I only wanted to retire, but I ended up becoming an extremely popular character.

Horton's breathing became heavy, whether from pain or anger, it was hard to tell.

Curtis tilted his head slightly and continued, "Moreover, even if there were still intact messengers, they wouldn't be able to send out any messages right now."

"From the moment the battle began, the town of Segna was in a state of 'full-band jamming,' and no one could contact the outside world."

"It's not just your 'Imperial Blade' legion that uses this tactic; our Holy Kingdom does it too, and we use it just as well as you do."

Horton's gaze swept over the still-wet bloodstains on Curtis's face and hands, his chest heaving violently.

He asked breathlessly, his voice hoarse like sandpaper scraping: "Mars...he..."

"That piece of trash?" Curtis interrupted him, his tone flat and emotionless, as if he were talking about a crushed insect: "I've already taken care of it for you."

He raised his hand, casually glancing at the bloodstains between his fingers: "Our 'Black Sheep Holy Chief' division does not recruit useless people, nor does it trust fickle villains."

Horton gritted his teeth and slowly pointed his sword at Curtis.

The sword tip trembled slightly, yet remained firmly aimed at the opponent's throat.

He grinned, revealing a blood-stained, bitter smile.

That smile contained irony, relief, and a complex emotion that was hard to define.

"It seems he did indeed give you high hopes." Curtis looked at the undisguised disappointment in Horton's eyes and fell silent for a moment, slightly surprised.

He had seen too many dying people, but rarely had he seen such a complex look in their eyes.

Horton remained silent.

He used his last bit of strength to straighten his body, his right hand trembling but firmly gripping the hilt of his sword, pointing it at Curtis.

"Come on." His voice was hoarse but clear, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth:

"Unless I die, you will not take an inch of Segner Town."

Curtis gazed at the man before him, covered in blood yet still standing tall, a barely perceptible hint of respect flashing in his eyes.

"As you wish."

He nodded slightly, his expression suddenly becoming solemn, as if he had become a different person: "I have long admired the name of Lieutenant Colonel Horton, 'Imperial Blade,' and you are a worthy opponent. I am willing to respond to your final challenge with the highest military courtesy."

As soon as he finished speaking, Curtis's arm began to change.

Beneath the skin, it seemed as if countless living creatures were writhing, and dark hairs emerged from the pores like living beings, quickly covering the entire arm, as ferocious and majestic as an ancient holy statue.

Then, he slowly turned his left palm to the right, closed his five fingers, and slowly pulled out a black curved sword from his palm.

The blade was as black as ink, reflecting no light, as if it were a piece of darkness cut from the deepest night sky.

"This is...!" Horton's pupils suddenly contracted, and a strong sense of crisis surged through his body like an electric current, even his wounds twitched from the instinctive trembling.

He finally understood why the young man in front of him was so fearless.

"That's right." Curtis slowly assumed a fighting stance, his black longsword and beast-like claws crossing in front of him, radiating a suffocating sense of oppression.

"I am the host of the 'Egg of Berklein,' the second form of Berklein."

He bowed slightly, the blade pointing diagonally at the ground, his gaze fixed on Horton: "Please, Lieutenant Colonel Horton, I won't show any mercy!"

……

……

After parting ways with Zod, Cassius and Hitis led their party toward the city of Sarlom.

Cassius walked at the front of the group, his footsteps making a soft rustling sound on the dirt road.

The sky in the direction of the distant city of Sarlom was still tinged with a dark red, and the faint sound of cannon fire could be heard.

The troops maintained a silent marching formation in the darkness.

The soldiers held their breath, trying to minimize the sound of weapons clashing.

Hitis was positioned in the middle of the group, holding a rifle and occasionally listening to the sounds around her.

As ordered by Zod, they had to reach the city of Sarlom as soon as possible to join up with the main force of the "Imperial Blades" legion.

Ahead was a slightly open area, with a gentle, continuous slope to the left covered in weeds, and further up was a dark woodland.

To the right are low bushes.

Cassius raised his hand, signaling the team to speed up through the exposed area.

The moment the vanguard stepped into the open ground.

"Bang!"

A crisp gunshot rang out from the left slope.

The bullet was aimed at Cassius, who was standing in the front row wearing an Imperial officer's uniform.

The bullet whizzed past, heading straight for Cassius's temple.

Fortunately, Cassius was no longer the same as before. He tilted his head back and easily dodged the bullet that was aimed at him. The bullet whizzed past his eyes.

"They're on the left! There are enemies on the slope, find cover!" Cassius shouted as he dodged the bullets.

Before he could finish speaking, a burst of gunfire suddenly erupted from behind the gentle slope on the left.

Firelight flickered in rows in the darkness, and a hail of bullets swept down like locusts into the ranks of the Imperial soldiers.

"hidden!"

Cassius practically roared it out.

He lunged towards the back of a large tree on the right side of the road.

Several soldiers behind him were unable to dodge in time and fell down with muffled groans.

The team instantly descended into chaos.

Gunshots, shouts, and footsteps mingled together.

In the darkness, the soldiers instinctively sought cover; some rolled into the shallow ditch by the roadside, some lunged into the bushes on their right, and some crawled on their stomachs behind the mound of earth...

However, the firing angle from the high slope on the left almost covers the entire open area, and many positions simply cannot provide effective cover.

"It's the Holy Kingdom's troops! There are quite a few of them on the hill!" A soldier caught a glimpse of the surging figures on the hilltop through the muzzle flash of his gun.

Hitis lay behind a protruding rock, breathing heavily, as bullets whizzed past her head.

She raised her gun and pulled the trigger towards a spot on the hilltop where flames were spitting out. A figure flickered at the other end of the flames and then fell to the ground.

But the enemy's firepower did not diminish in the slightest.

Cassius stared intently at the slope to his left, trying to gauge the size of the enemy forces by the muzzle flashes and the intense sound of gunfire.

Preliminary assessment suggests that, based on the density of firepower and the width of the battle line, the enemy has slightly more troops than our side, but is far from overwhelming in scale.

However, the darkness made it impossible to see the team in its entirety.

How many people are still hiding on the hilltop? Are there any follow-up main forces?

All of this can only be known by reaching the top of the hill.

The unknown can sometimes be more unsettling than a definite disadvantage.

"Get cover! Fight back!" Cassius roared, his voice almost drowned out by the gunfire.

The soldiers gradually regained their composure from the initial panic, and their rifles spewed fire from the ditch, behind rocks, and in the bushes as they desperately returned fire towards the high slope to their left.

After emptying one magazine, Hitis quickly reloaded.

Hitis looked up, gazing in the direction of Cassius not far away, and shouted in a voice louder than the gunshot:

"Warrant Lieutenant Cassius, we must organize our troops to charge up the hill. Either I or you will lead the charge, providing crossfire cover. We can't keep sitting here passively taking hits in this disadvantageous terrain!"

If that man were here...

The one who always rushes to the front, the one who calmly analyzes situations and acts decisively in times of crisis, the one who always brings hope to those in dire straits.

He will surely find a way to break the deadlock quickly and lead everyone to victory.

She so desperately wanted Zod to appear on the battlefield immediately!