Armored Cavalry, survive in a world full of mods

"Fodoros, have you counted the number of people? Has anyone fallen behind?"

The nobleman spoke first, turning to look at the bald, middle-aged man beside him, who unsurprisingly replied:

"Sir, there were 32 of us who escaped with us. 22 of them are still here. The others have disappeared without a trace, especially after dark, when several people went missing all at once."

"It's much better than I expected..."

The nobleman's face was grim, and although he said that, his expression showed no sign of relief... After all, since escaping from his castle, he was extremely insecure and wished he could hide among tens of thousands of troops. How could he be indifferent to the disappearance of his guards?

“Alright, let’s take this opportunity to sort things out. We can’t keep running around like headless flies. Tory Porter, go and gather all our horses together. Don’t let these beasts run away. Let’s move in a little further in. There’s a hollow there where the wind won’t blow. We can rest there until dawn.”

Everyone perked up and quickly finished tidying up before continuing their conversation.

"Our entire army was wiped out this time. Even those who survived became prisoners of war of the Empire and had to build bridges and roads for them... What should we do next? The entire northern duchy has been cleared out by the Empire's army. If we want to retreat, we can only retreat into our own territory."

The nobleman's mood sombered as soon as he spoke, though he quickly composed himself. Yet, his words still evoked a sense of unease in everyone, and a feeling of despair for the future of the country was palpable.

"Forgive my bluntness, but it's not a good idea for us to continue retreating towards Duke Padori. After all, if we can't even hold this place, it will be even harder to hold that place. After Toracasi fell, the Imperial army can use our roads to attack any place they want to conquer. Isn't that how our castle fell? They brought the engineering equipment to our doorstep in just a few days. Even their most arrogant and careless commander wouldn't have done that before."

A burly Hols officer spoke in his dry voice, as if he were rubbing his tongue with a mouthful of burning coals. Upon hearing his words, the others froze, a hint of annoyance creeping into their expressions—it was as if someone had suddenly ripped out a vital point that everyone had been subconsciously ignoring, and the bloody reality was once again laid bare before them.

"So, according to you, what room is there for our vast kingdom to resist? In any case, no city can possibly withstand the Imperial army—"

"Gentlemen, may I have a word to say?"

A clear voice suddenly interrupted one of them, drawing everyone's attention. They instinctively turned their heads and saw the black-robed man who had escaped with them and was personally sent by His Majesty the King.

This guy was short and had been very low-key since his arrival. He spent most of his time hiding in the castle's dungeon. Apart from a few people, no one else knew what he was doing there. When they heard him say such a thing, they were all at a loss and dismissive, and fell silent for a moment.

“Of course you can say that, Mr. Sof.”

The nobleman who knew the inside story dared not be negligent and quickly signaled that the other party could express his thoughts. Several of his confidants also looked unnatural and even secretly wary.

"We can head southwest."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's expression changed instantly, staring at him as if he were a fool. But before they could speak, the man in black robes added:

"I'm not saying this to put us in a deadly situation, but because..."

..............................

Winters in the Kingdom of Hols are not as harsh as in the north. Even when it snows, it's only a thin, scattered layer of snow. Instead, there's a deep, bone-chilling dampness that seems to freeze your blood into ice. The damp mud seeps into your boots, causing unbearable discomfort. Especially after a freezing rain, you don't want to step outside at all.

"I wonder how much effort this will take."

The slender strip of metal plates, joined together by the knuckles, was as supple yet strong as a large, sturdy snake. Each piece was intricately carved, with gold inlay outlining magnificent lines. Eight leather straps hung down from the back to hang knives, staffs, and quivers. The most exquisite and ornate fastenings were at the head and tail, where two intertwined dragons were carved, their fierce power palpable and lifelike.

This was an extremely rare belt for its time—the entire belt was made of metal plates the length of a knuckle, which were interlocked by interlocking hinges, and the tightness was adjusted by mechanisms at both ends, reminding Tersolius of the metal bracelets of mechanical watches... equally meticulous, equally exquisite, but with the productivity of this era, it was hard to imagine how much effort it would take to achieve this level...

The advantages of using such metal to make belts are obvious—ordinary swords and knives cannot affect such a belt. Apart from being expensive and difficult to manufacture with complicated processes, it is hard to find any other drawbacks, and it also has excellent functionality.

even……

Tersolius weighed the belt in his hand, feeling the solid metal plate that was at least half a finger's width behind it. He was even more certain that this was not just a simple decoration, but a heavy piece of metal that could smash a person's head. If used as a whip, it could tear off large pieces of flesh.

Of course, he didn't order the craftsmen to make this. After all, with war raging, he didn't have the time to do such things. This was a find from the treasure room of a Holstein nobleman. He was so excited by the sight that he simply took it.

After untying his original leather belt, Tersolius put on the exquisite metal belt and adjusted it to fit properly.

"Click!"

With a crisp metallic clang, the belt wrapped perfectly around his waist, fastening the excess end into the slot at the back without any slack. It was crisp and sturdy, exuding the cold, metallic feel of steel.

Finally, after securing all his swords, leather pouches, quiver, and other belongings, he looked down and examined them. He was even more satisfied, nodded, pushed open the door, and went out, only to be met with a cacophony of noise outside.

Soldiers were busy at work, and strong warriors wearing only red jackets could be seen everywhere carrying things that were either huge or precious. They carefully moved their loads on their backs amidst the admonitions of some scholars and doctors. The surging crowd filled the entire castle.

Tersolius glanced around, then turned left with a clear purpose. Surrounded by his guards, he passed through officers and soldiers bowing, crossed column after column, descended a staircase to the basement, walked through a passage paved with moss-covered stone slabs, made two left turns and one right turn, and finally arrived at a tall wooden door of a high-speed rail.

He reached out and gently tapped it twice... This wasn't for the sake of etiquette, but to make sure there was nothing unusual inside. Otherwise, someone as clueless as him could easily cause trouble.

"Please come in, sir. The door is unlocked."

A crisp sound rang out from above. Tersolius looked up slightly and saw a round, plump bird gripping a lamppost protruding from the stone wall with its two tender yellow claws, staring at him with its bright amber eyes. The sound he had just heard came from the mouth of this little creature.

"This is really interesting..."

He shook his head, somewhat surprised and delighted, and then pushed the door open and walked in.

------

"Wait a moment, sir, I'm dealing with this... I need to concentrate."

If several people lived there, this house wouldn't be considered particularly large, but if it were just for one person to move around in, it would seem too spacious... Now, it was filled with all sorts of tables, chairs, bottles, and jars of various sizes. Apart from the passageway that was deliberately left in the middle, there was no room to move around. Everywhere you looked, there were fragile items and liquids of various colors, as well as things soaking inside that were enough to make one's hair stand on end.

Tarina was busy at one of the tables. In front of her, on a slightly concave plate, was a pale, white thing covered with blue veins and red streaks of blood, which was still wriggling slightly. The bulging muscles were reminiscent of a skinned rabbit.

Tersolius chose an open road and walked a few steps further before he could see clearly what was in the basin—it looked like a strange worm or an undercooked beef tendon. He couldn't see any other organs; it was just a large, slightly twitching muscle. One might mistake it for a sharp knife that had just been cut from a large, healthy body.

Tarina used her silver tweezers and knife to work on this thing, cutting open the outer layer of fascia that was indistinguishable from muscle and slowly peeling it off to reveal the blood-red muscle fibers and the still throbbing blood vessels inside. Then she took a small hook knife from the table next to her, used the sharp tip to hook into two intersecting blood vessels, hooked it backward and pulled it upward, and pulled out a black, still twitching thing inside.

This thing looked familiar to Teresolus—he had seen it more than once. Its familiar segments and slimy, black appearance were very distinctive; it was difficult to find a creature that looked like this in nature.

After removing the parasite, the girl quickly grabbed a long, round-capped needle from the side and accurately pierced it into the parasite's body at about two-thirds of its length. She then picked up another needle and placed it about two centimeters from the end of the head, fixing it to a piece of cedar wood next to her.

The large mass of muscle that was just writhing now appeared to be moving much slower, as if something that sustained it had been taken away and it was rapidly turning into a pile of dead flesh.

Talina took a breath, tossed the tools aside, and then carefully immersed her hands in a small glass pot beside her. She turned to look at Tersolius:

"You've come at the perfect time, sir, I was just about to look for you..."

275 Firelight (1)

"It seems you've almost finished studying what's left here."

Tarina nodded slightly, washing her fingers with a basin of clear water. However, the transparent liquid had a slightly pungent, volatile odor, clearly indicating it wasn't ordinary water.

"A basic summary has been completed... Please come here, sir."

Tersolius took two steps forward, carefully avoiding the obviously fragile bottles and jars to prevent his armor plates from damaging the area, and approached the plate.

"This is a whole piece of muscle from an adult male's upper arm. It was just soaking in this jar, where it was nourished and kept active by a special liquid. More accurately, it was nourished by the worms inside, which in turn kept the muscle active. Otherwise, it would just be a dead piece of flesh."

The meat on the plate still retained a trace of life, twitching slightly right before their eyes. Half of the outer white fascia had been peeled away, and the fine muscle fibers, though not a drop of blood seeped out, remained incredibly bright red.

"By analyzing and summarizing all the samples we collected, we can now basically confirm that this parasite has a significant characteristic—in addition to supplementing itself with blood and flesh, it also needs to regularly supplement itself with a special substance, which is a component contained in those slender nematodes. This component is also found in small amounts in the human brain. If this biological requirement cannot be met in time, it will ingest it itself..."

"Of course, this characteristic is limited to adult insects that have undergone special mutations after hatching. The most ordinary eggs and adults do not show this need. They will only hatch under certain conditions and then instinctively begin to gnaw on the host's brain."

"Although our prisoner has told us everything he knows, unfortunately he is not the insect master responsible for cultivating the parasites. His relationship with those insect masters is more like that of a soldier using weapons and a craftsman forging weapons. Although he knows how to oil swords and remove rust to keep them in optimal condition, he does not understand the principles behind it, so it is difficult for us to know anything about this."

"And the whereabouts of those insect masters are also very difficult to find. The other side has taken very strict secrecy measures. Each person in each link can only know what they should know, and they know nothing else. They are not allowed to take the initiative to explore, so as to ensure that if any link falls into the enemy's hands, it will not implicate others."

"Since we touched their tentacles, we've taken quite a few prisoners, but the intelligence we've gathered has remained very limited..."

Tesolius's face was somewhat gloomy. He couldn't believe that even with the immense power of an entire nation, they still couldn't eradicate such an organization completely. Although they had caught them by the skin of their teeth many times, they had never been able to strike at their core. He simply couldn't imagine how deeply they were involved and how well they had hidden themselves to achieve this level of success...

"Their methods of controlling their subordinates are subtle and cumbersome, making me feel that trying to uncover more is as troublesome and difficult as digging into the roots of a towering tree. Every time I thought I had found an important root cluster, I found only some superficial roots no thicker than a finger. This time, we have only barely grasped the general structure of this tree."

"No matter how extensive and deep the roots of a tree are, as long as you follow the vines, there will always be a day when you pull it all out of the soil... Sir, this discovery also means something."

"Um?"

Thesolius raised his eyebrows with interest, revealing an expectant look, and became a quiet listener.

Tarina was indeed somewhat smug. As she took off her pure white protective suit, she said:

"The mutated parasites must replenish this substance, which means that no matter how clean and efficient their infiltrators are, they will have to replenish this substance every once in a while, and they will inevitably give themselves away. As long as we maintain long-term monitoring, it will be easy to find their flaws."

"Doesn't the human brain contain the same substance? What if they choose to secretly murder ordinary people to obtain it?"

"That would only expose them faster. After all, compared to those nematodes, the matter in the human brain is far too scarce. To obtain enough through this method, they would have to commit a horrific massacre. And even if they did do that..."

Tarina's face turned slightly pale, as if she subconsciously didn't want to continue, but in the end she frowned and pursed her lips:

"They couldn't possibly have eaten that many brains... That's something a humanoid creature simply couldn't do, even if they've been modified... After all, the substance they ingested wasn't their own, but rather parasitic tissue implanted in their bodies; they themselves didn't possess that kind of terrifying digestive ability."

"According to the intelligence obtained from the interrogation, the creatures that assassinated you consumed a large amount of brain tissue before setting off. That brain tissue was a byproduct of their modification. It wasn't for their most basic needs, but simply to improve their condition, just like someone preparing to do heavy physical labor would eat as much oily food as possible before setting off."

"In conclusion, they must resupply, so they will inevitably reveal their weaknesses! At present, it seems that a single resupply can only last for a month at most."

Talina confidently drew her conclusion, while Tersolius nodded, tapping his fingers thoughtfully on the table.

"That's really interesting—"

........................

Cities are the most densely populated areas, and they often mean the concentration of wealth and power. Even the most ordinary beggar can get more food and money here, and live a much easier life than in a village or town.

With a large population, many problems inevitably arise, and some people inevitably have the opportunity to scheme. Rather than creating wealth, they prefer to plunder the wealth of others, becoming parasites in the city through coercion and enticement, sucking the blood of hardworking citizens. Eventually, when an organization has a structure, gangs will emerge.

They are like cockroaches breeding in the shadows; no matter how much you try to clean them up, new ones will always emerge. Ultimately, the reason they exist is the lack of a robust grassroots government structure, which gives them an opportunity to exploit and make a living by sucking blood.

Such phenomena are gradually disappearing in this city. The former vampires have mostly turned into corpses swaying on wooden poles or mutilated bodies with their heads chopped off in the execution ground. A new order is being established in this city—a powerful and inviolable order.

In the dead of night, men were patrolling the streets in a line. After the army set off, there were no longer armored soldiers everywhere on the streets of Toracasi. Instead, there were more men from various units who had received military training and were patrolling the streets with the weapons they had been issued to catch bandits and thieves.

This was still a new experience for them—although the dark night and familiar streets and alleys always brought a sense of strange dread, the sight of them walking in groups with weapons made them feel more at ease and more cautious. After all, this was where they lived, where their families lived, and few dared to cheat or do anything dishonest.

Yak exhaled a puff of white breath. The city night was damp and cold, making his fingertips feel less nimble. So he transferred the iron-clad short stick in his right hand to his left, taking the opportunity to put his right hand inside his clothes to warm it up. Once it was completely warm, he switched his left hand in to make himself feel better.

As the team leader, he naturally had to walk at the front and was most familiar with the patrol route. He was currently preparing to cross a small alley between two streets, take a detour, and return to their neighborhood. Then they could finish their work for the day and go home.

Of course, before that, they needed to report to the Imperial soldiers in charge of the area to confirm that all of them had arrived and no one was absent before they could fill in the blanks on the parchment that belonged to their team.

The torches swayed in the wind, making their shadows on the ground twist and turn, as if they had come to life.

Behind him was his neighbor, a burly man holding a hunting fork. He used to be a hunter in a nearby village. After hunting for several years and saving up some money, he moved to the city. He had no wife, no parents, and no children. He was a lone wolf.

There was no wind in the alley, but it was even more damp. The moss on the stone slabs, which was often trampled on, still grew sparsely. Sometimes, people would slip and fall.

The group walked along, chatting idly. The weather was too cold for them to talk much, and they were all thinking about finishing their errands quickly so they could go home and get some sleep. Their footsteps were messy, but at least they were lively... Just before they were about to leave the alley, Yak suddenly felt someone tap his back with their knuckles, and his body stiffened instantly.

"What's wrong, Derodo?"

He turned his head with some confusion to look at his companion who had suddenly nudged him. This experienced hunter had a unkempt beard and haphazardly combed hair, and bright eyes with scars. He was staring intently at the corner of the wall beside him, as if someone had scattered gold there, completely absorbed. After a while, he lowered his voice and whispered to him:

“There are marks in front of the house next door. Someone just climbed up there... I can see it very clearly. The marks are very fresh, and there is still wet soil on them.”

The others were completely unaware of their movements and continued to slowly incline forward. In the quiet darkness, they couldn't help but become complacent and were all eager to go back to sleep.

"Are you sure someone climbed up there? Maybe it was a stray cat. We never burn those kinds of animals around here. Just the other day, it stole a piece of smoked meat from the kitchen."

The old hunter narrowed his eyes warily, but did not doubt his judgment:

“It’s definitely a person. I’m not that old yet. How could a cat have such big footprints? And that guy was very quick. He climbed to the top of the wall in just two steps… He might be a skilled thief.”

"you mean?"

"If we catch a thief, there's a reward of 30 silver coins. If we split it, we can each get three, enough to live comfortably for a couple of days... What I mean is, isn't it a waste to just let him go like this?"

“Let’s go forward first, and after we get to that street ahead, we’ll turn left and circle back. That’ll be a good way to get around this area. That guy is most likely near that sugar pastry shop. If we’re careful, we should be able to catch him. Let’s not make any too much noise now, so as not to get noticed.”

As his thoughts raced, Ark simply continued walking forward without making a sound, and the others maintained their previous posture, following him in a loose formation... Some were still complaining about the training they would be participating in in a couple of days, feeling that wasting time on such things would delay their ability to make money, but they only complained a few words, after all, the Imperial Army had only left a few days ago, and no matter how bold they were, they wouldn't say anything in the street.

The old hunter still carried his hunting fork, his signature tool for hunting wild animals in the mountains and forests. It had three sharp points with spiral patterns forged from twisted metal. Even a half-finger-thick bear hide couldn't withstand such a stab. No matter how ferocious the beast, it would shrink back when it saw him holding this thing.

Soon, he was pleased to see that the leader, Ark, temporarily changed his route and led the entire group to circle around to the left.

………………

The leather soles were studded with several hard copper nails, providing excellent grip and preventing him from slipping on the smooth moss on the stone slabs, allowing him to quickly glide onto the roof.

The houses here are all relatively low, with a layer of lime plastered on the walls to prevent moisture and insects. The roof tiles are mostly old and covered with moss and succulents. You have to be careful when you step on them, because the sound of these tiles breaking is quite loud, as crisp as a ceramic jar being smashed. Even the soundest sleeper will be awakened in an instant.

He climbed over rooftop after rooftop, through wool mills and bread alleys, ignoring the stray cats he had startled. His speed increased and his skills improved until he reached a low bungalow.

The moonlight bathed the area in a pure white glow, and the city was shrouded in darkness with only scattered lights. Most residents were reluctant to light lamps after nightfall, which conveniently provided him with the opportunity to act covertly…

276 Firelight (2)

"Young man, young man, why are you wandering the streets?"

Don't leave your sword at home and let it rust.

Don't let your shield become a breeding ground for moss and termites.

"How fertile the land is, yet you let it grow weeds."

Glory is beckoning to you, but you're too busy bowing your head...

The resounding song echoed between armored vehicles, weaved through banners, and flew over bare branches in the woods. Passing through the gently falling snowflakes, it carried further and higher with the soldiers' fervor, so that this land would know their passion and their will.

The imperial legions were marching on the road. In the damp and cold winter of the Kingdom of Hols, the road conditions were quite bad. They often encountered muddy places where snowmelt had accumulated, and walking through them made their feet feel heavier.