**Hey guys, just a quick update—my contract application wasn't approved this time. It's a bit of a bummer, but I'm not giving up! Your support is what keeps me going. If you're enjoying the story, please help me out by dropping some Power Stones. Your votes really mean the world to me. Thanks for being part of this journey!
"Ed!" Leylo commanded.
"Understood, Baron!"
The Pegasus Knights lowered their altitude, swooping past the ranks like agile swifts. The Red Maple soldiers tossed heavy fire-oil jars into the air; the knights caught them with precision, immediately pulled into a steep climb, and then dove toward the Ogre camp below.
Whiz! Whiz! Whiz!
Dozens of fire-oil jars rained down like hail, clearing the crude wooden palisades and smashing accurately onto the shacks. The sound of shattering pottery echoed repeatedly as thick oil splattered everywhere, quickly drenching large sections of the area.
"Archers, fire!" Kane barked.
The Red Maple knights, already prepared, took arrows tipped with oil-soaked rags, lit them in braziers, and let fly. Flaming arrows cut through the sky like a meteor shower, plunging into the camp.
Boom!
The first ball of fire erupted, followed quickly by a second, then a third... With the wind fanning the flames, the front half of the Ogre camp turned into a roaring inferno in the blink of an eye. Billowing black smoke, mixed with the acrid stench of burning, rose into the sky, tinting the entire hollow with an ominous dark red hue.
"Aoo! Aooo!"
Shrill, terrified screams echoed from the sea of fire. The camp gates were burst open as Ogres with flames licking their bodies charged out like headless flies, howling in an attempt to escape the death trap.
"Block them!" Knight Kane pointed his longsword.
The human knights were ready. Facing these panicked, burning Ogres, they showed no mercy. Lances thrust and blades hacked; the escaping Ogres, unable to organize any effective resistance, fell one after another into pools of blood.
Just as the fire was about to spread to the rear cave entrance, a dull, eerie chanting drifted out from the depths. Suddenly, a visible wave of cold air surged from the cave mouth.
A hunched Ogre Shaman, clutching a wooden staff topped with a skull and face painted with grotesque oils, appeared at the entrance. It muttered incantations, pointing the skull staff toward the sky. Instantly, the sky seemed to dim, and massive sheets of frost condensed out of thin air, blanketing the burning areas like a winter blizzard.
Sizzle... Sizzle...
Frost met fire with a piercing sound, sending up clouds of white steam. Under the Shaman's spell, the uncontrollable fire was forcibly suppressed. Though not entirely extinguished, its spread was effectively halted.
"The Shaman has appeared!" Commander Buck's eyebrows shot up.
"Charge in!" Viscount Baker ordered decisively, refusing to give the enemy a moment to breathe.
The camp gates were wide open, the fire had lessened, and the path was clear. "For Red Maple Ridge!" Knight Kane raised his sword and led the charge. "Raging Rock brothers, with me!" Buck roared, following close behind with his heavy sword.
The knights and mercenaries surged in like a tide, clashing with Ogres who had yet to recover from the chaos. While Ogres were strong individually, they were a disorganized mess against the disciplined knights and were forced back step by step.
Seeing this, a look of ruthlessness flashed in the Shaman's eyes. It slammed its staff into the ground and let out a sharp, ear-splitting shriek. A dark red ring of light expanded from its position, sweeping over a dozen Ogre warriors nearby.
"ROAR!"
The eyes of the Ogres hit by the red light instantly turned crimson. They let out beastly bellows as their muscles bulged visibly, and tiny beads of blood even seeped through their skin. They seemed to lose all sense of pain and fear, left only with a primal urge to kill as they threw themselves recklessly at the charging human knights.
"Berserk?" Kane's eyes narrowed. These berserk Ogres had gained significant boosts to strength and speed.
"A bunch of lunatics!" Buck swung his sword, sending a berserk Ogre staggering back, only to find the creature ignored a deep chest wound to swing its stone axe again. Fortunately, the Chieftain and the elite guards had been slain the day before, or this would have been a much grimmer fight.
The tide had turned. Ordinary Ogre warriors fell in droves under the knights' charge. Even the berserk ones were no match for the two Earth Knights. Kane was swift, darting through gaps to strike vitals, while Buck's strikes shattered bones and weapons alike.
"Take down the Shaman first!" Viscount Baker commanded from the rear.
Kane and Buck exchanged a glance and understood. They broke away from their opponents like two unsheathed lances, heading straight for the Shaman. Realizing the danger, the Shaman shrieked and tried to retreat into the cave while waving its staff to cast a blocking spell. But a caster could never outrun two top-tier melee Earth Knights.
"Die, old man!" Buck bellowed. He lunged forward with such force the ground sank slightly, reaching the Shaman like a cannonball and swinging his heavy sword down with a whistle.
The Shaman hurriedly raised its skull staff to parry.
CRACK!
Under Buck's blade, the staff snapped like rotten wood. The sword's momentum didn't stop, hacking deep into the Shaman's shoulder. Blood and flesh sprayed as the Shaman let out an agonizing scream. Before it could hit the ground, a flash of cold light followed. Kane appeared on the other side, his longsword a silver thread that pierced the Shaman's heart with surgical precision.
The Shaman's massive body stiffened, the light in its eyes faded, and it crashed to the dirt.
With the Shaman's death, the berserk Ogres seemed to have the life drained out of them. The red glow in their eyes vanished, and they became sluggish. The remaining Ogres lost all will to fight—some knelt to beg for mercy, while others tried to scramble into the cave.
"Leave none alive!" Viscount Baker's cold voice rang across the battlefield.