"Retreat quickly!" ordered Alex.

The appearance of riders turned Alex's plan upside down.

Kragash and his squad were the first to fall back, managing to take positions near the gate where everyone needed to exit. The rest abandoned any attempt at an organized retreat and started running. Alex would later realize the grave mistake of ordering a hasty retreat out of panic; up until that point, their casualties had been negligible, but now nearly half of his troops had been struck by blows they couldn’t block.

The remaining troops hurried to help the prisoners back into the caves where they were supposed to hold out. Alex tried with all his might to reorganize his Gnolls, but found it increasingly difficult. During the initial clash, he had demonstrated such prowess that now the enemy Goblins were hunting him specifically, giving him little time to breathe.

With Alex under constant siege, Kragash struggled to focus on reorganizing the troops for a more effective defense. The young Gnoll’s mind was much more concentrated on maintaining a steady support for Alex, causing the troops to be uncertain of where to position themselves, constantly bumping into each other.

Slowly, the allied troops began to retreat. Too slowly.

"The Wargs are ready," reported a Goblin.

"Good, bring me that human's head," responded a Kesha.

The Goblin left, laughing maliciously, and gave the order.

Alex desperately tried to fall back while killing one Goblin after another. He could have fled more easily, but he was constantly forced to protect the rear to prevent the Goblins from flooding the defenses of the prisoners.

The group seemed on the verge of breaking at any moment, retreating with great difficulty, like a lame person trying to run for their life from a psychopath savoring their victory.

One of the few reasons the group held out was Alex’s help and the resistance to curses that his aura provided to the Gnolls and Resh, who continued fighting maniacally.

Adding to the chaos of the battlefield was yet another factor: the Wargs, large boar-like creatures with Goblins riding them, appeared at full gallop, clearly aiming for the prisoners.

"Damn it," Alex managed to exclaim before having to duck to avoid a spear thrown in his direction.

Alex had to dodge a dozen blows from left to right to regain his balance, struggling to respond and defend himself completely. If he had his heavy armor and his Ash Knight abilities, this situation would have been much easier, or at least that’s what he thought.

Alex was about to launch himself to the side to try and interrupt the Warg charge, but suddenly, figures appeared flanking the Wargs, directly attacking their riders and then the mounts. The swift creatures began wreaking havoc on the Goblins’ rear lines, giving Alex a brief respite to fall back to his troops.

The intervention was so quick that initially no one could see what was attacking. However, this didn’t prevent the Kesha from casting curses from a distance.

"We can’t do more, boy," a grotesque roar sounded, and only Alex could understand the message.

"Thank you very much," shouted the human, bidding farewell to what he now identified as a Moon Stalker. The felines had come to their aid, so Alex knew Lunaria had more than fulfilled her promise. After all, he had only asked her clan to disrupt the Goblins' movements as much as possible, which was quite difficult considering how weakened the clan was and the sheer numbers of the Goblins.

Back in formation, Alex began giving orders to reform the lines and increase the retreat speed, while slightly lowering the intensity of his aura to reduce his soldiers' aggressiveness so they wouldn’t continually break formation.

Gradually, the retreat speed increased. Despite the curses and soldiers thrown in Alex’s path, they couldn’t stop his progress. It wasn’t that there was no way to stop him, but rather the Kesha had grown cautious seeing the intervention of the strange creatures. Whatever the situation was, it didn’t bode well for the Goblins, so they didn’t want to rush.

"We still have Hobgoblins and the green shields in the rear guard. Why don’t we send them to finish this once and for all?" asked a Kesha.

The Goblin forces stationed were still massive, and the small amount that had reacted to the attack were just the weakest parts of their army, usually used for mundane tasks. The elite troops were still waiting for orders, so many were confused about why they hadn’t ended this farce yet.

"Do you know where they’re heading, or where they came from?" asked the old Kesha.

"Does it really matter? What matters is they stole our god’s tributes and must pay for it," responded one of the more belligerent Kesha.

"Now that you mention it, it really doesn’t make sense. Where did they come from and why did they go straight to the prison? They freed themselves so quickly it’s as if they were already free at the time of the attack," commented another Kesha.

"Are you saying it was an inside job?" asked another Kesha, shocked.

"We’ll find out," replied the old Kesha grimly.

Soon the battlefield was shaken again.

Anya, who had stayed behind to perform a high-level spell, completed her ritual. Despite the army being delayed, she continued, unleashing the magic. The terrain began to change. The ground started to rise slowly at first, but then the second part shot up suddenly, causing a tremor that almost knocked all the combatants to the ground.

Two large cliffs formed around the cave where they had been, with the wider part near the cave and the narrower part leaving an opening of barely 15 meters. The pursuit stopped again as the Goblins, astonished and fearful of the magic, paused. Alex’s troops took advantage of the moment to reach the vicinity of their base.

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All the Kesha were intrigued by what would happen next. What was the enemy planning? Did they want to crush them with earth magic? Or had they perhaps dug tunnels to escape? None of their suppositions turned out to be true. The Gnolls simply turned around and formed ranks at the mouth of the canyon.

"What’s going on?" asked a confused Kesha.

"I think they got stuck. They trapped themselves," commented another.

"It doesn’t seem like an accident; it looks intentional," assured another.

The Kesha discussed for a few moments until they were alerted by a younger, frenetic, extremely angry Kesha. Not knowing exactly what had enraged this member, the others began to look around until one finally noticed the source of his anger. The young human who had caused them so much trouble was at the front of the troops blocking access to the cave, singing almost cheerfully to inspire his own soldiers. The melody was occasionally answered by the Gnolls with loud and spirited shouts.

"They're underestimating us," said the furious Kesha, gritting his teeth.

The others couldn’t stop him before he cast a curse at maximum power, using all the magic he had left and even burning some of the reserves that had been painstakingly prepared for this ritual.

Although this reckless behavior annoyed the majority for wasting valuable resources, they couldn’t complain. What was done was done, and they could better use their energy on the enemy before them. Besides, without additional magic in his body and with the reserves exhausted, this young Kesha was now just an ordinary Goblin—a weakness the others could exploit, as some furtive glances indicated.

The rest of the Kesha watched the battlefield with interest, expecting to soon see the Gnolls collapse. However, reality differed significantly. With Alex’s aura aiding them, the Gnolls resisted the curse better, and soon the nascent rays of sunlight began slowly purifying the accumulated curses.

"What’s happening?" asked the now less furious Kesha.

"This magic... a ritual of the Shining Summit," the energies released by the ritual made the type of magic easily identifiable, but no less irritating. This kind of magic, which cleansed their curses, was extremely insulting as it represented a direct affront to their god’s teachings.

"Can you do something about it, old man?" asked a Kesha.

"No, we’re not prepared to deal with this level. They’ve used a high-level relic. I can’t counter it without using a relic of our god," replied the old Kesha.

"Irrelevant anyway. That spell only allows them to cleanse our curses slowly. They’re still affected by them and it doesn’t change the fact that they’re trapped by our troops. They’ll eventually succumb to exhaustion," exclaimed another Kesha.

Losing thousands of soldiers wasn’t a bother to them as long as they could achieve their goals. The reproductive and survival abilities of Goblins were similar to those of cockroaches, not to mention the blessings from their god, which allowed them to steal fertility from other races...

Time began to pass, and although it was evident that fatigue was accumulating among Alex’s troops and in Alex himself, there didn’t seem to be an end in sight. Soon the Goblins’ corpses formed a wall that, due to the slope against them, made it extremely difficult to continue the battle.

During a pause, frantic shouts could be heard from Alex’s side while the Goblins tensely removed the bodies, unable to see clearly what was happening on the other side. After a great effort in clearing the bodies, it became clear what had happened. Alex and his group had retreated slightly, moving back more than five meters, forming a new defensive line with multiple stakes driven into the ground and other defensive structures.

This time, Elaya was in charge of holding the line in conjunction with Kragash. To better support his soldiers, who made up almost 80 percent of the front-line troops, Alex maintained his aura at a slightly lower intensity.

"You should rest more, boy. Maintaining that power must be exhausting for your internal energy," advised Grant.

“It's alright, my friend. My energy will last a couple more hours. Besides, I’m expending the bare minimum right now, mostly to boost my troops’ morale. It would be tragic if they faltered now,” replied Alex.

“Indeed, it would be tragic. Tell me, boy, when will the rest of your troops arrive?” asked the Dwarf.

“They should already be here,” replied Alex, with a nonchalant attitude that starkly contrasted with the dangerous situation they were in.

“Then why haven’t they come to rescue us?” Anya intervened.

“I’m waiting for the enemy to commit their elite forces. I can’t risk letting them escape,” Alex responded.

Both Grant and Anya were left speechless. Not only them, but the rescued prisoners felt a chill run down their spines.

“You crazy kid, you want to use us as bait!” shouted one of the prisoners, an old elf with slightly bronzed skin and long, unkempt hair.

Alex refused to respond and focused on his ability. His Bastion of Ash aura could be enhanced to Last Stand in situations like this, where not only he but his soldiers needed to feel an unbreakable will to hold their positions. If he had doubts in his mind or if his soldiers wavered and chose to abandon him, the aura would shatter immediately. It was an ability that granted great power, but with even greater requirements to maintain.

Some of the prisoners began to complain, but these were few and far between, and they soon quieted down when they saw no one else supporting them. Most were leaders and knew they were in no position to demand anything from this young human. Only a few had real contacts in this place, and they were the ones who had more reasons to stay quiet, as in this short moment of rest in the cave, they had managed to gather some information about the situation and knew Alex was the biggest dog around.

Soon, the renewed assault began, proving to be much more dangerous than the previous one. Stronger Goblins, better equipped and trained, were now mixed among the regular ones. These stronger Goblins fought much harder before being wounded, and most couldn’t be taken down in combat. Like Alex’s troops, when sufficiently injured, they would retreat to the rear, making way for fresh soldiers to enter the fight.

From the slight elevation of the caves, they could see the enemy formations below, and more and more elite troops were forming, with even more dangerous monsters beginning to appear.

“Boy, what are you waiting for?” growled Grant.

“Not yet,” Alex simply said.

The Dwarf let out a growl and charged onto the battlefield, aiming to relieve Elaya, who was about to be overwhelmed.

The soldiers were panting heavily from the accumulated exhaustion, not just from the days leading up to the mission but also from the continuous curses cast by the Kesha. Though these were eventually purified, they were still taking a considerable toll on their ability to keep resisting.

“Sir Alex!” exclaimed Anya.

“Not yet,” responded Alex. Seeing Kragash faltering, he rushed to relieve him along with a handful of other soldiers.

The battle was turning into a meat grinder, and slowly Alex and the others were reaching a dangerous limit. Yet there was still no sign of the much-anticipated reinforcements.

“Damn it, he really freed us only to have us executed here,” complained a prisoner.

“What a strange human.”

“Will there even be reinforcements?”

“I can’t believe this is really the end.”

“Damn green skins, no way they really ambushed me.”

“Lukas, you damn Dwarf, I swear if I get out of here, I’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth for your betrayal.”

The prisoners had no faith in escaping this situation and began to say their last words and express their laments.

“Kragash, now!”

A sudden shout cut through the prisoners’ laments. In the rear, the young Gnoll struggled to grab a bow and a couple of special arrows. He lit one and aimed at a specific spot, not towards the enemy, and fired the arrow, followed by a second and finally the third.

The deed appeared done, and the prisoners could only stand and watch, wondering what would change on the battlefield. To their disappointment, after twenty minutes, nothing really happened.