The terrain of Crimson Citadel is a plain.
Apart from some hills nearby, there aren’t many mountainous areas. This vast and flat landscape once shaped Transia’s most prosperous region, but continuous disasters have made it increasingly desolate.
However, conversely, waging war on a land that has been repeatedly ravaged also has its advantages. It means that both sides of the conflict no longer need to consider much else; they can just fight to their heart’s content.
In the distance, the Crimson Citadel’s nocturne barrier is recovering. Under the illumination of the Astral Realm’s Wound emitting purple light overhead, one can see that the crimson barrier has already gathered to 2/3, covering most of the ruined city. This prevents the turbid flow formed by the gnoll vanguard from easily crossing the area guarded by loyal warriors.
However, the remaining 1/3 facing the west side is still in a fierce battle, with the chaotic and frenzied gnoll tide striking at their last hope of breaching the city.
Once the nocturne barrier closes again, they will forever lose the possibility of setting foot here.
But it’s like waves crashing against a reef.
No matter how frantically they try, they still can’t advance another step. The battlefield width is just that large, and the gnolls’ numerical advantage simply can’t be brought into play as the nocturne barrier gradually closes.
“The vampires have already won.”
Osprey Knight Valand lowered his telescope. This crude but valiant knight looked rather disgruntled at the distant battlefield and complained to his companions who were fully armed and ready:“We’re still too late. We wanted to do a favor for that cunning Murphy, but now even without us, they can still defend their ruined city.”
“Look on the bright side, sir,” said a winged cavalry captain next to Valand, who was as tall and sturdy as him, grinning.
“This proves that although the Blood Vulture Clan has suffered heavy losses, they are still powerful. Hasn’t the countess already decided to ally with them? Who would ally with a bunch of cowards and weaklings? With the Black Disaster coming, the stronger they are, the more beneficial it is for us. It’s like two weakened wolf packs merging to rule the forest again.”
“With Transia in this godforsaken state, what’s there to celebrate about becoming the wolf king here?”
On the other side of Knight Valand, his wife, Lady Sunny, who was only half a head shorter than Valand and as “giant-like” as him, coiled her braids, put on her winged battle helmet, and held a vicious long-handled battle knife used for horseback combat.
She said disdainfully:
“Whether it’s them or us, we’re now lone wolves licking our wounds. The first step to rebuilding a wolf pack is to have another fight when both sides are weak to choose a wolf king. They are stronger than us, and yet you think this is a good thing, hmph, foolish men.”
The contempt from the winged cavalry’s strategist made the surrounding knights very embarrassed.
Well, as mixed-blood descendants of mountain people and barbarians, the Seicob winged cavalry inherited the bravery and strength of both sides, but wisdom seemed to have never belonged to them, and they didn’t feel they needed such things.
Just like their brains!
It’s not that they don’t have them, they’re just too lazy to use them, so they maintain a 90% new high quality, extremely smooth to ensure that any knowledge can slide off the surface of their brains without leaving a trace of wisdom.
“Mount up! Prepare to charge!”
The embarrassed Osprey Knight couldn’t yell at his wife, not just because she was currently pregnant with their first child, but also because he was a good man who respected his wife.
Well, of course, it also had a little bit to do with the fact that he probably couldn’t beat her in a real fight.
Lady Sunny was a genius among the Seicob winged cavalry.
Her combat skills and horsemanship were personally taught by the previous Count of Seicob, who was also the cavalry commander. As a mountain forest priestess inheriting the mountain people’s legacy, Lady Sunny could also use some ancient inherited natural spirit combat techniques, making her one of the best among the remaining winged cavalry.
However, smart women never embarrass their men in front of others, so Lady Sunny quickly mounted her horse and pulled down her helmet visor to cover her face.
Knight Valand patted his warhorse “Cold Wind”.
He stepped on the stirrup and mounted, then took the lance he was skilled with from his squire. Due to his height reaching a staggering 2.5 meters, Valand’s lance was 3 meters long but was still held in his hand as if it were a wooden stick.
Standard winged cavalry not only have lances for charging, but they also keep a long battle sword on their backs for slashing, two armor-piercing hammers in their saddlebags, and after the reform by the previous winged cavalry commander, the armor-piercing crossbow originally used for long-range attacks was replaced with a more practical short-barreled blunderbuss.
When executing special quests, such as tonight’s terrifying tactic of 500 knights charging at 20,000 gnolls, which is tantamount to courting death, they would also place some alchemical bombs in their saddlebags for killing during the charge and covering their retreat.
With so many weapons to be carried by the warhorse, and the warhorse itself being heavily armored, it’s enough to prove that these winged cavalry’s warhorses only look like horses on the outside
Their inner nature is almost completely different.
In the ancient legends of the mountain people, these warhorses called “shadow manes” were said to have originated from the elves of the Castilia Peninsula. In those legends of questionable authenticity, these warhorses were specially bred by elf druids to be ridden by elf rangers.
They falling into the hands of the mountain people was just a beautiful encounter.
But this doesn’t prevent the fact that hundreds of years later, it was the existence of shadow mane warhorses, with their superior endurance and load-bearing capacity, that gave birth to the terrifying troop type known as the Seicob winged cavalry.
“Advance at a slow pace! Prepare to charge!”
Knight Valand issued orders in a resounding voice.
He spurred his sturdy companion beneath him to walk forward slowly, and the other knights also removed their nighttime camouflage, following the commander in rows, slowly accelerating.
The silver-gray plate armor of the winged cavalry reflected an eerie light under the purple glow of the Astral Realm’s Wound, as if they were wrapped in a dim cloak.
They followed the advance of the large group very silently, with 500 heavily armored knights advancing at their own pace under the guidance of 20 captains leading at the front.
They need to arrange their formation before the wall-like charge fully starts, and their warhorses also need some time to “warm up”, using nearly a kilometer of road to go from a slow trot to a gallop, and then into a full-force charge in three stages of acceleration.
This is also the only drawback of shadow mane warhorses.
Their own body weight makes it difficult for them to start instantly like the witch hunters’ demon-hunting steeds. They need some time to really get charging, but please believe, once they are fully charged, there are very few things on this continent that can stop them.
At least in the past 300 years, in the “collision tests” between the Seicob winged cavalry and countless enemies, the winged cavalry still proudly maintain an undefeated record.
Of course, this is limited to face-to-face heroic charges and battles. As for the Pioneer Army fearing their charge and using the deplorable spirit plague like cowards, stealing victory from the hands of these valiant heavy cavalry, that’s another terrible story that happened two years ago.
Even though two years have passed, whenever Knight Valand, now the spearhead of the charge, thinks of the scene of the winged cavalry, who claimed to “never retreat”, being routed on the day Seicob City fell, he still feels waves of shame.
He knows that this shameful memory will accompany him for life, and he can be certain that this shame is simultaneously affecting all the brothers and sisters following behind him now.
That was the first time they fled from the battlefield before the battle ended!
Even though it was due to the old count’s final order.
They chose duty over combat, but at the same time, they also became the cowards they once despised the most.
After losing their city, they retreated into the forest, but still fought against the invaders on their own land for two years. Apart from not wanting to hand over their homeland, there was probably also that element of shame at work.
Everyone kept silent about that day, as if it had become a taboo for this last winged cavalry.
Including Valand himself and his wise and powerful wife.
But those things cannot be avoided!
Especially when facing war again, a responsibility they must shoulder, the torment from the past is undoubtedly an agonizing pressure.
If not properly adjusted, this pressure will turn into anxiety, eventually forming resistance and fear.
And the best way to face fear is
“Knights! Raise your heads!”
The Osprey Knight’s deep voice rang out in the acceleration of the warhorses under the night sky, accompanied by the vibration of iron hooves trampling the ground, he shouted:
“The Winged Cavalry has never had a precedent of charging with lowered heads since its establishment. That’s not just to let us see the enemies in front of us clearly, but more to let our enemies see us.
The trembling of the ground announces our arrival, the sweeping of lances foretells their departure.
This is our tradition!
Lift your heads, look at them, look at our enemies!”
This is not enough.
Valand knew that this was far from enough as a pre-battle declaration, but he was only a charge commander before, and pre-battle declarations were always done by the Count of Seicob.
And their current countess
Ah, perhaps this was enough?
He thought so.
But in the next moment, from the second regiment to his left rear, a voice that shocked Valand to the point of almost falling off the Cold Wind’s saddle rang out in this night following his words.
It was a woman’s voice
No, it was a girl’s voice!
Clear, gentle, even with a touch of naivety.
“Knights!
I know you are all immersed in past failures and regard them as the shame of fleeing without a fight, I know that each of you tosses and turns every night you survive because of this shame.
That was the first time the Winged Cavalry turned their backs to the enemy on the battlefield, it was also the first time the Seicob territory you protected was helpless against the enemy’s trampling.
That was our first failure!
That bitter feeling always remains fresh in memory.”
The girl’s voice shouldn’t have been loud enough to be heard by all the knights who had already completed their formation change in the night, but Lady Sunny’s spirit technique made this child’s voice even overshadow the gradually accelerating and noisy hoof beats at this moment.
This scene was very much like when the old Count of Seicob led them to the battlefield every time, making a war declaration when the cavalry accelerated and converged into an invincible steel torrent, just like adding Combustion Gold Catalyst to a steam engine, making the originally ordinary steam become fierce.
Knight Valand turned his head to look.
He saw the small figure in his wife’s arms on the saddle of her warhorse “Glacier”, also wearing armor identical to that of the Winged Cavalry.
Of course, it was a small size.
The top of her battle helmet was adorned with long tassels interwoven with black and white, representing her identity.
The current Count of Seicob.
The old count’s youngest daughter, the last heir of the Seicob family.
She shouldn’t be here!
She shouldn’t be involved in this dangerous charge, this is not a fearless charge formation of 5,000 knights, now they only have 500 people, 200 of whom are disabled.
No vanguard, no rear guard, and no flanks!
They are just executing a “wrong case” that should never appear in the Winged Cavalry manual.
“Listen! Knights! I am your countess and your commander! Just as excellent cavalry would never abandon their warhorse, the Seicob family has never had a count cowardly enough not to charge on the battlefield.
I know I shouldn’t be here!
But I came anyway.
This will make me severely reprimanded by Knight Valand after the battle, I might even cry because of it, but I still came, because I know, this is my duty.
Just as you know, accelerating to break through the enemies blocking our way and helping our allies win this battle is your duty!
Knights!
Our dignity and our glorious tradition have been shattered and trampled by our enemies, our past has been cut off by that failure and all that’s left for us is a life of surviving while bearing the burden of the past.
We failed.
We admit this.
The mixed-blood of mountain people and barbarians are not afraid of death, let alone admitting they were once shameful failures.
But it’s precisely because we failed that we appear here!
We will, like our ancient ancestors, face the enemies of civilization in another Black Disaster, just like in the ancient legends, we will charge towards that terrifying black tide.
We will fight and win!
We will pick up our lost dignity and tradition with our own hands, and reforge the legend of the Winged Cavalry’s invincibility!
Starting from tonight!
Starting from now!”
The little Countess of Seicob’s voice paused, and by this time, the wall-like charge formation of the knights had fully taken shape.
500 heavy cavalry, led by the Osprey Knight Valand, had already entered the second acceleration of kinetic energy accumulation. The terrifying vibration formed by their armored warhorses trampling the ground could no longer be concealed by the night, even the stupidest gnoll could feel the ground trembling beneath their feet.
The earth was groaning!
As if even it couldn’t bear the charging heavy cavalry with their raised weapons and the anger transformed from the humiliation burning in their hearts.
Valand could already see the flank of the gnoll vanguard army that was attacking Crimson Citadel, less than a kilometer away from him.
And Cold Wind was neighing.
As if even it was eager to experience the pleasure of trampling and destroying again, to take back what it had lost.
“Spread the wings!”
The Osprey Knight could feel a fire burning in his heart as he roared out the final order.
All the cavalry simultaneously activated the spirit formations on their armor, and the double wings that stood as decorations on the back of the armor spread out flat like real wings.
The spirit formation was activated, natural spirit energy howled as it was transformed into a gale-like thrust, pushing the knights and their warhorses into the third acceleration of energy accumulation in an instant.
Making their speed faster, making the kinetic energy they would apply during the collision more terrifying.
Just like a bunch of war hammers already raised in the air, desperately longing to fall on a damned skull.
“Knights!”
The little Countess of Seicob’s slightly breaking voice also rang out at this last moment, she shouted in a roaring manner:
“We will, like our ancestors, walk into history, write history, and honor history. The legend of old days has ended, but a new legend is right before our eyes.
As the Countess of the Seicob family, I command you!
Follow me, charge through!
Crush them!”
“Ahhhhh!”
The gnoll barbarian squad leader facing the oncoming tidal wave of heavy cavalry formation was already in despair.
The pups behind it had long since turned and run, even slashing their weapons at their companions in search of hope for escape, driven by fear.
They absolutely did not want to be hit by such a cavalry charge.
That must hurt a lot.
But it had nowhere to go.
It saw Knight Valand’s leveled lance as the sharp arrow of the charge, and it howled, using its last courage to swing its flail in an attempt to block the monster coming at it.
It got its wish.
“Bang”
In an impact that could be described as “light”, this brave and stupid gnoll was sent flying.
It died the instant it took off.
This might be a good thing, because the next moment, its corpse flew into the air as if it had grown wings, flying and flying, until it barely crashed into the chaotic formation behind it a hundred meters later.
And in the next instant, the piercing formation came in earth-shaking momentum, trampling over its corpse, easily piercing and tearing their formation apart like a hot dinner knife cutting through butter.
Stupid gnolls flew into the air one after another, while more barbarians turned into rotten mud under the iron hooves.
The knights charged through silently yet tumultuously.
Just like the ancient stories of the past, stupid enemies tried to block the Winged Cavalry, the Winged Cavalry began to charge, and so… the battle was over.
Well, how difficult could this be?
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