Cataphracts, surviving in a world full of mods

Like a frog caught in a bright light, a sheep being stared at by a hungry wolf, or a farmer meeting the gaze of a lion in the bushes—it was an extreme surprise, an extreme shock, an extreme panic, an emotion as if a sharp sword had pierced his heart from behind. It was so complex that he stood there dumbfounded, unable to utter a word.

Soon, the other confused Holsians were no longer confused—for they all saw a dark and magnificent double-headed eagle banner, its golden tassels and golden double-headed eagle staff fluttering in the darkness and above the firelight…

An absolute silence suddenly began to spread, as if every Holstein had had their throat slit with a dagger. Many were even in a daze, completely unable to comprehend the current situation... until a tall figure draped in a white lion cloak and wearing a winged helmet appeared on the city wall, quickly eliciting cheers that nearly shook the city to its core. Then, a wave of despair and frustration spread like wildfire...

Tersolius is still alive! The intelligence was wrong!

The morale that was just high is now as low as it was, and there is no way to salvage it. The collapse of morale is like a boulder rolling down a mountain, unstoppable and spreading rapidly.

A hundred-man squad on the left-hand side suddenly collapsed, and the soldiers scattered and fled. Even officers like the centurion could not control them. After making a desperate effort, he simply turned around and ran away with them.

Immediately following was the rout of thousands upon thousands—the soldiers, realizing they had been deceived, had no will to fight. Countless people were trampled to the ground in that instant, countless swords were wielded against their own kind, and countless nobles and officers were dragged into the vortex.

The scene before us can be aptly described in one word—utter defeat.

........................

"Pursue them immediately! Don't give the Hols a chance to recover! Proceed according to Plan Three!"

The generals responded with a thunderous roar, and countless horns immediately sounded outside the city. The thunderous sound of hooves, like a storm, began to roll across the wilderness. Countless torches dispelled the darkness that shrouded the world, illuminating the footsteps of countless imperial soldiers as they marched forward, swaying with their earth-shaking cheers.

Seeing Karila and Colin hurrying towards him from afar, and even discerning the joy and relief on their blood-stained faces, Tersolius let out a deep breath. Then, a dizzying sensation struck him, and he fell straight backward, only to be caught by Alka, who was prepared.

In his final moments before losing consciousness, he heard a distant, heart-wrenching wail followed by earth-shaking cheers…

Chapter 255 comes to an end (1)

The magnificent building, constructed of brass and marble, was once the residence of the city's most distinguished individuals, but now it stands teeming with imperial soldiers. Everywhere, heavily armored warriors stand ready, their wary eyes scanning every corner; not even a stray dog ​​is permitted to roam here.

A large, grey-white bird flapped its wings as it flew across the smoke-filled sky. The smell of blood and death filled the air. Corpses in the city were being collected by imperial soldiers dressed in red. Valuable armor and weapons were gathered up, while the remaining bodies were buried in large pits with large amounts of lime sprinkled in as disinfectant. The pits were then dispersed in areas far from the city and away from farmland to prevent the spread of plague.

This work took a long time, and although the city still looked like it was littered with corpses, this was the result after a morning of clearing. Many of the corpses were not even created by the blades of the Imperial army, but by the bloodshed caused by the panicked Hols jostling, trampling, slashing and stabbing each other.

In their desperate attempt to escape the imperial army and from Tersolius, they were willing to do almost anything. Nobles and officers of the past, once of high status and great authority, were now met with merciless hacking and slashing if they stood in their way. Anyone who blocked their escape route was ruthlessly stabbed in the abdomen with swords or their helmets smashed with axes.

If they had followed Tersolius's initial plan—to systematically destroy the city's defenses, drain the Holsteins' blood, and cause their morale to collapse, rendering them utterly demoralized—perhaps not so many would have died before the city fell. But their assassination plot failed. The soldiers' morale, initially high, was dealt a devastating blow. They witnessed Tersolius's figure and his infamous double-headed eagle banner... causing their previously high spirits to crumble like a punctured balloon. In this dramatic fall from grace, they lost all will to resist, all organization, and only knew how to flee for their lives.

That chaotic and disorderly state was a terrifying vortex, throwing everyone in and churning them to dust. Some were even crushed alive against the street walls, while many more were trampled and ravaged by countless feet, ultimately becoming sacks of flesh encased in chainmail, filled with rotting entrails and blood. Countless others perished under the blows of swords and spears. Before the imperial army even launched its attack, they had already suffered heavy losses.

The officers and nobles gathered in the city also suffered more than half their casualties. The rest fled through the south gate of the city, where the light cavalry that followed easily crushed the group of the remnants and pursued them relentlessly, beheading more and more of them. The remaining troops scattered and fled, and their dead bodies could be seen everywhere on the plains outside.

However, due to the darkness, the cavalry's pursuit was not successful. In addition, reinforcements were sent from the cities behind, so the spoils were not as plentiful as expected. A considerable number of the remaining troops managed to escape, and there was still no news of the Hols king being captured. It can be basically confirmed that His Majesty Julius and several nobles successfully escaped.

The billowing black smoke stained the large bird's wings, causing the bird to tilt its tail feathers and veer to the right, flying over the heads of soldiers marching through the city streets, past gleaming spears and neighing warhorses, until it flew towards the tallest and most magnificent building in the city, preparing to land on its gilded spire.

The longbow, polished with tree lacquer, was slowly drawn back. A light arrow, ideal for long-range shots, unfurled its feathers in the sunlight, its sharp tip protruding. It retracted all the way to the junction of the leather guard and the bow handle, paused briefly, and then, as the bowstring was gently released, the arrow slithered through the air like a snake. Then, it resolutely swept towards its target, easily parting the feathers, piercing warm flesh and throbbing internal organs, and emerging from behind.

She didn't look at the large bird that had fallen to the ground again. If nothing unexpected happened, it would probably be picked up by some resident or soldier chasing after her and used to make soup. Her only responsibility was to make any flying creatures that approached the area fall to the ground to prevent some evil witchcraft from reaching this place through such creatures.

The security here rivals even that of the imperial palace. Every passageway and corridor is lined with fully armed soldiers. All servants have been driven out and imprisoned, tasked with moving supplies. Those serving tea and water are all trusted guards; they cannot tolerate any unidentified individuals approaching their general or commander. Yesterday's events were enough to fill them with shame and anger.

In addition, there are a large number of military dogs roaming around. These loyal and brave creatures will detect anything amiss, especially to prevent the strange creature from yesterday that could blend into the shadows and environment from infiltrating again.

Almost everyone was still shaken… Colin, pale-faced, rubbed her temples awkwardly. The pain in her wrist seemed to remind her of her lapse in composure yesterday—in the moment she saw Tersolius fall, she barely realized what she had done. She only knew that by the time she came to her senses, she had stumbled to him, then incoherently bombarded everyone she could grab with incoherent questions, afterwards unable to recall what she had actually asked.

If we were to summarize what she was thinking at the time, and remove all the distractions, we could only come to one conclusion—it was as if the sky had fallen.

She couldn't imagine that person becoming weak, possibly dying or getting sick... From the moment they met in that jungle, this person had always been such a dazzling and powerful presence, as if draped in the sun's rays, naturally becoming the center of everyone's attention. No matter what kind of enemy or problem they encountered, they could easily solve it, just like a carriage traveling on the road wouldn't care about the lizard blocking its wheels; they only needed to follow along and run it over.

How could someone like that possibly get hurt? How could he possibly die?! It's as absurd as the sun falling from the sky! ... He shook his head vigorously, trying to banish these chaotic thoughts. Colin listlessly twirled the bowstring in his hand, while focusing his gaze on the sky.

A series of hurried footsteps sounded, and Colin turned around to see two long, muscular legs appear before him. His face froze instantly, and he reluctantly looked up. Only then did he see the golden hair that shone like gold in the sunlight, and that silly-looking face!

"What are you doing standing here? You should have let your men handle this. Or do you have so many people under you, yet you have to do it yourself to shoot two birds?"

Sure enough, he made me dislike him the moment he opened his mouth...

Colin's face darkened, and he retorted irritably:

"Then what are you doing here? Don't you have anything to do?"

Karila suddenly fell silent, not because she had nothing to say, but rather because she looked like she didn't know how to get to the bottom of her words. She looked around, found a raised spot to sit on, plopped down, and then scratched her head, uttering these words:

"...Don't you think we fought too chaotically last night? It felt like it just inexplicably turned into this...I don't even know why. The Master was also assassinated and hasn't woken up yet, but thankfully we still won in the end."

"You're making it sound like the adults aren't going to wake up..." Colin squinted, then saw another black dot appear in the sky. He drew another arrow from his quiver, nocked it, and waited.

"I already asked the doctor. The adult won't die, but the effects of the toxins will still be there, and it will take some time to recover."

The black dot in the sky grew larger and larger recklessly and ignorantly. Colin stood up, drew his longbow, and mentally estimated the trajectory and landing point of the arrow. At a certain moment, he made up his mind and prepared to release the bowstring.

"Hey! It looks like something's been delivered over there."

The timing was perfect. At this crucial moment, Karila's words promptly distracted Colin, causing his hand to tremble. The arrow grazed the black dot as it flew past. As if suddenly startled, the dark figure emitted an unpleasant groan and hurriedly turned to flee for its life.

Although he was still confident, Colin did not fire another arrow. Instead, he turned to look at the huge carriage that was heading towards the manor. The carriage was surrounded by a large number of cavalry guards. Their armor clashed and rubbed against each other with the gait of their warhorses, making a soft and clear metallic sound. They moved cautiously at a moderate pace and soon arrived at the gate.

The two knights at the head of the carriage, draped in long black robes, with bronze faces that conveyed both sorrow and joy, were prison guards from the capital. As the procession stopped in front of the gate, several soldiers worked together to unload a huge wooden crate from the carriage. Arka came out to greet them, which made both men realize that the situation was unusual—Arka was in charge of the entire mansion's defenses, and the fact that he had set aside other matters to focus on this...

Colin silently unstringed his bow and slung it behind his back. Carila also stood up, dusted herself off, and quickly began to go downstairs.

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The luxurious room features a large bed filled with velvet, surrounded by four sandalwood pillars. Above the pillars, a canopy is constructed of exquisite silk and finely crafted copper frames, with semi-transparent gauze hanging down around the perimeter. This design is both aesthetically pleasing and provides protection from mosquitoes in the summer, creating a look that is both luxurious and comfortable.

Thesolius removed his armor and lay fast asleep on the bed, wearing only a cotton shirt. He lay perfectly still, his hair neatly styled, without a trace of dishevelment, clearly having been specially groomed.

The bed is very comfortable, so soft it almost wraps you up, but he's been sleeping in it until now, clearly not because he's indulging in comfort.

The door was opened gently, and Talina entered carrying a tray. A fully armed bodyguard helped her with her other items. The two of them tiptoed to the bedside, and the bodyguard then withdrew, leaving Talina to examine Tersolius's injuries.

To be precise, this wasn't really an injury—after all, a cut less than 5 centimeters long was far from enough to put Tersolius into a deep sleep. The real threat was the potent poison it contained. During the battle with those strange creatures, Tersolius was wounded on the forehead because of the darkness of the environment. After the battle was over, he fell into a coma due to the aftereffects of the poison.

The wound on his forehead had already been carefully stitched up, with neat stitches, and his complexion was perfectly normal. He looked as if he would suddenly open his eyes at any moment, which was exactly what Talina expected—Tesolius should regain consciousness at least today.

The sun outside the window had reached its zenith, casting its warm rays upon the smoke-filled city, but Tersolius continued to breathe evenly, showing no sign of waking. This worried Talina... and she even began to wonder if she had made a mistake somewhere? Was there something wrong with the drug's formulation? Or had the potion been concocted incorrectly?

This worry made the girl unable to resist moving closer again, even reaching out to lift Tersolius's eyelids to take a look—and then she was startled by his suddenly opened eyes.

At this moment, Thesolius still seemed somewhat confused, his eyes no longer sharp and composed as usual. He stared intently at the bottom of the canopy above the bed, examining the luxurious silk supported by the gilded and carved bronze frame, and the golden passages drawn by the sunlight filtering through the air from the window.

"Unfamiliar..."

"My lord! You've woken up."

A familiar voice came from the side, interrupting Tersolius's ramblings. He turned around and saw the look of surprise on Tarina's face. She hadn't even had time to retract her hand, and her eyes revealed relief and joy.

"Doctor...what time is it now? How many days have passed since I fainted?"

"It's only the second day, sir. Everything is going smoothly without any problems. This city is already ours. This is the city lord's mansion."

"Really... I feel like all my bones are aching, I thought I'd slept for days."

"This is normal. The subsequent cleansing of toxins will naturally put a certain burden on the body. It's also thanks to your robust health that you're able to cope. Most people would definitely need to sleep for several days and would be weak for a long time."

Chapter 256 comes to an end (2)

After tidying himself up a bit, Tersolius didn't put on his armor, but just wore his black, belted, patterned silk robe. He hurriedly went to the warm and comfortable study in the building to deal with the things that had been delayed while he was unconscious.

He is now incredibly busy, with countless matters requiring his decisions every day, and no one else has the right to interfere. Even his trusted subordinates can only offer suggestions, and cannot overstep their bounds in the slightest. Therefore, he must deal with these headaches the moment he opens his eyes.

Among all the documents, the most eye-catching was a letter sent from the palace, handwritten by the emperor himself. The parchment on the envelope was smooth and clean, inlaid with gold wire and gemstone fragments, with delicate rubbings on the edges. The seal on the sealing wax was an elaborate and vivid double-headed eagle, a seal that only one person in the country was qualified to use.

Of course, considering the time factor, this letter probably wouldn't contain any questions about his assassination attempt. After all, no matter how fast the messenger travels or how many methods they use, the speed of a letter can't be faster than that of an animal that carries a message. There will always be a delay in receiving information, it's just a matter of how long or short it is.

He naturally opened the letter first, peeled off the sealing wax and tossed it aside, then pulled out the soft, smooth, and more exquisite letter paper, and began to read it by the bright sunlight streaming through the window.

………………

Overall, the situation at home remains stable. At least while this grand feast of war is underway, every part of the empire appears more harmonious, and the arguments in the Senate become much more peaceful. At least, few people stand up and demand that the other side settle the matter with blood in the arena.

Now, a vast expanse of land extending northward from this city has come under the Empire's control. This is a harvest that, though anticipated, is still incredibly rich. Therefore, one can imagine that the Empire will soon unleash a new wave of activity, and people's enthusiasm will rise again, with even greater confidence in the nation.

Supply has always been of paramount importance, concerning the life and death of the entire legion. As the battle lines continue to advance, the legion's supply lines will inevitably be stretched, and unexpected events and variables will be more likely to occur. He could not tolerate anyone being able to threaten it by then. Now that Toracasi has fallen into their hands, Tokapaa, a city that guards the river and is easy to defend but difficult to attack, must also be dealt with.

Fortunately, with Toracassi under his control, he will have more options...

Thoughts raced through his mind, sparking flashes of inspiration. He made decisions from time to time, while Tarina categorized the tasks and assigned them to specific people. In their intermittent conversations, the pile of parchment on the table grew thinner and thinner, and his spirits improved as he rapidly recovered from his previous weakness.

"I must say, sir, you have exceeded my expectations..."

Talina uttered a remark with considerable emotion, which made Tersolius turn his head curiously:

What does that mean?

The girl looked him up and down, her eyes filled with amazement and joy:

"Your recovery speed far exceeded my expectations... To be honest, if I hadn't seen you wake up with my own eyes, I might have thought that assassination attempt was just a nightmare... In just half a day, the physical weakness and nerve pain that should have troubled most people for at least half a month have disappeared from your body. It seems that my previous assessment of your physical condition was too conservative. Next time I encounter a similar situation, I can be even bolder with the dosage of the medication!"

"...If you're confident, then of course there's no problem...Speaking of which, Doctor, how's your examination of our spoils coming along?"

The so-called spoils of war naturally refer to the strange creatures left behind by their swords after the assassinations failed, which are naturally analyzed by Talina, a professional.

The girl was silent for a moment before pulling out a few pieces of parchment from the table:

"In fact, sir, I have already compiled a rather detailed report, which is what I have discovered over this period of time."

Tersolius immediately reached out and took it, and was surprised to find that it not only had neat and beautiful handwriting, but also exquisitely drawn patterns. In a way that was both familiar and amazing to him, it vividly and accurately depicted the structure of certain internal organs, bones and muscles, as well as fat and skin. After looking at it for a while, he could almost imagine the smelly and sticky scene.

As he watched, Talina provided commentary:

"Some things have remained largely unchanged. For instance, the majority of the tissue material that makes up these organisms still comes from the human body, primarily from young and middle-aged men... But what keeps these severed limbs active and takes over their nervous systems is parasites—and a new type of variant at that. Similar to this variant is the Beta II variant found within the Empire. I have some information about that here in sections 5-24..."

Tersolius turned a page and found the relevant record there—the target was captured by the jailers. He was originally a down-on-his-luck rogue in the village, but he showed abnormal behavior over a few days and eventually mutated. After causing one death and one injury in the village, he fled into the forest. A pair of jailers who were investigating the situation of cults in the empire took over the case and finally captured the target after two days of pursuit.

The dissection of the target revealed that its spine and main nervous system were controlled by the black tentacles of the parasite. The parasite had essentially become the creature's second brain, manipulating it to perform activities based on certain instincts, including feeding, hunting, resting, and drinking.

"According to your description and the descriptions of other witnesses, this variant is very likely to have the ability to change its color and blur light, but it is difficult to conceal its scent, so hunting dogs with a sensitive sense of smell may be able to find their tracks."

"Furthermore, I observed abnormal activity in the body tissues. The suture marks remained on the surface, while the deep muscles and bones had completely grown and fused together. Normal body tissues would never have such a strong repair ability. It cannot be ruled out that the parasite secreted some kind of substance for the host, which led to this result."

"In addition, I can confirm that the skeleton of this creature was modified and pieced together... to minimize weight while ensuring that most of its strength is retained, so that it can move more quickly and flexibly."

…………

"Besides hunting dogs with their keen sense of smell, what other ways can we detect this creature? It's a considerable threat..."

Tersolius looked serious. Even he couldn't help but feel worried. Although the assassination attempt had ultimately failed and completely destroyed the morale and fighting spirit of the Hols, if a different general had come, the Hols would most likely have succeeded in the end. This kind of thing was really hard to guard against.

If this kind of thing becomes available in large quantities, then he will have to adjust his strategy...

"Regarding this, we don't really need to worry too much..."

Talina smiled slightly: