Behind that solid wall formed by the orcs and tower shields was, of course, a guard force made up of Lizardfolk Spearmen and Lizardfolk Archers.
This formation was enough to ensure they could inflict sufficient damage as the enemy charged, while also guaranteeing powerful counterattacks once the enemy assaulted the wall.
However, this guard force was completely ineffective before the Hobgoblin Knights.
After seeing the Hobgoblin Knights charge up the cliff face, Aino, a tactical genius, quickly recovered from his initial surprise and issued the order to attack.
The entire Lizardfolk Archer force immediately attacked the Hobgoblin Knights.
However, instead of emerging from that narrow passage, the enemy was fighting across the immensely broad cliff face. Combined with the Rock Lizards' swift and agile movements, this rendered all the attacks useless.
% of the attacks struck the cliff face. Only two or three arrows hit the Rock Lizards, but their hard hides blocked them, causing not even the slightest injury.
The Lizardfolk Spearmen fared even worse than the Lizardfolk Archers.
Because of the terrain, only Lizardfolk Spearmen stood there, packed tightly together in three rows, front to back. Their purpose was to attack enemies coming from the front. As for the upper side, that was the Lizardfolk Archers' responsibility.
So when the enemy came from above, and the Lizardfolk Archers could do nothing against them, the Lizardfolk Spearmen immediately fell into chaos.
They desperately tried to raise their spears, each more than two meters long, to meet the enemy.
However, their overly tight formation restricted their movements. After shoving and jostling, they could ultimately raise only one spear. Before that spear could do anything, a warhammer swung over, knocking it aside.
The Hobgoblin Knights then descended like this. They did not need to launch any attacks at all. Relying solely on the weight of the Rock Lizards and hobgoblins, along with the force generated by their rapid descent, they crushed the mass of Lizardfolk beneath them!
One Hobgoblin Knight crushed one Lizardfolk!
Thus, only a few seconds after that sturdy wall collapsed, not a single soldier from the Qivita Family remained standing anywhere in the passage!
Everyone's expression changed. Vivian's expression changed, Aino's expression changed, and the expressions of both sides' subordinates changed as well.
No one had expected the once-useless hobgoblins in their eyes, together with the Rock Lizards they had treated as food, to undergo such a tremendous transformation after being combined. They had become so powerful!
Vivian in particular still found it difficult to believe, even after witnessing the facts. The useless circus performers she had labeled them as actually possessed such exaggerated combat power!
Yet she had no idea how many more surprises awaited her.
For example, the current situation was merely the beginning for Hogg and the Hobgoblin Knights.
From beginning to end, Hogg had never intended merely to help Vivian clear the enemy troops from the passage. What she wanted was to kill every enemy in front of them!
So after the enemies in the passage had been cleared, Hogg let out another long howl.
With that howl, the Hobgoblin Knights, who had almost instantly wiped out the enemy forces in the passage with their surprise attack, returned to the cliff face once more.
At the same time, Hogg's Vulture Turtle suddenly charged out!
This Beast-eared Cutie had never been one to sit around doing nothing. She was also an utterly violent little girl. How could she possibly miss such an exciting battle?
On the other side, Aino, his face ashen, quickly issued orders. The troops behind him swiftly formed a battle formation.
Because he had placed too much faith in the forces inside the passage, Aino had not brought many other troops. The Dark Elves and Dark Dwarves totaled only a small number.
Nevertheless, that number still held the upper hand against the Hobgoblin Knights, who were fewer in number. He remained confident that he could wipe out this batch of strange-looking knights.
He decided he would retreat afterward. At least that way, he would not lose too much face.
As he considered this, the two lines of Hobgoblin Knights had already passed through the passage and returned to the ground.
Their two-line formation immediately became a single line, and their speed also slowed slightly at that moment.
"Are the Rock Lizards out of strength?" This was what most people who saw the scene thought.
However...
"Yeehaw!" With an excited cry, Hogg rode her Vulture Turtle through the passage at incredible speed and arrived directly in the center of the single-line formation.
She was the leader of this knightly force. Only with her present was the force complete!
With Hogg's addition, the formation began accelerating once more!
What was the most important thing for a cavalry force?
Speed!
There was no doubt about it. Speed created power, speed created lethality, and speed also brought damage mitigation!
Landen understood this very well.
So when he had initially found mounts for these hobgoblins, he had only asked the Minotaur Butler to capture some Rock Lizards. But when the hobgoblins finally selected their mounts, they had captured more than necessary in total, and Landen had chosen the fastest and strongest ones from among them.
At this moment, the effect of his actions was fully revealed!
On Aino's orders, the Dark Elves and Dark Dwarves fearlessly met the Hobgoblin Knights' charge head-on. Scimitars, estocs, and iron hammers struck viciously!
Yet at that moment, the long howl that Aino hated to the depths of his soul rang out once again!
The Hobgoblin Knights instantly split from a single line into two, avoiding the attacks and bypassing the enemies. Half turned left, while the other half turned right.
They began another charge!
They were unbelievably fast!
Aino's order had barely been issued when the charge had already begun. The Dark Elves and Dark Dwarves followed the command and turned, preparing to attack again, but it was already too late. One warhammer after another appeared before them!
Screams rose one after another, yet the charge had already begun again!
Aino, known as a genius at leading troops in battle, was completely dumbfounded at that moment.
He knew he had lost, losing to a group of... hobgoblins!
As he watched the Hobgoblin Knights prepare to launch their third charge, Aino finally made the correct decision of the day.
He stopped paying attention to those soldiers, turned around, and fled with two subordinates.
However, at that moment, a petite figure suddenly pounced over. Cold light flashed across her sharp claws as they carried tremendous force and struck toward Aino!
It was, of course, Hogg.
She had targeted Aino long ago. After taking down two soldiers, she immediately gave chase when she saw Aino trying to flee, successfully catching up with the terrifying speed of her Vulture Turtle!
"Get lost!" One of Aino's two subordinates, a Dark Elf Sword Dancer at the Black Iron Peak, immediately stepped forward. The scimitar in his hand slashed directly at Hogg's claws!
Clang!
The Dark Elf felt only a light breeze sweep past his face.
Then he saw his scimitar, a fine weapon by any standard, suddenly break into several pieces. After that, boundless pain took over his mind...
Taking advantage of this opening, Aino and his other subordinate had already vanished into the distant darkness like stray dogs...
This battle ended with a complete victory for the Hobgoblin Knights!
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