A Difficult Victory

The two sides met on a plain. The Centaurs numbered just over a thousand, not many more than the humans.

However, the noble faction had no confidence they could defeat their enemy, even with Marquis Prague present. The reason lay with the Centaur leader commanding them!

The Centaur leader was an enormous monster, far exceeding ordinary Centaurs in size, standing a full 6 meters tall. Its skin was pure black, radiating a terrifying aura, and it wielded an 8-meter-long giant battle-axe.

The human warhorses bolted in terror from a distance, completely uncontrollable, and the several hundred elite soldiers without supernatural powers trembled all over, cold sweat pouring down.

No proof was needed, no engagement required; everyone present instinctively felt it! That pure black Centaur leader was a legendary creature!

All the humans dismounted. Faced with the legendary Centaur's oppressive aura, no horse remained controllable!

The Centaur leader stood at the very front of its formation, reared up high on its hind legs, and then slammed down!

Thump! The earth shook and the mountains swayed. The ground beneath the humans' feet began to violently vibrate. Aside from Marquis Prague, everyone in the human camp staggered, unable to stand steady. Many soldiers directly fell to the ground, and horses scattered everywhere.

With just one move, the Centaur leader displayed its unrivaled power; even Marquis Prague felt immense pressure!

This was definitely a legendary-level supernatural ability, likely a skill similar to War Stomp, infinitely stronger than a Troll's Roaring Wave, and even more astonishingly effective on the battlefield.

In an instant, the entire human army fell into complete disarray, while the Centaurs, led by their legendary leader, charged ferociously.

The Centaur army, numbering over a thousand, plunged like a sharp blade into the human formation, instantly tearing it to shreds.

The disarrayed human forces couldn't organize effective resistance. After the Centaur charge, within a few short seconds, their front line was completely breached, and half the soldiers were instantly killed!

The miserable cries of human soldiers echoed everywhere, flesh and blood flew, and corpses were trampled under the Centaurs' hooves. The battlefield turned into hell, and the combat instantly entered a white-hot phase.

Having endured the Centaurs' most brutal charge, the battle devolved into close-quarters chaos. The humans were still at an absolute disadvantage. With fewer numbers and low morale, they simply couldn't resist the Centaurs.

Everywhere, human soldiers could be seen impaled by Centaur spears or trampled by hooves. The knights were also in full retreat.

If this continued, the complete annihilation of the human army would be swift! But the human side had powerful individuals!

Nobles with awakened bloodlines, descendants of heroic ancestors, were not something ordinary Centaurs could defeat.

Marquis Prague roared, his body suddenly expanding into an 8-meter-tall giant. With one slap, he sent seven or eight Centaurs flying.

The Centaur leader noticed the change and swung its great axe, heading directly for Marquis Prague. Along the way, it casually killed several knights. Even extraordinary knights were powerless against a legendary expert.

To avoid affecting others, Marquis Prague led the Centaur leader away for a one-on-one fight. He believed the other nobles could repel the Centaur army, which was now without its powerful leader.

Seeing the Centaur leader gone, Marcus also began to exert his full strength. Now was his best chance to shine!

Marcus pushed his bloodline power to its limit, transforming into a burning man, incinerating several nearby Centaurs into charcoal. He shouted hoarsely, "Those still alive, come to me! I'll defeat the Centaurs!"

His roar echoed across the battlefield, inspiring many who were fighting.

Marcus was now the strongest among the humans. Other nobles and knights gathered around Marcus, and the elite soldiers also struggled to resist the Centaurs' slaughter.

Harrot was also encouraged by Marcus's roar. The Thunder Tribe Centaurs were much stronger than those from the smaller peripheral tribes, and even he was struggling.

Harrot, protecting several knight attendants, used his immense strength to sweep away a charging Centaur, which immediately drew the enemy's attention.

At this moment, three Centaurs were ganging up on Harrot. Harrot blocked one Centaur's spear with his sword, endured two other spears, and roared as he sliced off half the body of the Centaur in front of him.

Blood directly stained his body, and Harrot had no time to wipe away the blood splashed on his face.

He spun around fiercely, slashing his sword to parry a spear while simultaneously beheading another Centaur.

The last Centaur's full-force thrust pierced through Harrot's defense, creating a hole in Harrot's stomach.

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It didn't hit a vital organ; he could still endure it!

Harrot tightly gripped the spear, preventing the Centaur from pulling it out. He then pressed close to the Centaur, piercing it with his greatsword from its horse-body to its human-body, eliminating the last Centaur.

Gasping for breath, Harrot understood his own weakness. His combat power might be at the peak of mortals, but he was still very helpless in large-scale combat against Centaurs. Next time, he couldn't act like a hero again.

Harrot pulled out the spear from his stomach. His semi-datafied body made his bleeding much slower than an ordinary person's. He still had most of his HP and could continue fighting.

Without time to rest, Harrot quickly went to support his five knight attendants, who were entangled with several Centaurs and found it hard to escape.

"Hold on, I'm coming!"

Seeing one attendant kicked to the ground by a Centaur and about to be impaled by a spear, Harrot launched a Small Fireball from afar, stopping the Centaur's attack.

Then, Harrot wielded his flaming greatsword, slicing the opponent in half. The severed body continued to burn with flames.

"Come on, you beasts!" After saving one attendant, Harrot continued to help the remaining attendants.

Just as a Centaur was about to turn to face Harrot, a knight attendant from behind him jumped up and slashed its neck with a sword.

The knight attendant's strength wasn't as great as Harrot's; he didn't directly decapitate the Centaur. The sword got stuck halfway through the Centaur's head, blood sprayed out, and the Centaur struggled a few times before falling.

The knight attendants' combat power was not much weaker than the Centaurs'; it was just that the sudden charge of a large number of cavalry had thrown their formation into disarray, making it difficult to counterattack.

Next, Harrot, along with two attendants, rescued the other three attendants. The six of them fought their way towards Marcus.

The Bald Man was already by Marcus's side, and many nobles had also gathered around Marcus to fight. The combat power of bloodline nobles and knights was still superior to Centaurs. As long as they maintained their formation and avoided being attacked from both sides, they could easily withstand the Centaurs' assault.

Harrot, with his five attendants, also reached Marcus's side, and together they organized the forces to launch a counterattack.

Marcus's weapon had changed into a fire whip made entirely of flame. When he swung it with full force, the surrounding Centaurs smoked, caught fire, and screamed in agony. With such strong cover, Harrot could attack boldly and confidently.

With his 31 points of strength, augmented by skills like Power Strike and Heavy Strike and proficiency, his attack power was comparable to a Troll's. Every swing of his sword resulted in a Centaur corpse.

His five attendants did an excellent job of creating an opening for him, preventing him from being surrounded. His brave performance also greatly boosted the morale of others.

"Well done, Harrot! Let's take out these Centaurs in one go!" Marcus praised Harrot highly.

More and more people converged with Marcus, until the remaining 300-plus individuals gathered and began a full counter-attack against the Centaurs.

The nobles unleashed their bloodline powers to their limits—flames, ice, lightning, earth spikes, wind blades, and light orbs—all of which suppressed the Centaurs' momentum.

Then, Harrot, The Bald Man, and other powerful men cleared the way, leading the knights to engage in close combat with the demoralized Centaurs.

Finally, with their leader absent and casualties mounting, the Centaurs began to retreat. Since their mounts had long since fled, the human side couldn't pursue them.

The battle between Marquis Prague and the Centaur leader also temporarily concluded. Both the Centaur leader and Marquis Prague were heavily wounded, and the Centaur leader, not wishing to continue the fight, fled.

Marquis Prague fought with desperate fury; he had no retreat. If he were to flee, the remaining people would be no match for the Centaur leader and would surely be annihilated. Not only would the pioneering effort fail completely, but his reputation would also be ruined.

However, the Centaur leader had no reason to fight to the death, and the humans couldn't pursue the Centaurs anyway, so retreating posed no risk. Facing Marquis Prague, who was fighting for his life, the Centaur leader simply chose to retreat and regroup his forces.

The Centaur leader hadn't expected the invaders to also have a legendary-level expert, otherwise, it wouldn't have come without its elite troops.

Aside from the Centaur leader and two or three of its personal guards, no other Centaur could match the high-end combat power of the human side. This was why their initial massive advantage turned into an even fight, and ultimately, the humans managed to reverse the situation and turn the tide.