Chapter 439: Great Victory at Torrent Pass!

In the forest north of Torrent Pass, the sounds of killing and gunfire shook the heavens and the earth, and a fierce battle opened its bloody curtain.

On one side were peasants from the Principality of Campbell, and on the other were peasants from the Twilight Saint Saint Xingsheng.

Just yesterday evening, the arrival of the Campbell Principality's reinforcements completely shattered Finnian's attempt at a quick victory.

He knew very well that on the open plains, this army composed of peasants in his hands, even if it had the upper hand in numbers, would be very difficult to go head-to-head with the well-equipped and well-trained regular army of the Campbell Principality.

Without any hesitation, he immediately gave the order to retreat, withdrawing all ten thousand Green Forest Army soldiers into the forest north of Torrent Pass.

This was his home field.

The children of the Torrent River were natural hunters, and every peasant in the Twilight Saint Saint Xingsheng was no less familiar with the forest than the legendary elves!

He didn't doubt at all that as long as he relied on the complex terrain and skillfully deployed a siege, he could use wave after wave of gunfire and arrows to split, surround, and swallow these running dogs loyal to the nobles!

Just like the two battles they fought before arriving at Torrent Pass!

At that time, the soldiers under his command didn't have ten thousand people, facing Earl Grayger, who had superior strength in both numbers and transcendent power, he skillfully used the terrain to make the latter fall into his trap during the exhausted reinforcements!

It had to be said that this plan actually had no problems.

The number of the Green Forest Army was twice that of the Campbell people, and they even devolved Bronze-tier and even Steel-tier transcendents to the hundred-man teams; what they were best at was guerrilla warfare.

However, Finnian finally underestimated the strength of the "Northern Rescue Army," and also slightly overestimated the strength of his subordinates.

Earl Grayger was just a usurper, and the peasants under his command were no different from them in essence. However, the Campbell people in front of them were different; they were a group of peasants whose feet had already stood at the door of industrialization, that was power leading by an era!

As the Campbell army advanced into the forest, Finnian's proud ambush battle finally started!

Horns sounded from all directions in the forest, thousands of Green Forest Army soldiers roared and rushed out from the woods, launching the first round of attacks on the Campbell Principality's army, trying to drown these uninvited guests who broke into the forest in a sea of people.

However, unfortunately, what they encountered first was the vanguard of the Northern Rescue Army—a hunting unit composed of two hundred grenadiers.

These two hundred young guys were tall, strong, and most importantly, fearless of death!

Facing the overwhelming shouts of killing and the rebels rushing toward them, not only did they have no fear, but they erupted into excited shouts.

"Brothers! Time to farm monsters!"

"Dog planner is awesome! What a big battle!"

"Hahahaha! Old man has eaten the dog planner's cake for so long, finally can have a blast!"

"Ooooooh! Totally crazy!"

The rebels only saw a tall grenadier light a grenade filled with black powder, take a run-up, and throw it three or four hundred meters away!

That was clearly not the strength of a Campbell old farmer......

It was clearly the strength of a transcendent!

The exploding grenade blossomed in the forest, blowing up five or six rebels who were caught off guard.

And soon they discovered that that grenade was not an isolated case.

The grenadiers opposite each had outrageous arm strength, and the throwing distance even exceeded the bows and arrows in their hands!

Finnian watched as his ambush troops collided with a group of lunatics who didn't care about casualties at all.

They only cared about charging, and then pouring a rain of explosive shells toward the Green Forest Army's line, ignoring the arrows flying from all directions, completely fearless of death!

This group of fearless lunatics instantly tore through the vanguard line of the Green Forest Army, so much so that the siege circle Finnian carefully deployed hadn't even had time to close before it was blown into a mess by the grenades flying toward them, nearly collapsing......

And at this moment——

Their true nightmare had just begun!

Just as the "big fools" of the Northern Rescue Army tore open the defense line with their lives, the main force of Campbell also launched a general attack.

"Advance——!"

Following the sound of cannon fire, the company commander drew his command sword and led the infantry standing in three rows beside him to advance with neat steps.

Not just advancing—

The moment the Campbell phalanx brought the rebel line into range, the three rows of soldiers immediately stopped, the first row took the lead in the first round of volley fire, then the third row marched to the front to fire, followed by the second row that moved to the end of the team...... the phalanx of the entire battlefield advanced with a posture of advancing and firing!

"Bang bang bang——!!!"

Gunsmoke instantly filled the forest!

Facing the volley fire of the Northern Rescue Army, the green turbans trying to form a siege were like primitive people. Holding muskets and crossbows, they often hadn't even rushed to the enemy before they were beaten into a daze by two or three rounds of ruthless lead bullets!

The Campbell soldiers advanced steadily while firing, even the heavy obstacles in the forest couldn't split their formation.

Today's encounter battle, they had already practiced in the Silver Pine Forest north of Lei Ming City.

Many of the soldiers were veterans who had fought against the Demon King Delagon, and even many Platinum-tier demon generals had died in their hands, so dealing with a group of rabble was naturally not a problem!

The continuous volley fire formed a wall of fire and blood that could not be crossed in the forest north of Torrent Pass, wherever it passed, both living people and tree trunks were blown to pieces, skin torn and flesh ripped!

It wasn't just the flintlock muskets on the front line that were noisy, but also the cannons in the rear!

Smoothbore cannons and mortars roared in unison in the plains behind, whistling shells like meteors crossed the treetops, scraping open one bloody corridor after another in the middle of the Green Forest Army!

Although the Green Forest Army deployed artillery in the hills and quickly fired back, they soon encountered counter-fire from the Campbell mortar unit!

After just a few rounds of volley fire, the Green Forest Army's artillery fire ceased, and their positions were blown into ashes.

Finnian's proud jungle guerrilla tactics had turned into a joke that made people unable to laugh in the face of well-trained soldiers and absolute firepower advantage.

This could no longer be called a war—

It was a completely one-sided slaughter!

Tens of thousands of green turbans were beaten into a rout on the battlefield they were best at by well-trained Campbell soldiers.

Everyone was like a drowning person submerged in a mountain flood, only able to flee in the smoke maze with no exit in sight.

The mountains and plains were full of people taking off their turbans and running away, some not only threw away the weapons in their hands, but even ran out of their straw sandals.

Just like when they gathered together with hot blood and tied the turbans on their heads......

"These trash!"

Watching the deserters scurrying about in the forest, Finnian's face was filled with anger and terror; his fists were clenched tight, his nails digging deeply into his flesh.

The development of events was far beyond his expectations.

He originally intended to rely on his familiarity with the terrain to give the principality's army a head-on blow, but didn't expect that both sides were more than an order of magnitude apart in tactics and strategy!

The Campbell soldiers with high morale broke through the forest like a hot knife through butter, advancing under the cover of a well-organized artillery unit.

In the face of that absolute firepower, individual combat power below Steel-tier completely lost its effect, and transcendent power above Silver-tier was clearly dominated by the Campbell knights with deep foundations.

Even if the power bestowed by Chaos had more destructive power at the realistic level, those knights who received the priest's blessing could also break them one by one by relying on tacit cooperation.

Finnian's subordinates had just mastered this power, just like they had just obtained the weapons bestowed by Chaos.

And fighting a war was not like throwing dice when drinking, whoever had the bigger number won.

Besides the gods, no one could see all the dice.

Now they could only avoid the edge for a while......

Finnian didn't hesitate anymore, leading his personal guards to break out to the north, blocking his way were both Campbell people and deserters who had taken off their turbans.

And no matter who they were, everyone who dared to block his way was shot by the bows and arrows in his hands and the short crossbows of his personal guards!

Just as they were about to escape, a group of cavalry in shiny armor killed their flank.

Looking at the bright cavalry lances and the majestic Campbell military flag, the personal guards gathered around Finnian clearly showed uncontrollable panic.

Theresa aimed her cavalry lance at the bandit leader standing in the formation and shouted sharply.

"It's over, jungle rat Finnian, traitor who betrayed the monarch, demon who kills like hemp! Surrender now!"

The knight master was more cultured after all, that series of titles made Finnian almost not react that it was talking about himself.

"My name is Jungle Shadow! I can't afford to wear so many hats!"

He laughed ha-ha, his hand on the bow, looking at the knight riding on the horse, and retorted unceremoniously.

"As for the traitor who betrayed the monarch? I thank you for the compliment!"

Theresa, holding the reins, curled her lips in a sneer, the spell of holy blessing making her look like a god descending to earth.

Including the knights behind her, they were all the same.

"...... I think your brain was completely ruined by the shit poured into it by Chaos, you can't even distinguish between praise and abuse."

The attack power of this sentence was really too weak, so much so that Finnian didn't feel any anger at all, and even wanted to laugh a little.

"Chaos? I think you are the ones who sold your souls to Chaos! Just like those nobles hiding in the castle! Where were you when we were hungry? What about the oath that the people would not die of hunger and cold! You only remember the part that is beneficial to you!"

Theresa looked at him indifferently and said coldly.

"What about your people? In your oil pot? Or on the rack drying meat? I don't think you look like you haven't eaten enough, you eat fuller than the defenders in the castle."

The right way to improve soul level is to practice Shengxisi's teachings, use the truth in your hands to build legends, be worshipped by people, and obtain miracles bestowed by gods.

And besides this path, there are also some shortcuts to take.

For example, killing many, many people, for example, pleasing the evil spirits in Chaos through rituals.

She didn't know what this guy did, but obviously it couldn't be that he moved the gods by doing good deeds and improved his cultivation.

Even if he wanted to move, what he moved was probably the gods in Chaos.

Facing the knight master's accusation, Finnian laughed ha-ha.

"Don't put your filth on my head! And I'm not a King, where would I get people!"

Theresa's mouth curled up in a sneer.

"Becoming a King in fact, but not considering yourself a King? What a clever trick, I have to praise you, even the only remaining obligations were wiped clean by you."

Seeing through her trick of stalling for time with bluffing, Finnian was tired of communicating with her, and pulled the bowstring held in his hand.

"A mere knight dares to speak wildly in front of me, it seems you don't know what true power is."

"Oh? Then tell me, what is true power."

A majestic voice came from not far away, Finnian looked over subconsciously, only to see a knight riding over through the chaotic battlefield.

Golden hair was coiled into a circle behind her head, the fair and upright face looked like a marble sculpture in front of the church, and under the slender eyebrows were sharp eyes like swords.

He almost thought it was an elf walking out of the Torrent River...... every Lei En person in the Twilight Saint Saint Xingsheng had heard the legend about her, although no one had seen her with their own eyes.

However, Finnian soon sobered up, the opposite was Campbell people, it was absolutely impossible to obtain the blessing of the river spirit.

Seeing Her Highness Princess Ailin rushing from the rear, Theresa held the reins with one hand and respectfully retreated back into the cavalry queue.

Now she was no longer the girl who needed her own protection a few years ago, even if facing the Demon King in the labyrinth, she could fight without falling behind.

Finnian narrowed his eyes, glanced at the sword at the knight's waist, and suddenly seemed to understand something, and laughed out loud again.

"Didn't expect the Campbell Grand Duke to be a little girl. Hey, how old are you? Are your hairs grown yet? I'm only interested in ripe fruit."

Facing the frivolous words, Princess Ailin remained unmoved, just smiled faintly.

"I am the Grand Duke's sister, as for age, don't worry about it."

"Why didn't he come?"

"To deal with a character like you, there's no need for my brother to take action."

"Oh? It seems your brother didn't teach you not to use adult weapons as toys."

Finnian's smile remained unchanged, but his eyes gradually became dangerous, and a trace of greed and greed flashed in the depths of his eyes.

How strong could a yellow-haired girl who hadn't been weaned be? As long as she was held hostage, maybe there was a turning point in this battle!

A trace of ruthlessness flashed in Finnian's eyes, no longer having any reservations, the strong Platinum-tier strength erupted in an instant!

That majestic Chaos power gathered toward the longbow in his hand, turning into a dark green arrow, and nocked it on the string.

Afterward, he released the bowstring with the momentum of thunder!

"Go to hell——!"

This arrow was aimed at her horse!

Guessing that this rat would sneak attack, facing the sudden thunderous blow, Princess Ailin had no panic, just pressed her hand on the "Song of Light" at her waist expressionlessly.

Long before coming here, she had already completed the preparation for the descent of the ancestor's soul. She wouldn't let this rude guy escape like some damn little demon in the Silver Pine Forest!

And the moment her right hand pressed on the hilt, the golden light erupted from her body, condensing into a majestic and ancient knight's shadow, completely shrouding her!

This time she didn't call anyone else, but Aaron Campbell, her father—the Grand Duke who killed the Demon King Regi Delagon!

A trace of panic flashed in Finnian's eyes, and on that face distorted by madness, an expression of disbelief appeared.

In that golden light, power far beyond his understanding was flickering!

"Dia, Diamond-tier?!"

"No——! This is impossible!"

Princess Ailin Campbell indeed didn't have Diamond-tier strength, but it didn't hinder her from driving this power beyond herself in the name of the Song of Light!

At this moment——

She was not fighting alone, but standing together with the ancestors who once protected the people of the Campbell Principality!

That dazzling light was like a holy hammer, smashing heavily into the dark green arrow shadow that exuded an evil and vicious aura!

There was no explosion.

There wasn't even a sound!

The power of Chaos melted like ice in that dazzling light, just like an ice cone falling into magma.

Finnian didn't even have time to let out a scream, didn't even have time to gather transcendent power to resist.

Everything about him was burned to ashes in that scorching light, whether it was his corpse, or his ambition and desire!

"...... People not recognized by the 'Ancestor's Soul' cannot drive the Song of Light even if they flow with Campbell blood. You really should learn about your neighbor's epic."

Putting the Song of Light back into the scabbard, Princess Ailin looked at the Green Forest Army soldiers behind Finnian expressionlessly.

"What about you? Want to try too?"

No one wanted to try.

Even if they were servants of Chaos, not everyone had obtained Platinum-tier strength.

Looking at the powerhouse who killed "Forest Shadow" Finnian with one sword, the personal guards were ashen-faced, throwing down the weapons in their hands one after another, kneeling on the ground to surrender.

Princess Ailin nodded to Theresa, handed over the work of capturing prisoners to her and her subordinates, and then returned to the army on horseback, without a moment of dragging.

Looking at the departing back, every knight of the principality had respect from the bottom of their hearts in their eyes.

Only Princess Ailin herself noticed the sweat rolling down her pale forehead onto the armor...... the victory won with destructive force wasn't really as easy as she showed.

Driving power that didn't belong to oneself had a price, the only fortunate thing was that she was still young and wouldn't burn out easily like her father......

With Finnian's death, the Green Forest Army began to collapse in formation, and the battle north of Torrent Pass finally came to an end.

Under the leadership of Princess Ailin Campbell, the Northern Rescue Army paid a casualty of less than a thousand people and lifted the siege of Torrent Pass.

Not only did they annihilate the rebel army ten times their own size, but they also killed "Forest Shadow" Finnian, one of the twelve heads of the Green Forest Army, in a single battle!

For the soldiers who followed Her Highness Princess Ailin Campbell north, this was undoubtedly a hearty victory!

The soldiers cleaning the battlefield whistled, talked and laughed, or happily counted the captured weapons and materials.

Although they couldn't find a few copper coins on these poor ghosts, and the captured equipment couldn't be sold for much money, they didn't come for this anyway.

"Don't know how much land this battle can trade for my son."

"Hehehe, I think the place next to Torrent Pass is not bad! And there's no one left, it's a pity not to plant something!"

"Don't think about these, wait until you survive......"

"Ha, if what's waiting for us in the back is all this kind of goods, I think it's okay to think about this now!"

"Indeed, these guys are really too weak, can't compare with the Demon King in Lei Ming County before, really don't know how they won against their own lord!"

"I think the King of Lei En is nothing more than that!"

The entire military camp was filled with a relaxed and happy atmosphere.

It wasn't just the "normal soldiers" who were like this, those big "fools" were also the same, their faces full of joy.

Perhaps it was because the Green Forest Army's combat effectiveness was really too weak, most of them who rushed to the front actually survived.

At this moment, they were chattering and bragging loudly about their battle achievements just now, even complaining that this battle ended too quickly and they hadn't thrown enough.

"Hope to meet some decent opponents in the next battle." 【One Yingyingguai】 couldn't help but smack his lips, his face full of unfinished business.

【Master Wang the Village Barber】 scratched his head, staring blankly at the player interface that only he could see, "Wait, why aren't contribution points being added?"

Professional Maintenance Nuclear Submarine: "Maybe it was converted into land for us."

Master Wang the Village Barber: "What about the land?"

Professional Maintenance Nuclear Submarine: "According to the convention, of course, it will be settled together after the event ends."

Lumberjack: "...... Damn, why is it so troublesome."

Master Wang the Village Barber: "I didn't see an event announcement, and now I'm suddenly a bit panicked..."

The dog developers shouldn't be so cheap as to try and get this little bit of virtual reward for free, right?

Shouldn't be......

Singing the song of victory, the Northern Rescue Army returned to the castle named Torrent Pass under the leadership of Princess Ailin Campbell.

However, unlike the high-spirited soldiers, Princess Ailin's face couldn't see much joy, and her eyes carried a trace of heaviness instead.

On the way back to the castle, what came into her view were burned villages, desolate farmlands, and empty pastures.

The flames of war had turned everything here into scorched earth, and the ruins had become a paradise for crows. That pungent smoke was mixed with the stench she didn't want to distinguish, and only aimless undead wandered among the ruins.

Some priests showed intolerance on their faces, raised the scepter in their hands and recited spells, performing holy light to transcend those wandering souls.

"These human scums......"

Theresa rode beside Princess Ailin, looked at the ruins of a farmhouse burned by the roadside, and cursed in a low voice.

"These man-eating beasts...... they are not resisting tyranny at all, they are purely a group of beasts who enjoy destruction and slaughter!"

That might not be the case.

Princess Ailin watched the ruins and the death wandering among the ruins silently, not completely agreeing with Theresa's statement.

The two things were not contradictory.

However, one thing was certain, if the Twilight Saint Saint Xingsheng was as prosperous as the Campbell Principality, people would never do such extreme things even if they were dissatisfied.

At least that's how she saw it.

After a long time, Princess Ailin said in an incomparably firm voice: "Theresa, we will definitely let this land restore order."

Theresa nodded respectfully.

"The sword in my hand will always follow you, Highness."

When they arrived at the castle gatehouse, the surviving commander, General Pierce, leaned on his longsword, leading his remaining force of less than a hundred men to greet them at the entrance.

These veterans, although exhausted, still had straight spines.

They were also victors.

Facing an enemy a hundred times their size, they resisted to the end with a determination to die, and finally waited for the reinforcements that didn't know if they would come.

"Her Highness Princess Ailin, I represent all the defenders of Torrent Pass, thank you for your rescue...... I believe you must have obtained the consent of His Majesty the King or the Viceroy, I won't ask too much, I'll leave it to you here." Pierce thanked with a hoarse voice, and at the same time handed over the control of the castle.

Whether they had authorization or not, letting the Campbell people occupy this castle was better than letting this castle fall into the hands of the mob.

At least they still believed in the morality of knights.

At least they wouldn't slaughter the villagers hiding in the castle.

"You've worked hard, Mr. Pierce, please let my military priest come to heal your wounds." Princess Ailin nodded and said solemnly.

"Haha, thank you." Pierce didn't refuse.

At this time, he suddenly noticed the heaviness on Princess Ailin's face that didn't match the victory, vaguely guessed something, and then curled his dry lips and continued.

"...... The Green Forest Army is like locusts crossing the border wherever they go, what you see now is just the beginning. If your next stop is Twilight City, you will see more scenes far more tragic than this along the way, I can only say please be prepared, Highness."

Princess Ailin was silent for a long time, and suddenly said.

"General Pierce, I heard someone say...... it was the nobles of the Kingdom who abandoned their obligations first, is this true?"

General Pierce was slightly stunned when he heard this, as if he didn't expect to hear this sentence, and a trace of complex emotion flashed in those turbid eyes.

He didn't answer directly, but looked back at the broken castle behind him, and then looked at the warriors who had been wounded and lived and died together beside him.

"I don't know who the people you are talking about are, and I don't want to argue for those people."

He looked at Princess Ailin again, word by word.

"I just want to tell you, I didn't."

Saying that, he pointed to the warriors behind him.

"They didn't either."

Princess Ailin saw the answer in his tired but incomparably firm eyes, and then bowed to this respectable veteran.

"I understand."

She was about to walk into the castle.

However, at this moment, a sentry riding a horse rushed toward this side with a whip, and didn't dismount until he reached the edge of the castle.

Seeing the solemn expression on the sentry's face, Princess Ailin didn't blame his rudeness, but asked immediately.

"What happened?"

The sentry didn't dare to neglect, and reported immediately.

"Highness! My brothers and I found the Green Forest Army's artillery position, there were six siege cannons in total, all destroyed by our mortar unit."

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, he continued with a difficult voice.

"We found ratmen corpses there......" ===== CHAPTER 440 =====