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Today's battle is a crucial moment in Enrico's plan to end a phase of the war. If the strategic objectives can be successfully achieved, the three cities guarding the northwestern gateway will completely fall into the hands of the rebel army. At that point, the entire northwest will form a complete defensive system, firmly blocking the orc army outside. Even if the orcs possess a flying corps, it won't change this situation. The people on this land will then be able to temporarily escape the shadow of war and begin to recuperate.

Therefore, for the sake of the brief peace that has already dawned, Enrico must win this arduous war. The prerequisite for that victory is that he can use his ragtag army of 30,000 to hold back the orc mixed human-orc army of 60,000, allowing the truly elite warriors to flank and encircle, seizing the opportunity to capture the target cities.

The battle began at dawn and continued into the afternoon. In stark contrast to the magnificent magical war that erupted in the southern seas, both sides lacked effective cavalry and magical corps, resulting in a brutal infantry melee and a complete war of attrition. Whoever's morale and formation collapse first will face a one-sided rout and massacre. Neither side has the option to retreat, only to relentlessly clash with flesh and steel, spilling countless souls and fragments of flesh across this land.

Enrico's pale face is already covered in sweat and exhaustion, not only due to the burden of continuously casting spells but also the mental strain from overloading his calculations of the battlefield situation. He has exhausted all means, constantly shifting his own frontlines between straight and curved lines, allowing the rebel warriors to allow a small number of enemies into their own positions without the frontlines collapsing, forming local numerical advantages for slaughter, and continuously bleeding the orc forces. Such exquisite battlefield command skills would even make seasoned old generals marvel at his miraculous adaptability. What's even more terrifying is that Enrico can still control the entire battlefield situation without negligence under these circumstances, constantly shifting the combat direction of his own corps, balancing the macro and the micro without any conflict. His title of "War Magician" is indeed not an exaggeration.

Yet, even so, he cannot completely overcome the enormous gap in numbers, quality, and equipment between the armies.

The orc Northwest Ninth Mixed Corps consists of 40,000 former Viking Empire regular troops, 18,000 orc vassal race warriors, and 2,000 elite bear clan warriors. After a day of fighting, the mixed corps has suffered nearly 30,000 casualties, though most of the dead and wounded are human troops. The rat and deer clan warriors have lost no more than 2,000, and the core bear clan warriors have not even suffered 100 casualties. Thus, although they have lost half their forces, their combat power has not decreased proportionally. On the rebel side, only a little over 10,000 warriors remain. While it is already a miracle to have eliminated so many enemies given the vast disparity in strength, from morning till now, all the troops' stamina has reached its limit, and the ratio of enemy to friendly forces has expanded from two-to-one to three-to-one. In such a situation, even the most basic warriors feel the creeping despair, yet their faith and loyalty to their commander keep them swinging their weapons, waiting for their leader to bring them a miracle, or to embrace sacrifice.

On the rebel army's battle flag, a young girl stands beside Enrico, nervously watching the battlefield changes while tugging at his sleeve.

"Enrico, I think the warriors are almost done for. Shouldn't you summon the Black Crystal Bone Dragon now?"

The girl's name is Tia, the mage apprentice who has been by Enrico's side since the beginning of his uprising. Although her minimal magical prowess has little room to shine in this war, for the young Enrico, who bears the entire responsibility of the rebel army's survival, this senior sister, who is not much older than him, is an extremely important spiritual pillar. Coupled with her talent in handling intelligence matters, she has always remained in the core decision-making circle of the rebel army.

While commanding the battle, Enrico shakes his head and sighs, "No, if we don't wait for the victory signal from the flanking troops, we need to hold out until sunset to disengage. There are still at least three hours before the sun sets, and according to my estimate, the Black Crystal Bone Dragon's power can only sustain the battle for two hours at best. If we summon it now, when the bone dragon's power wanes, the warriors' morale will completely collapse, and the orcs will press the attack, leaving us with only the outcome of total annihilation. So, I can only have the troops hold out for one more hour, though it is undeniably cruel."

Tia is not entirely ignorant of war, knowing that Enrico speaks the truth. Yet, seeing the warriors who were just gathered together yesterday fall one by one, she can't help but feel immense sorrow, venting her anger, "That cursed 'Death Knight,' absent at such a critical moment. If he were here, directly killing the enemy's leader, who knows how many warriors' lives could be saved..."

The "Death Knight" Hades had been by Enrico's side for some time, naturally contributing much to the rebel army. However, since Chen Xuanfeng summoned the "Holy Knight" Jin Luosha, who is also a sword saint, back to the southeast to seize the spiritual imprint of the Spider Queen Lolth, Hades also received requests for aid from several other young sword saints in the southeast. After all, Chen Xuanfeng's peak combat power with his sword and blade combined is too terrifying, and with Jin Luosha supporting him, the three young sword saints there would be in considerable danger. Thus, after casually killing a few orc generals, Hades hurriedly rushed to the south.

However, Enrico feels a great sense of relief about this matter, so he smiles bitterly and consoles Tia, "Don't just think about the bad side, senior sister. If Hades were still here, that terrifying light girl would probably have returned too. Compared to the 'Death Knight,' who only knows a few dark divine arts, that female sword saint who can cast all light divine arts and magic is the most terrifying figure on the battlefield, right? If she were here today, with a few large-scale light blessings bestowed upon the orc army, we would probably have become orc prisoners by noon."