Pulling a severed finger from the gap in his armor, Bo Ao Lie spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the ground.

All of it was the blood of the unclean, he wiped the corner of his mouth with disgust using a handkerchief.

This was already the second charge, and these soldiers in black uniforms had finally reached the brink of collapse.

"What are the combat losses?"

While waiting for the other knights to re-form their ranks, Bo Ao Lie took a moment to ask the Temple Knight Commander.

The Knight Commander lifted his visor, revealing a sweat-covered face: "There are a total of over 60 Square Banner Knights remaining, and over 150 Squire Knights, together losing nearly a hundred, although many are, ahem, missing..."

"As for the Imperial Knights, on our side, there are still 39 Imperial Knights, with 4 losses, while on the other side there are 35 remaining, with 7 lost, so there are a total of 74 Imperial Knights left."

"11 Imperial Knights? That many?" Bo Ao Lie, preoccupied with charging, hadn't realized so many Imperial Knights had been lost.

The loss mentioned by the Knight Commander was not due to death in battle but due to severe injury or inability to return to the battlefield (armor broken, horse dead, limbs injured).

The true number of fatal casualties among the Imperial Knights could probably be counted on one hand.

This was another frustrating aspect of the Imperial Knights; as long as they wanted to preserve their lives, they were extraordinarily hard to kill.

Their bravery came from their confidence in their extraordinary abilities, not truly from a spirit willing to die.

Before the invention of the Deng Jia'er Array, the Imperial Knights would cooperate with other knights to fight on foot after falling from their steeds.

After its invention, their first goal upon falling was to fight their way out rather than staying put and exchanging their lives with those low-cost, low-rank extraordinaires, which would be a loss.

The extraordinary can crush mortals, but the upper and lower limits within the extraordinary are not vast.

Losing high mobility, if a band of low-rank extraordinary infantry truly swarmed you, there's a significant possibility they could trade their lives for an Imperial Knight's.

Especially since the Salvation Army also has this formidable unit of Holy Gunmen, although most of the Holy Gunmen have exhausted their holy power, at least a quarter of the gunmen in each corps are still capable of firing.

Unfortunately, Bo Ao Lie charged so quickly that they didn't have time to rotate; the Holy Gunmen, with their weak flanks, were overwhelmed.

When they were hiding behind the Long Spearmen for close-range shoots, within seven steps, they were so accurate and fast that even the Imperial Knights couldn't take them lightly.

The eleven lost Imperial Knights mostly fell to this tactic.

"What's going on with the right flank? Why so many losses?" With the Extraordinary Knights continuously gathering around him, Bo Ao Lie asked, panting heavily.

He initially thought he could keep the losses to a single digit.

Adding the 15 lancers dispatched earlier, the actual death toll of the Imperial Knights was approaching twenty.

If it were against regular troops, it wouldn't matter, but losing twenty Imperial Knights against these farmers was truly distressing for him.

While feeling the sting of loss, Bo Ao Lie also secretly felt thankful.

If those rumored weapons had hit them, far more than 15 Imperial Knights would have died.

The instant death of 15 Imperial Knights was a massive blow to morale.

"Sir, normally, only low-rank extraordinary ones can harm us, but those Thunderbolt Stick Soldiers, each of them is equivalent to a low-rank extraordinary," the Temple Knight Commander explained to Bo Ao Lie, "The determination of these farmers is strong. Logically, they should have collapsed after our first charge, but even after the second charge just now, they still haven't broken."

"Don't make excuses." After pondering for half a second, Bo Ao Lie put his helmet back on, "Order all the Imperial Knights in the right flank to gather over here. I estimate that next time, we can break through the battle line.

Later, I'll directly attack the Demon Horn at the rear; be extremely careful, let other farmers run if they want to, but absolutely do not let him escape.

During the assembly time, don't stay idle. Send those insignificant country knights to harass them; don't let them rotate or regroup their formation."

"Yes, Sir." The Knight Commander paused slightly, "The fifty Squire Knights left to guard the rear and hold off the Royal Constitution Knights, should they charge together?"

"Never mind." Bo Ao Lie swiftly made a decision, "Continue to monitor them and just ensure they don't cause trouble."

At his command, 74 Imperial Knights began to slowly gather towards the left flank.

Out of the 550 Extraordinary Knights initially deployed, excluding those who fled, are severely injured, or are unable to return to the battlefield, there are still over 350 left.

Excluding the 50 holding off the Royal Constitution Knight, Bo Ao Lie only had a little over 300 knights he could truly command.

That's enough.

"Warriors, charge!"

Led by the Knight Leader, nearly a hundred country knights formed a triangular charge formation, charging towards the left flank's Black Hat Fifth Corps.

Just as they began their charge, Brune, panting heavily, pulled his blood-red lance from a Night Guard's throat.

Three months ago, such a Night Guard was an important figure for a refugee like him.

But now, he's killed at least eight or ten such Night Guards.

As for the once high-and-mighty Extraordinary Knights, he's already taken down two under his belt.

His unit, being too far forward, was scattered by the Imperial Knights' charge and couldn't rotate in time, leaving him in the fiercest frontline.

"Put me down!" came Jonar's voice from his back, both legs trampled by the hooves of Extraordinary Knights, dangling helplessly in the air.

"No, I promised Old Jonar to take care of you on the battlefield."

"You fool of a damn mountain goat," tethered to Brune's back by rope, Jonar's face was pale as he struck his backplate with his elbow, "Put me down... those Extraordinary Knights are coming!"

Brune didn't respond, only bracing himself on his lance, stumbling and running towards the nearest battle line behind him.

Before him, the muddy ground was covered in countless chaotic footprints.

Blood was trampled into the earth by these prints, mixing with the grass juice to form a strange brown.

Almost every few steps, Brune had to step over a body, both enemy and ally.

Figures swayed everywhere, spears and armed swords shaking, and blood tracing arcs through the air incessantly.

Riding at neck level and above, the Knights charged back and forth upon the crowd's heads, crashing down amidst the occasional gunshot boom.

At this point on the battlefield, the central troops had retreated about 20 meters, suffering the least loss.

The right flank followed, and the left flank was the furthest advanced, its line now a thin layer, in the worst state.

Thus, the closest ally to Brune was instead the nearby Black Hat Fifth Corps.

At this moment, the country knights of Tbe Plain were charging towards the left wing, with Brune coincidentally in their path.

Amidst the continuous gunfire, Brune heard the sound of hooves, and Jonar wiped the rain off his face, saying, "Let me go, I can run on my own!"

"Your leg is broken, you can't run." Brune replied hoarsely, unsure of what he was doing.

"The knights are coming, you won't make it back to the battle line carrying me."

"We can make it."

"I'm begging you, really, I'm begging you." Jonar turned his head, gritting his teeth, "Brune, at least one of us has to survive!"

"We both will."

"...No, man, are you even listening to me!"

Leaning against Brune, Jonar despairingly looked ahead.

Over a hundred Extraordinary Knights were charging behind Brune.

In the misty rain, he could even see the white steam snorting from the warhorses, facing them was a hedge of broken swords and white bones.

Rain and arrows fell together, splattering mud and blood on everyone.

Drawing the half-broken sword from his waist, Jonar pointed towards the Silver Armored Knights becoming clearer through the rain.

Their woolen breeches were soaked through, and the dark red bloodstains on their armor were washed away by the rain, forming web-like traces.

"The knights are coming, put me down, you go quickly—" Jonar frantically elbowed Brune.

But Brune's mind was blank, knowing only to stride forward madly, oblivious to the gust behind him.

"Damn it, Brune, I never thought I'd die alongside you, you damn fool."

Seeing the Knight's Sword getting closer, Jonar shouted desperately, throwing the broken sword in his hand at the knights.

The broken sword clanged off the knight's leg armor, bouncing to the ground.

As misfortune would have it, Brune, in his sprint, didn't notice the corpse underfoot, bringing them both down into the mud.

His head hit the damp, bloody earth as Jonar lay dazed, watching the raindrops fall from the sky.

Is it really time already?

He had long prepared for death, ready for this since before the campaign.

At least I killed a knight!

At least I wasn't a deserter!

At least, at least...

Jonar's heart burned painfully, he should have been able to die peacefully, yet the fury in his chest couldn't be contained.

He was unwilling!

Unwilling to lose this way, unwilling to let the knights win so easily, unwilling for the children of the Thousand River Valley to continue living in chains.

"Kill!"

"Die, you dogs of the nobles!"

Jonar heard the Black Hat Fifth Legion on the left wing let out a desperate and sorrowful roar.

They had endured so much to save the Thousand River Valley, only to face defeat from the start?

Are knights truly invincible? What purpose did everything they did serve?

What was the point?!

In hindsight, he should have indulged in Mayo Town, having never even savored the taste of a girl before dying.

Seeing the hooves approaching, Jonar closed his eyes with his final peculiar thoughts.

"Buzz—"

"Whinny—"

After waiting for a while, the anticipated iron hooves did not strike his head, but instead, he heard the death throes of a horse.

The battlefield seemed to quiet, the cries of war suddenly halted.

The sound of rain, once drowned out by the clamor, became clear again.

What's going on? Jonar struggled to open his eyes, looking ahead in confusion.

The charging Extraordinary Knight had a blood hole in his chest, his eyes wide in disbelief, falling by the horse's hooves.

Brune scrambled over, shaking Jonar's shoulders, once again falling into his habit of speaking slowly.

He was trembling all over, half a sentence stuck in his throat, unable to speak.

"Look, look, look!"

Shifting from lying down to prone, Jonar struggled to prop himself up, squinting his eyes to see.

In the slanting drizzle, a tall banner stood, bearing a sun encircled by gears.

Beneath the banner, a Full-Armor War Monk slowly lowered the heavy musket in his hands.

It's the Pope's banner, that was the Pope.

Tears finally flowed from Jonar's eyes, his fist pounding the ground, splattering a circle of mud.

"Look, look—"

Jonar's tearful voice broke the previous silence, he continuously cried out:

"The Pope, the Pope has charged!"

"The Pope has charged!"

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