Chapter 298: Migration

After a night of tossing and turning, Haringoth still issued the order to retreat early the next morning.

Staying behind was just waiting for death. Although he didn't know the saying "save the people and lose the land, both people and land can be regained," he still understood the principle a little bit.

With this, the entire fortress became lively. While calling their children and women, the soldiers began to organize equipment and supplies, preparing for the long journey.

Yesterday, they had resisted the enemy's attack head-on and knew that relying on themselves and the comrades around them, Herus Fortress simply couldn't be held.

Not to mention anything else, that figure like a demon god was something no one could resist. Olaf didn't even persist for one round.

If it weren't for the help of that Commander Allen, this would have been a battle without hope.

According to this situation, in the passage of time, the ending they would welcome would be nothing more than becoming prisoners or dying in battle on the spot.

Then leaving here at this time could be considered a good choice for these soldiers.

It was just that most of the commoners were reluctant to leave their homeland. They had lived in this place for several generations, and the land they had cultivated for I don't know how many years was passed down from their fathers and grandfathers. Now that they were told to leave, they couldn't accept it for a while.

At the moment, there was still plenty of time, and Haringoth didn't want to leave the commoners to the Dark Cult. Who knew if they would become cultists waving knives at him in the future.

At the beginning, Haringoth sent several teams of attendants to summon elders and older people with high prestige from all over, asking them to announce this matter, and must let the villagers prepare to leave as soon as possible.

However, the effect was not very good. Conflicts, quarrels, and even armed fights with axes appeared. There was simply no progress in the migration.

It had to be said that ferocity was a gene engraved in the bones of the Nord people.

After delaying for two days like this, Haringoth, seeing that something was wrong, finally sent out the army. In this matter, swords and whips were far more useful than mouths and orders.

Amidst a sound of crying and resentment, the Nord people near Herus Fortress finally began to flee towards the west in batches.

Of course, a small number of people were unwilling to leave, dragging their families and hiding, hoping to avoid the lord's soldiers. In the eyes of these people, no matter who was ruling, as long as they paid taxes and were obedient, there was always a way to live.

During the entire process of migration, Jormungandr and the army he led performed extremely well, as if they were not invading enemies, but nobles from neighboring countries out hunting.

Not only was there no sign of attacking the city, but even necessary actions like reconnaissance were very rare. Only a few light cavalry would come over to take a look every morning, check if there were still guards on the city gate of Herus Fortress, and then slip away immediately after confirmation, not delaying for a moment.

Seeing the enemy's performance so slack, Allen even wanted to launch a night raid to give the other side a surprise before leaving.

This was entirely possible. Taking an extremely elite group of soldiers through that small path on the northern hills, they could completely touch the vicinity of the Dark Cult's camp silently.

It was just that after a thorough investigation, Allen gave up this plan. Obviously, the other side was playing a game of seemingly slack but actually strictly guarded defense with him.

That brightly lit camp, strict guards, and countless soldiers patrolling in the camp all indicated that the other side had made preparations to deal with any accidents.

Under such circumstances, Allen naturally dismissed the plan of a sneak attack, and even Dantis's suggestion to cut off the opponent's supplies was rejected by him. Time was too tight, and they couldn't run far before Haringoth would be ready to retreat.

The most important thing at present was to leave here as soon as possible. As for others, if there was an opportunity, of course it was good; if not, there was no need to force it.

In fact, Jormungandr, who seemed reckless but was actually careful, had already made up his mind to wait for reinforcements. He even guessed the possibility that the Nord people would retreat, and prepared to pick up a bargain directly when the time came.

Anyway, his mission was just to capture Herus Fortress and avoid the defenders of this castle becoming a stumbling block for the Dark Cult to swallow the Kingdom of Nord.

As for whether it was captured personally or an empty city was occupied, this made no difference to Jormungandr, and no one could pick out his mistakes.

Now, he just had to wait.

Until a cold morning, a few light cavalry dressed in black armor appeared sneakily under the hillside, came to the east gate of Herus Fortress again, and poked their heads to check the situation on the city wall.

In the past, the Nord people who saw them would always curse a few words, using "I want to use your skull as a bowl" as the beginning, and "dismantle your ribs, pull out your rotten lungs, and execute the blood sacrifice penalty" as the ending.

Of course, it was also mixed with countless dirty words in the middle.

However, today was very different. It was cold and clear, which was a bit scary, and even the flags that used to flutter in the wind on the city wall were gone.

Seeing such an eerie scene, the light cavalry who were scouting the way didn't dare to act rashly, and could only return immediately to report to Jormungandr, who was eating and drinking. His cultivation method was very special and required frequent replenishment of a large amount of food.

Hearing that there were no defenders in Herus Fortress at this time, Jormungandr burst into laughter. This was exactly the scene he wanted to see; otherwise, he would have gone crazy to tell the other side the direction of several large armies truthfully.

"Boss, should we chase? Just watching the other side leave like this, the High Priest will blame us."

A little brother next to him, who looked like his brain wasn't very good, revealed an anxious look on his face, seemingly feeling that letting the other side go was a bit inappropriate, so he asked.

Who knew that Jormungandr slapped the little brother who spoke to the ground, and scolded him while cursing.

"Are you crazy or stupid? If you want to chase, chase by yourself, see if you will be turned into charcoal by someone. I can't even hold it, and you count as what, still chasing, chase an egg."

While scolding, he also kicked him without being relieved.

With a "clang," the little brother whose chest armor was kicked flew far away, and then stood up with an indifferent look, subsequently coming to Jormungandr's side and grinning.

"Boss is right, I really can't hold that lightning. It's good that they left themselves, good."

Jormungandr was satisfied and nodded, ordering: "Pass my order, send a few teams of Nord people who just defected to us into the castle to check, see if the enemy is playing any tricks, and look carefully at the warehouse, water wells, and the houses by the road. Don't be set on fire or poisoned by the enemy, hurry, hurry."

"Yes."

The little brother who had just been kicked received the order and walked out of the tent, while Jormungandr picked up the wine glass on the side and drank heavily.

Not needing to risk his life to capture the fortress was a joyous and congratulatory thing for him.

And on the other side of Herus Fortress, Allen had just led his subordinates to solve a group of sea raiders. This was already the seventh wave.

Due to the Dark Cult's attack, the situation around had become completely chaotic, and even these scum who had been living by the sea were driven to the inland.

This was also something that couldn't be helped.

Being caught by the lords of the Kingdom of Nord, if they didn't die on the spot, they would at most be sold around by human traffickers. If they were lucky enough to run into a lord who lacked troops, they might be able to transform and become regular soldiers and live a life that was just barely okay.

If they were caught by the Dark Cult during the process of burning, killing, and plundering, then only one path remained: being burned to death and sacrificed to the Dark God.

This was much more painful than being beheaded or hung. The flames roasted the thin skin, ignited the fat bit by bit, and while burning fiercely, slowly roasted the blood in the body. Just listening to it made people shudder.

Usually, these cultists didn't even have psychological burdens when sacrificing commoners when they had needs, let alone these robbers. Burning them was without any psychological burden.

So, the sea raiders who were worried about being sacrificed had to leave the familiar area and come to the inland to mix a meal.

At this time, Haringoth led the migrating team, pulling out a long straight line on the road that was still considered flat in the Kingdom of Nord. The villagers carrying large and small bags in the team, plus the supply-laden carriages, naturally became the targets of some desperadoes.

It was mid-winter. If they couldn't find enough supplies to survive the winter before the most cruel month arrived, even these strong sea raiders couldn't escape the fate of dying in the cold wind.

By comparison, those guards holding sharp axes looked much more "amiable."

Sea raiders in groups of a dozen or dozens caused huge trouble for Haringoth. If he used the troops in his hands to have a decisive battle with these robbers, he would definitely be able to win.

But facing this situation of blossoming at multiple points, the troops in his hands were a bit stretched thin. Most importantly, many new recruits who had just been recruited simply couldn't beat the sea raiders who were experienced in plundering and cruel and brutal in their actions.

Finally, the young noble had to ask Allen for help, because the commoners were his commoners, and Allen was Ragnar's mercenary, and the two sides didn't have a subordinate relationship, at most they could be considered colleagues.

And from the bottom of his heart, he was a bit afraid to trouble this mercenary group that was acting as the rearguard. For that commander who could release thunder and flames, his heart always had a kind of fear, and at the same time felt a trace of familiarity. It was just that he couldn't remember where this feeling came from.

The facts were indeed so. Fighting against the Dark Cult's army, in Allen's view, was a matter of course, because he promised Ragnar. But protecting the commoners who were migrating was not his job. He didn't have this responsibility on his body, nor did he have the corresponding rights.

If he happened to run into sea raiders plundering, Allen would definitely take action. If not, he wouldn't take the initiative to increase the patrol range of his subordinates.

In this place of Calradia, if there was no name, many seemingly very correct good deeds could not be done, because that would infringe on the interests of others, especially those nobles who regarded the commoners as family property.

However, when Haringoth came to the door, Allen still readily agreed to the other party's request, without even mentioning any fees.

This made Haringoth, besides fear, have an extra bit of admiration for Allen. A mercenary group leader who could not be entangled in gold was not something an ordinary person could do.

Because the migrating team was too long, Allen divided his subordinates—Free Knights, mercenary knights, and bounty hunters who were equipped with horses—into several hundred-man teams, letting them patrol throughout the entire team.

Items that could make noise in the team, such as drums, horns, and broken iron pots, were all distributed, letting the villagers make enough noise when they were attacked, to facilitate the cavalry to support quickly.

With this, the team became lively. Almost every day, all kinds of strange noises rang out, and the sound of horse hooves running was one after another.

In just less than a month, Allen and the cavalry under his command cleared no less than twenty waves of sea raiders. Blood and corpses paved the road along the east-west avenue of the Kingdom of Nord, and also provided enough food for the wolves and wild dogs in the forest to survive the winter.

And Allen's most capable scout, Momucha, had been leading an elite team to pay attention to the direction of Herus Fortress, guarding against Jormungandr suddenly leading the army to kill him. There were too many commoners in the team, and the speed of the team's march was extremely slow.

Fortunately, there were no pursuers behind them, but unfortunate things followed one after another. Their destination, Sargoth, had already been surrounded by the Dark Cult's large army.

Looking at that black flag embroidered with a silver bow, Allen immediately guessed that the opposite side was the team of that witch Hel.

"Commander Allen, wanting to enter Sargoth at this time is already an impossible thing. The opponent's military strength is really too much, and looking at it, even if we go in, we can't escape the ending of the city being broken and people dying. Obviously, our King Ragnar has already lost this game about power. The Dark Cult has won. So what should we do next?"

After more than a month of marching, Haringoth, who had to take care of many affairs, was extremely haggard. His exhausted face, bloodshot eyes, and ulcerated mouth all indicated that this young noble had been forced to the limit by the situation.

Seeing Sargoth surrounded at this moment, he, who had already lost his head, began to ask Allen, this mercenary group leader, what to do.

"Since going to Sargoth has lost its meaning, then the team can continue to the west, find a way to cross the Yu River, and I have a good relationship with Count Arassis of Zendar. We can buy some supplies there. After resting and reorganizing, we will continue to Wochez, which is separated from Sargoth by a large river, and the distance is far enough. There, we can wait for further changes in the situation."

Allen didn't believe that after Sargoth of Nord fell, Harlaus and Yaroglek could still sit firmly on the throne and watch the nobles argue.

Finally, Haringoth, looking at the map, nodded helplessly. He didn't have any good choices either. Half a year, just half a year, and most of the Kingdom of Nord had been captured by the enemy.

Unless he took everyone to defect to Vaegirs or Swadia now, otherwise, Wochez was already the best choice at present. ===== CHAPTER 299 =====