Chapter 45: Fifth Episode: Chapter 9 (2/2)
”Sir!” A mercenary stopped their commander’s stumbling about, Black Ape’s huge torso fell into his arms, all the mercenaries could see it now, their commander’s hindbrain was planted with a shiny dagger!
”Andrew Haila!”
The mercenaries forgot to breathe, they didn’t dare to breathe, they knew what Andrew Haila signifies.
”Andrew Haila!” Left! Left side! The huddled mercenaries turned to their left, the sound wave echoed loudly in the woods.
”Kill them!” ”Kill!” Countless voices mirrored the first, bringing along thundering clatter of the horseshoes.
”Narcissus Knights!” ”It’s them!” ”Narcissus Knights were the one behind this!”
”Spears!” ”Spearmen, take them down! Positions behind the fence! Quick!” The mercenaries hadn’t found out about their commander, they were just ordering in accordance to protocol.
”Annihilate them!” Howls pierced through the perplexing fog, the mercenaries quivered behind their shields. ”Be careful!” A mercenary yelled as he saw a black silhouette charging at his team among the fog.
The mercenaries raised their shields instinctively. After a loud bang, a severed head bounced into the crowd, its eyes wide. The mercenaries didn’t even have time to be scared, as heads flew in from all directions, they ran into each other as they identified each of the heads. Several voices attracted the mercenaries’ attention in their fear-filled growl.
”God! These are our scouts!”
”My lord! They’re all dead!”
”We’re being surrounded by the Narcissus Knights!”
”There they are!” The last voice finally moved the mercenaries! All of them looked at the direction where the sound came from.
Unfortunately, the response to that was a shower of arrows, the sound of the bowstrings can even be heard through the thick fog.
The Narcissus Knights’ first attack didn’t cause them much damage, but the people moved even closer together, herded by the arrows. The mercenaries stared at the arrows in shock. There’s no one, no one was there aside from the thick blanket of fog! The shieldbearers were all mobilized and stationed toward the direction of the attack.
Bowstrings sounded again from the woods! Dozens of arrows lined up in an array of sorts, soaring above the woods and abruptly took a downturn from their peak. The crowd stared at the sky, fear-stricken, as the steel rained upon them. Flesh-piercing sounds resounded left and right, followed by shrieks and hopeless wails!
”Front! They’re in front!” The mercenaries lost their protection in front as the arrows flanked them.
The shields were moved again, arrows stopped after three rounds of fire. A mercenary who had lost his guts pulled his partner aside and shakily pointed at the flagbearer that appeared suddenly on the slope on the right. ”There… there…” The mercenary’s eyes widened. Countless ferocious silhouettes appeared behind the flagbearer.
Time seemed to have stopped as it broadcasted the frightening scene. Warhorses exhaled white mist, faceless knights with their black capes, the blooming narcissus flowers on their shields becoming exceedingly clear, but they all turned into roaring tigers as they closed in.
”Andrew Haila!” ”Kill!” Terrifying screams had once again broken the thin veil of voicelessness.
The mercenaries turned around, their mouths gaping as they stared at the knights pouring down the hills on the right.
A leading knight raised his spear, aiming at the unfortunate soldier who pointed at him! Clatters of horse clops flooded the camp, drowning out existing sounds. The mounted knights charged at their respective targets with the speed of waterfalls.
The mercenaries’ fears were disrupted by the javelins and axes that flew at them. In a series of screams, they split up, but not before the mounted knights charged into them with unbelievable speed.
They were so fast, the Narcissus Knights didn’t even have the chance to aim before slashing at their enemies. Five-hundred-odd crowded mercenaries were torn to pieces in just a blink of an eye. The warhorses’ charging force and their hooked iron hooves stampeded innumerous feeble bodies. Within an instant, the knights forced the mercenaries into two teams, who watched as the last of the knights disappeared into the woods on the left.
Arrow shower came as expected as the survivors looked for covers in panic. They fought over shields and effective covers, trampling over the dead and the injured, not realizing the purpose of the arrow was to prevent them from running away. They had not thought about how, under the threat of arrows, the separated team joined up with their teammates. They had also forgotten, the direction where the arrow attacked may not have incoming attacks. Just as they erected their shields and spears, shouts of ”Andrew Haila!” came in on their backs again.
The Narcissus Knights teamed up in tens, their weapons tightly clutched in their hands, the speed of their assault was controlled. When they closed in with the mercenaries, spears shot out in between the shields, the mercenaries gawked as they charged against the knights’ weapons. Kamille controlled the direction his team was charging cautiously. Even though this enemy camp was big, the small mountain pass was still not a great location for a cavalry to speed. He had spent a large amount of energy to keep his formation as they ride up the slope.
”Kill them!” The knights roared, they destroyed their enemies’ tents, using their own spears to heaved their enemies bodies into the air, they used swords to smash their enemies’ shield, even though some of them accidentally fell off their horses, it didn’t matter, they would return to fighting the mercenaries on foot.
Bowmen came out of their hiding place, they stood on high ground, firing their deadly arrows without care. The bowstrings were lined with drops of blood as the frequent firing damaged their leather finger guards, each of the archers’ hands were a bloodied mess.
The knights massacre didn’t stop, even though the camp’s location limited their mobility, as long as their warhorses were still running, they would not stop brandishing their cold weapon.
A Narcissus Knight was surrounded by a group of mercenaries, their spears stabbed into his abdomen simultaneously. His sword slashed at the spears, but his life had been fallen as he was hoisted into the air.
The knights charged at their teammate with a thundering howl, their swords sliced toward the mercenaries who were retreating toward the hill on the right. They had no choice, it’s the only place without arrow strikes.
Some of the knights in the camp were still fighting mercenaries who were solo, the archers who were in charge of sniping would, most of the time, reach their target before the knights, causing the knights to charge even more passionately toward their next target. Sobbings, moanings, begs, and neighings formed a thrilling ensemble in this dawning valley, which was amplified by the consistently growing players in the symphony.
The mercenaries evacuated from the only gap in the battlefield like a swarm, chased by the knights and arrows after them toward the hill behind the slope.
A loud roar came out in front of them, the mercenaries could no longer distinguish what the roar meant, they only saw two hulking figures bolting at them like the devils themselves. The hulks had left the mercenaries with a strong impression, it was nothing they could have defend against, the mercenaries turned around, there’s no point fighting, their commander had already died, vice commander was nowhere to be found, no one could stop them from searching for survival now.
The sounds from their backs was still as booming as ever, the fleeing mercenaries used all they can to maneuver the mountainous woods. Finally, there was no more path in front of them. A hundred-meter-tall cliff blocked their path. The first few mercenaries returned to the nature in shrieks of despair as their fellow mates who came after them squeezed them off. Several smarter guys used the damaged weapons in their hands to cut down a few after them before it stopped the rest from charging forward.
The Narcissus Knights stopped their horses about thirty meters before the mercenaries, forming a tight formation. Soon after, hundreds of foot warriors erected their shields beside the knights, followed by the bowmen behind the shields.
”Kill ‘em!” ”Kill!” The formation closed in step by step, the knights were restraining their excited warhorses to stand still, only the shieldbearers from the sides approached the mercenaries slowly.
”Kill, kill, kill!” A huge breeze blew past the area, clearing the woods of the wispy mist.
”I surrender! I surrender!” A braver mercenary stepped out of his line and kneeled, flinging his battle ax far away from him. He was shaking, trembling, and tears crawled all over his face. To him, all these actions needed a lot of courage to complete.
The other mercenaries on the cliff were affected by this, and started throwing down their weapons by the bunch, the clink-clangs of weapons dropping on the ground filled the air.
The fog slowly faded as the first ray of sunlight squeezed its way into the valley.
”Toot… toot… toot…”
”Andrew Haila!” Together with the unique blaring of horns, the whole valley was filled with cheers, at another spot in the woods, the injured knights puffed up their chests, pointing their backup weapons to the sky. Even though they weren’t able to move due to the various injuries they’ve received, it didn’t impede them from giving their loudest cries.
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Prince O’Neil Andrew Morisette stayed on his mount sickly, he couldn’t join in the fight, as his Mam had him in her arms the whole time. His Royal Highness started having a fever, the dolantin he took made hallucinations flashed through his exhausted eyes, and made him hear tigers’ roars that were not there.
”Your Royal Highness!”
”Your Royal Highness!”
”Your Royal Highness!”
As Oscar treaded the camp, the knights greeted him with utmost respect. Wherever the Prince went, all the knights genuflected with the swords stabbing at the ground, giving him the highest regard as the commander-in-chief of this battle.
The teenager opened his eyes, the noisiness around made him slightly dizzy.
Oscar took a look around, the tent was brightly lit, but since when had he slept in a bed? Furthermore, this may not even be his own tent.
The teenager struggled to get off the bed, but the action brought him a sensation, as if his whole body was going to crumble. Oscar panted, he could still endure this. It’s like, it may be, it may have been, the chubby boy felt really confused, he only knew he had withstood this level of suffering, it really was nothing.
”How is the sky dark?” Oscar waddled out of the tent he knew not of, asking the guards keeping watch on him by the side of its entrance.
”Your Royal Highness, it is now seven in the evening, you had been sleeping for a whole day.” A knight answered his question.
”Oh! Have we won? I think I remember.”
”Yes, Your Royal Highness! We’d achieved the final victory, killed over three hundred bandits and captured over two hundred of them! All this was your wise decision to assault milord!” The knight expounded excitedly.
Oscar didn’t say anything, he didn’t even know how they had won. He saw his butler, his knight commander, as well as the King of Sins, and his doctor. They were all wearing a grin on their faces.
”Your Royal Highness, how are you doing? You shouldn’t have gotten off bed.”
Oscar’s ears were ringing, he looked at the sky with its brightly twinkling stars. A moment of dizziness hit him, and the Liar Extraordinaire caught him as he was falling.
”Kamille is right! Your internal organs were hurt, you should definitely not get off your bed.”
The Prince finally heard it clearly, he stood as straight as he could, held up by his butler’s arm. Hasn’t he won? Winners shouldn’t look sickly, like him.
”I had slept for a day? Have you gotten any gains?” Oscar wanted to look more princely, but his voice was scratchy, as if his voice box was punctured multiple times with needles.
”Your Royal Highness! The Italian Le-Mans Mercenary Group had already been eliminated, through this battle, they had sacrificed more than seven hundred men, two hundred more are in our hands.” Colonel Kamille Rayen finally beamed. It was a huge victory for the Narcissus Knights, they had eradicated a whole warrior organization with two temporary cavalry squads.
”Heheh, heheheheheh!” Oscar laughed uncontrollably, no one knew if he was still conscious, he looked like he had just ingested hallucinogenic drugs.
”We had separated the key leaders and kept watch individually, the main issue now is how we should handle the war captives, they are similar in number with us.”
Oscar could no longer tell who’s talking to him, but the phrase ‘war captives’ made his brain think fast again.
”Kamille… My Paladin!” The teenager grabbed the necktie of the person in front of him, Kamille, beside of the King of Sins who’s being manhandled by the Prince was giggling non-stop.
”No captives, Kamille! No captives! No, captives!” Oscar repeated.
Becoming solemn, Kamille pushed Doramy aside. It’s wasn’t a matter to laugh about. He placed the Prince’s hands on his own necktie. ”Your Royal Highness, is this an order? No captives? To validate this order, could you please clarify the reasoning behind this decision?”
Oscar yelled impatiently, ”Hey! I’ve already given my order! Reasoning? Ask your soldiers, these captives were all doused in the blood of the Narcissus Knights. Remember! I don’t want any captives, but I do want to spare one, let him return to Italia, let him report to those people who wanted my head as a business deal, let them see the real O’Neil… Andrew… Morisette!”