A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 361 The Plain of Despair

"The enemy cavalry has been deployed."

"Then let's attack!"

The "master" among the paladins received the order, and a new round of war drums and horns were sounded, with both sides' cavalry beginning to enter the battlefield.

Both the Imperial Army and the Holy Knights chose to position their knights on the flanks of their formations. The Imperial cavalry attacked in three columns, gradually forming a triangular formation as they moved. The Holy Knights, in units of one hundred men each, advanced in two rows of echeloned ranks. These echeloned ranks, totaling over a thousand riders, formed a massive column that instilled despair in the enemy.

Warhorses have limited stamina, so the knights approached the enemy at a slow pace. When they were about 170 meters away, the cavalry commander on the side of the column began to blow a horn. The paladins raised their lances, squeezed their legs, and the horses began to accelerate to a trot.

As the two armies were about to clash, the bugle call melody changed once more. Now the horses entered a charging stance, advancing at top speed, their four legs leaving a trail of afterimages. A strange, resounding song of redemption echoed across the battlefield, primarily sung by a baritone, with the choir responding in unison.

It was nearly noon, and the sun finally blazed down, causing the battlefield to heat up.

Paladins do not need any other holy artifacts to bless them; their weapons already radiate golden light as they charge. The "masters" among the paladins raise their banners, and courage, defense, and healing—mysterious and magnificent radiance—bring unparalleled effects.

Originally, there were gaps every five men in the horizontal formation. Now, with the advance and charge, the formation has spread out, filling the gaps, and they are now like rows of golden tsunamis sweeping across the battlefield.

The Imperial cavalry, engaged in battle, were instantly at a disadvantage. Because warhorses instinctively avoid other horses, fierce clashes between cavalrymen were rare; their contests were based on horsemanship and courage, but the paladins were clearly superior. Their lances easily felled Imperial cavalrymen or pierced the forequarters of their horses.

The smaller, lighter-armored Imperial cavalry quickly abandoned the charge, maneuvering to their right before turning their horses around. Although the Imperial cavalry were outnumbered and used slenderer lances, putting them at a disadvantage in the first engagement, these imperial warriors still had an advantage—the Imperial warhorses were always superior to those of the Holy Kingdom!

Their warhorses possessed an endurance that paladins lacked, and they circled to the enemy's left rear. Since most of them were right-handed, the imperial cavalry were now wielding their lances and thrusting at the paladins' left side, which was difficult for them to defend against and counterattack.

The "master" among the paladins once again unleashed his divine magic, instantly rousing the warhorses around him. The fatigue was swept away, making up for the speed difference with the imperial cavalry and allowing them to create distance and dodge the attack.

Some Imperial cavalrymen successfully landed hits with their lances, but a desperate situation arose: the lances could not penetrate the paladins' defenses, which were enhanced by divine magic; some lances even broke off at the tips. The cavalrymen decisively discarded their damaged primary weapons and drew pistols from their saddles to fire. But even these projectiles failed to penetrate the defenses.

The Imperial cavalry then abandoned the engagement, galloping laterally between the enemy and friendly lines to harass the kingdom's phalanx. The paladins followed suit, turning their horses to reap the precious lives of the enemy cavalry with their lances, hammers, and flails.

Thus began a chase between the two armies, with cavalry galloping across the battlefield, dust billowing and horses neighing.

Holy crap! Why are they coming this way?! Luo Xia, who was just watching the show, suddenly noticed that squads of cavalry were all rushing towards him. Although their speed was far from their peak when they were charging, if a mud-covered head were to get hit by a hoof, it would definitely be torn to pieces.

To prevent his handsome face, which he had spent time creating, from being trampled, "Ninja Natsu" quickly activated "True Earth Release: Earth Shaping Technique," causing the dry ground beneath him to deform like a swamp, engulfing most of his body and leaving only his head buried among his fallen temporary comrades.

Suddenly, a massive airship, painted in gray and almost blending into the winter sky, appeared without warning, hovering above the battlefield. It blocked out the sun, making people feel the chill of winter once more.

A single whistle drowned out all the hymns and bells. Now Richard and his teacher surveyed the entire battlefield from their elevated position.

The chief mage, observing the magnificent thousand church cavalry, scoffed disdainfully: "When they have the advantage, instead of breaking through the lines and attacking the artillery positions, they blindly chase after the enemy cavalry. They're all just chanting scriptures until they're dumbfounded."

"Chief, charging is complete, everything is normal. The airship engines have entered magic-free operation mode," a mage with a mustache reported respectfully to the chief.

After confirming the battle situation, the chief mage nodded: "Let's launch it."

The second whistle sounded as if the Imperial cavalry had received an order. The two teams from the left and right flanks crossed over each other on the battlefield and retreated to the sides, while the pursuing paladins gathered in the center of the battlefield.

"Something's not right!" The commander of the church army noticed the strange airship. At first, he thought the airship was going to drop bombs, so he had the priests and the priestly procession prepare large-scale defensive divine spells. But the strange airship did not drop bombs.

Regardless, it should be shot down!

"Is the siege engine assembled?" The Sacred Wood Catapult, which had a history of over four hundred years and had breached the strongest fortress in the Sand Kingdom, was originally intended to deal with Andorella, but now it was trying to shoot down the airship.

Because the airship carried extremely heavy equipment and rose slowly from Andorella, it was not hovering very high at this point. However, a priest quickly calculated that the trajectory of the projectile from the 20-meter-high "holy hammer" would not reach the airship.

"Then issue the order to retreat! Have the paladins stop the pursuit!" His order was quickly opposed by the paladin commander, who believed that instead of worrying about the inexplicable airships, it was better to persist in the attack. As long as victory was achieved, would the airships that only sounded their horns really change the course of the battle?

The horn sounded a third time, and a sudden north wind arose, faster than any horse, galloping and carrying away the heat. Accompanying the howling, biting wind was a tremendous, magical shockwave!

A beam of light, too bright to look at directly, shot straight down from the bottom of the airship to the ground. It had no power over ordinary people, but the violent magical fluctuations it generated were undoubtedly a huge magical tsunami and an unstoppable magical wind for spellcasters and those with divine favor.

All divine spells failed, all luster faded, and the sacred objects and artifacts reverted to their original state, some even accelerating their decay. The horses, no longer roused by divine spells, all came to a halt, some even collapsing under the weight of the paladin's armor.

The upheaval in Turmo-Mongolia plunged the paladins and priests into a state of extreme panic, as their power was swept away without reservation. For them, this meant that they had become God's outcasts, and this happened on the battlefield!

The Imperial artillery, which had been patiently waiting, gave these men no chance to catch their breath. Guided by the airships, the cannons roared, and the shells whistled precisely toward the paladins, the command post at the rear, and the paladin reserve positions that had not yet launched an attack, mercilessly reaping the lives of mortals at this moment.

The bell became useless, hymns turned into cries, and prayers changed from requests for victory to requests for redemption and mercy.

The chief military mage and the mustachioed mage revealed cruel and gleeful smiles, while Richard remained silent, carefully observing the battlefield.

Rorschach's clone, also subjected to the magic-suppressing attack, was buried in the ground and had lost control of its body.

(End of this chapter)