"Swoosh!" A squad of Lordaeron Rangers suddenly leaped down from the treetops with a quick step. Before the wolf riders below could even react, the rangers, working in pairs, swiftly slit the throats of both the orc riders and their worg mounts.
"Slash~"
The wolf riders, unable to dodge in time, fell along with their mounts as their throats were cut open. The thick scent of blood drifted through the night-shrouded forest…
"Splatter~"
The dark forest mercilessly devoured life after life under the cover of night. Blood pooled into small streams, winding freely over the damp earth.
…
"Omsk should have already engaged the enemy!" Caslow sighed as he gazed into the deep, dark mountains.
"Hmm?" Rynar looked at Caslow in confusion.
"The smell of blood! The putrid stench of orc blood!" Caslow took a deep breath.
"Damn! If we can smell it from here, then the orcs will too!" Rynar's expression changed in alarm.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. We're downwind! And besides, not everyone has a dragon's sense of smell!" Caslow revealed his half-draconic features with a smirk.
…
"What's the situation?" Omsk flicked off the blood splattered on his armor and looked at the rangers surrounding him.
"All taken care of! The others are handling the bodies! They'll use special potions to erase the scent of blood so the orcs won't catch on. They'll also send out scouting squads… and then, hehehe…" The Lordaeron Rangers chuckled grimly.
"Damn, that's twisted! But I love it! Everyone, stay in position and prepare for another ambush—we're going to take out even more of their wolf riders!" Omsk ordered in a hushed voice. Without their wolf riders, what chance did these orcs have against the coalition army, whose soldiers were all at least first-tier professionals?
"Understood!"
…
"Huh? Seems like the Lordaeron Rangers are smarter than I thought! The scent of blood is gone!" Caslow raised an eyebrow, a pleased expression on his face.
"Looks like the rangers still have some good tricks up their sleeves!" Rynar chuckled. After all, the Lordaeron Rangers were the only unit in the Zaltarion Empire with elven blood, and they were known to have inherited many of the elves' secret combat techniques.
"Let's hope they can take out more wolf riders. That'll make things much easier for us!" Rynar muttered as he looked toward Omsk's position.
…
"Huff… huff… Lord Omsk! We've wiped out over a hundred wolf riders!" The Lordaeron Rangers reported, panting heavily.
"Well done!" Omsk bowed slightly to the sweat-drenched but resolute rangers.
Lying motionless in the trees for hours was an enormous drain on the rangers' stamina. Not only did they have to maintain balance and suppress their breathing, but they also had to endure the chilling night air. On top of that, they had to fight off incoming wolf riders and dispose of the bodies. Now, after taking down over a hundred wolf riders, their strength was nearly depleted.
"Withdraw and rest. Prepare for the next battle—I'll hold them off for a while longer." Omsk's voice was calm as he looked at the exhausted rangers. They could still ambush one more wave, but at great risk. The last batch of wolf riders had clearly increased in number, and the next wave would be even larger.
"Understood!" The Lordaeron Rangers swiftly stowed their bows and vanished into the dense forest.
"Sigh…" Omsk let out a deep breath. He reached into his spatial ring and pulled out a massive knight's greatsword, nearly as tall as a man. The moment the blade touched the ground, it sent up a spray of dirt—its weight was unmistakable!
"Let's see what you've got." Omsk cracked his neck, secured his visor, and stood motionless in the forest like an iron statue. The night wind rustled his cloak as the sounds around him faded into silence.
…
"Where the hell did they go?! Damn those bastards!" A wolf rider snarled, his worg shifting uneasily beneath him.
"Maybe they've already broken through enemy lines and are feasting to their heart's content!"
"Hurry up! Don't let them get all the glory!"
"Wait! Something's wrong! They might not have returned to report, but the worgs should have responded to our calls!" A sharper-minded wolf rider smacked his excited comrade on the head.
"Damn it! Stop! Something's not right!" He moved to the front, halting the group.
"You idiots, look at the human camp! Look at the fires—they're burning in perfect order! If our men had broken through, the camp would be in chaos!" The perceptive wolf rider quickly pieced things together.
"Clap… clap… clap…" A slow, mocking applause echoed through the night. The wolf riders froze, exchanging puzzled glances—none of them had clapped.
"Well, well… it seems there are a few smart orcs after all. I thought you were all brainless mongrels… But guess what? No prize for the right answer!" Omsk emerged from the shadows, dragging his massive sword behind him.
"Kill him!" The wolf riders' faces twisted into sadistic grins. They could already imagine the ways they'd torture this lone human before slaughtering him mercilessly.
Unfortunately… they had it all wrong. There was indeed going to be a slaughter—but they were the ones about to be butchered.
"Slash!" Omsk raised his massive knight's greatsword and swung with full force. A blinding white arc of energy slashed through the air, cleaving a charging wolf rider and his mount clean in half. Blood sprayed across Omsk's armor.
"Die!" Black and white battle energy flickered as two more wolf riders, attempting a pincer attack, were instantly torn apart into flying chunks of flesh and bone.
"Pathetic!" Omsk twisted his wrist and thrust his greatsword forward, impaling another wolf rider. Spinning around, he smashed his armored elbow into a lunging worg's snarling jaws, shattering its skull and sending a spray of teeth and blood into the air.
"Die!" Another sweeping strike sent an entire squad of wolf riders crumbling into a heap of severed limbs and torsos.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!" The relentless clang of weapons striking Omsk's armor rang out—he was now completely surrounded.
"Roar! Lightshadow Grand Cleave!" Omsk bellowed, and a spiraling storm of battle energy erupted from his body. The whirling force shredded the surrounding wolf riders like a meat grinder. Their screams echoed across the hills, chilling even those far away.
"I bring death! I bring rebirth!" Omsk stood amidst the carnage, his blood-soaked figure a terrifying sight. The evening wind carried his words across the battlefield like a whisper from the underworld.
…
"A human hero… how revolting! Hahaha! Allow me to end your miserable existence and mount your head upon my spear!" A chilling, sinister laugh echoed from the depths of the orc army's rear lines, sending shivers down the spines of those who heard it.