Chapter 42: Fifth Episode: Chapter 6 (2/2)
Just as how Kamille predicted, the cavalry of the guards acted like a disaster had struck. Their captain had already gone down by an arrow and fell from his horse during the first wave of attacks and the panicked and disordered knights who had just lost their commander, gathered into a group, shrieking. The knights who fell from their horses screamed in agony at being trampled under their horses' hooves while the knights on the horses had yet to discover where the attacks were coming from.
”Dismount! Dismount!” Kamille rushed to the front of the group. Being the troops' highest commander, he was distinctly aware that he could not give up so easily on these inexperienced soldiers. Although they did not belong to a military system, but abandoning your comrade-in-arms was just not the narcissus knights' style.
”Do you want to become a target? Dismount! Raise your shields! Ready your spears!” Kamille urged, on his horse and galloped left and right among the group. The enemy arrows seemed as if they were avoiding him.
The courageous Kamille used his shield to bump against the knights who were huddled together. The guards finally, being faced with the trials of life and death, displayed a little of their capabilities. Despite people being continuously struck by arrows and falling to the ground, but there were already many knights who had planted their shields upright on the ground. When Kamille galloped back from the front of the group, the guards had already formed a front that was hindering the attacks.
Oscar was cursing. When he heard Kamille's shout, he was the first to rush out of the carriage. The little prince picked up a shield of a knight who had sacrificed himself. His mam, his sister, his Annie, his Princess!
”Damn it you all! Hurry and alight from your carriages! Use the body of the carriages as cover!” Oscar withstood against the unceasing attack of arrows and pulled open the carriage door of the Lady Duchess.
”Ah... Oh, my!” Shrieking came out from the carriage!
Oscar looked at his mother and the young miss who were changing their clothes and gaped.
”Hey! Son! This is ill-mannered!” Lady Duchess Celia actually laughed amidst all the wails outside the door. ”Do you not see that we are changing into armor? Quickly close the door!”
Oscar closed the carriage door with a bang. ”This is truly bad!” The youngster quietly scolded himself. He took hold of a narcissus knight and pulled him to his side. ”Hey, you! Send a group of people to form a front to stop the attacks in front of the carriage.”
”Your Royal Highness! Worry not! The inner layers of this carriage are iron paneled! The arrows cannot harm...” The knight could not complete his sentence for an arrow had embedded in his chest.
”Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” Oscar cursed continuously. He hurried towards the princess' carriage, full of trepidation. It was the lad's first time experiencing such a large-scale battle as this. Glancing up at the arrow-filled sky and looking at the fallen, utterly miserable bodies, the prince thought he never had to lament over death, but being confronted with this many corpses for the first time, in his heart, the tip of his head, his palms; his whole heart and soul, he felt an icy chill that he had never felt before.
”Princess!” Oscar pulled open the carriage door, ”Woahh! Damn it!” He saw the once dignified and beautiful Royal Highness Princess covered all over in blood.
”Ahhh...Ahhh...” Alanis moaned unconsciously. Her female companion was sprawled over her. Countess Emory's abdomen had an arrow fixed in it and fresh blood was gushing out uncontrollably.
The princess' splendid carriage had completely changed. The arrows penetrated through the wooden boards and the pointed arrowheads were glinting under the winter light. ”Pfft!” Another arrow had shot through the carriage. Oscar watched as the arrow lost its accuracy and fell onto the seat. It was time to leave here!
Oscar pulled the dazed princess out from the carriage, ”Take this! Hold the shield! Hide behind me! Follow me!”
The princess took the shield, but it was evident that she could not lift the shield too high.
Oscar carried the seriously injured Countess Emory, not forgetting to curse. He did not understand why the imperial household did not fill the inner layer of this carriage with iron panels; he really did not know just what were they thinking!
The paladins protecting the princess caught up with them and they continued to return the attacks of those who ambushed them outside the carriage. When they saw the princess covered in blood from head to toe, they were so astonished that they almost fell down to their knees!
”What are you guys doing staring blankly there for? Cover the princess until she reaches my mam's carriage. That carriage has iron panels! Hurry!” Oscar was itching to go up to those men and give them a few good kicks at that moment.
The few knights promptly recovered. Two of them raised shields on either side of the princess while the other two continued to shoot arrows towards the dense forest.
”Percy! Percy! Percy!” The youngster shouted the doctor's name until he was hoarse. He placed the princess and the gravely wounded Emory into his mother's carriage. The poison doctor hurried forwards not long after. Even though his face appeared as if he had just stumbled across a ghost, but he skillfully opened his emergency kit. Oscar assembled all the knights around him here. He instructed that no one was allowed to approach the carriage no matter what.
”But damn it! Who can tell me where my mam and sister are at?” Oscar was about to lose it just looking at the scene of havoc before his eyes.
”Raise your bows...” Lady Duchess Celia's shout sounded out from the party. In the shortest span of time, she and Sasha had already organized the archers of the narcissus knights to stand behind the first line of shields, forming a formidable attack force.
”Release!” The narcissus knight's vengeful arrows flew towards the forest. After a series of cries, Lady Duchess Celia's shouting once again came from the party.
”Raise your bows, 10 degrees!” Using the Lady Duchess' angle as reference, the knights again raised their bows and arrows to 10 degrees.
”Release!”
The two waves of covered attacks had an extremely good outcome. The arrows shot from the forest were notably sparse, but the knights still continued to fall under the cold arrows.
The procession was no longer in turmoil. The narcissus knights started to fortify their front and effectively returned fire. Despite those carrying out the ambush being on higher ground and still continuing to bring about casualties to the knights, but both sides of troops were starting to enter the stage of deadlock.
***************
”How about it? I've told you before, those narcissus bumpkins are absolutely the most difficult to deal with.” Outside the war zone, in a corner of the dense forest, a few knights with blood red cloaks draped over themselves, were accessing the battlefield. One of them was showing off loudly to the knight at the front.
”Humph! Since it turned out like this, you just prepare well for the assault then!” The boss-like man replied without even sparing his companion a glance.
The knight who first spoke was not concerned. He turned his horse around animatedly and charged in the direction of the battlefield. Behind him, a legion of infantry with swords and shields in hand followed him closely.
The leader of these ambushers quietly instructed the knight by his side. ”Light the fire!” Immediately, there was a sharp whistle of an arrow cutting through the air in the forest.
***************
A few flames suddenly blazed up in the dense forest. The narcissus archer who was standing on the roof of the carriage could finally make out those things. He turned around and rolled down the carriage, utterly appalled. ”Madame! Rolling logs! Those are rolling logs! Coming upon us soon!”
Celia was unable to glimpse the rolling logs from her current position. She and the young miss were securely protected behind the towering knights.
”Do not panic! Continue to fire your arrows! Take note of the path of rolling logs! Stay in formation!” Celia was unperturbed at all. She was like a true leader, shouting commands to the knights. The narcissus knights looked towards the lady duchess with her unflinching gaze. However, the knights were still a little uneasy, had their leader already been sacrificed?
***************
”Ah! Damn it! Get off me! You guys almost crushed me dead!” Kamille screamed loudly. An arrow finally hit him a while ago. When all the guards had dismounted to form a front, only he was still riding his horse like a hero, taking charge of the battle.
The paladin fell from his horse after being hit. Thankfully the wound was not too deep, but the arrow was stuck in between the place where the breastplate of his shoulder and arm joined. Now Kamille could not even move the left half of his body.
Until then only did the guards display the true colors of a battle force. After Kamille was struck by an arrow, a few knights swiftly rushed up and used their shields to protect him.
”Oh god, you wretched fools!” The paladin accepted the soldiers' good intentions gruffly. ”Let me get up! Do you hear me! It's a rolling log! Damn it!” Kamille endured the piercing pain. When he pulled the arrow out of his body, he was close to dying of agony.
The blazing rolling logs were like beasts spewing fire. They cascaded down from the top of the mountain followed by angry bellows from the flying dirt and displaced rocks.
The mountain path was uneven. One of the rolling logs flew into the air after crashing into a huge boulder. The blazing wooden pile smashed heavily against the shields of a small group of knights. Sparks flew in all directions and horses and men fell. A few rolling logs smashed the carriages into pieces and in turn ignited the huge box wagons. The servants in the wagons no longer dared to hide anymore; their bodies were like a raging inferno. Even the narcissus knight's firefighting did not alleviate their suffering. The whole mountain forest was ringing with shrill and tragic cries.
”Hold the formation! Hold it!” Kamille shrieked frantically. He knew that the most crucial moment had arrived. Once the rolling logs had completely broken through the front he had painstakingly set up, then the whole party would not be far from hell.
”Be prepared! Open your eyes wide! Crouch low! Do not be afraid! Crouch low!” Kamille stopped behind a group of guards. He noticed that these men were about to fall apart before the oncoming rolling log!
”Brace for impact! Brace for impact! Incoming! Incoming!” Kamille picked up a shield and actually charged towards the rolling log! His loud cries startled the excessively terrified knights of the Imperial guards. The knights followed closely, screaming. They could not afford to lose another leader! They desperately held fast to their shields on the ground. The immense force of the collision of the rolling logs caused them to almost throw up blood. However, God knows where their courage came from, these slightly disorganized and helpless knights surprisingly did not take a step backward.
The situation after the collision of the rolling logs was complete chaos. The burning carriages, the stench of charred bodies; and the knights whose hands and legs were crushed, struggled, trying to get up. The dense forest suddenly fell silent, as if everything had come to a halt!
A knight peered out from behind his shield. In just a split second, his pupils were filled with fear! A throwing ax embedded itself deeply into his forehead.
The forest erupted with loud cries! ”Kill!” Numerous throwing axes spun and headed right for the group of the prince's knights.
”Raise your shields!” Kamille's command was not necessary; the knights raised their shields in succession. They linked the shields inseparably close. The clang of the throwing axes smashing against their shields more or less incurred some fear in the men, but the knights, having already been through a calamity, did not have time to give any thought to this.
”Erect your shields! Spears forwards!” Kamille's command was too late! When the guards had just set up their shields on the ground, a legion of leather-armored ax warriors already clashed with them.
”Draw your spears!” Following the paladin's loud command, many spears peeked out from the small gaps in between the shields. The depressing sound of the spears piercing into human bodies echoed throughout the whole scene. ”Draw your swords and receive our enemies! Kill!” Kamille's whole body was blood-soaked due to the wound on his shoulder. Screaming, the paladin took the lead and pounced upon the enemies. The men and horses of both sides, inside and outside the shields, were in a killing frenzy.
***************
”Attention!” Madame Celia drew her bow. Her fingers holding the bowstring were already seeping blood from the frequent firing. ”First line of shield-bearers, crouch down! Archers fire level!”
Following the Lady Duchess' command, a torrent of arrows left their bows and the bandits who were charging down from the hill fell.
”Archers fire again!” The second wave of arrows reduced the number of enemies rushing at the narcissus knights by the dozen.
”Archers, shoot freely! Shield bearers, draw your spears and receive the enemy! Greatsword wielders, fall into second line!” Lady Duchess Celia's sharp arrow once again shot down an enemy who was charging forwards, screaming. However, when Celia reloaded an arrow onto the bow, she suddenly felt a little weak. The enemy was all over the mountains and plains and they were like a powerful current, charging towards the party. She was at a loss of which one of them she should aim her arrow at.
The Lady Duchess' arrow once again left her bow! She was aware that the most crucial moment had finally arrived! ”Narcissus knights! My brave warriors! The moment to prove your loyalty and courage through blood has arrived!” Celia bellowed loudly. She threw aside her bow for her arrow holder was already empty!
The somewhat nervous narcissus knights looked towards their commander. Although they were facing a legion of demon-like warriors of the mountain region, but that was not worth their concern. They saw the Lady Duchess Andrew brandish a saber that was glinting with a dazzling radiance, they saw the delicate young miss holding the heavy ancestral tablet and Fierce Tiger Flag of Narcissus high up!
From among the crowd came the immense roar of a knight, ”Andrew Haila!”
Following suit, the entire mountain forest was echoing after him! ”Andrew Haila!” It was as if the cheers were engulfing the heavens and earth! The first few mountain warriors who were approaching the narcissus knights finally realized that something was out of the ordinary. They did not understand why they were closing in on the narcissus knights at such mind-boggling speed! When they finally realized that this was the Narcissus knights charging at them...
It was already too late!
The fierce tiger on the shields of the knights opened its ferocious mouth. The spears in the hands of the knights whistled with a terrifying sound while the greatswords in their hands had not yet found their use. However, their throwing axes and spears crushed and penetrated straight through the bodies of their enemies.
The hand of the second Madame of the Titan Empire's Governor of the Eastern border, Celia Andrew Nedgabel was trembling mildly. She surveyed the whole battlefield. Many of the gallant Narcissus knights had fallen under the barrage of attacks.
”Murder is unforgivable!” The hoarse voice of the Lady Duchess caused them to shudder.
”Murder is unforgivable!” Numerous voices echoed.