However, when the foremost Rodok Sergeant stepped out of the castle hall's entrance, he saw the bright sky outside and the Wood Elf Sword Dancers scrambling away, fleeing towards the library.
He did not pursue them.
He simply stood at the entrance, raised the straight-bladed war axe in his hand, and let out a roar.
“Long live!”
They had won the brutal battle in the castle hall.
Of course, the reason these Rodok Sergeants did not choose to pursue the Wood Elf Sword Dancers was because they excelled at defensive counterattacks, and their advantage lay in their absolute defensive capabilities.
They were too clumsy and too heavy.
Positional warfare was fine.
However, pursuit or mobile warfare would be their disadvantage.
“Good, very good.”
At this moment, on the 3rd floor balcony, Shen Mu’s lips still held a faint smile as he watched the Rodok Sergeants below, covered in blood, resembling bloody gods of slaughter risen from hell, their heroic figures making his smile irrepressible: “They truly live up to their name as Rodok Sergeants, the strongest defensive infantry.”
He was truly satisfied.
Although these Rodok Sergeants were incredibly clumsy, possessing a natural disadvantage in movement speed and mobility.
However, this disadvantage was due to the Rodok Sergeants’ excessively luxurious equipment and their incredibly strong defensive capabilities.
When they began to advance head-on.
These Rodok Sergeants were like walls of steel pushing forward, making any enemy who dared to appear before them realize the dreadful fate they would face when a wall moved towards them.
Even though Shen Mu had not entered the castle hall to see the actual situation of the battlefield inside, just seeing the Wood Elves fleeing in such disarray, as if a huge beast was chasing them, their pitiful and desperate escape, was enough.
It was clear that these once arrogant Wood Elves, who had disdained him and his Deherim, had obviously suffered a major blow.
To the extent that even their morale had collapsed, and they were fleeing in disarray on the spot.
They chose to escape.
One must know that these were proud, even arrogant Wood Elves who looked down on all other races.
Although not comparable to the High Elves who literally looked up to the sky, Wood Elves were still a very proud race.
Now, even they had started to flee, unable to uphold their pride, unable to continue their forceful frontal assault on the shield wall formed by Shen Mu’s Rodok Sergeants, choosing to abandon their dignity and honor, scattering on the spot, becoming deserters.
This showed that these Rodok Sergeants had truly left an extremely deep impression on these Wood Elves.
One can imagine that if these Wood Elves were to encounter these Rodok Sergeants again, extreme fear would surely arise in their hearts, even if the same scenario were to reappear, in a similar terrain during an encounter battle.
These Wood Elves would probably not charge to their deaths again as they did just now; they would undoubtedly turn and run without hesitation.
Because they had already suffered a terrifying blow, a tragic slaughter, and had realized the terrifying combat power these heavily armored human warriors possessed when they pushed through.
If they didn’t run, they would only become corpses.
Moreover, they had already fled once, so fleeing again no longer mattered; their dignity and honor had already been cast aside in this escape.
They could no longer claim to be proud, dignified Wood Elf Sword Dancers.
They were just some who picked up Wood Elf longswords, were conscripted, and out of shame, impersonated Wood Elf Sword Dancers.
Once a deserter, they would be a deserter a second time; once a deserter a second time, they would be a deserter a third time; once they got used to being a deserter, they would always be deserters; unless they were pushed to a certain desperate situation, they would never be able to escape this identity of a deserter.
This was why Shen Mu was laughing so heartily at this moment.
Because this was not a simple victory.
Instead, it was a humiliation where his Deherim, his Mount & Blade Soldiers, and his Rodok Sergeants deeply tore off all the pride, honor, and dignity of these Wood Elves, then threw it on the ground, stomped on it fiercely with their boots in the mud, and spat on it.
It was that simple.
It was such a victory.
“So, Mr. Zhang Bo, what do you think of the combat power displayed by my soldiers? Is it strong enough?”
Shen Mu turned to look at Zhang Bo, who was still by the railing.
At this moment, Zhang Bo was tightly gripping the edge of the railing, his entire body trembling slightly. He just kept his head down, looking at the backs of the fleeing Wood Elves below, his expression unknown, his face hidden from view.
At this moment, Zhang Bo heard Shen Mu’s voice, and after pausing for about two or three seconds, he managed to grip the edge of the railing tightly, turn around, and reveal a forced calm expression.
At the same time, he showed Shen Mu a smile that was uglier than a cry: “Yes, this is truly too powerful, Respected Lord Shen Mu. I truly did not expect your soldiers’ combat power to far exceed my imagination. Their strength surpasses even those damned Wood Elves.”
This was also Zhang Bo’s inner thought.
Although he had already known that these Wood Elves were destined to fail, he had not expected them to fail so miserably, to the point of such a tragic and desperate flight.
This was something he had never seen in the various battles, big and small, that had occurred within the Green Leaf Group before.
Even when the Green Leaf Group was confronting the Diesel Company at that time, such a tragic situation had not occurred, and one must know that this was a decapitation strike launched by the Green Leaf Group.
Originally, they were the attacking party, and Deherim should have been caught off guard.
Deherim should have been the one to suffer heavy losses immediately and be unable to react quickly, the one who should have collapsed due to chaotic command after the attack.
But he didn’t expect that now.
The Green Leaf Group’s decapitation unit was almost completely annihilated here.
Deherim’s troops even had extra time to stand at the castle hall’s entrance, laughing at the fleeing Wood Elves, engaging in a nearly humiliating disdain and a cheer of victory.
These were all things Zhang Bo had not anticipated.
Of course, Zhang Bo had already foreseen the Wood Elves’ failure, but as he looked towards the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower, where nearly four to five hundred Wood Elves were still huddled on the 2nd floor of the library, the despair in his eyes grew even deeper.
Because he knew.
Those Wood Elves hiding on the 2nd floor of the library probably needed to retreat quickly, and it seemed that the Wood Elf Plane had not dispatched more native troops from the Wood Elf Plane to provide support.
Since the Wood Elf Plane did not intend to interfere in this surprise attack, the conclusion was obvious: this Wood Elf Village had been abandoned by the Wood Elf Plane.
His Green Leaf Group, which held cherished memories, along with this surprise decapitation operation.
And the end of this campaign.
Or rather, the tragic defeat of this surprise decapitation campaign.
It was about to end.
The Green Leaf Group was destined to disintegrate, the Green Leaf Group was destined to be annihilated. The Green Leaf Group had developed for over 20 years before the war, and after three years of the End Times, it was now about to announce its end without even lasting a full 30 years.
Why was this happening?
Zhang Bo pondered the reason in his heart at this moment. He stared blankly at the corpses of the Wood Elves outside, which were like hedgehogs, riddled with arrows and crossbow bolts.
Ultimately, he came to a conclusion.
He had been too complacent, he had not understood the true foundation of Deherim, nor had he understood the true capabilities of Deherim’s master, this fellow named Shen Mu, who was right beside him. He had carelessly, and extremely underestimatingly, launched a ridiculous campaign called the “Grand Plan.”
The current outcome proved how ridiculous his Grand Plan was, how foolish he was, how ignorant he was.
To the extent that even the Green Leaf Group, which he deeply trusted and was completely loyal to, had completely announced its end due to his plan, and would be utterly annihilated in not much time.
It was all because of him, Zhang Bo.
It was all Zhang Bo’s responsibility.
There was no way to shirk it.
And it simply couldn't be shirked.
As he thought of this, Zhang Bo's eyes were already filled with tears. He turned his head, as if once again looking at the many Wood Elf corpses by the railing below, and suddenly burst into tears, trembling all over.
Now Zhang Bo truly regretted it. He didn’t know why he had to execute that Grand Plan, or rather, why he had to rally the Green Leaf Group to choose to go to war with Deherim.
If this battle had not happened, perhaps there would still have been a chance for reconciliation between the two sides.
But now that such a fierce battle had occurred, and Deherim was very clear that this was a battle waged by the Wood Elves belonging to the Green Leaf Group, then there was no longer any possibility of reconciliation between the two sides.
Precisely because there was no possibility of reconciliation, Zhang Bo knew very well that the Green Leaf Group was truly finished.
To the extent that even the reinforcements from the Wood Elf Plane, which he had desperately pleaded and hoped for before, did not appear. This meant that the Wood Elf Plane had also abandoned this Wood Elf Village and abandoned the Green Leaf Group.
Everything was over.
“It seems my Mage Zhang Bo is very frustrated. If I’m not mistaken, his trembling shoulders should indicate that he’s crying now.”
Shen Mu, however, looked at Zhang Bo, who had his back to him and was weeping bitterly. Even though he didn't hear any sound, a mocking smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
This Zhang Bo had always been putting on an act.
Earlier, through the mission issued by the Mount & Blade System, he had been tasked with cooperating with Zhang Bo to bring about the current plan.
At that time, Shen Mu had already felt somewhat helpless due to Zhang Bo’s pretentious and affected demeanor. After all, watching him put on an act in front of him, pretending to be loyal and considerate, was truly sickening.
Zhang Bo was acting, and Shen Mu himself was also acting. There was no other way; Shen Mu was doing it to complete the Mount & Blade System’s mission.
Of course, the Mount & Blade System’s mission had given him a choice from the beginning: if he wished, he could at any time directly order Zhang Bo to be apprehended, then imprisoned and interrogated.
Of course, such interrogation would surely expose Zhang Bo as a spy for the Green Leaf Group.
Then he would have a pretext to declare war on the Green Leaf Group.
Thus commencing the war against the Green Leaf Group.
But for him, this would be too simple, as the rewards obtained after discovering the truth would be very meager.
Even if he gained a pretext for war, it would only be eating up the Green Leaf Group, which was already firmly in his grasp, ahead of time. It wouldn't maximize his profits. It was better to look at the temporary mission given by the Mount & Blade System, the other branch, which was to pretend to play along with Zhang Bo’s act, to increase the mission rewards again and again.
Ultimately leading to the current situation of maximized profit.
Of course, in order to complete the final mission, Shen Mu still did not expose Zhang Bo’s pretense.
Anyway, what had happened had happened, it was already destined, and he had already won this battle, so there was no need to say anything else now.
Just wait for the final victory with peace of mind.
“How wonderful.”
Shen Mu turned his head at this moment, looking at the Mount & Blade Soldiers who had been sent as reinforcements to the east city wall, once again blocking the surging Skeleton from rushing up the ramp of the east city wall.
The smile at the corner of his mouth grew wider.
However, at this moment, he still waved his hand and said to the Holy Tree Knight beside him: “Launch the final general offensive against the enemies at the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower.” Shen Mu’s tone was very indifferent: “Let those Rodok Sergeants eliminate their last enemies.”
“Understood.” The Holy Tree Knight immediately responded, then turned to notify the Rodok Sergeants.
Within a few minutes.
At the entrance of the castle hall, the Rodok Sergeants who were still celebrating their victory gathered once again.
Looking towards the 2nd floor of the library in the direction of the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower, they each slowly took a few breaths, adjusted their breathing, picked up their straight-bladed war axes that resembled axes, and quickly walked towards that direction.
These heavily armored Rodok Sergeants once again transformed into a wall of steel, pushing towards the library. (End of this chapter)