Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 103 The Bet (Part 1)

A heart-stopping battle cry erupted from the throats of more than two thousand Exter men, surging towards the Star People, who resembled a lone boat.

Thales' first large-scale battlefield experience came without his knowledge.

The swordsmen and shieldmen of the Fury Guard stood in the first row, their longswords in hand, forming a defensive formation with their comrades beside them.

Alaka had already dismounted, and with a terrifying greatsword nearly as tall as a man in his hands, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit, he strode forward.

The soldiers in front made way for their commander, enough for three people to pass.

"First wave of attack!" Alaka looked around and shouted, "Hold the line!"

The enemy surged in like a tide, drawing ever closer.

At the very center of the formation, Wyatt immediately pulled Thales off his conspicuous warhorse and tightly surrounded him in a circle of six soldiers. Then he joined Ada, Putila, and Rolf, each guarding one of the four corners of this small battle formation.

"Go help the front line!" Thales urged. "If they break down, you won't be able to protect me!"

But his mind was in turmoil—he couldn't understand how he had ended up in such a situation on his mission to Exeter.
What happened?
Wyatt and Rolf exchanged a glance, and with Puttier's nod, they moved towards the front row.

Ada exhaled and whispered to Putilai, "This is a real battlefield; even experts at the highest level must be extremely careful."

"And such a lopsided battle..."

"If you have any ways to avoid fighting, please suggest them now!"

"If you don't have one, think of one quickly!"

Thales gritted his teeth, looking at the enemies charging towards him from all sides—six battalions of Extermen.

The enemy numbers... are too many.

Surrounded.

We simply don't have enough troops... no, we should say we're not prepared for war at all!
How to do?
Should I shout out my identity?
But the other side seemed completely unconcerned.

As the impending battle approached, many of the Stars' soldiers exhaled a breath of hot air, gripped their weapons tightly, held their shields firmly, and stared intently at the menacing Exter people.

The first roaring Exter infantryman charged forward.

"boom!"

His shield clashed violently with the shield of a swordsman.

With the help of their comrades on both sides and behind, the swordsmen of Starfall gritted their teeth and withstood the impact of this tall opponent, and swung their swords to block the axe that came down from the sky.

However, more Exter people surged toward the Star Mission's formation.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The Exter soldiers roared in anger as they charged into the Star People's formation from all directions!
"kill!"

"Hold on to them!"

Amidst the roars of the soldiers on both sides, the sounds of shields clashing and weapons clashing mingled together, like countless thunderclaps exploding on flat ground.

Jenard stood in the front row with two Rageguard soldiers, his shoulder bracing against the shield.

A mace swung down and slammed into the shield, making Jenard flinch and nearly fall backward.

His companions behind him supported his back to help him steady himself.

With a contorted face, Jenard desperately withstood the impact.

"Damn it," he thought in anguish.

These Exter men... are much stronger and more robust than the rebels in the southwest.

Jenard dodged a sword aimed at his forearm, letting his comrade deal with him, while the veteran parried the spiked hammer, kicked its owner hard in the knee, sending him staggering, and then plunged the sword into his unprotected neck.

Blood gushed out, and the opponent stammered as he fell backward.

Fortunately... they weren't very agile either.

Just as he was thinking this, a spear grazed his ear and pierced the abdomen of a soldier to Jenard's left, who collapsed with a groan.

Jenard roared as he filled in the spot where the fallen had fallen, cleaved a spear in two, and blocked a blade that tried to break through the gap. A soldier behind him quickly filled the empty space Jenard had left.

Such scenes appeared in various places in the front row.

Roars and screams still mingled with the clanging of metal and the clashing of weapons. Exter's light infantry charged forward again and again, only to be held back or even driven back by the Wrath Guard and the delegation, leaving behind corpses. But people from the Stars' side also fell one after another, and blood gradually stained the snow red.

But the veteran soldiers of the Fury Guard at the front line still relied on their rich experience and mature skills to try their best to keep the line from being breached.

Thales looked around in terror at the battlefield where thousands of people were intertwined.

Brutal and terrifying battle
Blood splattered everywhere.

A desperate, selfless roar.

The number of corpses kept increasing.

The battlefield before them was undoubtedly more shocking than their previous encounter with the Holy Blood Legion.

Commander Arakka was also at the front, his face pale as he guarded the gap between the three men alone.

He didn't display any fancy or sophisticated extreme combat techniques, but instead repeated simple and unadorned combat movements.

However, no one could gain an advantage from him.

In the first wave of attacks, Araka's two-handed greatsword whistled through the air, severing a head with a horizontal slash.

He then cleaved open the shield and chest of the second Exter man, and amidst the gushing blood, swiftly parried an incoming longsword, plunging his greatsword into the man's chest before he could react.

But next to him, a soldier from the Wrathguard had his skull cleaved open by an axe and collapsed helplessly.

Exter's bastards.

Arakka gritted his teeth and exhaled, his face full of ferocity and savagery. He turned around and used the hilt of his sword to knock the enemy off balance.

"Observe the situation behind us and seize the opportunity to break through and return to the fortress!" With his face covered in blood, Arakka swung his sword while ducking to avoid an axe blade, and shouted the order.

“I’m afraid it will be difficult!” A guard officer pushed a fierce Exter man back and reported to him, “More than half of the enemy is blocking our back!”

"Hold on! They're only relying on the morale from the first offensive!"

Arakka gritted his teeth and kicked over a shield, stabbing his sword into his master's ferocious, roaring face. With a timely flick of his left hand, he deflected a spear with his forearm, drawing blood.

But at the same time, an axe blade came crashing down on his head. Alaka calmly ducked to dodge, the blade ripping off a few strands of hair.

Wyatt, wielding a single-edged sword, arrived. He thrust his sword forward, unleashing the Unreturning Edge, and slashed his opponent's throat with a backhand motion. However, he himself was grazed in the ribs by the axe blade and let out a painful groan.

Beside him, a fellow soldier who had tried to save him had his head smashed by a hammer, blood and sweat splattering everywhere.

"Stop with your boring swordsmanship and put away your fancy poses!" Alaka blocked a straight blade aimed at Wya and roared angrily, "On the battlefield, even a master of the highest level isn't much stronger than an ordinary person!"

"It's just standing there for another ten minutes or so, killing a few more minions!"

"Save some energy for each attack, leaving room for dodging. Just honestly slash and dodge!"

An infantryman, his weapon knocked away, roared and tried to rush forward to grab him. Without hesitation, Arakka held his sword in one hand, punched him in the face, and then delivered a fierce elbow strike that sent him flying. The sound of the soldier's ribs cracking could be faintly heard.

"Otherwise, retreat to the rear and don't become a burden!"

With his injuries not yet healed and new wounds added, Wyman could only grit his teeth and retreat in shame.

A strange gust of wind suddenly swept in, whipping up snowflakes, and several Extt infantrymen who had come to reinforce them instinctively raised their hands to protect their eyes.

Arakka roared and swung his sword with both hands, slicing open one man's shield-and-chest at the opportune moment, before thrusting it into another man's abdomen.

“This ability is not bad…” Alaka wiped the blood from his face, frowning as he looked at Rolf’s one-handed hidden blade: “But can that thing be used on the battlefield?”

Rolf, a mute man with a broken arm, couldn't make sense of anything, but he did feel the powerlessness of the hidden blade on the battlefield—without a handguard, every swing could mean saying goodbye to his own arm.

He can only use his supernatural abilities to support his combat, and his hidden blade is used for self-defense.

On the other side of the formation, Willow Ken hid behind a swordsman and shieldman, parrying a sword strike with his left hand while sending a spear thrust beyond the shield with his right, piercing the enemy's cheek.

A soldier, his right hand severed, gritted his teeth and retreated, shield in hand, but as he took his first step, a flying axe cleaved into his chest and abdomen.

Another person stepped forward.

"You're a doctor, at least do something!" Willow shouted anxiously to Ramon, who was huddled behind him. "I'm not a medic!" Ramon glanced at the enemies all around him, clutching his head and yelling, "Besides, that prince didn't mention this part!"

“We should have brought some pikemen with us!” Ada sighed as she stood guard around Thales, observing the surrounding situation.

Her defenseless scimitar is only suitable for small-scale combat. Unless it hits a vital point, the damage it inflicts on armor is insufficient, and it is impossible to dodge to the maximum extent in a crowded battlefield.

If only I had brought my father's two-handed greatsword, which was said to be able to pierce armor... It was standard equipment for the ancient Elf Kingdom's guard a long time ago.

"No one expected this battle!" Even though no enemy had broken through to the second rank for the time being, Putila still looked back worriedly at Thales and exclaimed anxiously, "This is unreasonable!"

"Nothing is unreasonable on the battlefield!" At the forefront of the formation, Arakka wildly swung his greatsword, a new wound already appearing on his body: "Surviving is the only reasonable thing!"

"Hold on to their first wave of attack, and their offensive will eventually weaken. Look for an opportunity to break through!"

"Otherwise, we'll all be worn down and die here!"

At the very center of the formation, Thales lay prone, hiding among the soldiers, breathing rapidly.

He was in a state of panic.

Thales wanted to calm his hands, which were buried in the snow, and stop them from trembling.

But amidst the deafening shouts and clashes of thousands, his forearm trembled uncontrollably, like a runaway horse, defying its master's will.

Damn.

Thales' teeth and lips trembled as he was deeply ashamed of his first performance on the battlefield.

Calm down.

But no one seemed to care about his appearance. The soldiers around him nervously looked around, fearing that the layers of defenses would be suddenly breached from any direction.

A bloodcurdling scream rang out—the sound of a Stars soldier being cut in half at the waist.

Thales cowered and closed his eyes.

Calm down!
Just then, that familiar wave spread from his heart.

The world around us seemed to have quieted down.

Thales instantly grasped the situation of his entire body, and he clearly felt which muscles were trembling.

With the help of that fluctuation, he took deep, rhythmic breaths.

He soothed the muscles, finally calming the involuntary trembling.

My heart and breathing calmed down.

But this is not enough.

Thales turned his head incredibly slowly, and in what seemed like an infinitely slower pace of time, he was thinking frantically.

How can we get out of our current predicament?
No, I know nothing about military affairs; that's Arakka and Sonia's specialty.

I can only think about it from a more comprehensive and fundamental perspective...

For example.

Why, why did Rumba want to kill me?
No.

I should think about it the other way around.

I'm dying here... What is Rumba's purpose? What are his interests?
Think clearly about his motives and interests.

impossible.

The mission that robbed and killed the stars, the heirs of the stars.

He gets no benefit at all!

What exactly was Rumba's purpose?
Did someone bribe him?
Just then, long-lost memories of his past life resurfaced.

War is a highly complex and dynamic form of social conflict, yet it has long been neglected in our discipline…

Many scholars' research findings are aimed at responding to Clausewitz's classic arguments...

Maleevi proposed that structure, organizational capacity, and legitimized ideology are all prerequisites for large-scale collective violence...

Weber never explicitly incorporated war as a social phenomenon into his theory, but in his definition of the modern state, he mentioned that within its claimed territory, state power monopolizes the legitimate use of violence…

Thales struggles to resist the flashbacks of his memories and the immediate emergency.

hateful.

On its claimed territory...

and many more!

Thales' pupils contracted.

Perhaps it's not that complicated.

War is never about killing.

territory……

Rumba's original intention was to conquer the North.

and so……

The fluctuations subsided, time seemed to return to normal, and the sounds of fighting and death returned to our ears.

Thales lay on the ground, panting heavily, covered in sweat.

He found the root of the conflict.

just now.

We need to solve it!

“No!” An Exter infantryman watched in horror as Alaraka slit his throat: “You are…you are…”

But he could not say the rest of his words.

"Fill my spot!" Alaka gritted his teeth and struck again with his sword, cutting down a rough-skinned man with a nail hammer. He roared as he retreated, and two sword-and-shield soldiers with resolute expressions filled his defensive line.

“We’ve almost exhausted their momentum in this charge,” Arakka said, panting. He dragged his greatsword to the center of the formation and said to Ada, “Leave the rearguard to cover the retreat, pack up the prince, and I’ll fight my way back to the fortress!”

"Wait a moment!"

Thales, disregarding his need for rest, anxiously looked up and shouted, drawing the attention of Putila and Arakka: "Rumba!"

"The army of Lumba!"

“They didn’t send heavy infantry, no cavalry, not even archers or crossbowmen! Just these hastily conscripted light infantry,” Thales nervously recalled his limited military knowledge: “They don’t intend to crush us in an instant!”

"So you want to stay and repay him?" Arakka turned around and said sarcastically, "For Rumba's kindness, you've given us an extra quarter of an hour?"

“What he wants is to keep us tied up here for this fifteen minutes, not to annihilate us quickly!” Thales refused Ada’s help and struggled to his feet. “Rumba is gambling, gambling on the opponent’s choice!”

"Our choice?" Wyatt, from the side, thrust his sword out from behind his shield, forcing back an axe.

Before Wyatt was struck in the face by a longsword, Rolf pulled him back from his limp state. Wyatt gasped, "Shall we gamble on breaking out or holding out to the death?"

“No,” Thales opened his eyes and stared intently at Arakka: “Rumba isn’t betting on us.”

"No!" Putila instantly understood, her face turning pale: "He would never dare to use your life..."

Thales said anxiously, "Grand Duke Rumba is betting on the Dragonbreaker Fortress behind us!"

"It's a gamble on Lord Sonia Satherley's choice."

"Let's bet on whether she'll send troops to our aid!"

Arakka's pupils suddenly contracted.

“His bet,” Thales roared, “is my life and his future!”

I'm preparing for a language exam soon, so updates won't be very consistent.

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(End of this chapter)