François and Laing walked side by side over the walls of La Mesenelle Abbey. "Set up camp and let the serfs, old people, and children hide in the caves behind the abbey. Later, before the undead army reaches the abbey, we have to repair the walls here."
This was a magnificent defensive structure embedded in the valley of the Grey Mountains. The walls were nearly ten meters high, and a round fortress was built in the middle of the valley. There was only a narrow path leading to the gate.
This was the place where François and Kemmler had fought. In Kemmler's hundreds of years of life, this was the most painful defeat he had ever experienced.
Even so, the fortress was not as sturdy as they had imagined. It only had one layer of walls because it was more of a monastery for the God of Nature, Tal. There were only five hundred guards in the monastery, but they were all elite troops formed by the Holy Grail Pilgrims.
Due to the difficulty of transporting food and the barren land in the mountains, this was the maximum number of guards that could be stationed in the abbey.
After several tough battles, they were given the honorable title of "Holy Watchers of La Mesenelle." They had fought against the undead army in the cemetery and fought side by side with François more than twenty years ago. Now, these Holy Grail Pilgrims were training hard, hoping that they could attract the attention of the Lady of the Lake through war and reward them.
If the serfs wanted to win the favor of the Lady of the Lake, they could only rely on some special means.
Looking at the magnificent mountains and endless plains in the distance, Laing noticed two giant stone statues of high elves standing on both sides of the mountain path. He smiled at François and said, "I really should let Sir Fulcade come down and take a look. This abbey is also a ruin of the high elves."
Duke Fulcade and his army did not follow Laing and François to the abbey. Along the way, many villages and towns were in need of Fulcade and his army. Duke Montfort had to spare some energy to defend them, so he took the initiative to withdraw.
This was the disadvantage of fighting in one's own territory. Kemmler and his undead could attack anywhere in the Grey Mountains at will, while the Knight King Kingdom could only actively defend most of the time.
There were many places where the army had to be split up to guard. The newly conquered Blackstone Stronghold also needed to be guarded. When the allied army of the dwarves and humans arrived at the monastery, there were only about 20,000 of them left.
"Brittany used to be a colony of the High Elves. Even today, we are still indebted to the High Elves. The High Elves have built a strong magic circle here to help us seal the Staff of Nagash." François looked at the damaged wall and said, "The Grail Knight, Pierre, and the two Paladins in the monastery are willing to help us. Esmer Beaumont, the Saintess of the Lake, who is stationed here, will also help us. Including all our troops, there are about twenty-one thousand people."
"We will fight Kemmler and his Ancient Tomb army here," Laing said in a low voice.
"Yes, the place where everything began will also be the place where it ends." François's blue cloak fluttered in the wind. His expression was serious. "It's time for revenge."
The vigorous mountain breeze blew past the city walls. Both Leon and Francois were silent. Victory was short-lived. They had just defeated Kemmler near the Blackstone Stronghold. It was just that they didn't complete the task. Now, the opportunity had come.
A scout rushed in from outside. Crusader Knight Kalad hurriedly dismounted and ran along the wall to Laing and François. "My Duke, Laing, Kemmler and his Ancient Tomb army are already on their way here. They will probably attack at night."
"Very good." François's sea blue eyes were solemn. He looked at the afternoon sky. "Tell us to prepare. How many enemies are there?"
"About thirty thousand … Also, my Duke, our scouts found the former Duke of Attawa, Zilfoy, and the Wild Boar Knight Brotherhood in the army of the Ancient Tombs." Kalad hugged his cross helmet.
Another 30,000! The knights in the hall felt the pressure of this number. In the battle of the Blackstone Stronghold, the Ancient Tomb army and the Mu Xilong army had 50,000 soldiers. Only 5,000 of the dead army had retreated. In a week, Kemmler had quickly replenished 30,000 soldiers!
"Kemmler must have dug up the grave of the Duke of Attawa's family. He is putting all his eggs in one basket." François frowned. "Compared to the 50,000 in the battle of the Blackstone Stronghold, the Ancient Tomb army's numbers have decreased a lot. But we still do not have the advantage in numbers."
"It's always like this when fighting vampires." Laing did not care.
The gray knight geno prototype was ashamed of not being able to take down Jul. He swore he would break Jul's dead head in this battle.
"Tell everyone to come to the hall for a meeting," François ordered.
Thirty minutes later, everyone had a meeting in the monastery. A huge topographic map was placed on the table.
"We have to protect La Messenell Monastery. Otherwise, if Kemmler takes the Staff of Nagash, no one will be able to stop him and his dead army. He can easily use the magic in the staff." Count Khuilwu loudly said, "The tide of the dead will drown the entire southern Brittany."
"The bad news is, the scouts told us that Kemmler revived the Boar Knight Brotherhood of the former Duke of Attawa's family. This allowed him to replenish a large number of soldiers. He also used a lot of money to hire a group of robbers from the Grey Mountains. There are about 600 of them." Jerrold went on to say, "The robbers are mainly made up of crossbowmen and archers. This makes up for the lack of long-range firepower in Kemmler's army … At least a little."
"Ha ha ha! Let them come!" The Grail Knight who was stationed in La Messenell Monastery was called Saint Pierre. He was over a hundred years old and no longer cared about life and death. "I will kill every dead bastard I see. I swear."
"The defense of the monastery will be left to the Divine Watchers of La Mesenaire, as well as the dwarven artillerymen of Leon's army." François began to arrange the military formation. "They will deploy all the artillery, muskets, and catapults on the walls of the monastery. That will be our last line of defense."
"The left wing is yours, Laing. You and your people must resist the attack of the dead army. I will assign 5,000 people to you," François said to Laing. "If you can, defeat them."
"Understood." Laing nodded.
"Yes! Leave it to the dwarves! " Bellegar poked his head out from under the long table. He raised Angrund's Hammer in his hand, indicating that he had received it.
"The right wing will be left to most of the knights from Anthelm and Winford's Duchy and the Pegasus Knights of the Swift Heavenly Spear. You guys prioritize dealing with the robbers hired by Kemmler. Also, be careful not to get separated," François continued, "Kalad, Jerrold, you guys follow Anthelm."
"Yes!" Anthelm and Jerrold both nodded.
"I will lead most of the infantry and archers to stand by in the middle of the army to attract the enemy's main force. Kemmler will definitely attack the middle of the army regardless of the cost. If he does so, Laing, Anthelm, you guys immediately attack Kemmler and his army from both sides." Francois then ordered, "The cannoneers on the walls will provide us with cover and artillery support. Based on my understanding of Kemmler, he will definitely come for me, just like how I want to burn his bones and scatter his ashes!"
"Yes!"
When the military meeting ended, it was already afternoon. The sky gradually darkened. The knights began to distribute food, inspect equipment, and make nervous preparations.
This was the battle that would determine whether Laing and François could free the Knight King Duchy from Kemmler's shadow. It would also determine the fate of the southern Brittany. If they failed here, the entire Winford Duchy and the south would be engulfed by the undead tide until they were completely submerged.
Most of the knights had solemn expressions. Everyone knew the importance of victory.
Prayers could be heard everywhere in the camp.
Morgiana, the Witch of the Lake, cast a powerful spell, a great divine spell. She channeled the divine power of the Lake Nymphs. Now, a statue of the Lake Nymphs in the monastery held a golden cup with both hands. The golden cup was filled with clear and shining holy water. The champion knights of the Champion Knights Brotherhood would smear the holy water on their weapons to break through the protection of the Undead and Chaos Chosen Warriors.
After releasing the spell, Morgiana sat on the side with a pale face. Her strength had not fully recovered. Releasing a spell had almost exhausted all of her magic power.
Laing was fully equipped. He wanted to talk to Morgiana, but the Champion Knights of the Champion Knights Brotherhood were present. It was not very convenient in this environment, so he could only give up.
After putting on his psionic power armor, Laing lowered his head and thought about how he would defeat Gul and Kemmler, as well as Marchebad, Duke of Muxilon.
After thinking for a while, Thor's Hammer appeared in front of him. He looked up and saw Kalad's face. The expedition knight had a thin goatee. He had a smile on his face. "Your hammer, it's really heavy."
"No, it's your hammer." Laing laughed. He reached out and took his Thor's Hammer. He picked up the divine sword Durandale with his other hand and handed it to Kalad. "Your sword is my sword, Kalad. In this war, we will not be separated. We will fight together to protect our country."
"For the land that the Lady has given us, for Brittany!" Kalad took the sword from Laing's hand. The expedition knight hesitated for a moment, but still opened his mouth. "Laing, can I have a serious word with you?"
"Please go ahead." Ryan and Kalad had met many times, but the two of them didn't have much interaction.
"I used to have some opinions about you. I thought that the Lady's choice of you as the champion was a little … ridiculous. Brittany does not need such an outsider as the Lady's champion. We have plenty of powerful young knights." Kalad extended his hand to Leon. "But I admire what you've done. If it weren't for you, I don't know how many disasters this kingdom would have gone through. Brother Leon, I won't say those hypocritical praises, nor do I like to say them. I'll show you my performance."
"Thank you …" Laing also reached out and shook Kalad's hand. "Let us guard the land that the Lady has given us together."
"Okay!" Laing wanted to say more, but suddenly, a horn sounded outside.
"Beep, beep, beep …"
"That's not the horn of the undead!" Laing and Kalad looked at each other. The eyes of the Lady of the Lake's champion shone brightly. "That's more like …"
After that, Laing immediately ran out.
"Beep, beep, beep …"
The Great Eagle screeched as it streaked across the sky. A vigorous figure descended from the Great Eagle's back. He wore a helmet with antlers and scales forged from the power of stars. Behind him, an army of about 2000 wood elves appeared in front of the Brittanian knights.
It was an elite army made up of woodland guards, eternal guards, and forest scouts. They wore long robes and carried recurve bows on their backs. Their riders held up the flag with the King's territory on it. They gradually approached La Messenell Abbey in neat square formations.
François trotted down the stairs in surprise. "How … how is this possible?"
The arrogant Lord of the Woodland, Alaros, walked to the front of the stairs and faced the knights. He raised his chin and stood proudly. "Brittany, I bring greetings from the King of the Forest, Ao Laing, and Queen Alaier."
"A thousand years ago, when your Knight King, Arthur, founded the kingdom, we formed an alliance to fight against evil together."
"A thousand years later, Alaros will not sit by and watch the undead wreak havoc outside the forest. You helped us when Kemmler and his undead army attacked the forest. Now, we will lend a helping hand in this war."
"Alaros will fight with you!"
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