Chapter 378: Armor Break
What lay before them were three dark lines formed by warriors armed to the teeth.
The chilly moonlight cast an icy sheen upon their armor, making these knights who had charged out of the city feel as if they weren’t facing living men, but weapons in human form.
And now, these weapons were steadily advancing toward them.
「They are warriors of the kingdom.」 someone spoke.
「Where are the warriors from the coalition nobles garrisoned outside the city?」 another asked.
「Their numbers should be between twelve hundred to fifteen hundred.」 someone analyzed.
「Should we fight or flee?」 someone asked directly.
「We must flee, but we must also fight,」 someone shouted. 「This is the first time, since the beginning of the New Testament Era, that we are facing the army of York Territory. Even those beams that destroyed the castle proved that the power of the kingdom has surpassed our inherent understanding. Even if we fail, we must come to understand the gap between us and them.」
So these rebel knights moved with remarkable efficiency.
They hauled the magic cannons dismantled from the city walls, bracing them with their bodies, aimed the barrels at the warriors advancing to the beat of the drums, and loaded gemstones into them.
In an instant, pale blue lines lit up across the barrels.
Immediately after, two beams of magical light blasted toward the slow-moving formation.
The knights stared at the beams, but just as they were about to strike the formation, a faint arc shimmered—and the beams vanished as though erased.
「Charge!」 Though the outcome was strange, it wasn’t unexpected by the knights.
After all, if York Territory could sell magic cannons, naturally they would have something to counter them.
So they lifted the still-warm magic cannons and charged at the formation to the right, aiming to break through from there.
As they closed in, a volley of crossbow bolts was fired from within the formation.
They were just handheld bolts; even if one stood still and got shot all day, they wouldn’t pierce a knight’s armor.
Yet none of the knights dared lower their guard. Ever since the castle had been blasted into rubble, their nerves had been taut. So even these tiny bolts were dodged whenever possible.
But this was five hundred handheld crossbows, each firing three bolts at once. With fifteen hundred bolts in total, some were bound to hit.
Then the knights realized—these small bolts seemed to ignore their armor altogether, piercing through the chainmail and padded underarmor and driving deep into their flesh.
Yet their bodies were seemingly tougher than the armor itself. The bolts only penetrated about a finger’s length before getting lodged in muscle.
「Careful! These bolts can bypass armor!」 one hit knight shouted.
「They bypass chainmail too. The padded armor might actually offer more protection,」 another added.
But that was all.
These wounds weren’t enough to make a knight cry out in pain.
They continued their charge. The formation suddenly halted, and the outer three rows of warriors drove their spears into the ground, bracing them with both hands and feet, forming a slanted bramble of spears.
From the rear rows, warriors hurled sling-stones at the charging knights.
Though these blunt weapons couldn’t pierce armor, they succeeded in slowing the knights down.
The knights were now close. Without enough force to break the front lines in a single charge, they hadn’t planned to do so anyway.
The formation was a hollow square. If they dared charge in, they’d only be surrounded and killed.
So the knights grabbed the spears and yanked.
Though each was held by a third-tier elite, and wouldn’t be easily pulled free, a few knights working together nearly succeeded in yanking one soldier out of formation.
The rest of the spears were swung at them, but the knights, clad in armor, ignored the ineffectual blows.
These were knights, after all—not only strong, but well-trained.
Seeing this, the central knight of the formation ordered a slow advance.
The formation moved forward, forcing the knights pulling spears to let go.
「Don’t tangle with them. The other two formations are closing in. Let’s just move. They can’t stop us.」 someone shouted.
Indeed, this one formation alone couldn’t kill the knights, but breaking through would take time.
These warriors, stepping out of York Territory for the first time since the New Testament Era began, were far stronger than expected.
If not for facing a group of berserk knights, these fully-armored warriors could have slain foes many times their number.
Even their enemies were third-tier elite warriors.
Their equipment was far too luxurious.
That eerie volley of handheld bolts alone would have crushed the morale of most regular armies.
So the knights had no choice but to circle around the formation.
But then, the drumbeats in the distance grew urgent.
Suddenly, from within the formation, teams of two or three dashed out, targeting heavily wounded knights. Another volley of sling-stones flew from the formation to provide cover.
Knights caught off-guard were quickly surrounded.
The ones surrounding them didn’t attack but tackled them to the ground, pinning them down.
In hand-to-hand combat between fourth and third tiers, the difference was obvious. But armor didn’t care if it was worn by a third-tier soldier or a fourth-tier knight.
York Territory’s armor was even more refined.
So no matter how fiercely the knights punched, they couldn’t break free quickly. The other fleeing knights, upon seeing the fully-armored warriors, decisively abandoned their pinned comrades and continued escaping.
Before arriving at Doyle City, they hadn’t even known each other. During those consecutive banquets, they had suppressed their fears, never thinking to make friends.
Making it this far from the city was purely due to their own military discipline and strength, allowing for tacit cooperation.
But now, in this seemingly hopeless situation, they didn’t stop to lend a hand.
After all, they were strangers, mere temporary allies.
So the knights fled, while more and more from the formation lunged out to tackle them.
With each movement of the formation, the fallen knights were dragged back in. Then came the clanging of metal—and the muffled, pained screams.
When all the knights had vanished from the area, only piles of twisted corpses remained on the ground.
The formation didn’t pursue the fleeing knights, but continued its advance into Doyle City.
Creak.
The main gate of Doyle City closed once more, leaving only those twisted lumps of metal outside.
……
「Those knights were truly formidable. Even though they seemed exhausted and badly wounded, more than a hundred still escaped,」 the adjutant reported to Julian.
「They are knights, after all. Alexiu, you’re still young and not yet a knight. Until you become one, you won’t truly understand how powerful knights really are,」 said Julian.
「But this is the New Testament Era now, and war is no longer the sole stage of knights,」 said the young adjutant Alexiu.
Julian smiled, not bothering to argue with the young man. He asked, 「How much gold did we spend on this clash with them?」
Alexiu quickly pulled out a scroll of parchment and said, 「Blocking their Type I magic cannon blast cost us one anti-magic stone. That’s the most expensive part. The raw materials alone cost three hundred gold coins. We fired fifteen hundred armor-piercing bolts, each costing three silver coins to make—that’s a total of four hundred fifty gold coins. Then there were worn sling-stones, maintenance of used weapons and armor, and one child, nervous, broke a drum. Altogether, no more than a hundred gold coins.」
Julian said, 「So we spent at least eight hundred fifty gold coins just on material cost, not including labor. Anti-magic stones can barely be made by a third-tier mage, and even then, not always successfully. Failures are common.」
「The bolts are simpler but still require qualified makers, at least second-tier mages.」
「If you include losses and mage compensation, this brief engagement cost us no less than four thousand gold coins.」
Alexiu disagreed. 「Those mages serve the kingdom and are compensated through their positions. Including losses, it’s at most fifteen hundred gold coins.」
Julian smiled again, unbothered. 「After driving those knights off, there will be a period of calm—at least for us. During that time, I give you five thousand gold coins. Can you replenish the anti-magic stone and fifteen hundred armor-piercing bolts?」
Alexiu paused. 「That shouldn’t take five thousand gold coins. I can restock them for fifteen hundred at most.」
Julian replied, 「Then the remaining gold coins are your reward.」