When a unit of Kolkar Centaur warriors charged onto the plains of Barrens, ready to find their "prey," they discovered that the area was not quite as they had imagined.
The Tauren tents that were originally everywhere were now nowhere to be seen, and the Tauren's Kodo Beast herds had also vanished; the entire plain was empty except for some startled zebras and giraffes fleeing in the distance.
The leader of this reconnaissance Centaur unit, a Centaur Warlord of the Kolkar clan, asked his adjutant, a female Centaur Shaman, "What's going on? Where are those two-legged cows?"
The Centaur Shaman shook her head, indicating that she also didn't know what was happening, but seeing such an abnormal situation, she, who could communicate with the nature spirits, felt a slight warning in her heart.
"I don't know. A few days ago, they were still hunting and grazing here. We launched a sudden attack; they shouldn't have known we were coming."
The Warlord's expression was grim. He was ordered by the clan's Khan to raid the Tauren clan, and if he returned with no spoils, he would certainly face terrible punishment.
For these Centaur, the most unbearable punishment was to be exiled to the desolate wilderness of their homeland, Desolace, which was a true wasteland with no food, no water, and full of ferocious hyenas and Thunder Lizards.
The fate of those exiled was basically to die somewhere and then be gnawed to bones by vultures and hyenas. Even if it was just one failure, the Warlord would not be directly exiled, but after tasting the sweetness of slaughter and plunder, how could he be willing to return to the wilderness of Desolace to spend the rest of his life?
"No! We must find those two-legged beasts!" The Warlord's eyes gleamed fiercely as he stared at the female Shaman, "Quickly find a way to locate those Tauren!"
"Yes."
The adjutant said nothing more. She had neither the courage nor the strength to defy this Warlord, so she could only brace herself and comply, otherwise, before the Warlord received his punishment, her body might already be hanging from a dead tree in Barrens.
Guided by magic, the Shaman tracked the direction of the Tauren clan. She quickly reported to the Warlord, "The Tauren, they went north."
"North?" The Centaur Warlord grinned. Did these Tauren think that fleeing would allow them to escape? On the plains, no race could run faster than the Centaur.
"Everyone, charge north! The first one to catch up with the Tauren, you can seize anything you see – as long as you can carry it!"
At the Centaur Warlord's words, all the Centaur erupted with intense desire. They galloped on their four horse legs, madly following the Warlord northward.
At the Centaur defensive position, Varian lowered the telescope from his eyes. He said to Muradin and Cairne, "Get ready, they'll be here soon."
Muradin raised his warhammer and said boisterously, "Four-legged creatures sure run fast, they got here so quickly. I just don't know if they can run faster than muskets and cannonballs, hahaha!"
"I need to prepare as well. See you on the battlefield, King Wrynn." After greeting him, Cairne also left with Muradin.
Varian picked up his longsword from a nearby defensive fortification and slung it over his back. After adjusting his armor, he did not choose to go directly to the front line to fight. Although he also wished to fight alongside his soldiers, the enemy was only a vanguard unit, and as the commander-in-chief, he had to temporarily remain in the rear to direct.
So he decided to temporarily yield the glory and honor of fighting on the front lines to Cairne and Muradin. With those two there, it was unlikely the Centaur could cause much trouble.
The Centaur Warlord, who was galloping rapidly, suddenly felt a great alarm in his heart. A warrior's intuition made him feel as if he was being targeted by some danger. He immediately slowed down and pushed two ordinary Centaur soldiers who almost crashed into him to the ground.
Ignoring the screams of the two unfortunate souls being trampled by their companions, the Centaur Warlord had not yet had time to observe what was ahead when he heard a thunderous sound. In his vision, a black, scorching cannonball came roaring towards his unit.
The Centaur themselves were in a state of rapid charge; they did not have the Warlord's agile body control and had no time to slow down. The few in the very front could only watch helplessly as the cannonball flew towards them.
The moment the steel cannonball met flesh and blood, a rain of blood flew up. Limbs and severed body parts were scattered everywhere. The cannonball almost tore through the Centaur formation, carving a long bloody trail through the Centaur army.
"Enemy attack!!!"
The Centaur Warlord roared as loudly as he could. Only then did the Centaur recover from the gruesome deaths of their companions. They picked up their scimitars or longbows, trying to find where the enemy was.
However, only the Centaur archers with the best eyesight could see the dense ranks of soldiers and cannon muzzles on the Alliance position. Now, those deadly weapons were all aimed at them, and it was clear that the Alliance artillerymen had no intention of saving ammunition.
The range of the field cannons, improved by the Gnome, completely exceeded the range of the Centaur archers. After a barrage of bombardment, the Centaur had not even touched the Alliance position, yet nearly half of them were dead or wounded.
"War-Warlord, we'd best retreat! The Tauren have found helpers!" The Centaur Shaman was also affected by the cannon fire, but fortunately, she managed to escape death by relying on her spellcasting abilities.
The Centaur Warlord's eyes were bloodshot. He could not endure such a painful defeat; his men had suffered such heavy casualties without even touching the enemy. Hysterical madness eroded his reason. The only thing he knew was that if he fled back with so few men, his fate would be far worse than dying on the battlefield!
"Damn Tauren!"
The Warlord ignored the Shaman's advice and, like a madman, charged alone towards the Alliance position with his warhammer. A cannonball flew directly towards him, yet this powerful warrior showed no intention of dodging.
The muscles on his arms bulged as he swung his massive bludgeon, smashing it fiercely against the cannonball. With a mighty blow, the Warlord managed to block the cannonball with his brute strength, but he himself was thrown off balance by the recoil from the bludgeon, tumbling to the ground.
The Warlord struggled to stand up, but before his front hooves could straighten, a runic spear, far more terrifying than a cannonball, pointed directly at his face. The Centaur quickly swung his bludgeon, trying to block it.
With a muffled thud, the Centaur Warlord's bludgeon and head were impaled together by the runic spear. Cairne gripped the spear's shaft, his powerful muscles bulging, and with a lift of his arm, he actually hoisted the body of the Centaur Warlord, whose size was not much smaller than his own.
This brave and skilled Tauren chieftain let out a mighty roar to the sky, attracting the attention of half the Centaur on the battlefield. When these creatures saw their leader impaled on a spear by the enemy, they completely lost their will to fight and began to retreat.
"Shu'halo warriors! Charge with me!"