“Blood for the Blood God!” – Came the thundering response as it echoed over the battlefield.

The Minotaurs that broke through the gate began charging headfirst along the narrow corridor, the scent of blood in the air having driven them into a mindless frenzy.

The phalanx at the end of the corridor stood ready, but they wouldn’t be able to withstand a Minotaur’s charge. Instead, large stones were dropped on top of the Beastmen along with a continuous stream of javelins biting deep into their flesh.

In this way, the remaining Minotaurs were swiftly dispatched, belying the difficulty and danger these incredibly powerful monsters could have posed if left unopposed.

But Erik had no time to spare for the battle at the gate, for the Bestigors in front of him demanded all his attention.

He hadn’t managed to find a suitable replacement for his Halberd but the narrow confines of the palisade walls made the use of a polearm undesirable anyway. Instead, Erik carried his Messer at the waist and wielded his trusty Greatsword with brutal and deadly efficiency.

Before his battle cry had fully left his mouth, he was already upon his first victim, cleaving through the Bestigor’s thick neck like a hot knife through butter. Not stopping, Erik smoothly followed up on the lethal cut with a strong thrust at a defenceless Beastman just jumping onto the battlements.

Having despatched two enemies within moments of joining the fray, Erik could feel the euphoria of battle come over him as his shouts turned into laughter and he continued laying into the countless enemies before him.

And countless they were, for while the Bestigors had created a foothold for the Beastmen on the walls, hundreds of Ungors began swarming up the secured way in while the Gors flooded through the ravaged gates.

Feeling something approach from behind, Erik ducked under a razor-sharp axe, pirouetted and cleaved the offender’s legs out from under him before stomping on its throat, feeling the cartilage and spine crumple beneath his iron shod boot.

Erik had advanced too quickly and too deeply into the Beastmen controlled section of the wall and was surrounded on all sides by braying abominations. But he was unfazed as he rapidly spun around to dodge their attacks while at the same time swinging his thick blade to swiftly deal with any who dared to challenge him.

Quickly, Erik was joined by Wulfrik and the other Elites from the gatehouse as they attempted to clear out the tide of Ungors and Bestigors.

But it was a hard struggle, for the Beastmen fought as ferociously as their Norscan adversaries and the dead on both sides began to pile up.

So great was the number of fallen, that the battlements were slick with spilt blood and the contents of voided bowels and the air was filled with the rich, metallic aroma so distinct to blood.

The air was so saturated with blood it formed a slight mist and filled all fighters’ sight with a red haze. As a consequence, both sides began to fall into an ever deeper frenzy of blood and carnage, insistent on the idea that Khorne himself had blessed them and stood on their side.

~Bleep! – Player ability: Berserk activated! Player is surrounded by death and carnage, inciting the wild blood within and bringing out Player’s inner Berserker.

‘Oh shiiit...’ – Was the last thing that went through Erik’s mind before the voices that had incessantly cried for blood ever since the first attack set loose every oppressed instinct and he felt a surge of incredible power fill his limbs.

“Raaaaaargh!” – And with a roar mightier than those of his bestial enemies, Erik pushed ever deeper into the Beastmen ranks as he mindlessly swung his blade and rained death and destruction purely on instinct.

Slowly but surely, the Norscans retook this part of the wall and flung back the Beastmen. The phalanx at the gate also proved its effectiveness as it relentlessly skewered all enemies in front of it.

Only the other side, where none of the Elites went to reinforce, the Norscans were being pushed back. The same tactic that prompted Erik to assault the Bestigors had played out there where the Beastmen elites climbed up, cleared out a section and allowed their Ungor meatshields to safely come up too.

And without sufficient support and relief from the Elites occupied on the other side, the Norscans were steadily losing their hold, threatening to let the Beastmen swarm into the rest of the camp and attack the Phalanx from behind.

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At some point Erik had lost his grip on the Greatsword and in his Berserk state, he didn’t hesitate to morph his arm into its claw form, continuing to rip into all enemies before him. By this time, there were only a few Bestigors left on the wall, leaving mostly the inferior Ungors at the sharp claw’s questionable mercy.

Finally the Berserk state wore off, roughly 15 minutes after it activated and Erik immediately morphed his arm back to normal again and picking his Greatsword back up from where it fell while his ears buzzed with a low ringing tone.

Slightly dazed from the euphoric experience of bloody battle, not dissimilar to release during sex, Erik looked around him as his men took care of the last Ungors.

But he was quickly shook out of his daze by Wulfrik, who was wildly gesturing at the other side of the gatehouse.

“Erik! Erik! Wake up! We’re done here! The regular men can take over! We need to get to the other side or we’ll be overrun!”

Seeing Erik’s unfocused gaze and realising he was still slightly high on battle, Wulfrik firmly punched Erik in the face.

“Bwuaah! Fuck! That HURTS!”

“Glad you’re back with us. Now, we need to go save your brother-in-law’s ass from the goat-men or you will have some explaining to do back home!”

“Yeah, thanks I guess.” – Erik was slightly miffed at being punched in the face, but decided to release his grievances on any Beastmen that crossed his path.

“Follow me, men! We’ve got more mongrels to slaughter!”

Erik led his men back across the gateway to support the pushed back Norscans while Wulfrik led his battered and diminished group of Sarls around the Phalanx to cut off the Beastmen inside the camp.

When Erik saw the vivid red hair so distinct of the Frost Wolf Jarl’s family, he heaved a sigh of relief.

‘At least Sven’s fine for now.’ – Then turning towards his men again, he shouted two simple commands before charging back into the fray:

“Push them out! Kill them all!”

Swinging his Greatsword in a wide arc in front of him, Erik instantly relieved some of the pressure on his allies.

Slicing left, stabbing right and cutting up and down, Erik unleashed yet another massacre and swiftly turned the fight around.

But it quickly turned back into a slow slugfest where the Beastmen fought ferociously for every step. Erik did not feel any less energetic than at the beginning of the battle, a direct consequence of having such high stats, but all other combatants were rapidly tiring.

‘This is dangerous… If this continues they can just send in a fresh wave and we’ll be overrun…’

Luckily Erik had overestimated the Beastmen’s morale. Seeing how few of their allies returned and hearing the spirited war-cries still coming from the enemy fortress, those ‘fresh’ Beastmen warriors were unwilling to approach.

Doggedly continuing to exterminate the Beastmen on the wall and aided by Wulfrik’s flanking attack, Erik finally managed to drive off the second attack.

The bodies lay thick on the ground, creating a visceral image of a floor made of rapidly cooling flesh and steaming pools of blood. It was impossible to walk without treading on a dead body, causing many of the Norscans to slip and fall.

Erik had no idea how many men he had lost, but the cost would be high. Not like the Beastmen had fared any better, but they still had some reserves left while all of Erik’s men were battered, bloody and exhausted.

‘If they come again now, we’re done…’ – Erik couldn’t help but feel that way as he looked over his decimated forces.

“No time to waste men! I know you’re tired! I know you’re hungry! But we must first clear the battlements!

Nothing fancy, just roll or push the bodies over either edge but get them off the walls!”

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It was a miserable night for Erik and his men. The losses came down to almost a third of all fighters, most of the losses coming from when the Bestigors cleared the initial wall sections, the overrun half of the wall and at the end of the fight when the phalanx was breached.

In total, Erik had less than 300 men left including the Sarls. And all of them, except for the truly elite warriors like Erik and Wulfrik, were exhausted and were wounded all over. From scraped shins to axe bites and broken wrists, very few were doing well.

The Beastmen had fared no better, losing many hundreds of Ungors, scores of Gors and dozens of Bestigors as well as the Minotaurs, hopefully postponing any attacks until the next day or beyond.

Walking out of earshot of the men with his Captains, Erik softly held council.

“We need to get the men fed and hope the Beastmen also take their time to lick their wounds so we can rest up a bit tonight.

Honestly, there’s no need to keep a tight and careful watch. If they are determined to come at us again, there is little we can do but to go out in a blaze of glory.”

Clenching his fists in fury, Erik continued:

“The plan worked but we, I, underestimated the Beastmen’s power. I don’t know what we could have done differently other than to try and wait out their next attack as we gradually weaken but… I can’t help but feel I failed somehow.”

Had Erik shown such weakness mere weeks before, the Captains at the time would have ripped into him trying to take away his position. But now that all Captains were intelligent and capable individuals who were also fiercely loyal to their Winter Hunt Chief, none of them took the opportunity to reprimand Erik.

Instead, Sven simply sighed and spoke for all of them:

“We don’t know either. We did all we could and gave it all we had. If that wasn’t enough, then that is our fate. We chose to follow you so we will continue to do so until the end, whether that be a hero’s welcome back home or a glorious death in battle in the hours or days to come.”

Comforted by his Captains’ continued confidence and loyalty, Erik disbanded their meeting a short while later and peacefully went to sleep. He didn’t know whether he would wake up with the sunrise in the morning or at the sight of a Beastman’s axe coming down on his skull, but for that moment, he only desired to sleep.