"Boom-"
An Alchemical Explosive detonated against the fortress's side armor, the shriek of tearing steel like a giant beast's dying wail.
Alex stepped on the still-smoking wreckage and was the first to leap through the breach.
Behind him, a gray tide surged in.
The allied soldiers charged like starving wolves into a sheepfold, instantly overwhelming the Blackflame Army troops trying to plug the gap.
Blades clashed, and screams rose one after another.
Alex charged straight at the panicked Blackflame Army soldiers.
He twisted aside to evade a spear thrust. Riding his momentum, the muscles of his back tightened, and his battleaxe crashed down with the force of a thunderstorm.
The Empire's Centurion, who had been organizing the resistance, did not even have time to cry out.
"Squelch-!"
The crack of shattering bones drowned out the battle cries around them.
That brutally powerful blow split the Centurion from crown to crotch. The two halves of his body toppled to either side, spilling steaming blood and entrails.
Blood splashed across Alex's faceplate. He did not so much as blink, nor did his stride falter.
Before him, the already disordered defensive formation collapsed outright.
At that moment, the sight of the two steaming halves of the corpse drove primal terror straight through their mental defenses.
Their pupils contracted sharply, their minds went blank, and their weapons clattered to the floor. They even forgot the instinct to kneel and beg for mercy.
They simply stood there, like frozen statues, waiting for death to reap them.
The fortress's ground-floor hall.
A wreck from end to end.
Broken porcelain and overturned wine bottles lay scattered across the sloping floor.
Prince Wilander entered through a side door, followed by a squad of fully armed guards.
General Karl hurried in from the other side, a Warhammer in his