The night in the old district of Glasslovar always seemed somewhat gloomy, especially now, when an alley often only had a few inhabited households.
It wasn't noticeable during the day, but at night when the lights came on, the contrast was particularly obvious.
Richie was on his way home. The brace on his right hand had already been removed. Of course, it definitely hadn't healed that fast, but the cracks on his arm bone had mostly mended. Now, he just needed to wait for these bones to grow stronger.
The more troublesome part was actually the torn tendons.
Now, his hand could move, but he couldn't exert too much force.
Of course, for a Knight, "force" was a relative concept. He wouldn't have any problem picking up something weighing one or two hundred kilograms with his right hand now.
As he was about to reach the alley in front of his home, Richie turned sideways and entered the adjacent alley.
These two alleys were right next to each other, and only two households in this alley had their lights on.
As soon as he entered this alley, Richie felt shadowy figures moving about inside.
Leaning against the corner of the alley were two people who looked unpleasant at first glance. One was about thirty years old, sporting a small mustache and a peaked cap, wearing a reserve uniform. The other looked sixteen or seventeen, and Richie seemed to have some impression of this guy.
Those who could leave an impression on him were either schoolmates or hooligans he had fought with. Judging from this person's appearance, the latter was more likely.
These two people also noticed Richie. The guy who was around thirty didn't even look at Richie properly, simply waving his hand arrogantly and cursing, "Kid, get lost."
"I heard there are a group of chicks living here," Richie casually probed. To be honest, he couldn't imagine why these two would stand guard here other than for this reason.
"Are you planning to make a move on those chicks too?" The guy opposite chuckled.
Richie's body flashed and he arrived right in front of this person. Since he already knew the reason, he didn't need to waste any more words.
When he saw Richie, the sixteen or seventeen-year-old hooligan was already preparing to run. Although he couldn't see Richie's face clearly, his physique was quite recognizable, and the uniform Richie wore couldn't be seen just anywhere.
Unfortunately, he was still a step too slow. Richie's foot had already kicked out.
In the silent night, two sounds of breaking bones instantly rang out, followed by hoarse, miserable screams. However, the screams stopped abruptly not long after, leaving only whimpering cries.
Of course, Richie didn't let the thirty-something-year-old guy go either. Right from the start, he swept out and broke this guy's legs.
The two illuminated windows in the alley opened simultaneously.
Isabella's head popped out from one of the windows, her face full of panic.
Richie could also faintly hear the rustling sound of heavy furniture rubbing against the floorboards.
"Sisters, no need to panic anymore. Our Knight has returned."
Isabella recognized Richie standing at the entrance of the alley at a glance. Nothing could make her happier than this.
Richie wasn't in a hurry to go up. He grabbed the hair of the sixteen or seventeen-year-old hooligan and dragged him to the corner of the wall.
Holding the kid's mouth and forcefully pushing it, he popped the dislocated jaw back into place. Richie asked coldly, "Now, I ask and you answer. If you answer incorrectly, or refuse to answer..."
He gently pinched the top joint of this guy's pinky finger.
A shrill scream instantly echoed through the alley again.
"Ah... woo... woo... I'll speak, I won't hide anything."
Hearing this kid's miserable begging, Richie felt somewhat soft-hearted. But right at this moment, the sound of footsteps rang out, and the girls he had brought back all ran over.
They all had some bruises on their bodies to varying degrees, and their clothes had clearly been torn.
"What's going on here?"
Richie's newly softened heart instantly became as hard as rock again.
The girls' weeping answered him.
"Woo... woo... you finally came. We almost... almost..."
"We've been bullied so miserably by these hooligans these past few days. If a patrol hadn't passed by that day, we probably would have all been raped by these bad guys."
"There aren't just two of them, there are several more, and one of them is a military officer."
The girls spoke over each other, pouring out the events of the past few days to Richie.
Only then did Richie realize that when he cleaned up the hooligans in the city back then, he hadn't done it thoroughly. Quite a few guys had been drafted into the army and thus escaped a disaster.
Turning his head, he grabbed the small hooligan's hair beside him and smashed it fiercely against the wall a few times before asking, "Tell me, how could people staying in the army run around everywhere?"
With a crying tone, this kid pointed at the howling reserve soldier in the corner and said, "I don't know, I'm just an errand boy delivering messages. They just told me to keep an eye on this place."
Richie turned and walked towards the other thirty-something-year-old guy.
This person was slightly older and naturally had tougher bones; he actually glared at Richie.
Richie didn't like this kind of gaze. The guy who had held a syringe and injected medicine into his body back then also had a similar pair of eyes.
Similarly grabbing that person's hair, Richie dragged him to the door of an empty house. He grabbed the person's hand, pried one of his fingers apart, and jammed it into the gap of the door hinge.
The person looked at his finger in extreme horror. This was the method children used to crack walnuts and other hard nuts. As long as the door closed, his finger would be crushed to pieces just like a walnut.
He tried desperately to pull his finger back, but unfortunately, Richie's hand was as immovable as cast iron.
Richie also pushed this person's jaw back into place. To his surprise, this guy actually started screaming loudly, "Murder! Murder! Help... ah... ah..."
The shouting turned into whimpering cries. For such an ignorant guy, Richie had no sympathy at all. He took the crushed finger out of the door hinge and then jammed another one in.
"Ah... don't... don't... spare me... I'll tell you everything... ah... ah."
Richie didn't intend to listen to what this guy had to say. He took out the second crushed finger and jammed the third one in.
"Alright, you can speak now. I hope you can continue lying, so I can play with crushing your fingers one by one. I like this game." Richie said plainly.
The person wasn't an idiot and naturally knew how to choose. So, he confessed everything in full detail.
The situation was actually very simple. Hooligans dared to fight and kill more than ordinary people. If they also had a group of subordinates in the same military camp, the leading guy could easily stand out.
The military officer the girls mentioned earlier was exactly this kind of small hooligan boss. He was relatively well-behaved when he first entered the reserve legion. But after becoming an officer and seeing that the former hooligan bosses in the city had all disappeared, this guy's self-confidence swelled, and he started having crooked thoughts again.
However, that guy was also considered cautious. He didn't dare to make any big moves, only letting his subordinates do some sneaky deeds, and apart from that, just playing with women.
Dealing with trash like this was naturally effortless for Richie. He ran to the main street and called over a squad of military police, casually tossing the two guys to them.
The interrogation and investigation only took an hour. Because the situation was tense now, all procedures were simplified. Another part of the reason was because Richie, an Apprentice Knight, was present.
Those military police weren't Richie's parents; they immediately understood his identity just by glancing at his uniform.
One side was a Knight, the other was the reserves. There was no need to say whose words carried more weight.
Half an hour later, that reserve officer who had once been a small hooligan boss was also arrested, along with several accomplices.
Once the people were caught, the questioning of the girls ended. Because when they made the arrests, they found many illicit items in the military camp's storage room, as well as a young married woman who had been tied up, brutally violated, and was on the verge of death.
Caught red-handed with conclusive evidence, these people no longer had any room for argument. They just had to wait for the military court to make a ruling, and then be sent to the gallows.
...
Coming out of the military police department, Richie escorted the girls back. Just as they reached the entrance of the alley, Ginny asked softly, "Do you have a way to get some food? We don't have enough to eat."
"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Richie complained slightly.
Getting food wasn't that easy now. Just now at the military police department, he could have gone to their cooking squad to ask for some bread or something.
"I'll go try my luck at the black market, hopefully its doors are still open." Richie said helplessly.
"I'll go with you." Ginny hugged Richie's arm and said while hopping.
"I..." Isabella was just about to speak.
Ginny immediately pushed her. "You guys go back first. We don't need this many people to go to the black market."
The black market was right in the old district, not too far from here. But to Richie's disappointment, by the time they got there, the large black doors were already closed.
"I was right, it's already closed." Richie sighed.
However, Ginny didn't seem disappointed at all. Her hands hooked around his neck, hanging her entire body on him.
"I lied just now, will you punish me for it?" Ginny laughed, her laughter so sickeningly sweet.
Richie wasn't an idiot; he naturally understood Ginny's meaning. This little vixen used to frequently seduce boys back in school, but although she liked seducing others, she never actually went all the way.
Richie had heard Isabella mention that Ginny was definitely a virgin.
However, he quickly discovered that this time, Ginny wasn't playing a game of seducing boys; she seemed to intend to do it for real. Richie heard her breathing become increasingly heavy as her body gradually climbed up, bringing her lips close.
Richie also brought his lips close. He was very good at kissing; recently, he had spent entire nights kissing in the camp.
He reached out to hug Ginny's buttocks, and suddenly he froze. The feeling on his hand told him that Ginny wasn't wearing pants. This little vixen had taken off her pants at some unknown time.
"Take me, I'm yours, and you are mine." Ginny muttered vaguely like sleep-talking.
"Didn't you say I'm your Knight? Embezzling what one is entrusted to guard is a Knight's greatest taboo," Richie joked.
"You never agreed to be my Knight. Now I don't need you to be my Knight, I want you to ride me."
Since the words had been spoken so plainly, if Richie refused again, he really wouldn't be a man. And as it happened, he was a very manly man.
Without even undoing his belt, Richie directly undid the buttons on the front of his pants, and his member sprang out from inside.
Ginny let go of Richie's neck, and her hand slid directly onto Richie's massive organ. Stroking from the base all the way to the glans, she giggled softly and said in that sickeningly sweet voice, "Your thing is so thick and long. If you insert it all from below, it will probably reach my diaphragm. I'll definitely be thrust to death by you."
It was Richie's first time encountering a vixen like this. This little vixen was truly enchantingly deadly.
"If you're afraid of being thrust to death by me, then don't seduce me." Richie scolded lightly.
He hugged Ginny's buttocks with his left hand, while his right hand started misbehaving, fondling Ginny's nether region.
To his slight surprise, Ginny's nether region actually didn't have a single hair. The smooth feeling was incredibly comfortable, and her mons pubis was relatively small.
Using his index and middle fingers, Richie gently parted Ginny's petals. Those two petals were quite thin, soft and tender. Richie swept his index finger back and forth between Ginny's little hole, clitoris, and anus. This move was called "Gently Plucking the Strings of Passion" and was the most suitable technique among all methods for foreplay.
Sure enough, Ginny was made to itch both inside and out by him. She couldn't help but chuckle softly, her body subconsciously shrinking downward.
This move, "Gently Plucking the Strings of Passion," wasn't just used for foreplay. Its greatest use was to find the sensitive spots on a woman's body. After sweeping only a few times, Richie discovered that every time his finger brushed past Ginny's chrysanthemum bud, she would tremble gently.
Sticking his fingers into her petals, Ginny's petals were already covered in sticky nectar. Richie moistened his middle finger, then moved it to Ginny's chrysanthemum bud.
"Ah..." Ginny let out a moan. The moan was crisp and soft. Her body leaned backward, and her buttocks continuously shrank back, seemingly wanting to squeeze out the finger probing deep into her anus.
Such an intense reaction was already within Richie's expectations. Now, of course, he wouldn't let go of the prey in his hands.
Not only did he not pull his finger out, he also aimed his member at Ginny's flower path.
His left hand, which had originally been supporting Ginny's tender and petite buttocks, sank down slightly, and the massive glans entered that narrow flower path all at once.
"Ah!" Ginny cried out in surprise. Although she was mentally prepared, when she was truly about to lose her virginity, she still couldn't help but become nervous.
Her body was still sliding down, and Richie's penis instantly penetrated deep into her body.
Because the speed was too fast, and because the panic of falling overshadowed the pain of losing her virginity, Ginny didn't feel the agony of her hymen tearing at all. Instead, she was thrust all the way to the bottom by Richie's long, large, and hard penis, making her quite uncomfortable.
However, Ginny soon realized that this wasn't uncomfortable at all; the true hardship was yet to come.
Because Richie had already let go of his left hand, Ginny's entire body hung on that long penis and the much smaller middle finger. That feeling of deep penetration almost drove her crazy. But when Richie started moving, she felt even more like she was going mad.
Richie actually used the finger inserted in her anus to exert force, lifting her entire person up. That sensation was definitely something she had never imagined before.
After Richie's long penis almost completely slipped out of Ginny's flower path, he then let Ginny down again.
Pulling all the way out and then thrusting deep to the bottom—this was the ultimate move he learned from Lina, and also the best way to make a woman rapidly break down. But now he had added an extra move, one he invented himself... thrusting deep to the bottom and then drilling a bit.
No matter what kind of woman it was, they couldn't withstand this move. Richie had already verified this point on Merlin, Lina, Rosa, Randy, and the three sisters. Even the ever-invincible juice-extractor Lina threw away her armor and fled before this move.
"Oh... oh... you're so strong... you're not a Knight, you're a donkey." Ginny had already started talking nonsense.
Being called a donkey didn't anger Richie in the slightest. He had seen a donkey's thing; it was truly huge. Although his wasn't small either, he still felt a bit of inadequacy in comparison.
So Ginny's words were undoubtedly a compliment.
Richie's response to this compliment was to thrust with even stronger force, while simultaneously speeding up considerably.
Ginny became increasingly frantic. At first, she could still talk nonsense, but gradually, all that was left were "Mmm... mmm... ah... ah..." sounds.
This kind of thrusting only lasted for ten minutes before Ginny's body suddenly stiffened. Her head raised high, her hair messy, swaying powerlessly, as her whole person impaled on Richie's penis like a wooden stake.
This was her first climax in her life, but for her who had just lost her virginity, this first climax seemed a bit too intense.
This little vixen truly lived up to her name; her first climax actually lasted for a whole minute. She could already rival Lina and Merlin.
However, after the climax, the difference in stamina between an ordinary person and a Knight became very obvious. Lina and Merlin could stand up immediately, Rosa and the three sisters would at most feel a bit dizzy and be fine after resting for half a minute. But Ginny hung on his body like she had no bones.
Perhaps because he now had many women around him, Richie no longer took pleasure in conquering women. He gently hugged Ginny and slowly walked forward.
Of course, while walking, his member remained inserted in Ginny's vagina. There was no need to deliberately thrust; as he walked, his member would naturally slide back and forth inside Ginny's vagina. For an ordinary person, this feeling was already incredibly stimulating.
The distance from the black market back to the alley was neither long nor short. Along the way, Ginny climaxed one more time. As they were about to reach home, Richie had no choice but to put Ginny down.
Ginny's body was soft, her legs trembling incessantly, unable to exert any strength. Let alone standing, she couldn't even sit steadily.
Seeing this state, Richie couldn't help but feel a bit of a headache. If the other members of the Rose Society saw this, losing face was secondary; the real trouble would be the immense awkwardness when meeting them in the future.
"Help me massage it, gently, make it comfortable. Maybe I'll be able to walk on my own in a bit," Ginny leaned on Richie's shoulder and took the opportunity to make demands.
Against this little vixen, Richie was completely helpless.
He had to sit Ginny on his lap, hugging her exceptionally tenderly, while one hand gently kneaded her body.
Ginny thoroughly enjoyed this tenderness. She even closed her eyes, half-asleep, wishing the world would stop at this very moment.
Time passed unconsciously. When the nine o'clock curfew bell rang, the two of them were suddenly startled.
"Hold me for another hour, can you?" Ginny pleaded, looking as pitiful as one could be.
To such a request, Richie naturally couldn't refuse. His home was just in the next alley over; if worse came to worst, climbing over the rooftops wouldn't be a problem.
"Alright, just one hour." Richie sighed.
Different people perceive the passage of time differently. Richie felt this hour passed very slowly, but for Ginny, this hour flew by quickly.
Just past ten o'clock, Ginny helplessly waddled upstairs with a twisting gait. Although she could walk, even a blind man could see her walking posture was a bit strange.
This was definitely on purpose; Richie was sure of it. Then, he ran out of the alley as if fleeing for his life and darted into the alley where his home was located.
It was now past ten o'clock, and Richie guessed his mom should have already gone to sleep.
To his surprise, as soon as he unlocked the door with his key, he saw his mom standing at the door with a stern face.
"I want to know, what exactly did you encounter on your way to Morena? Why did you only send someone with a message after returning instead of coming home yourself, and staying in the camp for a whole week?"
A series of severe questions left Richie somewhat unable to parry. Fortunately, he had anticipated that he might be interrogated in detail by his mom before returning, so he had already thought of the answers.
What made Richie feel fortunate was that this time, his mom didn't demand he leave the camp and stop working. According to his guess, this was ninety percent because of the "salary" he was receiving now.
His mom was not only vain but also a miser. A monthly income of ten crowns was enough to make her forget many things, not to mention it gave her a lot of face in front of Aunt Ling.
"I don't care what you do outside, starting today, you must come home once every two days, at least to put my mind at ease," his mom finally commanded decisively.
Richie knew that he probably couldn't refuse.
That night, Richie didn't return to his own attic. Aunt Ling slept upstairs, vacating the large room below.
There was only one bed in the large room. Richie had already forgotten when was the last time he slept with his mom.
As soon as he lay down on the bed, his heart couldn't help but pound wildly. He looked at his mom with some anticipation and some nervousness.
To his slight disappointment yet relief, after taking off her outerwear, his mom changed into a nightgown, covering herself tightly from head to toe.
"How is Dad doing in the legion?" Richie made small talk.
"Not doing as well as you, but it's considered pretty good." Mom lifted the blanket and lay in. She suddenly sniffed with her nose. "What is that smell?"
Richie's face instantly turned bright red. Just now, he and Ginny were only focused on going crazy; after finishing, he hadn't even thought about cleaning up.
His mom lay down as if nothing had happened, seemingly forgetting the topic she had just brought up. However, if one looked closely, they would find a hint of blush on her cheeks.
Mother and son both remained completely silent.
...
Life returned to its usual rhythm, except Richie now spent most of his time in the camp. The school had suspended classes, so he didn't have to rush between two places; he only needed to return home once every two or three days.
His days passed very peacefully, but the outside world was not peaceful at all.
Just two days after his first visit home, the first attack on Morena began.
For some unknown reason, Richie's squad surprisingly wasn't assigned any tasks. Besides daily patrols, they at most did some reinforcement work.
But one day, a month later, Richie woke up from his dreams and felt the atmosphere was a bit off.
Tolling bells rang out everywhere in Glasslovar. The bells were messy and slow; they were death knells signaling someone had died. For such bells to ring throughout the entire city at this moment, it was definitely not a good thing.
Richie hastily got out of bed. He had slept with Merlin last night, but right now, there was no sign of her beside him.
He put on his clothes and ran out, seeing Lina, Rosa, and the three sisters also coming out of their respective rooms. Their faces also bore expressions full of doubt.
Richie discovered that Captain Calli and his mentor Miss Dana weren't in the camp. The simultaneous departure of the captain and two vice-captains definitely heralded a bad situation.
"I'll go outside and ask around," Lina said.
Her connections were very wide, so it was easiest for her to find out anything. Sure enough, half an hour later, she ran back with a battle report.
From Lina's exceptionally solemn expression, one could tell it was absolutely not good news.
"Bad news?" Richie asked softly. "Is it bad news from Morena?"
Rosa had already ran over, directly taking the battle report from Lina's hand and started reading it.
"I'm afraid we're going to the battlefield," Lina said indifferently.
Richie walked over next to Rosa, and the three sisters also gathered around.
The battle report was very long, totaling over ten pages. Richie pulled a few pages from the back, and upon looking at them, he couldn't help but gasp. The pages he pulled out happened to describe the current situation in Morena and the casualty report from the previous stage of the campaign.
According to the battle report, the entire perimeter of Morena had now been completely destroyed. The death toll of civilians who had retreated to Morena—those whose identities could be confirmed—was around twenty thousand. The list of unconfirmed casualties was even larger, approximately fifty thousand.
What was worse was that the first wave of attacks hadn't annihilated the enemies on the perimeter of Morena. They had already retreated into the city and were prepared for street fighting. One could imagine that once fighting broke out, the war would cause even more severe destruction within the city of Morena. For the civilians trapped there right now, it would be considered very lucky if two or three out of a hundred could survive.
Just imagining Lina wearing her Magitech Armor and unleashing a "Battle Wave" in the center of Morena made it clear why it would result in such an outcome.
Seeing this, Richie was no longer interested in the rest of the battle report. He only wanted to immediately run back and tell those girls about these things.
Unfortunately, not a single person authorized to approve his leave was present at the moment.
"What the hell are those idiots at Theater Command and the General Staff doing? How could they lose a battle like this? Two fully-staffed Knight orders actually couldn't deal with a single enemy battalion," Lina cursed from the side.
No matter what Lina said, the three sisters would oppose it. Specifically, the third sister, Aima, tapped the battle report and said, "From what I see, there wasn't really any mistake made by Command and those staff officers who drafted the plan. The plan they formulated was quite thorough, their analysis of the enemy's intentions was very accurate, and there were no major errors in their countermeasures."
The second sister, Aileen, also chimed in, "They just didn't expect the enemy's strength to actually be that high. The Knights of Honor placed in Morena weren't one, but three."
"Bullshit! How did you study your war theory class? Did you even pass?" Lina was furious. Pointing at the battle report, she said, "Can't you tell yet? The guy who drafted this plan didn't consider civilian or Knight casualties at all. Since they care so little about human lives, then simply ignoring the civilians trapped in Morena would have been a better choice; at least it would be much better than so many people dying like now. Think about it, why did the guy who drafted the plan do this?"
Richie's war theory class hadn't been studied well; what his mentor Miss Dana taught him was an abridged version. Although it wasn't enough, he could somewhat guess some of the reasons behind it.
He had long heard that commanders often didn't treat their subordinate soldiers as human beings. In their eyes, soldiers were all cannon fodder, stepping stones to harvest merits, and bargaining chips to scheme for interests.
"Just watch, the guy who drafted the plan will be out of luck sooner or later. Playing with this kind of selfishness, thinking others can't see through it." Lina snorted coldly. "If Morena hadn't been conquered, and the civilians trapped there were successfully rescued, this matter might still have been covered up. But now... hmph hmph."
Lina's laughter was incredibly cold, and it even carried a faint trace of killing intent.
Richie, standing beside her, shuddered. At this moment, Lina became even more incomprehensible to him. Her killing intent seemingly carried a flavor of having the power of life and death over others. In his feelings, Lina suddenly became like a towering mountain, one that he could only look up to.
A flurry of hurried footsteps came from outside the door, and Captain Calli, Vice-captain Merlin, and Dana walked in briskly from outside.
Richie was just planning to ask for leave, but unexpectedly, Miss Merlin walked directly up to him and said, "Go back and say goodbye to your parents. We might be going to the battlefield very soon. The higher-ups ordered all Knights stationed in Glasslovar to sortie; no one is an exception."
Hearing this, Richie decided not to ask for leave, because he didn't want anyone to worry.
Having experienced life-and-death struggles twice, the colors of a civilian on him were gradually fading. He increasingly understood how dangerous the Knight profession was, facing death at any moment. If he had to have a tearful parting with his family every time, wouldn't life always be shrouded in sorrow?
"There's no need, I believe they will understand." Richie sighed. He raised his right hand. "I'm only worried about this."
"No need to worry." Merlin smiled and said, "The captain applied for an H3 Enhancer for you. This stuff is not easy to get. If it wasn't an emergency where the higher-ups decided to put all their eggs in one basket, we wouldn't have been able to get this thing."
Richie naturally knew what an H3 Enhancer was. It wasn't something like the usual muscle activation injections. It was said that only about two hundred vials of this injection could be produced a year, and it was generally used by the best among Knights when attacking Ace Knights to increase their success rate.
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
Richie received four consecutive slaps on his head.
It was Rosa and the three sisters who hit him. He saw Rosa looking at him with a face full of envy, saying, "You're a really lucky guy. If I knew there was such a good thing, I would have gotten myself injured a bit too."
...
On the highway leading to Morena, a massive convoy moved forward slowly.
Richie was quite familiar with this road; this was his third time traveling it recently.
As they neared the temporary enemy supply point he had blown up, Richie specifically came out of the vehicle and climbed onto the roof.
Back then, he was solely focused on running away quickly and hadn't looked back here at all. Now, of course, he had to take a good look at his masterpiece.
A few minutes later, a huge crater appeared before his eyes.
There was supposed to be a hillside there, but now only that crater remained. The entire mountain had been blown away without a trace. There used to be a sparse grove of trees nearby, but now they were all gone, leaving only holes on the ground where trees had been uprooted. Only some shrubs stubbornly continued to grow.
Looking at those shrubs, Richie suddenly felt that being inconspicuous had its advantages.
Just as Richie was excitedly looking at his masterpiece, people around his age on the roofs of several vehicles behind him also climbed up.
Richie knew that the Knight order stationed in Glasslovar had people his age, but he never had the chance to interact with these peers before.
Now, at a glance, there were actually quite a few. He could see eight of them, and there were definitely more staying inside the vehicles.
He was quite interested in chatting with those peers, but unfortunately, they were marching now and couldn't walk around casually. Leaving the unit without permission during a march was a severe crime and would result in being whipped.
Not far past the huge blasted crater, the convoy dispersed. Richie's squad left the highway and stopped after advancing for only fifteen minutes.
There was already a campsite here.
Traces of lingering smoke from gunpowder could be seen all around the camp. Directly in front of here, there used to be a fortification, but now most of it was destroyed. The ground was filled with craters of all sizes, and a little further away, the wreckage of several artillery pieces could be seen.
There was also supposed to be a forest here, as many tree stumps could be seen on the ground, but who knows where those trees went.
Judging by the scale, the unit stationed here should be a company. Richie knew that he and his squad were temporary reinforcements.
Sure enough, as soon as the vehicle stopped, Captain Calli ordered Merlin to stay behind, while she and Dana walked towards the innermost barracks.
"Hey... where are you guys from?"
"It's an honor to meet you."
"Rare, how rare, a squad entirely made up of female Knights actually came as reinforcements."
"Brothers, we're blessed."
"..."
A group of scruffy guys immediately rushed out of the barracks. Their eyes were all glued to the members of the squad. In Richie's words, they were like a pack of starved wolves in heat.
"Hey... boys, who is the strongest among you?"
Lina had always handled such situations with ease. If those male Knights were a pack of starved wolves, she was a she-wolf.
Richie watched from the side, his expression growing colder. To be honest, he didn't like this side of Lina.
It could be called jealousy, or possessiveness; Richie felt as if a fire was burning in his heart.
"Now you understand, right? This woman is just like this, she's not worth your cherishing." The three sisters walked over, and Ailie pulled Richie aside.
Unlike Lina, the three of them didn't give men the time of day. If they hadn't lost a bet to Lina and given their virginities to Richie, they hadn't planned on getting married originally.
Merlin also seemed to notice Richie's emotional change. She quietly walked over to Lina and whispered, "You! Restrain yourself a bit."
"What's wrong? Haven't I always been like this?" Lina didn't care and still wanted to banter with those Knights.
"There's someone who cares about you very much, and you acting like this somewhat breaks his heart." Merlin said with a straight face, "No one can say for sure who will make it back this time, so why do you have to..."
"Alright, alright." Lina waved her hand awkwardly, stopping Merlin from continuing. Saying such things before a battle was not only discouraging but also somewhat unlucky.
There really wasn't much work to do. The barracks were ready-made, and the beds were folding camp beds, only two feet wide, made simply of a few pieces of wood and thick canvas. Besides that, there was nothing else.
*Smack*, Merlin slapped a schedule onto the wall by the barracks door.
"This is the duty roster. Robin is in charge of the first half of the night, Lina, you take the second half. Tomorrow it's Rosa and Ailie's turn, and the day after is Aima and Aileen."
"What about me?" Richie asked.
"Same as last time, your duty is still to protect Adjutant Randy," Merlin said.
...
A rapid tolling of bells pierced the silence of the camp.
The people inside the barracks dashed out like startled rabbits, quick as lightning.
Richie was also very fast, but the others were clearly faster. By the time he ran to the vehicle, Lina and the three sisters had already put on their Magitech Armors and gotten off.
Richie hurriedly went to put on his own Magitech Armor. His armor was placed at the very back of the vehicle. Its appearance wasn't very striking; its main characteristic was being relatively slender. Who knows how Randy designed it, but Richie only felt like he was walking on stilts when he put this thing on.
The armor plates of this Magitech Armor were arranged in overlapping rings, making him look a bit like a lizard or a snake. The round shields installed on the elbows were noticeably much lighter than the previous two. The other two mirror shields weren't installed on the palms, but on the backs of his hands. However, with a light flick, they could be switched to the front, and with another flick, they would return to their original position. The edges of the mirror shields were made exceptionally sharp and could be used as hand axes.
Getting off the vehicle, Richie lifted his legs and took a few strides to test it out. It was decent, much better than his previous armor modified from a training suit.
This Magitech Armor gave him a feeling of being connected by flesh and blood. He could even feel the gentle breeze blowing outside through the thick armor plates, and he could feel a few small pebbles in the sandy ground beneath his feet.
Richie slightly exerted force with both hands, and the two mirror shields on the outside instantly shrouded in a layer of yellow light.
This layer of Aura was much stronger than when he wasn't wearing the Magitech Armor.
He tried his left hand again, pushing outward and then pulling inward. The repulsive force when pushing and the suction force when pulling also became exceptionally obvious.
Just then, Captain Calli's voice rang in his ears.
"Listen up, everyone. The enemy knows we've come as reinforcements, so they want to catch us off guard before we settle down. The sentries ahead have temporarily blocked the enemy, but they definitely won't last long, so they're waiting for us to reinforce them."
After saying this, she began adjusting the formation: "Dana, you act as the vanguard. Merlin, you take the right flank. Rosa, you take the left flank. Richie, you coordinate with Rosa as the second line of defense on the left flank. Ailie, Aileen, Aima, the three of you are responsible for support. Lina, you are the assault attacker. Robin and I will cover the attacks. Nora is responsible for guerilla strikes."
Only then did Richie realize that besides him, everyone else was already standing in their respective positions. Obviously, everyone was familiar with this combat style.
Seeing Richie hurriedly run behind Rosa, Captain Calli waved her arm.
"Sortie!"
With a command, their squad set out.
The battlefield was only three kilometers away from the camp. This was a gentle slope. Their side stood on the hillside, enjoying somewhat of a geographical advantage.
The two sides hadn't engaged yet. The enemies standing at the bottom of the slope were also organizing their formation. Their numbers were thirty-two people.
Richie glanced at his own side and felt a bit relieved. Their side had the numerical advantage. His squad alone had eleven people, the front line blocking the enemy had eight or nine people, and there were two other reinforcing units nearby. Altogether, there were over fifty people, nearly double the opponent's number.
Right at this moment, a sound of heavy footsteps rang out; the other side also received reinforcements.
It was an eight-person squad that arrived.
Richie's pupils shrank fiercely. He recognized the captain of that squad, or rather, he recognized the long blade held in that captain's hand. Although this person had changed into a different set of Magitech Armor and looked no different from an ordinary Knight, the blade in his hand hadn't been replaced.
Richie clearly remembered that it was this blade, along with the golden double-ended Knight lance in the hands of the red Knight, that had mercilessly killed seven Knights of the Republic.
What made Richie's heart palpitate with fear was that this squad actually took their position on the far left, and the left side of the enemy happened to face the very squad he was in.
"Watch out for the guy holding the long blade. He is one of the two extremely powerful Knights I encountered on my way back. Pay attention to his blade flashes," Richie hurriedly warned the other members of the squad.
"Are you sure?" Miss Calli's inquiring voice immediately came to his ears.
"Absolutely sure. I recognize that blade. There's a tiny ornament on the hilt of that blade; I definitely wouldn't mistake it," Richie said without hesitation.
Getting an affirmative answer, Calli understood the enemy's intention after a brief thought.
The enemy obviously saw that they were newly arrived reinforcements, so they placed their strongest forces on this side.
If it weren't for Richie, the opponent might have succeeded.
"Lina, once the battle starts, you're responsible for holding that guy off. Merlin, assist from the side. Nora, you're responsible for sneak attacks. Try to kill him first; even if you can't kill him, damage him as much as possible and force him off the battlefield."
"Understood." Lina, Merlin, and Nora answered simultaneously.
As a golden command saber fell, the opposing Knights charged up. That gentle slope didn't slow them down in the slightest.
"Prepare to attack," Captain Calli shouted loudly.
At the very front of their squad was Dana. Her legs bent slightly, her feet staggered front to back, the heavy Knight lance in her hands pointing straight at the enemy Knights charging at the front.
When the two sides were only twenty meters apart, suddenly, blinding lightning arcs and waterfall-like curtains of light flared up simultaneously.
Both sides unleashed their strongest attack Arts at the same time. Piercing Aura clashed together, either passing through each other or detonating in mid-air.
The deafening explosions and the resulting shockwaves made Richie feel slightly unsteady on his feet.
This was team combat between Knights.
Richie gasped. This couldn't be compared at all to the Knight duels he was familiar with.
Team combat was fundamentally a collision of attack Arts against attack Arts.
Before the dust had settled, the enemy Knight holding the long blade charged through, but from this side, an orange-red figure also greeted him.
That deadly long blade instantly slashed thirty or forty times, the crisscrossing flashes of the blade weaving into a net of blades. However, the Knight sword in Lina's hand was equally extraordinary; with just one strike, the brilliance of her sword flash instantly eclipsed the opposing blade net.
The collision of the blade flashes and sword flashes immediately kicked up dust plumes dozens of meters high, instantly ripping open dozens of two-to-three-meter-deep fissures in the ground.
Only hearing a series of "crack-crack" sounds, five or six gashes appeared on Hurricane Dancer's arms, the shortest one being a foot long.
Fortunately, Merlin rushed over in time. She circled her arms, and the twin swords in her hands intercepted all the remaining blade flashes.
With Merlin intercepting the blade flashes, Lina advanced again immediately. The long Knight sword in her hand drew arcs, trapping the Ace Knight holding the long blade inside.
Richie watched as the two women forced the opposing Ace Knight to a disadvantage. If he hadn't been certain that the guy holding the long blade was the slaughterer he had encountered back then, he might have thought the enemy lacked strength.
Now he finally understood; he had still underestimated this squad.
This seemingly inconspicuous squad actually possessed the strength to contend against an Ace.
"Richie, don't zone out! Quickly help the three sisters deal with those two enemies... Rosa, work a little harder and hold the left flank... Robin..."
Miss Calli's voice continuously rang in his ears. Even though the two sides were engaged in a chaotic melee, she didn't seem the least bit flustered.
Previously, Richie didn't quite understand why Miss Calli was the captain when her strength was clearly inferior to Lina, Merlin, and his mentor Miss Dana. Now he finally understood the reason.
Since someone was issuing commands, Richie didn't bother using his brain. To be honest, his head was already spinning. Besides recognizing who belonged to his squad, he couldn't even distinguish which side was the enemy.
The three sisters could be considered the most formidable characters in the squad aside from Lina. The ones surrounded by them were also three Knights, but these two people didn't understand any cooperative attack techniques, so they had absolutely no chance to fight back.
Richie shifted his feet, his body sliding horizontally for over ten meters. When he arrived, he happened to see one of the three opponents preparing to use an attack Art.
"Aima, get out of the way," Richie shouted loudly.
The three sisters' reactions were exceptionally swift. Upon hearing the voice, the three immediately changed positions, leaving a gap in the middle.
Just as Richie stepped into that position, a flash of fire struck directly from the opposite side. Without even thinking, he raised his hand and used "Mirror Reflection." That flash of fire was almost completely reflected back, but it exploded halfway there.
This was an Explosive Wave; its power naturally goes without saying. The guy who unleashed this Explosive Wave was immediately sent flying by the reflected Explosive Wave. The front armor of his Magitech Armor shattered into several pieces, and the person inside, even if not dead, definitely lost half his life.
The intense explosion also affected the other two people nearby.
The three of them combining forces could only barely hold off the three sisters' attacks. Now one was down, and the two were separated; their strength was instantly reduced by more than half.
How could the three sisters let such a good opportunity slip by?
Ailie was the closest. She swung the Double-headed Python in her hands like a windmill, suddenly unleashing a move called "Hell's Strangulation."
"Hell's Strangulation" was several strands of spiral Aura twisted together. Because it required striking with full force, leaving almost no strength in reserve after a single blow, Ailie would absolutely not use it unless she was 100% certain.
However, the effect and power of this move were definitely worth boasting about. The guy who was hit was a Light Knight. Except for a few of the sturdiest armor plates, the armor on the rest of his body was almost completely torn off, along with both arms and his left leg, all flying away from his body in the strangulation.
This move terrified Richie. He believed that if he were in the same position, he definitely couldn't withstand that Hell's Strangulation; that move simply couldn't be reflected.
While he was in a daze, the second and third of the three sisters had already taken care of the other enemy.
"Richie, you're zoning out again! Quickly go help Rosa, she's about to collapse. The three sisters, go help Lina. Whoever among you can kill that Ace Knight wins the bet!"
Captain Calli's orders followed closely. Even at a time like this, she actually remembered the competition between the three sisters and Lina, turning it into motivation with just one sentence.
Towards such foresight and precise judgment, Richie was speechlessly impressed. He secretly felt fortunate to have such a captain.
However, very soon, he also felt unspeakably miserable. He was commanded by Miss Calli until he was exhausted from running around. After dealing with this side, he immediately had to turn to that side, so nervous he was a complete mess. The most painful part was that he only had one move to use: "Mirror Reflection." Every time he was sent somewhere, it was to endure the opponent's powerful strike. Miss Calli seemed to react and send him over as soon as she saw someone preparing to unleash a move.
"Mirror Reflection" was, after all, a new move, and its success rate wasn't very high. Out of ten times, he could only reflect all of the opponent's attack back once or twice at most; most of the time, he could only simply block it.
Although the success rate wasn't high, the power was good. Once successful, the opponent definitely didn't have time to react. Moreover, an opponent's defense was weakest at the moment of attacking, so anyone hit by their own reflected attack Art would immediately fall to the ground, their fate unknown.