Chapter 356: Gur Wants to Fight Two at Once

At the border between Blackrock Fortress and the Demon Territory, the Two-Headed Ogre Chieftain, Gurgalu, gazed at the three-to-four-meter-wide river before him. Though unwritten, it served as the customary dividing line.

Gurgalu rapidly chanted a spell.

"Ice Storm!"

A swirling, freezing wind emerged, resembling a horizontal tornado. White, chilling mist billowed from the vortex as Gurgalu swept the ice tornado forward. The intense cold froze the river's surface, the ice thickening until it formed a ten-meter-wide frozen path.

Extending a foot, Gurgalu tested the ice with a few firm stomps and confirmed the frozen path could support the army's crossing.

"Cross the river!"

Clutching the Combat Staff of Caucasus, the Ogre chieftain took the lead, striding toward the opposite bank with a fifty-thousand-strong army following closely behind.

"There's the stench of Demons!"

Sniffing the air, the Ogre chieftain caught the faint scent of sulfur clinging to the Demons. He also sensed numerous hostile gazes. Trusting his intuition, Gurgalu instantly fired a fireball in that direction.

Boom!

An explosion rang out like a detonating grenade. The Demons hiding in the grass were blasted into the air by the fireball's force. They rolled across the ground, their mangled bodies twitching among the burning, twisted vegetation.

Instantly, Gurgalu felt the hidden, prying gazes vanish. The deterrence had worked; the Demons spying on the army retreated.

"Hmph! Cowards!"

The Harpy commander flying in the sky, Lomana Ironfeather, landed beside Gurgalu.

"Legion Commander, should we kill them?"

"No need. These clowns aren't worth wasting extra time on. Quickly organize the formation and advance toward Demon Camp No. 1."

Behind Gurgalu, the monstrous army steadily arrived on the opposite shore.

The first to arrive were the Ogre Shield Guardians. These burly figures, standing over four meters tall, held ferocious Spiked Maces in one hand and door-sized shields in the other. These shields, even taller than the Ogres themselves, were evenly lined with twenty-four terrifying spikes that would strike fear into anyone's heart.

Upon stepping onto land, the Shield Guardians raised their shields to form a solid wall and pushed forward. They needed to create a secure landing zone for their comrades behind them.

In the air above the Ogre Shield Guardians, a flock of Harpies flapped their wings and soared past the shield wall. They scouted the land ahead, immediately firing a spell whenever they spotted a Demon.

Regardless of whether their water arrows killed the enemy, the Harpies continued their aerial reconnaissance. In truth, their primary mission was to scout. Once their magic exposed the enemy's position, the ground forces would handle the rest.

The Ogre Shield Guardians unhooked small throwing axes from their waists and hurled them with tremendous force at the fleeing Demons.

The spinning axes whistled through the air toward the retreating targets. Powered by the Ogres' innate brute strength, these flying axes became terrifying weapons. Any Demon struck would either die or be left crippled; some were even cleaved cleanly in half.

The "small" axes were only small relative to the Ogres. The axes these behemoths used as throwing weapons were large enough to serve as two-handed battleaxes for an ordinary human.

As they advanced, the Shield Guardians retrieved their thrown axes. These weapons were more valuable than a typical adventurer's favorite gear. The specialized defensive Shield Guardians were only equipped with three each, while other melee-focused Ogres carried five.

Under the dense barrage of throwing axes, the Demons around the landing site either died or fled. Without so much as muddying their shields, the Ogre Shield Guardians cleared out a safe zone.

Once they had secured a large enough clearing, the Shield Guardians planted their shields to form a defensive line, vigilantly watching the wilderness.

Though no one believed these scattered Demons posed a threat to the army, the strict training of the Kingdom Military Academy had ingrained a golden rule into the Ogres: never drop your guard, no matter how weak the enemy.

Under the protection of the Ogre Shield Guardians, the fifty-thousand-strong army swiftly crossed the river and organized their formation within the Demon Territory.

"Mage Corps! Steel Golems, clear the way!"

At Gurgalu's command, twenty High-Tier Mages stepped to the front of the ranks. They retrieved Steel Golems from their Dimensional Bags, lining up twenty five-meter-tall Steel Golems at the vanguard of the army.

Steel Golems were the highest-grade constructs mass-produced by White Castle. Designed specifically for war, they were forged from a special alloy and inscribed internally with complex magical circuits. With their own power source and a degree of intelligence, their combat strength rivaled that of a Master Tier powerhouse.

Their fearless nature, massive size, impenetrable plating, and extremely high magic resistance made these Steel Golems far more troublesome to deal with than a typical Master Tier powerhouse.

The twenty Steel Golems took the lead, their heavy footsteps marching steadily toward Demon Camp No. 1. The fully formed army of fifty thousand trailed behind, maintaining a set distance from the constructs.

Occasionally, the Steel Golems triggered traps. Toxins, arrows, and ordinary magic were simply brushed off. Only explosions could make their massive frames sway, but even that was the extent of the damage.

These special-alloy constructs boasted exceptionally high physical and magical resistance. They could even self-repair minor deformations and battle damage, which was exactly why Gurgalu used them to clear the path.

High in the sky behind the army, the Gold Dragon—concealed by dragon language magic—watched the forces smoothly steamroll their way forward. He finally understood why the White Dragon Lord had so much confidence in this army.

Aside from a small minority of caster-type Ogres, all the Ogres wore heavy armor protecting their vital areas. The specialized defenders were armored like iron cans. In addition to their main weapons, every Ogre had several throwing axes hooked to their belts.

Behind the Ogres were the gnoll light cavalry. Clad in leather armor, they rode strong hyenas. Combined with the sprinting speed of their mounts, the gnolls' gleaming broadswords could unleash devastating power. On top of that, every gnoll was equipped with a Hand Crossbow.

Besides the broadsword-wielding light cavalry, there were also gnoll mounted archers armed with longbows. These archers carried longbows and quivers on their backs, but they weren't strictly limited to ranged combat—they also wore curved scimitars at their waists.

Matching their luxurious equipment was the army's strict discipline. Throughout the march, aside from the sound of footsteps, the fifty-thousand-strong force didn't make a single noise. The soldiers on the perimeter kept their hands resting on their weapons, ready for battle at a moment's notice.

With the Steel Golems blazing the trail, the army arrived just outside Demon Camp No. 1. The Demons were no pushovers either; they immediately surged out of their crude camp and launched an assault on the army.

From the sky, the Gold Dragon made a rough estimate. The Demon Army consisted of over a hundred thousand troops, easily more than double the size of the White Castle Army.

The Demon Army swarmed forward in a chaotic mob, forming a stark contrast to the strict discipline of the White Castle Army.

"Halt! Ogre warriors! Raise your shields!"

Seeing the Demon Army take the initiative, Gurgalu ordered his troops to stop. The Ogre Shield Guardians stepped to the front, locking their shields into an impenetrable wall.

"Ready hand axes!"

Hearing their commander's order, all the Ogres unhooked the throwing axes from their waists.

"Aim forward, thirty degrees upward! Fire!"

A dense swarm of flying axes traced a parabolic arc, plummeting toward the charging Demon Army. While some Demons might have withstood a volley of arrows, a rain of massive battleaxes would terrify absolutely anyone.

The axe rain descended from the sky. Colossal blades cleaved comrades in half, splattering demonic blood and minced flesh across the faces of those nearby. Staring at the massive axes embedded in the ground, some Demons were entirely stupefied by terror. Once they snapped out of it, they shrieked wildly and scattered in search of cover.

One lucky Demon found a boulder and hurriedly ducked behind it, only to be violently kicked out into the open by a stronger Demon charging past.

The axe barrage continued to fall. A few quick-witted Demons cast Magic Shields on themselves, while others simply hoisted their comrades' corpses to use as cover. But against the giant axes, corpse shields offered little defense. Low Tier Magic Shields shattered instantly; only Intermediate Tier Magic Shields could hold up briefly.

High-Tier Demons capable of using magic remained relatively safe. However, High-Tier Demons and above made up merely a tenth of the entire Demon Army.

Fortunately for the Demons, the Ogres didn't carry an endless supply of axes; otherwise, the Demon Army might as well have given up entirely.

Within the kill zone of the axe shower, demonic corpses littered the ground in horrific states. Almost none of the bodies remained intact. Only a small fraction of Demons survived, staring up at the clear sky as if they had just returned from the afterlife.

In the rear of the Demon Army, shielded by elite guards, the Demon higher-ups saw the axe rain stop and ordered the army to resume the attack. But the remaining demonic forces hesitated.

In truth, the axes hadn't actually killed that many—only ten thousand or so. For an army of over a hundred thousand, it was nowhere near a crippling blow. Yet, the psychological impact was devastating. Right now, giant axes still jutted from countless Demon corpses.

After the commanders chopped off the heads of several dozen retreating Demons, the terrifying deterrence of their superiors forced the Demon Army to charge once more.

The gnoll mounted archers drew their bowstrings and loosed their arrows, sending a rain of shafts falling from the sky.

Surviving the arrow volley, the Demon Army closed in on the Ogre Shield Guardians. Before them stood a five-meter-high wall of shields, its hedgehog-like spikes looking utterly terrifying.

Suddenly, a gap opened in the locked shield wall. Through the crack, the Ogre Shield Guardians hurled their specially reserved throwing axes horizontally. Skimming just above the ground, the axes flew directly into the charging Demon Army.

The front row of Demons had their legs cleanly severed. Agonizing screams blended into a cacophony. Trampling over their shrieking comrades, the rest of the Demon Army crashed into the freshly closed shield wall.

A barrage of magic slammed into the barricade, but these shields—forged by the gray dwarves—were an astonishing three fingers thick. The special materials also provided considerable magic resistance. Low Tier and Intermediate Tier spells striking the shields failed to put any pressure on the Ogre Shield Guardians.

Once the Demon Army closed in, they furiously hacked at the shields with their crude weapons. But the Ogres' immense strength wasn't something ordinary Demons could shake. The shield wall didn't budge an inch. Caught in the crush, the front-row Demons were shoved forward by their own comrades and slammed directly into the barricade.

The brutal spikes pierced deep into demonic flesh. Without even a chance to scream, the first wave of Demons perished.

However, their sacrifice was not entirely meaningless. Shielded by the corpses, the Demons behind them no longer feared the spikes. Pressing their bodies over the dead, the Demon Army piled up against the shield wall.

Using the compressed mound of their own kin as a ramp, the Demons in the rear tried to vault over the barricade to attack the Ogres directly. But right behind the Shield Guardians stood Ogre warriors wielding five-meter-long Spiked Clubs.

Like a game of baseball, the moment a Demon popped its head over the shield wall, a whistling Spiked Club would smash it to pieces. Demonic skulls burst like dropped watermelons, spraying red and white matter everywhere.

Exploiting their numerical advantage, some Demons flanked the shield wall and charged the rear lines of the White Castle Army. What greeted them were Ogres armed to the teeth.

The Demons' attacks scraped harmlessly against the Ogres' thick heavy armor. But any Demon struck by an Ogre's Spiked Club was instantly pulverized into a broken, bloody sack.

Gradually, the pile of corpses before the shield wall stacked higher and higher. Soon enough, the Demons could use the mountain of dead to easily jump over the barricade.

Seeing that the demonic tide was about to breach the shield dam, Gurgalu, observing from the center, ordered his troops to abandon the wall and release the golem legion.

Thirty Steel Golems, a hundred Rock Golems, and five hundred Clay Golems materialized behind the Ogre Shield Guardians. These towering constructs stood a full head taller than even the Ogres.

The arrival of the golem legion signaled the beginning of the general offensive.

With the Steel Golems forming the vanguard, the Rock Golems and Clay Golems followed closely behind to slam into the Demon Army. Seizing the opening, the Ogre Shield Guardians withdrew their shields.

Seeing gaps appear in the shield wall, the Demons didn't even have time to rejoice before they were terrified by the massive constructs charging out.

Just like with the Ogres, the White Dragon Lord saw no reason not to equip the infinitely stronger golems with heavy weapons. Wielding giant hammers, massive axes, and Spiked Clubs, the golem legion left absolute devastation in their wake. A ring of Intermediate and High-Tier Demons was sent flying into the air, vomiting blood wherever the constructs passed.

Fearless and boasting staggering defense, the golems crushed a bloody path through the Demon Army. The Ogre warriors followed in their wake, continuously expanding their advantage.

The gnoll forces charged from the flanks, wielding broadswords in one hand while cracking leather whips to spur their hyenas forward.

Seeing the golems appear, the Demon commanders were seized with shock. Even the lowest-ranking Clay Golems rivaled a newly advanced High-Tier professional, while the Steel Golems were fully comparable to Master Tier powerhouses.

Furthermore, on a massive battlefield, these towering, heavily armored, and pain-impervious constructs were even more effective than actual Master Tier powerhouses.

"Quick! Destroy those golems!"

The Demon commander and five Legendary Demons led their elite guard in a charge toward the Steel Golems. If they didn't eliminate these constructs, the Demon Army had absolutely no chance of victory.

Gurgalu had kept his eyes on the Legendary Demons lurking in the enemy's rear. Seeing them finally make a move, he acted.

"Sman Wolfheart! Take over command!"

Garu shouted, "Dam Skullcrusher! Suramar Bloody Hand! Paparo Blue Scale! Lomana Ironfeather! Hunt with me!"

Gur roared, "Gur wants to fight two at once!"

Wielding a Totem Pillar in one hand and the Combat Staff of Caucasus in the other, Gurgalu led his four legendary practitioners in a charge toward the frontline. Their enemies were gunning straight for the Steel Golems acting as the vanguard.