Knight and Wand

Chapter 269 The clarion call for counterattack

".It is not a free undead spirit, and its independent consciousness is not as strong as the ghoul you encountered in the forest.

But it is also not a magical entity shaped by necromancy.

They can follow the orders of the superior undead, fight according to the information in their memories, build buildings, and command armies. However, the power to maintain the survival of these individual undead does not come directly from the supply of magic power, and they are not directly manipulated and controlled by a superior spellcaster. The foundation of their existence is rooted in some laws that are different from this world.

Just like you can breathe and eat to survive, it is natural in this world, but in some unknown realm, perhaps the earth is permanently wandering with zombies that are neither alive nor dead. There is no concept of life and death, and the eternal scene of all living things withering away is always maintained.

The dead live forever, and the state between life and death is eternally still, as if it is an extension of the Dead Sea. At least under that dark cloud, the state of the world is undergoing a process of integration, although what I saw was only the tip of the iceberg. "

Laura's voice gradually fell silent as she pondered over a solution.

The dark clouds were not used to shield the Dead Sea, but more to shield Mosera's power. No wonder Yinnie's laws had no reaction to such a large-scale reversal of life and death. If the other dimension they intended to establish a fusion with this world was already under the cover of the Dead Sea, then Yinnie would certainly not care about their actions.
"Can destroying the altar built by the undead stop them?" Leon asked in his heart.

“No, I thought that I just needed to interrupt their ritual of creating the spirit world rift.

But now it seems that they are trying to synchronize the space-time environment under the dark clouds with that alien dimension.

The alien power that has taken root has seeped into the underworld, and destroying the altar has little impact on their real purpose.

It was as if they were in the void, connecting the two worlds with 'hooks and chains'. The altar was just a device for launching the chains. If nothing unexpected happened, at this moment, countless corresponding soul bell altars had already been erected in the other world.

Now, they may have completed a lot of preparations, and are just waiting for the final push to bring the two together and create a true intersection of time and space."

Laura then ordered: "We must cut off the connection between the two time and space, Leon, and capture a large altar with enough core as soon as possible. I will try to find a way to break the magic."

Leon nodded silently.

After executing the zombies that had no research value and leaving the dungeon, he summoned Count Runaf, Knight Ron, Baron Balf, Azerien, Greenthorne and others to hold a military meeting to learn about the military intelligence discovered by Runaf's team.

Unfortunately, the other two advance teams of the Baldim family did not bring surprises to Leon like the Knights of the Holy Lake and the Knights-Ranger.

Count Runaf shook his head: "The Dor camp has been completely destroyed, and all the food and grass have been burned. Morton Town is difficult to approach, and we don't know the food and grass situation. We only know that there are about 20,000 undead entrenched there."

Leon did not have too high expectations for the defeated army under his command. It was enough to know the general situation in the two places.

"Although there are many undead in Finleytown, it was built thanks to the adventures of the Rangers. Now that we have lost a high-level undead, it is just the right target for our first battle. Speed ​​is of the essence. To avoid delaying the opportunity for the undead army to react and then sending in other corpse lords, we should immediately launch an attack to retake the city."

After discussing the terrain and marching route of the south bank with everyone, Leon naturally excluded Ashford Port, where all the food had been burned, considering the difficulty and value of the attack. After comprehensive consideration, he looked at Baron Balf and Azerien and ordered:
"Gather our troops, march out in full force, and attack Finleytown."

He then turned to the former refugee leader.

"Sir Ron."

"Here!" Ron responded and stood up with a resolute look on his face.

"Lead your mercenary group and march with us. Baron Ivan will meet you outside the city of Finlaytown." Leon unceremoniously bypassed Runaf and gave orders directly to the Griffin Mercenary Group.

Since Runaf was going to throw the command of the coalition forces to himself, he was in no mood to beat around the bush with the other party and used this power openly.

"Yes, sir." Ron accepted the order without hesitation. Rather than obeying the Baldim family, he would rather serve the Griffin Baron who had saved him twice.

Finally, Leon's eyes fell on Count Runaf and asked, "How many troops can the Baldim family provide me to help in the war?"

Runaf thought for a moment and replied, "At least a thousand soldiers are needed to escort the food in Hagstein, and I have to leave at least a thousand men at the army base to prevent any unexpected events. I can only give you two thousand soldiers."

Leon nodded: "Two thousand people is fine, prepare as soon as possible, and the army will set off immediately."

After the meeting, he saw Balf and Azerien immediately go to the barracks to mobilize troops, so he turned back and instructed Corvis: "Akao, you go to Hagostan Castle again and ask Captain Irem and Olivia to wait for Runarf's grain transport team to arrive, and then immediately lead the troops to the outside of Finlaytown to assemble with our army."

The war was about to begin, and he needed the powerful Knights of Ilaril and the three priests of the Holy Lake Sect.

"Understood." Corvis turned around and was about to leave.

Leon suddenly raised his hand and grabbed him, and the boy looked back in confusion.

There was no one around, and Leon could no longer maintain his calm expression in front of his good friend. He scratched his face in embarrassment, feeling ashamed.

As the only air knight in his hands, he had to order him back and forth so frequently. In this era without telephones, Akao had become a special envoy who helped him deliver messages quickly.

The magic book does record several types of magic communication devices used by the ancient Lorelit civilization. One of them is a magic mirror that can achieve ultra-long-distance audio and video communication. However, the materials are scarce now and it is currently impossible to replicate it.

"I was so busy just now that I didn't have time to ask, how is the wound on your face?"

Leon finally had time to care about his partner's injuries.

Corvis was stunned for a moment, then he touched his cheek and smiled easily: "It's just a minor injury. I was accidentally scratched by the sword of a Death Knight. It won't affect the battle anyway. I haven't healed it yet in order to save magic power."

Seeing that his best friend seemed to be very concerned, the boy simply covered his scar, closed his eyes, concentrated, and began to heal himself.

A dim light emerged from the palm of his hand, and Corvis moved his hand away: "Look, it's okay, it's not a big deal, don't worry about it."

Leon looked at his restored face and marveled at the skin without any scars left. "Your healing spell is getting more and more powerful."

Corvis spread his hands and said, "You want to heal Uncle Brian's leg injury, but I'm also afraid that someone might get seriously injured and difficult to treat, so I've been studying life science with Ms. Laura.

I have made great progress in limb repair, and when this war is over, I will be able to perform surgery to help the uncle restore his legs and feet."

Leon looked at the boy who still remembered what he said casually, and smiled bitterly with gratitude: "You are really thoughtful. I tricked you into staying in Selva and said that I could provide you with a safer life. But in the past six months, you seem to have not had a few days of peace."

Corvis shook his head: "It is my own choice to be loyal to you. Besides, I knew from the beginning that people like you are destined to experience countless storms in the future, but I didn't expect it to come so soon.

But, so what? Now I am working for the great cause of saving the world, which is more meaningful than staying in some remote mountain forest to avoid disaster and live in misfortune. "

He smiled, held the sword, touched his chest in salute, and looked at his proud master with warm eyes:

"The last of Arendelle is not to be remembered as the slave of a vicious wizard.

I will pass on the mission of fighting against the undead scourge as a hero, and be recorded in history forever as a glorious Avalon knight. This is the honor you bring me." Leon waved his hands awkwardly, he felt that the word was too far away from him: "Don't flatter me, I'm not a hero, I always have Laura to rely on, I feel confident, so I dare to stand up."

"However, you all deserve this title. Just be careful on the road." After saying this, he did not delay the young man any longer to deliver the military order.

Corvis nodded. Although he did not argue with his master's humility, in his heart no one was more worthy of the title of hero than the other.

"You too, my Lord, please be safe. Your safety is more important than any of ours."

The boy saluted and turned back to his mission.

He walked out of the fortress quickly and called on Hippogriff to step on the stirrups and get back on the mount. Then he turned his head and looked at Leon's back as he went to mobilize the troops.

The blond boy raised his hand and touched the pocket of his inner armor, a hint of hesitation and sadness flashed in his eyes.

A special request
It echoed in his mind again and again.

Corvis frowned, muttered something to his master's back, then straightened his face, pulled the reins, and rode the eagle into the sky.
Leon and Azerien commanded seven hundred elite knights of Avalon and Knights-Errant.

Balf and other vassals of the Thorn Flower family also led two thousand elite Faroris soldiers and were ready to go.

Knight Ron led 1,800 Shatai Griffin mercenaries under his command.

Runaf's generals mobilized two thousand Baldim family troops to follow closely behind.

This huge coalition army marched out of the camp in batches and in an orderly manner. Six thousand five hundred soldiers came out in full force and gathered at the river ferry with the sound of footsteps and horse hooves. Flags were fluttering in the army, and countless large flags with various emblems were flying in the wind on the north bank.

At the same time, many leaders of the Eastern Conference also heard the news and came with only a small number of Cavaliers, but they just watched.

As their respective strength was almost exhausted, they still did not dare to lead their troops to join this seemingly desperate military action, but chose to continue to wait and see the outcome of the battle.

At the ferry, five large Kantadar sailing ships and ten medium-sized sailing ships quickly sailed away from the river bay, carrying teams of soldiers and transporting the entire army to the hidden landing point on the south bank.

When the army stepped into the eternal night of death shrouded in dark clouds, even though the soldiers had been mobilized in advance, facing such a weird environment, some Orlando soldiers who entered the underworld for the first time still couldn't help but feel fear in their hearts.

Fortunately, Leon led the people of Avalon and the Knights-Errant to stand at the forefront and lead the army forward. In addition, they had a large number of people and good morale, so there was no panic or riot.

Furthermore, there was a huge river behind them, so even if someone felt timid, there was nowhere to escape.

Under the guidance of local knights, the army cleverly bypassed small-scale undead strongholds that lacked strategic value.

Although they were inevitably attacked by wandering zombies along the way, the knights from the north and south still managed to quickly eliminate the sporadic undead ghosts.

After almost a day's journey, we finally arrived at the outskirts of Finlaytown.

Corvis, who was hovering in the nearby airspace, keenly discovered the arriving army of living people. He notified Irem and others who were waiting in a hidden place, allowing the two armies to quickly join forces.

Captain Irem brought half of the Knights Templar's troops, and the other half stayed in Hagstein Castle to receive the army that was transporting grain.

Together with the one hundred Avalon cavalry led by Olivia and Lockhart, after the two teams joined forces, the size of the army that arrived at the city of Finlaytown had exceeded seven thousand one hundred.

The Orlanders, the Kantadars, the Dineshiens... At this moment, regardless of worldly hatreds, disputes and entanglements, facing the huge survival crisis before them, all the Feru soldiers here must put aside their contradictions and fight together.

In the lifeless dim light, the generals gathered under the banner of Pendragon's Sword Wings were assigned their respective tasks by Leon one by one.

After preliminary investigations by the rangers and scouts, the battle plan he and his generals drew up was not complicated.

Leon divided the entire army into two parts.

Seven hundred of the most elite cavalrymen were selected from the troops of Thornflower and Baldim, and together with the Knights of Avalon and Ilaril, they formed a main attack force of about two thousand people.

He, Corvis, three Holy Lake priests, and two Kantadar wizards, a total of seven spellcasters who can use the Holy Soul Guardian Lamp, will protect this elite force from being harmed by the Soul Summoning Bell when they actually launch an attack.

The remaining 5,100 coalition soldiers and 2,000 light cavalry will be used as bait to lure the undead army out of the city.

The other 3,000 infantrymen will choose a battlefield that is easy to defend and difficult to attack in the remote suburbs, far away from the impact range of the Soul Summoning Bell, and deploy to meet the enemy. They will do their best to delay time before the elite knights coalition forces break into the city and destroy the altar.

The strength of the undead lies in their exaggerated and terrifying size, but their weaknesses are also obvious. The Kantardars have gained a lot of experience in fighting against them.

Without a high-level undead commander with a brain, they would just be attracted by the breath of living beings and rush into the ambush site in a swarm.

Despite this, without the protection of the Holy Guardian Lamp, it was difficult for Kantadar's coalition forces to use this to lure the enemy deep into their territory, because the warriors used as bait usually never returned. However, now with the Holy Guardian Lamp, everything is different. The army of living people can implement more flexible tactics.

Moreover, Finleytown has lost at least one important Ghoul Lord. Even if there is still a commander, it may be difficult to take care of the actions of tens of thousands of undead.

This weakness can be exploited to the maximum.

After explaining the battle plan, the knights led their troops to move quickly.

The army chose a location to dig fortifications and set traps.

Two thousand elite troops set out to the north of Finleytown.

Leon and his six spellcasters, holding lanterns, first joined the light cavalry team that served as bait to lure the enemy.

When the messenger came to inform him that all preparations for the battle were ready, Leon immediately stepped on the saddle and shouted loudly:
"All troops, mount your horses!"

After that, the sound of a horn resounded through the sky.

The solemn sounds of robes and weapons suddenly merged into one.

Corvis urged the Hippogriff to soar into the sky and circle, while Leon rode his horse to gallop.

Thousands of horse hooves struck the ground. Two thousand cavalrymen followed the lead of the allied commander and rushed towards the city. The dry earth kept shaking and the roar of iron hooves sounded like a prelude to war drums.

(End of this chapter)