Quick Knife

In a one-on-one duel, any regular soldier of the Golden Dynasty could rely on his excellent armor to ignore the crude bows and crossbows of the Demi-humans. Even if those pitted bone arrows were lucky enough to pierce leather armor, they could not inflict any meaningful damage at all.

But the situation was different now. The Demi-human coalition naturally held the advantage of high ground, and the ambushers also included large numbers of strong Misbegotten archers. The hum of bowstrings and the shrill whistles of arrows tearing through the air merged into one, sweeping across the battlefield like a swarm of locusts skimming low overhead!

Great swaths of soldiers were shot full of arrows and toppled to the ground. Because of the narrow terrain inside the pass, aside from a handful of spearmen with raised shields, no one could effectively dodge at all. Spattering blood congealed in an extremely short time into a pale red mist, mingled with countless wails and roars, making it feel as if they had been plunged into purgatory!

The instant the rain of arrows descended, Clareville pulled a perfume bottle from his robes and flicked it into the air. A glittering powder shaped like glowing scales immediately enveloped his body, plating his skin, robes, and mount in a shimmering film of light that blocked every stray arrow that happened to fly his way, producing only a series of metallic clangs.

Aromatics—War Frenzy!

This potion could coat every living creature within its range in a protective layer as hard as refined steel for one hour, while greatly strengthening the perfumer's own physical power. Its effect far surpassed the two degraded combat aromatics of later generations, "iron pot" and "frenzy."

It was worth mentioning that although the court perfumers of the Golden Age were famed throughout the world for their miraculous medical perfumery, they had once served as battlefield physicians throughout the wars of unification and possessed combat strength no inferior to elite knights. As for the fallen perfumers who later rose during the Shattered War and became known for combat perfumery, before these progenitors of the art, they were merely juniors showing off in front of masters.

On the other side, Hectorv finally recovered from his shock with great difficulty. His gaze fell on his personal guards being slaughtered wholesale inside the pass, and a surge of furious rage erupted in him at once. Threads of blood like spiderwebs instantly rushed into his pupils!

"Clareville, you rebel, you traitor!" he cursed, spurring his horse forward. His powerful arm drew the greatsword from his back, a blade a full palm and a half wide, and with terrifying wind pressure wrapped around it, he tried to cut down Clareville several steps away.

Suddenly, a shrill howl of air being ripped apart at high speed erupted beside both men's ears. A giant arrow as thick as a tree trunk, wrapped in rings of spiraling airflow, shot toward them and thundered straight at Hectorv on horseback!

Shocked and furious, Hectorv had no choice in his haste but to stomp hard on the stirrups and leap up. The giant arrow almost grazed past his body, blasting the warhorse still running beneath him into an exploding mist of blood!

Several hundred paces away on the ridge, a hulking Troll warrior slowly lowered his great bow and reached back into the quiver on his back for another arrow. This time, however, he did not aim at Hectorv again, instead switching his target to several newly formed shield formations in the valley.

Beside him, more and more Trolls over five meters tall appeared on the mountain. They drew great bows as tall as themselves into full moons, and heavy giant arrows whistled out one after another, mercilessly suppressing the scattered resistance organized by the Kallen City Guard.

Hectorv, who had narrowly dodged the arrow, staggered as he landed on the ground. In despair, he looked toward the ridge above the pass—this was the first time Trolls had appeared in organized numbers among the ranks of Demi-humans and Misbegotten. Coupled with enemy forces several times greater than planned and the disadvantage in terrain, it was only a matter of time before he and his troops were slaughtered to the last.

At this moment, the supply convoy at the very rear had only just entered Sunset Pass not long ago. The Demi-human main force that suddenly appeared destroyed the few ballista wagons in the convoy with rolling logs and falling stones in the blink of an eye. Soldiers frantically avoiding the rain of arrows crowded together, while corpses and wrecked vehicles rapidly piled up, together forming the greatest obstacle to the City Guard's retreat.

After several more rounds of suppressive arrow fire, the Demi-human coalition had already placed a small number of Misbegotten warriors equipped with wooden shields and leather armor at the vanguard and, from the high ground, launched the decisive charge against the City Guard, who had lost all will to fight!

Seeing the situation, Hectorv had already abandoned the idea of killing Clareville. His only goal now was to find a chance to capture him alive and coerce the Demi-human tribes cooperating with him into giving him a way out.

Unexpectedly, before he could make a move, Clareville leaped from his horse first. As his figure shot forward, he even turned into a faint black blur!

In shock, Hectorv instinctively swung his sword up to block in front of him. With a crisp clang of metal striking metal, a tremendous force smashed into the middle of his greatsword, jolting his internal organs with sharp pain and sending his entire body flying backward!

"What?!" Blood abruptly spilled from the corner of Hectorv's mouth, and the look he gave Clareville was already filled with terror.

But before he could figure out why the other man's combat strength was so powerful, a terrifying killing intent erupted from behind him, startling him so badly that every hair on his body stood on end!

Hectorv hastily turned back to meet the attack, only to see an icy Kaidan Longblade seemingly slide out from a rift in space, then draw forth the lithe and agile figure behind its hilt. A distance of more than ten steps—Turak closed it in an instant and reached Hectorv, his wrist twisting as he unleashed three cunning, vicious slashes in the blink of an eye!

The first slash struck three inches above Hectorv's crossguard, knocking the one-and-a-half-meter greatsword to one side and forcing his centerline wide open!

For the second slash, Turak reversed his grip and pressed in close, the blade splitting upward through Hectorv's refined-steel breastplate and gorget!

For the third slash, he swept his blade horizontally. A cold gleam flashed, and blood surged into the sky! Hectorv's now-unprotected neck was severed cleanly through the middle by a single cut. The blankness in his eyes lasted only an instant before his entire head rolled smoothly to the ground!

In this sudden duel, Hectorv, who had always believed his combat power rivaled a hero's, faced another Kaidan mercenary who had always been unknown and failed to last even three moves before he was cleanly cut down on the spot!

Across from them, Clareville's eyes flickered with faint surprise at the sight. Although he had long known that this third-ranked figure of the Shuofeng Tribe was extraordinary, he had not expected the man's swordsmanship to have reached such a level. Though Turak had the advantage of a sneak attack, anyone who could dispose of Hectorv in three moves was absolutely not someone he could easily control.

In a chaotic battle, the supreme commander of one side being directly beheaded by a sudden strike could often lead straight to a total collapse of morale and discipline. All the more so when nearly all the elite knights in the Kallen City Guard who truly possessed grassroots command authority had been buried in the first round of explosions and arrow rain. The remaining soldiers naturally entered the stage of rout and surrender.

However, most of the Demi-humans and Misbegotten surrounding them had blood feuds with these new troops under Hectorv's command, grudges of murdered families and exterminated clans. They completely ignored the surrender pleas of a few soldiers and simply formed small teams of three to five, carrying out merciless extermination along the entire valley.

Twenty-five minutes after the battle began, as the final wail came to an abrupt end, the Kallen City Guard on this expedition was completely declared annihilated.