Faced with these sudden mutations, Lauri immediately issued the order to retreat.
The nature of these monsters was unknown, their weaknesses unclear, and it was even uncertain what exactly they were. At this point, retreating to regroup and study these monsters more thoroughly was the correct decision.
Hammond, at the forefront, witnessed the monsters transformed by the Demon Clan continuously devouring the ordinary humans behind Doug.
Those humans had either become feed for the monsters or had been transformed into creatures covered in rotting flesh and sludge by the black blood that spewed forth.
If there really was hell in this world, Hammond thought, it probably looked just like this.
“You bastards!”
In any case, the soldiers behind Doug were mostly innocent civilians sent to the battlefield by him, part of the Northern Border’s populace, and now they were either becoming monsters or being turned into food for them.
The chaotic Doug Army was no longer following any command, madly scattering in all directions. Some who instinctively tried to flee back immediately regretted it; except for those transformed into monsters by the holy corpses, the humans turned to sludge began to attack the fleeing humans under Noam’s control.
“Run!”
A patch of humans controlled by the sludge seemed to retain some self-awareness, stretching out sludge resembling arms toward their companions while shouting in a hoarse and distorted voice.
“Get away!”
Such incidents were continuously occurring behind the Doug Army, and the entire situation was collapsing.
Those attempting to flee to the flanks had no better fate; the Demon Clan seemed to have prepared well, and even the flanks were filled with their soldiers and monsters.
The battlefield had turned into a buffet for those monsters.
“Sacrifice… Sacrifice…”
The monsters continued to whisper, driving the humans at their feet away.
Some professionals among the Doug Army also reacted. Some mages attempted to attack the monsters, and there was indeed some effectiveness, but the sheer number of monsters was overwhelming. Even the artillery from the Graywhite Territory needed to continually bombard to eliminate a single group of monsters; not to mention the Doug Army’s rear was swarmed with them.
The professionals quickly grasped the situation; both sides and the rear were dead ends, and the only escape route was into the camp of the Graywhite Territory.
Ordinary soldiers also became aware of this situation. They had all been swept up and were crazily rushing toward the Graywhite Territory’s camp.
Hammond, hearing the retreat horn, felt unwilling as he watched the monsters gnawing at the people of the Northern Border, but he decided to retreat.
Seeing the soldiers of the Doug Army charging toward the camp of the Graywhite Territory, Hammond shouted, “Doug Army soldiers, we will hold the rear! Don’t panic! Try to maintain formation! Didn’t that damned Doug teach you how to retreat?”
Hammond’s voice pierced through the chaotic battlefield; this was probably the most surreal experience he had encountered in all his time fighting—to be commanding troops retreating toward his own direction.
But unfortunately, it seemed that there was no training in retreat during the regular exercises of the Doug Army. The soldiers scattered like wild horses, fleeing across the battlefield, fear had completely consumed them, their eyes filled only with the despair of escape.
Dust and gunpowder hung in the air, the chaotic sounds of footsteps mingled with intermittent cries. Everyone was running for their lives, pushing, tripping, trampling one another, a complete disorder, as if all order had collapsed at that moment.
Even Darsi’s troops, who were providing support for Hammond at the back, had their formation somewhat scattered by the tide of people, already consumed by fear.
The ordinary soldiers piled up at Golden Spike Plain finally proved useful, not only becoming the monsters’ sacrifices but also successfully disrupting the formation of the Graythorn Territory.
The soldiers from Graythorn Territory were uncertain whether to fire or not; although the enemy was present, currently, those enemy soldiers were merely ordinary people driven by fear.
Lauri, at that moment, issued an order that they must not fire upon the approaching soldiers. If they opened fire, the situation would become even more chaotic, and those soldiers would strike even more frantically at the camp of the Graythorn Territory.
After all, turning back to face the monsters was likely to lead to certain death, but reaching the camp of the Graythorn Territory still held a possibility of survival.
To take a step back, dying at the hands of humans was certainly better than being eaten alive by monsters.
“Disperse the formation, prepare to welcome these guys!”
Lauri understood that the situation was urgent. Even if he had to issue random orders, he could not do nothing—otherwise, the situation would only worsen.
“But my lord, those are enemy troops, and the scene is too chaotic for us to manage,” protested the staff officer beside Lauri, recognizing that the order was a bit too reckless. If some spies were mixed among the soldiers rushing in, it would be hard to identify them later, and if the Doug Army opened fire, the two sides might end up fighting amongst themselves.
“Do as I say; I will take responsibility for any issues!”
Lauri’s reasoning was straightforward: although these were Doug Army soldiers, they were also the citizens of the Northern Border, and it was clear there was now a new enemy for the Northern Border—what the Doug Army was became irrelevant.
Given that the situation would only worsen with any choice made, it was better to save the people first.
Moreover, those rushing in and the troops of the Graythorn Territory that were going against the monsters had completely mixed together. If they opened fire now to block the path, not only would there be friendly fire, but it could also immediately escalate into a firefight. The enemy’s numbers were simply too great; it would take too long to execute them, better to preserve firepower and ammunition for dealing with the subsequent monsters.
“Tell that guy White to block those rushing Demon Clan monsters! Artillery ready! Make sure to cover Captain Hammond’s retreat!”
“Stop holding back! Bomb the hell out of them!”
As Hammond was retreating at the rear, seeing the fireballs fired by the magic artillery land behind him, he knew Lauri was urging him on.
There were still many Doug Army soldiers who hadn’t escaped, but at this point, there was no time to think about that; it was already generous enough that Lauri could receive any soldiers who had managed to escape.
Watching the Doug Army soldiers burning along with the sludge monsters, Hammond let out a long sigh and urged his horse to return.
Meanwhile, on the other side, White was cursing, “We’ve done our best to block them, but where the hell is the artillery support?”
Many knights on White’s side were wounded, and they had figured out that fighting at close range with melting spears and swords was most effective against these monsters.
Ray tracing guns did cause damage, but they were not as direct as melting spears and swords. Ordinary firearms could provide suppression but could not inflict effective damage.
In the end, it was still necessary for the knights to engage personally in the fight.
Fortunately, under the fire support of the ordinary armed soldiers at the rear, these knights had begun to find ways to maneuver and engage with the monsters. The bad news was that even so, during the melee, the knights would still get injured by these monsters.
And there would only be more and more of these monsters, who showed no mercy even to corpses, ravenously feeding on the battlefield.
