A storm of flames washed back and forth through the narrow pass.
All obstacles ceased to exist—shield walls, cheval de frise, flamethrowers, and soldiers.
It was just that this road was far too long.
After clearing out the defenses ahead, countless more were waiting behind.
But what did that matter?
Today, Bai Shi was going to carve a bloody path.
With the commotion of Bai Shi's charge, the entire pass was roused.
Soldiers blew their horns, alerting their comrades in the rear of the enemy's attack.
Torrent nimbly double-jumped over the cheval de frise. While in mid-air, Bai Shi slashed out with his sword, taking a soldier's head.
The sound of heavy, dense footsteps came from the cliff to the right.A massive shadow fell across Bai Shi's path.
With a loud crash, a colossal figure dropped into the pass, the immense impact shattering the stone road beneath it.
The one that had smashed onto the path before Bai Shi was a Troll.
Unlike its kin pulling the carriages outside, this Troll had a crude, sturdy leather strap across its back, firmly securing a greatsword.
The Troll drew the greatsword from its back, leaned forward, and roared at Bai Shi.
The massive roar echoed in the narrow pass, reverberating again and again.
No, it was not just an echo.
Other Trolls were answering their kin.
Roars rose and fell one after another, growing louder and closer.
Amidst the roaring, Trolls leaped down from the cliff one by one, blocking Bai Shi's path.
The Trolls were menacing, but Bai Shi was not intimidated in the least.
Torrent had already galloped to the feet of the first Troll.
The Troll swung its greatsword, which Torrent easily dodged with a double jump.
Just as Torrent leaped to the level of the Troll's chest, Bai Shi sprang from its back.
The storm swept Bai Shi up, allowing him to easily soar over the Troll's head.
Sword tip aimed at the Troll's head, the gale propelled Bai Shi downward, causing him to plummet like a meteor.
The massive impact smashed the Troll to the ground, embedding its head in the pavement.
Bai Shi's greatsword plunged deep into the Troll's skull, and the storm churned its brains into mush.
Bai Shi pulled out his sword and casually flicked the filth from its blade.
He turned his head. Another Troll's greatsword was chopping down at him.
But Bai Shi neither dodged nor evaded.
The greatsword was nearly upon him, the fierce wind pressure blowing through the gaps in his helmet.
Bai Shi finally moved.
With a wave of his left hand, his gauntlet struck the body of the greatsword.
Nudged by this seemingly insignificant force, the greatsword ultimately fell past Bai Shi's body.
The slash directly chopped off the head of the Troll at Bai Shi's feet.
The attacking Troll let out a mournful cry for its kin, but in the next second, its cries were for itself.
Bai Shi flung out Storm Blades in succession. Two spiral blades of condensed storm accurately struck the upper half of the Troll's face.
After two Storm Blades, the Troll's face was mangled beyond recognition, its eyes and nose gone.
Where its eyes and nose should have been, the storm had drilled a huge, bloody hole.
As the final Storm Blade was thrown, the air blade shot through the bloody hole and blew off the Troll's cranium.
Bai Shi looked toward Erlisa. At that moment, she was leaping back and forth atop the Trolls' heads.
She needed only to plunge her curved sword into a Troll's head, and in just a second or two, its entire skull would freeze over and shatter.
The Trolls swung their swords ceaselessly, but due to their tight formation, they ended up wounding their own kind.
The Trolls finally realized their mistake. They abandoned their greatswords and began to reach for Erlisa.
But Erlisa was incredibly agile, able to adjust her posture even in mid-air. No matter how the Trolls tried to grab her, it was all in vain. Under Erlisa's assault, the Trolls fell into despair.
They could not reach her, nor could they resist. They could only let her reap their lives.
Bai Shi also continuously flung Storm Blades, striking the Trolls on their heads.
The Trolls had old wounds on their heads, and each time a Storm Blade hit, they would be in agony.
In that moment of distraction, Erlisa would leap over and let the freezing air seep in through the wound.
With the two of them coordinating, the number of Trolls rapidly dwindled.
Gradually, the Trolls' formation began to break. The few that remained all clasped their heads and started to flee.
Only two or three were still holding on, but it was futile.
After finishing off the last few Trolls, the pass was piled high with their corpses.
Blood mixed with shards of ice flowed down the slope, staining the entire pass red.
Bai Shi mounted Torrent once more.
As the Trolls fled, they had inadvertently charged through the defenses on the latter half of the path. Many barricades and contraptions were kicked aside by them.
The pass was now almost completely clear.
However, just as Bai Shi charged past this uphill path between the cliffs, an army led by five Godrick Knights appeared before him.
This army numbered two to three hundred men. Most were common foot soldiers, with only about eighty being the well-equipped Godrick Soldiers.
Behind the army, a massive Golem was moving slowly.
Two mounted Godrick Knights raised their spears high, and the golden sigil of the Erdtree lit up as they cast Golden Vow.
All the knights and soldiers behind them began to shine with fine, golden motes of light.
"For Lord Godrick!"
The common soldiers continuously fired crossbow bolts and threw fire pots at Bai Shi.
The soldiers charged forward with the knights.
Bai Shi used the storm to block all the projectile attacks.
The two mounted knights charged at Bai Shi from the left and right, their lances aimed directly at his chest and abdomen.
In terms of attack range, Bai Shi's greatsword was far inferior to the lances.
But who said attack range was determined solely by the length of the weapon?
Bai Shi released Torrent's reins and drew another greatsword with his left hand.
Bai Shi leaned forward slightly, aiming the tips of his twin swords at each knight.
As Bai Shi thrust both swords forward, two thick columns of air erupted from the blades.
From several meters away, they obliterated the upper bodies of the two Godrick Knights, leaving only their lower halves bouncing on their mounts.
This was a skill Bai Shi created himself, based on his memory of the Serpent-Hunter's effect.
Unlike the Storm Blade, which was flung out like sword qi, this was a continuous, high-speed jet of air with first-class cutting power.
Behind the two knights, one of the soldiers stopped, even gradually thinking of turning to flee.
This soldier still had some self-awareness. He was afraid. He wanted to run.
But as he turned, he ran right into the arms of a Godrick Knight.
"Are you trying to desert? Are you worthy of Lord Godrick?"
"No, I, I was just..."
At this moment, any attempt at an explanation was pale and weak.
The Godrick Knight's greatsword swung down, and the soldier was instantly decapitated.
"Those who retreat, die!"
Holding the deserter's head high, the Godrick Knight gave an unquestionable command.
The soldiers swarmed toward Bai Shi like a tide.
But Bai Shi had no intention of wasting his energy on these soldiers.
So, Bai Shi looked toward the Golem at the rear of the army.