A Core Ship From The Start Chapter 977

Chapter 977: Chapter 672: The Ice Wind Battlefield Chapter 977: Chapter 672: The Ice Wind Battlefield The battle had already escalated to an intense phase.

Duanmu Huai swung his war hammer and knocked a frost giant trying to breach the fortress to the ground before looking ahead. More than an hour had passed since the battle began, and for the moment, the fortress could still hold on. The attacking races were frost giants, packs of ice wolves, and a multitude of goblins. Their tactics were quite simple: the frost giants were responsible for attacking the walls and the gates, trying to create a breach, while countless white ice wolves moved around like a surging tide, together with the goblins, they drew the defenders' attention.

On the Luminas side, in the face of the monsters' onslaught, they seemed to advance and retreat in an orderly manner. Mages chanted their spells, and as soon as a frost giant approached, it was knocked to the ground by a blazing fireball. Knights held up their shields at the edge of the fortress walls, wielding their shields and sharp blades to fight against the goblins and ice wolves that climbed up.

“This kind of fight is really boring.”

Gavi's figure flashed, and then she disappeared without a trace. Moments later, she appeared next to Duanmu Huai, while the goblins and ice wolves that were between them were now lying on the ground, turned into icy corpses.

“Master, isn't there something more fun?”

“I think you could switch to a different weapon.”

Duanmu Huai glanced at the short sword in Gavi's hand. It was something she had casually picked up from the Dark Region. Although he didn't know why Gavi did not manipulate threads and puppets for combat like Ogis, in such a situation, the role a rogue's occupation could play was indeed limited.

“I'd like to, but I don't know which one to use. Anyway, I certainly won't do it like my sister.”

“Then there's no helping it.”

A frost giant roared and charged at the wall. Duanmu Huai casually threw, and the Thunder Warhammer flew out of his hand, hitting straight into the giant's face. The exploding thunder and lightning, dense like spider webs, instantly turned all the surrounding enemies into a pile of pitch-black char.

“How about I give you a new task? Go and check out what's happening behind this horde of monsters.”

“Behind them?”

“Yes, an army must have a commander. This is just the beginning, although I'm not sure if this monster army has one, but what if it does?”

“Okay then.”

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai's request, Gavi nodded her head.

“By the way, if there is a commander, can I kill it?”

“Of course, that's no problem.”

“Understood.”

The moment the words fell, Gavi's figure flashed and vanished without a trace.

At the same time, someone started shouting.

“The enemy has climbed onto the west wall!!!!”

Perhaps it was an oversight, or perhaps due to the exhaustion from battle, the Luminas knights were gradually unable to withstand the monsters' attacks. The ice wolves howled and leaped, their sharp claws directly seizing the icy wall, and they quickly jumped onto the ramparts. The goblins riding the ice wolves let out victorious shrieks, while the Luminas knights once again raised their shields, trying to drive off these intruders who had forcefully climbed the walls.

Just then, a white figure emerged from the crowd.

Olaya held a longsword, dazzling and luxurious like a flower blooming on the battlefield. Her movements were as light as petals dancing in a snowstorm, and she charged into the enemy with a tempestuous flurry. The glinting light of her sword bloomed in an instant, the grandeur and elegance entrancing like a work of art.

However, the ice wolves and goblins clearly had a different opinion, but unfortunately, they didn't have the chance to express their dissatisfaction. Accompanied by the sudden flash of the sword, blood sprayed from their bodies, and then the ice wolves and the goblin riders fell to the ground dead.

Ovilia sheathed her longsword, her pure white battle robe without a trace of blood. The Luminas knights also took this opportunity to surge forward and reclaim the nearly lost position.

“Your Highness!!”

The black-haired maid rushed over, her longsword covered in bloodstains, but it was obvious she didn't care about that at the moment.

“Are you all right?”

“I'm fine.”

Ovilia shook her head.

“Is the front line still okay?”

“It's fairly stable. Honestly, I didn't expect us to hold on until now.”

“Indeed……”

Ovilia understood what her maid was saying. The monster army's onslaught was relentless, and Luminas could only rely on the city walls and the fortress for defense. The cold stone walls might not get tired, but people have their limits. That they had managed to hold on until now against such a reckless assault from the monster army without collapsing was……
“It seems that inviting Sir Judge to fight alongside us was the right decision.”

As she spoke, Olaya turned her head to look towards the fortress gates—-Duanmu Huai couldn't be bothered to play a game of cat and mouse with those invaders on the fortress walls. He alone had taken charge of the main entrance to the fortress. He didn't even stand atop the walls; instead, he leaped directly to the gate, swinging his War Hammer to block wave after wave of the monsters' attacks. Where his Thunder Warhammer swept, accompanied by dazzling thunder and lightning, hordes of monsters met their demise. Even the Frost Giants, taller than Duanmu Huai himself, were no match for this Steel Warrior.

“Roar——–!”

A Frost Giant picked up the trunk of a large tree and smashed it down towards Duanmu Huai with full force. Duanmu Huai didn't dodge or flinch; he faced the oncoming tree trunk with a roar, swung his hammer in a backhand strike, and split the trunk in two. As he charged forward and reached the Frost Giant, his Thunder Warhammer whistled through the blizzard, heavily striking the Frost Giant's knee. Subsequently, the entire right leg of the Frost Giant burst open, and the Giant, now bereft of balance and limb, fell to the ground with a wail—-followed by his head being smashed into pieces by Duanmu Huai's hammer blow.

Compared to the immaculately white Olaya, who didn't have even a single drop of blood on her cloak, the current Duanmu Huai was covered in bloodstains, the dark red fresh blood smeared on his pitch-black Armor adorned with the golden skull emblem of Aquila, making him appear like a Demon walking the earth.

Ogis, as ever, followed closely by Duanmu Huai's side. She seldom moved, merely fluttering her fingers slightly, forming an invisible net of threads that intercepted all the fish trying to swim downstream and directly slicing them into sashimi.

Frankly speaking, Duanmu Huai and Ogis together were even a match for a cavalry troop of Luminas knights.

“Hmph.”

The black-haired maid huffed discontentedly; she didn't like Duanmu Huai one bit, but the facts were before her. If it weren't for Duanmu Huai guarding the gate, this frozen fortress would probably have already been overrun.

“How much longer for the fleet?”

“I don't know, but it will definitely come today.”

“I hope the fleet arrives soon.”

Speaking of this, a complex expression appeared in Olaya's eyes.

“Perhaps they will arrive soon, as long as we can withstand this wave of attacks.”

Duanmu Huai once again repelled another wave of enemies, withdrawing his gaze from Olaya.

He always felt that there was something off about Olaya, not to mention her illogical behavior of inviting him to join the battle. Even her performance in the fight was peculiar. Indeed, under normal circumstances, Olaya could be considered to be taking the lead and fighting with all her might, a Knight of sworn duty. But Duanmu Huai, in his intuition as a Judge, saw it differently. He always felt that Olaya was performing, that all of her efforts were not genuinely aimed at defeating these monster armies, but rather seemed like a show put on for the Luminas knights, as if she wanted them to see her fighting valiantly.

As long as she appeared that way, it was fine. It was like when your boss comes to check on you, and you busily hustle at your desk, looking as if you have many important things to finish, when in fact, it's all just busywork.

This was also why Duanmu Huai hadn't immediately unleashed all his strength to crush the monster army. Of course, he could do it, but Duanmu Huai chose not to. Olaya's fall into a Dark Knight had become a popular story among the players, and many fan-creations were themed around it, after all, what's more thrilling than a fall from grace… mm, indeed.

“`
But in fact, based on the experience of a Judge, fallen traitors generally fall into two categories.

One type is those who had thoughts of betrayal early on, and their fall is simply going with the flow, a natural progression of events.

The other type had no such thoughts originally but ended up dominated by the enemy's various conspiracies.

Players have always believed that Olaya belongs to the second category, so the majority of the comics have been drawn with this in mind.

However, judging from the current situation, Duanmu Huai suspects that she is very likely the first type.

Olaya's actions and her words seem to be false; although she is actively defending the fortress, in Duanmu Huai's eyes, she only emphasizes the “effort” part. As for whether the fortress itself can be defended, Olaya doesn't seem particularly concerned–as if it wouldn't matter if the fortress were breached.

This is obviously not right. As a ruler, the important thing is the result, not the process. Logically, given Olaya's status, she should spare no effort or sacrifice to prevent the monster's army from breaching the fortress. Even if it means sacrificing many lives, she shouldn't hesitate.

Unfortunately, the reality now seems otherwise.

Duanmu Huai actually wanted to see what Olaya's reaction would be if the fortress were breached, but after careful thought, he gave up on this idea. Duanmu Huai was still counting on finding a group of talented individuals in the Luminas Territory to help with internal affairs. If the monsters were to break through the fortress and penetrate deep into Luminas, his trip would have been in vain.

However, just then, suddenly, a ferocious roar erupted, causing both Duanmu Huai and the knights fighting on the city walls to involuntarily lift their heads and look towards the sky. Following that, they saw a huge white shadow burst out from the clouds, hurtling towards them.

It was………
“A Giant Dragon!!!”

The knights screamed as a giant dragon, almost as big as the fortress itself, descended from the sky. It opened its mouth and launched a fierce assault on the fortress–a bone-chilling cold wind swept by, and the leading knights didn't even have time to dodge before they were turned into ice sculptures by the piercing cold. Then, with another flap of its wings, the giant dragon raised its head once more…
“Evil Giant Dragon, prepare to die!!!”

However, just at that moment, accompanied by a cry of anger, Duanmu Huai saw Olaya leap up, shooting out from the city wall and thrusting her longsword straight at the giant dragon before her. Her expression was resolute, and in that instant, she seemed like a dazzling white flower in full bloom.

At this scene, the soldiers of Luminas burst into cheers, their morale greatly boosted.

Yet, only Duanmu Huai saw the indifference and numbness in Olaya's eyes.

Chapter end

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