Chapter 456: West? East?

"It's him! It's him! Captain, he's back!" Balini, upon seeing him, instantly panicked, his voice trembling and his body shaking uncontrollably.

"Damn it! Everyone, scatter and run!" Although he had never witnessed firsthand how Gervas slaughtered his subordinates.

Yet the deaths of three subordinates, combined with Balini's now trembling terror, were enough to prove the noble's terrifying power.

Thus, the Blood Bat Knight captain hesitated not at all—he immediately chose to flee.

Moreover, he was the first to accelerate, and he played a small trick: he did not flee straight south, but instead veered sharply to the left.

Because under normal circumstances, the one fleeing straight south would likely be the first targeted.

The other subordinates, though half a beat slower, instantly scattered the next instant, fleeing for their lives.

"Zhuīyuè, let them experience what it means to face absolute speed—every trick is just flashy nonsense!"

Roar!

Zhuīyuè loved these stomping-on-noobs segments, especially since its speed had begun to surge.

With a roar, Zhuīyuè bolted forward at full speed.

Meanwhile, Gervas deliberately chose to begin his pursuit from the far right.

In barely a dozen seconds, he caught up to the side of the first Blood Bat Knight.

The Blood Bat Knight turned pale, "Damn human, die—"

Boom—

As if replaying the fate of the three earlier Blood Bat Knights, these knights met the same end.

One by one, they fell to the ground under Gervas's "call-out."

Soon, Gervas had eliminated the remaining four Blood Bat Knights, leaving only the captain who had fled first.

"Damn human!" The Blood Bat Knight captain had already seen Gervas kill his subordinates with a single strike.

At the time, he had been relieved that Gervas had started chasing from the far right.

That way, his subordinates would surely buy him plenty of time.

But he never imagined that in less than ten minutes, Gervas had eliminated the others and caught up to him.

Boom—

In response to the Blood Bat Knight captain's curses, Gervas naturally answered with his cannon.

Yet to Gervas's surprise, at the very moment the cannon fired, the captain suddenly veered sharply right, lifting his Blood Bat's left wing to shield his own body.

Puff-puff-puff!

Instantly, all of Gervas's cannonballs struck the Blood Bat itself.

Aaaah!

The Blood Bat shrieked in pain, its body losing control and plummeting toward the ground.

Yet the Blood Bat Knight captain above remained unharmed!

"He actually knows how to do such fine maneuvering?"

Gervas genuinely felt a flicker of admiration for the captain's petty cleverness.

Of course, it was merely petty cleverness.

Gervas pulled Zhuīyuè downward, chasing after the falling Blood Bat Knight.

Then he pulled out another cannon, smiling as he aimed it directly at the Blood Bat Knight captain!

"No!"

Seeing the dark muzzle of the cannon aim at him once more, the Blood Bat Knight captain let out a furious, desperate roar.

He had assumed this strange human magical device required time to reload.

Even ten seconds would have been enough for him to land and dive into the forest below.

But now, the opponent had completed the magical preparation in the blink of an eye.

And now, he could no longer control his mount.

At the same time, he dared not leave the Blood Bat's body—otherwise, without its cushioning, he would either die or be gravely wounded.

"Bye-bye!"

Unfortunately, Gervas would give him no chance!

He waved his hand.

Boom—

Puff-puff-puff!

Flames erupted; blood blossomed across the body of the Blood Bat Knight captain.

Then, the Blood Bat Knight captain, filled with resentment and humiliation, fell to the ground alongside his mount.

Thud!

The Blood Bat Knight captain—dead!

……

"My lord is mighty!"

Five or six minutes later, Mi Ke and the others arrived belatedly.

Seeing the lifeless orc captain beside them, Mi Ke and the others erupted in cheers once more.

This was no flattery—it was genuine awe at their lord's towering presence.

Only those who had fought the Blood Bat Knights firsthand knew how impossibly hard it was to chase them down.

"Did you collect the Blood Bat claws?"

"My lord, all eight pairs of Blood Bat claws are right here!" Mi Ke pointed to a leather sack beside the griffin's saddle.

The Blood Bat Knight held the same status among the beastmen as the griffin knight did among humans.

Thus, killing them would earn greater merit than slaying the beastmen.

Therefore, the bloodthirsty bat's claws, which prove the kill, must naturally be kept safe.

"Excellent! Once we harvest this one, we shall return!"

Soon, the claws of the bloodthirsty bat knight squad leader's mount were also taken away.

As for the bloodthirsty bat's corpse, since it contains deadly poison, even beast meat, no one dares to eat it.

When Gervas returned to Snowfield City, the battle within the city continued.

Although the beastmen's morale was in decline.

Yet, with their vast numbers, they were not crushed in the short term.

Seeing this, Gervas did not stand on ceremony and directly ordered Mick and the others to join the fray.

At the same time, he went to the small grove, placed the cannons back on their carriages, and summoned the gunners to join the battle within the city.

Thus, half an hour later, the campaign ended completely.

All twelve hundred beastmen within the city were eliminated, while the servant army mostly fled.

"Haha! We have won!"

After taking Snowfield City, the subordinates cheered once again.

However, Gervas knew this time had dragged on a bit too long, so he dared not let his subordinates delay too much.

He immediately ordered the battlefield to be cleaned and fires lit to cook, ensuring the rest was completed as quickly as possible before withdrawing.

Upon receiving the order, the subordinates moved with natural speed.

An hour and a half later, the great army began marching again.

And passing through Snowfield City, moving forward more than ten li, the earth and sky suddenly opened up; they had finally entered the Northern Wasteland.

"My lord, where are we going now? Are we advancing towards the west?"

Seeing such a vast expanse of heaven and earth for the first time, the subordinates all appeared somewhat excited.

Of course, they also felt they had escaped the interception, so the next part should be safe.

"No! We go east!" Gervas gave a negative answer.

"To... to the east? This... My lord, the east is the main area of the beastmen; if we go there like this, aren't we throwing ourselves into a trap?"

Knight Mi Gen and the others almost thought they had heard wrong.

After all, the most reasonable choice currently was definitely to head west, take a huge detour to skip the area occupied by the beastmen, and then return to the kingdom's territory from other parts of the western border.

Although it was a bit farther, and although they might encounter bandits, other races, and such on the road.

But in any case, this is surely better than crashing headlong into the beastmen's main army, right?