289 Chapter 28All members of the hounds felt the pressure that was emanating from that person who was doing but just standing there and even Commander Lastam felt dread in thinking that he had to go up against such a beast. The hounds turned all their hopes towards their commander since he was the strongest of them all but when they saw that he was also heisting, they were demoralized. The commander of the hounds reigned in the fear that was budding within his heart after realizing that he shouldn’t show weakness in such a situation, “Take him down! He is but just one man!” he shouted while unsheathing his weapon and charged towards their lone foe albeit he was frightened deep inside. He had to act or else he would loose the respect of his subordinates and also his prestige as the strongest.
Seeing that their leader was bravely leading the way, the morale of the hounds recovered a little and they shouted their battle cries while chasing after their commander. From up above in the sky, you would see a wave of warriors flooding towards a single man.
Inside the Irthakash Castle, Captain Kertakk arranged for those who were wounded to be tended and he gathered all those who were still capable of fighting, he also had someone posted to keep him updated on what was going on outside the walls as he knew that their baron chased the invaders outside of the walls. “Sir, the enemies are charging towards the lord… All of them.” The assigned scout informed the captain of what was happening.
The head of Captain Kertakk jerked towards the origin of the voice; worry was written all over his face. He might not want to admit it deep inside his heart but their lord is the main instrument in driving away the invaders and perhaps their only hope to obliterate their enemies once and for all. “Gather all those who are still able to fight. We are going to head out and support the baron.” He shouted then charged outside of the gate along with the personal guards of the baron who remained behind. There were some of the personal guards of the baron with him outside but they were a bit of distance away from him.
Baron Masud remained where he was unperturbed despite the massive number of enemies charging towards him, he still has that smile on his face while he waited for his opponents to come closer to him. “This is me… I am strong…I am worthy of being a descendant of the Soaring Hawk…” he mumbled to himself then broke into laughter with his eyes staring at the sky up above.
The hounds who were charging towards him all thought that there foes finally went crazy after seeing there numbers because of fear but deep inside, the fear that they felt from the laughing man still lingered in their hearts. Commander Lastam knew that despite him leading his subordinates at the very front of the charge, they still had hesitations in engaging against the powerful foe that managed to drive away all the new bloods that tried to overrun the defense of the castle.
From the destroyed gates of the castle, figure emerged and hurried towards the side of the baron who remained rooted on the spot where he was at. The defenders inside the walls flooded out and even those who were clearly wounded joined in providing aid to their lord who had shown immense power that they couldn’t fathom that he was capable of. Despite the clear disadvantage in strength and numbers, the soldiers of Baron Masud didn’t flinch of the incoming danger.
“Come..come… My axe still hungers for more blood…” Baron Masud shouted in provocation towards the hounds who were starting to slow down in their charge after seeing that their target was now not alone. The single man was able to give them a sense of dread, what more if he had allies by his side. Many of the hounds were hesitating even more as their fear started to grip their hearts and their judgment was being clouded by their fear.
“He is but just on! Look carefully! He is the only one who is strong!” Commander Lastam tried to stabilized the falling morale of his troops, “The commander is right, there is only person who is strong among our foes! The others are just passable.” Lishtal supported the words of their leader after observing the line up of their foes.
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“Despicable!”
“To dare deceive us! The Ereian Bloodhounds!”
“We will give you a painful death!”
Cries broke out among the subordinates of Commander Lastam after they got a hold of themselves and realized that there was only one person among their foes who they should be careful about. They increased the pace of their charge but if you look at it closely, they were trying to avoid the place where the crazy person was at.
Before the Ereian Bloodhounds could even come within his desired range, Baron Masud charged out with his hammers and decided to collide with them as soon as possible, “You guys are too slow!” he shouted at them. He knew that time was not on his side since he knew of the price that he had to pay for such power.
Armed with his bloody hammers, Baron Masud pounced on the closest opponent that he could find. The poor hound member didn’t expect that the one they feared among their foes would suddenly charged forward and go for him which caused him to stumble forward after reeling back to avoid the blow that was coming for him, he knew that he absolutely can’t take that strike head on even with all his strength. The sudden action of the fallen hound triggered a domino effect as he tripped his comrades who were sprinting at full speed behind him and they too tripped those who were behind him. Baron Masud didn’t waste the chance to hit their enemies while they are in no condition to defend themselves, bodies and heads one after another exploded as the baron moved forward.
The baron dove deeper into enemy lines while leaving behind a path of carnage and their foes were clearly trying their best to avoid him. With no one to challenge his might, the baron was free to slaughter anyone that he liked and so he did, he kept swinging his weapons around without care since his subordinates were far from him as they were blocked. “Surround him! Lishtal! Lead the old timers and deal with him!” Commander Lastam wanted to hamper the crazy foe from devastating their numbers even more but he was afraid to face him head on since he knew that even he can’t deal with him with his ability which is why he sent his second in command and his elites.
“Oh…You are stronger than the others.” Baron Masud was surprise to see his attack get block but little did he know that in his rampage, his attack blew through the bodies of four people before being weakened enough to be stop by one of the elites among the hounds. “Now!” Lishtal thrusted his weapon forwards aiming to give the powerful foe a fatal wound but he wasn’t alone. Twenty of the elites among the hounds gathered to try and stop the baron but they quickly lose four of them at the very start.
Captain Kertakk, his remaining sergeant, and the baron’s personal guards were trying their best to make their way to the side of their lord after seeing that he was now surrounded and his attacks halted, “Push forward! Create a path!” the captain charged forward with all his might and created a gap in the battle line of their foes. The remaining soldiers of the baron shifted their formation from a straight line and turned it into a triangle with the captain as one of the points while the personal guards of the baron occupied the very front of the two sides.
Commander Lastam was just as unstoppable as the baron in combat since the subordinates of the baron wasn’t strong enough to contest against his strength the same way that his hound members were helpless against him. He was shocked when he realize the identity of the insanely powerful foe that they were up against when he caught sight of his figure before their side clashed and he was thankful that the baron didn’t aim for him from the very beginning.
With Baron Masud being held back by the elites of the hounds and Lishtal, the fight was starting to tilt to the sides of the hounds. The baron didn’t care about the outcome of the battle nor did he care about it since he ingested the concoction, what he only cared about was to make his image as powerful as he can by taking out as many of their enemies as he can. He was planning to go out with a bang with the strength that he now possesses before its consequence catches up to him.