Chapter 150: Let Him Have His Accident

PS: Here's the second update, asking for votes!

In the early morning, as the first rays of sunlight entered the camp, a fierce battle was reaching its climax.

The entire camp was filled with battling beastmen and human armies.

Gunsmoke, wildfires, ruins everywhere, all humans took up arms to fight, even the duchess's daughters were fully armed, wielding a knight's sword and shouting, "Die!"

A long-spear-wielding ungor was cut in half by the knightess's sword, filthy beast blood splashing towards her.

Surya's armor shone brightly, the enchanted energy forming a thin shield that helped her block the corrupt blood. The knightess raised her sword, chanting in the name of the Lady of the Lake.

Her sword emitted a holy white glow, dispelling her fatigue.

Her sword was enchanted by a prophet of the Lady, aiding in her stamina recovery.

"The day has broken." Surya felt her mental and physical limits were being pushed.

Looking up at the camp.

Tall centaurs were rampaging through the camp, minotaurs wielding battle axes roared loudly, reaping the lives of serf soldiers.

Lifting her head, a giant minotaur swung its axe at the knightess. Surya raised her sword in defense, sparks flying from the blade. Relying on the enchantment and her own strength, Surya managed to retreat a few steps, diffusing the attack.

"Miss!" Surya's maid, Sylvia, cried out. She immediately abandoned her engagement with a nearby ungor and rushed to Surya's side: "Miss, are you alright?"

"Hum! Wah wah! Humans... die!" The minotaur snorted, preparing to charge at the two knightesses again.

"Surya!" Julius, who was surrounded by several minotaurs, saw his sister in danger and shouted anxiously.

The minotaur's hooves had only advanced halfway when a sword, ablaze with white fire and emitting a pale blue light, pierced through its chest from behind. The minotaur screamed and fell, nearby ranger knights immediately finished it with two more strikes.

"Miss Surya!" Ryan, sweating, pulled the Sword of Vengeance from the minotaur and quickly reached out to help the knightess stand.

"Thank you, Lord Ryan." The knightess barely stood up.

"Protect your lady and retreat!" Ryan immediately ordered Sylvia, who nodded and helped Surya to the back.

"For the Lady! For Winfort!" The soldiers of the Winfort Deserter Band charged fearlessly, their spears piercing through the supporting ungors, blood covering the entire camp, indistinguishable between human and beast blood.

Hundreds of corpses littered the ground.

Around 3 AM, the beastmen tribe launched another attack on Ryan's right-wing army. This time, it wasn't a minor skirmish but a full-scale assault, including herds of minotaurs, great minotaurs, minotaur beasts, centaurs, and even harpies.

The knights fought until dawn, their resilience ensuring the beastmen never broke through.

"Woo~ Woo~" Unable to breach the defenses, the horn sounds from deep within the forest signaled the beastmen's retreat. Like humans, the beastmen were also exhausted from the repeated harassment. Continuing the fight would only be disadvantageous to them.

This time, the beastmen truly retreated cleanly. Scouts sent by the knights found no trace of beastmen within several kilometers.

Seizing the rare opportunity, the right-wing army immediately broke camp and marched about five kilometers before setting up in a valley, taking count of their numbers. From over six thousand, only five thousand remained, with a dozen knights buried in the forest.

After setting up camp, many knights were so exhausted they fell asleep immediately. Ryan, after ensuring no beastmen were nearby, also took the chance to rest well.

When he was woken up, it was already dusk, the sun setting.

It was Olivier, the young and optimistic knight, who looked in bad shape, pale and gaunt, his left hand hanging limply, obviously injured: "My lord, Duke Gabriel and Duke Julius asked if you were awake. They wish to hold a new council."

"Right away! Olivier, how's your injury?" Ryan got up quickly, took a few breaths, and inquired about Olivier's condition.

"It's better after resting half the day." Olivier said he was okay, having been injured in the early morning's surprise attack by a beastmen's cleaver.

"Rest well, we have more battles to fight." Ryan got up, washed his face with a basin of water, and stepped out of the tent.

A cool breeze caressed the Grail Knight's face as he saw many wounded lying in the camp, many serfs bandaged, logistical and accompanying personnel cooking, and more simply finding a place to crash, oblivious to everything else.

"Lord Ryan!" Many serf soldiers greeted the Grail Knight.

"Well fought, lads. Hold on, we can win." Ryan noticed many serfs were injured, many looking up to him with hopeful and admiring eyes. He felt a bit uncomfortable but still encouraged the soldiers: "Hold on."

The Grail Knight's encouragement effectively stabilized the serfs' morale.

Arriving at the central clearing, Gabriel and Julius were already there. Duke Connelly, injured, did not attend this council. Instead, Surya replaced him, sitting on a chair, looking exhausted: "Lord Ryan?"

"Um!" Ryan nodded, and the four stood by the pond in the valley, discussing the next steps.

"Gentlemen, I have two pieces of good news and one bad news to tell you. Which would you like to hear first?" Baron Gabriel smiled bitterly: "The first piece of good news is that our food supply is now very ample."

Ryan and Surya grimaced, as after such a reduction in numbers, food was naturally ample.

Only Julius remained silent, expressionless.

"The second piece of good news is that the beastmen seem to have truly disappeared. Our scouts haven't found any trace of beastmen, not even ordinary animals. After so many years of campaigning, gentlemen, do you know what this means?" Gabriel's eyes sparkled: "This is the bad news. It means the next attack will be a full-scale war between the beastmen and us."

"Full-scale war..." Ryan frowned: "Can we predict when the beastmen will attack?"

"It's difficult." Julius spoke up: "We can hardly guess the beastmen's actions. I can only say they will attack when we are most vulnerable or least expect it."

"Attack at our most vulnerable, least expected moment..." The group fell into silence.

When would that be?

Beastmen and the Greenskins or Orks are not the same race.

The Greenskins' way of fighting is born for brawling, die for war, while beastmen are closer to inflicting painful retribution on their foes, tormenting and humiliating them as much as possible.

Now, the beastmen lay in wait in the shadows, waiting to strike a fatal blow to this weary army.

Ryan and his companions weren't planning to sit idly by. The soldiers still had the strength to fight, and the knights would not submit to these chaotic beasts.

But when would the beastmen launch this deadly strike?

This army couldn't always be on alert and standby. Without waiting for the beastmen to appear, they would collapse on their own.

There's a saying: "A thief can't be on guard for a thousand days, but there's no such thing as being on guard against a thief for a thousand days."

Everyone could feel the heavy responsibility on their shoulders. In this world, the commander's every move often affects the entire battle situation, and every decision they make concerns the lives of thousands.

If it was impossible to determine when the beastmen would attack, this army would have to remain tense and apprehensive, making it impossible to continue the fight.

"Request reinforcements? Have Marquis Clark from the central army meet up with us?" Ryan suggested another idea.

The cool evening breeze brushed the knights' faces, their gazes turning to Duke Gabriel.

He possessed a magical device crafted by the Lady's prophet, capable of magical communication.

The third son of the Duke of Bastonne hesitated for a moment before pulling out a long, dagger-like silver object: "Should I ask now?"

"The sooner, the better," Ryan shook his head, smiling bitterly: "It would also let us know the answer sooner."

Thus, Duke Gabriel no longer hesitated. He took out a gem, pressed it onto the magical communication device, and signaled everyone to be quiet.

After about ten seconds, the communication was established.

"This is Clark-Desmond. Is this the right-wing army? Please report your situation." Marquis Clark's youthful voice came through the device.

"This is Gabriel-de-Bastonne. We've encountered trouble..." Gabriel succinctly described the right-wing army's current predicament.

The magical communication required a tremendous amount of energy. After Gabriel described their situation in a few words, a valuable gem had already lost its luster.

Unfortunately, Marquis Clark was silent for a while, only speaking as the gem's energy was almost depleted: "We might not be able to support you. I'm sorry, Gabriel."

"Why?!" Gabriel urgently asked.

"The enemy situation is unclear, and the main army has just set off. Our scouts have also detected beastmen activity. We can't determine if what you're facing is the beastmen's main force. This could be a trap, so we... won't... meet up, just... like that." By the end, Marquis Clark's voice was barely audible.

Then the communication cut off.

"As expected." Gabriel put down the communication device and sighed: "I never counted on him. When he assigned us together, I knew we could only rely on ourselves."

"Let's discuss when the beastmen might launch a full-scale attack."

"That's all we can do."

...

The discussion among the kingdom knights continued.

Meanwhile, the serfs were busily working under the knights' orders, chopping wood, lighting fires for cooking, and many were building fences and wooden walls to strengthen the camp's defenses.

Denis had performed well in today's skirmish. The hunter's son bravely fought and even blinded a lone minotaur in one eye.

To reward his bravery, the knights assigned him to work near the main camp, caring for the knight lords' elf warhorses.

This was a great honor for a serf, to clean up after noble elf warhorses. If Denis survived and returned home to Bastonne, he could boast about it in his village, earning respect even from the elders.

He would be no ordinary person but a serf who cleaned up after an elf warhorse! If he could share a stable with the elf warhorse at night, he might become the village's most respected serf, destined to be the next elder.

The hunter's son diligently split wood, just like the other serfs around him.

Just then, the Grail Knight Lord's words reached his ears: "When do beastmen usually attack?"

"Beastmen attacks often relate to totems and celestial events."

"But we don't have a Sky Mage or Star Mage here, we can't predict the celestial changes or foretell when the beastmen will attack!"

"Damn, the weather this season is always so unpredictable."

Denis paused in his chopping, a light bulb going off in his head, his eyes lighting up.

A serf nearby urgently patted his shoulder: "Oh! God! Denis! What are you doing?"

"Is it September 3rd today?" Denis snapped back to reality, confirming the date with a nearby serf.

"Yes, yes! That's right, Denis, get back to work. Remember, you need to keep your focus on the task at hand, or you'll be punished by the knight lords!" The serf said impatiently, but what happened next left him dumbfounded.

The axe fell to the ground.

A serf rushed towards Ryan and the others discussing military matters.

"Grail Knight Lord! Grail Knight Lord! I have news to... ah!" Denis, excitedly charging halfway, was stopped by a young ranger knight: "Serf! What are you doing! Mind your status!"

After saying that, the ranger knight slapped him across the face.

Pain surged through Denis as the slap dazed him, making him fall to the ground. He struggled to get up, his face swollen, speaking unclearly: "Um... I have news... to tell... Lord Ryan."

"Scum!" The ranger knight kicked Denis in the stomach. The young knight was furious, this lowly cur dared to attempt speaking with the Grail Knight, what did he think he was?

The serf screamed in pain on the ground.

The military council paused, and Ryan and the others looked over: "What's happening?"

"Damn it! This dog spawn! He disturbed the lords' council." Another ranger knight rushed over, grabbed Denis by the neck, lifted him up, and then pushed him near a burning pile of wood, shouting: "Nothing to see, Lord Ryan, Duke Gabriel, just a lowly serf spouting nonsense. I'll make him have his accident! Let him have his accident!"

"Stop!"

"It's fine, he'll have his accident, it's not us doing it, it's an accident happening to him..." The ranger knight didn't hear what Ryan was saying; he was pushing Denis's head towards the fire, wanting to teach the serf a lesson.

"I said, STOP!" Ryan roared: "Bring him here!"

"Yes... yes!" The ranger knight was startled by the Grail Knight's shout, he hurriedly brought Denis before Ryan: "My lord?"

"Let him go!" Ryan continued, signaling everyone to back off, he approached Denis: "Speak up!"

The ranger knights finally released the serf. Denis, with a swollen face and bruises, knelt before Ryan: "My lord!"

"What were you trying to say earlier?" Ryan looked at the serf before him. It was clear he had something urgent to tell.

"Tell me, what do you want to tell me?"

"Tomorrow night, it will rain, my lord!"

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