Cataphracts, surviving in a world full of mods

It wasn't just the Holsian army's brutality that instilled fear in them; the Imperial elite legions now roaming the city were enough to keep anyone with ulterior motives in check.

With the northern route to the city now protected, a new supply line has appeared on the map, making it impossible for the city to run out of ammunition and food again.

The Solus were not content with just this city under their control. They were not without worries; enemies within the empire were always ready to strike them in the back with poisoned daggers.

They must firmly grasp this city in their hands, and absolutely cannot allow any instability or accidents. Only in this way, with the prestige of a great victory, will they have more room to maneuver after returning to the empire.

Therefore, the situation in Alpert required swift action. The Holsians had no time left, but weren't they also running out of time? ...

But the increasingly strange behavior of the enemy soldiers made the situation even more complicated. If a force does not collapse or show fear, the cost of defeating them is often several times greater.

If they suffer heavy losses as a result, it will not only diminish their victory but also give their enemies countless excuses to attack them.

…………

Before long, the military order had been relayed to every corner of the city, and subordinates and commanders gathered in the inner city of Alpert, in a spacious hall on the second floor.

After this period of training, not only the mountain people, but even the slaves, have become quite imposing and disciplined. They are no longer a rabble, but a real army capable of shouldering heavy responsibilities.

At least now, no one dares to disobey military orders. No matter how lazy or unruly a guy is, he will immediately take action once the order is given.

If the Hols on the other side hadn't all gone mad, they should have noticed the arriving reinforcements by now. That's why the Hols camp quieted down and didn't launch another attack.

The mountain people and slaves, still on edge, dared not let their guard down, but they soon realized they no longer needed to be so tense…

With the clatter of armor and the clang of swords and spears, a large and well-disciplined heavy infantry force ascended the city wall. From a distance, the entire white wall appeared to have grown a story higher in the blink of an eye, composed of cold steel and iron discipline, making it far more difficult to breach than a real city wall.

Even though most of the soldiers had gone mad, the lords remained lucid... or rather, most of the command had not fallen into this strange state. They did not know why, but they had no other choice.

The fierce attacks over the previous few days had indeed made the city wall teeter on the brink of collapse, and they had also managed to regain a rare bit of confidence. Although the losses were so heavy, as long as they could capture the city, it wouldn't be a complete defeat.

After all, a Pyrrhic victory is still a victory...

But this almost pathetic wish was shattered today!

Seeing the elite heavy infantry appearing on the city walls, every lord lost their last bit of confidence; they no longer believed they could achieve even the most pitiful victory.

The city is now irrevocably lost, unless Ephesus suddenly performs a miracle that causes the walls to collapse, in which case they will have a final chance to seize the city.

Every lord who has participated in the war will never forget how troublesome the Empire's heavy infantry really are... They are like people really cast in steel, and any troops that dare to charge them will be smashed to pieces on their defensive line.

Such soldiers, when used to defend city walls, would make the walls insurmountable and indestructible, requiring several times or even ten times more lives to achieve victory.

Every lord and officer was dejected; they no longer had the will or morale to launch an attack, and without their leadership, even the most furious soldiers would only become corpses beneath the city walls.

Under these circumstances, a very ominous rumor began to spread throughout the camp, and everyone who heard it would involuntarily shiver...

No one can trace who first started this rumor... It's like the fog that floods the camp every morning; it's become everywhere without anyone noticing, inseparable from everyone...

They were all trapped in a horrific ritual, a sinister force twisting their minds, making them fearless of blood and pain, and driving them ever more insane.

Such sensational rumors should have disappeared automatically after spreading for a while, but now they are getting worse... Ultimately, there is just too much evidence to support this rumor.

The soldiers grew more and more unfamiliar each day, and even the lords who had brought them from their own territories were terrified by their transformation... This was no nonsense about boosting morale; what they were really doing was becoming bloodthirsty and insane.

Violence occurred daily in the camp. The lords spent their days tying the crazed soldiers to trees and whipping them mercilessly, but they still couldn't keep them in line.

If there was even the slightest verbal disagreement, these soldiers would draw their swords and hack each other to pieces, as if they were not an army at all, but a large group of undisciplined bandits.

Every day, people who went too far were hanged from trees, but there were still people who would stab their comrades in the throat with a weapon at the slightest provocation.

One lord, unable to bear the heavy losses and the hellish camp, tried to evacuate with his soldiers, but he soon discovered that no one would obey his orders... Every soldier was unwilling to leave, but they couldn't explain why.

They resisted the order to leave the area from the bottom of their hearts, as if their skin would be peeled off if they left.

The rumors spread throughout the camp, eventually reaching even the most ordinary soldiers and servants. That very evening, a small group of mountain people hidden in the jungle captured a Hols squad leader and brought him to the city that night.

The meeting held in the inner city is still ongoing... The information he obtained was also sent here as quickly as possible.

After reading the contents of the note, Thesolius glanced at his brother, then passed the note to everyone, letting them all see its contents:

"So, what are your thoughts on this rumor?"

Everyone fell silent for a moment. Then, Colin suddenly raised her head, a glint of light in her eyes, as if she had spotted valuable prey.

"I feel this rumor seems a bit deliberate, and the timing of its emergence is so clever, coinciding with the arrival of reinforcements. Could it be that someone intentionally leaked it to us?"

Natamus glanced at the short girl with some surprise. He already knew about the origins of these mountain people from his brother. That's why he was impressed that a girl who had lived in the mountains for more than ten years could see through the suspicious points at a glance.

"I also think this is the most likely possibility. According to the confessions of the prisoners we captured, the rumors only started spreading at noon today, which happened to coincide with the arrival of our reinforcements. It's too much of a coincidence."

Marcus stroked his reddish beard, the color of which he couldn't change no matter how much water he washed, and later, when he got busy, he stopped paying attention to it.

"If this message was deliberately leaked, the most likely source would be the heavily damaged Holsian lords... Of course, this is just speculation... These people may have discovered something, but for some reason, they can't tell us directly, so they used rumors to spread the news here..."

Tersolius squinted at the terrain surrounding the city, various ideas colliding in his mind, and he also absorbed the discussions of those around him for in-depth consideration.

But one thing everyone agreed on was that this dangerous state of the Holsian soldiers had to be stopped, or it would be a huge problem for them.

"You seem to have an idea already. Just say it, we're all waiting."

Natamus hugged his strong shoulders, his tall figure blocking the light of the oil lamp and casting a large shadow behind him. The scar at the corner of his mouth twisted like a dangerous venomous snake.

Everyone else stopped their discussion and looked at him, eagerly awaiting his decision, which he had proven correct time and again.

Thesolius smiled slightly and drew a large circle with his finger on the vast plain and two hills to the south of the city:

"It should be here, but we still need a detailed plan..."

P.S.: I was busy all day and got home too late, so I didn't have enough time. I'll make up for the second chapter tomorrow (°ー°〃). I'm really sorry.

Chapter 72 Chaos (2)

After the discussion, the long meeting finally came to an end. Everyone felt a little tired, but the next steps were decided.

If we let these Hols remain in this state, they will become a disaster sooner or later. If we want to truly take control of Altos and the surrounding areas, we must deal with this troublesome group.

Who can defeat an army that knows no fear? Only if they can kill every single one of them…

To end this situation, the rumored ritual site must be destroyed. It is no easy task to affect an army of nearly 10,000 people... Tersolius knew nothing about this, but there were professionals in the Imperial Legion.

An old man dressed in a white robe arrived to pay his respects to General Tersolius. In his hand he held a thick wooden staff as thick as a child's arm. The dark wood was worn smooth and warm from being rubbed, clearly indicating that it had been with him for a long time.

His simple, belted robe had a black hem with red stripes on the lower half and a white upper half embroidered with pale red patterns. His smooth head was completely hairless, but his beard was thick and smooth, covering the lower half of his face.

After the other man bowed to him, Tersolius couldn't help but feel fortunate for his brother's thoughtful preparation. This scholar from the Imperial Library was extremely knowledgeable, and if anyone could provide an answer to the current situation, it would undoubtedly be him...

“Please sit here, Master Wecaster. We are currently troubled by a problem, and perhaps your knowledge and wisdom can help us.”

"You flatter me, Your Excellency General. I am merely an ordinary librarian. If my humble knowledge can be of any use, I would be truly honored."

Tersolius smiled and nodded:

"Then I won't mince words. Here's the situation..."

After spending a few minutes describing the situation outside the city, the old man in front of me fell silent, his eyes gleaming with contemplation.

This also meant that he had thought of something related, which made Thesolius feel hopeful. What was happening before his eyes gave him a strong sense of déjà vu. Just like in many cultural works, supernatural forces interfered with everyone's consciousness, making them crazy and fearless of life and death.

And often the worst outcomes happen in the later stages of an event... What is born after extreme madness and bloodshed is definitely not a good thing... Although he didn't know if that would really happen, he couldn't help but have his doubts.

Although he had indeed seen similar situations in various cultural works, he had no experience in dealing with such events and did not know what the supernatural forces were like in this world... It would be better to seek advice from professionals.

The firelight burning in the brazier could not illuminate all corners, and many places in the hall were still in shadow, which also obscured half of Tersolius's angular face.

The enormous crystal chandelier above the hall, if lit with all the candles, would be enough to illuminate the entire room. But that would be too extravagant and wasteful; providing light for just one night would often require burning hundreds of precious candles. So, most of the time, braziers were used for lighting.

He didn't have to wait long; soon enough, the old man raised his head.

“I have a guess, Your Excellency General… The situation we are facing may be related to the Wolgus Evil Ritual 100 years ago. There is a related record in the Imperial Library, Section 24, Number 342, but it is not much, and I only know a little bit about it.”

“Wolgus Evil Ritual?... Please tell me everything you know, we will need this.”

“Okay… According to records, during the reign of Emperor Doris, a large-scale riot broke out in Darifel. It was initially thought to be just an ordinary rebellion, but when the Imperial Legion arrived, they found that the entire city’s inhabitants had turned into bloodthirsty madmen.”

The old man's brow furrowed slightly, whether from the dark history or from deep thought, it was hard to tell.

“All the residents, even the beggars in the slums and the slaves in the noble manors, all turned into madmen who were not afraid of death. They would even run straight into the spears of the legionary soldiers and impale themselves on the spearheads... The legions that arrived first suffered considerable losses due to being caught off guard.”

"It took three legions to quell the unrest. Every mad citizen was killed, and the entire city of Dalifiel was turned into a ghost town... The current residents of this city are all people who have gradually migrated from the surrounding cities and towns. The skeletons of tens of thousands of people in that city can still be dug up from the ground by farmers."

"No one can say for sure what caused this turmoil... According to the city clerk's records, a month before the riot broke out, the town's residents had already begun to act strangely. They became more irritable and easily angered, and would fight with people over trivial matters, even killing them... During that time, the city dungeon was never empty. Criminals were thrown in every day, but they kept coming out."

"Even the city guards fell into this state, often indiscriminately killing people when suppressing riots... until everything became uncontrollable."

"The whole city is in chaos, and there are no clues at all. The only thing is that slaves in the surrounding plantations are dying from overwork on a large scale... Logically speaking, slaves are valuable property, and a decent citizen would not abuse his slaves to death so easily... Oh, and there are the poor people in the slums. There were rumors of monster attacks, and many beggars died in the shadows of the streets. Their blood had been drained from their bodies, but no bloodstains were found at the scene."

"The city governor at the time was named Wolgus, so the unrest was called the Wolgus Riot. Although there was no evidence, many people believed that it was the result of an evil ritual, so some called it the Wolgus Evil Ritual... Your Excellency, that is all I know."

After speaking, the old man slowly lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought again. Tersolius processed what he had just heard… and then spoke again:

"Why do so many people believe this was an evil ritual, rather than an infectious disease or some other reason? There must be some reason."

"Yes, General."

The old man nodded again:

"Besides the strange corpses and the mass deaths of the slaves, a rumor also circulated that the mountain people hunting near Dalifel discovered a bloody cave with a pool filled with blood, and that there was a cold wind and eerie sounds that frightened them away on the spot. But when they went to look again later, there was only a smooth mountain wall and no cave."

"Because there is no concrete evidence, this claim has been regarded as nonsense, and it was only mentioned briefly in another book."

Tersolius nodded slowly, having already made up his mind... The knowledgeable scholar was soon sent back to his residence, and after a moment's thought, Tersolius ordered his messenger to summon Colin.

………………

Strangely, when the mountain girl arrived, her face was stiff, and even her legs seemed unable to bend. She entered the room in an extremely eerie manner...

Tersolius glanced at her with a puzzled look, then focused his attention on the map in front of him. After a while, when he heard no footsteps, he realized that she was standing timidly at the door, not daring to approach.

"What are you doing standing there? I have something to say to you, come closer."

The girl slowly nodded, then tentatively stretched out her leg, without even swinging her arms, as if her upper and lower body were divided into two parts... and so she approached the table with a difficult and slow pace.

"Come, look here..."

Tersolis's finger touched a mountain peak on the map, the firelight casting sharp lines on his face:

"This mountain is the only one in the surrounding dozens of miles, and it stands out very abruptly. I want you to send your best hunters to search for suspicious places here, paying special attention to areas such as caves and pitfalls. Don't forget to be careful, the Hols will definitely be heavily guarding this place."

His finger slid across the map, moving to a hilly area on the east side of the city.

“Go down from here. It might be a long detour, but with your stamina, it shouldn’t be a problem. Report back to me immediately if you get any news… No, wait a minute…”

The man seemed to suddenly remember something, turned around and walked towards the rooftop, his footsteps pounding the stone floor...

Colin suddenly let out a heavy sigh of relief, patting her flat chest with a look of relief. Being suddenly called over alone in the middle of the night almost immediately reminded her of what her grandfather had said about the decadent lives of the city's aristocracy... If it weren't for the general's orders, she would have almost run away on the spot...