Amidst the deafening galloping sounds, the sand on the ground began to shake slightly.
It sounded as if the whole world was collapsing.
Under the illumination of the fire, the cavaliers on the sand dune were indistinct. Countless iron hooves struck the sand inch by inch, bringing with them a dull roar that filled Thales' eardrums. Thales could hardly hear even the nearest voices clearly.
They charged towards the small camp of the merchant group.
They were getting closer and closer.
"No, no, no." The master of the merchant group, Tormorden, seemed to be scared out of his wits. He looked at the group of orcs in front of him, then at the Shattered Stone Tribe who were fleeing for their lives behind him. In the end, he turned his head around and looked at the Constellation cavaliers who covered the mountains and plains as they charged towards them. He muttered in a daze, "We … we …"
The other merchants did not lose to him. Some of them even cried in fear.
"Dean, we're caught in the middle!"
Thales, who was in a daze, was pulled back to reality by the female captain's words. He stared at the cavaliers who were charging towards them in the name of his father. They were fierce and full of murderous intent. His face instantly turned pale.
Obviously, this was not the best time to smile, wave, and say, "Good day, comrades."
After all, he did not have four legs.
"They're charging!"
Amidst the galloping sounds and the roars of war, Louisa looked anxious and shouted at the top of her lungs, "We won't survive!"
The captives panicked.
"Oh, Desert God above …" A merchant trembled as he watched the approaching cavaliers. He was so terrified that he could not speak.
"No, no." Tormorden crouched down and squeezed out a sob. "We'll die … we'll die … and my goods …"
"Damn fatty, you better f * cking stand up and shut up!" The bald mercenary dragged Tormorden up from the ground and irritably interrupted the impromptu speech of the master of the merchant group who was trying to distract them.
The galloping sounds rumbled, and the ground trembled.
More and more cavaliers entered the illumination of the fire, and they were blurry and indistinct.
The twenty or so orcs in front of them roared fanatically. They rubbed the weapons in their hands and were ready to fight to the death to stop them.
"Their target is the orcs …"
Dean's expression had never been so grave before. His gaze moved back and forth between the orcs and the Constellation cavaliers. His gaze was steely. "As long as we can find cover and avoid their first wave of attacks …"
Old Hammer coughed. "Also, don't forget about the orcs who are running for their lives. Constellation's army will not let them go. We still have to stay far away from their pursuit!"
Mickey spat out a bloody tooth and pointed at a remote dune on the left side of the camp. "There!"
"Very good!" Dean's eyes lit up. He strode forward and kicked away a box that was blocking his way. "Everyone, follow me! Don't leave any weapons in your hands! "
The female captain gritted her teeth and followed closely behind Dean. "Let's go!"
The group of captives used their hands and feet to flee in a panic.
Behind them, more than twenty Orc interceptors were closing in on the cavalry.
The captives finally hid under the sand dune on the side of the battlefield. They threw themselves down and shielded themselves from the cavaliers' line of sight. Then, they relaxed a little.
Thales slid down the sand dune with the others, then flipped over and climbed up two steps. He imitated Dean and peeked out half of his head. He watched nervously and in shock as the cavaliers rushed down the sand dune and occupied most of his field of vision.
"At least one hundred cavaliers." On the other side, Old Hammer did not seem to be in a good condition. He leaned against Quick Rope with a pale face and panted, but his gaze on the battlefield was still sharp. "And there are nearly twenty Raven Whistle Light Cavaliers among them. This is not common."
'But it feels like there are thousands of them.'
Thales clenched his fists and said quietly.
In the distance, Warchief Kandarll led its one hundred or so subordinates to flee in the opposite direction from where the cavaliers had appeared. They were getting further and further away from their companions who brought up the rear.
"More than one hundred …" Quick Rope asked in puzzlement. He looked at the fleeing orcs. "But there are one or two hundred of those gray mixed breeds. With their strength, they can fight against ten of us alone … why are they running?"
Old Hammer shook his head and did not speak.
"Who cares?" Tormorden cut off Quick Rope, who was about to ask more questions. He patted his chest, still unsettled. "Anyway, those mixed breeds ran away … This is a good thing."
At this moment …
"Keruli!"
The Other Blood's furious roar rose from the other side of the battlefield, and it came from the fleeing group!
The captives turned their heads and looked to the right, at Shattered Stone Tribe, who were fleeing madly.
Thales' gaze instantly focused.
* Thud … thud … *
On the other side of the battlefield, the thundering sounds of horse hooves rose in the darkness where the light from the fire could not reach. What followed were countless cries for murder.
"My God, that is …" Mickey widened his eyes in disbelief.
Unfamiliar and swift figures appeared before the people's eyes. The hooves of the horses beneath them tore through the darkness, and the armor on their bodies shone with a cold light.
Cavaliers.
The second group of cavaliers.
They were like fatal killers who had been waiting for a long time and suddenly appeared from the dark. They charged towards the fleeing group with an unstoppable force!
"Mixed breeds!"
A cold shout rose from among the newly arrived cavaliers, "Do you like surprises?"
In the face of the sudden arrival of the enemies, Warchief Kandarll's roars became more and more urgent. The fleeing orcs had to slow down and reorganize their formation.
Old Hammer stared at this ambush solemnly.
The newly appeared cavaliers let go of their reins and galloped forward. The sound of their hooves was louder and deeper than the Kroma Family's cavaliers. Their equipment was also more uniform, and they exuded an awe-inspiring murderous aura.
"Outflank them!"
"The Kroma Family's cavaliers are just long poles used to herd rabbits. They're in charge of driving the enemy into a pocket, while the ambush by the cavaliers on this side is the real trap." The veteran from Constellation sighed and said, "They must have set up their tactics and formation beforehand."
"It's different," Dean suddenly said.
In the face of the others' puzzlement, Dean pointed at the newly appeared cavaliers. "Look at the flag."
Thales narrowed his eyes in puzzlement. He activated hell's senses and saw the fluttering war flag among the cavaliers.
'I knew it.'
It was not a single-winged crow.
Instead, it was a flag that Thales did not recognize. The picture on the flag looked like a few bright stars from afar, and they were shrouded in a cloud of fog-like dust.
"Stardust War Flag!"
Old Hammer said in surprise, "It's the Stardust Unit!"
When he said this, many people were shocked.
"The Stardust Unit … from Blade Fangs Camp?" Louisa asked with a frown.
Thales looked at the others in puzzlement.
Old Hammer nodded.
"Look carefully. Their warhorses are different from the Kroma Family's. They are not ponies native to the Western Desert. They are taller, bigger, and heavier." The veteran observed the newly arrived cavaliers carefully. "They are hybrids between Northland horses and Plains horses. Their charging and explosive power are also stronger.
"This group of cavaliers are stationed at the Western Frontlines. They are the regular army directly under the command of the royal family.
"Baron Williams' Stardust Unit."
'The regular army of the royal family?'
Thales' eyes lit up.
'That means that this group of people can be trusted … right?'
"Thank you, Desert God, Sunset, Bright Moon, Dark Night, and all the previous kings of Constellation …" Tormorden patted his chest, and his eyes were practically brimming with tears. "I knew it. Ever since my great-grandfather served the Virtuous King, our family has been loyal to Constellation for generations. Fate will not let us die here …"
Everyone pursed their lips and did not answer.
But Old Hammer frowned slightly.
"Unbelievable. The baron's Stardust Unit and the Kroma Family's enlisted army …"
"This must be a big operation … After the Desert War, this is the first time I see these two groups of people who can't see eye to eye going out to battle together …" Old Hammer mumbled.
Thales frowned slightly.
"But those are orcs! Gray mixed breeds that can't be killed! "
Quick Rope counted the number of people and asked in surprise, "I've counted. This group of newcomers … Stardust Unit … there are only a few dozen of them. Can they really gain an advantage if they rush in like this?"
As he spoke, the Stardust Unit's cavaliers mercilessly stabbed into the fugitives' flank like a sharp knife!
They encountered the enemy much earlier than their colleagues from the Kroma Family.
Quick Rope's question was immediately answered.
Thales saw the dozen or so orcs at the back of the group stand in formation and form the first line of defense among the fugitives. They turned their bodies sideways to avoid crashing into them. At the same time, they raised their shields and weapons steadily. They bulged their strong muscles and tendons, ready to stop the charging horses.
The cavaliers at the front instantly arrived in front of them and faced their sharp blades.
The prince held his breath.
He thought he would see the cavaliers clashing head-on with the orcs, but he was wrong.
In the next second, as a piercing sound rose, dozens of tiny black shadows shot out from the cavaliers and instantly sank into the orcs' formation!
* Whoosh whoosh! *
As the orcs cursed and cried out in pain, two of the dozen or so orcs bent down in pain. The group of fugitives instantly fell into chaos!
"Cavaliers' crossbows!"
Old Hammer cried out in surprise, "As expected of the Stardust Unit. This kind of weapon can only be used by the elite cavaliers to tear apart the enemy's formation —"
Before he could finish speaking, the Stardust Unit's cavaliers threw away their hand crossbows, stepped on their stirrups, and drew their swords and spears with furious roars!
They fought against the orcs at close quarters, but they still did not fight head-on as Thales had imagined.
The first orc swung his axe with both hands and slashed at the first cavalier who charged at him.
The axe cut through the air, but the cavalier calmly steered his horse to change direction. In the blink of an eye, he thrust the spear in his hand.
The flash of the axe and the shadow of the spear intersected in the air.
* Shick! *
The horse swept past the orc's side at an unbelievable speed and angle.
The cavalier swaggered away and did not look back.
The axe cut into the sand violently.
The orc turned around in disbelief and lowered his head to look at his chest. A broken spearhead had pierced through his chest from the front to the back and dyed his armor red.
The heavily injured orc roared in grief and indignation. The strength it felt before death surged through its entire body.
Furious, it turned around to look for its next target, but to its despair, it discovered that the human cavaliers were like a swarm of bees that had received an order. They instantly split up like a wave that had run into a reef. They galloped away from the two sides of this opponent. They did not engage in a battle of attrition with it, and neither did they care about its weak cries of grief.
* Thud … thud … *
Horse hooves galloped past, and the orc's fingers could only sweep past the air helplessly.
In the next moment, it knelt on the ground, and its body was permanently buried in the yellow sand.
It was not the only one.
Not far away, an orc faced a cavalier who charged at it with a saber. It roared and raised its shield, then exerted strength in its waist and feet!
* Clang! *
With the orc's advantage in strength and size, it only swayed its legs and withstood the heavy strike!
But before it could counterattack, the second cavalier swept past the other side of the orc.
A cold glare suddenly flashed.
The saber in his hand gently sliced past the orc's unprotected neck.
* Whoosh! *
Blood gushed out of the orc's neck as it let out a deafening roar. Its shield fell to the ground with a thud.
"Idiot." The cavalier's disdainful voice was mixed with the galloping sounds, and it only reached its ears at that moment.
Such a scene could be seen everywhere during the cavaliers' first round of charges.
Some orc warriors died from a tricky thrust; some orcs were slashed a few times by the cavaliers who charged past them at high speed, and in the end, they bled to death. There were also skillful orcs who strenuously and beautifully parried a few cavaliers' attacks, but the next enemy who always appeared next to them seized the opening and sliced their heads open. Some orcs swung their axes madly and fiercely, but it only made the never-ending cavaliers wiser to avoid their blades. There were also orcs who were covered in wounds after the first round of charges. They stood on the spot while swaying, and they cried out in grief as they stared at their companions who were all over the ground.
More orcs were injured and bled. After their futile rampage, they fell to the ground because they could no longer hold on.
Wherever the horses' hooves went, they left behind a trail of blood.
Warchief Kandarll's voice reverberated through the sky, but it could not prevent its subordinates from dying.
The captives who hid at the side were dumbfounded.
"Did you see that? That's the answer. "Old Hammer shook his head and said," When we're standing on two feet, we can't even win against their little fingers.
"But when you step on the stirrups, sit on the saddle, and charge forward with a mount that weighs more than seven hundred pounds, everything changes. Your field of vision becomes wider, your weapons become longer, and the world becomes smaller.
"Even the opponents who were once invincible will inevitably become weaker.
"Even the orcs."
Quick Rope stared fixedly, as if he had forgotten to answer.
"Elites. The Stardust Unit is a rare group of elites. Don't forget this." Mickey snorted coldly. "They're one in a hundred …"
Old Hammer shook his head and coughed loudly. "Don't forget … ahem … that they're not facing desert bandits who collapse at the first blow or exiles who put their lives on the line before matters of principle. Instead, they're facing one of the few terrifying forces of power in the Great Desert. They're the elite warriors of Shattered Stone Tribe under the Dragon Skeleton Throne. They're also elite soldiers. They move together, and their discipline does not lose to Constellation's soldiers. They face death with equanimity, and they're comparable to the heroic Northland warriors."
Mickey turned his head away and did not speak again.
Thales listened attentively to their conversation.
Just like that, the Stardust Unit, who charged forward with high horsepower, tore apart the first line of defense the orcs hastily built with an unstoppable force.
They did not care whether there were any survivors in the first wave of attacks. They charged straight into the group of escapees.
In the chaos, Kandarll's furious roar rose again.
The second line of defense was built. More than ten orcs with spears and shields roared as they stood together. They took care of each other and protected their companions' flanks.
When they saw the cavaliers approaching, the orcs shouted in unison. Under the command of a leader whose face was covered in scars, they raised their shields to fight against the enemy and thrust their spears forward.
However, the leader of the cavaliers who rushed towards them only looked at the formation of spears, frowned, and whistled.
In the next second, the cavaliers turned their bodies to the side, lifted their reins, and changed directions. They went around the enemy's formation from both sides and gave up on fighting against the formation.
The scarred orc roared wildly, as if it was indignant at its opponent's cowardice and evasion.
But the attack did not end.
The sound of horse hooves rose again. This time, the attack did not come from the front. A group of cavaliers went around the line of defense, gathered on both sides, and changed directions. They rushed towards the unprotected flanks and even the rear of the orcs' formation!
Old Hammer sighed under the sand dune. "On the battlefield, when you have one more leg than your enemy, you have one more choice."
"Hurrah —"
The scarred orc roared in anger. It knocked away the cavalier's saber that came charging at its head, and the powerful force brought it down from its horse.
But then, a sword that came from the side cut off its head.
Blades flashed, and blood splattered.
The orcs who stood with it also met a horrible end. They either died from the ambush from the side, or had their backs pierced by cold swords and spears. The orcs who turned around to face the pincer attack had their throats slit from the front when they were defenseless. Even if there were orcs who survived, they usually fell to the ground powerlessly when the cavaliers regrouped and launched their next attack.
The second line of orcs' defense immediately collapsed when it was attacked from multiple sides.
Thales stared at this scene in disbelief.
He still remembered the scene when the merchant group was attacked. Amidst the screams and sounds of fighting, the enemies attacked them from all directions. Their powerful strength was almost unstoppable, and their sharp blades tore apart their companions' bodies. There were people falling at every moment, and blood and death followed them like shadows.
At that time, he swung his shield and longsword with all his might. He suppressed his panic and fear and withstood the orcs' endless attacks, but he could only fall to the ground weakly in despair and pain.
But now, the orcs, the group of terrifying tribal warriors who gave him lingering fear, were the ones who were beaten to the point that they could not fight back at all.
Now, it was their turn to be terrified, confused, and flustered. They faced the blades that were everywhere, and in fear and anger, they experienced the deaths of their companions and the strength of their enemies.
After this round of attacks, the cavaliers from Stardust Unit penetrated the group of fugitives diagonally. Before more orcs could surround them, they spurred their horses and broke out of the enemy's formation.
They galloped for a distance before they pulled on the reins, turned around, and regrouped. Then, they charged out of the highway again and charged back into the formation.
Charge, attack, break away, turn around, charge again, attack again. The human cavaliers, who numbered less than a hundred, repeated this process over and over again.
They were like sharp blades. They stabbed forward, pulled back, and stabbed forward again. They brought about a new wave of carnage and harvested the orcs' lives.
The captives watched until they forgot to breathe.
Kandarll's roars became even more rapid and shrill.
"Chariots and knights are usually the favorites on the chessboard." Dean sighed with emotion.
The others turned their heads to look at him.
Dean shook his head slowly. "Because in the same round, they move the furthest."
"Look!"
Mickey, the Barren Bone man who had been staring at the battlefield, growled, "The Kroma Family!"
The captives turned their heads.
On the other side of the battlefield, the twenty or so strong orcs who were left behind to cover the retreat finally met the Kroma Family and the cavaliers who charged down from the sand dune.
Unexpectedly, compared to the Raven Whistle Light Cavaliers' nimbleness and agility and the Stardust Unit's charge back and forth, the Kroma Family chose a completely different strategy.
At some point in time, the cavaliers like the Raven Whistle Light Cavaliers had already bypassed the interceptors. The frontmost row of the cavaliers were now heavily armored. The fully armored cavaliers had a fierce single-winged crow painted on their shields and horse armors. They stirred up sand and charged forward.
They were awe-inspiring and had an imposing presence.
They went up against the twenty or so similarly muscular orc warriors who were dressed in armor. It was obvious that they were born to intercept the cavaliers!
Louisa narrowed her eyes. "No way … They're going to …"
Dean nodded with a solemn expression. "The heavy cavaliers are going to charge.
Clearly, the single-winged crow doesn't want to waste time. "
Thales widened his eyes.
'That's right.
'Charge.'
'Meet force with force. Iron against iron. Face to face.' Charge without dodging or dodging. Charge without any fancy moves! '
With a shout, the heavy cavaliers in the first row lowered their spears in unison.
The orcs covering the rear roared and turned sideways. They used their shoulders to push against their shields, drew their blades, and prepared to fight back.
Finally …
* Bang! *
Amid a frightening loud bang, the heavy cavaliers' spears clashed violently against the orcs' shields!
The sounds of spears breaking, the shattering of shields, the orcs' pained cries, and the humans' curses instantly rose into the air. It was incredibly chaotic.
Thales' face was filled with shock. He once again witnessed the great strength of the orcs that no one could compare to. In the frontline, an orc with a ferocious face held his shield with all his might. His tendons and bones bulged, and as he roared desperately, he stomped on the sand and took three steps back. Not only did he block the charge from the heavy cavaliers, he even exerted strength in his waist and abdomen to flip the cavalier in front of him along with his horse!
'This power …'
The prince understood. There was a reason why Kandarll left behind this group of elites to cover the rear.
But their performance ended there.
In the next moment, under the captives' shocked gazes, the moment the orc who flipped over its opponent raised its head, the second heavy cavalier leaped over the horse on the ground and rammed his spear into its shoulder!
* Bang! *
Amid the loud bang, the orc, who was already at the end of its tether, could no longer endure it. Its body tilted to one side, and it could only watch as the heavy cavaliers charged forward.
The third heavy cavalier charged forward mercilessly and rammed into its chest without any deviation.
Amid the terrifying crash, the orc, who had just used its strength to break through its enemy, was sent flying backward like a sandbag that was hit by a hammer.
It fell to the ground and coughed up two mouthfuls of blood in pain. It had no strength to get up.
Soon, the orc would no longer have to worry.
* Rumble! *
A second later, the fourth, fifth, sixth … Countless heavy cavaliers charged forward with iron hooves that no one could stop.
Their hooves mercilessly stepped on the orc who was lying on the ground. Amid the bone-chilling thuds, the cavaliers crushed its bones, muscles, and organs one after another.
They crushed the orc's former pride.
The dying orc did not even have the chance to stand up. It was drowned in the endless sea of heavy cavaliers.
It was the epitome of the twenty or so orc interceptors. The orc warriors, who had looked death in the eye and had an imposing manner, were like waves that were drowned in the sea and thrown into the sand in the desert under the charge of the heavy cavaliers.
They disappeared without a trace, without a sound.
It was just like the order given by the Kroma Family before they charged forward.
Leave none alive.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
