How Dare You Chase Me?

Knight Jacob, seeing his levy troops at a disadvantage, disdainfully fastened his faceplate, spurred his horse, and charged forward with his five squires. As dust billowed around them, the cavalry initially trotted to find their rhythm before the six riders lined up and gradually picked up speed.

"Cloppity-clop!"

Each hoofbeat felt like a giant hammer pounding in the hearts of the infantry, nearly shattering their resolve. The forward march immediately halted, and many soldiers huddled together, nervously eyeing the approaching threat.

The banner with the wild boar emblem fluttered in the wind, and the riders beneath it seemed like gods descending, unstoppable!

"In the name of the Lord!" Knight Jacob shouted the war cry, lowering his previously raised lance, its deadly tip aimed at the opposing formation.

"Scatter quickly!"

The squire in charge of Jacob's levy troops shouted. The levy soldiers immediately scattered to the flanks like birds released from a cage, clearing a path for the cavalry in the center.

Norn's view suddenly cleared, and the six riders charged towards his side like a torrent. As the cavalry closed in, a massive psychological shadow loomed over everyone, and the formation began to waver, morale plummeting like a waterfall.

"Maintain the formation! You wretched scum, maintain the formation." Their squire drew his longsword and loudly intimidated the levy troops, hoping to keep the tight formation.

But clearly, these untrained peasants couldn't manage it. These farmers, who usually obeyed the knight's every command and gritted their teeth to support the various taxes, had the terror of a knight's charge deeply ingrained in their bones.

"I won't fight anymore!"

A young levy soldier dropped his weapon, cried out his mother's name, and turned to flee. The squire tried to step forward to execute him but was immediately knocked down by more people rushing past.

The entire formation dissolved into chaos!

Jinn, harboring dreams of knighthood, took a deep breath, about to take his first step against the knight, but was stopped by a force.

"What are you doing? Run!" Norn yanked Jinn back, pulling him towards the rear.

"A knight shouldn't run!" Jinn still resisted.

"Our job is done. Don't worry about the rest," Norn jerked his head towards their knights, who had already begun to form up and trot in the rear. "First, save your own life."

With that, Jinn stopped resisting, and the two immediately sprinted toward a nearby grove of trees.

Both well-trained and running for their lives, they quickly overtook many malnourished peasants, even the injured fat farmer.

The opposing knight, disdainful of the scattered levy troops, continued his charge. His target had always been one: Knight Andrew on the other side.

Their own Knight Andrew was also a line of six cavalrymen, with the banner's sword seeming to strike at any moment.

After a stretch of acceleration, both sides maintained their optimal speed, ten lances mutually pointing at each other, always keeping steady amidst the ups and downs.

When the two torrents met, the battlefield fell silent for a moment. The scattered levy troops on both sides watched the knightly duel with bated breath; their outcome would directly determine the victory of this battle.

With wind-like speed, the lances fiercely stabbed at each other and then snapped abruptly. Several blood mists burst forth. Three of their own inexperienced and armored squires hardly had time to cry out before being sent to meet their Lord by the lances.

But the other side fared no better. Three squires were also knocked off their horses, their fates unknown.

After the intermingling, both sides continued to charge towards the other's rear, then simultaneously and gradually slowed their horses, preparing for the next round of charges.

Even the knights who had begun to decelerate had no levy troops willing to block their way; everyone just hoped to run faster and not get in the way of the advancing knights.

Sure enough, the fat farmer who had scorned Norn was injured and running too slowly, and was knocked flying by the well-equipped knight squire. It was clear he wouldn't survive.

Perhaps fueled by a rush of blood, the knight squire, seeing Norn running ahead to the left, slightly turned his horse's head, separated from his group, and charged after Norn.

The squire, with his longsword slanted, seemed to see that once he caught up to Norn, he could easily slice Norn in half with the momentum of his sword.

Jinn, who had run ahead, heard the hoofbeats, turned his head, and saw the knight squire chasing them, immediately panicking and shouting, "Enno! Behind us!"

Hearing the approaching hoofbeats, Norn cursed under his breath, "Why me?"

"Ever since I got run over by the Mamluks last time, I've been practicing for this!"

Norn abruptly stopped and turned, swiftly planting the butt of his spear into the solid ground, angling it at 45 degrees towards the squire's warhorse, while he quickly crouched down and hid behind the spear.

A perfect anti-cavalry stance was completed in just one second.

The squire was astonished. A spearman who had been facing away from him had quickly assumed a horse-stopping position. His lance had broken in the charge, and his spare lance was still on his back. The longsword in his hand was no match for the spear.

The squire yanked the reins urgently, and his warhorse immediately slowed to a trot and stopped. Fortunately, he had already begun to decelerate, and after a few more steps forward, the horse finally halted just a few meters in front of the spear.

Seeing the horse come to a sudden stop, Norn pulled out a hemp rope with stones tied to both ends from his waist and swung it at the horse's leg.

"Take this, flying stone rope!"

The flying stone rope spun out, and the middle hemp rope accurately struck one of the horse's legs. The stones, following the inertia, rotated around the horse's leg, tightening the rope around it.

Seeing the horse with one leg entangled, Norn smiled triumphantly. After all, a rider without speed posed much less of a threat.

Norn straightened up and slowly approached with his spear raised.

The squire saw everything Norn did. He wasn't worried about a clever spearman, but he was anxious because Knight Andrew and his two companions had already turned their horses and begun to accelerate again. Without him, Knight Jacob's side was clearly at a disadvantage with only two riders.

The squire glared at Norn, then saw Jinn also charging over with a spear. He gritted his teeth, spurred his horse, and limped to turn back to his group.

"Don't think you can get away!" Norn seized the opportunity and thrust his spear forward.

The prepared knight squire slashed out an arc of light, and an iron spearhead traced a graceful curve before disappearing into the distance.

Norn, holding only a wooden shaft, didn't have time to be surprised. He quickly rolled to the side to avoid the squire's second sword strike.

"Enno!" Jinn finally arrived, but he didn't notice a stone on the ground and tripped. His body immediately fell forward, and his spear involuntarily stabbed into the horse's rump.

The horse, in pain, let out a pained neigh. Even with a weighted leg, it couldn't care less and limped away, leaving Norn on the ground, kicking himself in frustration.

"My prize!"