Warhammer Divine Throne

Until now, Laine and Gabriel had just learned about the dire situation faced by the Knightly Army.

”What? My Marquis, you’re telling us that the Knightly Army has already been surrounded? Count Adelaide’s troops have been completely wiped out? Yulsen Castle has fallen?” Gabriel was filled with questions, looking baffled. ”But didn’t you tell us before that the army was merely ambushed, with some significant losses?”

”We did encounter an ambush and suffered heavy losses, but this is not the time to discuss that. The Beastman have raided Yulsen Castle, the Left Army has already been annihilated, and our Central Army, with ten thousand men, is now surrounded in a basin. We need your support!” Marquis Angxi said loudly, his voice containing a hysterical urgency. ”I order you to immediately, without delay, return to reinforce us. You must arrive at Yulsen Castle within three days, or the entire army faces the risk of annihilation!”

”The Right Army is over a hundred kilometers away from Yulsen Castle; how could we possibly return to Yulsen Castle in three days?” Laine took the magic communication device and spoke, still in disbelief.

A force of over thirty thousand men, reduced to just over ten thousand like that?

”Enough. I commanded you to intercept the Beastman reinforcements at Ten Thousand Demon Rock, and you failed to accomplish the task. This is now your last chance to make amends—return to reinforce us immediately... ahhh!” A cacophony erupted from the magic communication device, the last sound Laine and the others heard was the roar of the Beastman and the desperate cries of the knights, followed by the Marquis Angxi’s tone softening, bordering on pleading. ”For the Lady and the King, we need your reinforcements! Please!”

The transmission ended.

Laine and Gabriel exchanged a glance, realizing the seriousness of the situation.

Even beside Marquis Angxi, cries of agony could be heard; this was not merely a predicament.

It was on the verge of collapse!

”Convene the war council immediately!”

”Yes!”

Five minutes later, in the Central Army Tent, Baron Gene, Holy Grail Knight Laine, Marquis Gabriel, Marquis Connelly, Julius, and Surya were all on standby inside the tent, along with several veteran Kingdom Knights.

A large map was laid out inside the tent, and Gabriel began elaborating on the current situation.

The Left Army had been completely wiped out, the Beastman raid, the fall of Yulsen Castle, the Central Army trapped in Yulsen suffering heavy losses, and now calling for reinforcements. According to Laine’s assessment, the situation was extremely critical.

”What should we do now? Withdraw our forces? We are within reach of Ten Thousand Demon Rock, and the Beastman cannot relocate Ten Thousand Demon Rock within a short period! To withdraw now? That would mean abandoning the efforts of the past ten days, we would return empty-handed from this Knightly War.” Some Kingdom Knights immediately opposed.

”But if we do not retreat for support, the Knightly Army risks complete annihilation. What can we achieve alone in the forest?”

”However, if we don’t provide aid, we would be abandoning our comrades; that is not the knight’s way!”

”But our objective for the Knightly War is to destroy Ten Thousand Demon Rock. After such significant sacrifices, if we still cannot achieve our goal, how would we answer to the Lady and the King? Is that the knight’s way?”

The argument among them continued.

Laine’s brow was deeply furrowed, he hadn’t imagined leading a force of six thousand could repel the Beastman main army, while the other two routes, with a combined force of over thirty thousand, had been defeated so miserably?

The Left Army completely wiped out?

Yulsen Castle breached?

The Central Army with only ten thousand men left and surrounded, seeking help in desperate circumstances?

He felt a sense of reality more fantastically magical than fiction; he truly hadn’t thought, that Laine was no White Wolf War God, who could perceive the outcome of every battle of his followers. Nor was he a Lake Fairy, able to foresee the future through prophecy. He was not like his father, able to radiate the Star Torch across the entire Main Material Universe, with everything within his perception.

Laine essentially remained an incompletely matured Genetic Primarch, he wielded Subspace Spiritual Energy, possessing formidable power and a unique capacity to reverse corruption, yet he was far from reaching the strength of the Deities. How could he possibly have anticipated this turn of events?

Marquis Angxi must have concealed the true situation beforehand, otherwise, it would not have been possible to suffer such a decisive defeat overnight.

So, what was he to do now?

The army under his leadership had come to a crossroads.

Out of knightly duty, he should return to offer aid, as a Holy Grail Knight, he wasn’t comfortable abandoning his allies to their fate. However, his consideration was whether his comrades could truly hold out for another three days?

With the Left Army annihilated, the Central Army was reduced to ten thousand and surrounded. In this scenario, what could his contingent of over four thousand possibly achieve? They were approximately one hundred ten kilometers from Yulsen Castle, typically covering twenty kilometers a day through the forest, traveling one hundred ten kilometers in three days would be forced marching indeed. In three days, a fatigued Right Army, reaching near Yulsen without encountering ambush, could they really repel the Beastman Army with their limited numbers?

That’s the point, Laine could hear the cries of the Beastman through the magic communication device, which indicates that the situation for the Marquis was already extremely perilous. Laine had a premonition; perhaps Marquis Angxi couldn’t hold out for three days.