The Knight and his squires were fleeing under the forest. To these Viero soldiers who had never seen the world, such a scene was like the end of the world descending on everyone. It made them feel a deep fear from the bottom of their hearts as though the Fear Spirit was pouncing on them. They were alone and helpless, about to die without a burial ground in the next moment. The private soldiers were scared out of their wits and had no courage to resist. They could only throw down their weapons, scream, and flee in all directions. In the blink of an eye, they completely collapsed.
The sharp claws of the Dreadwraith were like hooks hanging in the air. They swept over the heads of these soldiers and swept the Knight on horseback, pulling him off his horse. The Knight screamed in agony. With a crash, the lower half of his body was pulled out along with his intestines and spine. The bloody lower half of his body flew into the air and fell down. Pieces of his organs and smelly blood splattered all over the ground. The Dreadwraith let out another ear-piercing scream and flew out of the forest again.
Count Jacques, the supreme commander of Viero's army, watched this scene with a pale face. Thirty to forty Dreadwraith spread their wings that were several meters wide and drove the retainers and squires into the forest. Many of the Knights were not killed by the Dreadwraith at all. Instead, they were killed by the Dreadwraith when they smashed their heads against the trees, or they were trampled to death by the Dreadwraith. This was especially true for the squires who panicked and didn't know where to run. If they were pushed to the ground, they would most likely die. The scene of one or two thousand people being driven into the dense forest like ducks was very sad and funny. If they had the courage to stop and fight back, they might have been able to escape unscathed. However, they were already scared out of their wits. They would rather scare themselves to death than stay and fight the Dreadwraith.
The noble commanders of Viero's army and the more noble Knights looked at this ridiculous scene, but no one laughed. Count Jacques turned back and whispered an order. Many priests in red robes and pointed hats walked out of the forest. They held holy objects in one hand and the scriptures of the Holy Cathedral of Fire in the other. They walked along the ranks of the Knights in the forest and chanted something in a low voice. Not long after, a visible white light rose from the scriptures in their hands and formed a halo. This halo gradually enveloped the entire army. Count Jacques felt as if a warm power had been injected into his heart. This power didn't bring him any practical benefits, but it had a surprisingly soothing power that made him calm down for the time being.
This was the blessing of courage. The restless nobles' private army in the forest also quieted down slightly under the chanting of the priests of the Holy Cathedral of Fire.
"It's the Halo of Fear. Those screaming monsters must be higher level undead." Jacques held the hilt of his sword and said to the others around him. Compared to his colleagues who were even paler, Count Jacques had at least experienced the War of the Black Rose. He was one of the few generals of Viero who had dealt with Madara. In this matter, Duke Viero regarded him as a trusted aide. When Her Royal Highness brought Brando's letter to her grandfather, Duke Viero let him answer. However, at that time, he was dismissive of Brando's conjecture. In his deep-rooted view, the things in the darkness in the east were just flies and dogs. During the War of the Black Rose, Madara gained an advantage purely because the kingdom did not put too much effort in the Bucce region.
For example, in Karsuk, the Highland Knight did not let Madara gain too much advantage.
But at this moment, Count Jacques's heart began to waver. The army of Madara in front of him was obviously different from the one he saw in Viero last year. When he was leading the army to fight against the undead army in Viero, even though he was terrified, he still remembered the first time when the swaying ribs attacked from the forest. The farmers and soldiers he recruited from the countryside almost collapsed at the first moment. Fortunately, his trusted knights were able to hold their ground, and after a series of attacks, they realized that the Madara's skeletons were only so-so. The only thing that could threaten them was the liches, but their fighting strength was only on par with the knights under the lord's command.
Of course, Count Jacques did not know that it was Frostclaw's army that invaded Viero. Frostclaw was a ghoul, just the lowest level of Madara's dark nobility. It was probably on the same level as the retainer Knight under his command. When it sneaked into Viero, it was only to avoid the terrifying Highland Knight and take advantage of the situation. It had the same idea as Master Planchet, but it did not expect to run into the muzzle of Jacques's gun. The two fought a head-on battle, and it was evenly matched. Jacques lost almost all of his retainer infantry, but Frostclaw was even worse. It lost a lot of liches and was unable to recover from the setback. Not long after, it was annexed by other lords.
He also did not know that the ones who invaded Bucce were the elites of Madara in the War of the Black Rose. Incirsta and Tarkus were the confidants of the supreme of Madara, and the one-eyed dragon Tarkus came from a famous family. The vampire family was the most trusted force of His Majesty the Emperor of Madara until the Battle of the Oblique Forest. And now, although the army under the Blood Staff was not as luxurious as the combination of Incirsta and Tarkus in terms of commanders, its army was in fact more powerful than the army under Incirsta in the War of the Black Rose after joining the dark mercenaries from the Sea of the Dead Moon.
This strong contrast was now clearly magnified thousands of times in Count Jacques's vision, making his mood fall from the clouds all the way to hell. Although he was still a seasoned soldier, and on the surface, he calmly said something about 'high-level undead creatures', but in fact, he knew in his heart that these things were only hearsay.
Count Jacques's colleagues were clearly aware of his tricks, and they were not too comforted. They saw dozens of the same terrifying creatures flying out from behind the Fearsome Spirits that chased away the Knight. They swept over the gentle hillside, the forest of linden trees on the hillside, and a few low hills, heading straight in their direction. Although there was still a considerable distance between them and the Fearsome Spirits, they were still frightened and panicked. They were at the top of the hill facing the Cherny Valley, and on the other side of the valley opposite the left wing, they were about a few miles away from the fleeing retainers and Knights. On the right side, in the dense coniferous forest, elite heavy infantry were lying in ambush, protecting the crossbowmen in the center. This was originally a very beautiful blocking position. Relying on the cavalry on the left wing, they could effectively contain the undead army of Madara in this open valley of ten to twenty miles, buying time for the Tónigel and the Lantonilans.
But now, the problem was that they had lost the ability to contain the enemy. After losing the cover of the cavalry, the heavy infantry and crossbowmen were now at the mercy of the enemy, not to mention that Madara still had air power. At this time, a famous swordsman by Duke Viero's side had identified that the Fearsome Spirits were at least mid-Silver-ranked creatures, which meant that they were at least level-4 creatures. This made everyone's face pale. More than a hundred level-4 creatures, these creatures alone could kill less than four thousand of them.
Count Zlin and Count Beauregard immediately insisted that they should retreat. Their reason was to preserve the strength of the allied forces. If they were wiped out before the Lantonilans, then the scene in the Silman Valley would repeat itself. But if they could at least withdraw these four thousand men, or at least withdraw six out of the twelve brigades, then there would still be hope for the rest of the battle. The noble Knight immediately agreed with this statement, but Count Jacques himself was sneering. He knew what these people were thinking. They said it in a dignified manner, but in fact, they were just afraid of death. They thought that this was a battle that was in the bag, so they fought to be the first to participate in the battle. But once they encountered a little danger, they immediately wanted to stay out of it.
Of course, Count Jacques himself also knew that he was not a noble person, so these people's thoughts were pardonable. "But the question is, are these people idiots?" He could not help but be angry. "Do they still think that the initiative is in our hands? That they can retreat just because they want to? "
Thinking of this, Count Jacques could not help but become cold. At least compared to his colleagues, he was still a noble lord who knew his soldiers well. Count Jacques stabbed his sword into the ground and suddenly replied coldly, "His Grace the Duke has given us full authority to command this allied forces, so we must be loyal to our duties. You are the Duke's retainers, how can you retreat without fighting?"
Count Zlin was a good friend of Jacques, but he could not help but be shocked by Jacques' attitude. Could it be that this friend of his was scared out of his wits? He had seen the lunatics of the Royal Faction, but his friend was definitely not this kind of person. He could not help but look at Jacques strangely, wondering what this guy was trying to sell. Most of the other nobles had the same idea, but their gazes towards Count Jacques became more or less unfriendly. It was like an unspoken rule. In the current noble circle, you can be upright and plainspoken, but if you want to harm the interests of others, or even their lives, then you are destined to be an existence that cannot be tolerated by the rules.
Today's nobles of Erouine, just like Brando said, were no longer as glorious as they were in ancient times. King Erik's nobles had set an example, using their swords to plough out a kingdom in this barren land. But their descendants had long since lost their courage, and became useless people who only had schemes and power.
But at this moment, Jacques more or less had the same idea. He simply could not understand, how could these people who he usually talked to so happily be so stupid. He coldly looked at these people, and had to make things clear. "How do you plan to retreat? Can you outrun the Skeleton Knight? Or can you outrun the monsters in the sky? A bunch of idiots, now our only chance of survival is to hold on here and wait for the Lantonians to come and save us. Of course, you can try to turn around and run, gambling on that less than one percent chance of survival, but do you have the guts? "
After saying this, Count Jacques could not help but let out a long sigh. He did not know why, but although he clearly felt that defeat was imminent, his heart was inexplicably carefree. He suddenly realized that compared to this group of idiots, at least he was one of the more outstanding ones.
Everyone was stunned.
These nobles, although most of them were Viero's retainers and Knight in name, but in reality, most of them were only under the protection of their fathers. They were all well-known figures in the circle of nobles, but unfortunately, war? That kind of thing was a little too far away for the Viero Province. In their eyes, the most recent war was probably the dispute between Duke Viero and Count Randner. In Brando's eyes, it was not even considered a border conflict, and the scale was comparable to a village brawl. These nobles had forcibly created a few so-called 'famous generals'. Once upon a time, Count Jacques himself was one of them, but now he could only feel his face turning red.
After a while, most of these nobles confirmed Count Jacques' words from their friends or subordinates, and suddenly they were like frosted eggplants, listless. There were also a few who were so stupid that they even opened their mouths and asked if they could surrender to Madara. Of course, everyone knew that it was possible to surrender, as long as they became dead men. But this result was not something they could accept. In fact, this was one of Madara's disadvantages against the human kingdoms. Normally, when a human kingdom clashed with a human kingdom, or even any other civilized kingdom, surrendering and ransoming nobles were very common. Nobles who were captured would be treated with dignity and wait for their families to pay a price to ransom them. Then they would return to their kingdom with dignity, and they would be treated like heroes. This was common knowledge among nobles in wars.
But Madara was a kingdom that did not accept living beings. Being defeated by Madara was equivalent to being killed. So in a battle against Madara, even the most cowardly army would not choose to surrender, and would often fight to the death. And now, Count Jacques was left with such a choice. If he did not stay and fight, he would only be killed. There was no other way.
"What if the Lantonilans don't come? They know that we have been defeated, and I think it's unlikely that they will come to die. "One of the nobles could not help but ask.
"How dare they not come!" replied the Count of Beauregard, in a fit of anger. But after saying this, he opened his mouth and suddenly did not continue. The people present seemed to have suddenly remembered that they changed the battle plan without permission, or else they would not have fallen into such a situation. And now, not only did the Lantonilans have a reason not to come, they could even scold them for their stupidity behind their backs. Of course, in the eyes of these nobles, this was definitely not because they had made a mistake, but because the Lantonilans were so narrow-minded.
The forest was silent for a moment.
Count Jacques was worried that it would affect the morale, so he replied, "Don't worry, that Count Tónigel is very likely not to come. As far as I know, he is such a narrow-minded person. But Lantonilan's commander, Eco, I know that guy's character very well. He is an idealistic Knight, and if he can come, he will definitely come to save us. Of course, the premise is that you have to be strong enough to last until then, otherwise don't blame him for coming to collect your corpses. "
With this explanation from Count Jacques, in addition to Eco's reputation after the battle of Ampere Seale, the nobles of Viero could finally breathe a sigh of relief. In fact, there were already people who praised Eco's character in private, as if the Knight could hear their praise from miles away and quickly come to their rescue.
With this latent hope, Count Jacques finally boosted the morale of the army a little. At this moment, they were no longer fighting for victory, but purely for survival.
Viero's army began to re-establish their defensive position in the linden forest, and their movements were quickly transmitted to the Blood Staff through the Dreadwraith.
The Dark Lords of Madara had completely calmed down by this time. At least they thought that they had figured out the details of the unknown enemy in front of them. It could only be the Lantonilans or the Viero. Anyway, it was definitely not the Highland Knight. As for Count Tónigel? Sorry, what was that? These dark nobles from the Sea of the Dead Moon had never heard of it. The obvious good news for them was that it seemed that Lantonilan and Viero's army had no understanding of Madara at all. They were completely different from the army of Grinoires, and more similar to the army of Erouine a year ago. This kind of army, whether in the eyes of the Blood Staff or these unruly dark mercenaries, was just trash.
That was just a pile of trash. In fact, it was even worse than trash.
"It seems that they still have reinforcements." The black-haired young man knocked on the map and replied to the Blood Staff, "This reinforcements should be around us. Although I don't know how these Erouine people played themselves out, they are not a threat to us. However, they don't pose much of a threat to us. Even if this pocket is closed, their combat strength alone is not worth mentioning. Moreover, these idiots have already messed up. Now, we just need to eat these idiots safely. "
He chuckled. "They're here to provide us with a source of soldiers."
The Blood Staff also sneered. The stupidity of the Erouine people might be a little surprising to these dark mercenaries, but to the Blood Staff, it was a common occurrence. The combat strength of the White Winged Cavalry of the Vermeer Legion previously surprised him. It was already a little abnormal, but this was their normal level. Its eyes stared at the pale map made of some unknown animal's skin, as if it was really looking down at the land from the sky. The undead army was advancing across a few miles. Unless the humans had sealed off the area, it was impossible for them to surround the undead army.
Of course, it might have been possible, but the opponent's stupidity was pitiful.
"Let's use the skeletons to test their combat strength first." It replied coldly, setting the tone of the battle.
… …
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