When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#560 - Battle of Rapunzel Village (Part 2)

"Who said this road is impassable? This road is perfectly passable!"

Snapping his whip at the staggering bobcat, a leading Temple Knight couldn't help but boast.

More than five hundred knights formed a long line, slowly advancing on the road flanked by farmland and ditches.

At the rear of the long line, halberds and glaives swayed, as guards in chain mail or padded armor trudged wearily behind the horses' tails.

Aylward, captain of the Edict Company, walked at the forefront, glancing disdainfully at the boisterous Temple Knight.

This time, he had deployed nearly his entire force from the camp to attack the Salvation Army that had landed at Shattered Rice Town.

He had not only summoned back all the knights who were carousing in the city, but had also, unusually, paid the mercenaries their full wages.

Although reconnaissance indicated that the enemy had only 3-4 companies, and all infantry, who would dare underestimate them?

Against normal infantry, Aylward was confident that he could sweep them away with two hundred Temple Knights.

But these were those devilish black-clad soldiers, a crazy army that didn't flinch even when faced with a hundred knights charging.

The crushing defeat at Rapid Falls forced him to be extremely cautious, wishing he could bring his whole family to charge in one wave.

To prevent the Salvation Army from gaining a foothold, Aylward launched a light strike this time.

He specifically requisitioned donkey carts, not to carry food, but to carry weapons and armor, to prevent the infantry from slowing them down.

They had originally planned to go through the Peforth Estate, but unfortunately, one of the guides was from the Peforth Estate.

He leaked the information to the farmers overnight, causing the people in the estate to cross the Nauan River with their money and food and flee into the small woods on the other side.

After walking all morning, they couldn't even get a bite to eat. Wasn't this bullying their esteemed knightly lords?

Fortunately, another guide, named Tam or Sack, pointed out another route, through a place called Black Lettuce Village.

Although this route wasn't as flat as the Peforth Estate, it didn't have forests or hills either.

This way, the Salvation Army couldn't take advantage of the terrain. The only downside was that there were fewer people, so eating and fighting might not be too comfortable.

Anyway, it was only half a day's journey, lasting at most a day or two. If it's uncomfortable, then so be it.

Aylward felt that he already had the demeanor of a great general, knowing how to use terrain to restrict the enemy.

"Company Captain, Yellow Mushroom Bridge is ahead."

Black Lettuce Village was located next to the Nauan River. To irrigate the farmland, like most villages in Hotam County, small artificial rivers and ponds were built.

Across the artificial river was Yellow Mushroom Bridge, a plank bridge level with both banks. Yellow Mushroom Bridge extended to the other side, which was Black Lettuce Village.

Black Lettuce Village used to house dozens, nearly a hundred families, but due to floods and war, most of the residents had fled.

Sitting on horseback, Aylward looked out and saw nearly a hundred stacked earthen and thatched houses surrounding both sides of the road.

Flags and sheds were also set up on the road, with houses and sheds piled up, looking quite crowded and chaotic.

Looking at the Yellow Mushroom Bridge in front of him, Aylward frowned and called over the guide nicknamed Bobcat: "Hey, what's going on with this bridge?"

"This bridge is very sturdy. As long as not too many people cross it at once, it won't collapse," Tuck said calmly, his face covered with whip marks. "There used to be markets held here, sometimes with thousands of people, and the bridge was fine."

Aylward stared at the numb and calm eyes for a long while before waving his whip: "Temple Knights, cross first."

Hooves landed on the bridge surface, stirring up patches of dust.

Soon, more than two hundred Temple Knights lined up and successfully crossed the Yellow Mushroom Bridge.

Seeing that the Temple Knights were fine, Aylward ordered the three hundred knights of the Edict Company to cross the bridge.

Only when all the knights had crossed the wooden bridge did he finally feel relieved.

The moment he saw the bridge, Aylward had a palpitation, but now it seemed that he had been overthinking it.

How quiet this street is, without any villagers or Holy Sons of Righteousness...

Walking along the street made up of houses, Aylward slowly led the knights forward, scanning the dilapidated houses on both sides.

Apart from birds, there wasn't even a shadow of a person.

Quiet, too quiet. He couldn't even hear the chirping of insects.

Sometimes, he even felt that it was too quiet, so quiet that he even hallucinated a low murmur.

A low murmur? Aylward suddenly pulled on the reins.

No, no! It's not a hallucination!

"Something's wrong, go back, go back!"

As Aylward shouted, pulling on the reins, it was already too late. Hot wind blew against his back, and immense heat and flashing light came from behind him at the same time.

As he turned his head, more than a dozen fireballs exploded in a row on the plank bridge over the river, and half of the bridge was burning fiercely.

In the thick black smoke, dozens of guards, their bodies on fire, screamed and jumped into the river.

Flames rose and leaped, and the entire bridge turned into black, charred remains. Burning wooden components crashed into the water, raising wisps of blue smoke.

With crackling sounds, the plank bridge broke in the middle and slowly collapsed into the irrigation ditch, which was more than half a person deep.

The artificial ditch was seven or eight meters wide. The guards in chain mail could barely swim across with their armor, but Aylward had an ominous premonition seeing the crowded houses and streets.

"The entire army accelerates through the village, ignore the guards!" Without hesitation, Aylward stood up on his saddle and shouted anxiously.

However, in this roar, he heard a peculiar whooshing sound.

The knights subconsciously looked up.

Under the pale white clouds, dozens of black shadows flew into the sky from behind the houses.

Then, like rain, they rolled to the ground with a pinging sound.

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"Fireball spell! Raise shields, raise shields!"

"Priests, quickly interrupt their magic!"

"What is this? Where did these iron balls come from?"

Exclamations arose everywhere. The knights who had seen the Red Dragon's breath in Rapid Falls immediately raised their shields subconsciously and lay prone on their horses' backs.

Among the knights present, only the Temple Knights were still standing upright stupidly in place.

"Tick-tock-tick-tock—"

The imagined flames did not appear. These spheres only made a peculiar ticking sound.

One Temple Knight even used the tip of his spear to pick up a sphere. He looked at the dial on it and curiously put his ear to the sphere.

"Tick-tock-tick-tock—click!"

"Don't panic, maintain formation, it's not a fireball spell!"

The leading Temple Knight had just finished shouting when he heard a series of faint buzzing sounds.

What is this sound? Just as this thought flashed through his mind, the buzzing sound in his ears suddenly amplified tenfold.

Then, he lost all consciousness.

Ripples rippled in the air, and the dust on the ground surged and dispersed. An invisible shockwave instantly swept through this crowded street.

"Neigh—" The warhorses let out cries of sorrow.

The previously noisy street instantly quieted down by several decibels. Almost all the low-ranking knights stiffened on the spot, and some even fell directly from their horses.

Even the war priests on the edge of the impact range showed painful expressions.

The Edict Knights, immune to dragon bone shockwaves, endured the nauseating feeling, shouting and using riding spears to wake up their companions who had been stunned by the dragon bone whistle concussion wave.

"Clear a path, ignore those unconscious knights."

Looking at the crowded iron cans in front of him, Aylward wiped the blood from his nose and shouted loudly.

Because the Temple Knights in front were almost all hit, blocking the road ahead.

The knights behind were subconsciously moving forward, horses and armor rubbing and colliding, neighing and cursing echoing in the helmets, and hundreds of knights were almost all crowded in this area.

Aylward saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart.

Sweat dripped from under his helmet, flowing past the corner of his eye, his heart suddenly beating violently, and an unspeakable sense of familiarity surged into his heart.

Suddenly, before the other personal guard knights around him could react, he smoothly slid off his horse and lay on the ground.

Horse legs passed by him in a chaotic manner, and Aylward's guards were still asking what happened.

The bewildered knights did not notice at all the black muzzles stretching out from behind the roofs, from behind the casement windows, and from the gaps in the alleys.

"Praise the Holy Wind!"