I was a knight in the Middle Ages

Chapter 527 The Dark Curtain Falls (Page 12)

The night was as dark as ink, so thick it seemed to swallow up all light.

In the darkness, Bedor Castle resembled a dying beast, its dilapidated towers creaking and groaning in the night wind.

The moonlight was obscured by thick, dark clouds, with only a few pale rays occasionally shining through, illuminating the corpses lying haphazardly among the broken walls and ruins.

Blood flowed slowly between the cracks in the rocks, forming a dark red stream.

"Are you ready?" Alpha whispered, his voice hoarse but firm.

He stood atop the last remaining section of the castle's intact wall, his longsword now replaced by a double-edged battle axe, the blade still stained with the blood of the daytime assassin.

The knights behind him nodded silently, their only response the soft clatter of their armor.

"They think we're trapped beasts," Alpha sneered, his gaze sweeping over the dense forest shrouded in night below the city. "But they forgot that trapped beasts are the most ferocious."

Before the words were finished, a sharp whistle shattered the silence.

"Kill! Leave no one alive!" From the darkness, countless shadows surged out like a tide, and the clanging of swords being drawn echoed across the land.

The assassins who were tasked with the encirclement numbered three hundred, all of whom were elites from the empire's secret service and the private armies of nobles.

They wielded poisoned short blades, wore light armor, and moved like ghosts.

"Here it comes!" Athena shouted, drawing her silver blade, its cold light flashing like a bolt of lightning.

With a flash, she leaped off the city wall and cut into the enemy ranks like a silver lightning bolt. Where her sword flashed, blood blossomed.

"Kill—!" Knight Jin roared, his giant axe spinning like a windmill, and the three assassins were cut in half before they could even scream.

His armor was stained red with blood, yet he fought with ever greater ferocity, as if a god of war had descended to earth.

Alpha did not immediately charge.

He stood on high ground, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield like that of a hawk.

He was waiting—waiting for the enemy's true main force, waiting for the "hunter" hidden in the darkness.

“They deliberately let us escape from the castle,” Alpha realized. “This is a trap. The real trap is not in the castle, but on the road leading to the camp.”

Sure enough, just as the knights were fighting and retreating, gradually approaching the edge of the dense forest, flames suddenly shot up from the hillsides on both sides.

Countless archers appeared, and arrows rained down.

"Shield Formation!" Alpha roared.

Bedo's knights immediately formed a defensive formation, their shields overlapping to create a moving iron wall.

The arrows struck the shield, producing a dense, muffled sound like drumbeats.

"They want to force us back to the castle and then use fire to attack us," Alpha said coldly. "We can't retreat! Retreat means death!"

He leaped off the city wall, raised his battle axe high, and roared, "Follow me—break the formation!"

His figure moved like lightning, charging straight into the enemy's central army.

Wherever they went, no one could stop them.

The battle axe swung, tearing a bloody path through the air like mowing grass.

His armor was shattered, and his arm was slashed open with a deep wound that exposed the bone.

But he seemed oblivious to the pain, his eyes fixed only on the black banner that symbolized the enemy general in front of him.

"Stop him!" a commander in a red robe shouted in alarm.

Two high-ranking assassins immediately pounced, one on the left and one on the right, their blades flashing like lightning.

Alpha neither dodged nor evaded, but took the blow head-on. He blocked with his left hand and spun his right battle axe in the middle, cutting the assassin on the left in half.

Before the assassin on the right could sheathe his blade, Alpha had already closed in, smashing the opponent's face armor with an elbow strike, and then cleaving his head in two with an axe.

“You’re not a knight…you’re a madman!” the red-robed commander trembled.

“I am a ghost,” Alpha said coldly, “a ghost that has come to take your life.”

The battle axe fell, and the commander, along with his flag, was cleaved in two.

Once the central army was breached, the enemy formation was thrown into chaos.

"Break through!" Athena led the remaining troops out and joined Alpha.

The two stood back to back, covered in blood, surrounded by mountains of corpses.

"How many people are left?" Alpha asked breathlessly.

“Thirty-two guards.” Athena’s voice trembled slightly.

Alpha looked around and saw familiar faces, some of whom had closed their eyes forever.

"Listen!" Alpha raised the gray iron plaque, the emblem of the commoner knights, his voice piercing the night sky, "We are not pawns! We are swords! Swords that pierce the corrupt divine authority! Tonight, we will not die, we—break through!"

"Never die! Break through!" The thirty-two knights roared in unison, their voices echoing across the land.

The assassins were intimidated by this aura and dared not move forward for a moment.

Just then, the faint sound of horses' hooves could be heard from the horizon, rolling like thunder.

"It's reinforcements from the military camp!" Bedor's voice came from afar. "They're here!"

A slight smile finally appeared on Alpha's lips.

"Your Grace, the scouts report that the rebels have successfully broken out of the Holy City and are heading at full speed towards the main camp outside the city, intending to join up with that rabble!"

The Templar Knight Ados knelt on one knee before the Duke of Orlando, the bloodstains on his armor still wet, but his eyes burning with bloodthirsty excitement.

The longsword in his hand was still dripping blood, as if it craved more killing.

Duke Orlando abruptly stood up from his luxurious chair, the long-suppressed tyranny and restlessness in his eyes finally finding an outlet.

He had had enough of the tedious rules of the papacy and the infighting among the nobles in the Holy City, which restricted his movements at every turn.

But once he left the city, that vast plain became his slaughterhouse!

"Good! Excellent!" The Duke laughed wildly, his voice booming like a bell, making the beams and pillars of the hall hum. "Since they're in such a hurry to report to the underworld, then I, the Duke, will grant their wish! Issue my order: all three thousand Imperial Templar Knights, launch an attack!"

The Duke strode toward the door, his scarlet cloak fluttering behind him, his tone filled with utter contempt for the "commoner knights": "Let those peasants see what a true knight is! What the backbone of the empire is! Let them understand in their despair that the class divide is an insurmountable chasm for them!"

"Yes, sir!" Ados accepted the order, a cruel smile curving his lips, his eyes filled with murderous intent. "I will make sure they know that the price of challenging the dignity of the nobility is to be shattered to pieces!"

……

"Lord Alpha! Best is late!"

With a deafening roar, a cloud of dust rose from the horizon.

Best led a thousand commoner knights to the scene. Although they were not as well-equipped as the Templars, the commoner knights, with their high morale, surged forward like a tide.

They were like a sharp dagger, slicing fiercely into the enemy formation that was besieging the Alpha team.

Those once arrogant and domineering noble knights were instantly shattered in the face of a real cavalry charge, and cries of agony filled the air.

"Best, well done!" A hint of relief flashed in Alpha's eyes, but more so a sense of urgency.

Breaking through has already consumed too much precious time, and the window of opportunity left for him is rapidly closing.

"Send word to Old John, tell him to come here immediately, I have urgent military orders to give!" Alpha's voice was hoarse but extremely penetrating, cutting through the noise of the battlefield.

A moment later, old John rode up, his face still covered in damp blood. "My lord, what are your orders?"

Alpha's gaze swept over the two generals before him like lightning, his tone heavy as a dark cloud: "Listen, tonight is destined to be a bloody battle! No matter who it is, even if it's the Emperor himself, anyone who dares to come within 500 meters of the military camp will be killed without mercy! I don't care about status, I don't show any mercy, I only care about the result!"

Alpha paused, then plunged his longsword into the earth, saying each word clearly: "Even Imperial Knights, even Holy Knights of the Holy See, are enemies once they step into the forbidden zone!"

Old John's eyes widened in disbelief as he asked, "Lord Ray, you mean... the Templars? They dared to attack us right here at the foot of the Holy City? That's a serious crime!"

Old John's use of the word "serious crime" was a double entendre; it referred to their attack on the Knights Templar, which was indeed a serious crime.

Regardless of the outcome, death is the only result.

"In this game, only the dead can keep secrets from being revealed." Alpha sneered, the murderous intent in his eyes piercingly real.

"Don't be naive, old John. In this position, only killing can bring peace. I will bear all the consequences. Your only task is to live and hold this place!"

After giving the orders, Alpha quickly found Starry Sky and Beedot.

He shielded the two behind him, his tone unusually gentle yet firm: "Listen, no matter what happens outside, even if the sky falls, do not leave the camp. This will be the last bastion, and the only way to survive."

Having arranged everything, Alpha mounted the restless armored rhinoceros, ready to lead the team into the Holy City once again to lure the venomous snake lurking in the shadows.

However, the weather turned against them, and a pale bolt of lightning tore through the dark night.

Immediately afterwards, from the darkness as thick as ink, countless shadowy figures emerged like ghosts and rapidly approached the military camp.

"Form ranks! Prepare for battle!" Alpha raised his longsword and roared deafeningly.

He looked around at the young, fearful yet eager faces around him.

Alpha knew that they had to ignite the fire in their hearts at this moment, otherwise, if they were to falter before the battle even began, defeat would be inevitable.

"Brothers!" Alpha's voice boomed like thunder in the ears of every commoner knight.

"We are knights, not pigs and dogs kept by nobles! Not pawns they can sacrifice at will! For our families, for the sake of no longer being bullied, for the sake of the pitiful dignity and honor in our hearts, tell me, what should we do!"

"For glory!" someone shouted, and immediately, a thousand longswords pointed at the night sky, converging into a thunderous roar: "For glory!"

"Follow me and kill!"

Alpha took the lead, its armored rhinoceros roaring as it charged into the enemy ranks like a heavy tank.

He wanted to use this last opportunity to let these elite Templar Knights of the empire know that even the ants they saw had fangs!

However, the moment the two sides clashed, an unexpected change occurred.

By the light of the lightning, the commoner knights could see the "double swords and cross" emblem on the armor opposite them, a symbol of supreme glory—the emblem of the Imperial Templar Knights!

A fear stemming from class and power instantly gripped their hearts.

The Templars are legendary figures, invincible warriors chosen by the gods.

Faced with such an opponent, the morale of the commoner knights instantly plummeted, and many even lost their grip on their lances.

"What are you afraid of! They're human too!" Alpha roared.

The spear in his hand moved like a venomous dragon emerging from the sea, accurately lifting the body of a Templar Knight and slamming him into the crowd behind him.

"kill!"

Knight Jin let out a beastly roar, his giant axe carrying the force to split mountains and shatter rocks.

He actually cut a Templar Knight and his horse in half at the waist, his scarlet entrails spilling all over the ground.

Athena, on the other hand, was like a blue lightning bolt, her spear wielding without the slightest frill.

Yet it pierced the throats of five Templar Knights with unparalleled precision; the spear moved like a dragon, killing them instantly.

Seeing their strongest leaders so valiant, even managing to slay the legendary Templar Knights, the hearts of the commoner knights, which had been nearly extinguished, were finally rekindled.