Burning Sentinel Hill (3)

What appeared before him was a sight he had never imagined. Under the leadership of their officers, the well-trained soldiers calmed down from their panic. The results of years of drills were perfectly displayed as they began resisting in their respective squads instead of being slaughtered by the bandits.

The knights swiftly soothed their warhorses, mounted up, and charged at the mounted bandits with lances in hand. With a sweep of their lances, the bandits were knocked from their horses, and the nearby soldiers rushed in to subdue them. The archers continuously nocked arrows and drew their bows. Even if they could not hit their enemies, they could still interfere with them.

As for the bandit leaders, ordinary soldiers would only be throwing their lives away against them, so specialists were assigned to deal with them—such as Alpha. Poor Alpha ran all over the battlefield. Adona joined in as well, wielding two greatswords as he crazily swept through the bandits, slaughtering everything before him like a berserker. Siso specifically targeted the leaders, using his outstanding swordsmanship to knock them to the ground.

Suddenly, a huge axe came hurtling toward him. Siso nimbly dodged aside. "Where is Alpha?! Siso, why are you wearing a soldier's armor and slaughtering your own people?! Where is Alpha?! Come out!" Scar roared, his eyes bloodshot. A sharp gleam flashed through Siso's eyes, and without another word, he slashed at him. Scar raised his huge axe and struck back. It was a contest of strength. Sparks flew as axe and sword collided, and Siso was driven back four or five steps while Scar hacked at him again and again.

Siso could only grip his sword hilt with both hands and block with all his strength, yet he was still forced back repeatedly. Blood faintly seeped from the web of his hand, while both arms were numbed by the impacts. Scar's strength grew greater and his attacks faster. "Die!" Scar roared as his huge axe crashed down. Feeling the axe closing in, Siso abruptly withdrew his sword and twisted aside. The huge axe slammed down past his chest, and the gust it raised made his heart seem to stop. Seizing the instant Scar lost his balance, Siso viciously thrust forward. Blood splattered, but because he had exhausted his strength blocking earlier, the sword did not pierce very deeply.

Stimulated by the pain, Scar swung his axe backward. Siso had no strength left to block and was sent flying. He slammed heavily onto the ground as Scar walked over with his huge axe. "I'll send Alpha down to keep you company. Goodbye." The huge axe came crashing down. "I knew I heard someone calling for me. Brother Scar, don't be so angry. Aren't I here now?" A black shadow pounced on Scar and knocked him to the ground. The moment Siso heard those words, he relaxed and fainted.

Under the firelight, Scar, lying on the ground, finally saw the creature pinning him down—a blackish-gray leopard? A lion with pale blue eyes? Hearing it speak, he came to his senses. "Haha! Alpha? You deceived me so thoroughly! Why did you do this to me?" Alpha remained atop Scar, baring his sharp teeth. "I never said I was on your side. You were the one who thought too much. Don't be so naive in your next life." With that, he opened his mouth and lunged for Scar's throat.

When the sun shone upon this land again, the already crude Sentinel Hill was nearly reduced to ruins. The burning houses were left with only charred shells, and blood had dyed the area red. Corpses lay piled across the ground. The surviving bandits had long since been bound together. Alliance soldiers supported each other as they limped toward the medical area. The cavalry, leaning against their warhorses, had already fallen asleep. The archers had long since passed out atop the walls, accompanied by broken bows and snapped bowstrings.

Adona directed the soldiers still able to move as they cleaned up the battlefield. Alpha sighed from the side. "This is truly cruel, but we survived in the end. This is a victory for the Alliance." Without turning his head, Adona said, "It is a victory won at a terrible cost. Although we prepared in advance, the casualties were still far too great. We will not recover from this in a year or two." "But the bandits' losses will only be greater than ours. They are basically finished. Now there is only one place left. Once we deal with that place, this area will be completely liberated." Alpha said seriously, "This failed attack on Sentinel Hill has reduced the Defias Brotherhood's trust in Twilight to rock bottom. This is our opportunity."

Adona turned to Alpha and slowly said, "I know what you mean, but our losses are not small either. I cannot provide you with military assistance anymore, but I can send you a few capable people. You can absolutely trust them. Once I finish handling things here, I'll call for you. You should get some rest too. You put in quite a bit of effort last night, and you were injured." He clicked his tongue a few times as he looked at Alpha's hanging left arm.

Since his injury had been pointed out, Alpha stopped hiding it. "So what if I'm injured? This is a work-related injury. I demand more pay." "Go on, get out of here. Stop causing trouble." Adona promptly walked away with a look of disgust.

Alpha suddenly remembered something and ran toward the wounded soldiers' area. Pulling open a tent, he indeed found Siso lying on a bed and struggling to get up. He immediately said, "Oh? You've got plenty of energy. You can still get up? I thought you'd be unconscious for a whole day." Siso was about to get angry, but after seeing who it was, his temper immediately died down. "It's only a minor injury. There's no need for me to lie here and waste medical resources. There are people who need them more than I do." Alpha looked at Siso in surprise. This guy looks so dull-witted, but he actually thinks quite a lot about others. "Lie down. Recover as quickly as possible—we still have a mission to carry out. What if your slow recovery delays the mission? Can you bear the responsibility?" After those words, Siso stopped struggling. "I'll come find you tomorrow. If you haven't recovered by then, hmph, hmph, you know what will happen." With that, Alpha strode away.

Returning to his room, Alpha felt waves of soreness wash over him the moment he relaxed. Using one hand, he laboriously removed his clothes and looked at the new cuts on his body. With a bitter smile, he said, "More wounds again. Why does it feel like I'm uncomfortable whenever I go a day without getting injured? I should take a bath first. Being sticky and filthy makes it hard to treat my wounds. Too bad I can't use Rejuvenation again. Looks like I still need to properly cultivate my druid magic. I don't have enough mental energy. I'll have to find time to return to the grove someday." After bathing, Alpha barely managed to cast a Rejuvenation spell to treat his left arm, then applied medicine and wrapped it in bandages. By the time he finished, it was already noon. Looking at his handiwork, he fell headfirst onto the bed and went to sleep.

Stormwind Kingdom, the great hall. King Varian was listening to SI:7's report. "The Horde is transporting troops into Ashenvale. The Silverwing Sentinels have requested Alliance support. War in Ashenvale could break out at any moment, and the Night Elves are also transporting forces into Ashenvale." Varian pondered for a while after hearing this. "Have Ironforge hurry up and forge a batch of weapons to send over. Have The Valiant and Thunderclap at the docks prepare to depart at any time. Tell General Sargas to speed up the training. I need soldiers. We must take Ashenvale." He suddenly changed the subject. "How is that werewolf? Has Adona sent over any information?" "Your Majesty, Lord Adona said they just went through a battle yesterday, and the situation has stabilized. Moonbrook is the only place in the entire wilderness that remains outside our control. Sir Alpha performed unexpectedly well. He is a very capable talent. That is Lord Adona's evaluation." Varian repeated, "A talent. A very capable talent. I had underestimated Greymane's methods. I am very much looking forward to that werewolf's performance when we meet again."

Afterward, order after order was issued from Stormwind Keep. Stormwind immediately went on high alert, while the fires of Ironforge's furnaces burned even hotter.