High in the sky, fifty Pegasus Knights of the Swift Spear Order pierced through the clouds, diving rapidly.
Kemmler was under attack, and in his haste, he lost control over his undead army. For about thirty seconds, the entire legion turned into a mindless rabble, fighting solely on instinct.
The time Kemmler lost control was brief, only about thirty seconds. When he regained command with the help of his Wight Knights, he quickly realized the battle had changed.
The Pegasus Knights of the Swift Spear Order swooped down like a whirlwind, swiftly sweeping the undead legion off the walls. Their charge knocked the Grave Guards and Skeleton Warriors from the battlements.
Ryan, having missed his initial strike, swiftly turned his griffon, Imperius, in the air. The golden griffon's wings spread wide, executing a sharp turn. Imperius then dove, its talons tearing off a ghoul's skull. With three sharp pecks, another ghoul's neck was ripped to shreds.
The Hammer of Thunder struck, damaging critical parts of the battering ram attacking the gate.
The Pegasus Knights followed Ryan's lead, raising their lances and charging down the walls, breaking the Grave Guards holding the ladders.
Duke Fulcard and Karad reacted, loudly ordering the soldiers to counterattack. The undead on the walls, now in chaos, were swiftly driven back and defeated.
"The situation has changed!" When Kemmler regained control of his Tomb Legion, he found the battlefield had shifted. The human defenders had regained the upper hand.
More importantly, Kemmler himself was exposed. The necromancer realized he was now in a dangerous position, vulnerable to attack. He wasn't particularly adept at close combat and could barely hold his own against a legendary knight like Duke Fulcard, but the Grail Knight on the griffon was a Grandmaster-level knight, far beyond his capability.
Should he deploy Ghorst?
Kemmler reached for the sword at his waist.
This sword, the Chaos Grave Digger, was a gift from the four Chaos Gods. Engraved with the Chaos Eight-Pointed Star, it enslaved the souls of its victims for eternity.
Summoning Ghorst would allow him to continue fighting, but with Francois and his reinforcements arriving at any moment, continuing the battle could risk being caught between two enemies and prematurely revealing his trump card.
After a moment's thought, Kemmler decided to retreat. He called to Masyubad, "Masyubad, prepare to retreat. You and your men cover our rear. If the knights pursue, my Cairn Wraiths and Wight Knights will assist you!"
"Masyubad?" Kemmler received no response. He turned around.
Masyubad and his army had vanished!
Damn! That bastard ran faster than me! Kemmler realized Masyubad's plan. He had intended to betray Masyubad, but the latter had fled first.
Retreat! Kemmler ordered his army to withdraw. Mounting his armored nightmare steed, he led his Tomb Legion northward.
The siege of Montfort Castle was finally lifted. The undead remnants, without Kemmler's command, became a disorganized rabble easily defeated by the reinvigorated defenders. As Kemmler retreated, the remaining undead army disintegrated.
When Ryan landed his griffon on Montfort's high walls, Duke Fulcard rushed to him, anxiously asking, "Why not pursue? Why not chase down the undead? We defended the castle with great effort; we should attack and annihilate them!"
"If circumstances allowed, I would pursue the undead, my Lord Duke," Ryan shook his head. "Unfortunately, only the Swift Spear Order and I have arrived. The main knight army will take another day and a half to reach here."
"You traveled day and night to get here?" Duke Fulcard was surprised, noticing the reinforcements consisted only of Ryan and fifty Pegasus Knights.
"Yes," Ryan nodded calmly. "Luckily, we weren't too late."
"I express the eternal gratitude of Montfort for your and Francois's efforts!" Fulcard sighed, hesitating before thanking Ryan and the others. "You saved eighty thousand lives."
"We still have more people to save!" said Fastdrik, leader of the Swift Spear Order, as he dismounted. Thanks to Ryan's precise identification of Kemmler and the subsequent surprise attack, the fifty Pegasus Knights were unharmed. "The undead army's assault isn't over; we still need to settle this."
"Yes, we will make the undead pay for this!" Fulcard said, burning with anger.
"We'll wait here for Duke Francois's army to arrive," Karad, looking weary after days of fighting, greeted Ryan. "The castle's entire garrison is exhausted, many are injured; everyone needs rest."
Ryan and the others nodded. After flying a day non-stop, even the knights and their mounts were tired.
Duke Fulcard looked back at his castle. Montfort Castle stood strong. Homes could be rebuilt, livestock could be raised again, and the undead could never shake his glory with such a fortress.
But looking at his soldiers, Fulcard felt a stabbing pain. He had ordered all male refugees aged fifteen to forty-five to fight, conscripting over ten thousand defenders.
Now, the soldiers were limping around, trying to clean up the aftermath under the knights' commands. Many were wounded, struggling after the brutal fight against the undead. Unlike human wars or goblin skirmishes, this battle against the undead was extraordinarily harsh. Soldiers couldn't understand why their comrades turned into terrifying zombies and skeletons, yet they raised their weapons against them.
Montfortians had learned resilience over the ages.
But human resilience has its limits. Without Ryan's timely aid, these soldiers would have faced horrific losses and joined the undead ranks. Many wives would lose their husbands, children their fathers, and elders their sons, losing the hope of their families.
Thinking of this, Fulcard called out to Ryan, who was about to leave, thinking the Duke didn't like him. "Lord Ryan, please wait."
"What is it, my Duke?" Ryan turned, curious. His warhammer still dripped with the black blood of ghouls, two of which had fallen under his hammer.
"You did well." Fulcard approached, his thoughts shifting. The Duke, seeing his jubilant people, grateful for Ryan's timely arrival, felt conflicted. He patted Ryan's shoulder and whispered, "You know, I have a good relationship with Richard."
"So?" Ryan's interest piqued.
"But who knows what the future holds?" Fulcard walked away, leaving Ryan thoughtful. "Rest well, Lord Ryan."
Ryan smiled meaningfully. His efforts to convince his father-in-law Francois to deploy the air force for a rapid response had paid off.
...
Northern Montfort, Upper Grismore River, ten kilometers from Montfort Castle.
Heinrich Kemmler led his army to retreat to the plains near Soden. Before he could contact Masyubad, he found the Duke of Mousillon and his undead knights, Blood Knights, and Black Grail Knights waiting there. Additionally, two vampire lords and three Black Grail Knights accompanied him.
Seeing Masyubad, Kemmler was furious. His wrinkled face twisted in anger. "You ran fast, Duke of Mousillon. Did your mentor teach you to flee in battle? Are you proud of outrunning Walach?"
Elbo Walach, the Blood Dragon ancestor and founder of the Blood Knights, was Masyubad's bloodline (unknown to him), and Masyubad had learned Walach's martial skills.
In history, the secret guardian of Bretonnia, the half-god Green Knight, once dueled Walach. The result was a draw.
Walach never fled a battle, making Kemmler's taunt biting.
"I led my army to support you," Masyubad replied calmly, unfazed by Kemmler's threat. "If you choose to retreat, this is our command center. If you choose to fight Bretonnia to the death, I won't stop you."
"You should follow my orders as my aide!" Kemmler threatened, pressing his chattering skull staff to Masyubad's forehead. "I could shatter you with my magic and turn you into a dried corpse!"
"I'm your ally, Kemmler, not your servant. Are enemies and servants all you have?" Masyubad retorted, drawing his cursed knightly sword with a golden snake engraving. He pushed Kemmler's staff aside and raised his blade. "Come, Kemmler, draw your sword, and we'll duel. Or, we can pretend nothing happened and discuss our next move."
The Chaos Grave Digger! Kemmler grasped his sword's hilt but hesitated.
Not now.
"Head north to Artois and Gisoreaux! Tell me where Duke Zilfroa and his knights' crypts are." Kemmler decided. "We will ambush Bretonnia's main force and crush them there!"
Once Masyubad was no longer useful, Kemmler planned to summon Ghorst and eliminate him.
The time for the final battle wasn't right yet.
No matter. First, let this country suffer.
Masyubad wondered why Kemmler was so confident against the Bretonnian main force. The Tomb Legion was strong but had no clear advantage against the knights.
Why did he believe he could defeat them?
Something felt off about Kemmler's behavior. Too fond of slaughter and destruction, more than a necromancer should be. The goal was control, not destruction.
Was it his hatred for this country?
For the next two weeks, Heinrich Kemmler and his Tomb Legion roamed the Grey Mountains and Arden Forest. They destroyed every settlement along the way, wiping out dozens of villages, growing stronger like a snowball.
The knights' army, constantly intercepting them, was
exhausted. The cunning necromancer never appeared in the plains or hills, only in the mountains and forests. The tireless undead were impossible to catch.
The Duchy of Gisoreaux suffered devastating attacks. Towns turned to ash, villages into giant crypts. Count Jean-Harlan, managing the duchy, struggled to defend the fortresses while desperately calling for aid.
In late autumn, in a forest clearing in southern Gisoreaux.
The southern knight army was encamped.
"We received a message from Regent Lauen; the northern knight army is still assembling," Duke Francois of Winford said to Dukes Fulcard, Ryan, and others while studying the map.
Three black lines covered Gisoreaux. Only the north and east held out; the south was overrun, with over sixty percent of the lords fallen.
"Duke Lauen has only mustered knights from Connet and Le-Angoulême. Lyonnais refused to send troops," Duke Fulcard grumbled. "Eldred's head isn't clear!"
"Last year's invasion by Egil severely weakened the northern duchies. Lyonnais still has many uninhabited areas, internal strife, peasant revolts, cultist activity, complex succession, and noble infighting. They're incapable of aiding us," Ryan explained quietly. "Duke Eldred can't control his duchy, let alone send troops."
"We can't advance recklessly. Who knows what's waiting for us?" Karad said, examining the map. "The Bastogne reinforcements were annihilated this way."
Everyone nodded.
Despite repeated calls for unified action, Count Jean-Labio of Bastogne led two thousand men to Gisoreaux prematurely, resulting in total defeat and his transformation into an undead knight.
This loss sparked mutual accusations among Bretonnian nobles. The southerners blamed the northerners for being slow, while the northerners accused the southerners of arrogance, despite their forces being ready but not engaging Kemmler's legion, leading to Labio's demise.
Ryan and Regent Lauen, invoking the Lady's will, forcibly quelled the arguments.
But this wasn't sustainable. Prestige had its limits.
The group discussed at length, facing the dilemma of either advancing slowly, risking the undead's evasion, or moving quickly, risking ambush.
After some thought, Ryan focused on Blackstone Stronghold.
"I have a plan…" Earl of Glamorgan said softly.
"What plan?" Francois asked casually.
"Well, it's…"
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