Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 394 The Final Battle in the Dwarf King's Hall - Recapture of Frostfang Mountain

The enormous gains at the entrance pass to the Frostfang Mountains greatly boosted the morale of the Blackwood Territory and the Dwarven Alliance.

After all, the Book of Hatred records a great deal of treasure buried by the ancient dwarves. As long as the blood of the enemy can wash away the deep hatred recorded by the dwarf king in the Book of Hatred, the buried treasure can be found.

This spurred both sides of the allied forces to press on towards the Frostfang Mountains. Admittedly, the battle at the entrance was already fierce, with the dwarves fighting valiantly and even blasting a path to advance. However, the immense incentive of wealth and the prospect of reclaiming their homeland kept everyone's enthusiasm high.

But once inside the intricate network of ancient mine tunnels, the danger of the battle quickly exceeded their expectations. The light was dim, the air thick, and every step could trigger an ancient trap or lead to an ambush.

More importantly, an even more terrifying enemy is lurking here!

Deep within the abandoned miners' camp, the allied forces encountered the dwarven corpses and human miner skeletons awakened by dark magic. They silently surged from the shadows, their decaying weapons bearing a deadly curse. The dwarven warriors were enraged by these desecrations of their ancestors' remains; their warhammers and axes gleamed with dwarven runes, dealing extra damage to the undead. The soldiers of Blackforest, however, relied on a barrage of crossbow bolts and fire to both block and purify the undead.

In a vast, blasphemous mine hall transformed into a sacrilegious altar, the allied forces encountered a true nightmare—a Chaos Egg, formed from the fusion of several twisted bodies, wielding deformed tentacles, spewing corrosive slime, and spewing mad whispers. Ordinary weapons were largely ineffective against it. The battle was exceptionally fierce; dwarven heavy infantry formed a defensive line with shields and their bodies, withstanding the Chaos Egg's terrifying onslaught to buy time for ranged units and elites wielding weapons enchanted with Mooncrown Blossoms. Ultimately, a human champion knight, wielding a golden longsword, pierced its skull, finally destroying the twisted creation, but at the cost of over a dozen valiant warriors.

Only then did the allied forces finally understand why the Blue Mirror Territory hadn't come to subdue the Frostfang Mountains for so long. The monsters within were simply too numerous to count!
Baron Grant defeated the Green Tide, which consisted of nothing more than green-skinned monsters that surged forth from the mountains, and on the plains at the foot of the mountains.

If he loses his mind and marches into the Frostfang Mountains after his great victory over the Greenskins, the monsters hidden in the mountain valleys, dark lairs, and dwarven tunnels will swarm out and could easily defeat him after his initial victory.

The dwarves were also at a standstill at this point. They had already paid a heavy price in terms of casualties, exploring nearly a hundred miles into the mountains and recovering a large number of ancient dwarven buildings and ruins.

If we give up now out of fear of casualties, all our previous sacrifices will have been wasted. To the monsters, such losses are negligible. They're not a drop in the ocean, but they have no impact whatsoever. As long as the dwarves cannot occupy this mountain range, the empty, cleared palaces, tunnels, and valleys will soon be teeming with monsters again. Beastmen and greenskins will emerge from every corner and take over the camps. In the empty tunnels, scattered stones and the dead souls will soon be transformed into skeletons and monsters again under the influence of the death winds, filling the dark crypts.

It is no exaggeration to say that the forces of good in this world are always under siege by evil monsters.

The situation is always like rowing against the current; if you don't move forward, you fall behind. Unless you occupy this area, it will be teeming with endless monsters.

So after a brief hesitation and regrouping, the Redbeard Clan and the Gray Rock Clan decisively decided to continue to reinforce their troops!

The Redbeard Clan brought their most powerful artillery and catapult forces, while the Grayrock Clan summoned their most valiant long-bearded warriors.

The Longbearded Warrior is a special unit with the ability "Veteran's Rant," a unique bloodline ability of the Grayrock Clan. As long as a Longbearded Warrior with this bloodline ability hasn't fled, any friendly dwarf within 60 meters of him will receive a morale boost upon hearing his rants and roars, and will have a chance to become immune to fear, even fear caused by magic!
The fact that the long-bearded warriors of the Grayrock Clan were brought here proves that these two clans are truly going all in! They will not retreat until they take this place.

Seeing this, Su Li not only happily accepted the immigration fee of 10000 gold crowns, but also dispatched the Blacksteel Knights of Atonement to assist in the battle. He, too, could not accept the dwarves' defeat.

If these 1500 most elite dwarven warriors were to perish inside Frostfang Mountain, and the entire human-dwarven coalition of thousands were wiped out, it would absolutely shake the foundations of the entire frontier province's rule and the stability of the situation.

Their two clans have been severely weakened, and they might not even be able to hold their ground in the Gray Mountains. The area around the Black Forest Territory will be like a sieve, leaking everywhere. It seems Su Li will have to send troops to help them stabilize the situation!
So, although he said he didn't want to get too involved in the war, Su Li was eventually drawn in. The Black Forest army sent into the Frostfang Mountains had grown to over 1000 men, so he had to send Royal Griffin Knight Edwin to command this dwarven coalition.

As it turned out, thanks to his timely intervention and command of the war, Edwin discovered the problem as soon as he entered the Frostfang Mountains and took command of the human army: the enemy was not all monsters that fought on instinct.

As the allied forces advanced deeper, the monsters they encountered were clearly organized by some powerful chaotic will or entity, forming a layered defense and counterattack.

The dwarves, blinded by their successive victories, marched straight in and found themselves surrounded by the enemy.

However, he arrived too late. By the time he realized the gravity of the situation, the dwarf army ahead was already surrounded.

He had taken on a complete hot potato! This made him curse the dwarfs' stupidity in his heart. If possible, he really didn't want to get involved in this mess.

If the 1000 elite infantry and cavalry of the Black Forest Territory were to perish here, it would be the most devastating loss since the territory's founding! The enraged lord, the marshal, and the chief steward would tear him apart.

But he still had to step forward and lead his army into the encirclement to rescue the dwarves. At this point, if the dwarves weren't rescued, the humans themselves would be in grave danger.

The dwarves were besieged at the Ancestral Forge. When Dorock Redbeard saw Edwin, his voice was hoarse, and his beard was matted with gunpowder and blood: "General Edwin, you've come at the right time. Those damned monsters! They're not a motley crew! They have a commander! They have brains!"

He pointed to a huge underground cavity on the map marked "King's Hall" and said, "We've been stuck here for three days! Every attack we launch gets pushed back! The losses are too great!"

Gerson Grayrock's brow furrowed, his gray beard covered in rock dust: "They've turned our King's Hall into a den, where lowly beastmen, trolls, and all sorts of chaotic monsters roam like a plague."

"The great test we now face is this enormous chasm, the throat-like pass, in front of the King's Hall. It is not a natural formation, but part of an ancient dwarven engineering marvel—a suspended walkway carved into the steep mountainside, barely wide enough for three or four people to walk side by side, with a bottomless, dark chasm below. The pass is sealed off by a massive stone gate, carved with the face of the dwarven ancestors, which has now been transformed into a terrifying fortress by the enemies entrenched here."

"The danger here far surpasses that of the Stone Throat Pass at the entrance to the Frostfang Mountains. The allied forces underestimated the size and ferocity of the defenders in their previous battle. As the allied forces struggled to advance along the narrow plank road, deadly attacks came from above, below, and even from the cracks in the rock walls on the sides!"

Hordes of beastmen climbed and leaped from the caves above the walkway and from the shadows of the rift valley below. They were silent, their claws and teeth poisoned, and they targeted lone or exhausted soldiers, creating chaos and panic. The dwarves' sturdy formation was difficult to deploy in the narrow space, and the crossbowmen's vision was blocked by the rock walls. From here on, casualties rose sharply.

"Even more terrifying, several enormous cyclops were driven onto the rocky ledges on either side of the pass. They were incredibly strong and had thick hides, ignoring most of the arrows, and frantically hurling millstone-sized boulders downwards! Each boulder that fell was accompanied by the roar of the plank road shattering and the desperate screams of the soldiers. The heavy catapults could not be deployed on the plank road at all, and the cannons that the dwarves were so proud of could not be adjusted to their elevation for effective fire."

"Behind the stone gate, the faint sounds of blasphemous drumming and howls echoed. A group of beastman shamans, Chaos Raiders, and Chaos Cultists, clearly corrupted by the power of Chaos, mingled among the beastmen, unleashing nauseating, foul spells and frenzied battle cries, further weakening the allied forces' will to resist. Were it not for the long-bearded warriors of the Grayrock Clan as a pillar of strength, their booming, furious roars echoing like thunder in the narrow space, repeatedly dispelling whispers of fear and inspiring their warriors to respond to the enemy's provocation with roars and weapons, the army would likely have lost its footing."

Edwin frowned and said, "Take me to the front lines."

"Please follow me." Dorock patted the blood off his clothes, his movements swift and decisive. Without a word, he immediately led Edwin out of the central command post and into the front lines.

The battle between the allied forces and the monsters continued. The plank road was littered with corpses, and blood stained the ancient rocks. Dwarven warriors formed mobile walls with shields and their own flesh, struggling to advance against falling rocks and the onslaught of beastmen. The Blackforest crossbowmen used every possible cover, accurately shooting down the climbing beastmen who tried to ambush them, and hurling burning oil canisters in an attempt to ignite the Cyclopes, but with limited effect. The human knights' dazzling golden light, while capable of purifying the filth and scorching nearby beastmen, was less effective in such narrow terrain and under the threat of distant boulders.

Edwin stood on the relatively safe high ground at the rear, conducted a brief aerial reconnaissance via the griffin riders, then returned to the command post and decisively stated, "This proves that a direct assault is futile. We must combine conventional and unconventional tactics."

He pondered for a moment and said, "I have a bold and risky idea." Dolock, with his explosive temper, immediately retorted, "Just say it! Even a risky idea is better than suffering a miserable loss here."

Edwin nodded and said, “I was flying in the air just now, so my view was a bit higher than yours. I found that although these Cyclopes are fierce, they are not very intelligent and are clumsy. It is difficult for them to adjust their attack direction. At least during the time I observed them, they hardly made any adjustments without orders. This means that if we attack quickly, they will have a hard time reacting.”

"A surprise attack?" Gerson asked doubtfully. "From where? Isn't there only one road here?"

“No.” Edwin shook his head. “You can’t see it. But I crossed the plank road and the abyss with the griffin and saw an inconspicuous stone platform above the pass. The depths of the stone platform were dark, and there seemed to be a ventilation shaft that had been carved out. It was about the height of a dwarf and should be a maintenance passage left by the ancient dwarf engineers. I guess it must lead directly to the back of the Stone Gate fortress.”

Within this pitch-black cliff and abyss, the dwarves below could not see a small, dark hole, just over a meter wide and high, hidden within a stone platform, a few dozen meters above them.

But this did not escape Edwin's notice as he rode the griffin. He calmly said, "So I plan to win by surprise. The main force of the allied forces will continue to maintain high pressure on the plank road, drawing most of the enemy's attention, especially those cyclops and the main force behind the stone gate."

"A suicide squad was formed, consisting of the most elite dwarven Ironbreakers (elite heavy infantry wielding heavy shields and warhammers), a small squad of Atonement Knights, and the most agile Blackwood Rangers. Using ropes and climbing equipment, under the cover of night, they climbed up a hidden crack below the walkway and circled around to the ventilation shaft above and to the side."

"The raiding squad's objective is to eliminate or disperse the enemy forces posing a threat to us from the flanks, while simultaneously attempting to open or destroy the massive stone gate from the inside."

Without a doubt, this was an extremely dangerous gamble. If the raid failed, this surprise force would be surrounded by the enemy and meet its demise.

So Edwin took a deep breath and said, "I will personally lead this squad in a raid to boost their morale."

Edwin had already made such a resolute decision, so how could Dorock and Gerson have the confidence to refuse? There would be deaths anyway, but at least this tactic still had a sliver of hope of success.

So Dolock slammed his hard fist on the table and roared, "Our Redbeard Clan supports your plan, let's do it!"

Gerson replied in a low voice, "Go ahead and do it. Our Gray Rock Clan will give it our all!"

With the three commanders unanimously deciding, the plan unfolded under the cover of darkness and amidst the pervasive stench of blood. The shouts, drumbeats, and clashing weapons of the main force reached their climax, drawing the attention of all enemies. Edwin led an elite squad of fewer than fifty men, moving silently like a gecko across the cold rock face. The golden light of the Atonement Knight was deliberately suppressed to a minimum, used only to illuminate the path beneath their feet and dispel any potential dark magical traps.

The climb was thrilling, with several near misses by patrolling howling beasts. But they ultimately made it safely to the ventilation shaft and entered the ancient passage filled with dust and the smell of decay.

The passage was narrow and winding, but they encountered no heavy enemy forces. They soon reached its end—a small platform overlooking the entire interior of the Stone Gate fortress. Below was a chaotic lair: piles of bones, a makeshift altar, and several beastman shamans exuding an aura of chaos sitting around a burning campfire, chanting incantations to several cyclopes chained to the rock walls, maintaining their control. A large number of howling beasts and even stronger beastman warriors gathered behind the stone gate, ready to rush out and reinforce the ramparts at any moment.

The opportunity is fleeting! Edwin growled, "For glory! Purify evil!"

The Knights of Atonement erupted in a blinding burst of holy light, like miniature suns rising in the cave! Brilliant divine magic and bloodline abilities were unleashed, causing immense damage to those below. The beastman shamans screamed in agony as their spells were instantly interrupted. The cyclops broke free of their mental restraints, letting out confused and furious roars, and began attacking indiscriminately, even injuring many beastmen in the process.

"Ironbreaker! Guard the entrance! Rangers, free-fire shamans! Knights, follow me down and open the gate immediately!" Edwin led the charge, leaping from the platform, his golden spear, imbued with holy flames of exorcism, piercing the nearest shaman. The Knight of Atonement followed closely behind, his heavy warhammer and enchanted longsword, blessed by divine light, inflicting devastating damage on the chaotic orcs.

The sudden attack from the rear threw the enemies inside Stonegate Fortress into complete chaos. The foolish Cyclopes became a source of indiscriminate destruction, while the scorching heat of the Holy Sun inflicted excruciating pain on the Beastmen. The Dwarven Ironbreakers formed an impenetrable shield wall at the narrow passageway, blocking the howling beasts attempting to charge. The Dwarven Rangers' precise arrows relentlessly targeted the shamans trying to recast their spells.

Meanwhile, Edwin, leading several of his strongest knights of atonement, charged toward the massive gear and chain mechanism inside the stone gate. The mechanism had clearly been deliberately sabotaged and rusted, but under the guidance of the dwarven engineers, they smashed the key latches with warhammers and propelled the heavy wheels with their bodies!
"Creak—rumble!"

The main force, locked in fierce combat on the outer plank road, suddenly heard a deep, massive rumble, as if from the depths of the earth! The enormous stone gate, seemingly unchanging since time immemorial, slowly and tremblingly opened a crack amidst a piercing metallic scraping sound! Then, the crack widened!
"The door is open! Lord Edwin has succeeded!" The news spread like wildfire through the allied forces.

"For the glory of our ancestors! The Gronn are watching us!" the Redbeard Clan's dwarven commander roared. "Charge! Crush them!"

The pent-up morale erupted like a volcano! The dwarven heavy infantry roared furiously, their shield wall surging forward, slamming the remaining enemies on the plank road into the abyss. The crossbowmen unleashed their last arrows and Molotov cocktails into the open stone gate. The long-bearded warriors of the Grayrock Clan, wielding their battle axes, charged at the forefront, their roars like a stabilizing force, dispelling the last vestiges of fear emanating from within.

The suicide squad inside the gate, working in tandem with the main force outside, launched a pincer attack on the chaotic and disorganized Beastman main force. All the resisting monsters were either wiped out by the combined fire of the allied forces or slammed into the abyss by the dwarves' heavy bodies. Under the blazing sun and the combined assault from both sides, the howling beast horde crumbled.

The battle remained brutal. The final, and bloodiest, melee erupted within the Stone Gate Hall. The Beastmaster—an unusually large monster clad in rusted plate armor and wielding a massive double-bladed axe—launched a desperate counterattack in its final moments, its ferocious power even sending two Ironbreakers flying. Ultimately, held back by Edwin's golden flame spear, a long-bearded veteran of the Grayrock Clan shattered the Blood Chieftain's knee with a single, powerful blow of his warhammer, imbued with all his rage and resolve, before being overwhelmed by dwarven battleaxes and the longswords of the Atonement Knights.

As the last remaining orc warrior fell, a deafening cheer echoed through the vast King's Hall. For the first time in centuries, sunlight streaming through the rift above illuminated the blood-stained and smoke-filled ground of this dwarven sanctuary.

The allied forces were victorious; they captured the heart of the Frostfang Mountains. But the cost was devastating. The corpses piled up on the plank roads, and the soldiers from both sides lying scattered in the stone gate hall, silently testified to the brutality of the battle.

However, the victory in this decisive battle laid the foundation for the allied forces' complete victory, making the subsequent battles relatively easier.

After weeks of arduous and costly fighting, the allied forces have finally eliminated the main threats in the core area of ​​Frostfang Mountains, while both dwarven tribes have reached their designated fortress construction sites.

Redrock Keep, the fortress of the Redbeard tribe, sits on a strategically advantageous cliff platform in the southeast, overlooking the valley leading to the plains of Flashspear City. Rich veins of copper and the ruins of an ancient dwarven forge were discovered here. Dorok Redbeard immediately directed miners and stonemasons to clear the site. Huge granite blocks were quarried, and the first foundation stone, inscribed with the Redbeard clan emblem, was solemnly embedded into the mountainside. The flames of the furnaces soon illuminated the night, and the clanging of forging heralded the dwarves' return.

Rock Fortress, the stronghold of the Grayrock Clan, is located in the northwest, behind a narrow pass backed by a massive rock wall, controlling the passage to the Blue Mirror Plains. The terrain here is more treacherous, but the geology is solid, and considerable reserves of iron ore and some traces of mystery have been discovered. Gerson Grayrock prioritizes defense, focusing on building tall stone walls, arrow towers, and heavy gates. The Grayrock Clan's engineers have begun repairing and reinforcing the ancient defensive system.

When the first wisps of smoke from the two dwarven fortresses mingled with the soot from the furnaces and rose into the mist of Frostfang Mountains, it marked a glorious milestone in the pioneering efforts.

These two dwarven fortresses, like two nails, will be firmly driven into the Frostfang Mountains. They will become an iron barrier against the threats from the north.

This means that Black Forest Territory has completed its strategic deployment of Blue Mirror Territory in both the north and south, bringing it under its control.

Su Li could finally focus his attention on the core area of ​​Blue Mirror Territory—the Blue Mirror Lake area—without any worries.

(End of this chapter)