Cataphracts, surviving in a world full of mods

Such poor weaponry could offer little protection, and not knowing what she might encounter next, she couldn't afford to be careless.

The rusty scrap metal around her was of no use and would only provide unnecessary burden, but the opponent she had just defeated was wearing genuine, high-quality iron armor.

Having made her decision, she didn't hesitate at all. She squatted down and began to dismantle the other person's armor, feeling around to untie the leather straps at the chin and the straps securing the armor plates. At the same time, she tried to ignore the hard and rough feel and forced herself to calmly dismantle the entire suit of armor.

When the helmet with the chainmail neck guard attached below was removed, a stark white skull was unsurprisingly exposed before her eyes. The black mist that had been swirling around her head and face had also thinned considerably, allowing her to clearly see the messy, yellowed teeth protruding from the black mist.

Claudia couldn't wear the whole set; she had to remove the skirt armor to prevent the armor plates from dragging on the ground. But it still provided an extra layer of protection for her chest and abdomen, so that a single hit wouldn't be fatal.

Having done all this, Clautina looked up and began to search for the direction she should go—a rather difficult decision, because everything around her looked the same, with no place standing out, so it was impossible to judge which direction would lead to a better outcome.

But the emperor had grown weary of lingering there, so he resolutely set off, trekking through those bones that were both fragile and hard, carefully observing the changes around him every step he took.

The sky remained that oppressive and repulsive gloomy yellow, like rotten, soft fat that one was unwilling to look at directly. The skeletons on the ground seemed endless, and they were still trying to hinder the emperor's progress, as if these dead were hoping that someone would stay among them.

She resolutely crushed the weak bones, carefully selecting the sturdy parts that could bear her weight, while avoiding any chance of sharp bone spurs injuring her, thus making her way forward with difficulty but stability.

In such a monotonous scene, one loses sensitivity to time, and Clautina gradually gave up on the idea of ​​calculating time, simply moving forward subconsciously and resolutely, determined to see the scene change.

I don't know how far I've gone, and looking back I can't find the path I painstakingly cleared to get here. I can only keep moving forward, like an ant in the vast world.

My breathing remained steady, and I felt no physical exertion whatsoever. My legs didn't feel numb, and it felt as if I could keep walking like this until the moment the world was destroyed.

But the world was not yet doomed, and Clautina no longer needed to continue her journey... A vague, grand, distant, and resonant voice reached her ears, accompanied by low and suppressed drumbeats, the two working together to create a chilling and majestic melody.

The sound was very familiar to her, in fact, it couldn't be more familiar—it was the drumbeats and horns of the Imperial Legion's advance, summoning the Imperial army to crush the enemy. It was often accompanied by the earth-shaking footsteps and the sound of steel scraping against the ground, enough to terrify any opponent and put them on high alert.

She immediately breathed a sigh of relief, her tense nerves relaxing—regardless of where the sound came from, hearing something familiar in this place was always comforting, and it also meant that the previous unchanging predicament had changed. At least a clue had emerged to follow.

Following the direction of the sound, she changed her pace and began climbing a slightly undulating slope to the side—which was also made of skeletons, with broken and intact skulls gradually dotting the bones, and empty, dark eye sockets observing everything around them.

She tried to keep her feet on the skulls—these bones were always stronger and more reliable than others, and their spherical structure effectively distributed weight, preventing them from suddenly breaking and causing her to fall… Falling in this place full of sharp, rusty metal and bone spurs was no good.

And so, stepping on the heads of the dead, the emperor of the empire finally climbed the slope, then calmly straightened her back, preparing to look into the distance, hoping to see more, preferably something related to the sound she had just heard.

This wish was quickly fulfilled, perhaps even a little too much...

The once gentle hillside suddenly drops here, abruptly forming a wide basin. Within that basin, countless people and horses are clashing and killing each other. But what flies out amidst the churning of swords and weapons is not flesh and blood, but fragments of broken bones and remains...

The scene before her was like a mad nightmare—the so-called centaurs were all skeletons. The only difference was that the armor they wore was of imperial style, but upon closer inspection, one could see that the armor and weapons varied greatly. Some were new and some were old. The new ones were brand new and shiny, while the old ones were rotten and worn. Even the styles and years were different. With just a glance, Clautina could spot armor from the distant era of Hittorelli.

It's important to understand that the armor at that time was extremely crude, far from the well-equipped state of the empire today. In fact, there was no empire at that time, and this land was far from what it is today.

Then, in a moment of inexplicable confusion, Clautina suddenly realized something, as if her hair had been set on fire—the place she was standing in was at least a gallon away from the battlefield in the basin below, how could she see it so clearly?! She could even notice the details of the armor on those skeletons!

It was as if she had suddenly gained the eyes of an eagle, able to see clearly even in the chaos of the battlefield, and could even clearly see the way bones that were blown, smashed, and broken flew into the air, as clearly as if they were standing right in front of her.

Then she discovered something even stranger—what appeared to be a fierce battleground below was, upon closer inspection, anything more than a chaotic mess. To be precise, it was completely disorganized.

A war can certainly resort to any means necessary and will certainly show various signs of pushing the limits, but no matter how much it goes on, it cannot be separated from some of the most basic principles—for example, there must be at least two opposing forces for a war to break out.

Below, there were no organized battles, no banners, and no formations... To be precise, formations did exist at times, but they were fleeting. Those skeletons that were originally crammed together in the same column and fighting side by side would often go berserk in the next moment, smashing their comrades around them and turning the formation into a mess in an instant, mixing it with other places again.

It's like a big pot of thick, mushy porridge. Even if bubbles rise in it, it's only for a moment. In the blink of an eye, it bursts and returns to the vast chaos. Betrayal is so common here that it doesn't even seem like betrayal anymore.

No one knows what went wrong with these rotten bones. They desperately destroyed their fellow skeletons, smashing and tearing them apart with their gleaming or rusty hammers, axes, and swords. They would form an orderly formation in a short time, and then destroy it completely on their own in a short time.

Fortunately, amidst this chaotic slaughter, the speed at which these bones fell was also astonishing. They were smashed apart piece by piece like wheat being harvested, layer upon layer piling up on the skeletal ground, adding bricks and tiles to the boundless sea of ​​bones.

Finally, the chaotic sounds subsided until the last writhing bone stopped moving. The emperor let out a long sigh, drenched in cold sweat, her brow furrowed… She realized something strange again—if this was a jumbled mess of bones writhing and killing each other, then who had sounded the horns and drums? Did these bones even have lungs to do such a thing?!

etc.

She subconsciously turned her head left and right, hoping to find the answer to this question. After all, she had been drawn here by the sound of drums and horns, and she desperately needed a clue to break out of this bizarre situation and escape from this crazy nightmare.

Wait... a nightmare! —...

Suddenly, her mind exploded like thunder. A strong sense of fear and palpitations crept in, as if the thin veil covering her consciousness had been ripped open, revealing the clearest things beneath.

"I—I…I'm dreaming, a nightmare?…"

She seemed to realize something in a daze, but couldn't quite grasp it. Just then, the loud and resounding sounds of war came from beside her, almost forcefully interrupting her thoughts.

In the vast basin, things like saplings emerged from the skeletons. The slender bones slowly swayed and stretched, then the joints rotated and joined together, and one skeleton after another stood up from within. Wisps of black mist spread out from the gaps, but this time it was something as thick as oil, and it quickly began to spread throughout the body, condensing and dissipating, leaving behind gleaming iron armor.

As if guided by threads or manipulated by iron bars, the skeletons silently began to line up and form orderly formations, stepping on objects of the same material as themselves. One square formation after another slowly spread out along both sides, rapidly restoring their organization and order at a speed that no normal person could ever achieve.

Knights clad in iron armor rode on warhorses made of skeletons. The array of spears, axes, halberds, shields, hammers, swords, and blades was as dense and imposing as a steel wall. Banners were clustered among them, their patterns still blurred, yet they exuded a deep-seated majesty, as if someone were saying that everything was ready.

The next moment, all the skeletons opened their mouths wide and let out a silent roar...

Chapter 370 Nightmare? (2)

The battle between the skeletons was tragic and fierce. Apart from the absence of blood and flesh, they advanced and fought like a group of elite soldiers, mercilessly striking and tearing each other apart with their weapons. Although the severed arms were not mangled, they still twitched and struggled like living people.

Both formations were perfectly orderly, and the skeletal soldiers, like elite warriors, took turns attacking and retreating to provide cover, presenting an extremely sophisticated and terrifying order. Accompanied by the waving of flags and the urging of drums and horns, wave after wave of attacks crushed the enemy's formation, attempting to break through.

These skeletons performed so well that their formations moved in shifts as if they were a single, colossal entity. An ordinary army would probably have been torn apart and routed by them... but the opponents they faced were no less formidable.

Amidst the crackling sounds of bones breaking and shattering, Clautina witnessed this unique and brutal battle. Both sides were tenacious, resolute, and brave; not a single bone showed any sign of retreating or fleeing. Because of this, their battle was exceptionally cruel. Every second, countless bones were smashed into fragments on the ground, yet they continued to advance relentlessly.

This is a difficult decision for any general: to throw his elite troops into the battlefield and wear down a powerful enemy without reservation. While this may make it more likely to defeat the enemy in a short time, it also carries unimaginable risks and the casualties are bound to be considerable.

This tactic is a desperate gamble, a gamble, a decision with no other choice and no way out. It doesn't care about casualties or costs, only about defeating the enemy. It is extremely rare except in life-or-death situations, and it also requires that the soldiers under its command be willing to fight so desperately.

Those who are able to witness this scene without participating in it are also considered lucky. They are fortunate enough to see the most brutal and bloody scene of this era and to truly feel the weight of the word "war"... even though this war exists on bones.

Claudina's position was the best spectator seat, offering an unobstructed view of every corner of the battlefield, and inexplicably, she could see it exceptionally clearly, down to every single detail.

That's why she quickly found the generals commanding the two armies—two equally skeletal generals, clad in heavy armor and surrounded by their personal guards.

One of them wore a tall, brass-topped helmet and was covered in heavy armor with fine willow-leaf trim. Even his fingers were tightly encased in intricately woven chainmail. Bright yellow silk, embroidered with four-leaf hibiscus flowers with outstretched leaves, peeked through the gaps in the armor.

The other was clad in imperial-style double-layered heavy armor, with leather straps inlaid with copper studs hanging below his shoulder blades. His hands and feet were protected by carved and inlaid chainmail gloves. He was equally composed and commanding, just like a living person, turning his head to give orders from time to time.

Such battles are incredibly brutal, but they are also easy to resolve. They eliminate all probing and maneuvering, resulting in a direct and bloody confrontation where one side will always be defeated. The loser is the general in the east, wearing a brass-topped helmet.

Its army could no longer maintain its formation and was pushed and shoved until it collapsed with a crash, leaving no room for recovery... because it had already staked all its strength and was powerless to turn the tide at this moment.

This vast basin also sealed off any possibility of its army's defeat. Only by being completely crushed by the enemy, until the last survivor's head was smashed, did a strange silence finally descend upon this vast basin.

As if suddenly losing their target, after slaughtering all their opponents, the remaining army came to a standstill as if their strings had been cut. At this moment, they became stiff skeletons again, and even the sound of their joints grinding together ceased to be heard, becoming completely silent.

But this silence also carried an unsettling and terrifying sense of oppression, like a huge black shadow swimming beneath the seemingly calm sea, or dark clouds filling the sky when a breeze blows, carrying a premonition of gathering power.

Finally, in the brief half-minute of the war's cessation, the peace was shattered once again. A new flag slowly rose behind the army, followed by a second, a third... and the sounds of bones grinding, colliding, and cracking rang out again like a tidal wave. Soldiers and officers who had been loyal to their general did not hesitate to rebel, tearing the entire army into countless fragments and beginning a terrible melee.

Just as she had initially witnessed, utter chaos reigned. Betrayal here ceased to be betrayal; having lost their adversaries, the political armies crumbled, turning on each other in a bloodbath. Until they were all reduced to shattered bones, carpeting the land…

And after that, the cycle begins again. The shattered bones will rise up again under the pull of some force, form a new formation, fight each other again, betray each other in a chaotic battle, and cover the ground again, like a nightmare that never ends, endlessly repeating the hellish scene.

"What is this thing...?"

Claudia had lost count of how many times she had felt this way... What she saw was always refreshing her understanding, with more unexpected situations arising every minute and every second, but unlike a real dream, it was not boundless or illogical, and it still followed some basic principles.

By now, she's become somewhat numb, and she'll likely be able to accept any strange situations that arise more quickly.

Rumble!!

A bolt of lightning, as thick as a river, traversed half the sky, its color a shocking crimson, containing unimaginable violence. In the blink of an eye, it illuminated the entire sky, casting a bloody glow over everything around it.

The thunder had barely passed when the sound of rain began. Large raindrops pelted down relentlessly, but instead of the refreshing scent of rain, they carried a thick, foul smell of blood.

When she stiffly raised her head, the dripping blood had soaked her completely, quickly becoming sticky, and was still slapping against the surrounding white bones, staining the stark white skeletons with a layer of scarlet.

And this red color became increasingly glaring and deeper, eventually starting to accumulate rapidly on those withered bones, showing no sign of leaking through the cracks, just accumulating more and more...

Suddenly! A scarlet, skinless, and mangled hand shot out from within! It convulsed and twitched, grabbing at the emperor's ankle. A terrifying warmth followed, and before she could even cry out, the ground beneath her feet collapsed with a deafening roar, like a waterfall, as countless bones mixed with blood cascaded down, completely engulfing her.

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

In the stillness of the night, the magnificent bed suddenly shook violently. The sturdy wooden planks were struck heavily by a hand, making a loud noise that instantly stirred up the entire room.

The maids waiting by the bed exchanged a slightly panicked glance, but dared not make the slightest move. Only the lady-in-waiting beside them seemed unconcerned and hurriedly stepped forward, approaching the bed curtains.

"His Majesty?!……"

There was no sound coming from inside the curtained tent. Now, even the tops of their heads began to make slight noises, but the servants did not notice and continued to try to wake their emperor.

"His Majesty!"

This time, the lady-in-waiting's voice was even louder, bordering on rude, but she still received no response. The previously composed lady-in-waiting suddenly panicked, her face turning pale. She opened her mouth, about to say something more, when…

"call…………"

A long sigh escaped, like a drowning person finally raising their head above the water, revealing a sense of relief, which also made the servants in the emperor's bedroom breathe a sigh of relief.

"...It's nothing, you may leave...No, wait, go and summon Perilla. Tell her I'm uneasy and have some questions that I need her to answer."

Without any hesitation, the servants bowed and withdrew. At this moment, Clautina finally recovered from her panic and shortness of breath, and was silently looking at her palms. The lights in the room were still bright, and the servants had already changed the fuel to ensure that the room was dimly lit but not glaring enough for a peaceful sleep.

But the emperor was certain she wouldn't be able to sleep anymore; no matter how comfortable the environment, it wouldn't induce sleep. At this moment, her mind was perfectly clear…

I'm destined to have a sleepless night.

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"This is the last leg of the journey... It should be finished in about three more days, but I heard from old Pete that the rain is getting lighter and lighter and could stop at any time."

Diyul shook his head and continued walking forward, unconcerned.

"Don't worry, the rain has been so heavy lately that it has soaked the roads. Even if the rain stops, we have a reason to stay here for two days, which is enough to get through the rest. No fool would come looking for us on such muddy roads."

"Oh, right, boss, there's one more thing. We're running low on food. This damn weather has caused a lot of our food to go moldy, so we have to throw it away. Considering what's coming next, we should start preparing early."

"Just go ahead and get it. Hunt any deer or wild boar in the nearby woods. We don't need to worry about that anymore. We can buy the rest from the nearby towns. There's no need to be shy about it; everyone needs to eat."

"Don't be stingy with money. Make sure everyone eats well these next few days; they might come in very handy later."

The two of them walked one after the other across the hills and arrived at a logging camp. The trees here had been completely cut down, leaving only wooden stakes all over the ground. The soil on the ground had been trampled into a muddy mess by countless feet, with the footprints of cattle and horses mixed in.

Further away, under a shed made of tarpaulin, a group of people were busily tying up rafts, securing the logs together with vines or ropes. Once they were sure they were stable, they could be dragged down the mountain for use.

"Is there anything else you want to say? If not, go ahead and get busy. I have things to do too."

Seeing that the guy behind him was reluctant to leave, Diyul turned around with some confusion. While asking a question, he found a wooden stake and sat down.

The burly man opposite him suddenly hesitated, appearing somewhat awkward and timid. He frowned as he looked at him, but before he could urge him further, the other man made up his mind:

"Boss, do you think the Imperials will really come?..."

At this moment, everyone else was busy outside, and few were sheltering in the camp, so it was just the two of them under the tent. In the drizzling rain, Diyul frowned and looked up at the other person:

"What? Didn't I make it clear to you before? This kind of golden opportunity to make great contributions isn't something everyone can resist... No, that's too slick. No general could resist this. At least if I were a general, I definitely wouldn't be able to resist... So don't worry about it. After all, we've run out of options. There's no other way."

"...But I've heard that the Empire is doing very well in the south, and they've already acquired large tracts of land there... Surely no country can keep fighting forever."