Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 289 A Demonstration: A Three-Way Review of the Fates of the Ten Knights
The booming of cannons, like endless thunder, rolled across the Qishan Pass and the vast land of the Razor Corridor.

The orcs were stunned by the sudden attack. Just moments before, they had been swaying their massive bodies, wielding huge spiked hammers, and wildly unleashing their brute force on the humans who were "taking a beating." But in an instant, the situation changed drastically.

You ended up getting beaten up!

This suddenly appearing "human reinforcements" launched a powerful "magical attack" against our side!
One after another, orange-red fireballs exploded in the orcish community, the scorching heat dispelling the chill of early spring and bringing a moment of warmth to the orcs.

However, the orcs were clearly not grateful; they were enraged.

Outrageous!
The orcs on the White Deer Plains are even more arrogant than their distant orc relatives in the wasteland.

The reason is simple: they live in the plains, have many human slaves under their command, and are used to seeing humans being obsequious.

We've always been the ones attacking humans at will; there's no reason for humans to attack orcs on their own initiative!

This is similar to how the bald eagles on Earth looked down on Dongxia for a long time. The unbridled fawning of the colonists made it difficult for the many powerful figures on the other side to have even the slightest respect for Dongxia.

This also served as a cover for the construction of Dongxia...

At this moment, their minds were stirred by an indescribable rage mixed with humiliation and violence, and the orc commanders made a decisive decision.

Wolf riders, charge!

The wolf riders' mass charges were once among the most terrifying scenes in human territories, from White Deer Plains to Razor Corridor, from Azure Sky Plateau to Crystal River.

The giant frost wolf grinned, howling repeatedly. Thick saliva sprayed from the tips of its fangs as it shook its head, flying everywhere.

The fur on these huge creatures rose and fell with their leaps, and their four claws, each the size of a human head, trod across the half-frozen ground in early spring, kicking up rows of mud mixed with flesh and blood.

On the back of the frostwolf are the wolf riders, a source of pride for the orcs.

The blades gleamed, and the bone clubs looked menacing.

For the orcs, the wolf riders did not play a significant role in the attack on Zircon Territory. Those despicable humans dug the ground into pits, trenches, and large holes, making it impossible for the cavalry to charge. They could only be used as "frost wolves plus infantry".

This left them seething with anger.

But now, there are no obstacles on the road to the Han Hai Command.

When the wolf riders charge, no enemy can remain intact under their claws and the knights' heavy weapons; even steel will be torn to shreds!
The wolf rider centurion at the forefront, Wolf Soul God, let out a wild roar.

"For the glory of the Beast God!"

"Kill them!"

On one side of the battlefield, Galen, the ninth knight of Zircon Territory, straightened up and stared wide-eyed.

Although Galen had heard repeatedly from the retreating Zircon commanders and eyewitnesses about the scene of his cavalry charging the Han Hai front over the past few days, no matter how hard he tried to imagine it, he could only picture the continuous magic and the dense rain of arrows... Anything more than that was beyond the limits of his imagination.

No amount of speculation can compare to seeing it for yourself.

At this moment, the orcs gave the Ninth Knight, Galen, a vivid on-site teaching lesson through their actions.

The same high-explosive shells followed by cannon fire and airburst shrapnel, the same fan-shaped storm of steel balls, the same machine gun weaving a line of fire, the same withering skeletons throwing grenades...

The scorching metal jets, like a scythe of death returning to work with renewed vigor after a rest, swept through the ranks of the wolf riders, easily cleaving orcs and wolves in two.

Or more segments.

The wolf riders fell in rows, like wheat fields harvested in autumn.

Gold, charging at the forefront, futilely swung his giant axe, and he and the wolf seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall.

He narrowly escaped the range of the shotgun blast and parried a few bullets aimed at him, but more bullets followed. The dense firepower easily penetrated the leather armor and the orc's tough skin, tearing through muscles and shattering bones.

A heavy sniper bullet struck the neck of his frostwolf, which let out a painful whimper, rolled to the ground, and threw Gold away violently.

The frostwolf's mournful howl and the orc chieftain's muffled groan rang out almost simultaneously, and in an instant, men and wolves fell to the ground, their flesh mangled and bloody.

Gold struggled to lift his head. He could clearly feel the burning sensation of the bullet piercing his body, hear the short, desperate screams of the Frostwolf and his subordinates before they died, and even in his last glance before his eyes dimmed, he saw a human warrior with half his body sticking out of the tank, his eyes filled with disdain.

Those were the lowly humans he used to trample under his feet and rub with the soles of his feet!

What the hell did these damn guys bring?
The next second, Wolf Soul God was torn apart on the battlefield like a rag doll, and at the same time completely lost consciousness.

Almost exactly like the scene of the human cavalry charge, after the incomparably brave leader fell, the orc wolf riders, having lost their command and morale, unsurprisingly began a collapse-like retreat.

They tried in vain to turn the wolf's head and escape this incomprehensible land of death, but were often shot down from behind the moment they turned around.

The reason why the Han Hai Territory strictly disciplines its professional officers and forbids them from leading charges according to local customs is precisely this.

In a brief, hasty clash lasting only a dozen minutes, the orc wolf riders left behind only a trail of wrecked corpses and bloodstains staining the earth, proving that they had once existed.

They gave their lives to provide a vivid live demonstration for the onlookers of the Razor Corridor.

The only inconvenience is that they can only do this kind of demonstration once in their lifetime!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The orc demonstration was very effective.

As the tank formation of the Vast Ocean slowly advanced, its tracks leaving deep, chiseled marks on the ground, the orc infantry were easily dispersed. When the long, thick and thin pipes began to turn towards the Zircon Territory camp, the Gallen Knight knew that the final moment had arrived.

The knights of Zircon Territory decided to surrender.

In fact, many warriors in the territory had wanted to surrender long ago, but they were able to hold on until now because the remaining knight commanders were still persisting.

Even if there were only one knight left, he might have surrendered more readily, but unfortunately there were three left.

The Sixth Knight, the Seventh Knight, the Ninth Knight...

The knights still retained a shred of pride, and out of their remaining loyalty to the Marquis of Monroe and their commitment to the honor of the Zircon Territory, none of them could bring themselves to suggest surrendering to the enemy.

Originally, in theory, Zircon Territory had a tradition of being taken over in order of knightly rank, but the problem now is that no one wants to take over.

Taking over means raising the flag, and raising the flag means being attacked. All the knight commanders who took over before us are dead. This position is no longer just a hot potato, but a red-hot iron.

This is also why the Ninth Knight, Galen, was able to retain temporary command of the camp, while the other two refused to take charge.

Below Qishan Pass, the overwhelming victory of the Hanhai Territory over the orc army finally helped the remaining troops of Zircon Territory to complete their psychological preparation.

The Seventh Knight, a burly man known for his bravery and recklessness, stared intently at the mountain of orc corpses and sea of ​​blood to the north, and said in a deep voice, "They... attacked the orcs first."

This statement sounds like an explanation, but also like self-persuasion.

This statement also relieved everyone of their burdens, and a group of mid-level officers behind him echoed it.

"Yes, yes, we and the orcs are mortal enemies; this is a matter of righteousness!"

Holding onto righteousness is nothing special, but holding onto righteousness while also possessing weapons is truly terrifying!

"If you ask me, the Marquis has been deceived by those charlatans in Misty Moon. Frost City and this... this Vast Ocean Territory have been fighting orcs in the north. Why are we here to fight them?"

Clearly, the lower-ranking officers were unaware of the private feuds between certain marquises and Han Hai.

"They... at least they didn't help the orcs fight us, so they shouldn't... shouldn't they be able to massacre prisoners, right..."

This is very important. When the orcs were pushing their own lines to the brink of collapse, the other side clearly intended to lend a helping hand. This was not to rescue them and drag them back to be slaughtered.

The mage chariot regiment surrendered so readily because they understood their worth; surrendering would likely save their lives. Now, the Zircon Territory soldiers, their morale shattered and given only a sliver of hope for survival, were no longer capable of taking up arms to resist. Whether their knights surrendered or not, the outcome of the battlefield was already decided.

The sixth knight plucked another tuft of his beard with his hand.

This man originally had a full beard with sideburns, but most of it was singed off in the previous battle. Now, only a few incomplete sections remain, and every time he pulls on them, dozens of strands fall off.

The Sixth Knight quipped, "Even Beard knows my days are numbered, and he's in such a hurry to leave me."

At this moment, faced with the Seventh Knight's statement, which clearly implied surrender and was only one step away from a final kneel, the Sixth Knight thought for a moment and offered another interpretation.

"According to the territorial hierarchy, I should be the highest commander here, and I should be the one giving orders!"

"But you all heard it just now, the one who spoke earlier was Eric!"

The Sixth Knight gently tossed his beard and slowly squatted down: "He is the Second Knight, with far higher command authority than me. When he appears on the battlefield, according to Zircon's rules, we all have to listen to him!"

This reason is even more convincing, since the Marquis never removed the Second Knight from the Zircon Territory's knighthood.

Behind him, a large number of mid- to low-ranking officers sprang into action, some squatting, some kneeling, and some lying prone, belatedly beginning to carry out "Knight Commander Eli's" orders.

There is one Ninth Knight Gallon left.

With a crisp clang, Galen threw his longsword, engraved with the territorial emblem, into the mud at his feet.

Everyone can find a reason, so can he!

“Dying here is meaningless. I still have to fight the orcs, continue to serve the successors of Zircon Territory, and... take care of my wife and children, so they won’t become slaves in this chaotic world!”

"Surrender!"

"Put down your weapons! We... surrender!"

This final command extinguished the last trace of hostility on the battlefield. The surviving Zircon soldiers dropped their swords, spears, and shields, the sound of metal hitting the ground echoing everywhere. As if their bones had been removed, they relaxed their entire bodies, collapsed weakly onto the damp ground, and buried their heads deeply.

It's unclear whether she was secretly pleased or sobbing.

Thus, the decisive battle on the northern front finally came to an end, freeing up Han Hai to deal with the other two armies.

The camel cavalry, who took the old desert route in the middle, were constantly harassed from the moment they set off. As a result, even though they were the first to set off and had the shortest route, they barely made it to the core area of ​​the vast desert after the northern route had been fought.

They encountered attempts to persuade the Han Hai Territory to surrender, and unsurprisingly, they chose not to believe them.

Then he was beaten to a pulp by the armored cavalry battalion of the First Brigade of the Hanhai Army, and he believed it.

As for the southern route, this was another elite force led by the Eighth Knight of Zircon, marching a long distance along the edge of the desert. However, on the way, they were the first to receive news that Skyfrost City had changed hands.

Before they set off, they received a special instruction from the Marquis: if the rear changed, the Southern Army Corps should immediately return to reinforce and hold the core passage between Dongguanling and Liulishankou.

The Eighth Knight wanted to go even further; he aimed to retake Skyfrost City and reopen the supply lines.

Therefore, while the northern front was engaged in a major battle, the southern front forces had already re-entered the territory of Dongguan and began their march towards Tianshuang City.

However, the "sky eye" of the vast ocean is watching.

They entered the deserted Skyfrost City once again.

It's not that they don't learn their lesson; it's just that the elves have kept Frostcity in the dark so well that nobody knows how it was lost.

With such a large city here, and after searching inside and out and finding it completely deserted, it's impossible not to stage a "great victory in capturing the city"!

Because of limited troops and concerns that the mysteriously vanished enemy might return, the Eighth Knight did not adopt the proactive defensive posture of "one inside and two outside" like Marquis Monroe had done before. Instead, he made a wise decision to send the entire army into Skyfrost City and defend this strategic pass by relying on the city walls.

They did manage to "defend" Skyfrost City, but they also found themselves unable to leave.

Why didn't the elves appear on the battlefield during the final battle on the northern front? Because under the Lord's command, after the Second Brigade of the Vast Sea and the "Frost Guard" split off a portion of their forces to block the western passage of the Razorfen Downs, the main force counterattacked Skyfrost City.

Elder Lilan of the Elf race personally intervened, using her superior strength to defeat the Eighth Knight and reclaim Skyfrost City.

Thus, the entire battle finally came to an end.

The post-war review revealed a series of astonishing statistics.

In Zircon Territory, including the final emergency mobilization, some auxiliary soldiers were pulled into the regular army, resulting in a total loss of more than 65,000 troops, of whom more than 37,000 were killed or missing.

The vast majority of them were lost in the direct battle at the foot of the Great Sea City, the pursuit in the Razorfen Downs, and the final conflict with the orcs.

Including the three knight commanders, the number of prisoners was close to 28,000. This included a nearly intact legion of mages and their "arcane mounts", a griffon knight battalion that had been forced to surrender after losing more than half of its men, a camel cavalry battalion that had been subdued at the gates of the city of Hanhai, and an engineering and enchanting team led by Zircon, responsible for the manufacture, maintenance and upkeep of weapons.

They also took in more than 20,000 laborers and about 3,000 orcs who had been defeated and captured.

Of course, there were also massive amounts of war supplies, weapons, provisions, and equipment seized from Tianshuang City and the Southern Camp...

The harvest can no longer be described as abundant.

So, what about the losses?

It was still quite a "severe" loss.

Tianshuang City was lost twice, and about one-fifth of its buildings were damaged to varying degrees. The city lord's mansion was also the site of two fierce battles, which turned it into a wasteland.

The undead lost approximately 2,200 low-level skeletons and over 20 mid-level undead, most of whom were killed in harassment, ambush, and final blockade missions. Post-battle statistics showed that the undead recovered less than one-third of their soulfire.

Four hundred and seventy-two human warriors from the Vast Ocean Territory were killed and more than ninety were wounded. This inverted casualty ratio was mainly due to the fact that most of the losses were caused by an accident during a pursuit.

The Fourth Knight of Zircon Territory, a loyal warrior and staunch guard of Marquis Monroe, lay among the corpses after sustaining minor injuries. As the tanks and cavalry of the Vast Ocean passed by, the infantry and militia who followed up to clean up the battlefield suddenly launched an attack.

A high knight with a death wish charged into a loose formation composed mainly of low-ranking professionals and ordinary soldiers, and the result was predictable—it was almost a one-sided massacre.

Corpses littered the ground, blood and flesh flying everywhere. The few professionals around were no match for the berserk great knight, and the light weapons that came to his aid were also unable to inflict any effective damage. It wasn't until the fifth-tier elf ranger, Seril Morningwind, flew from the city of Vast Ocean to the scene that she finally managed to stop the fourth knight with her shooting vines and, with the support of the reinforcements that arrived later, killed the guy.

Subsequently, the tank units and heavy equipment of the Han Hai Territory had to deploy nearby to guard the battlefield while their own infantry were clearing it, which greatly slowed down the overall advance and pursuit speed of the troops.

This, in turn, led to the Ninth Knights' camp in Zircon Territory being pounded by the orcs for an even longer period of time—truly a mysterious and unpredictable fate.

In any case, the war has finally come to an end. The Marquis of Monroe's all-out eastern expedition ended in total annihilation.

Later, thanks to the spread of certain bards, this nursery rhyme spread throughout Zircon Territory and even the entire Green Turquoise Kingdom, and even extended to Mirror Lake Kingdom and Frost Mist Duchy.

Ten great knights went out to war; they encountered a unicorn, and only nine of them remained.

Nine great knights roamed the north; after entering the restoration factory, only eight remained out of nine.

Eight great knights entered Skyfrost City; they slept soundly through the night, and only seven remained.

Seven great knights rode into the desert; seeing the clatter of horses, the seven were reduced to six.

Six great knights hid among the dead; arrows came with nowhere to hide, and of the six, only five remained.

……

The content is quite long, but the quality is very rough. I don't know which vulgar bard wrote it; it doesn't fit the elegant temperament of timeless poetry at all.

But it just so happens to be extremely widespread!
This simple nursery rhyme, in an almost cruelly satirical way, brought a heavy end to the glorious era of the Ten Knights of Zircon Territory.

(End of this chapter)