Defensive Counterattack

This was the goblins' first probing attack, and it would be their last.

The battle quickly devolved into a one-sided slaughter. However, just as the soldiers were getting into the heat of battle, their adrenaline surging, and preparing to annihilate these ugly invaders.

"Beep! Beep-beep-beep—!"

An extremely sharp whistle, piercing through the din of the battlefield, suddenly rang out!

The source of the sound was Karl, standing in the center of the camp! In his mouth was the metal whistle Charlotte had given him!

All the soldiers instinctively looked toward the sound.

Karl was seen abruptly removing the whistle from his mouth, raising his blood-stained longsword high, his gaze like lightning sweeping across the entire field as he shouted loudly:

"Brothers, charge with me!!"

"Charge with me" versus "Charge for me" – a difference of just one word, yet a world apart!

The latter was a cold command, while the former was a vow from a leader charging ahead, facing life and death together!

Before his shout even died down, Karl had already transformed into a swift, dark shadow!

He kicked open the wooden palisade on the earthen rampart, leaped forward, and without hesitation, plunged into the scattering goblin horde!

A goblin, attempting to turn and flee, felt a fierce wind behind it. Before it could react, a sharp longsword pierced its back and emerged from its chest!

Karl stomped on the goblin's corpse with one foot, yanked out his longsword with a spray of foul blood, and then swept his blade, severing the weapon and arm of another terrified goblin beside it!

He was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep; wherever his sword light flashed, severed limbs flew, and the goblins' screams were endless!

The Lord himself had leaped out of the camp, fighting valiantly at the forefront!

This scene instantly ignited the morale of all the soldiers to its peak!

"Charge! Protect the Lord!"

"Kill all these green-skinned scum!"

"For the Lord!"

Earth-shattering roars erupted from the camp!

The soldiers were no longer content to defend behind their fortifications. They roared, like a breached dam, pouring out from the gaps in the palisade, over the rampart, and leaping across the trench.

They charged madly at the fleeing goblins, quickly forming battle formations around Karl, protecting him at the center while fiercely attacking the enemies further away!

The goblin probing force, already heavily wounded and with broken morale, how could they withstand such a ferocious counter-charge?

In just a moment, more than half of the remaining dozens of goblins were cut down!

Goblins, in the end, were intelligent creatures and also felt fear. Facing an unstoppable slaughter, their last vestiges of fighting will completely crumbled.

Unknowingly, one goblin let out a terrified scream, dropped its weapon, covered its head, and fled desperately into the darkness to the southwest.

This action spread like a plague. All the surviving goblins completely abandoned their resistance, wishing they had been born with faster legs, and fled southwest for their lives.

"Pursue! Don't let them escape!" Brendan and Richter, their eyes red from killing, were about to lead their soldiers in pursuit.

"Hold! Do not pursue a cornered enemy!" Karl suddenly stopped them, his voice carrying undeniable authority. "Everyone, follow me!"

With that, Karl didn't even glance at the remnants fleeing southwest. Instead, he abruptly changed direction, waved his arm, and led the troops, who had just completed their counter-charge with surging morale, in the completely opposite northeastern direction, launching an assault!

The intelligence in his mind was crystal clear: the main goblin force was hidden near the "Black Tooth" cave to the northeast.

Those fleeing goblins to the southwest were merely bait, a desperate, instinctive escape back the way they came, attempting to divert their attention.

Meanwhile, on the northeastern hillside, the goblin leader "Skullcracker," observing in secret, watched his probing force being easily defeated and even slaughtered in reverse.

Its cunning eyes were filled with shock and fear.

It had seen very clearly that the human soldiers' speed from being attacked to assembling a counter-attack was too fast! And almost every soldier instantly entered a combat state.

They must have been sleeping in full armor! This indicated they had anticipated the night raid long ago!

Especially the human lord charging at the very front, sharp and unstoppable!

His presence completely extinguished Skullcracker's thought of sending its main force to reinforce or launching a surprise attack amidst the chaos.

It now only hoped the enemy would be drawn away by the fleeing goblins to the southwest, allowing it and its main force to retreat safely and find another opportunity.

"Yes, chase them! Chase those useless fools!" Skullcracker prayed frantically in its heart. "I specifically had the troops attack from the southwest, they'll definitely think our lair is over there!"

However, the next second, its small, beady eyes widened dramatically, almost bulging out of their sockets!

It saw an unbelievable sight: the terrifying human lord, after scattering the fleeing goblins, did not pursue them. Instead, he abruptly rallied his troops.

Then... then he actually turned direction and charged towards the northeast, where it was located?

"He... how does he know!" Skullcracker's mind buzzed, instantly overwhelmed by immense shock and confusion!

It watched helplessly as the tide of steel, led by that lord, broke through the darkness and, with unstoppable momentum, charged directly towards its hiding place!

A chill instantly shot from its tailbone to the top of its head!

Skullcracker's mind went blank. It couldn't comprehend how the enemy had so accurately seen through its plan and was heading straight for its main force's hiding spot.

But it had no time to think now. The deadly tide of steel was less than a hundred meters from their hillside!

It could even clearly see the cold killing intent on the face of the young human lord charging at the front, and the ferocious expressions of the soldiers behind him, wrought by the slaughter.

The goblins behind it were already starting to stir, the air filled with the scent of fear, many of their legs trembling.

"Spearmen! Front line! Form up! Quickly!" Skullcracker roared hoarsely, trying to suppress the panic in its heart. This was their only chance!

Using the slight advantage of the hillside, they could block the humans' first charge with a spear wall. As long as they could contain the enemy's offensive, it would have a chance to escape in the chaos!

Dozens of goblins armed with crude wooden spears frantically crowded to the front.

These so-called "spears" were little more than short spears to humans, about a meter and a half long, but for goblins, whose average height was only eighty centimeters, they were undeniably long weapons.

They shakily leveled their spear tips, densely aimed at the human army charging up the hill, forming a sparse yet desperate forest of spears.

However, what happened next shattered Skullcracker's last shred of hope.

Karl, charging at the forefront, not only didn't slow down when faced with the meager spear tips but actually accelerated!

At the moment he was about to collide with the spear points, he suddenly shifted his body to the side, his longsword drawing a sharp arc!

Clang! Clang!

With two crisp sounds, the two wooden spears at the very front snapped! Splinters flew!

Almost simultaneously, Karl's left hand shot out like lightning, grabbing the shaft of another incoming spear and yanking it back forcefully!

The goblin spearman felt an irresistible, immense force pull him off the ground, and with a yelp, he was dragged away like a rag doll. Karl swung him into the goblin ranks beside him, knocking over a whole line!

A massive gap instantly appeared in the spear wall!

Karl didn't stop, charging into the panicked goblin ranks like a tiger entering a flock of sheep!

Sword light flashed, and with every flicker, a spray of foul blood and severed limbs followed! He didn't need any complex techniques; pure strength, speed, and a sharp blade were enough to slaughter these short goblins.

"Charge! Follow our lord!"

"Crush them!"

The soldiers following closely behind saw this and their morale soared to the extreme!

Soldiers with longswords hacked ferociously, easily cutting down the inferior wooden spears.

Soldiers with spears, using their longer reach, impaled the goblins from outside their attack range.

The sword and shield soldiers were even more brutal, using their iron-reinforced wooden shields to directly block the goblin spear tips. The vast difference in strength meant the goblins couldn't resist at all, being pushed back and forth, spear and all. Then, the curved swords behind the shields descended without mercy.

The hastily formed goblin defenses quickly collapsed under the furious charge of the human army, and the battle instantly turned into a complete slaughter.

The desperate wails of the goblins echoed across the entire hillside.