Final Lord

Chapter 266 I am the trump card
The earth suddenly let out a deathly groan, and the humus in the cavalry's path churned violently like boiling water. A three-meter-wide ditch split open with a deafening roar, and the Silverthorn Knight at the forefront had no time to react, plunging into the abyss along with his horse. The crisp sound of armor colliding with the rock wall was teeth-grinding, followed by the gruesome sound of flesh being crushed.

"Stop! Stop!" The commander roared hoarsely, and the following cavalry hurriedly turned around. However, the ground behind them also collapsed at the same time, trapping this elite force on a narrow "island" in the blink of an eye.

Hank's amber pupils suddenly contracted. He saw countless grayish-white mycelia emerging from the ditch, the writhing filaments gleaming with an eerie metallic sheen, wrapping around the warhorse's hooves like living chains.

Even more terrifying, hordes of fungal-dwelling beasts are crawling out from the depths of the rift—these beetle-like creatures have pus-filled sporangia on their backs, resembling mushrooms or cavemen, and look extremely strange.

"Form ranks!" the Silverthorn Knight Commander roared, his voice, beneath his dark silver scales, carrying a metallic chill. "Spears facing outwards!"

But it was too late. A gigantic fungal beast suddenly swelled its abdomen and spewed out a thick mist of spores. The pale pink mist instantly enveloped half of the cavalry formation. The soldiers coughed and waved their weapons, only to see the spores take root and sprout as soon as they touched the armor, instantly covering the metal surface with spiderweb-like mycelium.

"Ah! My eyes!" A Black Iron heavy cavalryman suddenly dropped his battle axe and frantically scratched at his helmet. Through the gaps in his visor, the fungal hyphae that had burrowed into his eyeballs could be seen growing wildly, turning his eye sockets into two writhing pink lumps of flesh.

Immediately afterward, the mind-altering effects began to manifest. Several Silver Thorn Knights suddenly turned their spears around and stabbed their comrades through the air. Their pupils were the same pinkish hue, but their lips curled into eerie smiles, as if they were enjoying the slaughter.

Hank's slender fingers dug deeply into his palms, and the serpent eyes of the Hydra ring flashed crimson. He watched as a parasitized knight tore off his visor, allowing the fungal beast to plunge its mandibles into his throat. The convulsing body visibly withered away, while the blood-soaked fungal beast's carapace gleamed with a metallic sheen, its speed and strength noticeably increased.

"Those strangely-looking soldiers are getting stronger." Hank's voice took on a serious tone for the first time.

The fighting in the ditch became increasingly brutal.

The metallic mycelium of the fungal-dwelling beasts acted like living chains, dragging the cavalry into the abyss. Each time a corpse fell into the crevice, more mycelium would burst forth from the humus.

The entire battlefield is turning into a giant digestive cavity, and Hank's most elite troops are becoming nourishment for this demonic realm.

"Strength... ranging from Transcendent Rank 2 to Transcendent Rank 4, numbering around seven hundred." Hank quickly analyzed the battle situation, his gilded riding boots crushing the pebbles at his feet. "They're not monsters that can't be precisely controlled, but rather units from the Order side. Not living beings, nor undead. Another new type of unit I've never seen before. Tsk... Wei Yi Gru, I underestimated you."

His mink cloak billowed violently in the sudden gust of foul wind, and for the first time, a chilling rage ignited in Viscount Hank's eyes. He slowly drew his sword from his waist, the black mist swirling around its blade trembling slightly.

"So those undead weren't your trump card after all..." Hank's voice was like poison quenched with ice, his sword tip pointing directly at the faintly visible corpse fungus island in the distance, "These mushroom monsters are the real deal."

"Very well, you've tricked me."

Viscount Hank stood atop the high ground, his sable cloak fluttering in the smoke. His amber pupils narrowed slightly, reflecting the figure that darted about like a white lightning bolt in the distance.

Wei Yi Gru.

Her snow-white swordsman's uniform stood out starkly against the backdrop of blood and fire, like a white rose blooming amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood. With each swing of her twin swords, she stirred up a flurry of white feathers, those seemingly delicate feathers actually containing terrifying sword energy, and wherever they passed, soldiers fell like stalks of wheat.

"You threw yourself into chaos, and this is what you got in return..." Hank's long, slender fingers unconsciously caressed the Hydra ring, his voice low and cold.

On the battlefield, Wei Yi was like the Grim Reaper. Her movements were unbelievably fast, weaving effortlessly through the hail of bullets, each flash claiming several lives. The well-trained elite soldiers were like lambs to the slaughter before her, without even a chance to resist.

"Stop her!" The commander's hysterical roar echoed across the battlefield.

A squad of heavily armed spearmen immediately formed a dense square, their three-meter-long steel spears creating a wall of death. However, Wei Yi merely leaped lightly, her body tracing a graceful arc in the air, and slashed down with her twin swords crossed.

"Thousand Feathers Fall!"

In an instant, countless white feathers rained down like a blizzard. Those seemingly soft feathers burst forth with blinding sword light the moment they touched the spear tip, shattering the steel spears into pieces like fragile reeds. Before the spearmen could even react, they were torn to shreds by the ensuing sword energy.

"Catapult! Aim at the one in white!"

Three catapults simultaneously adjusted their angles, sending burning oil bombs hurtling towards Wei Yi. However, she merely shifted her body slightly, her sword flashing, and a white sword aura pierced the air, splitting the oil bomb in two mid-air. The exploding oil turned into a rain of fire, which instead burned the surrounding archers, causing them to scream in agony.

Hank's gaze grew increasingly serious.

He witnessed Wei Yi cleave a catapult being loaded with a single sword stroke; the thick wooden structure was as fragile as paper beneath her blade. Even more terrifying was the fluidity of her movements, without the slightest pause, as if the massacre was as easy as a stroll for her.

"Transcendental Level 4, I think it's more than that." Hank's voice trembled slightly, a tremor he himself didn't realize. He suddenly realized that he might have seriously underestimated this seemingly frail girl.

Wei Yi's slaughter continued. Her swordsmanship was flawless, each strike precisely reaping lives. Those soldiers, usually so valiant and skilled in battle, didn't even have a chance to struggle before her. Blood bloomed around her, yet strangely, not a single drop stained her snow-white robes.

Hank's fingers unconsciously tightened around the sword hilt. He had to admit that at this moment, Vee Gru was breathtakingly beautiful and terrifyingly powerful.

"Excellent! Only an opponent like this is worth my full strength!"

The black mist on Hank's blade wrapped around his arm, his eyes glowed red, and a pair of gleaming silver shackles floated behind him, radiating the terrifying pressure of an epic treasure.

For a powerful and ruthless commander like Hank, when all his other trump cards have been suppressed by the opponent, he himself becomes his greatest trump card!

(End of this chapter)