Seven Execution Platforms

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

A piercing whistling sound, tearing through eardrums, echoed along the entire western defensive line.

Seven Rune heavy arrows, each as thick as an adult's arm and gleaming with a cold Holy Silver light, were launched from the bow with a thunderous roar.

Even the thick Granite ring beneath the heavy crossbow's base cracked into large spiderweb-like fissures under the force of the exaggerated recoil.

The four Third-Tier Ghouls, who were about to press forward, suddenly shrank the soul fire in their empty eye sockets, as if they had been stabbed hard by something.

Those rusty heads actually had very few complete thoughts left, but the more that was the case, the more sensitive their instincts became.

The Ghoul leader riding the Two-Headed Dire Wolf suddenly had its eerie green soul fire flickering violently in its eye sockets.

Before it could even think, it yanked the reins, and the giant skeletal hand pulled it to the side and back in an instant. Even the two-headed wolf beneath it was pulled halfway off its back by the sudden burst of force.

The Rune on the arrow also lit up as it flew.

The Crushing Rune at the arrowhead directly compress the air in front of it, reducing resistance to a minimum, so that the kinetic energy of the entire heavy arrow does not decrease at all from the moment it leaves the barrel until it hits the target.

The Armor-Piercing Rune on both sides of the arrow were vibrating rapidly, while the Burst Rune deeper inside was even more intricate. Eli had meticulously carved it by hand, working tirelessly in the Workshop.

The seven Rune arrows were so fast that the Third Tier creature had no time to react; its vision had barely caught a glimpse of the cold light before the arrows were already upon its face.

The swollen giant frog with its belly dragging on the ground, along with the Ghoul leader on its back, was pierced directly through its gaping maw by an arrow.

The moment the arrow pierced through, the Crushing Rune at the tip first pierced through the entire mass of flesh, and the armor-piercing shockwave rolled all the way down the skull and spine.

Once the arrow had completely penetrated the body, the Burst Rune hidden in the middle section suddenly lit up and exploded deep inside its belly.

The entire Third Tier beast was like a rotten sac that had been burst from the inside, instantly torn to pieces.

Large chunks of bright red minced meat, blackened organs, and foul-smelling blood were all spilled all over the ground.

Even the Ghoul leader on its back was blown to pieces.

On the other side, the Ghoul atop the floating Corpse Bat didn't even have time to raise its shield.

The heavy arrow struck head-on, and the Crushing Rune at the arrowhead first shattered the Corpse Bat's bone armor. The shockwave from the armor-piercing followed, blasting layer by layer into the bone gaps, shattering the entire shield along with the sternum.

As the arrow pierced through, the Burst Rune detonated inside the Ghoul behind it, pulverizing its shield, bones, and flesh.

The mangled body was carried away by the force of the impact and flew backward, embedding itself alive in the Frozen Tundra wall behind it.

The remaining two Third-Tier Ghoul desperately dodged at the last moment, barely avoiding being impaled head-on, but were still grazed.

Half of the Two-Headed Dire Wolf's spine was torn apart as if by an invisible giant hand, with flesh and bone fragments exploding out together.

The vanguard leader fared even worse. As the heavy arrow grazed past, the Armor-Piercing Rune shattered his shoulder armor and arm bones first, and the Burst Rune followed, exploding in his flesh and blood. One arm, along with half of his shoulder blade, was instantly shredded into bone fragments and mangled flesh, which were flung into the bloody mud.

It tumbled and crashed out with its mount, looking as pathetic as a tattered sack that had been tossed around.

The haughty indifference and mockery that had been emanating from those pair of ghostly green flames had completely dissipated, leaving only raw fear.

The soldiers who retreated into the Flanking Communication Trenches covered their ears tightly, their eardrums ringing loudly from the vibrations.

They stared blankly at the open space ahead, which had just been crowded with Ghoul, their minds momentarily blank.

Many people didn't understand what happened at all.

They only saw a flash of cold light, and the next moment the giant frog exploded, the Corpse Bat were shattered into pieces, and even the fiercest two-headed wolf was violently blasted away.

The monsters in front of them were instantly destroyed, as if struck head-on by an invisible hammer.

The Third Tier monster's bones, which were usually so hard that even swords and axes could hardly leave a mark, were as fragile as paper in front of this thing.

Everyone thought they were about to have to fight tooth and nail, risking their lives to save each other, but it was already over.

The Ghoul's formation immediately crumbled; their protective layers were torn apart, their generals were crippled, and their previously orderly advance was suddenly riddled with gaps.

The elite Ghoul and cannon fodder at the back were crammed together, some still charging forward, while others had already begun to instinctively retreat, and the gaps in the entire army formation were widening.

The high-level crossbow array spewed out large plumes of murky white steam, beginning a brief period of ventilation and cooling.

Fabien knew what these heavy Rune Steam Repeating Crossbow were for, and he had personally witnessed the Workshop testing them time and time again.

But when he actually saw seven Rune heavy arrows crash into the battlefield simultaneously, crippling the Third Tier monster on the spot, he was still slightly taken aback.

But he quickly realized what was happening. Fabien thrust his Holy Silver Longsword forward, the tip pointing directly at the two crippled leaders still struggling in the blood and mud, and roared, "Blackpine Knights! Crush them with me!"

Seventy heavily armored Third Tier Blackpine Heavy Knights, who had already suppressed their killing intent to the limit, spurred their horses forward simultaneously.

This long-awaited torrent of black and gold burst forth from the inner defensive line, its heavy iron crushing the frozen mud and ice, causing even the earth to tremble.

Seventy armor-piercing lances advanced in unison, their Platinum Battle Aura flowing along the armor and lance shafts, crashing straight into the two Third Tier generals who had not yet recovered from the heavy crossbow barrage.

As Fabien charged, the infantrymen retreating into the Flanking Communication Trenches were also completely roused by his roar.

"Follow the Knight! Push him forward!"

The Blackpine warriors in the trenches on both sides rushed into the battlefield in waves, like iron gates suddenly released.

The Low-Tier Ghoul and Corrupted Lesser Demon were still swirling in the chaos when they were struck head-on.

The battlefield was divided into two parts: high-level players fought against high-level players, and low-level players killed low-level players.

The previous volley of heavy crossbow bolts killed two Third-Tier Ghouls, and the remaining two were basically crippled.

As for the Second-Tier Elite and the lower-level cannon fodder, they couldn't hold their ground at all after being surrounded by infantry and Knight from both the front and the back, and it was like a massacre.

The silver torrent of steel rapidly crushed the scattered limbs and bloody mud on the ground.

The spears and swords of seventy Tier Third Tier heavy Knight pierced the chests of the remaining Second Tier Ghoul one after another, turning this Ghoul Vanguard Corps had crashed into Blackpine Fief into a pile of broken bones and mangled flesh.

In the very center of the battlefield, the largest Ghoul leader was still making its final struggle.

The Two-Headed Dire Wolf beneath it had its hind legs broken in the earlier heavy crossbow barrage, and as it desperately charged out, it finally plunged headfirst into a mud pit, throwing its leader off its back.

The twelve heavily armored Knight immediately broke away from the main formation and surrounded the half-crippled enemy general from all sides.

Even after having an arm and half a shoulder blade torn apart by the Adamantine arrow, the Ghoul still unleashed a ferocious counterattack.

It swung the massive, blood-stained greatsword with one hand, and a hoarse, piercing battle cry shot out from its throat, "Hoah--!"

He swept the sword horizontally with tremendous force.

Two Knight raised their shields to block the attack, "Clang!"

The Refined Steel shield was dented on the spot, and both the rider and horse were thrown back several meters.

The deafening roar of clashing heavy weapons echoed one after another in the mud pit.

The Platinum Battle Aura and the eerie green evil aura collided face to face, causing layers of blood and mud to rise up around them.

The Knight's Holy Silver breastplates were cleaved with deep gashes, and two warhorses even had their necks severed by the horse-slaying sword.

The Ghoul leader was in an even more miserable state; his mangled body was repeatedly pierced by the Cross-Shaped Greatsword and armor-piercing lance, leaving dozens of holes from which black blood gushed out, and even fragments of bone were stuck on the tip of the lance.

The more blood flowed, the slower the movements became.

The Ghoul leader smashed the Knight in front of him with another sword strike. "Roar--!"

But as soon as the sword was swung out, the remaining arm stiffened noticeably, and the strength dissipated slightly. Fabien had been waiting for this moment, and suddenly, a blinding Platinum Battle Aura exploded from the Cross-Shaped Greatsword.

Fabien gripped the horse's flanks tightly with his legs, and using the momentum of the horse's sudden forward leap, he gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands and delivered a powerful crescent slash to the monster's neck.

"Snap--!"

The dull thud of a neck bone breaking echoed in the center of the battlefield.

The broad blade, carrying the force of the entire warhorse's charge, cleaved the ugly, ferocious head away in one stroke.

The foul-smelling black blood sprayed all over Fabien's head and face.

With a "whoosh," he flipped his wrist, and the sword tip flicked, hanging the head on the tip of the blade.

He held the still-dripping head high towards the tower and trenches, its empty eyes still glowing with green ghostly fire.

In the trenches, everyone stared intently at the head suspended in mid-air.

There was a moment of deathly silence, then people burst into cheers, finally finding an outlet for the fear that had been building up all night.

The cheers from the trenches were carried by the biting wind all the way to the Inner Fortress command tower.

It was cold up there, and the intense, viscous atmosphere of blood that had just erupted below had faded considerably by the time it reached this point.

Shien stood at the edge of the stone platform, his gaze heavy with a deep stillness.

His gaze passed over the still-bleeding head on Fabien's longsword, landing on the wreckage of the Aberrant mounts and the rusty armor of the Third Tier- tier leader.

Cheap cannon fodder were driven in droves to fill the pits, their movements imbued with an almost stereotypical obedience.

Even the Aberrant mounts, which should have gone berserk at the sight of blood, had their instincts suppressed and pushed forward with the formation.

These details, scattered in the pool of blood, pieced together in Shien's mind.

The battle just now was most likely just a test.

If we could take it all in one go, the opponent would have already pushed all the way down.

Since there isn't one, then this elite force lying in the mud below is just a vanguard unit thrown out by a more powerful being deep within the Gray Fog, specifically to probe the trump card of Blackpine Fief.

Shien slowly raised his head and looked at the seemingly boundless Gray Fog, which was still churning.

This resounding victory did not make Shien relax in the slightest; on the contrary, it heightened his vigilance even further.

From this moment on, Blackpine Fief must prepare according to the standards of a true decisive battle.