As soon as the fire arrows came into contact with the trees, they immediately burst into flames. The water in the trees evaporated and turned into thick smoke. The Kruss infantrymen and mountain warriors in grey-green battle robes took the opportunity to sneak into the forest. The attack was so successful that even Lord Palas who was observing the battle from afar raised his eyebrows slightly.
But it was at this moment that a muffled sound of thunder came from the distant forest. A large patch of dark clouds gathered above the canopy at a speed visible to the naked eye. Then, accompanied by a flash of golden lightning, a sudden downpour poured down, almost instantly drenching the fire that had just been ignited.
As soon as the fire was extinguished, the thunderstorm continued to spread. A few lightning bolts landed on the beach at the edge of the forest, exploding right in the middle of the Kruss infantry and mountain warriors who were gathered there. After a few loud booms, blood and flesh splattered everywhere. The golden lightning bolts created a few large craters on the ground, and the rocks that were blown away fell on the heads of the soldiers nearby like hailstones.
The soldiers of Kruss immediately lost their morale. They did not care if there were still archers behind them as they turned around and fled at a speed ten times faster than when they came. These nobles' private soldiers did not have the will to fight. Even though the Highland warriors who accompanied them were strong, it was a pity that this battle was meaningless to them. When the soldiers of Kruss retreated, they naturally turned around and fled as well. But compared to the soldiers of Kruss who were scared out of their wits and scattered like sand, the Highland warriors gathered together in an orderly manner even though they were retreating.
The two knights who were accompanying Lord Palas saw this scene from afar and turned to look at the true commander of Count Randner's army. They were shocked by the Highlander's combat prowess, and when they thought of Lord Palas who had led his army to victory over the Highlanders and forced them to submit to him, the two knights fell silent. Of course, they were unwilling to submit to Lord Palas, but when they saw the performance of their own troops, they could only remain silent.
At this moment, the dark clouds had already passed over the soldiers of Kruss and arrived at the archers' formation on the other side of the river. A premonition of impending doom filled the heart of Sir Wiggins, the commander of the archers. "Retreat! Quickly retreat! " He immediately screamed, but he was still one step too late. He saw a golden net fall from the sky, instantly exploding among the three groups of archers. Almost in the blink of an eye, more than two groups of noble archers who had been trained for a long time were directly reduced to ashes.
Sir Wiggins was struck by the lightning as well, but he was protected by the electric cage effect from head to toe. However, the adjutant beside him was not so lucky and was turned into charcoal. Wiggins crawled up from the ground, his face covered in dust and grime. He couldn't help but grieve. An entire company of archers had been crippled in a single round of attacks. Although they had only lost 20 to 30% of their archers, the rest had long since been scared out of their wits. They wouldn't be able to return to battle for a while.
Not to mention that the dark clouds above were still surging, and the second round of lightning was about to descend. The archers immediately collapsed like the soldiers in front of them. They screamed and turned to flee. Mortals had no way of resisting such a powerful force of nature. Lord Palas's knowledgeable and experienced Knight subordinates might be a little better off, but they definitely wouldn't be the nobles' private soldiers.
But at this moment, the sound of chanting suddenly rang out from the forest. The cadence of the incantation seemed to gather an invisible force in the air, and even the air pressure dropped a little. The dark clouds in the sky suddenly paused, and then dissipated piece by piece. In the blink of an eye, the clouds parted and the sun could be seen.
The forest was silent at first, and then cheers rang out from the north bank of River Gris.
"It's a dispel spell. There are at least three chanting points." On Brando's side, a druid covered in grass from head to toe listened attentively and said.
"No, it's four." The Shire shook his head.
"Four?" The others didn't dare to refute. The first batch of druids sent to Abies didn't have any great druids, and The Shire could be said to be the number one spellcaster in the area. High-ranked spellcasters were rare to begin with. It was said that Count Randner had two Gold-ranked Magi by his side, but this time, there might not even be one.
"If there are four Magi here, it doesn't mean that there are only four of them. It's a pity that we don't know how many of them there are. According to the reports, there might be more than thirty of them, including Silver-ranked spellcasters. From the looks of it, it's very likely. "Cornelius replied.
He was the nominal commander of the mercenaries here, and the more reliable Raban was sent to help command the eight hundred Subterrane Dwellers. Other than that, Brando also ordered 'Copper Dragon' Retto and the others to replace Jutta's mercenary group in the silver mine. Count Randner should not know that the silver mine had fallen, so Brando hoped that Retto would be able to surprise him. It was a dangerous mission, and Retto and the others were veterans of the November War, so they were naturally more qualified than Jutta's mercenaries.
As for Jutta, she had already been transferred back to the frontlines against Count Randner's army. She was also very satisfied with this arrangement. The beautiful red-haired mercenary leader stood beside Metisha and voiced her doubts: "How can Lord Palas have so many Magi? Even if Lord Palas has been on the frontlines for years, it's still impossible. "
"Don't forget about Lord Kruss and Grizzly Bear, but I think Count Randner had also transferred some of his own Magi, or else there wouldn't be any Silver-ranked Magi." Cornelius replied.
"Thirty Magi. Ever since the November War, Erouine has never had a Magi group with more than thirty Magi. Count Randner really spared no effort to intimidate these 'small fries'!" Gaspard, who had been following Brando since Fortress Riedon, could not help but mock him. As a half-noble, he was very clear about Erouine's past battles.
Gaspard's words made everyone laugh. They had more than a hundred Druids on their side, not to mention the fact that the young lord's Magi was a Gold-ranked Magus.
The young lord did not have a large army, but the quality of his soldiers was unbelievably high. Ordinary soldiers were either experienced mercenaries or veterans of the November War. At the very least, they were soldiers of the Erouine army who had fought against Madara. Very few of them were below Iron-ranked, and some of them were even above the mid-tier of Iron-ranked. Other than that, there was also a group of Subterrane Dwellers. Their individual strength was at least above Iron-ranked, and there were quite a number of them who were at the peak of Iron-ranked.
The two armies added up to close to three thousand men, and mages accounted for more than a tenth of this army. This was extremely rare in the entire history of Aouine's wars, and it was simply inconceivable. If this news were to spread, it would probably cause an uproar in the outside world, and they would have to reevaluate the strength of the new lord of Tónigel. However, Brando deliberately suppressed this news because he knew that sometimes, a surprise would leave a deeper impression than an established fact.
This time, the young lord wanted the whole of Erouine to remember his name, and who was the rightful lord of Tónigel.
Gaspard's words made the dark clouds in everyone's hearts dissipate, as if the forest had made Count Randner's army less terrifying. However, The Shire still had to give them a heads-up, and he waved his hand: "Even if that's the case, the enemy's absolute strength is still much greater than ours. Count Randner's army is led by three Knight Lords, and they have an army of twenty thousand men. The Highlanders have about ten thousand men, which means that the army hidden in the forest in front of us —"
The Shire pointed to the north of the Gris River: "They might be thirty times more powerful than us."
Everyone became solemn again. This was something that they had known for a long time.
"Furthermore, the three Knight Lords have elite Knights under their command. There are at least a hundred of them in total, maybe even more. These Knight Lords are at least Silver-ranked, and we just happen to lack such a force. The Subterrane Dwellers can fight against them, but Lord Randner made it clear that as long as Madara does not appear on the battlefield, the Subterrane Dwellers cannot appear. That's why the enemy has an absolute advantage in terms of Silver-ranked fighting power.
"Apart from Lord Palas, the Grizzly Bear Lord and Kruss Knight are both Gold-ranked fighters under Count Randner, and there's no guarantee that they don't have any hidden trump cards. Even if they only have two Gold-ranked fighters, it can only be said to be a draw against Metisha and I. If there's a third, we'll still be at a disadvantage."
"Then what should we do?" The Shire's words made Marlens a little dumbfounded.
"It's fine, just do as Lord Randner says." The Shire looked at everyone present.
"Lord Randner's words?"
Brando had told them to delay Count Randner's army as much as possible, but at that time, Count Randner's army was not as terrifying as it was now. There were three Knight Lords and thirty thousand Highlanders, not to mention Madara's undead eyeing them from the sidelines.
Brando had promised them victory, but that was in the past. Could they still win now?
Most of the people who followed Brando had a kind of blind trust in his words. The young lord's promise of victory had never failed, and as long as he moved forward, then the path of his sword would lead to victory. The young lord was like the most legendary heroes of the ancient times. When he proudly declared that he would obtain victory, then victory was already in his hands.
But at this moment, everyone present could not help but be silent.
They were warriors who had been through hundreds of battles, and could laugh and joke in the most dangerous of situations, but that did not mean that they were stupid. In their original confidence, the only way for them to win was to stall for as long as possible until Count Randner's army ran out of food and retreated. But that would require both sides to pay a terrible price.
As warriors, this was not unacceptable because they had already sworn their loyalty to the young lord, and everyone was prepared to shed blood.
But Brendel's promise to them was to completely defeat Count Randner's army head-on.
How was that possible?
The Druids naturally thought that The Shire was only trying to boost their morale. Jutta and Cornelius, who had witnessed Brando's miraculous feats, had a headache. Both of them could not think of how Brando would achieve victory no matter how hard they racked their brains.
The Shire and Metisha looked at each other and smiled in the face of these various gazes. Indeed, because the upheaval in the Loop of Trade Winds would soon spread throughout Erouine and Wohnde.
Everyone would remember this battle.
The young mage lifted his head, his gaze falling upon the dark forest to the north of the Gris River. Unfortunately, Lord Palas did not feel the gaze that penetrated through the distance at that moment. The elderly knight was counting the casualties. In fact, the Kruss army didn't lose much. Only a dozen or so of the infantrymen were left behind. However, the fact that an entire squadron of archers had to withdraw from the battle before they could even see the face of the enemy made him feel a little heartbroken.
Even though Brendel had mobilized more than twenty thousand soldiers, he did not have many professional soldiers. He only had one and a half columns of noble archers, and a large portion of them were the private soldiers of Count Randner. If he lost too many of them, he would not be able to report back to Count Randner.
He could not help but turn around and ask: "That lightning just now was a Druid's spell? Can an Iron-ranked Druid cast such a terrifying spell? "
The mage beside him nodded: "That's a Summon Lightning spell, but one or two Druids won't be that terrifying. The spell just now needs at least ten people to cast it together. Furthermore, an Iron-ranked would need to rest for at least a day after casting it. But if it's a Druid Grandmaster, then it's a different story … "
The old Knight interrupted the mage's words. He still believed that there was no Druid Grandmaster in the rebel army: "In other words, they can't cast that spell continuously?"
"My Lord, there's no need to be afraid even if they cast it continuously. Compared to the ten people they need to cast the spell together, we only need two or three people to dispel it. Moreover, that spell consumes a lot of energy for an Iron rank, but the Dispel Magic consumes only an average amount of energy for us. Magic is actually much more useful for defense than offense. If I were them, I'm afraid I wouldn't use that spell again. They were probably just using it as a deterrent. "The Magus lowered his head and replied respectfully.
Lord Palas nodded. As long as it was not an AoE spell, he did not need to worry too much. The difference in military strength between the two sides was too great, and he did not need any extra stratagems. Moreover, the expenditure of twenty thousand soldiers was too great, and he did not want to waste time. He planned to end the war in a straightforward manner from the start.
As long as he crossed the River Gris, then taking Abies Leng would only be a matter of days.
Ending the war in a week was within his acceptable range.
"Rebel army, Erouine …" These two words circled around in his mind, but in the end, all his thoughts turned into a confident smile on his face. As a general who had won countless victories, he did not have any reason to believe that he would lose when he had the absolute advantage.
The old Knight smiled faintly. It was a smile that represented pity for the enemy and a sigh for the kingdom. A hundred years ago, he had never heard of a rebellion in Erouine that would cause such a huge commotion. Even though his lord, Count Randner, had displayed his strength, it did not change the fact that the kingdom was on the verge of collapse.
Not to mention a hundred years ago, even fifty years ago, even in the most remote places, the lives of nobles would not be threatened.
Lord Palas sighed and muttered: "Brando, Brando, is it? Let this old man take the last stand for this kingdom …"
He threw his dagger into the middle of the map on the table, where Abies was located. Victory seemed to be within his grasp.
Graudin's retainer, a veteran knight, no longer hesitated. He ordered Count's army to set up camp in the evening and prepare for the final assault after a night's rest. They wanted to take down the enemy's defensive line in one fell swoop. Lord Palas was not afraid that the 'rebel army' would ambush them in the middle of the night. With his experience, he would not make such a low-level mistake. If the enemy was really that stupid, he would not mind ending the war earlier.
Unfortunately, the enemy's leader was as shrewd as he expected. After a night of silence, the real attack began the next morning.
The sky was just beginning to brighten, and Charles and Medissa could already see the shadows of countless soldiers in the forest on the other side of the river. "They are cutting down trees to build bridges, they are definitely taking advantage of our lack of manpower." Charles turned back and said.
Metisha nodded.
The test had begun.
Both of them had the same thought in their minds.
… …
(PS: I'm back. I'll be back to normal from today onwards. The weather is cold, and I'll catch a cold if I go out. Everyone, remember to wear more clothes. I'm not in the best condition, but it's the end of the month. I'll be leading a party tonight, so you don't have to wait any longer. Thank you.) (To be continued.) If you like this novel, you're welcome to vote for it at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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