While the battle among the absolute elite was reaching a stalemate, the situation on the broader battlefield was faring no better.
The Golden Order soldiers had no means of countering the never-before-seen Blood Incantations. Any wound inflicted was immediately seeped into by Cursed Blood, which would fester and erode. Once it reached a critical threshold, the Cursed Blood would detonate violently, dealing horrific internal damage.
This forced the Erdtree forces to fight with extreme caution, unable to commit to full-scale assaults. More importantly, the seepage of Cursed Blood was pervasive; even those clad in heavy plate armor could not escape the fate of being mortally wounded from within.
As a result, even a lowly Blood Warrior stood a genuine chance of slaying a seasoned elite knight.
Furthermore, the high-level combatants of the Mohgwyn Dynasty were anything but weak. Bolstered by the power of Cursed Blood, figures like the heroic Nibla and the near-heroic Horuv and Pilar were no less dangerous than standard heroes—in fact, they were far more of a threat.
Beyond them were the Pureblood Knights who had received the Bloodboon to enhance their strength; almost every one of them possessed the combat prowess of an elite knight.
And then there was the uncontrollable variable on the field: the Ancient Blood Dragon, Lansseax, whose power approached that of a demigod.
While the high-level duel was a tense affair, the rank-and-file soldiers of the Golden Order were facing an absolute catastrophe.
A powerful Tree Sentinel commander attempted to halt Lansseax's advance, but the torrents of Bloodflame Breath she spewed forced him into a desperate retreat. Though he possessed the right of Erdtree Burial and rebirth, it didn't mean he wished to throw his life away in a futile gesture. That wasn't bravery—it was recklessness, a lack of wisdom.
"Roar! Come then, you lackeys of the Erdtree! You have forgotten the ancient hatred of the dragons, but I have carved it into my very soul! With this fire and this blood, I proclaim my revenge upon you!!"
Lansseax soared through the sky, raining down scarlet dragon breath while letting out ecstatic roars. She dove low, skimming the ground to crush another wave of Golden Order warriors beneath her massive weight.
Not far away, a tall man dressed as a Leyndell Knight watched with eyes smoldering with fury. He slowly raised a massive Greatbow.
Golden light began to coalesce at the tip of the arrow. A sudden sense of impending doom washed over Lansseax. When she focused her gaze, she spotted the knight aiming directly at her.
"ROAR!!!"
With a thunderous cry, Lansseax reached out her right hand. A Blood-Dragonbolt Spear condensed in her palm, and she hurled it toward the knight with all her might.
Thwip!
At the same time, the Leyndell Knight released his long-held Great Arrow of Gold.
A shockwave of white air exploded from the front of the Greatbow. A streak of golden light, like a falling star, pierced through the sky and tore straight through Lansseax's body.
Lansseax felt her vision blur. A sharp, agonizing pain erupted in her wing, and her massive form spiraled out of control, plummeting toward the earth.
The Leyndell Knight, having exhausted his life force on that single shot, was unable to dodge the returning Blood-Dragonbolt Spear. In an instant, he was reduced to ash.
Boom!
As Lansseax's colossal body crashed into the ground, the deafening roar and the sight of the downed dragon drew the attention of everyone nearby. After the massive damage she had dealt to their rear lines, the Golden Order soldiers saw her as their primary enemy.
There was no hesitation. Countless arrows and incantations rained down upon her fallen form.
Realizing the danger, Lansseax let out a sky-ward roar. Dragonbolt instantly wreathed her body, forming a protective shroud over her scales.
However, against such numbers, it was a mere drop in the bucket. If she couldn't fix her wing and take flight, she would eventually be worn down and killed on this battlefield.
That Leyndell Knight had undoubtedly used a specialized Dragon-hunting Greatbow! She was certain of it; during the wars against the Capital, many of her kin had fallen to such weapons. Those powerful arrows, capable of piercing ancient dragon scales, had always been their greatest dread. Most ancient dragons died not from direct combat, but from being grounded and overwhelmed in a war of attrition.
Lansseax had never expected she would one day face the same fate.
"ROAR! MOHG!!"
Mohg, who was locked in a brutal struggle with Messmer and preparing to unleash his ultimate move, felt his body stiffen as he heard the desperate dragon cry from the distance.
Messmer seized the opening, lunging forward with a flurry of spear thrusts.
As countless afterimages wreathed in flame closed in, Mohg's brow furrowed. His muscles bulged, and he twisted his waist with violent force. The Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear became a blur of scarlet as he swung it in a wide arc.
With a thunderous crack, Messmer was sent flying backward even faster than he had charged.
Mohg might not have been a master of sophisticated spear techniques, but he understood one fundamental truth: absolute strength overcomes all technique!
Mohg then thrust the trident toward the sky.
The next second, a semi-transparent red liquid erupted from the air like a dam breaking, spraying violently in all directions.
Messmer, caught by a portion of the liquid, was instantly ignited by Bloodflame. He was shocked to find that as a master of fire, he was actually being burned by this strange flame. Furthermore, the power of Cursed Blood was actively eroding his internal systems.
Suddenly, several horrific gashes split open on Messmer's right arm, spraying blood.
Messmer let out a pained grunt. Tensing his muscles to temporarily stem the bleeding, he retreated with a look of suspicion and alarm, putting distance between himself and Mohg.
Mohg cast a glance at the heavily injured Messmer and then took flight toward Lansseax. He let out a silent, helpless sigh in his heart. It seemed he wouldn't be able to claim the two greatest prizes of this battle. Since the "quality" of his harvest was lacking, he would have to make up for it in "quantity."
Boom!
When Mohg landed heavily in the center of the soldiers surrounding Lansseax, several Golden Order warriors—barely reaching the hero tier—shrank back in instinctive terror. However, they quickly overcame their fear and stepped forward again with determined eyes.
Mohg found himself somewhat impressed by the conviction of the Erdtree's warriors.
"You finally showed up!" Lansseax began to grumble the moment Mohg arrived.
"...You managed to capsize in a gutter and now you want me to clean up your mess? If you hadn't screwed up, I might have taken Messmer down by now."
Lansseax shrank her head back, looking slightly sheepish. "What was I supposed to do? They played dirty..."
Mohg shook his head at her display. "Are your injuries serious?"
"I'll live for now, but it's messed up my flight speed. Now that I'm on the ground with these guys staring me down, I can't even spread my wings."
Mohg nodded. Taking off again in the middle of a chaotic battlefield after being grounded was an incredibly difficult task.
Just as Mohg prepared to help Lansseax take flight and leave the area, a Golden Order warrior, feeling the mounting pressure, lunged forward. A golden sword-beam flashed toward Mohg with blinding speed.
Sensing the whistling air behind him, Mohg's brow furrowed. He raised a hand in a beckoning gesture.
The soil, already soaked red with gore, rose up into the air, instantly condensing into a thick wall of blood that completely blocked the attack.
Before the attacker could react, the blood wall collapsed into a torrent that surged toward the soldiers, its surface ignited with Bloodflame.
As the blood dissipated, a hair-raising sight met the onlookers' eyes. The area that had been packed with Golden Order warriors was now empty. Only their weapons and armor remained on the ground, as if they had never existed.
The Tree Sentinel commander, arriving late to the scene, widened his eyes in horror.
"Heretic! What have you done?!"
Bang!
Without waiting for an answer, the commander kicked his horse's flanks. The warhorse understood instantly. With a loud explosion of movement, they leaped into the air. He raised his Greatshield and came crashing down toward Mohg like a golden meteor.
Facing such a ferocious assault, Mohg made no attempt to dodge. Instead, a pair of golden wings sprouted from his back, a thick tail grew from his spine, and his hands transformed into draconic claws.
Aspects of the Crucible: Wings! Tail! Claws!
Voom!
At the moment of impact, a small vacuum zone formed around them. A powerful shockwave buffeted both Mohg and the commander.
However, the struggle for dominance didn't last long.
With a surge of strength, Mohg parried the commander aside and whipped his Crucible tail into the warhorse's side.
Crunch!
A sickening sound of bone shattering was followed by a mournful neigh.
The commander, nearly pinned under his falling horse, didn't check on his own condition. He looked at his horse's injury and immediately raised his halberd, casting Golden Vow and a healing incantation.
The Tree Sentinel's charge acted as a signal. In the next heartbeat, a flood of attacks poured toward Mohg.
Wave after wave of fearless Leyndell soldiers and knights charged forward. Healing and buffing incantations rained down on them constantly, while bolts and arrows hissed through the air. Occasionally, powerful long-range incantations struck the area, forcing Mohg to stay sharp against the sheer volume of attacks.
Unfortunately for them, they were facing Mohg.
Every sweep of his massive Sacred Spear carried enough force to heavily injure or kill over a dozen soldiers, to say nothing of the Bloodflame coating the prongs. For the common soldier, a touch meant death, and a graze meant a mortal wound.
Combined with the constant sprays of Bloodboon and the sweeping strikes of his Crucible powers, Mohg alone was holding back thousands.
The Golden Order forces were experiencing the nightmare of facing a fusion of a Pureblood Knight and a Crucible Knight. They finally understood the true despair of standing before an enemy who commanded the primal power of the Crucible.
Mohg realized that even if he could slaughter everyone here, it would take far too long. It was better to trade his internal reserves for a swift resolution.
He whipped his left hand out, and blood transformed into chains of serrated blades that swept across the field, claiming dozens of lives in an instant. This created a sudden pocket of space in front of him, giving him the time and room he needed to manifest a ritual.
He hesitated no longer. Mohg thrust the Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear toward the sky.
"TRES!"
Instantly, a glowing red ring appeared around the bodies of everyone in the vicinity.
Almost everyone caught in the radius fell into a state of confusion and panic. When two heroic-tier clerics found that no amount of dispelling or holy magic could remove the rings, the collective unease reached a breaking point.
The Ominous Mist of the Mother of Truth began to seep down from the sky.
The Tree Sentinel commander, sensing the impending catastrophe, shouted at the top of his lungs: "Everyone! Kill the Blood Lord! Kill him and the curse will be broken!"
Though the common soldiers couldn't yet feel the effects of the rings, the "sixth sense" of the stronger warriors was screaming in warning. This was something lethally dangerous.
Without hesitation, almost every heroic figure abandoned their self-preservation. They burst out from the ranks of the army and lunged at Mohg.
Only then did Mohg realize that there were as many as fifteen heroic-tier warriors hidden in his immediate surroundings. It was an extreme show of "respect."
The fastest among them, an assassin, had already reached Mohg's back, driving a pitch-black dagger toward his heart.
Thud!
Suddenly, a long leg encased in black-red armor appeared behind Mohg. Wreathed in red Blood-Lightning, the kick sent the assassin flying.
It was Lansseax, now in her human form. She had avoided shifting before because of the immense pressure; in human form, her defense and raw power were a tier lower than her dragon form.
But now, with Mohg drawing all the primary aggro, there was no reason to remain a giant target for the golems and trolls. By shrinking her size, those massive siege units would hesitate to strike for fear of hitting their own allies.
Mohg glanced back at her.
"Keep going," she said. "I'll protect you."
"Good. Don't let them disturb me."
Mohg nodded and continued to commune with the power of the Formless Mother.
"DUO!"
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