On the western front, Middenland forces were locked in a fierce battle against the Greenskins. The Spider King Snagla Spit-Scythe relentlessly drove its troops to assault the Empire's lines, forcing the Middenland army to retreat steadily, until they found themselves on the outskirts of Middenstag.
Snagla was confident of victory. After all, its army was twice the size of Middenland's forces. Even the devastating losses inflicted by Veronica's Doomsday Judgment hadn't deterred the Greenskins. Under the Spider King's command, the Greenskins reorganized into three columns:
- The first line consisted of goblin spider riders.
- The second line was made up of savage orcs.
- The third was a massive phalanx of Arachnarok spiders and forest goblins.
This formation was cunningly designed. The spider riders would act as expendable shock troops to disrupt the enemy, the savage orcs would follow to deal damage, and finally, the Arachnarok spiders and goblins would deliver the decisive blow.
But Middenland didn't engage the Greenskins head-on as expected. Instead, they retreated in line with Ryan's strategy, feigning disarray and pulling back their western forces as though overwhelmed by the ferocity of the attack.
Seeing this apparent weakness, the Greenskins were ecstatic. Snagla concluded that the Middenlanders had panicked and exposed a glaring gap in their defenses—clearly a gift from the Spider God! To prevent them from retreating into the town and fortifying, Snagla ordered an all-out assault. The Greenskins charged before they had even fully formed ranks.
The Greenskin horde surged toward the seemingly vulnerable flank of the Empire's army, unknowingly exposing their own frontline to a counterattack.
The Empire struck back.
Emil Wagel, the White Wolf God's First Chosen, led the Teutonic Guard and Swords of Ulric in a countercharge from the front and flank. Under his leadership, the 4,000 goblin spider riders at the vanguard were utterly annihilated with little resistance. The Middenland forces charged through the Greenskin lines four times, cutting them down in droves. When Veronica urged Emil and Von Tuggenheim to avoid overextending, the Empire's troops quickly reorganized their defenses.
By now, the Greenskins had no way to stop. Their entire army was advancing, and it was impossible to control the mindless savage orcs or the goblins driven mad by hallucinogenic spores. They could only press forward.
This was when Middenland revealed its trump card.
Fifty-three heavy siege cannons and one smoking, clanking war machine rolled onto the battlefield.
This was the Wrath of the Emperor, one of only eight surviving steam tank prototypes, legendary among Middenland's steam-powered arsenal. Operated by engineers, it entered the fray.
A single shot from its steam cannon ripped a bloody path over ten meters long through the savage orc ranks and detonated at the end, obliterating an entire forest goblin phalanx. Its appearance turned the tide of battle. The Imperial troops roared in celebration, cheering for their war machine's unstoppable might. The cannons tore apart the tightly packed Greenskin formations, creating breach after breach. Seizing the opportunity, the Middenland forces reformed their lines, advancing with disciplined fire from handgunners to decimate the disorganized enemy.
The goblin spider riders at the front were routed, while the savage orcs in the rear charged forward, only to cause chaos and congestion. Emil Wagel seized the moment and led another assault into their ranks.
Savage orc warlord Grot tried desperately to rally his troops, his massive axe drenched in the blood of Middenland soldiers. But the savage orcs were being slaughtered amidst the chaos, and the Teutonic Guard had surrounded him. However, Grot was protected by Gork (or Mork)'s power, a divine blessing that shielded him from harm.
"You can't hit me face, ya gitz! Not my face!" Grot gloated, swinging his bloodied axe. Around him, his Big'uns absorbed the divine blessings, their bodies becoming unnaturally tough. Even the Teutonic Guard's hammers left only shallow dents on their skin.
"You can't hit our faces either, ya humies!" the Big'uns jeered.
The next moment, Emil Wagel emerged from the Guard's formation, raising Ulric's Wolfhammer high.
One-fold, two-fold, three-fold.
The power within Emil surged, multiplying exponentially.
Five-fold, eight-fold, thirteen-fold.
"You can't hit my—"
"Ulric's Wrath!"
Ulric's white flames engulfed Emil as the Wolf God's fury was unleashed upon the mortal realm. Grot barely had time to react before his head was obliterated in a single blow, sent flying from his shoulders.
With Grot's death, the Big'uns suddenly found their divine blessings vanish. In terror, they broke into a panicked retreat.
"We're not fightin' that big git! Let's leg it!" they screamed.
The savage orcs were in full rout.
Emil raised Grot's severed head high amidst the fleeing Greenskins. "This is the power of Ulric! Sons of Ulric, for Middenheim, for Ulric, fight!"
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" The Imperial soldiers roared, their voices rolling like thunder across the battlefield, while the savage orcs fled in utter disarray.
---
Meanwhile, on the eastern front, disaster struck the Beastmen.
Having lost the Dragon Ogre Legion, Gorthor ordered two Bestigor warbands and three Chaos Spawn warbands to intercept Ryan and his Old Guard. If the Bretonnian infantry broke through to the knights trapped within the encirclement, it would spell doom for the Beastmen.
But as these Beastmen forces attempted to cross the frozen river, an upstream flood swept them away.
This was the work of Aurora and Teresa, who unleashed a powerful spell to release the dammed river at a critical moment. The rushing waters scattered the Beastmen and their forces, rendering them helpless.
"Icefall Shard!" Massive shards of ice rained down.
"Frozen Domain!" Explosions of frost erupted across the battlefield.
The critical Beastmen forces were decimated, suffering 40% casualties and frozen in place. The Bretonnians cut through them with ease, shattering both ice and flesh alike.
At the same time, Morgiana, mounted on her unicorn Sylphane and leading her Grail Guardians, entered the fray.
The Beastmen's encirclement crumbled under pressure from both flanks. The knights, freed from their entrapment, rejoined the fight, annihilating dozens of Ungor and Gor warbands.
---
Ryan descended into the midst of the Beastmen army atop Impris. His psychic lightning tore through their ranks, while the griffon's claws and beak scattered their formations. A challenge came from Zandro Deathroad, the infamous four-armed Minotaur, but Ryan crushed it with a single blow from Thor's Hammer.
"Victory belongs to us!" Ryan proclaimed, lifting Gorthor's severed head high above the battlefield.
"For the Lady and the King! For Bretonnia!"
"Long live the King! Long live the King! Long live the King!" The Bretonnians erupted in cheers, their voices shaking the heavens.
The Beastmen, their morale shattered, scattered in every direction. Gorthor's demise marked the collapse of their army.
Ryan turned to his troops, his voice resolute. "Knights, pursue the fleeing Beastmen! Old Guard and Bastonne knights, follow me to the western front. Let us aid our comrades!"
"Understood! Long live the King!"
"Today, I will see Greenskin and Beastman blood soak the lands of Middenstag!" Ryan and Impris took to the skies, their wings casting a long shadow over the battlefield.
"Follow the King! Follow the King!"
_________________________
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