Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 368 - 7: For My King!_2

At the outset, they fell into initial panic, having never witnessed such a spectacle before.

But the Shield Guard Army quickly regained composure.

They were prepared, and in that focused state, their body energy and Mountain Copper Armor seemed to fuse into one, greatly enhancing their defense. The explosive’s impact struggled to shatter their innards.

Yet, the Conscripted Soldiers didn’t see it that way.

To the unarmored units, that stuff’s lethality was horrifying, even worse than arrows, primarily due to shrapnel damage—it nearly cleared the field.

Without the cover of the Conscript Army, even the Shield Guard Army had to withdraw from the battlefield.

In the days that followed, they fought daily, from dawn until dusk, with ever-increasing numbers slain, and batches after batches falling dead.

Instead of being subdued by the River Valley Army, the intensity of the war further escalated.

The upper echelons of the Holy War Army were showing signs of bloodshot rage, unleashing relentless assaults on the River Valley Army. Initially, it was mere cannon fodder, later replaced by organized units of Nobles leading the charge, followed by Armored Soldiers.

The three Knight Orders were impatient, eagerly hoping to annihilate the River Valley Army in one fell swoop.

But they were quite wary of the River Valley Army’s explosives, deeming them ominous. Should a dozen or so pounds explode underfoot, even a High Order Knight and the Shield Guard Army might suffer an inevitable blast injury.

Should they now commit the three Knight Orders? The Church Court hesitated.

Where was the sense in playing the king card at the start of the game? Once committed, losses were inevitable. Moreover, they needed to reserve half their forces in case the Black Castle defense troops launched a counterattack.

But by the fifth day, they could hold back no longer.

The Judgement Knight was the first to plunge into the enemy camp, but unsurprisingly, they couldn’t break through; the River Valley Army was no longer what it used to be, completely transformed and barely breaching a shallow layer.

Taking advantage of the breach the Judgement Knight had made, the Church Court began to commit troops.

Bodies were scattered everywhere on the battlefield, making it impossible for the charging warhorses to gain momentum, so the Shield Guard Army advanced into the fray.

As the once rigorously structured and stable formation became increasingly distorted, showing signs of collapse, threatening the Central Army where the auxiliary forces were stationed, a squad Captain picked up a package of explosives weighing dozens of kilograms—originally intended for small catapults.

After igniting it, he charged into the crowd of Shield Guard Army and Church Knights, holding the explosive package.

"For our king!" cried the unknown Apostle, a squad Captain in the auxiliary army.

Boom!

In an instant, a cloud of bloody mist and white smoke filled the air.

Both friend and foe were stunned by the explosion.

The nearest two Shield Guard Soldiers fell on the spot, blood flowing from the seven orifices of the men inside the Mountain Copper Armor, fainting dead away.

"Heavy Equipment! Heavy Equipment! Push them back! Push them back!!" Jet’s eyes turned red as he bellowed on the spot.

The Heavy Shields, already in a state of collapse, somehow found the strength to withstand the Shield Guard Army and Church Knights, whose weight was several times their own. Their faces turned red with the effort, refusing to retreat any further.

It was a tough and prolonged battle, as though every second had been stretched to an unbearable length.

Then a gale wind blew from afar.

Like whitecaps brushing against the shore, like the sea coming ashore. Like the cold sweeping over late autumn, like the onset of winter.

"Woo... Woo... Woo..."

It was the sound of a massive horn, loud and terrible, as if a giant was growling in one’s ear, radiating far across the battlefield.

Accompanying the horn, in the distance, was the banner of the King of Ice Island.

Its emblem was a blood-stained crossed double axe, brutal and sharp.

"Barbarian Horn?! The Axe Guard of the King of Ice Island is here!" shouted a Knight of the Holy War Army, as he reined in his restless horse at the sound of the horn.

It was no ordinary army but the Forbidden Army of Ice Island, escorting Lord Yerman of Ice Island as they appeared on the horizon amidst the battle line.

All the Axe Guard were tall, well-equipped, each brandishing a Heavy Axe that weighed thirty to fifty pounds.

Over a hundred years ago, before the Conqueror had conquered Ice Island and Igo, they were known as Berserkers.

The tallest and mightiest of them all was Lord Yerman of Ice Island.

He stood over two meters tall, carrying an eighty-pound axe on his back, with arrows slung over his shoulder. Though a foot soldier, he was enough to chill the hearts of all Conquest Knights.

Ice Island was a place of Igo hybrids, with a constitution so finely adapted to its harshness that it was terrifying. They drank a secret medicine brewed from herbs and mushrooms, and the tiredness in their bodies would be replaced with a surge of new strength. While a common man might die drinking it, they would be able to fight for several more hours without being felled by side effects—their endurance was eerily formidable.

"We’ve broken through Riptide’s blockade, our ships overturned, our horses dead, yet we’ve still arrived to this battlefield on our own two feet. Now we’re here to support the Black Iron King and our brothers from River Valley. Let these traitorous curs witness the ferocity of an Ice Island warrior!" Lord Yerman boomed, his voice as loud as a giant’s.

His battle spirit soared; he took a deep breath and blew the Wild Bull Horn with such force that it shattered.

The same horn that the Pirate King had blown when attacking the continent over a hundred years ago had now completed its final mission.

"Charge to the battlefield! Charge! Fulfill our promise! Kill them!"

"For Lord Yerman!"

"For Yerman, for Lord Ioannos!"

Over a thousand fully armed Berserkers stormed across the plains, scything through the Holy War Army’s flank like a heavy axe.

Jet finally understood why the Holy War Army was attacking them so recklessly.

It was because reinforcements were just behind.

"Cover the Ice Island warriors! Protect them!" Jet drew his sword and ordered.

He led the charge. All the professional squadrons went mad, inspired by the epic call of the horn, feeling their blood boil and their energies surge.

That day, the River Valley Army and the Axe Guard triumphantly routed the Holy War Army, nearly pushing the battle line to the foot of Black Castle.

But the high ranks of the Holy War Army managed to stabilize their positions.

...

On a small hill,

Gael rode up on a horse, while Pine had been waiting for some time.

This was a secret meeting between two dukes.

Grand Duke Pine said, "Yerman has reached Heavenly Pegasus Plain."

"Alex covered the Ice Island Axe Guard," Gael’s face, aged significantly compared to four years ago, showed the toll the Northern Front had taken on him.

With the Pirate King’s help, the Riptide defense line was torn apart by Yerman, the Axe Guard suffered heavy losses, as did the Shattered Archers.

He continued, "The Yige people have a terrifying tenacity, they never give up until they achieve their goal."

Pine spoke melodiously, "But they cannot change the outcome. The knights I dispatched have returned, which also means that Oak will soon arrive too. This is the ultimate battle."

Gael added, "Iolion sent a message to Alex advising him to support the crown; he would be crowned King of the North, and the lands occupied by pirates would not be reclaimed. But Alex did not agree, and this is a very ominous sign."

This was a gesture of appeasement; the entire Northern Front and the Thorny Peninsula were the lands of the King of the North.

As a political trade-off, Alex was to lift the siege at Black Castle and become a supporter of the Conqueror Order.

But Alex did not agree.

Pine looked toward the North, his blue seaweed-like disheveled hair fluttering in the wind from the North, keenly aware of the distant yet imminent threat of foreign races.

"If Alex had agreed to come, there would be nothing to fear, just another man like Yerman. If they dare to enter the heartland of Black Iron, those Barbarians will suffer a thunderous blow. The Yige people always think they are strong, but they are so weak that they cannot withstand a single blow."

The Duke of Furious Tide said, "But he didn’t come, he did not. He doesn’t aid Black Castle, and the Church Court can’t accommodate him either. What is he scheming and planning? If his wisdom tells him that taking the Northern Front is enough, so he slackens, unprepared for future wars, only wanting to be a big landlord, then he is the most foolish man. Iolion may indulge him, but my eyes cannot tolerate dust..."

Suddenly, Gael said, "Pine, do you wish to become the next Ioannos?"

It was as if he was back at the age of seven, in a warm spring day, with tender green grass and blossoming flowers, Dragon Castle basked in the beaming spring light, a very comfortable day. His gentle and gracious mother, not yet deceased, was recounting to him the glorious legend of Ioannos. The tall and robust Alster brought before him that scrawny child with blue hair that was peeling off his face, appearing somewhat ugly. His father told him that was his half-brother of another race, and they had to support each other hand in hand, ever loyal to one another like the First Dukes. And now that man stood before him again, his face, ravaged by the erosion of his bloodline, rough as a reef, his eyes like the vast sea that drowned the land.

That ocean gazed back at Gael, calm yet tumultuous, "I have never coveted that Black Iron Throne, never," he declared.