Uncle here isn't your average office worker!

Seeing that Margaret remained silent for a long time, Russell pursed his lips and added.

The Council of Justice has indeed treated the Lin Guang family unfairly over the years, so it's understandable that Margaret harbors resentment. Russell doesn't recommend making any further concessions, as long as they're willing to talk.

Unexpectedly, Margaret shook her head firmly and asked seriously:

"Grand Knight Commander, what has happened to Kazimierz?"

Over the years of traveling the land, she has grown a lot and knows that within any interest group, there are bound to be countless factions. Just like even small Rhodes Island, there are the Kazdel faction, which only cares about Sarkaz affairs, and the Salvation faction led by Amiya, and so on.

Since the Oversight Council and the Business Federation were willing to make such concessions to her alone, it's impossible that there weren't dissenting voices within them. But Russell still came, which suggests that something had caused those dissenting voices to fall silent at this moment.

If they share the same aspirations, then they can only be common enemies.

Russell paused for a moment, then shook his head helplessly and said with a wry smile:

"No wonder she's Snitz's daughter; she's grown so much in just a few years."

“That’s right, Kazimierz is in crisis. The enemy is our old adversary, the Ursus. They have amassed troops on the border and could launch an attack at any time. However, enemy spies have infiltrated our messenger system, making it temporarily unusable. We urgently need someone absolutely trustworthy to take on this responsibility. We have chosen you.”

Margaret Nearl wasn't popular with most people, and even within the Overwatch Council, many were deeply dissatisfied with her reckless actions four years prior, particularly her provocation of the Business Federation. But no one could deny her love and loyalty to Kazimierz—a person who didn't love their country wouldn't risk their life to uphold it.

Undeterred by hardship, in this critical moment, only Lin Guang is worthy of our trust!

Margaret nodded emphatically, without the slightest hesitation:

"I accept this mission without expecting anything in return!"

As Russell looked at the young man before him, he seemed to see, for a moment, the shadow of the hero from the Eleventh Uka War.

At that moment, he was the same. Facing danger, he did not hesitate at all. He led the remaining forty-eight knights and charged into the encirclement of Ursus. As the second sun rose over the plain, Kazimierz's silver spear and Pegasus awed Terra!

Young Nearl, charge forward!

P.S.: The climax is coming soon, I'll try to update more tomorrow.

Volume One: Chapter 158 When their strength is exhausted, we are at our peak; therefore, we can defeat them.

Kazimir, the Great Rift Valley of the White Wave River, two against one.

Marna glanced at his watch; it was already six in the morning. Three hours had passed since the vanguard of the Ursus Empire's Third Army launched its attack on Kazimir, two hours and thirty minutes had passed since Roy fired his meteor, and one hour had passed since Roy single-handedly held off the Ursus legion.

Marna felt the ground tremble beneath his feet again, even more violently than it had been three hours earlier. He gazed into the distance; though the darkness was impenetrable, Marna could sense that those colossal steel beasts were eagerly opening their gaping maws, ready to devour the two insignificant beings in one gulp.

The main force of the Ursus Empire's Third Army Group is almost upon us.

Unlike the vanguard, whose strongest firepower was merely artillery, the main legion comprised three infantry groups: war mages, battle-hardened elites, and armored soldiers; two artillery groups: heavy artillery mages and light artillery mages; and two logistics groups: engineers and cooks. Moreover, these legions did not advance on foot like the vanguard, but instead rode in the most threatening war fortresses in the history of earth warfare, advancing by motorized means.

Reporter Kane's ambition was correct to some extent. If Kazimierz also had a dozen or so war fortresses, what would the conquering knights of the Kazimierz Overseer's Council be? Even Ursus would be nothing.

But now, the land-based warships that are the fortresses are not the Kazimierz, but the Ursus who are closing in.

Marner lowered her head and whispered to Roy:

"Let's retreat. You've stalled for long enough."

Roy's throat was a little dry, not from being frightened, but from shouting.

The duration of Sonia's roar is unpredictable; the stronger the enemy's willpower, the shorter the duration. This was the case with the soldiers of the Ursus vanguard. Even though Roy had sacrificed a collector's item weapon, this mental abnormality had already diminished to its lowest point after half an hour.

For the remaining half hour, Roy maintained a frequency of almost one shout per minute, continuously urging the enemy to retreat. This led to a somewhat comical scene on the battlefield: Roy was like the monitor in the game of "Red Light, Green Light"—the Ursus soldiers would instinctively stop whenever he spoke, and would immediately resume their charge whenever he fell silent.

But it was still a shocking scene. No one in Marna, including the more than 1,200 men of the Johnson and Chesper Knights hidden in the dense forest behind them, could have imagined before the battle began that the Knight of the End, who was originally a gladiator, could hold off the enemy for three hours by himself, until dawn.

Roy looked up at the sky, and in the hazy night, the dawn of hope seemed not far away.

There are still two hours and thirty minutes until dawn.

"Withdraw."

He took a deep breath and agreed to Marner's proposal.

He's dragged this out long enough; the regular army that follows can't be stopped by him alone.

It's time to start the real war.

Back home, Johnson and Chesper were ready and began the final, intensive mobilization.

The three hours of rest that Roy bought for them were crucial. In the past, under the intense artillery fire of Ursus, their mere 1,200 men would have been unable to even form a formation, let alone survive on the battlefield. The knights' morale was low; they all felt that this was suicide and a waste of their lives.

But things are different now. The falling meteor and Ursus's retreat have given them a glimpse of another possibility for how things might develop.

"We are not the Silver Spear Pegasus, but we are led by the Pegasus Knights!"

Silver Spear Pegasus didn't start out with his current illustrious reputation. His legend was forged by the feat of breaking through the Ursus encirclement with 42 men, achieving a decisive victory in the center and defeating the enemy. Since Silver Spear Pegasus, under Cyril Nearl's leadership, could rout the Ursus army with just 42 men, why couldn't they, with their 1,200 men under the leadership of the Pegasus Knights, accomplish something unprecedented if they were willing to risk their lives?

"Knights, the Knights of Eternity and the Knights of Nearl have set an example for us. Now, it is our turn. Raise your lances and prepare to charge!"

The moment Roy withdrew from the Ursus position, the Ursus soldiers received orders from the rear: the main force had arrived and they were to launch an immediate attack and force their way across the Great Rift!

Brechester was frantic; they had already wasted far too much time at the Whitewater River. According to the original plan, capturing the Whitewater River was supposed to be a strategic objective achieved within an hour of the start of the battle. The original plan was that they should already be on the trail of Missex, the closest mobile city to the border, and ready to deploy their forces to seize the city. But his own vanguard was still lingering in the Whitewater River basin—a tremendous disgrace that would leave a major stain on his military record.

He must take over this area immediately, and ideally find the man who made those outrageous remarks in front of him, capture him alive, and send him back to Ursus to be executed!

Anger and anxiety had broken free of reason, and he ordered the vanguard to launch a full-scale attack immediately, declaring that the time had come to redeem themselves.

But as if by magic, just as the vanguard finally reached the other side of the not-so-distant rift valley, an army, a force of heavily armored warriors bearing the insignia of Kazimierz, appeared on the flank of the vanguard as if divine intervention.

This army was well-disciplined and in high spirits. Forming a battle formation, they demonstrated the absolute qualitative advantage of the conquering knights against the Ursus army. In less than a minute, the vanguard that had just crossed the river was attacked from the waist by the knights.

Throughout history, infantry has always been at a natural disadvantage when fighting against cavalry, especially when there are no countermeasures. Exposing one's flanks to cavalry is almost always a one-sided massacre.

The Ursus army was in this predicament. Surrounded by open plains, facing the forest from which the knights charged, and behind them lay a frozen river. They had no defensive structures to counter the knight charge, no warning or preparation whatsoever. Their exposed flanks were laid bare before the knights, like a steaming piece of meat being devoured by a ferocious wolf. Before the soldiers could even draw their swords, before the crossbowmen could even nock their arrows, before the sorcerers could even cast their Originium spells, their hands trembled. On one side was a decimated, exhausted, and suicidal army; on the other, a knightly charge, full of fighting spirit and ready to die. With the enemy exhausted and the enemy strong, there was only one answer—

Therefore, we can defeat it!

"General, the enemy's knights have cut our army in half; both the front and rear are now in chaos. We..."

"I saw it!" Brechester's voice was filled with resentment and bitterness. The cries of agony from the front lines were incessant, and the Knights' charge was like a scythe harvesting leeks, cutting down one stalk at a time. The sound sent chills down one's spine, and the sight filled one's heart with dread.

He couldn't understand. He couldn't understand where the meteor came from, why Roy was single-handedly commanding an entire army, why the enemy, if they had a full army, would send out only two people, and why, if the enemy army was already prepared, they didn't attack when the Ursus army was stunned by the meteor, their morale collapsed, or when they were forced back by Roy on the ice bridge. He couldn't understand even more why, despite having superior military strength, intelligence, and the advantage of initiative, this first battle of his vanguard had been fought so disgracefully!

There were too many things he couldn't understand during this battle.

But he knew one thing clearly—he had lost this initial engagement.

A tactical failure meant that the plan to quickly defeat Kazimierz in three hours was thwarted.

But his main force is still intact, and strategically, he still has the ability to fight.

He gritted his teeth, finally made up his mind, and said to the messenger beside him:

"Withdraw the troops, gather and reorganize the defeated soldiers, and rejoin the main force as soon as possible."

After saying that, he took a deep look at the distant battlefield, and almost squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth.

"This battle is not over yet!"

Volume 1: Chapter 159 Black Snake: Your novel is good.

Kasimir is 300 miles from the border with Ukrainian.

Margaret Nearl travels at a rapid pace; covering a thousand miles a day is not difficult for the magical Terrans. Ordinary catastrophe messengers often spend long periods in the wilderness observing catastrophes. Once signs of a catastrophe are detected, they typically travel between several cities within one to two weeks to issue warnings. This is even more true for a knight of Margaret's exceptional qualities. Although Rhodes Island has varying standards for evaluating physical examination panels, a 5A panel is certainly not to be underestimated.

Even so, it was still too much of a stretch to cross the vast wilderness from the capital's Great Knight territory to reach the border of Kazimierz in a single day.

Some might ask, why not drive a car? Why not ride a flying vehicle? Where did Terra's technology go? Why do we still have to walk?

She didn't drive because she couldn't replenish fuel. Even with Originium energy, which is practically a supercharged version of oil, it would be extremely difficult to sustain her for thousands of miles. Even with sufficient supplies, even military vehicles rarely manage to travel non-stop for a day and a night in the harsh conditions of the wilderness. So, while she did drive a military vehicle when she set off from the Great Knight Territory, Margaret abandoned it upon reaching the last transit city and chose to continue on foot.

As for why they didn't use aircraft, the enemy had already blatantly infiltrated our territory and cut off our communications. At this point, daring to enter the combat zone in aircraft would be a bit too disrespectful to Ursus.

Darkness had fallen, the two moons hung high in the sky, and noon had arrived. Only three hours remained before the Ursus Empire's attack, as indicated by the intelligence. Margaret was exhausted. Traveling for a full day and night without sleep or food was a challenge even for her. Yet, gazing at the seemingly endless wasteland, she had to admit one fact: even with her relentless efforts, time was still running out.

Arriving at the camp before 3 o'clock was already a pipe dream, not to mention that even if she did arrive at the camp, the time it would take to inform the Knights of the War and prepare for battle would far exceed the 3 o'clock threshold.

Sometimes, she really envied Roy's magic in the game recordings. If she could also fly through the air and travel thousands of miles in an instant like the Great Desolate Starfall, she might be able to catch up.

Gritting her teeth, swallowing back her hunger, exhaustion, and helplessness, Margaret mustered her strength and set off again. Even if she couldn't make it in time, the intelligence had to reach the Knights, and they had to hold their ground. The Overseer's Council's support would arrive in three days at the earliest. If the White Wave River fell and Misssex City was lost, then the vast plains of Casimir would be completely exposed to the Ursus. Without any natural defenses, the price Casimir would have to pay to win this war would be far more devastating than any previous U-Casimir war.

Just as she took a step, intending to set off again after a short rest, a cold glint suddenly appeared from her side.

"Whoosh-"

With a muffled thud as the arrow pierced the earth, accompanied by the constant trembling of the shaft, Margaret, who had narrowly avoided the arrow, immediately drew her family's ancestral sword and spear. The light in her hand illuminated the surroundings as she turned her head to look in the direction of the attacker.

In the darkness, a man dressed in a dark green jacket and light gray trousers, with a thick camouflage beanie on his head, slowly walked out. Half of his face was covered by a huge night vision goggle, and the half of his face that was exposed was stubble-covered and expressionless, appearing particularly pale under the light of Margaret's lights.

Behind him, dozens more people emerged, dressed in identical clothes, though they appeared worn and tattered from lack of washing. Each person held a crossbow, its bowstring cocked and ready to fire at any moment.

Margaret's vigilance instantly rose to its peak. She raised her sword and spear, assuming a fighting stance, but the newcomer's next words made her frown.

"Listen up, you people up ahead! This is the First Guard Team of the Forest Ranger Headquarters. I am Captain Anbenal. The area ahead has become a war zone. No one is allowed to approach. Please state your identity and purpose, or we will take force against you."

"Forest Ranger?"

Margaret knew this name. In the years since her father left, Margaret had often learned about what had happened to her father. As a highly anticipated general of the Kazimierz, Snitz was expected to take over the command of the Silver Spear Pegasus from Cyril. Margaret also took this opportunity to get to know the Silver Spear Pegasus and the various knightly orders and armed forces of the Kazimierz.

This includes forest ranger organizations stationed in border areas.

Margaret held these warriors, each with their own background and contributing to the protection of Kazimir in their own way, in high esteem. But their presence here at this moment couldn't help but arouse her suspicion. This place was a full three hundred miles from the White Wave River border.

"Why are the forest rangers stationed here instead of supporting the front lines? Who gave you orders to include this area in the war zone? And since you're already able to station yourselves here and intercept passersby, why don't you move a little further forward?"

A little further on, they would see the nearest city, Magyar. Once they reached Magyar, they could easily transmit intelligence from the front lines to the Grand Knights via intercity communication. But they did not. In fact, according to the Grand Knight Commander, the Supervisory Council and the Commercial Union only received this intelligence the day before the war, not through the Forest Rangers or the Border Knights, but through Marna!

The garrison was not far away, yet they did not enter the city. Despite communication being cut off, they arbitrarily established a war zone. Furthermore, instead of prioritizing inquiries, they took action against me who was heading to the war zone.

Margaret glanced at the crossbow bolt that had penetrated three-tenths of the ground and gradually realized the truth.