The Undying Death Knight failed to achieve the ending of the Heroic Spirit

"Another one? That saves me from having to look for one."

There was no mistake. Even if he only heard it once, he would not remember the monster's voice incorrectly.

A knight wearing a ghost mask walked slowly towards them, carrying an exaggerated sword that was as tall as him in one hand. The undried blood on the sword dripped down the smooth blade. The splashing sound accompanied the heavy footsteps, as if it was the breath of the god of death.

He couldn't even muster the desire to resist. The evil ghost that was approaching him was like a knight of the apocalypse in charge of war from a myth.

In just a blink of an eye, in Ezequiel's sight, Captain Izcarga was caught up by the sword and his head was cut off.

But even though the Scourge Knight had already devoured countless lives, he still continued to move closer and closer, greedily approaching the next target. Ezequiel struggled to stand up. He reached for his waist, but found nothing - the rapier at his waist had been discarded during the escape.

"Ouch."

As if he had seen something new, the Scourge Knight stopped moving forward, his blood-red eyes narrowed under his helmet, and a look of interest flashed in his pupils.

"You actually want to take up a weapon... You are different from those losers." He kicked Izcarga's sword at his feet towards Ezequiel: "Then take up the sword. By the way, are you the commander of this team?"

Ezequiel took the sword and subconsciously looked at the dead head lying on the ground with its eyes open.

"I see."

The voice was neither hurried nor slow, as casual as if he was waiting for the challenger to draw his sword.

There was no direct attack. The opponent was already at the end of his strength. His brain clearly thought so, but Ezequiel's feet had their own ideas. They seemed to be stuck to the ground for a long time and refused to move.

It was unknown how long the stalemate lasted, perhaps only a second or so, but Ezequiel clearly felt his life slipping away.

At this moment, the faint sound of horse hooves came from behind, which made Ezequiel breathe a sigh of relief. Only people who were unaware of the situation would ride a horse at this time - it seemed that the reinforcements escorting food and fodder had arrived.

"Looks like I should leave now."

Ezequiel only saw the other party put down the greatsword and slowly took off his helmet. Ezequiel widened his eyes, but those red pupils like the sea of ​​blood in hell occupied his entire field of vision. The other party had his back to the setting sun, and his red pupils were intertwined with the blood-red earth.

"May I have your name."

Ezequiel's lips trembled. Being asked his name by such an important person, he knew it was a good opportunity to make a name for himself. So he resisted the urge to kneel down and whispered in a trembling voice: "Ezequiel... Ezequiel Chirigliano."

"I'll remember you."

Leaving behind an incomprehensible sentence, Ezequiel watched the other party disappear into the sunset. Ezequiel finally knelt down in relief, and he touched his head, seeming to find it incredible that he was not dead.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the horseshoes gradually approached until this moment. But by then, the Scourge Knights had already gone far away.

“What a tragic situation this is.”

He heard the knights on horseback commenting like this, and it was indeed true. Of the 800 knights, he didn't know how many would survive.

"Even Lord Izkaga is still alive?"

……

Menechel slowly took off his armor. Although he liked this armor very much, now was not the time to care about it. No matter what others thought, his physical strength had reached its limit in the battle just now.

He had not intended to let the knight go, but the approaching enemy forced Menechel to give up the idea of ​​continuing the fight. After all, the commander had been killed, so letting go of a small soldier was not a big deal.

In the absence of knowledge of the enemy's strength, this was a rather conservative tactic - Menechel would not have acted this way at first, but his poor physical condition at this moment told him that if he did not leave, facing the siege of a group of knights, he would most likely not be able to escape.

He suddenly thought of the sword he had kicked away just to save face, and he couldn't help regretting it. If the atmosphere had not reached its peak at that time, he would not have done such a stupid thing.

Menechel peeled off the last piece of dragon scale armor and looked expressionlessly at the wound on his body that was slowly healing. His magic power was almost exhausted.

Now is not the time to demonstrate individual combat capabilities, Menechel thought, and now he should go back and inform Sir Ector of the arrival of enemy reinforcements.

Thanks to the Lake Knight who passed by for the 200 starting coins reward

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 47 I Believe in You as Firmly as You Believe in Me

2023-07-29

This was Menechelle's first morning meeting since returning to Camelot.

Menechel had returned to Camelot three days ago, and Sir Ector was with him. When the middle-aged man heard that the rebels had reinforcements, he gave up guarding the city of Billou and returned to Camelot.

However, only one or two out of ten of the guards brought out from Bilulu City survived the long journey.

But such trivial matters did not attract people's attention. The people of Camelot were celebrating their victory again and resisting the invasion of foreign tribes.

After the usual worship process, it was Altria's polite words. Except for Hector, who wanted to retire, and was rewarded with a small piece of land in the suburbs of Camelot, all the knights, including Agravin, were only rewarded with money.

Although Menechel frequently looked at Artoria sitting on the throne, it did not change anything.

There are some things that cannot be done when there are many people around.

So when the morning meeting was over, Menechel decisively rejected Gawain's invitation to the tavern and turned into the back hall of Altria as if he was familiar with the place.

At this time, Altria was working.

Menechel looked at Altria who was working attentively in front of him with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"Just ask if you have anything to say."

Perhaps because she felt uncomfortable being stared at by Menachere, Altria raised her head with an unhappy tone.

"Why should I listen to that crap every morning when I have so much work to do?"

Although Menechel was happy to share some of the work with Artoria, Artoria was not confident that Menechel could do it. The girl thought that with Menechel's personality, he would probably tear up all the documents impatiently after only revising a few copies.

Although most of them were just nice words that were of no use, Altria could not help but take the letter mixed in with the nice words seriously.

"When did you learn to beat around the bush?" Altria looked at Menechel in surprise.

"It was influenced by Agragwen."

"Just ask directly next time. It's strange to be so euphemistic." Artoria nodded and continued, "You want to ask why new nobles appeared in Camelot, right?"

Although Menechel did not answer, Altria had understood everything from the other's eyes. The ahoge on its head seemed to understand its owner's distress and lay down listlessly.

"Not long after the previous generation of nobles in Camelot were killed, some of the original merchants in the city spontaneously accepted the status and inheritance they left behind." Artoria has been paying attention to this matter, but these so-called new nobles were very sensible and paid a large sum of money after obtaining the corresponding status, and even sent their own children to serve as knights.

Even at morning meetings, the new nobles spontaneously stood behind the knights in a humble manner.

"But speaking of efficiency, Menachere, I have a new idea." Artoria's eyes brightened as she spoke of this. She unscrupulously put her face close to Menachere, and at the same time, she showed the youthful aura of a young girl: "I plan to abolish this kind of morning meeting with heavy etiquette. The efficiency of the meeting is still too slow."

Hearing that there was something important going on, Menechel finally reluctantly withdrew his gaze from Altria's pink lips, and Altria ignored Menechel's little movements and continued, "I want to gather all the outstanding knights of Camelot around the round table. Everyone can speak freely without any distinction of status. This will make it much easier to discuss matters."

The rise of the new nobles in Camelot meant that Artoria's idea of ​​reforming the country could not be realized, but this did not mean that Artoria could do nothing. These emerging nobles could not hold the power of the entire country like their predecessors, so Artoria prepared to take advantage of this gap to gradually undermine the power of the aristocracy.

Allocating a piece of land to Hector at the morning meeting this morning was a small test by Artoria.

Menechel was a little stunned by the idea that was so advanced that it caught him off guard. However, he didn't care whether the nobles or the knights were in power. Anyway, if Altria felt troublesome and wanted to get rid of her, he would not care about the identity of the person he killed.

"I think it's great." Menechel smiled, he laid on the table and looked at Altria: "If you want to discuss specific matters, I think it's better not to look for me."

"You will be the executive officer at that time - evaluating whether the knights are capable of sitting at the round table."

"Let's put this matter on hold for now." Menechel's face suddenly turned serious. He remembered the reason why he had come to see Altria today. He asked solemnly, "How many soldiers are there in Camelot?"

Altria closed her eyes and was silent for a moment before she spoke: "If you don't count the two hundred people Uncle Ector brought back, there will be no more than eight hundred knights, and about four thousand soldiers."

This is a very dangerous number. As a holy city covering a vast area, the fact that only these troops are retained just shows the dire situation Camelot is in now.

Soldiers guarding foreign tribes and Rome could not be used, and soldiers had to be drawn from Camelot to quell the rebellions in Britain. Although Artoria repeatedly claimed that Camelot had many soldiers and sufficient food when facing those rebels who claimed to be kings, the actual situation was quite the opposite.

"Four thousand."

Menechel's eyes wavered for a moment, but immediately regained clarity.

"I want to take two thousand men to quell the rebellion in the North."

He gritted his teeth and made his request.

This is a golden opportunity. The northern rebels lost nearly 10,000 soldiers due to a flood, and their combat power and morale are at their lowest point. If the four rebels in the north can be defeated one by one, the arrogance of the rebels in other places can be reduced.

But as soon as he asked for two thousand people to leave, Menechel knew that his request was a bit excessive. This was tantamount to putting Camelot in a completely dangerous situation.

Under Menechel's nervous gaze, Altria said nothing.

"No." Artoria finally spoke, her expression serious and without any joking in her eyes: "Although the northern rebels suffered heavy losses, we can at least gather 5,000 people. If something unexpected happens to you and these 2,000 people, Camelot's situation will become even worse."

"I see."

Feeling his body lighten, Menechel was surprised to find that he was actually relieved - that's right, the responsibility required of this expedition was too heavy, even he felt the long-lost pressure.

"So you have to bring at least 3,000 people to ensure safety." Artoria spoke again, and the figure of Menechel was reflected in the girl's eyes. Artoria could think of what Menechel could think of.

Maintaining the status quo and continuing to rob Peter to pay Paul would only delay the demise of Camelot. Rather than waiting for death, Artoria would rather take a gamble and risk everything she has.

"But if that's the case—"

Instead, Menechel was a little panicked. He hurriedly opened his mouth to explain to Altria the disadvantages of this radical approach.

"It's not like you to be so cautious, Menachel." Artoria showed a girlish and serene smile. It was probably only in front of people she knew that a girl would not care about her dignity as a king. She raised her index finger to Menachel's lips, blocking the long speech that followed.

"I believe in you, just as firmly as you believe in me."

Thanks to Bingshuichangliu, klcf, and book friend 20180718073231951 for their monthly ticket support

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 48 Necessary Sacrifice

He led three thousand soldiers to the Badlin area bordering the northern border. A corner of the eerie bones was exposed in the reddish-brown soil, and the withered grass leaves added a bit of eeriness to the place.

This is the city of Bilulu.

At this time, this border fortress was deserted. The corpses and bloodstains everywhere on the city walls made this battleground a dead city. Now that it has not been thoroughly cleaned, it is almost impossible to live in Biluo City.

In other words, Menechel might need to set up camp outside the city.

Seeing this situation, Menechel was relieved. The desertedness of Billu City just showed the weakness of the rebels. Only in this way could he explain why the city that cost 10,000 people to capture would be abandoned so easily.

That night, Menechel summoned the management of several knightly orders. In addition to the familiar faces Kai and Gawain, there was a new face, Lancelot, who had just defected to Camelot and was a young knight chosen by Kai as his deputy.

The faint spirit aura on the other person made Menachere barely remember this unfamiliar face whom he had just met a few times. The only regret was that Lanmarok stayed in Camelot to recover from his injuries and could not come with him. And Aggguiwen was also seriously ill due to the last high-intensity battle.

Having lost both his left and right hands, Menachel can only rely on himself at this time.

"I plan to wait until daybreak and then rush at full speed to the nearest city." Menechel looked at Kai. Artoria appointed him as the commander-in-chief and Kai as the deputy commander. Therefore, even if he didn't care about human relationships, Menechel still had to ask such basic questions.

"There's little hope of winning by force." Kai couldn't help but frown when he heard that. Although Kai had long been far behind Altria and Menechel in combat ability due to his limited talent, he still proved that his ability to sit in the leadership position of Camelot was not just based on connections.

"Lihe City is one of the few strong cities occupied by the enemy. Not only does it have tall walls, but it also has the Tonan River as a moat."

Menacheer silently memorized the name of Lihe City. He said indifferently, "There is no need to attack the city. The rebels need to defend many cities. Although there are thousands of guards, they are spread out. And since Lihe City is a strong city, unless they have the courage to send out 2,000 guards to guard the city gate, the defense force will definitely be tight."

"What we have to do is lure them out of the city for a field battle."

The North was rich in cavalry, but on Menechel's side, whether soldiers, knights or even commanders, all marched on foot.

In field combat, cavalry is king.

As long as the opponent has this kind of fluke mentality, it will be enough for Menasheel to annihilate the opponent.

After personally experiencing the defense of the city of Bilù, Menechel also gained some experience in defending the city, and his analysis seemed very logical, but the loopholes in his words were still keenly caught by Kai.

"It's just a pity that even if we don't have enough manpower, the city walls and moats alone are enough to stop most of us." Kai subconsciously made a few sarcastic remarks, and then he immediately realized that he was not facing the hateful nobles he usually dealt with. However, he was unwilling to take back what he said because of his face, so he could only add dryly: "So Menacheer, it's better to take a long-term view."

"What Camelot lacks now is time." With only a thousand defenders left in the city, it can be said that now is the best time to capture the holy city - so Menechel must ensure that his troops achieve their goals in the very short time they are exposed to the enemy's field of vision.

Otherwise, they will be the ones who are passive.

Thinking of this, Menechel's red pupils subconsciously dilated and a violent smile appeared on his face - if there are not enough opportunities, he will fill them with human lives!

Such a thought flashed through Menechel's mind and was quickly denied by Menechel himself. If he were not the commander now and if the person he was protecting was not Altria, Menechel would have executed that simple and effective strategy without hesitation.

Only when you stand in the corresponding position can you feel the corresponding responsibility.

"Then let's induce the other side to attack." Menichel pressed his forehead, his pupils emitting an inhuman red light in the dim firelight: "Fake defeat."

The losses will definitely be much smaller than those in a siege. Although the number of casualties is still estimated to be quite large, it is a necessary sacrifice for victory.

……

The north, the border, the Lihe city.

This is an isolated city by the water, but compared to the distant Bilulu City on Camelot, Lihe City, which is backed by the Shanren and Yanshui water lines, is easier to defend. If Agguiwen's strategy of "flooding the three armies" is used here, there is no need for food bait and the end of the second round of charge.

In the decade or so after King Uther's death, the Stark region had several conflicts of considerable scale with Sir Ector, but each enemy offensive was stopped by the River Li City.

Therefore, the River Lie City is also considered by the Stark residents to be an invincible city and an artificial barrier between Camelot and Stark.

Now, due to the wrong attack orders in the last round, the four northern countries including Stark have switched from offense to defense, so Lihe City has once again entered a state of alert.