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nChapter 80: A Bloody Battle

nTranslator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

nAll the wolfriders had their eyes on Abel, the short, underage knight who was wielding a ridiculously large lance with him. They could tell that he was a novice knight, but something about him didn’t add up.

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nSure, Abel was a novice knight, but what kind of novice knight could kill five wolfriders in an instant? One high-ranked wolf rider. One intermediate wolf rider. Three novice wolfriders. That’s five in less than a second, and a child did it.

nThe horse that Abel was riding on was becoming much more agitated than before. It seemed kind of relaxed back then, but the testosterone was starting to kick in.

n“My honor is my life!” Abel screamed, and his horse sped up into the wolfriders’ troop. The large, heavy lance in his hand was like a demon’s hand, flicking away everything that it had scraped. Because of Abel’s terrible strength (and the effect of the lance itself), tens of wolfriders were sent flying away from their position.

nTwenty of the bodyguard knights started lining up their formation. Once they were ready, they slowly trekked towards the remaining wolfriders. After witnessing Abel’s bold display, the Knight of Marshall, too, chanted out the battle cry “my honor is my life” and charged towards his enemies.

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nIf it was about engaging in direct conflict, the Knight of Marshall was much more experienced than Abel. The way he killed his enemies might not be as flashy, but the golden bull armor he was wearing was quite invincible against almost any attack.

nUnder the command of their superiors, the novice wolfriders howled and charged towards Abel. They couldn’t match him with their skills, but they could sacrifice their bodies to slow down his movements.

nAnd that’s what they did. As several of the low-ranked wolfriders clung themselves onto Abel’s lance, they have effectively sacrificed their lives to slow down his movements. If Abel wanted to, he could throw them all away in just one swing, but he clearly had no time to do that. With the little time that the wolfriders had stopped him for, a high-ranked wolf rider struck towards his chest with its long spear.

nClang.

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nBut the armor was simply too durable to be penetrated. It was a devastating discovery for the wolfriders, as it had cost them so many casualties just to have the opportunity for an attack. Sadly for them, it was all the chance that they were getting. With one sweep of his five-meter lance, Abel killed all the wolfrider that were within his reach.

nThe wolfriders that were fighting Marshall also had the same problem. With all the resources on their side, they still couldn’t manage to do any damage to him. It was a frustrating situation for them, and a miserable one at that.

nBy now, all twenty of the bodyguard knights have already entered into the battlefield. As veterans who have come back from the war against the orcs, they were all fierce warriors who had a record to prove their worth.

nAfter struggling for a while, the wolfriders decided to draw their forces away from Lord Marshall and Abel. With a fraction of their troops keeping these two busy, the rest of them were aimed to destroy the small unit of the bodyguard knights.

nAs the twenty humans were obviously in the warrior class, the wolfriders did not think that they would be wearing any powerful gears that could withstand their attacks. Even the orcs knew how valuable a magic weapon would be. There was just no way that it would be equipped by regular bodyguards.

n“With my long sword in hand,

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nMy eyes towards the front,

nI am forged into steel.

nWith my shield closes towards me, it guards my beating heart.

nAs long as the unicorn is on my chest,

nI shall not waver,

nMy banner shall remain.

nWith the sound of horns echoed across the field,

nAnd my blade flashing with blood,

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nThe path before me shall be opened and clear!”

nAs the bodyguard knights began to sing their war song, the wolfriders struck their spears into their enemies’ small shields. They were a lot of screaming and sounds of metal clashing against each other, but the formation of the bodyguard knights did not change at all.

nWith the spears completely deflected, the bodyguard knights continued to sing their songs with a volume that could be heard from a mile away. These men were very organized in their teamwork. With ten of them in the front row making space for the ten in the back, the ten in the back struck with their long swords towards the enemies at the front.

nTwo of the wolfriders that were too slow to react to this. As their bodies were stabbed by the blades, a thin layer of ice came out and slowed down their movements. Things were as bad it could get for them, as even these warriors were equipped with ice magic weapons.

nWith just two seconds left, the ten bodyguard knights who charged forward did not continue with their attacks but instead guarded themselves with their defensive position. The other ten, on the other hand, stopped defending themselves and began launching their attacks with their combat qi. Within a blink of an eye, two of the wolfriders were shot in the head and died immediately.

nAfter the bodyguard Knights finished their attack, they returned to their defending position and started recharging their combat qi, and the other ten began to launch their own attack. Wave after wave, they pressed onto their enemies like an unending flood. If it weren’t for the magic equipment they were wearing, such formation would be very risky against the powerful wolfriders.

nLike knights, warriors were a very legitimate class to be in. That being said. However, they did not engage in the same kind of systematic training as the knights when it comes to practicing their combat qi. While knights fed themselves with large amounts of food since when they were young, warriors had to rely on regular food to maintain their bodies.

nThe resulting combat qi would be very different for the two classes. While warriors were very explosive in their release, they could not maintain their qi for too much time, and often had to wait for their internal energy to be recharged. Knights, on the other hand, were much more durable because of the stamina they had trained for. In terms of explosiveness, the knights were also better than the warriors on average.

nTechnically speaking, the warriors were inferior to the knights, but they were often the unit that was the most commonly used on the battlefield. Knights were much harder to train, so many of the military tactics present were designed for the warriors. The ‘tide formation’ was a classic example. Whilst using this formation, the warriors were required to put their utmost trust in their comrades. When attacking, they ought to use up all their energies without reserve. When defending, they must do all they could to block any attack for their partners.

nIf the high-ranked wolfriders were trying to attack the bodyguard knights, Abel and Marshall would keep them in check by chasing them down. Pretty soon, each one of them was able to trap two of the high-ranked wolfriders from assisting their comrades.

nTo be honest, Abel was not happy to be in this situation. The mount wolves were simply too agile for him to make any killing blow. No wonder they were so suitable in guerilla warfare.

n“I hope you grow up soon, Black Wind,” Abel prayed in his mind. If he was riding on a fully grown mount wolf right now, these wolfriders wouldn’t have been fighting him so easily as they were.

nAfter blocking a sword with his shield, Abel used his lance to pick up a wolf riders spear from the ground. He then released his gold combat qi and transferred about 7000 pounds of force from his lance into the spear. When the knight’s lance was fully charged, he threw the spear with the firepower of a small missile.

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nAnd a missile it truly was. Whilst flying through the air, the spear went through two of the wolf riders and disappeared into the horizon. As effective as this method was, Abel decided to try it again. Pretty soon, another wolfrider over the distance had a hole punched through its neck.

nThe two high-ranked wolfriders facing against Abel looked at each other for a bit. Suddenly, they howled towards the sky and called for their underlings. Instead of attacking Abel himself, all the forces were now diverted into the horse he was riding on.

nSuch a way of attacking was quite rare to see. Whether it was the humans or the orcs, mounts were a very cherished resource even on the battlefield. If a wolfrider’s mount wolf did not launch an attack, most human knights wouldn’t bother to attack it directly.

n“Mounts were not to be attacked.” This was an unspoken rule that was established many centuries ago. Abel knew about it, which made him even angrier about what these wolfriders were doing.

nAbel turned his head and looked for the bodyguard knights. After checking for the distance between him and them, he swung his lance around and forced the wolfriders to back away from him. As no one dared to make a move on him, he took the time to jump down from his war horse and patted it on the back.

nAbel was telling his horse to leave. The horse understood this, then neighed as it ran outside the battlefield. Obviously, the wolfriders were free to do whatever they wanted with it, but they didn’t bother to attack a vacant war horse with nobody riding on top of it.

nAbel had a grim look on his face as he resumed his fight these wolfriders. After blocking several spears that were struck at him, he threw away his shield and picked up one of them from the ground. One of the spears managed to land a hit on him, but he didn’t really care about it. With a swing of his arm, he shot one of the wolfriders down in its eyes. After that, he picked another lance and repeated the same process.

nThat’s right. Abel didn’t care to defend himself. The armor he was wearing has made him completely immune to these wolfriders.

nAnother lance was thrown, and with that, another wolfrider was taken down. Since there wasn’t any weapon that he could find near him, Abel picked up some rocks and threw it towards his enemies. With arms as strong as his, the power that was released was the same as that of a mini catapult. He was very accurate, too. Every piece that he threw managed to take down another wolfrider to the ground.

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