The female sorcerer barely stood with the support of her magic staff. She looked up, the original battlefield was engulfed by the blizzard, the white fog and dust obscured vision, but the mercenaries knew that Trovik no longer had the ability to cast such a high-level spell.
From the original forty to fifty members, less than thirty of the Mercenary Corps remained, and almost every mercenary, except those tasked with protecting Trovik, was injured. They all anxiously watched the battlefield shrouded in white mist and smoke.
"It's over! Mr. Laine is still in the battlefield!" Oliver cried out in despair, covering his face.
More desperate matters awaited.
"Ahhhhh! Humans...I want you all…dead!" A cracking sound of ice came from within the battlefield. After the smoke cleared, the heavily scarred Beastman Leader shattered the ice on its upper body. It was covered in wounds, most already frozen, its lower body still bound tightly in ice, with numerous ice cones piercing it, yet still unable to kill the beastman. With its legs still encased in ice, it raised a large axe once more, calling for more beastmen to join the battle.
From deep within the distant forest, more beastmen surged forth.
"Kill...humans!" The Beastman Leader struggled mightily. The ice encasing its legs began to crack.
Doomed!
"Lady Trovik, what do we do?" a mercenary asked.
"He's still there," the female sorcerer said without a hint of panic in her eyes, puzzling the Mercenary Corps.
He?
"Hah!!!" Behind the Beastman Leader came Laine's roar of fury. The Kingdom Knight leapt high, his sturdy boots landing on the head of a frozen Inferior Horned Beast. Its head was crushed under Laine's step. The knight pushed off with his hard boot, using the momentum to leap again towards the Beastman Leader.
The Beastman Leader reacted immediately, instinctively trying to turn to block, but its ice-bound lower body made its movements slow. Before it could raise its large axe, the warhammer's head smashed into its chest. The red-hot metal head pulverized all the ribs in the beastman's chest cavity, leaving a charred black mark on its front.
"Ahhhhh!!! Humans!!!" Even with such a severe injury, the Beastman Leader didn't die. It grabbed its war axe with its right hand and struck at Laine, creating a gust with its swing.
Laine's reaction was faster. He had already let go of the warhammer, and a white spiritual blade appeared, slashing down and severing the Beastman Leader's right arm along with the forearm. Its forearm and hand, thicker than a human thigh, fell with its roughly made axe to the side. The beastman leader screamed in agony, clutching its right arm wound, spurting copious amounts of bright red blood.
Even so, it still didn't die, continuing to struggle, trying to break free from the ice binding its legs, reaching for its axe with its left hand.
"Hmph!" Laine spat, stepping on the chest of the beastman leader. He reached out and grasped the long horns on its head, as a flash of white light passed.
The massive head of the still-dripping-blood leader was lifted high by the Kingdom Knight, displayed to the remaining Beastman War Gang: "Anyone else?!"
"Ahhh! Escape...escape...humans...strong!" With the leader dead, the beastmen war gang instantly scattered like spooked animals. They fled desperately, even cutting down their kind that hindered their escape, disappearing into the depths of the forest in a tumble.
"We won! We won!" Oliver joyfully embraced his guard Fake, and the mercenaries revelled in the joy of survival after the ordeal.
The forest resonated with sounds of cheering.
The female sorcerer finally relaxed a bit, turning around to find the bloodstained Laine standing right behind her.
"Long time no see, Teresa."
"It's been a long time, Laine."