I was a knight in the Middle Ages

Chapter 466: Canyon Battle, Peace Talks?

Gun smoke and the smell of blood filled Kanaz's nostrils. He clutched the bloodstained oak stick and looked at the steel defense line formed by the human knights in front of him, with flames of anger burning in his eyes: "Balman priests! Those humans pointed their spears at our chests! They don't care about the life or death of the druids at all!"

Balmain's antler headdress trembled slightly in the firelight, and the old priest clenched the emerald-inlaid oak staff: "What did they say?"

"Let us evacuate from the dense forest on the east side, and do not step into the main road!" Kanaz wiped the blood off his face, his voice full of resentment, "The swamp is full of poisonous fog and swamp beasts. This is clearly asking us to die! Once the bandits break through the defense line, we will have nowhere to escape!"

Balmain looked at the fierce battle in the distance and the battle flag of the Alpha Knights fluttering in the night wind.

Guilt entangled his heart like a vine - if the Druid Tribe had not believed the instigation of the Hague Bandits, the war would not have spread to the human territory.

"Listen! All troops turn to the east!" Balman swung his staff violently, and the sound of vines whipping suddenly rang out in the woods. "We can't cause them any more trouble!"

"But..." Kanaz wanted to argue, but was interrupted by the priest's cold gaze.

Balman led the tribe and quickly disappeared into the shadows, leaving the young druid standing there in a daze, with Da Gama's roar still echoing in his ears: "Those who trespass will die!"

However, facing the influx of bandit knights, Da Gama's defense line was nothing but a paper fortress.

The knights were defeated step by step, and could only barely block an attack after retreating three steps. Finally, they fled in panic amid the laughter of the bandits.

Kanaz, who was hiding in the dark, beat his chest and stamped his feet - if he had known that humans were so vulnerable, he should have led his people to break out by force!

Just as he was feeling regretful, he heard the humming sound of gears turning from deep in the canyon.

More than twenty crossbow carts broke out of the water like dormant steel beasts, and the bronze crossbow arms glowed coldly under the moonlight.

"Fire!" Following the order, dozens of crossbow arrows as thick as bowls tore through the night sky, sweeping across the dense array of bandits like the scythe of the god of death.

The screams instantly resounded throughout the valley.

Three or four knights were impaled on the same crossbow arrow, and blood flowed down the arrow shaft like a stream.

Before the corpses in the front row fell, the knights in the back row rushed into them again, forming a high wall of flesh and blood.

The second round of volleys from the crossbow carts came soon after, and this time five or six knights were pierced through at the same time. The scene was extremely tragic.

"Don't panic! They need time to reload!" The bandit commander waved his battle axe and roared, "Charge! If you charge, you will survive!"

However, fear had already spread like a plague, and the knights retreated instinctively until the sabers of the overseers chopped off their companions' heads. Only then did some of them let out desperate shouts and charge forward.

As the fourth round of arrows fell, Alpha raised the ruby-studded scepter.

Under Alpha's command, the ballistas quickly turned and retreated like a well-trained mechanical corps.

At the same time, the catapults made a deafening roar, and the burning boulders passed over their own positions and smashed into the center of the bandit group.

The Iron Wall Chariot followed slowly, and while retreating it used heavy iron armor to protect the crossbow cart, like a moving steel fortress.

Kanaz looked at the thrilling battlefield, cold sweat soaking his back.

He finally understood how wise Balmain's decision was - those humans who seemed to be retreating were actually weaving an intricate web of death.

At this moment, the bandit group is stepping into this carefully designed trap step by step.

Kanaz curled up behind the bushes, his Adam's apple rolling.

The night wind, carrying the stench of iron and blood, blew across his mud-covered face. On the main road in the distance, the cold light reflected by the knight Vasco da Gama when he swung his sword was still burning on his retina.

Kanaz couldn't help but imagine: If the druids broke into the passage covered with broken armor and limbs at this moment, would those crossbow arrows with a cold blue light pierce through the chests of the druids without hesitation?

Cold sweat slid down his back into his deerskin boots. The memory of Alpha narrowing his eyes and issuing a kill order overlapped with the image of the bandit nailed to his shield by a crossbow arrow on the battlefield.

Kanaz suddenly realized that in the eyes of the silver-haired lord, the defeated druids were no different from the vicious bandits - both were prey that threatened the safety of the territory, and hunters would never show mercy to the trapped animals that broke into the trap.

The struggle on the main battlefield continues.

The kerosene cans thrown by the catapults tore through the night sky and smashed into the bandit formation like falling stars.

The blast caused by the explosion sent sparks soaring into the sky, instantly engulfing dozens of knights in a sea of ​​fire.

The firing rhythm of the crossbow carts slowed down, but became more and more accurate. Every arrow was accompanied by a dull penetrating sound, creating horrifying blood holes in the dense crowd.

"Lord Alpha! The enemy magicians have formed a battle formation!" Darwin staggered into the command tent, with blood splattered on the hem of his cloak.

He pointed at the flickering blue magic circle in the distance, his voice trembling with fear, "They are summoning large-scale elemental magic!"

Alpha's movement of stroking the scepter suddenly stopped, and the ruby ​​shone as red as blood in the firelight.

"Evelyn!" Alpha turned around abruptly, his silver hair flying in the night wind. "Take your elf wizard and archer to find the enemy wizard and destroy the magic circle for me!"

Following a clear whistle, dozens of dark green elven fires suddenly lit up in the forest.

Evelyn tapped the treetops with her toes, and the silver bow drew a graceful arc in the moonlight.

Behind her, several elven archers were like ghosts in the dark night, with deadly magical light condensed on the tips of their arrows.

"Burn everything!" Evelyn pulled the bowstring to its full length, and a huge fireball condensed with the true fire of the sun tore through the clouds.

Before the bandits below could even raise their heads in fear, blazing flames poured down like a curtain of sky.

The magic circle twisted and disintegrated in the high temperature, dozens of magicians turned into ashes, and screams and explosions mixed with the smell of burning rose into the sky.

Alpha stared at the battlefield, his pupils slightly contracted due to the aftermath of the magic.

"Darwin," Alpha's voice was low and dangerous, "keep your eyes on every flickering magical wave. In this hunt, we can't let the prey bite back."

When the first rays of morning light pierced the smoke-filled sky, the battlefield was littered with the corpses of bandit knights.

More than a thousand remains looked like broken dolls, and the solidified bloodstains glowed a strange purple-black color in the gray morning mist.

Alpha held the blood-stained sword, looked in the direction of the enemy's retreat and let out a long sigh.

The last crossbow arrow had been used up before dawn, and now the makeshift spear launchers on the battlefield relied entirely on the deafening sound of impact to maintain their deterrence.

The chariot's shovel had already been bent three times, and each gap was covered with dark red blood clots.

The knights who were rotated out slumped on the ground, the blood and sweat seeping from the gaps in their armor mixed together, forming dark stains on the bluestone floor.

Their eyes were bloodshot, and the hands holding their weapons were still shaking uncontrollably, but they still maintained a vigilant posture.

"My Lord!" Mingyue came running over, her bronze mail shining coldly in the morning sun, "Mashu has sent an urgent message. The survivors of the Druid tribe are approaching from the east and request to meet with us."

Alpha stroked the dull ruby ​​on the sword, thinking of the "yellow bird plan" that failed last night.

The rapid collapse of the druid defense line disrupted all his deployments. Now, are these uninvited guests allies or hidden dangers?

"Let them send the highest-ranking envoy." Alpha said solemnly, his eyes sweeping over the soldiers who were clearing the battlefield.

Half an hour later, Balman walked into the makeshift command tent with the help of two druids.

The middle-aged priest's antler headdress had a broken corner, his emerald green robe was stained with mud, and his eyes were full of guilt: "Captain Alpha, the Druid Tribe solemnly apologizes for the previous offense."

"I am more concerned about why your defense is so weak." Alpha folded his fingers and stared at the other party with sharp eyes like a hawk.

Balman trembled as he pulled out a glass bottle from his bosom, which contained a turbid dark green liquid: "The night before, the bandits took advantage of our laxity and threw this colorless and tasteless poison into the holy spring. After drinking it, the druid will become extremely irritable and lose his mind..."

Balman choked up, "We abandoned the valley that was easy to defend but difficult to attack, and fought the enemy like wild beasts, which led to a disaster. Now, on behalf of the tribe, I beg you to form an alliance with us to fight against the Hague bandits together."

Alpha was silent for a long time, and the only sound in the tent was the crackling of the flickering candlelight.

Suddenly Alpha sneered: "Alliance? When you were attacked, did you ever think of asking me for help? Now you are talking about cooperation with unknown risks, why should I believe you?"

"You!" Kanaz stood up suddenly, the oak stick at his waist trembling slightly with anger, "Druids have always loved peace and kept their promises..."

Kanaz's voice gradually faded under Alpha's cold gaze.

Yes, what qualifications do these people who once allied with Alpha but abandoned it have to talk about credibility now?

Balman suddenly knelt on his knees, his antlers almost touching the ground: "I only ask for one thing, Lord Alpha! After the tribesmen were poisoned, their body functions declined sharply. Only the dwarf doctors in your army may be able to..."

Alpha turned and looked at the battlefield outside the tent under the rising sun, and finally sighed: "Tell me about the symptoms."

The morning light fell on Alpha's tired but resolute face, reflecting a barely perceptible wavering look. "Let the wounded come over!"

When Balmain carefully opened his palm, the creature curled up there plunged the entire tent into deathly silence.

The palm-sized body has a mother-of-pearl luster, and the wings, as thin as cicada wings, are decorated with star-shaped dark blue patterns.

The part that should have been the girl's face was inlaid with a pair of emerald compound eyes that occupied half of the face - this strange fusion made the battle-hardened Alpha couldn't help but take a step back.

"This is Gulina, our most gifted nature priestess." Balmain's Adam's apple rolled, and his dry branch-like fingers gently brushed the elf's trembling wings.

"During the elemental fusion ceremony on the night of the full moon, an unexpected magical interference caused the spirit to lose control...Her human body is collapsing, and now she can only maintain this form to survive." Balman explained in a low voice.

Alpha stared at the huddled creature, light magic pulsating from his fingertips into a soft halo.

When the golden light enveloped Gulina, something strange happened suddenly.

The elf's wings suddenly burst out with a dazzling blue light, and the oil lamps in the tent exploded at the same time, and the splashing lamp oil condensed into ice crystals in mid-air.

Alpha groaned, the magic fluctuations made his palm numb. He saw that there seemed to be a storm raging inside Gulina's body, and every inch of her skin was strangely switching between human and elf forms.

"My Lord! Her life field is in disorder!" Evelyn suddenly exclaimed, and healing arrows automatically condensed on the silver bow.

Alpha gritted his teeth to maintain his magical form, veins popping out on his forehead: "Quick...use the elves' magic to heal!"

As Evelyn's singing began, dozens of emerald light chains shot out from the woods outside the tent and wrapped around Gulina.

At the moment when the two magics intertwined, the elf let out an ethereal scream, and the star patterns on its wings suddenly lit up and turned into flowing light all over the sky.

When the light dissipated, the weak elf girl lying on the ground still had a faint blue light on her pale face that remained before her compound eyes disappeared.

"I'll leave the follow-up care to you." Alpha shook his numb right hand, and the light magic gradually disappeared from his fingertips.

Alpha looked at the soldiers who were regrouping outside the tent. The smoke of the battlefield was being blown away by the morning breeze. "It is more important to hold the line than to treat each individual. Get ready for the next wave of attacks from the bandits."

The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and Alpha's leather boots crushed the coagulated blood scabs, leaving clear footprints on the messy battlefield.

He tightly grasped the ruby-encrusted sword, looked at the wisps of smoke rising from the bandit camp in the distance, and spoke with unquestionable authority: "Quintai, have you found out the movements of the Hague bandit group?"

"Reply, sir!" Quintai knelt on one knee, his bronze wrist guards colliding with each other, "They are rotating the vanguard battalion, and the heavy attack equipment is also gathering at the mouth of the canyon. A new round of offensive will be launched at noon at the latest."

When the burly knight commander raised his head, there were still traces of bloodshot in his eyes from the night's fighting.

Alpha glanced at the soldiers who were resting in formation - some were dozing off against the chariots, some were bandaging bleeding bandages, and even the horses were breathing heavily with their heads down.

Alpha swung his sword and pointed it at the sky: "The whole army is divided into three echelons! Mashu's shadow elves are responsible for reconnaissance, Baras will repair the chariot, and Baruch will debug the catapult! Remember, each wave of duty cannot exceed eight hours."

The command sounded like thunder, and the fighting spirit was rekindled in the soldiers' tired eyes.

At this moment, a messenger stumbled into the camp and said, "Sir! The Hague Bandits sent an envoy, holding an olive branch and asking for negotiations!"

Alpha's movement of stroking the sword suddenly paused, and the ruby ​​reflected a dangerous light in the morning light.

Alpha recalled the battlefield last night: the burning crossbow arrows pierced the knight's chest, the roar of the catapult shook the rubble off the cliff, and the bodies of at least two thousand bandits remained in this canyon forever.

Taking into account the casualties caused by the Druid tribe's desperate resistance, the enemy's losses were probably close to four thousand people.

"Interesting." Alpha sneered, his cloak fluttering in the wind. "Darwin, prepare your horses! I want to hear what teeth these jackals are going to use to negotiate peace."

Alpha strode towards the gate, and the sound of his boots hitting the bluestone seemed like the drumbeat of fate.

""