Warhammer Divine Throne

"If the city cannot be defended, you can teleport back to Celestial Vault Castle with Laine and me." The female sorcerer looked at the beautiful female mercenary standing beside her and suddenly reached out to touch her cheek with her fingertip: "Beauty is not a crime."

"...Thank you, but I will stay." Amelia backed away slightly, dodging Teresa's action: "Thank you for your kindness, but I am a mercenary of the Blood Axe Mercenary Corps."

"Forget it, suit yourself." Seeing the Barbarian army approaching, the female sorcerer no longer insisted. Under the protection of the soldiers, she began to prepare spells.

The Barbarian Raiders approached the city gate, delighted to find it had collapsed, leaving only ruins and the Nord Army guarding them. Driven by eager bravery, they raised their shields, bent their bodies, their pace quickened from walking to running, the black flag with a white bear was raised high, fluttering in the cold weather.

The defending army on the walls desperately fired arrows, and the militia forcefully threw javelins, stones, and all sorts of strange objects. The Barbarian Raiders raised their shields to block the torrential rains of arrows; the engineers on the gate tower nervously loaded and commanded the last two cannons, aiming to shoot at the densest clusters of Barbarian troops.

The Barbarians are no fools. Under the command of the Barbarian Champion Warriors, the Raiders immediately dispersed and charged toward the Nord army formation in small groups.

At face-to-face distance, the fighting styles of the Barbarians and the Southern People showcased with full intensity. The line of the Nord army stood like iron before the ruins of the gate. Through the close coordination of Long Spear Soldiers and Great Swordsmen, the first wave of Barbarians was knocked down in succession, yet more Barbarians quickly rushed in.

The attackers continued to receive a warm welcome from the crossbowmen on the wall. Under Nikolai's command, the crossbowmen fired orderly and with aim. The weak Barbarian Escorts were scared by the sheets of arrows, yet for those robust Barbarian Raiders, who believed in the Evil God, it was less effective. Just ten minutes later, they charged into the vital point of the formation, forcing the Nord armies to confront these fierce Barbarians head-on.

In one-on-one combat, ordinary soldiers were no match for the Barbarian Raiders, but excellent tactics could mitigate the Nord army's weakness. The Long Spear Soldiers and Great Swordsmen formed tight ranks to first withstand the assault, then the Halberdiers flanked the Barbarians from behind. Through the Nord army's sincere cooperation, the second wave of Barbarian forces was again repelled.

Barbarian Chief Bireg rode atop a massive white bear, watching his two waves of attacks being repelled. He signaled with a wave, and his champion Kuoloulin, clad in a giant Chaos Plate Armor, raised the black flag upon receiving the Chief's command.

Continue the assault.

Blizzard and ice raged in the air. With the female sorcerer's powerful spells, bouts between the Nord army and Barbarian troops continually unfolded. Teresa exerted herself fully, her magic operating at maximum power, reducing hastily built siege vehicles and towers to fragments with Ice Spears and blizzards. Ice Arrows fired from her will, each strike signifying Female Member Jialan's elimination of another Barbarian Warrior, eliciting cheers from the defenders.

The war entered a protracted phase. The Nord army repelled wave after wave of Barbarian attacks. At this moment, whether regular army, militia, or hastily summoned mercenaries, through their efforts, the Barbarians were repeatedly forced to retreat, abandoning numerous corpses in their desperate flight.

Yet the sheer number of Barbarians was overwhelming. After each assault, the previously solid line gradually thinned. The small army of hundreds struggled against such attrition, more militiamen hastily joined the battle. Lacking training and resilience, they began retreating in the Barbarians' offensive. Seeing this, Walnut Knight Nikolai charged with his attendants into the field, barely stabilizing the situation.

The balance between victory and defeat swung continuously. The Nord army's defense seemed on the verge of collapse, yet it stood firm. The archers on the walls had depleted all feathered arrows from their quivers. Many soldiers discarded bows and crossbows, drawing weapons to engage in combat below the walls.

"Ah!" The spike-headed hammer smashed down fiercely, defeating another Barbarian Warrior. Nikolai wiped the blood from his face—the battle had persisted for two hours. The Nord army was exhausted, casualties had reached half, but they held on with tenacious will, understanding they fought for their families' lives.

Under the perseverance of the army, the vigor of the Barbarian advance began to wane. These Barbarians seemed less confident against the tidy shield wall and dense Long Spear Array, where corpses stacked high into mounds.

On the city streets.

"The Barbarians are about to reach their limit, Your Excellency the Count!" Guard Captain Emil nodded to Albert, fully armed, wearing ancestral armor, holding a Cavalry Lance: "It's not that easy. Get ready, let us deliver them a fatal blow! Buy Laine some time!"

The Count's Guard numbered nearly thirty men, all fully armored, holding Cavalry Lances. Together with the Paladins from the Justice Church and Life Church, they formed a fifty-strong cavalry force.

Laine, wielding a Warhammer, was among them. However, at this moment, his heart was filled with peace.

While deciding to stay and meet the enemy, he truly grasped the hardest-to-understand virtue among the Eight Virtues of Chivalry—sacrifice.

"Knight, do you possess the courage to sacrifice for the benefit of the majority when required? Whether it's sacrificing material interests or life itself?"

—Lake Fairy

Sometimes, knights are pitiable and pathetic because the deities they believe in enjoy their knights' sacrifices, demanding they face hopeless battles, yet they must sacrifice.

Sometimes, to protect their homeland, to preserve that which is cherished, knights' costless sacrifice becomes the start of countless epic stories. In the Great Holy War one hundred and fifty years ago, many Knight Corps fought to the last. The once-famous Flame Sun Knight Order battled until only one remained. Even after a hundred and fifty years of recuperation, it has only restored eighty percent of its numbers.

They remain unrepentant.

Likewise, Laine did not regret his choice.

This was not the materialistic, morally shattered world he came from. In this world, Chaos threats perpetually endangered humanity. Without someone willing to sacrifice for this race, this world, the entire realm would succumb to the clutches of demons.

Even his father made a terrible sacrifice, didn't he?

Enduring an endless torment of eleven thousand years, with his soul and will shattered throughout the cosmos, watching helplessly as his established Human Empire crumbled amid numerous foreign threats and internal strife.

Yet, his father persisted, for the sake of the race he loved, for humanity.

Along the way, refugees, the old and weak within the city gazed with hopeful eyes at this last fighting force. They were the final hope of the city, and the longing eyes, the youthful faces, stirred innumerable thoughts within Laine.

Such thoughts were soon broken, as chaotic noise broke out at the city gate. Finally, Barbarian Chief Bireg couldn't bear watching his tribe fail to breach the Nord army after losing over two thousand men, deciding to join the fray himself.

When the towering Barbarian Chief, standing over two meters twenty, personally rode the giant white bear, leading his champions into the fray, the Nord army was seemingly cleaved in two by a mighty axe. Amid roaring, Bireg raised his War Axe, leading the bear into the charge. The Long Spear Soldiers' shields were easily toppled, and their spears could harm neither Bireg nor the giant bear he rode. With a swing of his war axe, two soldiers were cut in half, and the Barbarian riders and champion warriors he led hammered into the formation like a flail, completely disrupting and routing the Nord troops. Panic and despair began to spread across the front.

The decisive moment for the city's fate had arrived.