"Everyone, get ready!

They're coming!"

​​

~Rumble. Rumble. Rumble~

The boulders descended downslope, making Mikel and everyone's heart jump.

Mikel slowed his face for a bit and started moving from side to side like a goalie, just waiting to catch his ball.

But in this case, he was waiting and looking for the opening between both boulders headed his way.

And from the looks of things, the right one was faster than the left.

But everything could change in a heartbeat. So he dared not take his eyes off them for a second.

3...2... 1...Both boulders were here!

And like an assassin, Mikel raised both hands against his chest, sucked in air and glided between the space, using close steps.

His move was swift and abrupt, adjusting to the speed of the rumbles because any wrong move and his leg might get crushed.

Like so, he successfully passed through without a hitch.

And others were also successful as well, as they used different methods to leap through the space.

But of course, there were still many more poor unfortunate ones that ended up getting crushed by their new nemesis, the boulders.

.

Mikel steadily advanced at a slow pace, giving time for the surfing men to catch up.

That's right.

He couldn't very well ascend with a small group of people, right?

It was just that this last boulder attack had once again reduced their numbers.

But soon, backup would be on its way, so it all didn't matter too much.

With that, Mikel looked at the very close enough slide and felt the fire within him burn brightly.

"Charge!!!!!"

The balls had cracked the snow to some extent, and the men now found it easier to pick up their paces... even though they still couldn't run at full speed.

And soon, they were just a few inches from the top of the slope.

Yes. They had finally made it!

They quickly peered over the slope to inspect if any enemy archers would be waiting for them on the other side.

But instead, they spotted the bastard savages who attacked them earlier on, still fleeing.

And from time to time, those fleeing would look back in horror and even yell: "Flee! Flee! We have to get out of the city! It didn't work!"

They understood Morg, so Pyron was also easier for them to understand too.

And now, listening to these bastards trying to flee to the city, Mikel and the rest were all heated and ready for revenge.

Not in their lives would they allow these bastards to flee.

With that, everyone dashed forward, ascending the first slope with bloodthirsty eyes.

.

Mikel looked around and saw that there were some things burning vigorously on the sides.

Without a doubt, these must be the weapons these bastards used to launch those monstrous boulders and arrows.

And in the corners, one could see pieces of decorative cloth that they had seen earlier too.

Yes!

The signboard now said these sights were ancestral monuments.

But who knew that it was all a lie concocted by these savages to disguise their weaponry?

Mikel looked ahead towards the top of the second and final slope but didn't find any pieces of cloth or wooden weapons there.

Good.

He was now reassured once again that they wanted to flee.

As for this 2nd slope, it wasn't as steep as the first.

Nonetheless, it was still steep all the same.

Additionally, it covered another massive space around it too.

The Teriquen ancestors that lived in this city had done a lot to create a battlefield here. Of course, it wasn't just them, as most Coastal regions had their own defences against attacks.

For some, rather than creating a battlefield like this, they only placed more attacks and training fields directly close to the docks instead.

Everything depended on a city or town's size.

Some regions were congested with times just 3 minutes away from the docks by foot.

So, different terrains and regions called for different measures.

That said, the space between the 2nd and 1st slope was once again large.

And the happiest thing to them was that the enemy seemed to be fleeing instead.

He'll! Even listening to the quietness of the city, it seemed like many had also fled too.

The numerous warning bells scattered around the massive city had long stopped ringing, retaining the city's quietness.

It was so quiet that one might think the place was a deserted ghost city.

.

At present, the fleeing Teriquens were only mid-way through the terrain.

And as they ran, they kept falling in horror, looking back and doing all sorts of cowardly actions that only fed their enemy's confidence and ego even more.

But while things on land were getting heated up, the remaining Adonis followers on sea were also facing their own battles too.

~Din. Din. Din. Din. Din~

Several anxious people rushed to Ratum speedily.

"Kardinal! Kardinal!

Several savage ships have surrounded us!"

"They dare?!!!!"

Ratum's eyes were almost popping out of its tickets in rage as he clenched the wooden rails of the ship hard.

Bastards! Bastards! Bastards!

They were all surrounded!

Dammit! If he knew that these savages had such guts, they would've brought in more forces.

So, was this how their brothers who sailed here years back died?

If it were before, he wouldn't even flinch when he heard this.

But seeing the flying shoulders and other strange things these savages could do, he felt like these bastards were here for serious business.

And what was painful was that they purposefully stood at a distance where no Adonis arrows could reach them.

Yes. They, the uncultured savages, had somehow found a way to shoot black powder at them.

Ratum's expression sank when he thought of it all.

Yes! Remembering how they sunk his other ships, he suddenly realized that things were not looking too great for them at the moment.

And just as he expected, they began sinking the ships at the last line bit by bit, as if eating a dessert.

And every report made Ratum have a heart attack when he thought of his money.

Not to talk of the hit to his reputation, the loss of the majority of his army, his disappointing Adonis, and his obvious future demotion.

Honestly, he could go into a coma or stroke at this point.

It was all just too much for him to bear.

.

Ratum's face grew 20 years older as the reports kept flooding in.

But soon, it looked like a miracle from Adonis had finally come to pass.

Earlier on when the first line teams on the battlefield realized that things were looking good, their battle cry had changed, alerting those at the back that things were okay.

And when the hundreds and hundreds of Adonis followers cried out the same, it reached Ratum, the Holy generals and everyone's ears aboard... Making them leap in excitement.

Ratum slapped his thigh hard.

"Good! Good! Good! Good!

Dock! Dock! Dock now!

We will all join them in battle!"

"Yes!" Everyone tried with a broad smile on their faces.

The enemy was already sinking their ships from behind.

So, were they going to sit here and wait for death?

The issue was that the surviving Army was on the 2nd line and the other ships behind those had only a handful of people on them since almost everyone docked out for war.

Earlier on, they had docked their reserve/backup unit ships directly on the docks.

But the boulders had sunk these ships, drowning them down below.

So yes.

They did lose their remaining horses and chariots and had fled by jumping onto the next line of ships.

But now, with the good cries of their brothers in battle, they knew it was all this was going to pass.

Ratum's mind right now was only blinded by victory.

There was no way that he would be getting demoted.

No way!

He was so desperate for any victory that when he heard the cries, he quickly ordered the second line to sail closer to the shores and drop the reserve army on foot too.

Of course, in some places where the ships hadn't fully submerged yet.

They just hopped onto the half-sunken ships and found themselves back on land again.

And in other times, they lowered the canoes and paddled to the docks.

The distance wasn't really that far, so it all happens so fast!

Like so, Ratum stayed around the docks with 1,000 people around him while commanding the 15,000 to advance.

Ratum's eyes glowed with a strange light when watching his generals lead the remaining army upwards past the countless dead bodies lying around.

In his mind, once this whole thing was done and over with, he would secretly replenish his pockets with the money within these estates.

Do you know how much he had lost just now?

He had never had such a large, crushing loss in his life!

He suddenly felt very poor at this moment, which felt awful!

To maintain an army, one needed money.

That said, he was hell-bent on taking what was owed to him!

.

Ratum watched his army head-on with a cruel smile on his face.

But little did he know that all his actions had long been estimated by his enemy.

Thus, the grand finale was about to begin.

That's right.

The end of the war was near!