The Gust arrows briefly raised the centaur’s morale but the boost was only temporary. Colet could see the spell took a lot out from Eupoos and, if the Magus struggled this much, there was no way for any other centaur spellcasters to achieve the same feat. Even through estimates, there were a few hundred bow wielders at most. To give all of them ammunition would be a taxing task. The centaur chieftain wasn’t disillusioned by their current situation. The ammunition would be used up and the beastmen, despite their losses, would keep coming. The giant beastman hadn’t participated yet so they weren’t even facing the biggest threat in this battle.
Since he was a young centaur, Colet was told the stories of the beastmen. These creatures were known to reproduce much quicker than any inhabitants of the plains. Due to their faster reproduction, they always boasted large numbers and would roam the plains for food. Surprisingly, the beastmen viewed cannibalism as a taboo so they had to rely on raids and even wars to get their food. For this very reason, the sighting of beastmen, even in small numbers, could spell trouble for those traveling in small groups. Beastmen had ways to relay the location of food quickly and they would quickly descend onto their meal. The centaurs experienced it firsthand when the beastmen numbers ballooned out of control and had them completed encircled.
“Magus, I take it you are out of mana?”
Konstite spoke what was on his mind and Eupoos responded with a nod.
“Then take a rest and let the shieldbreaker take over!”
The centaur front ranks were collapsing under pressure. The ax wielders, despite their valiant efforts, were falling to the overwhelming numbers. For every beastman they slay, two would take its place. Once the ax wielders were defeated, the spear wielders would form the new front ranks. However, they were much smaller in numbers. If the centaurs had more time to prepare for the campaign, they might have trained more spear wielders. Given the current situation, the spear wielders might last several minutes at most. The bow wielders, once fighting in melee, would be at a huge disadvantage. Due to the circumstances, Konstite knew he and his shieldbreakers were up next. They would be the last line to stand between the beastmen and the total annihilation of the centaurs.
“Chieftain,” Konstite turned to Colet. “My loyalty for your father is unwavering. For him, I was willing to support you during the civil war. I always thought that I allowed my loyalty to blind me from what would be the better future for the centaurs.”
The chieftain’s eyes widened when he saw a teardrop down Konstite’s face. He only saw the veteran centaur shed tears once during his father’s funeral.
“Yet, you proved over and over again that you didn’t just inherit your father’s name and blood. You also inherited his vision for a grander future for the centaurs. That future may never come to fruition but I want to tell you that it was an honor to serve you. In the afterlife, I will tell your father what a fine centaur you have become. If circumstances were any different, then you will surely surpass even your father.”
Konstite took a step forward with his ax raised in the air.
“Shieldbreak!” shouted the veteran centaur.
The other shieldbreakers then shouted the same thing in unison. Shieldbreak was an ability of these centaurs that could be seen as a limit breaker. For two hours, the user would break their limits and be several times more powerful than they were. The downside of the ability was that it was a one-time use due to the ability killing the user after the duration expired. In the past, the shieldbreakers only had to use a fraction of the ability to boost their combat capabilities. If they activated the full ability as they were doing at the moment, the centaurs would achieve the most power in their entire life. The ability showed Colet the resolve of the shieldbreakers to end this battle or die trying.
Once the shieldbreak ability triggered, a brownish aura surrounded the shieldbreakers. Then, all the shieldbreakers leaped over their fellow centaurs into the masses of beastmen. Their surprise arrival caught their enemies off guard as numerous beastmen were trampled in the process. Once they landed, the shieldbreakers hacked away like they were simply slashing out a clearing in a location recently reclaimed by nature. None of the beastmen stood any chance and some faltered at the sight of these terrifying kill machines. Any beastmen that tried to get close would find an ax slicing and dicing it.
Giant coming! Giant coming!
The giant beastman, likely spotting the centaurs actively resisting and finding second wind, advanced to finish the job itself. The creature moved surprisingly quickly for its size and, as it approached the masses of beastmen, it simply moved through crushing any unfortunate beastmen to get in its way. A dozen steps later, the giant beastman stood before Konstite who had just slayed a dozen beastmen in a single swing of his ax. Fresh blood still dripped from his ax as the repeated kills didn't give the blood a chance to dry.
“Accepting your death by my hands?” Konstite said upon seeing the giant beastman. “By making a good choice, I will make your death a swift one!”
“Enjoy your yapping while you can,” said the giant beastman. “I will enjoy feasting on your flesh while you scream in pain.”
Konstite charged the giant beastman who responded with a swing of its battleaxe. Before the battleaxe could make contact, the veteran centaur did a quick backstep to avoid it before galloping at full speed to close his distance with his opponent. Once in range, Konstite began slashing at the exposed foot drawing blood. The giant tried to retaliate but the centaur kept maneuvering to stay a step ahead of the beastman. It was obvious the giant was used to fighting enemies who stood before it but, against a more agile opponent, it was almost helpless as it couldn’t use its axe to inflict any damage.
