Chapter 287: The Mad Feast
On the second day of battle.
Both sides suffered heavy losses.
Thousands of soldiers lay dead on the battlefield.
Blood stained the ground red, creating an indescribable sense of sorrow.
Thick smoke billowed upward, nearly coloring the sky red.
The stench of burning bodies filled the entire hillside.
Harley cleared the bodies littering the walls, slowly leaned against a stone pillar, and let out a long sigh.
These barbarian soldiers had put immense pressure on him.
If it weren't for deploying two Iron Men at the crucial moment, they might not have been able to withstand the assault of the high-ranking barbarians.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel curious about the Bay Territory's battle.
They had withstood the pressure of tens of thousands and achieved far greater results than his own forces did after fighting for several days.
What Harley didn't know was that the barbarian soldiers he faced were the last of Halel's elite troops, known for their formidable combat abilities.
If not for their lack of supplies and their damaged weapons and equipment from the long journey.
If they had been at their full strength, Harley's Bloodmoon soldiers wouldn't have lasted a day before the walls were breached and they were routed.
Fortunately, after two days of brutal combat, the Bloodmoon soldiers under Harley's command were rapidly improving.
Soldiers who had fought against the barbarians three times and survived could be called veterans.
Especially those skilled combat professionals who could withstand the pressure.
After the battle, they could digest their combat experience and potentially advance 1-2 levels in their profession!
Such is the fate of ordinary soldiers!
They have no enchanted armor or weapons.
They also lack healing potions and stamina-restoring nutrition potions.
Facing the most dangerous enemies, they often receive foolish and rigid orders.
The journey from an ordinary soldier to a professional warrior typically has a survival rate of one in ten.
How is an elite unit trained?
Engage in several brutal battles, eliminate most unqualified soldiers, replenish the ranks, and continue the cycle.
After repeating this process several times, an elite unit is finally forged.
Of course, in most cases, such elite units are not valued in the Netheril Empire.
No matter how strong their combat abilities, they are merely tools for Arcanists to delay the enemy!
Take today, for instance!
Even if the city lord didn't intervene, several senior mages from Bloodmoon City's Mage Association did.
Their area spells inflicted over one-third of the barbarian casualties.
They also broke the barbarians' momentum at critical moments, suppressing their attempt to breach the walls.
However, getting these senior mages to act wasn't easy—Harley had to approve several months' worth of supplies to get them to join the battle.
Even so, facing the oncoming barbarian soldiers, Harley had no confidence in holding out until tomorrow without deploying the Bloodmoon Knights.
"Did Lord Matthew agree?"
Harley turned to the suddenly appearing 343 and asked.
Gracefully nodding, 343 glanced at the chaotic battlefield and said with emotion:
"Lord Matthew has agreed, but he also has a condition."
"After defeating the barbarians, he wants to take all the captives."
Harley wasn't surprised by this condition.
The Bay Territory's hunger for population was well-known throughout the entire eastern province.
"No problem, as long as he can seal the barbarians' infiltration gap, he will be given the priority to develop this area."
"Additionally, I can approve new city-building rights in the Misty Swamp."
"However, I have a condition too: tell his soldiers not to wait any longer and to attack tomorrow."
But instead of passing on the message immediately, 343 turned her gaze toward the barbarian camp, speaking softly with a hint of wonder:
"In fact, Lord Matthew will strike tonight!"
Harley turned his gaze to the distance, where a silver-white, beautiful figure slowly descended from the sky.
A dragon!
Before Yaya could make a move, the barbarian camp below fell into chaos.
Everyone looked up in disbelief, with many trembling in fear and dropping to the ground.
It wasn't that they hadn't seen a real dragon before; it was precisely because their impressions were so profound that it evoked a fear deep within their hearts.
"Indeed, even after fleeing here, there is no escaping the fate of death!"
Halel murmured softly, surveying the uneasy camp with calm eyes.
He could control his own soldiers, but he couldn't command the slaves he had plundered.
"But the great gods haven't abandoned me; there is still a chance to turn things around."
"Hehe, as for you all, you'll become sacrifices for the descent of the great gods!"
Slowly turning his head, Halel waved to his confidants:
"Do it, kill the slaves, and let us bathe in the glory of the gods together."
As he spoke, Halel's eyes were already flashing with twisted red light.
After finishing his words, he raised his dual blades high and twisted them against his own neck.
A blood-spraying head tumbled to the ground.
At that moment, the twisted light of the Bloodmoon shone on his corpse.
Halel's guards, grinning maniacally, charged out in a frenzy.
They attacked anyone they saw, cutting down everyone in their path.
This eerie situation deeply contaminated every soldier under Halel's control.
They slaughtered wildly, soon turning the entire camp into a bloody hell.
The barbarian women, children, and elderly immediately found themselves in deadly peril.
The quicker-witted ones started fleeing outside.
Some tried to fight back but were chopped into pieces by the frenzied soldiers.
The entire camp was engulfed in a terrifying and twisted atmosphere.
When the maddened soldiers found no one left to kill, they began mimicking Halel, decapitating themselves one after another.
Witnessing this twisted and absurd scene from the sky, Matthew was profoundly shocked.
He ordered Yaya to descend to about 200 meters, using his data display to carefully examine the contaminated soldiers.
The Contaminated.
Status: Polluted, Mad, Bloodthirsty.
Survival Time: 20 minutes.
Cause: Consumed a source of contamination.
Everywhere he looked, each frenzied soldier was in the same state.
Matthew gasped at Halel's ruthlessness and madness:
"Indeed, brainless cultists are the most dangerous!"
"Killing tens of thousands of people, will that really awaken some greedy evil god? What a joke!"