At the moment they clashed, Boris knew he had lost, because the immense force transmitted from the axe handle made his whole body go numb.
The Beastman Leader staggered back half a step under the powerful impact.
The Mercenary Leader retreated four or five steps in succession, using the war axe for support to avoid collapsing, the base of his palm was torn, crimson blood dyed his golden beard a slight scarlet.
"Ugh, ugh~" Boris reluctantly swallowed the blood at his throat, forcing himself to stand up, eager for battle again, the anxious mercenaries quickly surrounded their leader.
"Humans... despicable, together... kill them!" The Beastman Leader pointed at the Mercenary Leader, who was protected by several mercenaries, and Boris's complexion had an abnormal flush, he gestured for the other mercenaries to make way, he could still fight!
The Mercenary Leader's right shoulder sank, setting the axe at an angle, all his strength converged in his arms, and he charged at the Beastman Leader once again.
"Tornado Slash!"
The core combat skill of a Berserker, the Mercenary Leader swiftly spun and engaged the Beastman Leader again, in the face of such a powerful combat skill, even the Beastman Leader had to temporarily avoid the sharpness, retreating repeatedly, merely parrying for the moment.
On the surface, the Mercenary Leader seemed to gain the upper hand, but in reality, Boris grew more anxious as the Tornado Slash consumed an immense amount of physical energy, he couldn't maintain it for long.
On another front, the mercenaries suffered heavy losses, their line started falling back continuously, those immersed in the Beastman group were quickly dismembered and devoured completely, the scent of blood constantly stimulated the ferocity of the Beastman Warband, several Horned Beasts pierced through the mercenaries' line, charging towards the female sorceress.
The female sorceress looked grim, she said to the mercenaries protecting her, "Cover me."
"Lady Trovik, you..." Among the group protecting her, a young mercenary with handsome features inquired further, he was clad in elaborate leather armor, wielding a two-handed greatsword, his gaze towards the female sorceress full of concern.
"...I'm going to cast the Sixth Ring Spell Blizzard, it requires extensive preparation!" The female sorceress's expression was icy, unwilling to explain more, but she quickly realized that the mercenaries' morale was showing signs of collapse, so she added a sentence.
"They can't cover you well, because they won't last till your spell concludes, for a Sixth-Ring Magic, you need to chant for at least five minutes, Teresa, do you think they can hold for five minutes?" A young voice echoed from behind everyone, shocking them, when did someone sneak up from behind?
"Mr. Laine!" The Imperial Merchant exclaimed in surprise, the newcomer donned full chain armor, wielded a golden warhammer in both hands, with a single sword strapped to his back, helmetless, his black hair flecked with snowflakes, and his blue eyes seemed to carry a faint smile.
The female sorceress sighed deeply upon seeing the Kingdom Knight appear, "You finally came, cover me, I'll take them down!"
"Just you?" Laine raised his right hand, and everyone noticed he was holding a Horned Beast's head: "Beastmen are cunning, don't they know how to intercept your retreat? The only proper path is to take down the Beast King."
Indeed, shortly after collecting the relics of the Old Demon Hunter, Laine too felt the power of the Ten Thousand Demon Rock, so he rushed over and killed a Horned Beast attempting an ambush along the way.
Not much time for words, the battlefield was in turmoil, the Mercenary Corps' casualties had exceeded thirty percent; severed limbs and corpses were everywhere, the Beastmen also suffered losses, the first batch of Inferior Horned Beasts were almost entirely wiped out, a few Horned Beasts were dead too, but their numbers exceeded the Mercenary Corps and reinforcements kept arriving.
During winter, food sources are hard to come by, for humans and Beastmen alike.
"I'm going in, give me magic support!" Laine raised his warhammer, giving the female sorceress a reassuring look, she was somewhat resentful but merely nodded: "Understood."
An Ice Armor was applied to Laine, after casting several spells consecutively, the female sorceress's face turned pale, within brief ten minutes she had cast four spells, taking a deep breath, she began chanting Sixth-Ring Magic, Blizzard.
On the battlefield, Boris was on the brink of exhaustion, his strength reached its limit, the Tornado Slash's offensive slowed down, the cunning Beastman Leader quickly sensed the human's exhaustion, immediately shifting from defense to offense, Boris was forced to retrieve his war axe to defend; the terrifying forces from the Beastman's great axe sent the Mercenary Leader flying, crashing into the snow, unable to rise.
Laine noticed the Mercenary Leader's defeat, already prepared, pale blue energy gathered in his hand, extending his left hand to stroke his warhammer, the originally golden fine iron hammer head suddenly took on a red-hot hue, emitting scorching temperatures, snowflakes falling on the hammer head instantly vaporized.
This was Laine's unique ability, among the knowledge brought to him by the mysterious individual was the application of spiritual energy by the human brain, enabling Laine to use spiritual casting directly without relying on Demon Net, even though he lacked the talent for spellcasting, he could imbue his weapons with various elemental damage temporarily.