!"
This scene ignited the bloodlust of the Bear Race Warriors.
The Gray Rock Bear Race might love peace, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be killers themselves.
They were a powerful race that had crawled out from the hellish battlefields of the elves and escaped an encirclement by the major Beastmen races. If not for their low birth rate, they would likely be one of the Royal Families.
Few of the Centaurs showed any fear in the face of the attacking Gray Rock Bear Race. Gripping their axes, they continued to advance and meet the charge.
Unfortunately, the two sides weren’t fighting in the same league.
The Gray Rock Bear Race were all fourth-tier fighters that Robson had painstakingly trained. Clad in iron armor and wielding battle-axes, they were practically invincible.
The Centaur Warriors’ battle-axes, however, couldn’t even penetrate the Gray Rock Bear Race’s defenses.
Against such massive, fleshy warriors, even blunt weapons—the last resort against Heavy Infantry—were useless.
The battle devolved into a stalemate, yet Robson’s forces were still steadily pushing forward.
The advance wasn’t fast, but Robson breathed a sigh of relief.
The reason was simple: the Centaurs had been forced to a halt!
Centaurs who can’t charge are doomed to get bogged down in a melee. And in a melee, the higher-tier advantage of Robson’s Soldiers could be fully exploited.
And that was just the beginning. Robson still had a large number of Bloodthirsty Jackal Wolfmen under his command.
Affected by the scent of blood from the front lines, many of the Bloodthirsty Jackal Wolfmen began to crane their necks, eager to howl.
But with Robson right there, none of them dared.
If he were to let this group of Bloodthirsty Jackal Wolfmen incite the entire Jackal Wolf Race, start the wolf’s howl, and form the war mist...
Robson didn’t dare to imagine how incredible—or terrifying—that scene would be.
The battle raged on at the front as the Gray Rock Bear Race continued to push deeper inside.
Robson watched Ries locked in a fierce battle with Chief Mole. He drew his bow, channeling the aura of his Golden Ninth Tier.
SWOOSH! A silvery-white trail of energy shot toward Ries.
General Ries was Golden Tier, after all. He instantly sensed the danger and turned, intending to block the arrow.
At that exact moment, Chief Mole seized the opportunity.
"You dare get distracted while fighting me?"
Chief Mole swung his massive iron axe, bringing it down on General Ries.
’This is bad!’
General Ries was too slow to defend. Caught between two attacks, he couldn’t counter both. Chief Mole’s great axe severed his right arm, while Robson’s arrow pierced straight through his chest.
’How is this possible?’
General Ries looked into the distance. A human noble was watching him with cold eyes.
’How could there be such a powerful Transcendent here?’
"General!"
"The General is dead!"
Seeing General Ries fall, the Centaur Warriors—who were already being forced back by the Gray Rock Bear Race—finally broke.
"Fall back first, wait for the Prince’s reinforcements!"
"We can’t fight them in here! There’s no room for us to maneuver!"
Some bright spark had just given the Centaur Warriors a perfectly reasonable excuse to retreat.
Those words were like an Armor-Piercing Arrow, shattering the Centaur Warriors’ psychological defenses.
"That’s right, fall back! We can regroup and fight again!"
In no time, the Centaur Warriors at the front began to pull back.
They turned their backs on the Gray Rock Bear Race—a cardinal sin on the battlefield.
How could the Bear Race Warriors let such a golden opportunity pass? They surged forward for the kill.
Without General Ries to command them, the Centaur Warriors couldn’t mount an effective response.
In an instant, the Centaur Warriors’ orderly retreat devolved into a panicked scramble for survival.
"They’re running! The Centaurs are running!"
Seeing this, the Bear Race Warriors roared and charged heedlessly toward the Centaur King City.
"The Centaurs are running?!"
"I told you! With Lord Robson leading us, how could we possibly lose to a bunch of Centaurs?"
"That’s right! No matter how strong the Centaurs are, they’re no match for Lord Robson!"
Hearing this news, the Jackal Wolfman Warriors behind the Bear Race were overjoyed. Their worries vanished as they followed closely behind the Bear Race Warriors, shouting as they charged ahead.
Once an army begins to rout, it’s nearly impossible to stop without a Main Commander.
The Centaur Warriors at the front led the retreat, and the rest quickly followed, all of them fleeing to the rear.
Another wave of bloodcurdling screams echoed through the gateway tunnel.
.....
On the other side of the Royal City, Prince Feiseli was hurrying along with his men in tow.
Halfway there, he heard that Ries had already marched out. Cursing Ries under his breath, Prince Feiseli pressed on.
Before long, the sounds of a rout reached them from up ahead.
And judging by the sound... were those Centaurs?
’What’s going on?’
Prince Feiseli glanced at his second-in-command, who had also noticed the commotion ahead and wore an expression of utter shock.
"Halt! What happened? Where is Ries?"
Prince Feiseli intercepted a fleeing Centaur Warrior.
He couldn’t believe—or rather, refused to believe—that his Centaur Warriors could be sent scurrying for their lives by a pack of Kobolds.
Seeing Prince Feiseli, the Warrior burst into tears.
"Your Highness! It’s not Jackal Wolfmen, it’s the Bear Race! Their Heavy Infantry... they’re like iron towers!"
The Warrior had, of course, seen the Jackal Wolfmen behind the Bear Race.
But losing to a pack of Jackal Wolfmen was simply too humiliating. He couldn’t bear the shame.
"Hmph! The Bear Race? How many of them could possibly be here?"
Prince Feiseli wasn’t so easily fooled. The Bear Race’s main territory was near the Northern Wasteland.
’How many of them could be here? A thousand at the absolute most!’
"Guards! This man dared to desert his post. Drag him away and execute him," Prince Feiseli ordered, his voice and expression grim.
The Personal Guards on either side of him acknowledged the order and stepped forward.
Prince Feiseli estimated his distance to the city gate from memory and drew the axe from his back.
"For every bear you kill, a reward of cattle and sheep!"
"Warriors, with me! Charge!"
"For the Empire!"
The Prince charged forward, leading the two thousand members of his Prince’s Personal Guard.