A sharp whistle echoed in the dense forest, followed by a series of heavy footsteps that swept past like a gust of wind. The ground trembled, accompanied by the sound of metal clashing.
"Look, over there!"
"The vanguard of the monsters is catching up!"
"Stop them, don't let them catch up to Lady Veronica!"
The Knight shouted, led by Vahina who was dressed in military attire. She looked towards the intersection between the hills and valleys, and there was indeed a group of creatures covered in dark crystalline carapaces at the intersection of the mountains in the distance.
They were the most common type of monsters, with strength in the upper Silver tier. They were very fast, only slightly slower than the light cavalry of the Empire. More importantly, they often acted as the vanguard of the monster army. Once they were entangled, the main force of the monsters behind would come in an endless stream, and everyone would be killed here.
From West Metz to Mehotofen, in the past half a month, countless battles with these monsters. Although they lost more than they won, those who survived had gradually learned the ins and outs of these enemies. Although Cruz's people did not have the courage to fight a decisive battle with this terrifying army, but a small team battle was not a problem.
Not to mention that there were the elite Knight of the Empire, the Folded Sword Knight Regiment.
"As long as we don't get entangled by them, it'll be fine." Vahina had a plan in her mind. She raised her sword, clamped her dragon's belly, and led the charge towards the vanguard of the Crystal Cluster.
"Knight, follow me!"
The noblewoman's lead ignited the pride in the hearts of the Knight, and they shouted in unison: "Kill —!"
Then, they poured down. Vahina and her dragon were the first to charge into the formation of the Crystal Cluster. The runic circle on her armor lit up first, and then it was white magic missiles, followed by blazing thorns. The white beams shot into the Crystal Cluster like flying needles, and the Crystal Cluster fell one after another. The next Crystal Cluster that pounced on Vahina's warhorse crashed into the burning thorns that grew around it, and immediately exploded into pieces.
Vahina took the opportunity to cut down one of the sturdier Crystal Clusters, before raising her left hand in another direction. The magic circle on her gauntlet glowed faintly, and a fireball flew towards the dense swarm of monsters. The raging flames exploded in the darkness and formed a bright golden ball, and the knights saw countless Crystal Clusters being sent flying into the air.
The Knight exclaimed. Vahina's magical talent and swordsmanship were perfectly integrated at this moment. If Brando was here, he would be amazed at the growth of the noblewoman's combat skills. The front of the Crystal Cluster opened up in an instant, and the Knight at the back immediately swarmed in, continuing to expand their advantage.
Such a scene was often seen in the battle of East Metz, but Cruz's advantage often did not last long. The Crystal Cluster could use their advantage in numbers to make up for their disadvantage in quality. Even if the Folded Sword Knights were far superior to them in terms of individual combat strength and mutual understanding, the Crystal Cluster was not inferior in terms of high-end strength.
Vahina knew that they had to run in order to display the combat strength of the Folded Sword Knights. She did her best to move forward, and cut down every monster in front of her with her sword. Fortunately, this was not the main force of the Crystal Cluster army, and there was no sea of monsters, so the advantage in quality quickly took over the situation.
Suddenly, there was an empty space in front of her, and only then did Vahina realize that they had successfully turned around. Victory was in sight, and she just needed to put in a little more effort.
"Run, run!" Vahina shouted loudly, with a heavy panting sound in her voice. The continuous battles after night had exhausted her. This was the strategy of the Crystal Cluster army. The monsters were stiff and rigid in battle, as if they had no brains, but there was a brilliant will behind them that commanded them. The many battles from East Metz to here had already proven this point.
But the Knight at the back could no longer run. They were already exhausted. Vahina watched as the monsters pounced on the back of the earth dragons, and pulled the young Knight down from the saddle. Her heart sank. She bit her lower lip tightly, and for some reason, she suddenly thought of another face in her heart.
"Am I going to die here, country bumpkin, that bad guy?"
The Knight of the Folded Sword finally started to run, and pulled away from the Crystal Cluster army that was chasing behind.
Vahina was looking for an opportunity to turn around and kill the enemy when a few bright flashes of light suddenly lit up in the darkness in front of them. One, two, three flashes of fire passed over the heads of the Knight, leaving a golden-red afterimage in their sight. They turned around just in time to see a cluster of flames exploding in the group of monsters in that direction.
The ground shook, and a heatwave surged.
This time, there was no need for Vahina's order. The Knight automatically turned around and charged back into the enemy's formation. The Crystal Cluster army that had been severely injured could no longer resist. After three rounds of charging back and forth, there was no longer a single monster standing on the ground in the valley.
Layers upon layers of Crystal Cluster corpses covered the valley. The Knight stopped and got down from their mounts to rest. Some of them fell to the ground as soon as they got down from the earth dragons' saddles, as if they no longer had the strength to stand up.
However, there were also some who were rummaging through the corpses of the Crystal Cluster. Some of the Crystal Cluster bodies would be accompanied by magic crystals, which was an important means for mages to restore their mental strength at this moment.
The night wind blew down from the ridge, blowing away the embers and smoke on the battlefield. The tattered flag of the Knight of the Folded Sword fluttered in the wind. Vahina also jumped down from her mount and leaned on the earth dragon's sturdy right hind limb to rest. She opened the canteen and saw a few mages in silver robes waving at them in the dark on the distant hills, signaling them to hurry up.
They were the Bugas' gray-robed apprentices. Vahina's chaotic mind recalled what happened earlier. Although she did not know which Bugas had used strategic spells to support them and the dragon on the battlefield in East Metz, she did not expect the leader of the Arcane Realm's Enforcers, Loan, to personally come here to meet them. He was one of the twelve leaders of the Silver Alliance's wizards, a legendary figure. It was said that he was injured in Erouine some time ago, but it seemed that he had almost recovered.
Vahina could not think of what kind of situation could injure such a terrifying existence. The first thing she thought of was whether it had something to do with that bastard. But this time, the young lady was right. Loan was injured by Shitah's' Tsar Bomb 'during his adventure in the Deadly Tundra with Brando, but he was strong enough to heal his old injuries in just a few months.
There was also a golden dragon accompanying Loan. Vahina recognized the mature blonde lady in human form called Aksharopeia. She fought side by side with Cruz in East Metz, and was one of the few dragons who escaped that day.
The Bugas somehow convinced Veronica and the eldest prince to choose to go through the southern foot of the Alkash Mountains, through the Alcala area, and enter the Wilderness of Four Territories. But this way, it was inevitable to encounter the Crystal Cluster army. The consecutive encounters throughout the night were extremely difficult, and the remaining morale of Cruz's people was almost exhausted.
It was because of this that the dukes did not dare to let the nobles' private army walk behind, lest they collapse when they were pursued by the Crystal Cluster army. As a result, the Black Legion and the Folded Sword Knight had to stay behind to cover the rear.
Fortunately, the Bugas came to their aid, or the battle would have been over.
Vahina took a deep breath. The cold air seeped into her lungs and stimulated her to the point where she almost coughed out blood. She glanced into the distance, and a silhouette flashed out from the group of gray-robed Buga Mages, and quickly ran towards her direction. The silhouette lifted his robe, and ran from afar until he was right in front of her, and then threw himself into her arms.
"Sister!"
"Elise," Vahina said sternly. "Why are you here?"
"Sister, I want to help you," Elise raised her hands. "You see, sister, I'm also a mage, and even the Bugas praised me for my talent in spellcasting."
"Nonsense, you should stay by teacher's side, that's where you should be!"
The little girl did not expect Vahina's reaction to be so intense, and her eyes were immediately covered with a thin layer of mist. "Sister, I … I'm worried about you, father, and brother … How can I stay behind alone?"
Vahina's heart softened. There was a time when she was not like that. She recalled her encounter with that bastard in the Loop of Trade Winds. At that time, she did not think she was unruly at all, and only thought that the hateful country bumpkin was so annoying.
But now that she thought about it, those were such warm memories.
She reached out and ruffled her sister's blonde hair. Her brother and father were on the other side of the battlefield, and Mehotofen's entire strength was invested in this battle that would determine the survival of the Empire. It was all for the sake of protecting those they wanted to protect.
"Elise, listen to me, I'm not in any danger here, but you can't distract me, okay?"
"Really, sister?"
"Of course, I'm Teacher Veronica's proudest disciple, and a genius of the Empire. How could anything happen to me here, you can ask them if you don't believe me."
She turned her gaze to the Folded Sword Knight. Although she was not a member of the Folded Sword Knight, most of them were trained by the Green Sword Saint. The young men smiled awkwardly, and did not comment on Vahina's boasting.
Vahina could only sigh in the face of these lazy fellows. In fact, she was indeed lying. The army had just entered the outskirts of Alcala, and in history, the Empire once fought a great battle with the Wind Elves and Fanzin. The terrain here was open, and it was very convenient for the Crystal Cluster Army to pursue. At least until they passed through Mount Ordos, they would only be safe.
Before that, there were at least a few tough battles to fight, and no one could say for sure who would last until the end.
… …
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