The thunderous cheers that filled the battlefield subsided at Ryan's command.
By now, the sun was already descending into the afternoon sky. The knightly army, having been the first to clash with the Beastmen, was thoroughly exhausted. Yet, their morale remained high. Ryan decided to divide his forces into two groups. The first group, consisting of the knightly army leading the Bretonnian infantry, was tasked with pursuing and annihilating the remnants of the fleeing Beastmen.
The second group, commanded by Morgiana, included the reserve Grail Guards and a small contingent of knights from Bastonne. This group, alongside Ryan's personal Old Guard, moved westward to support the Middenland forces still locked in fierce combat with the Black Pit Greenskins.
When the disciplined ranks of the Old Guard entered the battlefield under Ryan's leadership, the Black Pit Greenskins suddenly found themselves under attack from the flank. Already fatigued and suffering heavy losses, they collapsed entirely. The King of Knights personally charged into the fray.
Veronica had already spent the bulk of her magic in unleashing Doomsday Judgment. Yet, as Ryan entered the battlefield, she and her Garland Sorceress Council summoned another grand spell: Solar Flare.
Eight beams of blinding light illuminated the battlefield, their radiance piercingly bright.
Great Ulric and Von Tugenheim initially couldn't understand why Veronica had chosen this spell. Greenskins weren't particularly vulnerable to light. Wouldn't a meteor swarm or a few more flaming skulls have been more effective?
They quickly realized her intent.
While Greenskins themselves might not fear intense light, their spider mounts and the monstrous Arachnarok Spiders were another story. These creatures were highly sensitive to the blinding brilliance.
On the battlefield, the tide had turned irreversibly. The Spider King swiftly realized the Beastmen were utterly defeated, and that its own forces were doomed as well.
The massive gray spider beneath the Spider King trembled uncontrollably under the light, refusing to obey its rider. This gray giant spider, a gift from the Spider God to Snagla Venomspit, had accompanied the Spider King for decades of conquest. Yet now, it was beyond control.
The sound of human military songs grew closer and closer, heralding the arrival of the bear-fur-capped Old Guard and the Gold Chalice Knights.
Under simultaneous attacks from both sides and without support from the Beastmen, Snagla Venomspit ordered a retreat. But it was too late.
Amidst a storm of blood, the Old Guard advanced in precise formation, their columns moving as one. These proud Bretonnian warriors sang of their nation's glory, adding yet another illustrious chapter to their storied history.
The legendary Beastmen regiments—the Drakwald Destroyers, the Bloodhorn Minotaurs, and the Thunderstorm Dragon Ogres—were annihilated, utterly wiped out.
What could possibly stand in their way now?
However, the Old Guard paid a steep price for their victories against these elite Beastmen forces: 102 dead and over 500 wounded. Ryan's heart ached at the cost. The King of Knights realized that deploying his most elite troops inevitably meant accepting heavy losses. He recalled both his past and present lives, when he had criticized strategies that overly preserved strength or avoided engagement. Yet now, faced with the reality of war, he felt the pain of each loss deeply.
Fortunately, the Lady of the Lake's oracle was issued mid-battle. Morgiana cast two large-scale life-recovery spells, healing all the injured Old Guard and restoring their stamina. Even as a high-tier Sanctuary sorceress, Morgiana couldn't achieve such feats alone—it was clear the goddess herself had intervened.
Thus, the Old Guard's true losses were limited to the 102 who had died. The remaining 1,898 soldiers rejoined the fray, ready to win further glory alongside their king.
On the Old Guard's flank, more than 2,000 knights and their squires, who still had some stamina left, advanced under the leadership of the twelve Grail Guards from the Lake Witch's personal retinue and the Red Dragon Knight Brotherhood, led personally by Duke Berchmond. The knights charged forward with the enthusiasm of men eager to collect Greenskin heads to adorn their records of valor.
Victory followed victory, and the knights basked in their triumphs. They unanimously agreed: following King Ryan was the right path.
"This is exhilarating! Absolutely exhilarating!" Duke Berchmond rampaged across the battlefield, cutting down foes like wheat. The Red Dragon Duke hadn't felt such a thrill in years. A goblin shaman fired a green beam of sinister moonlight at him, but the glow of his lance and the blessing of the Lake God turned the attack to fragments. Berchmond's mace then came down with crushing force, smashing the goblin's skull and sending brain matter flying.
The Greenskin army was routed, their mighty Arachnarok Spiders trembling under the knights' iron hooves.
At this critical moment, Ryan delivered the fatal blow to the Greenskin Spider King.
The Vengeful Goddess sword easily pierced through Snagla Venomspit's feathered mask. None of the Spider King's dozen curses or petty Waaagh! magics worked against the Knight King. In return, Ryan's sword severed its head clean from its body.
The King of Knights lifted the Spider King's head high, joining it with that of Gorthor the Cruel as a testament to his achievements. "In the name of the Lady, the Spider Emperor of the Greenskins, Snagla Venomspit, is no more!"
"Long live the King! Long live the King! Long live the King!" the Bretonnians roared in celebration.
"This is Ulric's power! Hahaha! Still, I must say, those knights beyond the mountains didn't do half bad this time. Not bad at all," Great Ulric Emil laughed heartily.
"Victory! Victory! We've won! Middenland has triumphed! Ulric has triumphed! The Empire has triumphed!" Boris Todbringer raised his arms, shouting jubilantly. For the first time since his wife's death, he felt a profound sense of relief.
He had avenged her. On this day, the Beastmen and Greenskins he slew outnumbered all his prior kills combined.
The taste of vengeance was sweet, intoxicatingly so. Boris nearly fainted from the overwhelming satisfaction.
"Hahahaha!" The Lake Witch Morgiana raised her hand, a magical explosion obliterating three forest goblins. She ordered the Grail Guards to press forward, then looked up at Ryan's towering figure and the two severed heads hanging from the griffon's rear. She couldn't help but laugh, her uncharacteristic mirth betraying her usual composure. But she didn't care—at this moment, happiness consumed her entirely.
Others felt similarly. Veronica, gasping for breath and barely standing with the help of an apprentice, watched the scene with awe. Arriving late on horseback, Teresa and Aurora followed. Aurora, witnessing the spectacle, finally relinquished her desire for independence. She admitted to herself that she had never seen a man as terrifying, heroic, brutal, or magnetic as Ryan.
She even felt a twinge of jealousy toward Teresa.
By 3 p.m., the Battle of the Three Kings in Middenland was over.
The human coalition suffered over 1,900 fatalities and 5,500 injuries, with total casualties around 7,500. Among the dead were one Grail Knight and two Imperial captains, alongside the loss of twelve cannons.
The Beastmen and Greenskin coalition, however, suffered catastrophic losses. Over 53,000 Beastmen and 33,000 Greenskins were slain—a total of 86,000 enemies wiped out with no prisoners and no injured survivors.
This battle shattered the Beastmen and Greenskin forces. The legendary Beastmen regiments were annihilated, including their supreme Beastlord, Gorthor the Cruel, and dozens of Beastmen chieftains, shamans, and monstrous leaders. Only Kazrak One-Eye, leading a detachment of over 10,000 Beastmen, and a handful of lucky survivors managed to escape.
For the Greenskins, losses among the spider riders were the heaviest, nearing 80%. The Arachnarok Spider units were decimated by over half. Among the leaders, Snagla Venomspit, along with most goblin warlords and shamans, perished.
Thus, the Battle of the Three Kings, fought by dwarf, human, and elven forces, became a textbook example of a decisive victory. This campaign was hailed as one of King Ryan Macado's greatest triumphs and holds a prominent place in human military history.
From then on, Beastmen and Greenskins would retreat instinctively at the sight of the Old Guard's bear-fur caps, the tricolor banners, or the golden chalice emblem of the Grail Knights. Their fear of Ryan's forces became an indelible part of their being.
The mere mention of "Ryan is coming!" would send Black Pit Greenskins scrambling to hide and silence Beastmen infants in terror. Ryan earned the moniker "The Child-Quieting King."
Boris Todbringer, the Elector Count of Middenland, was left in awe of Ryan's military genius. After decades of hard-fought battles against the Beastmen and Greenskins, he had rarely achieved such decisive victories, even with superior numbers and meticulous planning.
Boris pondered, bewildered. How could Ryan, with only 76,000 troops against 153,000, achieve a casualty ratio of 7,500 to 86,000? What made Ryan's command so different?
For now, Boris couldn't find an answer. However, the people of Middenland celebrated wildly, joining the Bretonnians in jubilant revelry. It had been many years since they had achieved such a resounding victory.
"Ugh…" On the battlefield, Detarleon-Maurice-Benistern, an Elf diplomat, could barely hold back his nausea. Riding on horseback, he pressed a perfumed handkerchief against his face, trailing behind Ryan. The sight of Beastmen and Greenskin corpses littering the battlefield, along with the stench of burning remains, overwhelmed the high elf, unaccustomed to such carnage.
"How does it feel, Talleyrand?" Ryan asked, surveying the devastated battlefield. The sheer number of Beastmen and Greenskin bodies meant it would take Middenland's people at least three days and 5,000 laborers to burn them all.
"Cough… In one day, Your Majesty. You did all this in just one day," the Elf replied, trying to suppress his gag reflex as he addressed Ryan. "This is nothing short of remarkable. It only reaffirms my conviction that I made the right choice back then."
"A few hours, to be precise. We fought from dawn until now—not twenty-four hours," Morgiana, the Lake Witch, corrected with a pointed tone.
"Indeed, a few hours, my lady," Talleyrand agreed hastily. "A great victory, one for the annals of history. It will stand as one of your and His Majesty's finest achievements."
The way Talleyrand addressed Morgiana seemed to soften her demeanor. The Lake Witch, who had been irritable moments ago, found the Elf slightly more tolerable.
Veronica rolled her eyes, thinking to herself how the "damned cripple" had learned exactly whom to flatter to ensure his place in the court.
"We've lost approximately 7,500 men, of whom 2,000 are dead. The remaining 5,500 wounded will mostly recover and return to the fight," Ryan said in a composed tone. "In contrast, they've lost over 86,000 without a single survivor. Look carefully, Talleyrand. This is our war—my war."
"Your Majesty, I have seen… enough…" Talleyrand began, but the gruesome sight of several Beastmen corpses being dragged from a trench made him retch into his perfumed handkerchief.
"No, not enough," Ryan said with a cold laugh, his expression devoid of humor. "Open your eyes, use your ears, and breathe it in, Talleyrand. You will oversee the post-war reparations and casualty reports. You need to understand the cost of peace."
"Yes, the cost of peace," the Elf muttered. "Charace nobles love to wax poetic about such things, but few have ever witnessed a battlefield like this. They do not understand that the sacrifices of generations sustain their privileged lives."
Talleyrand tried to lighten the mood with a joke. "Your Majesty, in the few hours it took you to annihilate 86,000 enemies, do you know what the High Elf War Council would accomplish in the same time?"
"What?" Ryan and those nearby turned curious gazes toward the Elf.
"They would have just finished arranging the seating order for the princes," Talleyrand said with a smirk. "Then, Tyrion would signal the start of discussions—only for the council to adjourn shortly thereafter. After all, everyone knows that the Asur only work during the day. Evenings are reserved for banquets and parties."
Laughter erupted from the hills as those present reveled in the humor, a welcome reprieve after the grueling battle.
"Long live the King! Long live Bretonnia! Praise the Lady!" Cheers surged like waves across the battlefield.
"Your Majesty!" At that moment, a Dragon Rider from the Old Guard approached Ryan at a brisk pace. "Sir Baldwin from Le-Angouleme has discovered something. We believe you should take a look."
"What is it?" Ryan asked.
"We've uncovered something in the Black Pit Greenskin encampment…"
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