The Ice Throne-like Red Earth Highland.
The Dragon’s Tornado from Dorott swept across the entire wilderness, finally coming to a stop before it.
Seemingly in a show of force, the light cavalry of the Tornado spread out from both wings, circling around the Ice City from the left and right, as if two winding snakes were strangling the Red Earth Highland. The frozen earth under the rolling horse hooves made a metallic crash sound, the momentum created by this thousand-plus cavalry alone was enough to awe anybody.
These light cavalry were the same soldiers who had fled in panic after witnessing the duel of the berserkers the previous day. Last night, two rambling officers returned only to be executed by Captain Gatuso shortly after. Captain Gatuso ruled the Tornado Mercenary Group with an iron fist, well aware of the horrors of demoralizing troops and spreading rumors before a major battle. Faced with Beamon’s psychological tactics, Captain Gatuso swiftly chose the most direct solution. When the heads of the two officers were hung on the flagpole, all the knights immediately fell silent. No one dared to mention the battle of the previous day or even utter the word "Berserker", as the captain’s bodyguards had decapitated more than fifty heads in their camp within an hour.
The captain’s orders were being systematically delivered, with the herald’s loud chants constantly ringing out in every corner.
The heavy shield carriers had already fully arranged their battle line at the very front. Dense spears rose from the V-shaped cutout of the tall battle shields, pointing obliquely towards the Red Earth Highland. Behind the shield carriers, the long spear soldiers stood side by side without any gaps, not even toppling if hit by a stray arrow.
Even the most picky commander would absolutely agree that this phalanx formation was set up correctly.
To deal with a small Beamon territory, Captain Gatuso had actually used the Marian shield formation designed to counter cavalry, apart from showing off, he had no other intentions. This was quite a compliment to the formidable Beamon warriors who could butcher berserkers.
The fifteen surviving falcons were perched on the poles of a special carriage, gathering strength before the battle. Captain Gatuso, clad in well-crafted Milanese armor, was astride an exceptionally handsome Underground Nightmare, standing at the front of the shield formation.
Respectable Captain had well-trimmed chestnut-colored hair, there was a metal magic mark strengthening his armor on his right shoulder and huge hoofs of the Underground Nightmare had clusters of burning flames underneath, scorching the cold ground. His eyes were as passionate as horse hooves.
A hundred yards away was Red Earth Square. The battle that decimated the Berserkers yesterday had taken place not far in front of him. The bloodstains under the towering Red Earth stalagmites had already frozen into dry ice, and the rest of the Red Earth Square was covered with exquisite ice, emitting a gorgeous yet cold brilliance all around.
Encircled by the Sleeping Beauty Ice City, which was over fifty blades high, almost vertical angles surrounded it. There were four layers of caves from top to bottom, with only a twenty-blade wide stairway leading up. The statues next to the passage looked like they were carved from frost and snow, hanging full of icicles. Captain Gatuso saw that the three large cave entrances on the first floor were filled with large bamboo rafts and shields. Few solitary figures stood at the entrance of the second-floor caves, a couple of Beamon archers were peeping out from the third floor, and a small group of people of varying heights were huddled together on the fourth floor, observing their side. Upon seeing such a sparse military force, a confident smile spread across Captain Gatuso’s face.
"Honorable Mr. Gatuso, please allow us, the Mithril Basest Warriors, to step on this Ice City first and open the doors of victory!" The squadron leader of the face-first legion, Baron Cassilius of the Holy San Francisco Empire, who couldn’t contain his excitement any longer, stepped forward and said, his voice filled with the taste of combat.
Since the silver base armor was extraordinarily heavy, the honourable squadron leader had not yet put on his battle armor. The handsome squadron leader, whose face was as fair as powder and stood about two blades and two high, spoke with an air of confidence and nonchalance.