Fall

The outcome of the battle is certain.

Friedrich von Schmidt, this powerful Fourth-Order Knight, like a blood-soaked war god, carried out a one-sided purge inside Winterholm Fortress.

The Sauron infantrymen who stormed into the fortress were almost powerless against his longsword, which was imbued with Battle Qi.

Every swing of his sword was precise and deadly, slaying his enemies one by one as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

The remaining defenders followed behind him, clearing away any remaining resistance with spears and Battle Axe.

The battle ended quickly, and the enemy was temporarily eliminated from the fortress.

However, Friedrich felt no joy of victory, only an increasingly heavy anxiety.

He rushed up to the highest watchtower on the city wall, anxiously looking around, hoping to spot reinforcements or at least confirm the situation of the other fortresses.

But the sight that met his eyes made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and his blood almost froze!

Despair, like the coldest Northern Territory wind, instantly swept over his entire body.

Flames! Flames soaring into the sky and thick smoke billowing everywhere!

Not just Winterholm, nor just Eagle's Nest Fortress is currently under feint attack!

Looking out, along the western branch of the Blackstone Pass, two other small fortresses within sight were also engulfed in war and chaos!

He could even faintly hear shouts of battle and desperate screams carried on the wind.

What made him even more desperate was that he clearly saw the Broomflower Royal Standard on the walls of the two fortresses being cut down!

Instead, the ferocious wolf-headed battle banner of the Sauron Tribe was displayed!

The fortress gates were opened from the inside, and squads of Sauron Cavalry poured in like a flood bursting its banks. Then, the fortress's back gate, facing the plains within the pass, was also quickly opened!

Having completed their occupation and pacification, the Sauron Cavalry, without pausing, immediately surged forth like wild horses, forming deadly torrents, and launched a full-speed charge towards the undefended, sparsely lit northern plains of the Goldflower Kingdom behind Blackstone Pass!

Their target wasn't these small fortresses at all!

These fortresses are merely stumbling blocks in their path that they must remove!

Their true, and only, goal was to break through the passes and invade that rich, warm, and almost undefended heartland to plunder, kill, and create panic and destruction!

"No!!!" Friedrich roared angrily, slamming his Iron Gauntlets against the cold crenellations of the city wall, cracking even the hard stone under the force of his fist.

He watched helplessly as it all happened, and there was nothing he could do!

Even if he were incredibly powerful, he couldn't possibly rescue three attacked fortresses at the same time, nor could he stop the surging tide of enemy cavalry that was already flowing through the passes and rushing towards the plains!

His only, faint hope now rests on the still towering Eagle's Nest Fortress and on Earl Eisenberg, who commands the most elite troops in the Northern Territory!

"Attack! Quickly send out your cavalry! Flank them! We can still hold them off a portion!" Friedrich shouted silently towards the Eagle Nest's Nest, his eyes filled with anxiety and anticipation.

He knew that if Earl Eisenberg could decisively send out the powerful Blackstone Cavalry from Eagle's Nest Fortress to launch a flanking attack on the Sauron troops surging through the pass, it would surely cause huge casualties and might even cut off the enemy's follow-up forces, minimizing the disaster.

However, what happened next completely shattered his last hope.

He saw a small squad of Sauron Cavalry, in an attempt to shorten their route, brazenly speeding through the shadows beneath the main walls of Eagle's Nest Fortress, almost right under the noses of the defenders as they charged toward the plain.

The Eagle's Nest Fortress's response was limited to a few sporadic shots from the walls and the muffled roar of a Cannon.

Bullets and shells whistled through the air, managing to hit a few unlucky Sauron Cavalry, causing a minor commotion.

But that's all!

There was no heavy sound of city gates opening, no earth-shaking bugle call of the Northern Border Iron Cavalry charging, and no torrent of elite cavalry flanking maneuvers!

Eagle's Nest Fortress was like a terrified turtle, cowering in its hard shell, taking no real action other than firing a few symbolic and meaningless shots!

And so it stood by and watched as the Sauron army swept right into the heart of the kingdom right before its eyes!

"Why? Why aren't you attacking?!" Friedrich's eyes widened in disbelief; he simply couldn't believe his eyes!

Anger, disappointment, and a sense of humiliation from being utterly betrayed overwhelmed him instantly.

"Eisenberg! You coward! You idiot! A disgrace to the kingdom!!"

He understood everything.

Earl Eisenberg didn't care about the safety of the entire defensive line, nor did he care whether the heart of the kingdom would be devastated!

All his strategies, from beginning to end, have only one core.

He must save himself and his army at all costs!

As for the other fortresses, the other passes, and even the countless villages and towns behind... they can all be sacrificed!

A sense of powerlessness, like an icy tide, swept over the powerful knight.

All the efforts and struggles lost their meaning at this moment.

He leaned on his longsword, kneeling on one knee on the cold city wall, panting wearily. He gazed at the distant northern plain, now wide open, gradually being shrouded in firelight and smoke, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins and deep despair.

His mission failed.

Everything is over.

August 27, 1938, the seventh year of the Heinrich XI.

Blackstone Pass fell in just one night.

Disaster has struck.