As they watched the contest between strength and weight that ended in an instant, the captives who were laying on the sand dunes simply forgot to breathe.
"Oh my G.o.d..."
Quick Rope let out a shuddering breath. He looked towards the heavy calvaries that were charging forward because they wanted to join the pursuit. "These are heavy cavaliers? Their strength is over the top! Those are orcs! Eight or nine feet tall orcs!
"Did you just mention their steeds weigh eight hundred pounds?"
Louisa withdrew her head back and said quietly to Old Hammer, "So I"m guessing that to heavy cavaliers, you"ll have to add the weight of their armor as well to figure out their real weight?"
"That"s why we need to look for a place to protect and hide ourselves." Dean watched as the heavy cavaliers trampled over the merchant"s camp. His face was unpleasant. "The Northlanders" heavy cavaliers are scarier than this. I saw it when I was young. With that kind of formation, when they are united and are charging forward, everything seems to be made by paper. They will be easily crumpled and crushed."
Thales" pursed his lips and did not talk.
For the first time, he understood why the Star Killer bound him and Saroma to horses ruthlessly to let them get used to the situation on the battlefield.
The captives sighed together and turned to what remained of the battlefield. While they were fleeing, Shattered Stone Tribe was outflanked by the Stardust Unit, which suddenly joined their ranks.
Compared to the Kroma family"s ambush launched by the heavy cavaliers, which did not cause even a splash due to how quickly it happened, there was only a tiny group of warriors left to be taken care of for the Stardust Unit.
There was no doubt that the warriors of Shattered Stone Tribe were heroic and fearless. Every time the human cavaliers broke through another layer of their defence, the next batch of fighters would emerge from what remained of them on their own under command. They would stay in place resolutely to form a new line of defence, slowing down the Stardust Unit"s ceaseless pursuit with fruitless battles and certain death, so that they could win some time for the other orcs to continue fleeing.
And on the other side, each of the cavaliers from the Stardust Unit acted like the ferryman from h.e.l.l"s River. They ambushed the orcs from both sides with their blades and pikes flying all over the place. Wherever they were, that place would be filled with the sorrowful cries and furious roars of the orcs, as well as blood and pain.
They were not without any casualties. One or two unlucky cavaliers were shot down in battle. The ones who were fortunate returned to their horses or rode their comrade"s horses. Whereas the unfortunate ones… But that was incomparable and not worth mentioning compared to the casualties the orcs suffered, the disadvantages they faced, and how much they were pushed into a defensive position.
In the face of agile, sharp, fast and nimble cavaliers, the explosive power and strength the desert orcs were proud of, and even the endurance and rage that would appear within them when they were severely wounded, lost all their uses. The tribal warriors who were once undefeated now looked clumsy, powerless, and completely helpless.
The knights on the horse often spurred their horses forward before suddenly changing their directions to enter the orcs" formation from the sides or their backs. With speed and momentum, they would launch their ambush with either pierces or slashes. Then, regardless of the results of the battle, they would lift their reins and speed away, barely avoiding the infamously dangerous and powerful counter attacks while the orcs were heavily wounded. Before the tall and huge orcs charged forward together and surrounded them, they would already be far away.
If they came face to face against a group of orcs who formed a huge formation, the human cavaliers would cooperate with each other in numbers of two or three. One will charge forward to lure the enemy, one will sneak around the orc and ambush it, even throw his pike or shoot with his crossbow on the horse. They will then both retreat to a safe distance, and then later return to make another ambush.
As for those difficult opponents who were prepared for them since they saw them charging forward a long time go, the cavaliers would rather avoid a frontal a.s.sault. They would search for other opportunities and not risk fighting. Some even turned around and continued charging once they made a whistle after charging halfway. The orcs who were ready to fight them could only scream indignantly but helplessly. Then, they would have to face either fatal or non-fatal attacks from behind or their sides.
However, many orcs were ambushed and wounded by these sly, despicable, practically shameless attacks. They can only let out enraged and incredibly indignant roars while those fatal wounds of theirs continued bleeding, and they could only watch their swift opponents leave into the distance.
They vainly waved their weapons in their madness brought by their severe injuries, channeling their frustrations into their frightening endurance and explosive power before finally welcoming their tragic fate—to die drained of strength.
The number of orcs fleeing continued dwindling.
Kandarll"s roar was getting hoa.r.s.er.
Just like the fate of its subordinates.
Thales sighed deeply.
"So is this how the stories in the bardic poems and the history books made? Especially the ones about the legendary battle during the Holiness Exorcism Campaign three thousand years ago, about the two thousand human cavaliers who destroyed twenty thousand infantry orcs?"
At this moment, a discordant voice rose on the chaotic and fierce battlefield.
"Motherf*cuker!"
The knight who spoke was a commander of the Stardust Unit. He saw the Kroma Family"s unstoppable charge from a distance.
The knight broke away from the brigade. Then snapped his reins while he shouted crudely.
"That rich boy is really... hurry up, b*tches! This is our credit, don"t let them take it from us!"
Once he said those words, a fierce sound shot past his head!
A long arrow fell at a spot not far away from him.
It was only then that the knight reacted. While in a state of shock, he turned to the direction where the long arrow came from. A white-lipped orc pulled out another arrow and coldly nocked it on its huge black bow while it was fleeing among the other orcs.
The observant Thales immediately recognized it. It was one of Kandarll"s three Holy Guards: the orc Yaku who killed mercenary Palka with one shot.
"Motherf*cker!"
The man who just spoke snapped his reins and galloped towards Yaku while cursing loudly, "It"s you again, you lipstick-wearing, transvest.i.te mixed breed…
"Has your mother never taught you to not shoot while moving during the night because your vision will s*ck at that time..."
Yaku responded with another arrow!
*Swoos.h.!.+*
The speaker was shocked.
The long arrow was so heavy that it pa.s.sed by the ear of the speaker and shot another knight"s steed.
As the horse neighed in pain, the poor knight fell to the ground and was surrounded by several orcs.
When the human who spoke saw his subordinate"s sacrifice, he went into a fit of rage and slapped his thighs. "I"m so p.i.s.sed!
"Snake Shooter! Spirit Blade!"
He yelled and pointed at Yaku, "Get rid of that orc with the lipstick!"
As soon as he spoke, a Constellatiate knight answered to the call and came forward. He immediately raised a longbow, nocked a long arrow tied to a rope on the bow, and shot at Yaku!
The long arrow flew halfway, but before it reached Yaku, it fell weakly and sank into the shoulder of another orc.
The orc screamed and held the long arrow.
The archer who shot the arrow whistled, pulled the long rope, and galloped towards the other side, seemingly intending to drag the orc down!
The orc roared angrily. It grabbed the long rope and pulled it in the opposite direction, trying to drag the knight down from his mount.
The long rope was… drawn to become straighter and tighter.
Thales was shocked. He, who had seen an orc using its immense strength to capsize a heavy cavalier, could not help but want to give a warning to tell the knight not to engage with the orc in a contest of strength!
However, just as the long rope was about to drawn taut and the knight was about to be dragged down from his horse, the latter let go sneakily.
The orc who pulled the other end of the long rope was about to exert force in its arms, but it suddenly lost its balance and staggered back.
"Haha, dumba.s.s!" The archer knight laughed out loud.
Another knight whizzed past the fallen orc, and his blade shone in a strange way. Before Thales could see anything clearly, the orc on the ground let out a loud cry, and blood spurted from its neck.
"Stop fooling around, Snake Shooter!"
The knight with the strangely flas.h.i.+ng blade was a woman with an angry voice. "The boss gave us orders, so do what you"re told!"
When she spoke, she stopped her horse, and three orcs went up to surround her!
"Spirit Blade! Be careful!" The knight who was cursing loudly in the beginning quickly gave her a warning.
But while he was observing the battle, Thales was shocked. The rope that had been shot out seemed to have a life of its own, because it suddenly bounced up from the ground!
It was like a giant python. It instantly wrapped itself around an orc closest to the female knight, then strangled it tightly.
The orc dropped its weapon and struggled to tug the rope on its neck, but the rope tightened on its own until it reached a point where the orc could not touch it.
But the rope was not done. The other parts of the rope that were not around the orc"s neck bounced up in that straight, snake-like manner again, then wrapped itself around the neck of the other two orcs!
"Don"t worry, boss!"
The archer named Snake Shooter, pulled one end of the long rope, gave a smile while giving a thumbs up at the knight who spoke. "Everything is under control!"
The next moment, a sword flashed.
Thales did not manage to see how the strike was delivered, but he saw blood gus.h.i.+ng out in all directions!
The three poor orcs avoided the fate of being strangled to death, but they had their necks cut open.
"Enough, Snake Shooter!" The female knight named Spirit Blade flung off the blood on her blade, then lifted her weapon towards Snake Shooter in a displeased fas.h.i.+on, who was still tugging at the rope in a dumbfounded manner. She then said, "We"re supposed to kill the one with the lipstick!"
"You ain"t supposed to be acting cool, idjit!"
Snake Shooter screamed in a weird fas.h.i.+on, "You don"t understand, this is my way of fighting..."
Thales looked at the male and female knights in surprise. His gaze s.h.i.+fted back and forth from the snake-like ropes to the strange blade tip.
"What kind of power… is that?"
The captives seemed to be no less surprised or shocked than Thales. They looked at each other. Only Old Hammer"s expression turned stranger with each pa.s.sing second.
"Shut up!"
The knight who first yelled seemed to be very annoyed. "Those young masters are going to take our credit, do your jobs properly, you mother*ckers! What the f*ck!"
And then, due to a moment of carelessness, he left the charging group, and was dragged down to the ground by an orc filled with despair and rage!
"Boss!" Snake Shooter and Spirit Blade exclaimed in surprise.
Thales recognized the orc.
The orc had blue paint on its face, and in its hands it held a spiked mace.
It was one of the three Holy Guards.
The orc, Duraman.
It was Thales" freuca.
The blue-faced orc roared and raised the spiked mace in its hand to aim at the "boss" who was pinned under his horse.
Thales sighed.
At this moment, a fourth knight charged forth. He lifted his hand from the distance!
In the blink of an eye, the gravel on the ground around Duraman exploded and flew into the air to pounce on Duraman"s face!
*Whoos.h.!.+*
While sand and stone flew in the air, Duraman put down its spiked mace, rubbed its eyes, and retreated in pain.
Thales looked at the scene before him in amazement. The flying sand seemed to be controlled by someone. They blocked Duraman"s sight, preventing it from killing the cavaliers""boss".
But more orcs saw Duraman"s condition. They avoided the orcs charging at them, then approached the warchief"s Holy Guard.
The knight who made the sand fly rushed to the rescue and shouted,
"Weird Flame! Stop them!"
Further into the distance, a fifth knight named Weird Flame came galloping forth. He bent down and pulled out a few round cans from his saddle.
"Coming!"
As his mount charged forth, he threw the round cans in his hand towards the incoming orcs.
The round cans burst and spilled out a black liquid that poured over the orcs" faces and heads.
The knight named Weird Flame snapped his fingers.
*Boom!*
Thales was astonished again!
Flames.
Endless flames erupted from the orcs who were smeared with the black liquid!
They screamed and rolled on the ground as they were burnt.
Under the efforts of several knights, the "boss" finally pulled himself out from under his dead horse while cursing up a storm.
But on the other side, Duraman finished rubbing its eyes. It roared and charged at him!
The other knights rushed towards their "boss", but it was too late.
*Bang!*
The spiked mace came swinging down and hit the s.h.i.+eld the "boss" pulled out!
"Boss" snorted.
Thales, who witnessed Duraman"s attack before, felt his heart tense.
"This is bad.
"Duraman"s strength…"
And just as he expected, the blue-faced orc let out a powerful roar and applied more force on its spiked mace!
Boss" face was twisted in pain, as if he could no longer withstand the orc"s great strength.
"d.a.m.n… You think having power... makes you awesome or something?" He spoke falteringly, and his whole body trembled. It looked incredibly taxing.
But the next scene once again surpa.s.sed Thales"s expectations.
While "boss" trembled, he used his right arm to push against the s.h.i.+eld, then slowly extended his left arm to push off one of Duraman"s arms!
"Hurar—" Before Duraman could finish cursing, it discovered to its shock that its spiked mace was being lifted up inch by inch…
"What?"
The human captives who were watching the battle were equally shocked!
"My G.o.d, is that Hercules?" Quick Rope blinked.
But what he saw was the truth. In this contest of strength between the human and orc, Duraman"s weapon was being pushed up bit by bit by the human"s physical strength.
The knight named "boss" gritted his teeth, lifted his eyes, and continued to push off the enemy"s hand with his left arm.
"Ahh!"
"Boss" roared. His arm muscles gradually tensed.
Thales focused his attention on them. He saw that the boss" left arm was a whole size thicker than his right arm.
Finally, an unimaginable strength broke out from the "boss", and he lifted the spiked mace over his head!
*Boom!*
He pushed Duraman back firmly, then fell on the ground while panting.
The orc Duraman looked at its own weapon with an unpleasant expression. Clearly, it was unable to imagine that it had actually been suppressed by a human being.
It was panting heavily. The anger and indignation in its eyes grew. With huge strides, it moved to attack again!
But the orc failed to move forward.
The sand under Duraman"s foot suddenly moved like the gentlest water, causing the orc to fall!
As the sand covered its waist, Duraman could no longer move freely, and it struggled viciously with m.u.f.fled grunts.
The next second, a rope which no one knew where it came from swam forth like a snake and wrapped itself tightly around Duraman"s hands.
Its spiked mace rolled off the ground.
"d.a.m.n! Mystifying Eyes, keep it up." The knight named Snake Shooter had a tensed expression. He had one hand his reins, and in the other he held his rope. He stared at the bound orc. "This guy is really strong!" "
The knight called Mystifying Eyes rode forth with a scrunched up face as well. He stared at the sand on the ground, and seemed to be in pain. "This is already my full strength... Snake Shooter, you better don"t be lazy!"
But they still managed to bind Duraman, who wanted to break free.
Then once "boss" had captured his breath, he climbed up from the ground.
He walked over to the bound Duraman and looked at the other"s hateful and angry eyes while he repeated disdainfully.
"You think having power makes you awesome or something?"
"Boss, hurry up!" In the distance, the knight named Weird Flame rushed back and forth while throwing those round cans at the orcs who tried to approach them, causing fire to burst on his enemies. He held them back together with Spirit Blade.
"I"m running out of oil!"
The boss spat on the ground, clenched his left fist, then pulled his arm back to an angle where he could throw a punch.
The muscles on his left arm rippled again.
Duraman let out a roar filled with anger and grief.
"But, you"re right." Boss chuckled. "Having power... is awesome."
The next second, boss instantly threw his punch, and his strength was so great that he even caused the air to ripple.
*Bang*
A loud crack.
He threw a standard uppercut.
Then Thales saw the terrifying orc Duraman"s chin being thrown towards the sky.
The blue-faced orc stopped moving.
The captives looked at these strange warriors fight with dumbfounded expressions while they were under the sand dune.
Dean smiled and patted Thales" shoulders of Thales, then pointed at the dead Duraman, "Unfortunately, secca who just come of age, your dear freuca… was killed by humans."
Thales responded with a polite smile.
"Yes."
The prince spread his hands, as if he could do nothing about the situation. "It is a pity that I can"t kill it myself."
"My G.o.d." Old Hammer did not seem to want to join joking around with them. He stared at the strange cavaliers with their strange nicknames. "Those people are not just part of the Stardust Unit."
"So who are they?" Quick Rope asked out of curiosity.
"Freaks," the Old Hammer said coldly, "Or you could call them the "freak squad". In Blade Fangs Camp, this is what we call them, it"s even what all the armies in the Western Frontlines call them."
All the people responded in surprise.
"Freaks? Freak squad..."
Thales registered this noun in his head, and his expression changed. "Are you saying…?"
"Yes, that is a group of freaks." The Constellation veteran turned around. There was a conflicted expression on his face. "They were personally recruited and specially pardoned by Baron Williams while he had to face accusations and rebukes. Since its incubation, the team has stirred up countless trouble. Most of them are sc.u.ms, criminals, madmen, prost.i.tutes...
"They are the Psionics Battle Squad."