"Champion showdown..." Hearing this word, Albert fell into deep thought, the earl fell silent, and Ryan didn't speak either.
Champion showdown, the oldest and most sacred rule of the northern barbarians.
After believing in Chaos, the northern barbarians who pursued power and glory in the past have gradually corrupted into a chaotic race that thirsts for all blood and killings by any means. In order to win, and to obtain the attention of the evil god, they will use any means, regardless of shame, and no matter the cost.
Only the championship duel is a sacred ceremony recognized by all the barbarians in the north.
Two champions with similar racial identities will have a sacred duel, and the outcome of the duel will determine the outcome of this war.
One battle determines victory or defeat.
The Holy Grail Knight under the great first-generation knight king Arthur, the first-generation Duke of Bordeaux, Marcus, once defeated the Chaos Champion Gavin Lie by relying on a championship duel, and single-handedly defeated thousands of barbarian armies. This great story is still being sung to this day.
.
However, the barbarians are not that easy to deal with. Countless stupid nobles and knights have lost their heads because of the championship showdown, because the strength of the barbarian lords is too strong. The ability of these lords to become lords has nothing to do with their blood, but depends on the survival of the fittest.
And bloody conquest, in this case, few nobles relying on blood and enfeoffment could defeat the barbarians with roughly equal strength and status, and countless heroes failed.
"But... Birig is a legendary high-level barbarian chief..." Albert walked up to Ryan. The earl's eyes were full of shock, and he even couldn't bear it: "Are you really?"
"Other than that, we have no other way." Ryan shook his head. He walked behind Albert and pointed at the large map on the table: "Most of the plains near Mjordenhaven are safe.
Guard, we lack cavalry, and we don’t have any mobile troops for me to dispatch, and...I heard that the only fifty muskets you have..."
"I have brought them all to the northern front line. I have a lot of crossbows and weapons in my arsenal, but there are really not many muskets." The count smiled bitterly: "At this critical moment, there is no need for me to lie to you, because I really didn't expect it.
The barbarians will come to my city."
"Without the musket, a powerful tool for defending the city, there are only two cannons left on the east city gate." Ryan kept shaking his head: "I really can't think of any clever strategies. The strength gap between the enemy and us is too big. We
We have also lost the advantageous barrier of the city wall, so the only way is the championship showdown." Ryan said with a kind of indifference in his tone: "This is the only chance."
"I admire your noble character and I recognize you. Albert Baker hereby swears to the God of Justice that Ryan will always be a friend of our Baker family! If the war ends, I will give you half of my savings and
My family heirloom." The Earl reached out and squeezed Ryan's shoulder, and then stretched out his hand: "Tomorrow, let us fight side by side. My guards and I will charge together to create this opportunity for you."
The White Wolf Knight and the Earl held hands: "For Nord! For your people."
"For Nord!!!"
The next day, when the noon sun was high in the sky, the dark barbarian army finally appeared at the end of the horizon.
Despite some losses in the Battle of Aarhus Bridge the day before, the number of the Ursine tribe's army still made people feel desperate. Nearly four thousand barbarian troops advanced towards the collapsed east gate of Mjordenhaven.
.
Nord's army lined up near the city gate to meet the enemy. They were carefully arranged into an impregnable defense line. The crossbowmen stood on the nearby city wall, stringing their bows, always ready to meet the enemy.
"Barbarian marauders, barbarian berserkers, barbarian hunters and barbarian riders. The only thing I'm thankful for is that I didn't see any trolls or Norscan giants." Estelle stood on the city wall, behind the half-elf.
The quiver is already filled with arrows: "Rost? Do you think we can hold on here?"
The barbarian Rost was checking his weapons. Hearing the half-elf's words, the barbarian laughed loudly: "Of course we can't defend it."
"But we still have to fight." Estelle complained in a low voice.
"I have experienced more desperate wars than this one. What's the point? The people of the past have become the playthings of the evil god. Now that we meet, the only option is to fight to the death." Rost said loudly: "We still have to fight!"
On the other side, on the high city wall, a large group of Nord soldiers were guarding Teresa. The large amount of magic power swirling around the sorceress became their only support. The Gloriosa congresswoman expressed her willingness to join the war and let the entire army
Feeling extremely pleasantly surprised, Walnut Knight Nikolai asked the soldiers to send her away safely if the battle went unfavorably.
"Really? Banda is dead?" Teresa learned from Emilia beside her that the little mercenary who surrounded her all day died in the terrible explosion. The mercenaries only found his
one hand.
"Yes..." Emilia replied in a low voice. The girl did not tell what happened next. After losing his apprentice, Wilt was extremely sad. He loudly cursed the Gloria Congresswoman in front of him, claiming that everything was wrong.
It was her fault.
"I'm sorry about this." Teresa expressed. Then she said: "Emilia?"
"Huh?" The female mercenary was stunned. She was surprised that the sorceress in front of her actually said that she was sad?
"If this city cannot be defended, you can teleport back to Sky Castle with me and Ryan." The sorceress looked at the graceful female mercenary standing next to her, and suddenly reached out and touched her face with her fingertips:
"Beauty is not a sin."
"...Thank you, but I will stay." Emilia stepped back slightly, avoiding Theresa's movement: "Thank you for your kindness, but I am a mercenary of the Blood Ax Mercenary Group."
"Forget it, whatever you want." Seeing the barbarian army gradually approaching, the sorceress no longer forced herself, and she began to prepare spells under the protection of the soldiers.
The barbarian raiders approached the city gate, and they were extremely surprised to find that the city gate had collapsed, and now all that was left were ruins and the Nord army guarding the ruins. So everyone rushed to the front, holding their shields high and bowing.
The body and pace changed from walking slowly to fast to running wildly. The white bear flag with a black background was erected high and fluttering in the cold weather.
The defenders on the city wall fired arrows desperately, and the militiamen also threw javelins, stones and even all kinds of strange things. The barbarian marauders raised their shields to resist the showers of arrows.
The engineer nervously loaded and directed the only two remaining artillery pieces, trying his best to shoot at the densely populated barbarian army.
Barbarians are not fools. Under the command of the barbarian champion warriors, the barbarian marauders immediately dispersed and rushed towards Nord's military formation in twos and threes.
At a face-to-face distance, the fighting styles of the barbarians and southerners are vividly reflected. The Nord army's front line stands like steel in front of the ruins of the city gate. With the close cooperation of pikemen and great swordsmen, the first wave rushes up.
The barbarians fell in pieces, but soon more barbarians poured in.
The attackers were constantly warmly welcomed by the crossbowmen on the city wall. Under the command of Nikolai, the crossbowmen fired in a very orderly and targeted manner. The weak barbarian retinues were frightened by the rain of arrows and stopped in their tracks.
, but this is for those
This did not apply to the strong barbarian raiders. These warriors who believed in the evil god were even harder to stop. After only ten minutes, they rushed into the key points of the military formation. The Nord troops had to face these powerful warriors.
of barbarians.
Fighting one on one, ordinary soldiers are no match for barbarian marauders, but excellent tactics can make up for the weakness of the Nord army. Pikemen and great swordsmen formed a tight formation to bear the brunt of the charge, and then the halberdiers
Outflanking the barbarians, with the sincere cooperation of the Nord army, the second wave of barbarian troops was repulsed again.
The barbarian chief Birig was riding on a huge white bear. He saw that his two attacks were repelled, so he waved his hand. His champion Kurorin, who was wearing a giant chaos plate armor, received the chief's call.
After giving the instructions, he raised the big black flag.
Continue to attack.
Blizzards and frost were raging in the air. With the help of the sorceress's powerful spells, the Nord army and the barbarian army were constantly fighting. Teresa had used her full strength. Under the full operation of her magic power, the barbarians hurriedly made
The siege engines and siege towers were smashed into pieces by ice spears and blizzards, and ice arrows shot out under her will. Every place meant that Congresswoman Gloria had eliminated another barbarian warrior.
The defenders always cheered.
The war began to enter a protracted war. The Nord troops repelled the barbarian attacks again and again. At this moment, whether they were standing armies, conscripts or temporarily recruited mercenaries, the barbarians were defeated again and again due to their efforts.
He retreated, leaving behind a large number of corpses and fleeing hastily.
However, the number of barbarians was too great. After each attack, the originally thick front line gradually became thinner. The army of several hundred people gradually could not withstand the consumption. More militiamen joined the battlefield in a hurry, lacking the strength.
The well-trained and resilient militiamen began to retreat steadily from the barbarian attacks. Seeing this, the walnut knight Nikolai led his followers into the battlefield and barely stabilized the situation.
The balance of victory and defeat is constantly swinging. The Nord army's defense line seems to be crumbling, but it is still standing. The crossbowmen on the city wall have exhausted the arrows in their quivers. Many soldiers dropped their bows and crossbows and drew their arrows.
Use your weapons to fight in the city.
"Ah!" The mace hit hard, knocking down another barbarian warrior. Nikolai wiped the blood on his face. The battle had lasted for two hours. The Nord army was exhausted, with more than half of them dead or injured, but they
They still held on with strong willpower. After all, they understood that they were fighting for the lives of their families.
With the persistence of the army, the momentum of the barbarian attack began to slow down. These barbarians seemed to be less confident. In front of the neat shield wall and dense spear line, corpses were densely packed and stacked high into mountains.
On the streets of the city.
"The barbarians can no longer hold on, Your Majesty the Earl!" Emil, the captain of the guard, nodded towards Albert, who was fully armed, wearing ancestral armor and holding a lance: "It's not that easy, be prepared, let us give them a fatal blow.
One hit! Give Ryan a chance!”
There are nearly thirty people in the count's bodyguards, all wearing full plate armor and holding lances. As the paladins from the Church of Justice and the Church of Life came to join them, this fifty-man cavalry army has been assembled.
forming.
Ryan was also among them, holding a war hammer. At this time, his heart was filled with peace.
Just when he decided to stay and face the enemy, he truly understood the most difficult thing to understand among the eight virtues of knighthood - sacrifice.
"Knight, do you have the courage? When you need to pay a price to achieve the interests of the majority of people, do you dare to sacrifice? Maybe it is to sacrifice material interests, maybe to sacrifice your life?"
——The Fairy of the Lake
Sometimes, knights are pitiful and pathetic, because the gods they believe in enjoy the sacrifice of their own knights. The knights are asked to face a hopeless battle, but they must sacrifice.
Sometimes, in order to protect their homeland and protect their cherished things, knights sacrificed themselves regardless of the cost, which became the beginning of countless evocative stories. In the great holy war one hundred and fifty years ago, many knights fought to the end. The famous old times
The Imperial Knights of the Sun fought bloody battles until only one person remained. Even after one hundred and fifty years of recuperation, the Knights of the Sun only recovered 80% of their size.
But they have no regrets.
Likewise, Ryan has no regrets about his choice.
This is no longer the materialistic and morally corrupt world he lives in. In this world, the threat of chaos will forever threaten mankind. If no one stands up and is willing to make sacrifices for this race and this world, the entire world will be under the influence of demons.
fell into the clutches of.
Didn’t even my father make terrible sacrifices?
More than 11,000 years of torture with no end in sight, allowing his soul and will to be broken in countless places across the universe, watching helplessly as the human empire he built gradually turned from science and enlightenment to decadence and superstition.
It gradually collapsed amid countless foreign enemies and internal strife.
But my father still persisted, just for the sake of the race he loved, the human beings he loved.
Along the way, the refugees in the city, the old and the weak in the city looked at this last new force with expectant eyes. They are the last hope of the city, those longing eyes, those young faces,
It evoked countless thoughts in Ryan.
This kind of thoughts was quickly broken, and the hustle and bustle rang out from the city gate. The barbarian chief Birig finally couldn't stand that his tribe could not break through the Nord army after sacrificing more than two thousand people. The powerful Chaos Champion decided to go into battle in person.
.
When the barbarian chief, who was more than two meters tall, rode a white giant bear and led his champions into the battle formation, Nord's army seemed to be cut into two pieces by a big axe.
Rigg raised his battle ax in a roar, taking the lead. The spearmen's shields were easily knocked away, and their spears not only did no damage but
Apart from Birig himself, even the giant bear he was sitting on was hard to shake. The barbarian chief swung his axe, and the two soldiers were cut in half. The barbarian riders and champion warriors he led were like hammers.
They also smashed into the military formation, and Nord's army fell on their backs. The military formation was being broken through and defeated, and panic and despair began to spread on the front.
The moment has come to decide the fate of this city. (To be continued)