As they approached the royal capital, the bandits who had robbed the road began to disappear, and people who looked like mercenaries began to be seen everywhere on the road, either galloping side by side in groups of three or five, or walking alone in a bleak manner. They were obviously here to participate in this event. Crusade action.
Li Mengnan also discovered two mercenary teams that looked like the Dream Walker team, but since they were all Westerners with the same appearance as the aborigines, he was not completely sure.
In this legendary world set in the European Middle Ages, the white dreamwalkers have a considerable advantage in concealment.
After paying the entrance fee of one copper coin each, Li Mengnan and his party entered the outer city of the royal capital through the suspension bridge.
The mercenaries who came from all over the place have brought significant prosperity to the market here. Taverns, brothels, casinos and other entertainment venues are full of people. These foul-mouthed, rough and reckless men can be seen everywhere. Scenes of disagreements and fights are commonplace. When walking on the road, you have to be careful of being accidentally injured by flying debris and wooden boards.
Li Mengnan did not find the registration of other dreamwalkers from China at the registration point of the mercenary union. Instead, he accidentally discovered traces of two Asian teams from Japan and Russia. However, the other parties did not leave any address or contact clues. Obviously, they did not No contact with other Dreamwalker teams is planned.
Li Mengnan is not in a hurry. Dreamwalkers have different purposes from the aborigines. After entering the cursed land, there will always be a chance to encounter them.
The registration time for this crusade is very sufficient, but no matter how sufficient it is, you will not wait endlessly. As the departure date approaches, the wild mercenaries on the market have also restrained themselves a lot, and they must seize the time to pay attention to their own abilities. Equipment and items undergo final inspection.
The day when the crusade army set out was in early March, which was a beautiful time of year when the spring was cold and the grass was growing and the orioles were flying.
After the impassioned troop dispatching ceremony, the city gates were opened wide, the suspension bridge was lowered, and the mighty crusade army marched out of the royal capital with surging blood and headed towards the cursed place where Dracula's castle is located.
The farmers and women who were doing spring plowing on the roadside could not help but temporarily stop their work and looked at the murderous army on the road with fearful expressions. They murmured something in a low voice. Only the children who were not familiar with the world were full of envy. He looked at the bright armor of the knight in front of him and chased him with laughter along the path in the fields.
There are 800 regular troops of the kingdom in this crusade, which may not seem like a lot, but it is already a large number for the Principality of Grana. You must know that the garrison troops in the entire royal capital are only 3,000, and they are not even that. They are all pure warriors.
The 800 people participating in the crusade were a real elite force, including 200 heavy cavalry.
However, the most conspicuous thing in the team is not the regular army of the kingdom, but the legion of Holy Knights sent by the Holy See.
The Paladin Legion represents the highest level of military force in the world, and this is the first time Li Mengnan has seen this legendary unit.
The silver armor is outlined with gorgeous and complicated gilt patterns, and the white cloak on his back is embroidered with gold threads to represent the huge cross pattern representing the Holy See. Not to mention his combat power, this appearance alone gives people a tall and tall look. feeling on.
Wang **** and the Holy Knights walked neatly at the front of the entire crusade. Not far behind was the mercenary brigade of Li Mengnan and others.
In order to facilitate communication with the expedition team and quickly convey orders, the mercenaries also selected several senior mercenaries who are powerful and well-known in the mercenary industry as team leaders.
However, this kind of nominal leader could not restrain the lax and free-spirited mercenaries at all, let alone integrate the team to maintain discipline. The entire mercenary brigade walked sparsely and completely without formation, and two thousand people walked out of less than a thousand people.
human length.
Seeing this scene, Li Mengnan, who was on the edge of the team, couldn't help but shake his head secretly. A miscellaneous army is a miscellaneous army. Fortunately, there are well-disciplined Wang **** and the Holy Knights clearing the way in front. Otherwise, if this mercenary group had been replaced, it would have only
I'm afraid that if the enemy charges, the whole team will be completely in chaos.
However, it is estimated that no one in the Holy See or the Kingdom expects these unorganized mercenaries to serve as the main force of the expedition team. Their main purpose of existence is to disperse the firepower and follow the large troops to clean up the fish that have slipped through the net. It is not necessary to make the best use of everything.
demand too much.
About three or four miles behind the mercenary brigade, there was still a team hanging faintly.
This was not part of the crusade, but a caravan organized by the major trading houses in the kingdom.
In fact, every time there is a crusade against Dracula's army, there will be such a caravan accompanying him. Although the monsters in the cursed land are terrifying, their corpses can decompose many precious materials. Many magicians and warriors are willing to
Pay a big price to buy it.
In addition, they also bear the important task of recording the merits of the expedition. As a third party, the statistical results given by these merchants are often quite fair.
Although there are many bandits in this world, none of them would be so stupid as to attack such an army with overwhelming combat effectiveness. Although there were small groups of bandits constantly peeping from a distance along the way, no accidents occurred.
Three days later, nearly two thousand members of the crusade finally entered the Cursed Land.
The surrounding colors began to become gloomy inexplicably, as if there was a fog that lingered in the sky all year round, and even the midday sun cast a layer of oppressive gray.
Several pitch-black crows were hovering over the heads of the expedition team, making disturbing noises. The cross-firing volleys of more than a dozen crossbows quickly made these crows shut their mouths completely.
"Everyone prepare for battle!"
The heavy cavalry took off their tower shields and lances, and the infantry dismounted and formed a formation. The mercenaries also drew their weapons, sat up straight on their horses, stretched their necks, and watched their surroundings vigilantly.
Everyone knows that in the cursed land, these crows are Dracula's eyes and ears. As long as these flat-haired beasts appear, Dracula's monster legions will not be far away.
Not long after, there was a fine rustling sound in the deep and dark forest in front of me, like the wind blowing on the treetops or like the rain hitting the banana trees. Soon, the sound came from far away and became closer, becoming more and more clear, and was vaguely mixed with a low voice.
A roar and a weird rattling sound like a hard object colliding.
Bones.
Endless bones.
Countless human skeletons holding rusty and broken swords, with flickering light floating in the empty and deep eye sockets, walking with ridiculous but flexible steps, poured out of the woods in front of the expedition team, like
A white flood hit the square formation of human infantry.
Skeleton soldiers, the lowest cannon fodder type in Dracula's monster army, were mostly transformed from soldiers and mercenaries who died in previous crusade armies.
The light bone weight of an average of more than ten kilograms cannot produce as powerful an impact as a living soldier. Although it seems to be ferocious, the tower shield phalanx in front of the crusade army only took half a step back, and the skeleton was thrown away.
The impact of the soldiers' vanguard was completely withstood.
"All troops attack!"
Under the command of the officer, Ru Lin's ax gun poked out from behind the shield, and the small ax at the top slashed downwards neatly. A heartbreaking sound of shattering suddenly sounded in front of the battle formation, white bone fragments flew, and a large number of skeletons
They fell in pieces and were quickly trampled and engulfed by other skeleton soldiers rushing up from behind.