The Imperial army's resistance was both more determined and more fragile than anticipated.
When the soldiers, who had just been lost in their greed for gold and silver, saw the Lizardmen's giant beasts charging at them from all directions, they abruptly awakened to the realization that perhaps life was more valuable than wealth.
In this respect, the systematically trained Imperial soldiers, with their clear chain of command, were certainly stronger than the mercenaries from southern lands who had previously ventured here. However, they still fell far short of the Ashen Legion, which had undergone months of intense training under Fugen.
Their attempt to resist came too late. Many soldiers had only just put down their gold and silver and hadn't even located the weapons they had discarded before the terrifying beasts burst into the temple ruins. These creatures roared and snarled, unleashing their primal savagery upon the Imperial soldiers.
A few spearmen, who had managed to find their weapons in the chaos, shouted the battle cries of the Empire and Karl Franz, trying to fend off the beasts' charge. But they were simply too small in comparison. Their spears couldn't pierce the hardened shells of the armored dinosaurs or the tough hide of the carnosaurs.
War is never simple. Just because spearmen are trained to fight large units doesn't mean they can easily handle the Lizardmen's giant beasts. As several spearmen were crushed into pieces, more Lizardmen warriors and skinks appeared.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Prepare for battle!" The Hunter General let out a desperate cry, frantically signaling for the soldiers to gather. How could such a disorganized rabble face these primeval monsters? Only the tightly knit formations, proven by human history to be effective, could stand against them!
Realizing their situation too late, the Imperial forces began to form up, but in just a few minutes, they had already suffered over 500 casualties. Many soldiers had been torn apart by the beasts. If it hadn't been for the carnosaurs, armored dinosaurs, and giant lizards pausing to enjoy the rare feast of human flesh, the soldiers wouldn't have had the chance to form up.
By the time the death toll surpassed 700, the Imperial army finally received a belated order to retreat into a corner of the Toccan Temple, where they would make their last stand.
In the streets of the temple, an Imperial chariot sped along, its newly assembled wheels clattering. Ahead, a few packhorses and warhorses galloped at full speed, while the rickety chariot, made of hastily assembled wooden planks, teetered dangerously. The Imperial musketeers on board shouted and howled in fear: "Faster! Faster! Hurry!"
"We're going as fast as we can!" the driver yelled back, urging the horses on.
But right behind the chariot was a terrifying carnosaur!
This carnosaur stood at least seven or eight meters tall and was over ten meters long—a prehistoric beast the likes of which the Imperial army had never seen before!
"Fire!" came the desperate command, and the Imperial musketeers raised their weapons. But even at close range, the muskets, capable of piercing through iron armor, only managed to make a few small cuts on the carnosaur's hide.
"Faster! Faster!" The Imperial chariot raced across the chaotic battlefield, with the carnosaur in relentless pursuit. Its gaping maw, lined with sharp teeth, drew ever closer, the stench of its breath filling the air.
"We're going to be caught!" the musketeers screamed in despair.
At the last moment, the chariot made a sharp turn, the Imperial driver pushing himself to the limit. Not only did he execute the turn, but he also performed a near-perfect drift along the streets of the temple ruins!
The chariot veered into a narrow alley, and the carnosaur, unable to counter its own momentum, slammed into the temple's high walls, bringing them crashing down. The ground shook, and the carnosaur was momentarily dazed, giving the Imperial chariot a chance to widen the gap between them.
"Yeah!"
"Sigmar blesses us!"
"Long live the Empire!"
"Karl Franz above us!"
The musketeers on the chariot erupted in cheers, shouting the names of the Empire and Emperor Sigmar as if they had already won the war.
"Thud!" Suddenly, there was a heavy thump on the chariot. The entire vehicle shook, and the horses neighed in terror as the chariot suddenly became much heavier, making forward movement almost impossible.
A massive white lizard landed on the chariot. It didn't give the Imperial soldiers any time to react. The ancient holy artifact, U'Luka, held in the lizard's hand, was as light as a stick to it.
With a single swing, the musketeer's head was smashed into pulp, brains splattering everywhere.
In the blink of an eye, all the musketeers on the chariot were killed with one strike each. The Great White Lizard's movements were so fast they seemed like a blur. The driver screamed as he was torn to shreds, and Gor-Rok, the Great White Lizard, reached into the driver's chest and ripped out his heart, swallowing it whole. "For the Great Plan!"
"Kill all the warm-bloods!"
"Awoo~~~"
The temple ruins turned into a scene of brutal slaughter as the Lizardmen army, following their giant beasts, entered the ruins, slaughtering all the isolated warm-bloods. The humans had no chance of resisting this ambush.
"Forward!" Thousands of Lizardmen warriors rampaged through the ruins, feasting on their prey. But as they were about to overrun the entire temple, they finally encountered fierce resistance in a corner of the temple.
Under the command of Hunter General Erik, the last 800 or so Imperial troops had gathered in a half-enclosed temple deep within the Toccan Temple. Using the high walls and corridors to their advantage, they formed a solid shield wall and spear formation. In the brutal battle, only the most experienced provincial veterans survived. Shoulder to shoulder, they stood firm against the Lizardmen's onslaught.
The narrow temple corridors prevented the giant beasts from entering, and the dense shield and spear wall held off the Lizardmen warriors and skinks. Imperial crossbowmen, archers, and hunters rained arrows down on the Lizardmen from the temple corridors. Through sheer determination, they managed to repel two waves of Lizardmen attacks!
"General! We're trapped! There are Lizardmen everywhere outside!" an Imperial hunter shouted to General Erik. "What do we do?!"
"Hold the line! Just hold the line!" Erik, his eyes bloodshot, screamed at the top of his lungs. "Reinforcements will come!"
"Reinforcements? Where are they?" The Imperial hunter continued to shoot his arrows, overwhelmed by the sheer number of Lizardmen. He doubted that even if he used up every arrow in his quiver, it would be enough to kill them all. "Damn it! We were ambushed! These jungle creatures aren't weak as the legends say. We were deceived!"
"If I say they're coming, they're coming! Hold the line!" Hunter General Erik bellowed. He took up his great bow, nocked an arrow, and with a single shot, pierced the eye of a Lizardman warrior. The swarm of Lizardmen faced fierce resistance, and under the relentless rain of arrows, they were temporarily driven back.
It seemed the battle had reached a stalemate. The temple Erik had found provided a strategic advantage. The Lizardmen's giant beasts couldn't enter for now, and the Lizardmen warriors and skinks alone weren't enough to break the Imperial defenses.
"Warrior Gor-Rok, our forces are facing difficulties," a Skink Priest hissed, flicking its tongue. "The warm-bloods are hiding inside the temple of Quetzel, putting up a strong defense."
"I'll deal with them, every last one of them," Gor-Rok, the Great White Lizard, brandished his weapon, eager to engage in battle.
"No, Warrior. We should send in the 'Burning Alignment,'" the Skink Priest shook its head. "The Solar Engine will help us solve the problem."
Gor-Rok nodded in agreement. Immediately, the Skink Priests began to chant their spells.
From the Lizardmen's ranks emerged an ancient Stegadon, different from the regular Stegadons. On its back, it carried an altar made entirely of gold. Several Skinks prayed on the altar, where the main feature was a golden base topped with a golden ring inscribed with the divine seal of the Sun God, Pha'tek.
"Who dares summon the Engine of the Gods?"
Hunter General Erik noticed the ancient Stegadon and immediately sensed danger. The golden ring on its back was clearly gathering energy. Just as Erik was trying to guess how the Lizardmen would launch their attack, a searing beam of light descended from the sky, striking the Imperial formation directly!
"Help!"
"Demons! Demons!"
"Sigmar above us!"
The blinding beam of light, nearly ten meters wide, incinerated everything in its path, turning Imperial soldiers into molten pools of iron and blood. The beam moved horizontally at an alarming speed, and the soldiers, huddled together, scattered in sheer terror, screaming as they fled. Seeing their comrades burned alive, the morale of the Imperial forces collapsed completely.
Erik was speechless, stunned by what he witnessed.
What was this?
Someone tell me, what the hell is this?
Who are we even fighting?
There was no time to think. After the brief but devastating assault from the Solar Engine, the Imperial forces were utterly broken. They had lost all combat capability and every last shred of morale. As they fled in all directions, a massive white lizard led a group of temple guards to finish the job, gradually closing in on the Hunter General.
Erik swallowed hard. He knew it was over. Not just the vanguard of the expedition, but he himself was finished, and likely the entire expeditionary force as well. There would be no one left to relay the news back to the port or the outposts.
He could already envision the reaction when the vanguard went missing. The Imperial expeditionary force would be shocked, and they would surely send more troops to investigate the Toccan Temple.
Upon seeing the wealth within the temple, they too would likely lower their guard and begin looting, only to fall into the same trap.
Damn it! It's all a trap set by the Lizardmen.
The last of the veteran soldiers were gradually overwhelmed by the Lizardmen horde. The Lizardmen warriors reveled in the feast, conducting blood sacrifices to Sotek, and saving a few prisoners to throw into the carnosaur pit.
Erik resolved to die with dignity. The Hunter General stood up.
Gor-Rok, the Great White Lizard, stood before him. Out of respect for Erik's bravery, he signaled the surrounding temple guards to stand down.
With a cold smile, Erik raised his great bow. As he had done countless times over the past decade, he drew the bowstring for the last time, aiming at the towering white lizard before him. This final shot was for the Empire, for Hunter Marshal Markus, and for Emperor Karl Franz.
"For the Empire!"
"For the Great Plan!"
Two minutes later, silence fell over the ruins of Toccan Temple. Gor-Rok stood triumphantly in the midst of the ruins, Erik's severed head hanging from his belt as a trophy. The Great White Lizard roared, exuding the exhilaration of victory and the wrath of the Old Ones.
Any warm-blooded creatures that dared to obstruct the Great Plan would be exterminated!
"Now, let us continue. Eradicate the rest of the warm-bloods!" Gor-Rok commanded. The Lizardmen army would not stop until they reached the coast.
"Lord Kroak has decreed that we should inform the Son of the Old Ones of this victory," the Skink Priest said. "We must see if he wishes to absorb the remaining forces."
"Then let it be done!"
…For the Great Plan…
While the entire Imperial vanguard was being annihilated at the Toccan Temple, in the New World, at Raider's Port on the Ruscia Isthmus…
After a long journey, the expedition knight finally arrived at the gates of Raider's Port. To his surprise, he found that the port city had been developed to a considerable extent. The five-meter-high city walls might not withstand the most ferocious enemies, but they were sufficient to protect the inhabitants in many situations.
Outside the city, there were numerous fields and salt pans where seawater was being evaporated for salt. On the sea, fishing boats and passenger vessels came and went. The human residents of the port mostly wore simple linen clothes, long sleeves, and trousers. Everything was orderly, with the power of order clearly evident. The banner flying from the city walls bore the emblem of an eagle's claw reborn from the flames—the symbol of the Ashen Legion. In addition to this, the walls displayed a golden double-headed eagle flag. While similar to the Imperial emblem, there were subtle differences that the expedition knight couldn't quite pinpoint.
Ashen Legion soldiers patrolled the town inside and out. Judging by their stance and discipline, the expedition knight could tell this was a truly formidable army. He stood at the gate, observing for several minutes. The guards stationed at the gate, despite his lingering presence, neither spoke nor moved an inch.
Such discipline was rare even in the Old World, reserved for the private guards of great nobles or the elite troops in certain territories, like the greatswords of Carroburg. After observing for a while longer and noticing that nearly all the soldiers exhibited such discipline, the stern-faced knight couldn't help but feel a twinge of surprise.
"Outsider?" Before long, perhaps noticing the knight's prolonged observation, a gray-clad officer, likely a guard captain of the Ashen Legion, approached with a few soldiers. "Bretonnian? Are you here on behalf of your goddess? What business do you have? If you've come here, you must follow our rules."
"I'm here to find someone," the expedition knight replied, his expression unchanged. His handsome, rugged face remained stern, giving the impression he was here to cause trouble.
"Who are you looking for? I warn you, Bretonnian, this is not your knightly kingdom." The officer's stony demeanor naturally led to a cold reception.
"I'm looking for Fugen, your legion commander."
"You want to see the commander? Who do you think you are? Our commander isn't someone you can meet just because you want to."
"I am…" The expedition knight spat out a series of words.
The Ashen Legion officer's expression changed dramatically. He hesitated, glancing at the knight. The virtues of Bretonnian knighthood were renowned across the world, and an expedition knight would not lie casually.
"Please wait here. I will report this."
"Very well." The expedition knight remained expressionless.
A few minutes later, the town gates opened wide, and Fugen, the Ashen Legion commander himself, came out to greet him with his personal guard, the "Phoenix Guard." The Primarch of the Emperor's Children, with his long, flowing silver hair fluttering in the sea breeze, wore golden armor with shoulder pauldrons sculpted into the wings of a majestic eagle, ready to take flight.
"Welcome, very, very welcome, sir. I never expected to see you here," Fugen said, spreading his arms wide in a gesture of warmth. "So, how should I address you? Cousin?"
"Just call me by my name, Julius."
_________________________
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!]
[w w w . p a t r e o n .com / INNIT]
[+50 PowerStones = +1 Chapter] [+5 Reviews = +1 Chapter]