Chapter 241

Boom! Boom!

The thunderous hoofbeats drew nearer; though only fifty cavalrymen, their collective charge exerted overwhelming pressure.

"Look over there!"

"Good heavens, it's cavalry—are those enemy cavalry?"

"Definitely. They've come from Lord Parker's territory. What do we do?"

Cavalry, to many, were considered inferior to knights.

After all, knights trained in battle aura; once their power grew, facing ten or even a hundred enemies was no challenge.

But in truth, on the battlefield, cavalry were the true terror that dominated infantry.

Because knightly guardians were too costly to train and far too few, they appeared only in critical battles.

Cavalry, however, were different—their training cost far less than that of knights.

They did not need years of cultivating battle aura or refining martial skills.

They only needed to practice riding and charging.

Once mastered, and combined in large numbers into a cavalry formation, they became infantry's nightmare on the battlefield.

Though the Stormtroopers had undergone rigorous training, seeing the slow-advancing cavalry spread unease through their ranks.

"Hold firm! Only fifty cavalrymen—nothing to fear!"

"That's right, hold firm! Whoever flees in cowardice will be punished by military law!"

Migen and other knights, serving as temporary overseers, immediately moved to suppress the panic.

Fortunately, Gervas's guards clearly possessed willpower far beyond ordinary soldiers.

After a brief moment of panic, hearing the knights' reassurances, they quickly calmed down.

Kiran and the others, of course, knew nothing of Gervas's prepared countermeasures.

Seeing the cavalry arrive on the battlefield, they immediately broke into smiles.

Now, all that remained was for the cavalry to charge—and the Storm Legion's formation would collapse.

Once a formation broke, no matter how elite the individual soldiers, they could not escape annihilation.

"Brave men of Parker's domain, see! Those are our Parker family's reinforcements!"

"Now, all of you, attack fiercely! When the cavalry reaches the battlefield, these Stormlanders will break!"

"Kill!"

Instantly, Parker's army surged as if injected with bloodlust.

All their pent-up frustration erupted in this moment.

Moreover, if they won this battle, every soldier would receive rewards.

Though small, they were tempting enough!

Boom! Boom!

The light cavalry drew ever closer; when they reached two hundred meters, the ground began to tremble faintly.

At this moment, they had circled around to the gap behind the Storm Legion's right flank.

Seeing this, Gervas immediately ordered the fifty reserve sword guards to rush and seal the gap.

Even the knights and knightly attendants serving as overseers now moved toward the rear gap.

"Only now do you react? Too late!"

Parker, witnessing this, was ecstatic.

Especially seeing Gervas's frantic waving and shouting, he felt as if he'd swallowed ice in summer—utterly exhilarating.

Because everything Gervas was doing now was futile.

Dozens of infantry and half a dozen knights—how could they possibly stop a professional cavalry charge?

They'd only add a few more corpses beneath the hooves!

"Quick, tell Kiran and Bell to mount up and ride to the Storm Legion's rear flank gap—join Adani and his men in the charge!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Thus, the light cavalry finally reached the forest gap.

"Light cavalry—charge!"

At the shout, the light cavalry, previously trotting, accelerated.

The distance was now precisely two hundred meters.

This distance ensured sufficient acceleration while preserving the horses' stamina.

Boom boom! Boom boom!

As the horses' speed increased, the thunderous roar deepened, becoming more terrifying.

One hundred ninety meters, one hundred sixty meters, one hundred thirty meters, one hundred meters, seventy meters…

The distance shrank; acceleration neared its peak.

Adani and his men could clearly see the fear in the enemy's eyes seventy meters ahead.

Meanwhile, the infantry and knights who had just moved to reinforce now stood frozen—terrified.

Adani grinned savagely and shouted: "When we charge, smash through their line first—let Lord Parker's men join the battle—"

But mid-sentence, his peripheral vision caught movement in the trees twenty meters ahead.

Standing within the trees were towering human figures, unnaturally tall.

"Barbarians?" Adani's experience was not slight—he recognized them at once.

But how could barbarians be here? And why were they staring directly at them?

And those ropes in their hands…

"No!"

Adani's grin vanished; his face twisted in horror as he screamed.

He understood what those ropes were for.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The hidden ropes beneath the ground snapped taut, stretched between thick tree trunks, blocking Adani's path.

"Damn it! Ambush! Stop!"

Shouting, Adani yanked the reins with all his strength.

But too late—he'd been so excited, rushing toward the enemy, he'd ended up at the very front of the charge.

At this distance, there was no time to halt.

The warhorse screamed; Adani felt his body flung violently into the air, spinning uncontrollably.

Many other cavalrymen met the same fate.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Muffled impacts echoed; after a dizzying blur, Adani regained consciousness—lying on the ground.

Of course, he was a Silver Knight.

In that instant, he subtly adjusted his landing posture—so he suffered no injury beyond momentary dizziness.

He swiftly drew his sword and looked around—others were not so lucky.

Among the light cavalry, only one true cavalry captain possessed Bronze-level strength.

The rest, thrown from their mounts, lay motionless—some dead, some alive, unknown.

A few who still groaned and rolled were the lucky ones.

At least seventeen or eighteen light cavalrymen were lost—this shattered Adani.

Because these light cavalrymen were meant to return afterward.

Losing one or two could be explained away.

But seventeen or eighteen dead? The Eagle City high command would demand answers.

Nor were the remaining thirty-odd light cavalrymen safe.

Now, in the field, those thirty cavalrymen had halted—thanks to their position farther back, avoiding the fall.

But before they could even breathe a sigh of relief, dozens of barbarians, each standing two-point-eight meters tall, burst from the right forest.

Each barbarian wore leather armor, wielding terrifying wolf-tooth clubs one-point-eight meters long.

The clubs' thickness exceeded their own thighs.

"Barbarian warriors—kill!"