Carglise suppressed the nervousness in his heart and told them everything he saw. After the Viero's left wing was defeated, Count Jacques set up a defensive formation in a forest, hoping to use the terrain to restrict the Madara's skeletal cavalry and Fear-Wraiths. After losing their left flank, the Viero's defensive line became extremely narrow, and they were surrounded by the undead army on three sides. Madara sent skeleton swordsmen to attack, but the Viero's elite crossbowmen were almost useless against the skeletons. Only the arrows that were sanctified by the priests of the Holy Cathedral of Fire had an effect, but their numbers were too small to affect the battle at all. The skeleton swordsmen were slightly weaker than the human soldiers, but they had the advantage in numbers. Viero's elite crossbowmen could not do much, and the remaining thousand Knights and heavy infantrymen were in a difficult battle.
Just like any other human army that fought against the undead, the Viero people's resistance was extremely tenacious. The dark nobles of Madara were used to this, and their method of dealing with the Viero people was very simple. They would exchange casualties with the Viero people regardless of the cost. Brando knew that Count Jacques was doomed. The skeletons were resistant to arrows, and the Viero's army did not bring enough priests with them. It was a suicide mission. On the other hand, Madara's undead army was tireless and unaffected by casualties, but the humans could not accept the despair of seeing their comrades fall one by one. As expected, the Viero's army quickly fell into chaos.
"So the Viero's army is almost done for?" Brando asked.
"Almost done for, my Lord. However, Madara's infantrymen are still involved. The Viero's elite crossbowmen are not much of a threat to the skeletons, but they are a great threat to the Dreadwraiths. The Blood Staff lost two Dreadwraiths in this battle, and they are probably determined to take down the Viero's elite army. Moreover, the current exchange is very advantageous to them, and they have no reason to let go of this opportunity. "
"You saw it with your own eyes?"
"I saw it with my own eyes, my Lord."
"Then what do you think of both sides?" Brando sat on the horse and asked pointedly.
"Viero's Knight retainers are a joke. In my opinion, they shouldn't have come at all. Those Knights really made Count Jacques suffer. If it weren't for them, Viero wouldn't have lost so miserably."
"Duke Viero can't stop them from coming." Brando smiled, his tone mocking.
The people around him couldn't help but frown, especially Carglise, who was born in a noble family. It was natural for a retainer to serve their lord. Aouine and Kirrlutz had maintained this tradition for the past few centuries, and it didn't seem to be a big deal. But why did it suddenly seem like a huge drawback? Only Brando knew in his heart that in the past, it didn't matter who won or lost in the battles between lords. At most, they would lose some money. That was a war between nobles. But from this era onwards, wars of annexation of countries and territories had begun. From this moment on, the outcome of a war was related to life and death. The inefficient way of forming an army had begun to become a fatal weakness.
"What about the others?"
"They're alright. Count Tommol's noble Knight and heavy infantry have the strength of Ampere Seale's Harbor Guards and the Southern Legion, but their numbers are too small. If the elite crossbowmen were able to do their job, they might be able to put up a fight, but now …" Carglise clicked his tongue. Count Tommol was Count Jacques's real name. Carglise had always been frivolous, so he lacked the necessary courtesy to the nobles other than Brando and the princess. Calling him by his name and not giving him a nickname was already a show of respect for the count's courage. What he meant by putting up a fight was that they could only fight the four thousand skeletons head-on. The Blood Staff did not even send their elites to the battlefield.
"What about the Lantonians?"
"Eke was stopped by the skeletons of Madara. They're right in front of us. They've been trying to support Count Tommol, but the skeletons didn't give them the chance. But the Lantonians are really strong. They didn't let them have the upper hand. I saw Eke and his Knight circling around the skeletons. They're probably waiting for us to arrive at the battlefield. "
Brando smiled. The commander of this army must be Eke's fiancée, Yura. That blind girl with nine phoenixes was a genius. She was a true chosen one. If it weren't for her and Eke's early deaths in history, Erouine's history might have turned out differently. At that time, there were several strong people in the south. Other than Eke and Yura, there was also Cohen in front of him. If the three of them could work together with the Highland Knight, Madara's invasion might not have been so smooth. When the Blood Staff was ambushed in Tosancade Forest, Yura played an important role in it.
"Tell me about Madara." He deliberately raised his voice. As expected, everyone pricked up their ears. Other than Brando, most of the people here were very curious about the "opponent" that their lord had always valued. From what they heard, the skeletons were not worth mentioning. Other than Brando and Freya, even the mercenaries who escaped from Bucce did not think that Madara would be Erouine's greatest enemy. These people were more or less influenced by such thinking. But today, they seemed to have seen the other side of the Roman rose.
Jana was sitting on the saddle in full armor. She was not used to the heavy armor she was wearing, but she loved it so much that she could not put it down. The beautiful armor that was decorated with embellishments now proved that she was a noble of the kingdom. She was the head knight, and this was the position she had always wanted. If she had this position earlier, perhaps she would have been able to protect her sister. She sighed inwardly. When she heard Brando's words, Jutta pursed her lips again. She turned to Vern and said, "Our lord is here again."
The knight captain of the Karsuk cavalry glanced at her coldly and did not answer.
"Are those skeletons really that powerful?"
"More powerful than you think, but not as ridiculous as our lord said," Vern replied.
"I think so too. Our lord must have been frightened by them in Bucce. Haha, although our lord is a little unbelievably powerful, young and handsome, he is still a child after all." Jutta smiled.
Vern glanced at her. It was a little too disrespectful to say that. Every Karsuk citizen had a blood feud with the Blood Staff, and he was no exception. He was grateful that his lord kept his promise and brought him here. When he thought of the opportunity to kill the Blood Staff with his own hands, the head of the Karsuk cavalry felt his blood boiling. Of course, he might agree with Jutta's words, but he would never describe his lord that way.
At this moment, in front of Brando, Carglise was silent for a moment. "If I can, I really don't want to be their enemy. To deal with them, I have to kill them completely. Just thinking about it makes me tired."
"That's it?"
"It's a little strong."
"Strong?"
"There was a group of Skeleton Swordsmen that defeated Uncle Tormobo. Their attire is something I have never seen before. Their strength is far beyond the average skeleton. But the strange thing is that we have never heard of this kind of Skeleton Swordsmen before. I suspect that other than the Dread Wraiths and the Skeleton Cavalry, Madara has many other high-grade military units that we have never heard of before. They have never appeared in the past wars. "Carglise replied.
"Describe them?"
"The skeleton swordsmen were a little different from the ordinary skeletons. They used two-handed swords that were as wide as a palm."
"Two-handed swordsmen."
"Yes, two-handed swordsmen." Carglise nodded. "They were also different from the ordinary skeletons. They wore black half-body armor without a helmet. They seemed to be wearing iron gauntlets."
"Is there a carving of a spider on the breastplate of the half-body armor?"
Carglise raised his head and looked at Brando in surprise. "My lord, you have seen them before?"
[The Spider Swordsman is here, as expected.] He looked at Carglise and continued to ask: "And then?"
"They are very strong." Carglise was a little surprised. He knew his mission before he went to Silman. Other than the knowledge that Brando taught him about Madara, he also borrowed information about the Kingdom of Darkness from Amandina. But he did not find any information about the strange two-handed swordsmen. He felt that his lord was a little unusual, so he answered cautiously: "An ordinary Knight is no match for them. They have the strength of a third-grade army."
"A third-grade army?" Raban could not help but exclaim: "That's impossible!"
Madara indeed had many high-grade undead creatures. Among them, the Bone Dragon was a ninth-grade creature. There were a total of three Bone Dragons in the Incirsta Dragon's army, but they were like generals in Erouine's army. Once they appeared on the battlefield, they were often conspicuous targets. Erouine also had Elemental Awakened masters, so when these high-grade undead creatures appeared on the battlefield, they would not be able to cause much damage to an ordinary army.
In Wohnde's military theory, only high-grade undead could be called a high-grade army.
However, Madara and Erouine lacked high-grade armies. Their basic army was made up of skeletons and zombies, which were even inferior to human soldiers. The higher-grade army was made up of the Black Knight and the Ghost (the Pale Horsemen were also a type of Ghost), but their numbers were too few. If it were not for the unique attributes of the undead, Madara's army would not even be as strong as Erouine's. For this reason, for thousands of years, both sides were able to fight back and forth, and at one point, the Kingdom even had the upper hand.
That was why Raban, who had dealt with the skeletons the most, was the first to feel incredulous when he heard Carglise's words.
"But if Madara has such an army, why did they hide it before? If they wanted to catch us off guard, now is not the time to do so." Jutta could not help but ask.
Brando shook his head. This was the general mentality of the people of Erouine in this era. Even the people around him did not know what was happening in the east. But only he knew that Carglise was not lying. Madara had never hidden its army, and there was no need for it to hide anything from a weak country like Erouine. However, it was true that the Spider Swordsmen had never appeared in the war against Erouine before, because they had just joined Madara's army.
The Dread Wraiths, the Skeleton Knights, and now the Spider Swordsmen. Although today's Madara did not have the Tamar of history, it still had these new types of soldiers. One person's gains and losses could not change history. Madara's huge territory in all four directions was too terrifying, and there would be more in the future. This was just the beginning. Brando smiled. If he told these people that the Spider Swordsmen would become Madara's basic infantry in the future, what would they think?
After the Third War of the Black Rose, Madara did not bother to create any more Skeleton Warriors. It was a pure waste of soul energy. From then on, Madara's lowest level soldier was the Vengeful Spider Swordsmen, which had evolved into a fourth-grade soldier.
"So all of you have heard it," Brendel said: "The enemy you will face in front of us might be an undead army with a third tier army and a fourth tier air force. This is an army that is different from the Cruz, the Lion Clan, and even the Demons. You will soon see the power of this army. "
The young White Lion Guards fell silent after hearing their Lord's words. Brando looked at everyone at the border of the forest and waved his hand gently.
"But these are not important."
He suddenly smiled, revealing his white teeth.
"What's important is that we will crush them here today and tell the world that today's enemy of Madara will be a kingdom that has lost its ancient glory and returned to this world from the long scroll of history."
"It is the white lion, the golden sword, the oath of protection, and the ancient faith."
"Yes," the Count rode on his horse. He paused for a moment, as if he was about to exhale the last breath in his chest. "Our country, Erouine —"
His voice was not loud, as if it was drifting in the rain, but it made the blood in everyone's chests surge in reverse, as if it had given birth to endless courage. It made everyone feel as if they could not help but let out a long cry and move forward with their swords. Brando raised his hand. On the river valley, on the border of the forest, the flag bearers raised their flags. The sacred white flag fluttered in the wind and appeared in the mist, flapping loudly. On it was the kingdom's new moon, the pine mountains, the fallen leaves, and the ice and snow of the Northern Region. It was as if the history of the kingdom had been reborn on this land at this moment.
On it was the emblem of the White Lion.
The trumpeter put the trombone to his lips, puffed up his cheeks, and blew hard.
The sound of the horn was melodious, as if it had broken through the mist.
…
"Who's in front of us?" Brando suddenly asked.
"It's the two regiments from the Sea of the Dead Moon. I've already figured it out. The commanders are 'Deathwhisperer' Mogkin and Sir Viskag the Silent. The troop composition is basically spider swordsmen, and there are a few skeleton cavalry. They should be the elites of the Blood Staff."
"It has nothing to do with the Blood Staff. It's the Emperor's Chosen Group." Brando smiled.
"The Emperor's Chosen Group?"
"It's nothing. Let's run over them first, as a greeting to the Blood Staff."
The melodious trombone echoed throughout the entire valley. The first to react was the Lantonilan. As soon as he heard the thick and heavy sound of the dragon's horn, Eke's eyes lit up. He tightened his grip on the reins and turned around on the galloping horse. He turned around and shouted, "Listen, where is the sound coming from?" The Knight of Anthony turned around, and after a moment, someone replied loudly, "It's the west, the west!"
"Haha, the Tónigel people are here!" Eke pulled out his sword, turned his horse around, and shouted, "The Count is greeting the Blood Staff. We, the people of Anthony, can't let them look down on us. Let's go, let's blow the horn too! Get ready to turn around, it's time to teach those half-assed skeleton cavalry a lesson! "
Being chased by a group of opponents who were much weaker than them to the point that they did not dare to fight back, the Knight had long been aggrieved. At this moment, they could not help but cheer loudly, and for a moment, the river valley was filled with a tsunami of cheers.
The humming of the horns echoed each other and spread throughout the valley along with the wind and rain.
Count Jacques, whose face was covered in blood, raised his head and listened carefully to the sound of the horns. "The Tónigel people are here, they and the people of Anthony are informing us …" This resolute soldier could not help but shed tears at this moment, two streams of hot blood flowed down from the blood stains on his face, and he lamented, "But what's the use of them coming, it's useless, I've let them down, I've let them down, quickly retreat, we're hopeless! At least don't all die here, go and tell Her Highness the Princess, tell the Duke, Madara is no longer Madara! Where's the trumpeter, quickly tell them to retreat, retreat quickly, before the undead have their eyes on them — "
The trumpeter stood beside his Lord in a daze, and everyone could not help but look at each other.
Should they blow the horn?
If the horn was blown, then they were doomed, and no one would come to their rescue. They were surrounded, and only death was awaiting them. But what if they blew the horn? As the Count said, what was the use of that? The undead army in front of them was no longer what it used to be, and even the people of Anthony could not break through their defense line, so what were the Tónigel people? That place was just a remote place, and perhaps the current Lord would be a powerful minister of the kingdom in the future, and he might even become the only Sword Saint in the new generation of Erouine, but so what?
One person could not change the situation of the war.
But to wait for death, the nobles could not do it. Logic told them that they should blow the horn, but emotionally, these cowardly nobles could not accept the fate of being abandoned by their allies. They could not help but look at the trumpeter and shake their heads desperately.
"Everyone," Count Jacques certainly noticed the little movements of his colleagues, even at this time, they still could not let go of their little thoughts? He could not help but sigh in his heart, and said somewhat weakly, "Everyone still has children, do you want them to face the same situation as us today, waiting for death in despair and sorrow? You are soldiers, and the word 'duty' may be too distant for you, but protecting your wife and children is a human instinct. I've said all I can, do you still want to stop me? "
Count Zlin, who was shaking his head desperately, suddenly froze.
Children and descendants were the hope of the nobles' inheritance. Even if they were as cold as iron, they could not help but waver at this moment —
Under the same sky, the Blood Staff was silently looking at the gloomy sky, as if it could see the sound of the trombone reverberating in the air. After a while, it lowered its head and asked in a low voice, "Where is this army from?"
"The human wounded soldiers who did not die said that they seem to be from Tónigel."
"Tónigel?" The Blood Staff was slightly startled, "Where is that?"
"I'm very sorry, I have not heard of it, my lord."
… …
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