Local Counterattack

The Alliance made a serious mistake by judging the Centaurs by human standards!

Not having military training doesn't mean they can't fight collectively, and a lack of carefully planned tactics doesn't affect the strength of individual combatants.

Centaurs are born warriors; their fighting instincts and aggressive nature have been passed down through generations in their genes. Their situation is simply unimaginable for a race like humans, whose minds have become more developed while their physical capabilities have begun to decline.

Tens of thousands of humans forming a disorganized rabble would lead to chaos, disunity, internal strife, and collapse. Centaurs don't. They are competent warriors without needing training!

Due to underestimating the Centaurs' fighting power, human defenses largely collapsed. The Nobles no longer dared to hold back their strength, activating their bloodlines and leading their Knights in a desperate struggle against the Centaur assault.

Unfortunately, twenty-something humans and over two hundred Knights were simply not enough on a battlefield of tens of thousands. Even fighting with all their might and killing Centaurs, they couldn't reverse the disadvantage.

Harrot was also caught in a bitter struggle. Although the elite infantry he led barely avoided being routed by the Centaur attack, their casualties were extremely heavy, with only just over 100 remaining from a 200-man unit.

Three of his ten Knight attendants also died. More critically, he failed to hold the line and stop the Centaurs in front, allowing them to break through to the rear of the defenses.

"Everyone, stick close to me! I'll lead the charge, don't spread out!" Harrot had to stabilize the morale of his troops at this point and lead them to attack the Centaurs.

Several other Knights also failed to hold back the Centaurs. From several directions, hundreds of Centaurs directly attacked the heavy crossbowmen and Elven archers, who were the main damage dealers.

Marcus had long considered developing new lands. While in the Northern Province, he managed to acquire several hundred heavy crossbows. Although heavy crossbows have a shorter range, their destructive power is much greater than bows. Even Centaurs find it difficult to continue fighting after being hit by one or two bolts.

Harrot cleared a small group of Centaurs still engaging them, then looked back to find Marcus's forces had been pierced through by the Centaurs, suffering heavy losses. Even the Elves were engaged in close combat with the Centaurs.

Marcus's forces, besides the ranged units, only had ordinary infantry. Against the ferocious Centaurs, they were as helpless as children, completely reliant on the less than one hundred Elves to help hold the line and prevent a rout.

Marcus himself was fighting at full power. Wielding a three-meter-long flaming spear, his sweeping and piercing attacks consistently harvested Centaur lives. These ordinary Centaurs were no match for him.

However, Marcus was not a Legendary Expert after all. After wielding the giant spear for half the day, he was already panting and feeling fatigued, with nearly half of his bloodline power consumed. Yet, he had only killed a little over twenty Centaurs.

And his forces had already been decimated by the Centaurs! If they hadn't been surrounded on all sides by Centaurs, they would have dropped their weapons and fled long ago.

In this critical situation, Harrot dared not hoard his attribute and skill points any longer. He put the skill points from leveling up to Lv10 into Power Strike, and all the attribute points from Lv8, 9, and 10 into Agility.

His Strength attribute was as high as 31. Power Strike, which increases strength by a percentage, was very effective, but there was no need to put more attribute points into Strength.

After gaining the passive skill Power, his Agility was reduced by 10%, leaving him with only 13 Agility points, which severely limited his performance. He had to allocate points to compensate.

Now, Harrot had 31 Strength and 16 Agility. His attributes completely overwhelmed ordinary Centaurs, and he also had Lv8 Power Strike!

Harrot quickly led his elite infantry to support Marcus. He activated his Muscle Burst skill and charged at the very front of the formation, imbuing all his flame energy into his weapon.

"Charge with me! Let these Centaurs witness the power of humans!"

Harrot roared, leading the charge. His flaming greatsword swung methodically, left and right, like a meat grinder, tearing apart every enemy in his path.

Harrot was covered in Centaur blood, with quite a bit of Centaur entrails and flesh clinging to his armor. Driven by bloodlust, Harrot didn't bother to wipe it off, relentlessly pushing forward.

After activating Muscle Burst, his Strength reached a full 46 points, and with various skill proficiency bonuses, it was nearly 90 points! That was 15 times that of a normal person!

At this moment, even facing half-ton Centaur forces, he could easily carve a path.

The elite infantry followed behind him, their morale boosted by his valiant display, excitedly picking up their weapons to attack the Centaurs.

The elite soldiers and Centaurs could barely fight each other. When gathered, they formed an advantage against the disorganized, individualistic Centaurs, successfully repelling them and saving Marcus's archer unit.

"You came just in time, Harrot!" Marcus breathed a sigh of relief. Any later and his troops would have been wiped out.

"Quickly organize the archers to fire! I'll take my troops back into the fight!" Harrot had no time for more words. The Centaurs had already regrouped and were charging again.

Harrot and the elite infantry had initially endured the assault of the main Centaur force, then fought fiercely to break through the Centaur formation. Now, they were somewhat fatigued, their combat effectiveness greatly reduced, making it difficult to directly confront the regrouped Centaurs.

But they were not the main players in this battle; they only needed to provide support.

The Elves, no longer needing to protect or save humans, unleashed the combat power befitting the strongest race on the continent. Some began casting Magic, others picked up sharp blades for close combat, effortlessly harvesting Centaur lives.

Especially Tiona. As a half-Elf, half-Orc, she had no Magic talent, but her martial prowess was outstanding, possessing both the agility of an Elf and the savage strength of an Orc.

Tiona also used a greatsword. She swung the greatsword, moving and spinning faster and faster, eventually becoming a blur, scattering flesh and blood wherever she went.

Harrot, with his physique and strength, could also use this move, but his agility was insufficient, and he couldn't maintain balance well. Spinning in place was barely manageable, but moving was unrealistic, let alone controlling direction.

The exceptionally skilled Elves successfully held back the Centaurs, and Marcus's ranged crossbowmen also began to exert their power.

A volley of hundreds of heavy crossbow bolts instantly took dozens of Centaur lives. These Centaurs finally began to flee, and Marcus and his group did not pursue.

Their small-scale battle was a victory, but only because the number of Centaurs attacking them was less than a thousand, and they had the aid of nearly a hundred Elves. This could by no means indicate that other allied forces could also repel the Centaurs.

Looking out from a high vantage point, the main battlefield showed the allied forces at a severe disadvantage. Especially on the left flank, the line had completely fallen, with humans and Centaurs in a chaotic melee. In such a chaotic battle, the racial differences led to a nearly one-sided slaughter of humans.

The central front, under Marquis Prague's command, endured the impact of nearly ten thousand Centaurs, but still managed to maintain its formation. One reason was the presence of Marquis Prague and Grand Duke Lance, two Legendary Experts, which bolstered everyone's morale.

Another reason was the excellent combat power of the Dwarven contingent. A defensive formation composed of one thousand Dwarven heavy warriors was truly an impenetrable fortress, completely unbreachable by the disorganized Centaur rabble without unified command.

Marcus stood on the high ground, observing the battlefield situation. After a few seconds of thought, he said with a grim face, "This isn't good. The left flank is completely overrun, and the right flank isn't looking good either! And even holding this wave means nothing!"

"The main Centaur force hasn't even moved yet. This rabble nearly broke us. What will happen when the main force of the Thunder Tribe arrives..."

Harrot also frowned, looking weakly at the ten thousand Thunder Tribe Centaurs waiting in the distance. The side effects of his Muscle Burst were starting to show; he couldn't exert much strength for a short period, and his combat effectiveness had severely declined.

He would struggle to serve as the main offensive force in the upcoming battles, yet the enemy's most elite troops hadn't even engaged. Let alone the main battlefield, even their small sector might not be able to hold out.