our family is gone

Chapter 754 Attack
"You mean they're on the run?"

"According to the traces, they invaded from the south, but they should have started to lose control after daybreak. The traces they left behind indicate that they are moving away from Hamlet."

Laura quickly reported the reconnaissance results. Lance was speechless after listening to it. He had overestimated those guys. He originally wanted to wait for them to come over and show them to the people.

But I didn't expect that they would be so scared as soon as the ancestor died. What kind of fanatical belief is this? The ancestor didn't even have a single person willing to die for him. He was truly a clown.

"We also found some destroyed villages and towns along the way. Basically no one was spared. Those guys had completely degenerated into cultists and were beginning to lose control."

Laura added, and Lance couldn't help but frowned when he heard it, but he didn't rush to react, but continued to understand.

"How many enemies are there?"

"The main thing is that these people are not all gathered together, but have begun to disperse. We are not very sure in the short term, but the total number should be around one thousand, and the maximum number should be two or three hundred."

"Is Hamlet a place where they can come and go as they please?" Lance made a decision immediately, "Come here! Gather the guards immediately and ask Reynard to come over."

"Sir." Leonard came over quickly. Because the senior leaders did not take a vacation, he was busy discussing a detailed plan with the military.

Not only the top military officials, but other decision-makers in Hamlet are also busy preparing for a new round of war.

The lords give the general direction and strategic planning, and they are responsible for improvement and implementation. This has always been the case.

"Those invading cultists are trying to run... If we let them scatter and flee, it will be difficult for us to have a chance to catch them all in one fell swoop, so I want them dead!"

"I will lead the cavalry to wipe out these guys as soon as possible."

Lance quickly and simply explained the current situation. Reynald also knew that the opportunity was not to be missed. There was only one reason why he was called here, and that was to make full use of the mobility of the cavalry.

But Lance shook his head and explained.

"Those are cultists who destroyed many villages and towns and killed countless people. It would be too easy for them to be killed like this. They must be severely punished!
You lead the guards, one person with two horses, I will arrange for Laura to guide you, you don't need to do anything else, just capture as many of those guys as you can, and I will arrange logistics to escort the rest back."

Lance emphasized, "I don't want to affect the business, so I want to see them all arrested before the vacation is over, understand?"

"I understand." Leonard naturally understood what the lord meant.

These cultists running around obviously disrupted the lord's plan, and their killing further angered the lord, which was not something that death could solve.

This is more of a capture operation than an eradication operation, and it is bound to not be a good show.

However, bullying and abuse are not allowed in the army, because the lords believe that this will corrupt the soldiers' will and lead to moral decline.

Therefore, they can only use special organizations like the Royal Guard to do the dirty work.

Moreover, those are cultists. Ordinary people would have to cripple them before they could be killed. That way, there would be few to catch. It is most reasonable that the Royal Guards have the strength to crush those guys.

Without further ado, Reynald got ready immediately. Soon, the guards and war horses were assembled at the fastest speed and rushed out.

Lance also took the opportunity to launch a comprehensive reconnaissance operation and arranged for logistics to follow up and prepare for the reception of prisoners, as well as for the upcoming war.

Reynald felt the lord's anger.

Is it because of the civilians killed by the cultists?
Maybe, but more of it is the frustration of having plans ruined.

According to the original plan, those guys should have come here so that the people could see that the invading enemies were real, and it would also give him an excuse to really start a war.

But the problem is that those little devils actually ran away, so Lance had to catch them and put on a show.

He considered arranging for his personal guards to take action to capture as many cultists as possible. One important reason was that the materials of the sanatorium had been consumed too much recently.

In the past, Paracelsus was alone, so no matter how he struggled, he had to limit himself.

However, with the addition of so many researchers with medical backgrounds, research progress has been accelerated while costs have also increased.

How could there be so many death row prisoners under normal circumstances? Lance is not the ancestor. Even if he were the ancestor, he would know that human experiments need to be kept secret.

But the cultists definitely deserved to be put to death and could be taken directly to a sanatorium without any need for any identification.

Whether it was the movement of war horses or the personal guards, as well as the cancellation of reconnaissance and some logistics leave, some people in the circle felt that something was wrong.

Now there was no need to hide the news about the remnants of the cult, instead Lance spread it.

The surrounding nobles and the remnants of the cult are invading Hamlet, killing many people and destroying many villages and towns.

When the news spread, those more educated and fanatical soldiers also began to ferment rapidly after losing Lance's suppression.

Most of Hamlet's army are from good families and have families. Now that they are back on leave, the soldiers' emotions are easily affected by the whole family.

So the original Victory Day holiday turned into a day of constant requests for battle the next day.

What vacation? There is no such thing. They want to kill those guys and retake Hamlet!
The people’s hearts can be used...

The guards under Reynard were even more swift, because letting them go would be troublesome.

One man and two horses, spared no effort and galloped all the way, relying on the guidance of the falcon circling overhead.

……

The Ascension Sect did develop quite a few believers in the surrounding areas, including some rather ambiguous high-level figures.

But don't forget that churches still exist in those places, so they are destined to only be able to influence a part of them, and it is difficult for them to show up in the open.

This makes it basically impossible to completely control a territory, at least in the short term.

Owendo was easily corrupted by the Ascension Sect because of its river shipping port and the active trade at this strategic location.

However, these territories still belong to the type that is mainly based on traditional agriculture in the mainland, which means that the influence of the church is stronger.

So if you say that the church is really useless, that’s not true. Its existence does indeed suppress the spread of cults.

But none of this matters anymore. Under this background, when those ascending sects are pushed into a corner, they can only pull out a small part of the people.

The teams, which consisted of a few noble knights and a mixture of mercenaries, serfs, and cultists, quickly degenerated after a few killings and all became cultists. This was because they could really feel the power gained from devouring flesh and blood, which was simply irresistible to them.

This is why Lance usually chooses to bless and strengthen his soldiers either in battle, after training, or on occasions with special significance, such as award ceremonies.

The purpose is to highlight their own efforts, rather than completely obliterate their humanity, so that they will think that this is not a gift from the lord, but the result of their own efforts and what they deserve.

Simply put, it is to establish the correct feedback mechanism, otherwise you will fall into endless hunger and madness like these.

Nowadays, these teams are controlled by those evil cult spellcasters, and those few scattered noble knights have become their guards.

It’s not that these cultists are disloyal to their ancestors. In fact, the brainwashing ability of cults is as good as ideological stamping.

But as the leading spellcaster, he still retained some of his brains, and the interesting thing is that this group of people was always suppressed by Lance, and they knew what kind of hell Hamlet was.

The extreme darkness and the approaching blood moon made them not afraid as they had all received the [Great Blessing]. However, the emptiness brought on by the rapid fading of power after daybreak was enough to calm their crazy brains.

In addition, after daybreak, they completely lost God's guidance and their leader was no longer there, so those cult spellcasters realized that the game was over and they dared not attack Hamlet as fearlessly as before.

Because we were in a hurry to rush forward, and with the restraint of those noble knights, there was no massacre of villages and towns.

It's not that those noble knights are good people, they just come here to annex these places. If they all die, who will do the work? We can't let the master come, right?

But these guys are slaves to the flesh, and the emptiness caused by the fading of the great blessing after dawn drives them crazy.

The spellcaster also understood that he must find the power to appease them, otherwise the Ascension Sect would truly exist in name only.

Although they did not dare to attack Hamlet, they had the courage to bully ordinary people, and they were very brave.

So they began to wreak havoc in the surroundings, relying on killing to maintain their internal situation, while also causing others to quickly corrupt.

The cultists now have only one choice: to kill and plunder while Hamlet is still not able to react and accumulate their resources quickly; then, they can turn around and break up into small groups like countless other cults and lurk around, waiting for their chance.

So the team began to disperse and prepare for further massacre.

An unknown village in Hamlet. Some people who escaped the catastrophe that year opened up fields in the wilderness, and then slowly developed a village with a population of hundreds over the years.

After Hamlet's fall, he had no energy to take care of this place, and he could not control the lords outside. Without the bureaucratic exploitation and the formation of farmers, the village has always been relatively peaceful.

It’s a pity that the tranquility was suddenly broken today, and a group of people rushed in from somewhere.

You can see that these people's equipment is in a mess, mostly spears, and some swords and the like. Their clothes are also in a mess. Many of them are stained with blood and smell fishy. They look no different from robbers and bandits.

The village had encountered robbers before over the years, and although it was chaotic, some people had already called for and organized a counterattack, and they were still very determined to defend their property.

The young and strong men picked up their pitchforks and spears, and the hunters in the village pulled their bowstrings, and the two sides collapsed at the first contact.

They are not on the same level at all. There are spellcasters hidden among those cultists. Once they cast a sorcery, ordinary people will collapse. Once the formation is disrupted, they will have no ability to resist at all.

The old hunter desperately plucked the bowstring and shot arrows one after another in an attempt to make amends, accurately hitting those crazy cultists, but the effect was not obvious.

Although the cultists have lost the great blessing of their ancestors, the changes in their flesh and blood still exist, giving them strength and recovery abilities far beyond those of ordinary people.

The old hunter who was still resisting was also targeted by the cult priest. The soul-stealing spell fell on him, and he was stunned for just a moment before being chopped down by a mercenary who came from nowhere.

"Run!" The old hunter struggled to look to the side and uttered his last words as he fell down, and then he was hacked to death.

Those who dare to resist will be killed, and the rest will undoubtedly be massacred...

"Run!"

"Don't kill me, I'll give you money, all of it!"

"Ahhh!"

Some people were running away desperately with terrified looks on their faces, but suddenly there was a noise behind them, and before that person could react, he "flew" up the next second.

The fully armored knight charged on horseback, and his lance instantly picked up the one in front who was trying to escape.

The man did not die immediately, but was struggling while hanging on the gun. However, this scene caused the knight to laugh wildly, which was cruel and crazy.

"Hahaha!"

He chased the villagers who were fleeing madly like a cat chasing a mouse, and the wanton killing aroused his desire!

A young man escaped from the chaotic village. From the hunting bow in his hand, it could be seen that he was one of the hunters in the village.

At this moment, his expression was full of anger. He had just witnessed his father die at the hands of those guys.

But he couldn't hide his fear, because he saw with his own eyes that those people healed after being shot by arrows. It was impossible to defeat these monsters!

However, his face changed at this moment because he heard the sound of horse hooves behind him. He didn't have time to look back and subconsciously rolled sideways to avoid the blood-stained lance.

The knight was also a little surprised. He didn't expect to encounter a resisting rabbit, which brought a bit of fun to his hunting.

As soon as he got up, he was faced with the knight who turned around. An indescribable feeling filled his heart, as if he was being stared at by a wild beast.

The next second, the knight turned his horse around and charged forward. The hunter's hair stood on end and he ran away.

But how could an ordinary person possibly outrun a four-legged horse? After rolling twice in a row, he seemed to feel the knight's teasing. In desperation with no way to escape, he turned around and shot an arrow.

The arrow, symbolizing the final struggle, only made a slight dent on the armor and bounced off, but the knight had already charged forward.

He looked at the lance pointed at him with an expression of indescribable fear...

"boom!"

A sudden gunshot echoed, and the knight's charging figure could not help but pause, forcibly interrupting his charge. When he looked back, he saw a man sitting upright on the horse, with a lance in his hand still emitting gunpowder smoke...

Thanks to [DK277] for the 1100 reward