"Tighten the camp, let the peasants, the elderly, and children hide in the caves behind the monastery. In the meantime, while the undead army has not yet reached the monastery, we need to repair the walls here," Francois and Laine walked shoulder to shoulder along the walls of the La-Mesnil Abbey.

This is a magnificent defensive structure embedded within the gorge of the Gray Mountains. The walls are nearly ten meters high, and a circular fort stands in the middle of the valley, with only a slender path leading directly to the gate.

This is where Francois once had a decisive battle with Kemler, marking the most painful defeat Kemler experienced in his centuries-long life.

Nevertheless, this fortress is not as formidable as imagined, having only one layer of walls, as it primarily serves as a monastery for the God of Nature Tal. Inside the monastery are only five hundred defenders, but they are all elite troops composed of the Holy Grail Pilgrims.

Due to the difficulty in transporting food and the barren highland soil, this is theoretically the maximum number of troops the monastery can garrison.

After several bitter battles, they earned the honorary title of "La-Mesnil Holy Watcher." They fought against the undead legion in the cemetery, stood alongside Francois in battle over twenty years ago, and now these Holy Grail Pilgrims are here, hoping to attract the attention and favor of the Lake Fairy through war.

The peasants hope to win the Lady’s favor by resorting to some special means.

Looking at the spectacular mountains and the endless highland wilderness in the distance, Laine noticed two colossal High Elf statues carved on the rock flanking the mountain path. He smiled at Francois and said, "We should let Lord Fulcard come and see this monastery, as it is also a relic of the High Elves."

Duke Fulcard and his army did not accompany Laine and Francois’s coalition to the monastery. Along the way, many villages and towns hit by disasters need Fulcard and his army, so Duke Montfort had to divide his efforts to stay behind. He voluntarily withdrew.

This is the disadvantage of fighting on one’s land. Kemler and his undead can freely attack any place in the Gray Mountains, while the Knight Kingdom can mostly only actively defend.

Many places require the army to split its forces to stay behind, and the newly seized Black Stone Stronghold also requires personnel to garrison. When the human-dwarf alliance army reached the monastery, they had about twenty thousand left.

"Brittania was once a colony of the High Elves. To this day, we still bear the blessings of the High Elves. The High Elves established a sturdy magic array here, helping us seal the Staff of Nagash," Francois observed the damaged walls and continued, "Inside the monastery, Holy Grail Knight Pierre the Saint and two Paladins are willing to lend us a hand, and the Lake Goddess Asmer Beaumont stationed here will also assist us. Counting all our troops, we have about twenty-one thousand people."

"We will decide the victor here with Kemler and his Ancient Tomb Legion," Laine said in a low voice.

"Yes, the place where it all began will also be where it ends," Francois’s blue and white horse cloak fluttered in the mountain wind, his face serious: "It’s time for revenge."

The majestic mountain wind blew over the walls, rendering Laine and Francois slightly silent. Victory is fleeting; they had just defeated Kemler near the Black Stone Stronghold but hadn’t achieved complete success. Now the opportunity has arrived.

A scout rode in from outside, and Expedition Knight Kaled hurriedly dismounted. He jogged along the walls to Laine and Francois: "My Duke and Laine, Kemler and his Ancient Tomb Legion are on their way here. They are expected to strike by nightfall."

"Very well," Francois said, his ocean-blue eyes tinged with gravity while glancing at the afternoon sky. "Let us prepare, how many enemies are there?"

"About thirty thousand... Moreover, my Duke, the scouts spotted the presence of former Duke of Atuo Zilfroy and the Wild Boar Knight Brotherhood amidst the Ancient Tomb Legion’s formation," Kaled held his cross helmet.

Another thirty thousand! The knights in the hall felt the pressure from this number. In the battle at Black Stone Stronghold, the Ancient Tomb Legion together with the Musillon Legion counted fifty thousand. Only about five thousand undead troops retreated, and within a week, Kemler quickly replenished to thirty thousand!

"Kemler must have excavated the burial pit of the Duke of Atuo’s clan; he is all-in," Francois frowned deeply. "Compared to the fifty thousand in the Black Stone Stronghold battle, the Ancient Tomb Legion’s number has decreased a lot, but our forces still do not have the advantage."

"That’s how it is with vampires," Laine didn’t care much.

The Grey Knight Primarch was deeply ashamed of not being able to take Guer. He swore to smash Guer’s dead head in this battle.

"Let everyone come to the hall for a meeting," Francois issued the order.

Thirty minutes later, everyone gathered in the monastery for a meeting, with a large terrain map spread on the table.

"We must hold La-Mesnil Abbey. Otherwise, once Kemler seizes the Staff of Nagash, nobody can stop him and his undead legion; he can easily wield the magic power within the staff," Count Kuileu Antelme said loudly: "The undead tide will engulf the entire southern Brittania."