Thick clouds obscured the sunlight and kept rolling, casting the entire world into darkness.
The howling wind kept blowing, causing the fluttering flags to rustle.
An old man wearing a red ceremonial robe and a red bishop's crown was standing on a hillside, looking at the sky with a solemn expression.
In his hand, he was holding a golden sun emblem.
That was the symbol of the Eternal Overlord.
The old man looked at the dark clouds in the sky, the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes deepened, and then he said in a heavy tone,
"The power of evil has covered the stars. Today's battle … I'm afraid it won't be easy."
As soon as he finished speaking, a dignified and weathered voice followed up with a laugh.
"Haha, Lord Niklas, you worry too much. With three times the number of troops and many days of encirclement, today will be Otto's doomsday!"
The one who spoke was a tall, middle-aged noble.
He wore a shiny knight's armor, had blonde hair and green eyes, and a tall aquiline nose, which made him look stern. The guards behind him held up the flag of the Twin Lion, which kept fluttering in the wind, indicated his identity.
It was the marshal of the empire's crusade army, Duke Rosen, who was reprimanded by the empress for the Wells family incident.
The red-clothed old man faintly glanced at Duke Rosen. That calm yet incomparably deep gaze made this powerful Duke unconsciously suppress his laughter.
"Your Grace, don't be careless. Have you forgotten the battle of the peach forest?"
The old man said indifferently.
Duke Rosen's face stiffened slightly.
The peach forest was a place at the border of the western part of Maple Leaf Territory. A month and a half ago, he had led his army there to fight with Otto's army at the border, and it could be said that he had returned in defeat.
That battle was simply a disgrace to the Rosen family.
"That was an accident. I didn't expect Otto to be able to summon the Fallen War Behemoth, and I don't know where he got these Titan descendants …"
Duke Rosen gritted his teeth.
After that, he narrowed his eyes again.
"But … the ones who suffered the greatest loss that day were actually the recruited mercenaries. The main force of my personal guards did not suffer any major losses. Now that we have the support of the Church, the addition of the Judgement Knights, and the heavy spears and ballistas that I have transferred from various places this month, even if Otto has the War Behemoth, he is no match for us!"
After that, he looked down the hillside, opened his arms, and said rather heroically.
"Lord Niklas, looking at such an army, don't you think so?"
After saying that, he turned around and said respectfully, "I'm sorry.
"Of course, the secular wars will be settled by us nobles. If a transcendent power really appears, I would like to ask Lord Nicholas to intervene."
The old man nodded slightly, his expression solemn and pious.
"Of course, my Lord will not sit idly by and watch innocent lambs be devoured by evil …"
Duke Rosen's expression became even more excited. He laughed loudly and looked into the distance, saying:
"Then let us end this senseless rebellion together!"
Hearing his resolute words, the old man followed his gaze and looked over.
As far as the eye could see, below the hillside, there was an army that stretched as far as the eye could see.
After being reorganized, the red-armored Third Imperial Guard Legion was the main force, the recruited mercenaries were the vanguard, and the white-clothed Judgement Knights of the Eternal Church were the elite army of a hundred thousand.
Within the army, there were ferocious-looking war chariots, each of them ten meters long.
Those were the heavy weapons used to deal with large magical beasts – the heavy spears and ballistae.
Banners fluttered in the army, and the deafening sound of footsteps could be heard as the army marched forward, like thunder.
Such a huge army could only be deployed in the flat and fertile plains.
The huge army of the Empire was like a huge red flood, or like a huge net, surging into the distance.
On the other side, there was a silver-grey army that seemed to be at a disadvantage.
That was the army that Otto had organized at the border, and their numbers were only a third of the red flood.
They were arranged in a defensive formation, surrounding and protecting the huge, ferocious behemoths that looked like Behemoths.
In the howling wind, the two torrents finally met.
The battle … had begun.
The mercenaries in the vanguard roared as they charged into Earl Borderland's army. Their discipline was not as good as a regular army, but their years of battle had given them strength that was significantly higher than a regular army. Every one of them was above the Iron rank.
On the other hand, while Earl Borderland's army was slightly weaker, their neat defensive formation weakened the advantage of the Empire's army.
Once the two sides clashed, it was a desperate battle.
Loud battle cries rang out. Every second, someone would fall. Every second, more soldiers would rush to the front and fill in the gaps left by the previous soldiers.
Suddenly, with a series of angry roars, the behemoths on Earl Borderland's side moved.
They beat their chests and charged into the Empire's formation. Their fearless movements and ferocious bodies made them seem like unstoppable mountains, crushing everything in front of them into meat paste.
Until the sound of air being torn apart rang out, and huge flaming spears shot out from the Empire's army, finally ending their madness.
Those were the Empire's heavy crossbows.
The attack of the heavy crossbows was like a signal, and the long-range attack began.
The longbowmen and crossbowmen began to shoot, and the mages on both sides began to bestow all kinds of buff spells on each other …
For a moment, the entire battlefield was dazzling, and was shrouded in the colorful light of magic. While it was cruel, it also had a different kind of dreamy feeling.
In a world with extraordinary powers, Extraordinaires obviously had stronger endurance than mortals.
Not to mention all kinds of buff spells that were almost like cheats, which also allowed the warriors to fight back in a situation where they were sure to die …
Therefore, the battle was not something that could be decided in a short period of time.
The entire battlefield was like a cruel meat grinder.
Looking at the quagmire of the battle, the nobles on the hillside all showed satisfied expressions.
As the side with the advantage in numbers, as long as there was no collapse and they fought to the death, the final winner would definitely be them.
This was already a good performance under the premise that the rebel army had the war behemoths.
After all, no matter how strong the heavy crossbows were, it was impossible for them to easily kill those thick-skinned monsters.
However, Cardinal Nicholas, who was the highest leader of the Church of Eternity and the supervisor of the Empire's army, was also watching the battle from the hillside. He raised his eyebrows in surprise as he looked at the battle in the distance.
"Which mercenary group is in the southwest? Their combat strength is so strong? "
Hearing his slightly surprised question, the nobles all focused their gazes on the southwest side of the battlefield.
They saw that the rebel army's line of defense had been completely broken through. A group of mercenaries wearing the same armor as the Empire's army, but with extremely flashy weapons, were running amok within the rebel army, killing everything in sight …
What's more, there seemed to be twenty to thirty mercenaries entangling a war behemoth, toying with it and leaving wounds on its body. It looked like it was going to be worn down bit by bit …
Noticing the red standard armor of the mercenaries, and the weapons that were obviously more flashy than the mercenaries around them, the nobles all had strange expressions.
They subconsciously looked at Duke Rosen, who was in the lead, but Duke Rosen's expression was somewhat uncertain.
"That's an elven mercenary group from the Elven Forest."
He said with an unnatural expression.
"Elves?"
Cardinal Nicholas's expression flashed with a hint of surprise.
He glanced at Duke Rosen and remembered something that caused a stir a few days ago. His eyes flashed with a hint of understanding.
Then, he asked meaningfully:
"You used the Goddess of Life's summoning statues?"
"No, they were not summoned by the statues. As servants of our Lord, how could we use those things? In fact, they accepted the conscription before the war began … …"
Duke Rosen shook his head.
"Accepted the conscription?"
Nicholas raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, and they don't ask for much. They only need to provide them with armor … …"
Duke Rosen replied.
Then, he sneered:
"Although these elves are despicable, but as cannon fodder … … they are indeed suitable. They are the craziest mercenaries I have ever seen."
Cardinal Nicholas nodded slightly and continued to patrol the battlefield.
When he noticed the other corner of the battlefield, he frowned slightly.
"What's going on over there?"
The nobles followed his gaze again and saw that the Imperial Army was rapidly collapsing where Cardinal Nicholas was pointing. A group of soldiers from the Rebel Army seemed to have gone mad as they began to charge into the Imperial Army's formation and kill them.
Of course, the imperial army had a large number of soldiers. After the mercenaries and soldiers at the front died, there would soon be people at the back to replace them. But even so, the situation of the rebel army being suppressed by one side was very conspicuous. It was second only to the elven mercenary group that went crazy.
However, when the nobles saw the "rebels" who were wearing the standard armor of the rebels but holding the familiar and gorgeous equipment, their expressions became even weirder than the last.
They could not help but look at Duke Rosen, and the expression of the marshal who commanded the army seemed to be even worse.
"Damn it … … It seems to be an elven mercenary group. Looks like Otto also gathered elven mercenaries … … These damn long ears!"
He cursed.
Cardinal Niklas was speechless.
"Your Excellency Duke Rosen, perhaps you should let the elves deal with the elves to reduce our consumption."
He said calmly.
Duke Rosen looked at the noble who was in charge of organizing the mercenaries and arranging the positions of the mercenaries.
"Sir Bayer?"
His voice was a little dissatisfied and had a hint of questioning.
Bayer's face paled as he smiled bitterly:
"No, Your Excellency Duke, Your Excellency Cardinal, these cunning long ears requested not to fight the elves when they were recruited. Otherwise, they would not participate in the battle. Not only that, they also said that they would accept the recruitment of the border earl … …"
Nicholas: … …
Duke Rosen: … …
Seeing Duke Rosen's ugly expression, Bayer hurriedly said:
"But Your Excellency Duke, after this battle, I'll definitely gather all the elven mercenaries I can. I won't give the rebel army another chance."
"Do you still want to fight another battle after this one?"
Duke Rosen glared at him.
Bayer awkwardly rubbed his nose, then his expression turned serious:
"No! We'll annihilate the rebel army in this battle! "
"That's more like it."
Duke Rosen nodded slightly.
Then, he looked at the battlefield again. When he saw the elven mercenaries opening up a bigger and bigger gap in the southwest, his eyes flashed slightly:
"It's time."
"Inform the Praetorian Knights and Praetorian Knights to dispel the concealment spell and charge from the southwest!"
Following Duke Rosen's order, the accompanying mages immediately sent out a magic signal to the sky.
A moment later, the sound of horses galloping could be heard on the battlefield like a tsunami.
Along with the billowing dust, a large number of cavalrymen suddenly appeared on the southwest side of the battlefield. Every cavalryman and their steeds were fully armored with red cloaks draped over their shoulders. The four-meter-long spears in their hands flashed with a cold light.
This was the empire's heavy cavalry. Every cavalryman was at least Iron rank, and the proportion of Silver rank was an astonishing quarter. Of course … … Most of them were promoted in recent years.
Their mounts were also mixed with the blood of magical beasts. But looking at the strength of their mounts, they were at least rank 3 or even rank 4 magical beasts.
This was the Holy Mania Empire's strongest army, and also the empire's trump card to sweep across the continent. The Third Praetorian Legion alone had more than ten thousand of these heavy cavalrymen.
In addition to the ten thousand heavy cavalrymen, there were also about three thousand white horse cavalrymen.
They were also fully armored, their bodies flashing with a faint holy light. They were equipped with shields and swords with the symbol of the sun.
This was the Praetorian Knights of the Eternal Church. Every Praetorian Knight had the strength of a Silver rank, and the captain of the knights was at least Silver rank. There was no lack of Gold rank existences among them.
The Praetorian Knights … … They were the main force of the Eternal Church to eradicate heretics and evil gods. They rarely participated in worldly wars. Only after the Borderlands Count announced the expulsion of the Eternal Church did the church mobilize this force.
Although they were not heavy cavalrymen, every one of them practiced divine spells while practicing martial arts. It could be considered as dual cultivation. Not to mention, every one of their steeds was a Dragonscale Horse with the bloodline of the Megalosaurus. Its charging and trampling effects were even more terrifying than that of the heavy cavalrymen.
Combined, they were stronger and more agile than the heavy cavalrymen.
These thirteen thousand elite cavalrymen were Duke Rosen's biggest trump card to annihilate the rebel army.
Ten thousand horses galloped, their momentum monstrous.
Like a landslide, the cavalrymen charged into the battlefield under the terrified gazes of the rebel army. Like a sharp blade, they stabbed into the heart of the rebel army.
In just an instant, the rebel army that was in a stalemate with the imperial army collapsed.
"Victory … …"
Duke Rosen revealed a satisfied smile.
But at this moment, an evil and cold aura suddenly descended on the battlefield.
Suddenly, a gigantic hand stretched out from the rolling clouds, covering the sky and the sun.
That huge hand descended from the sky and slapped towards the imperial army.
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