Green Monster Epic

The sound of horses trampling through the camps, a muffled rumble, drifted far and wide. Residents of a peaceful little town on the Dawn Empire's border curiously pushed open their windows, gazing at the star-filled sky and seeking the source of the great commotion.

“Woof woof woof!”

“Woof! Woof!”

“Shut up, stop barking!!”

“Hey, Old Buck, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know, where is all this commotion coming from?”

“Little Jack, you and the others go check outside the town.”

This human town, named Willow Creek, wasn't too far from the empire's border, but the last time war had visited was so long ago that none of the current residents had experienced it. The town's defenses had been lax for many years.

As the muffled, thunderous sound grew louder, the townspeople finally pinpointed the direction it was coming from. A dozen or so of the town's more agile young men reluctantly grabbed their somewhat rusty single-handed swords and headed out of town toward the noise.

Sleep was out of the question. No one could possibly sleep through such a racket. Oil lamps were lit in the homes of the town's thousands of residents, and the heads of households gathered in the town hall, awaiting news from the scouting militia.

Before the scouts returned, the ground began to tremble as the sound grew even louder. Many young children, frightened, began to wail, and adults emerged from their homes, their faces etched with fear.

“Enemies!!”

Finally, a young man came scrambling and crawling back from outside the town, his face deathly pale and his features distorted. Even as he ran, his shrill cries carried ahead of him.

While the others were still puzzled, not understanding what he meant by “enemies,” a javelin came hurtling from the sky, piercing the running young man through the back and pinning him to the road, silencing him instantly.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!

The townspeople, having never experienced war, were still staring blankly at the tragic sight of the young man when more javelins rained down from the sky with a whistling sound. Figures finally appeared on the road the young man had run from.

“Ah!!”

“Run!”

“Father! Mother!!”

In an instant, the peaceful town transformed into a bloody hell. Centaur warriors, their faces blank, galloped forward, holding cold spears leveled in front of them, charging straight into the crowd. When they emerged, several adults and children were impaled on their spears like shish kebabs.

Even those who weren't killed instantly by the spears suffered, their bodies pressed between the impaling spear and the bodies of their fellow humans in front and behind them. They flailed their hands and feet in vain, until the life drained out of them.

With a mighty heave, the centaur knights tossed the human corpses from their spears, and the unburdened riders continued their nimble advance.

Without looking back or encountering any obstruction, the dense ranks of over ten thousand soldiers instantly transformed the peaceful town into a ruin.

The army continued to rush silently forward, and before dawn, they would hide in the wilderness and forests far from towns and trade routes, based on the locations scouted by the advance guard.

The accompanying spellcasters each took action. Some jointly cast illusion magic to conceal the army's tracks, while others cleaned up the path they had taken, dispelling and concealing any traces of scent, footprints, or other signs of their passage.

Although Ahmad and the others knew very well that it was impossible to truly conceal the movements of such a large army entering the heart of the Dawn Empire, they still did their best to delay the discovery of their movements as long as possible, so that they could penetrate deeper into the Dawn Empire's territory.

After resting throughout the day and listening to the reports from the scouts scattered along their route, Ahmad and the others knew that their next steps should be even more aggressive.

As the sun set once more below the horizon and night descended upon the silent forest, teams of centaur warriors, having eaten a simple meal and regained their full strength, prepared to set out again.

“Tonight, we have an important target: the Dawn Empire's important northern trading city—Valgor!!”

Ahmad summoned the high-ranking officers and, pointing to a spot on the map circled and re-circled with a thick red line, said in a deep voice, “We only have one chance for a surprise attack. If we can't catch them off guard, we will likely be bogged down by their garrison troops, and we won't be able to completely destroy this trading city.”

“But if we succeed, the Dawn Empire's high command will be shaken, and the offensives on the eastern and northern fronts will naturally be weakened. Then our goal will be achieved.”

“Therefore, this battle must be won, not lost!”

“Understood!”

“Acknowledged!”

After the commanders of the Three Kings' Court gave instructions to the officers based on the map, they did not delay for long. Under the cover of darkness, their army advanced towards the city of Valgor.

When the army was only a dozen miles away from Valgor, the massive force didn't stop to rest and reorganize, but instead charged directly towards the huge city ahead, which resembled a lurking beast.

This time, the sound of the army's footsteps was rendered almost imperceptible by a silencing spell cast by the team of spellcasters. Only the trembling of the ground could not be eliminated, but this was enough to allow the army to seize the initiative and charge beneath the city walls before the enemy noticed.

“Your Majesty, we must trouble you to act again!”

Seeing the tall city walls and the closed city gates ahead, Ahmad, who was riding at the front of the cavalry, bowed respectfully to Kheron's incarnation, who was striding forward calmly.

“Mm!”

Kheron's incarnation suddenly erupted with power, surging far ahead of the charging army. Then, the divine artifact, the Spear of Heavenly Punishment, appeared in his hand. The spear shaft became dazzling as the surging divine power poured into it, making it so eye-catching in the night.

The human warriors on night watch on the city walls noticed this dazzling light and peered over the edge to investigate. When they saw the dark mass of centaur troops galloping silently behind the golden light, they were all shocked.

Before the human night watchmen could send out a warning signal, golden lightning shot out from Kheron's incarnation's hand, instantly appearing at the thick, closed north gate.

Boom!!

A large hole was blasted through the closed city gate, and cracks appeared even on the city wall connected to the gate. The sudden attack gave the city's defending soldiers, who hadn't experienced war in many years, no time to react. The original reinforcement magic on the city gate hadn't even been activated before it collapsed with a crash.

The main gate swung open with ease, and the centaur cavalry, charging forward, shifted their formation with remarkable coordination. Led by commanders like Ahmad, they transformed into a long serpent, passing through the city walls without resistance and swiftly advancing into the city.

Within this bustling commercial city of over a million inhabitants, powerful legendary figures naturally resided. Just as Kharon's avatar hurled his spear, unleashing tremendous energy, several figures in disheveled attire soared into the sky to investigate.

They were met with an overwhelming wave of deadly intent. Kharon's avatar finally unleashed his full power, a spear tearing through the sky, locking onto one of the figures and hurtling towards them.

"Hmm?"

A human spellcaster, clutching a staff, suddenly sensed danger. His mind raced, and a syllable burst forth from his lips. A ring on his finger pulsed with magical energy, and his figure instantly vanished from the spot, reappearing hundreds of meters away in a void.

As the figure emerged from the teleportation gate, he was greeted by the same golden lightning bolt, like a maggot clinging to a bone, now less than a dozen meters away.

Terrified, the human mage tried to activate the magic imbued in his various accessories, but it was too late.

Although a faint halo of magical energy began to coalesce around his body, the golden lightning was faster. Before the magic could fully form, it flashed past the human mage's chest, then swiftly returned to Kharon's hand.

Poof!

A faint thud echoed from the ground as the human spellcaster's lifeless body fell, unnoticed.

Whoosh!

The golden lightning shot out again, and Kharon chanted an incantation. A divine light brewed in his hand, then transformed into a bolt of lightning, which Kharon launched towards another target.

As a divine avatar, Kharon possessed not only formidable close-quarters and ranged combat abilities, but also the divine arts associated with his divine authority. However, he had primarily displayed his ranged and close-quarters combat skills in front of others, rarely having the opportunity to showcase his divine arts.

The Spear of Heavenly Punishment was blocked by another legendary figure who exerted all his strength. The price was that the human warrior was knocked back to the ground as soon as he took flight, followed by the sound of countless collapsing houses.

The holy light formed into lightning and descended from the sky, striking another human warrior on the head. The warrior raised his battle-axe high, his muscles bulging, veins popping, and with a loud cry, he resolutely met the divine art head-on.

The lightning was cleaved apart by the human warrior, and as he exhaled deeply, readjusting his body from the impact, Kharon's avatar had already reached him. At the same time, the Spear of Heavenly Punishment, which had just severely injured a human legend, conveniently landed in Kharon's hand. With a forward thrust, a spear-flower bloomed before the target's eyes.

Clang!

Thud!

The human warrior's eyes showed a hint of panic as he once again swung his battle-axe to deflect the spear. The axe was knocked aside in the collision, and although the spear's movement was slightly distorted, with a gentle twist of Kharon's wrist, it returned to its trajectory and pierced the human legend's chest.

A large blood-flower appeared quite dim in the darkness as the human warrior's remains fell lifelessly to the ground. Having completed this, Kharon remained calm and expressionless, then turned his gaze to another human warrior a thousand meters away.

Whoosh!

The Spear of Heavenly Punishment flew from Kharon's hand first, followed closely by Kharon's body. The human warrior on the opposite side, witnessing the death of his comrade, paled and, disregarding the city's defenses, turned and fled.

After entering the city, the centaur legion's long serpent divided into several branches, rapidly advancing along the city's main thoroughfares. Any obstacles or fortifications that dared to hinder their progress were reduced to rubble under the centaur cavalry's iron hooves.

The centaur warriors who followed began to sweep through, and any living creature that entered their sight became their target. The clash of weapons was accompanied by the rapid spread of flames, engulfing the surrounding buildings in a raging inferno.

Many human residents were still in their dreams, unaware of what was happening, and had their lives taken. More human residents heard the commotion and scrambled out of bed in a panic. Just as they pushed open their doors, ready to investigate, a figure whizzed past, casually claiming their lives with a single spear thrust.

Then, another centaur rider threw a torch into the opened doorway. As burning oil and sparks splashed onto the flammable objects in the house, the ordinary residence was quickly consumed by a raging fire.

The sprawling city with a million inhabitants eventually reacted. A large number of tense human warriors had gathered in front of the inner city's important institutions, and were beginning to construct defenses under the command of the city's garrison commander.

Unfortunately, although Verago City held an important position in the empire, the actual army stationed in this city of a million people was only a little over thirty thousand. Faced with the sudden appearance of an unknown number of enemies, the human commander was filled with annoyance and anxiety.

Originally, Verago City's defensive force was not so weak, but the empire had previously drawn some elite troops to the battlefield of the Beastman Empire in the east, and two months ago, it had temporarily conscripted half of its forces to the north to reinforce the Rose Duchy.

In the end, Verago City, a city with prosperous trade and incredible wealth, had only thirty thousand soldiers, many of whom were recruits, and their combat power could not be guaranteed at all.

Without knowing the specific intelligence of the enemy within the city, the human commander, ignoring the city lord's strict demands to send troops to suppress the chaos in the city, gathered his troops in the inner city while sending his trusted scouts and guards to the outer city to gather the most reliable information.

When the intelligence finally reached the human commander's hands, the human general, who should have been thankful that he had not rashly acted, was now filled with despair.

A massive centaur army, numbering at least over one hundred thousand, had unknowingly invaded Verago City. The damage that would be caused next was enough to destroy the entire prosperous commercial city in a short period of time.

"Prepare to meet the enemy!"

The human commander resolutely issued the order, ordering the human army to ascend the inner city walls, while rushing to the castle where the city lord was, to report the intelligence of the enemies they had encountered, and to discuss the next course of action with the city lord.

The fall of Verago City was basically irreversible, and the human commander himself had no confidence in being able to resist. However, the imperial center must be informed as soon as possible that such a large-scale army had appeared within their territory. He needed to buy enough time for the empire to react.

But even with such a simple request, backed by a large city of a million people, the human commander's heart was filled with pessimism.