This was the goblins' first probing attack—and their last.
The battle quickly turned into a one-sided massacre. However, just as the soldiers were getting carried away with the slaughter, their adrenaline surging as they prepared to wipe out the ugly invaders,—
"Peeep—! Peep-peep-peep—!"
An extremely shrill whistle suddenly pierced the din of the battlefield!
The sound came from Karl at the center of the camp! The whistle in his mouth was the metal one Charlotte had given him!
All the soldiers instinctively looked toward the sound.
Karl abruptly lowered the whistle from his lips, raised his bloodstained longsword high, swept his lightning-sharp gaze across the battlefield, and shouted:
"Brothers, charge with me!!"
"Charge with me" and "Charge!" differed by only a word, but the meaning between them was worlds apart!
The latter was a cold command, while the former was a leader's vow to lead from the front and live or die alongside his men!
Before his shout had even faded, Karl had already transformed into a swift black shadow!
He kicked open the wooden fence atop the earthen rampart, leaped forward, and charged without hesitation into the scattering goblin ranks!
A goblin trying to turn and flee felt a fierce gust behind it. Before it could react, a sharp longsword pierced through its back and burst out through its chest!
Karl planted one foot on the goblin's corpse and violently yanked out his sword, spraying filthy blood into the air. In the next instant, his blade swept sideways, slicing through the weapon and arm of another goblin frozen in terror!
He was like a fierce tiger plunging into a flock of sheep. Wherever his sword flashed, severed limbs flew, and the goblins' shrieks rang without end!
Lord Karl himself had leaped out of the camp and was fighting at the very front, drenched in blood!
The sight instantly drove the soldiers' morale to its peak!
"Charge! Protect Lord Karl!"
"Kill all these green-skinned bastards!"
"For Lord Karl!"
Thunderous cries erupted from the camp!
The soldiers were no longer content to defend from behind the fortifications. Roaring, they surged out like a breached flood, pouring through gaps in the fence and over the earthen rampart, leaping out of the trench.
They charged wildly after the fleeing goblins and quickly formed a battle formation around Karl. While protecting him at the center, they ferociously drove toward the enemies farther ahead!
The goblin probing force was already suffering heavy casualties and had completely lost its morale. How could it withstand such a savage counterattack?
In a matter of moments, more than half of the remaining dozens of goblins had been cut down!
Goblins were intelligent creatures, after all, and they felt fear just like anyone else. Faced with an unstoppable slaughter, their last shred of fighting spirit completely collapsed.
No one knew which goblin let out the first terrified scream. It threw down its weapon, covered its head, and fled for its life into the darkness to the southwest.
The act spread like a plague. Every surviving goblin abandoned resistance completely, wishing only that it had been born with two more legs, and fled desperately southwest.
"After them! Don't let them get away!" Brendan and Richter, their eyes red from the killing, immediately prepared to lead the soldiers in pursuit.
"Stop! Never pursue desperate enemies!" Karl suddenly shouted to halt them. His voice carried unquestionable authority. "Everyone, follow me!"
With that, Karl did not even look at the remnants fleeing southwest. Instead, he abruptly changed direction and swept out his arm, leading the troops that had just completed their counterattack, their morale at its peak, in a charge toward the entirely opposite northeast!
The intelligence in his mind was crystal clear. The goblin main force was hidden near the "Blacktooth" Cave to the northeast.
The fleeing troops heading southwest were merely bait. In their desperation, they were instinctively fleeing toward the direction they had come from, trying to draw attention away from the main force.
Meanwhile, on a hillside to the northeast, the goblin leader Skullcracker was secretly observing. It watched helplessly as the probing force it had sent was easily defeated and then slaughtered in a counterattack.
Shock and fear filled its cunning eyes.
It saw everything clearly. Those human soldiers had assembled and counterattacked far too quickly after being ambushed! Almost every one of them had entered combat readiness in an instant.
They had absolutely been sleeping in full armor! That meant they had anticipated the night raid long ago!
Especially that human lord charging at the very front, utterly unstoppable!
His presence completely dispelled Skullcracker's thoughts of sending out the main force to provide support or launching a surprise attack amid the chaos.
All it hoped now was that the enemy would be drawn in by the remnants fleeing southwest and chase after them. That way, it and the main force could withdraw safely and look for another opportunity.
Yes, chase them! Chase those worthless fools! Skullcracker prayed frantically in its heart. I deliberately made the troops attack from the southwest. They'll definitely think our lair is over there!
However, in the next second, its beady green eyes suddenly widened until they nearly bulged from their sockets!
It saw an unbelievable sight. After scattering the fleeing troops, that terrifying human lord did not pursue them. Instead, he abruptly regrouped his forces.
Then... then he actually changed direction and charged toward the northeast, straight at the place where it was hiding?
"How... how does he know?!" Skullcracker's mind buzzed, instantly overwhelmed by immense shock and confusion!
It watched helplessly as that steel tide, led by the lord, tore through the darkness with unstoppable momentum and lunged straight toward its hiding place!
A chill shot from its tailbone to the crown of its head!
Skullcracker's mind went completely blank. It could not understand how its enemy had precisely seen through its arrangements and charged straight for the main force's hiding place.
But it had no time to think now. That lethal steel tide was less than a hundred meters from the hillside where they were stationed!
It could even clearly see the cold killing intent on the face of the young human lord at the very front, along with the savage expressions of the soldiers behind him, twisted by the slaughter.
The goblin main force behind it had already begun to stir. The air was thick with fear, and the legs of many goblins were trembling.
"Spearmen! Front row! Form ranks! Hurry!" Skullcracker roared itself hoarse, trying to suppress the panic in its heart. This was their only chance!
With the slight advantage of the hillside, they could use a spear formation to block the humans' first charge. As long as they checked the enemy's momentum, it would have a chance to escape amid the chaos!
Dozens of goblins carrying crude wooden spears hurriedly crowded into the front line.
These so-called "spears" could only be considered short spears by human standards, measuring roughly a meter and a half. But for goblins averaging only eighty centimeters in height, they were unquestionably long weapons.
Trembling, they leveled the spearheads and aimed their densely packed points at the human army charging up from below, forming a sparse but desperate-looking forest of spears.
However, what happened next completely shattered Skullcracker's final hope.
Karl, charging at the very front, did not slow down in the face of those shabby spear points. Instead, he accelerated!
At the instant before colliding with the spearheads, he suddenly shifted his body to the side, and the longsword in his hand carved a fierce arc!
Crack! Crack!
Two crisp snaps rang out as the two foremost wooden spears broke! Splinters flew everywhere!
Almost at the same moment, Karl's left hand shot out like lightning and seized the shaft of another thrusting spear. He gave it a violent yank backward!
The goblin spearman felt an immense, irresistible force. With a shriek, it was ripped entirely off the ground, swung around like a rag doll, and smashed brutally into the goblin ranks beside it, knocking down a whole section!
A huge gap instantly opened in the spear formation!
Karl did not pause. Like a fierce tiger plunging into a flock of sheep, he charged straight into the panicked goblin ranks!
Blades flashed, and every glimmer sent filthy blood and severed limbs flying! He needed no complicated techniques. Pure strength, speed, and the sharpness of his sword were enough to overwhelm these short goblins in a crushing slaughter.
"Up there! Follow Lord Karl!"
"Crush them!"
The soldiers close behind him were even more fired up by the sight!
The soldiers wielding longswords hacked with all their might, easily cutting the shoddy wooden spears apart.
The spearmen, meanwhile, took advantage of their longer weapons and impaled the goblins from outside the range of their attacks.
The Swordsmen and Shieldbearers were even more domineering. They directly braced their iron-reinforced wooden shields against the goblins' spear points. The enormous difference in strength left the goblins unable to resist; they were shoved about helplessly, spear and all, before the curved blades behind the shields came down without mercy.
The goblins' hastily assembled defensive line quickly collapsed beneath the human army's frenzied assault, and the battle instantly became a thorough slaughter.
The goblins' despairing wails echoed across the entire hillside.
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