Chapter 387: Chapter 369 Black Mountain Battle (14)
July 1445 was a hot summer.
The ice from the Frost Spell quickly melts away, and the spell of turning mud into stone, unless encountered with mortar can solidify at once, requires constant casting for the remaining soil.
Once the Wizard dies, the escape route left by Nidesar for himself is severed.
Right now, Nidesar is filled with regret, deep regret.
Earlier, he thought the battle was decided and would quickly conclude, so he didn’t leave these Wizards with a few guards.
After the battle reached a stalemate, his focus was entirely on breaking the formation and the duel with the Holy Gun Cavalry, neglecting the Wizards.
For Nidesar, using Wizards on his battlefield was a first, and he indeed made a mistake.
"Tch, we were discovered." Kolebo looked at Jeanne, whose hair fluttered beside him, "Your Highness the Saintess, we can launch an attack now."
"Stick to them!" Jeanne’s stirring voice rang in every ear of the Holy Gun Cavalry as she pointed the battle flag in her hand towards the nearby Nikosak.
Under Jeanne’s command, these Holy Gun Cavalry quickly transformed into several squads of Holy Gun Cavalry.
This time they did not use the former cluster charge, but instead switched to the relatively ancient squad assault tactics.
During previous battles, Jeanne found that cluster charges were difficult to capitalize on the advantages of the Holy Gun Cavalry.
Holy Gun Cavalry are more flexible and faster compared to ordinary Extraordinary Knights.
Similar to how Horn organized large formations into small infantry column formations, the Holy Gun Cavalry divided into smaller squads were able to maneuver more flexibly than knights of the same level.
With her body undulating with the warhorse, Jeanne lowered her iron helmet to shield her eyes from the sun.
The warm and cold streams of the breathing technique kept exchanging between her mouth and nose, and her slightly fatigued body quickly recovered its vitality.
"Attack from both wings, don’t let them escape." As the golden light shone on the Holy Grail Battle Banner, there came the unified shouts of the Holy Gun Cavalry.
"Expel the demons!"
Dozens of streams carrying dust rapidly rushed to the flanks of the Nikosak, forming a pincer attack.
The Nikosak wings automatically divided to intercept these Holy Gun Cavalry with dozens of knights.
Javelins pierced the air, flying past shoulders, legs, and even underarms with a bloody hue.
Yet these Holy Gun Cavalry felt nothing; they remained crouched on horseback, firmly gazing at the enemy ahead.
This made many Nikosak feel terrified, as these cavalrymen, fierce to the point of disregarding their own lives, were akin to the Undead Knight Order under the Vampire Duke.
Within the Salvation Army, becoming a Holy Gun Cavalry required three major qualifications: riding, breathing technique, and holy power.
Horn had proposed a hidden condition — knights with deep-seated hatred had priority.
Horn initially thought this hidden condition would filter out many people, but in the end, horse riding filtered out a large batch.
For the Nikosak, this was merely a battle for salary and the favor of Lord Nidesar.
But for the Holy Gun Cavalry, it was a war to defend their homeland and a crusade to expel demons.
Amid the javelin barrage, the speed of the Holy Gun Cavalry did not drop but instead increased.
The front line Holy Gun Cavalry drew their hefty cavalry guns from their boots as fierce winds swept past their ears, making them hear nothing and see nothing.
Only the clamping sounds of gears and pawls seemed crystal clear at their ears, with hot winds piercing through their chests.
They were waiting, waiting for the final signal.
Intense white light rose from the galloping horse named Radish, sweeping away four knights in front like a sudden thunderbolt.
Unruly, they cast all the lightning onto the four warhorses ahead as Jeanne deftly maneuvered her equestrian skills, charging through the gaps where the horses fell.
Radish reared, letting out a piercing neigh of utmost pain, startling it to such extent that its rhythm faltered.
The cracks of lightning surfaced on the skin of the four warhorses, a faint scent of roasted meat lingered at the nostrils.
The four Nikosak didn’t even understand what happened before being thrown out, flying high, six or five meters before crashing heavily to the ground.
Their armor bumped and bounced on the ground, rolling off another four or five meters, before stopping amidst the tugging of shrubs and grass leaves.
Though not dead, most of their bodies were already a bloody mess, with sharp armor fragments embedded into the bronze skin, and the Nikosak lying on the ground uttered unconscious moans.
"Fire!"
After the lightning, a barrage of lead shot swept over Nidesar’s knights like a gale.
Nidesar initially did not want to intervene but seeing the chaos at the rear, he couldn’t hold back from issuing an order.
"That damn unclean Witch." Looking at the gradually disordered formation, Nidesar gritted his teeth and growled, "Faraz, bring a hundred Nikosak Knights to intercept."
The Nikosak’s compliance was quite high; with Nidesar’s command, within seconds a hundred Nikosak had left the ranks, facing the Holy Gun Cavalry head-on.
Nidesar led the remaining hundred and thirty Nikosak towards the Cuirassiers.
Their hooves leapt, shattering branches and clumps of earth on the ground.
Nidesar drove them recklessly on an assault stride, aiming to block the way of the Cuirassiers before they arrived.
The Cuirassiers, although carrying light or no armor, even with slightly inferior horses, managed to bypass Nidesar, reaching close to the traitor Wizards.
Timing might be the most important in determining the outcome of a battle.
Delayed by Jeanne for just ten seconds or so.
Yet just because of these ten seconds, the Cuirassiers were already nearing those Wizards.
Having earlier exhausted their mana creating roads, these Wizards stood up in despair, legs trembling, attempting to cast spells once more.
But how could Patrick, leading them, allow them to act? As a Great Wizard, none knew better than him about spellcasting.
Holding a military knife, Patrick was torn between compassion and rage, but emotions are never given room on the battlefield.
Under the gaze of Nidesar’s despairing eyes, wherever Patrick went, at least three Wizard slaves’ heads flew into the air, with blood spraying from necks revealing white bones.
Seeing this scene, Nidesar immediately made a decision; they had no time to rescue those Wizard traitors.
"Go!" Turning his horse around, Nidesar didn’t try to block further.
He whistled, and the Nikosak covering their retreat promptly converged towards Nidesar.
"Sir, what shall we do now?"
"Charge through the front." Nidesar made this decision with a bleeding heart, "It’s the only path left, before their Wild Boar Longbowmen unleash."
Being aware, charging frontally signifies that at least half of the Nikosak must sacrifice themselves on this battlefield.
Upon hearing the shouts of the Night Guard, Nidesar ruthlessly set his mind that as long as he survives, he could always regroup another batch of Nikosak.
Nikosak isn’t always available, but cheap Desert Nomad slaves are plentiful.
"We’ll break through the front." Nidesar looked at the Nikosak before him, "We must pass through two of the rebels’ elite contingents and meet up with our Guards."
If things go well, the Guards might use this opportunity to breach the enemy formation... Nidesar shook his head; he was too despairing to have such absurd thoughts.
The Guards were fortunate to not be used by rebels to breach the enemy formation.
The remaining two hundred-something Nikosak immediately followed the downhill road, charging fiercely towards the elite Imperial Guard ahead.