They sprinted deep into the dense woods. The cavalry knights chased them on foot since their horses were on the other side of the river.

Adrian looked back as he ran.

The enemy knights were fast, but they were not impossibly fast. Their speed was similar to his own knights if not slightly slower, which meant that they were F rank knights.

Since Adrian gave his men top tier training manuals, his group was slightly faster and they were slowly making distance

But Adrian knew there would be issues if he did not thin their numbers.

As he ran, he used dungeon link and pulled out his custom bolt action rifle, spun around in a split second, spotted a pursuing knight, and pulled the trigger.

The gunshot rang loud and the copper toughened lead bullet(1) slammed into the knight’s chest plate from thirty meters away.

It did not pierce the steel, but the raw kinetic energy transferred straight through the metal. A massive dent formed and caved the knight’s chest in.

The knight flew backward and crashed into the dirt, unable to get back up.

Adrian cocked the bolt back as he continued running and when he turned around to shoot again, a spear shot through the trees towards him.

Adrian ducked. He dodged the first spear, but right at that moment, a second spear flew straight toward him.

The steel tip punched straight through his shoulder and he fell back while still holding the rifle in his hand.

His army instantly stopped running. They turned around and crashed into the enemy vanguard in a brutal clash. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Adrian had not even given the order. He felt emotional as he looked at them fighting a traditionally impossible to win fight.

The five kids did not join the fray. Instead, they rushed straight to Adrian.

Adrian gritted his teeth in pain as he looked at the spear lodged in his shoulder. Then, he looked at their expressions and knew exactly what they wanted.

Adrian linked to the dungeon, pulled out five more rifles and handed them over along with a good amount of magazines for the rifle. The kids loaded the guns and turned around.

Adrian then looked at Claire who was standing right beside him like a bodyguard before he shifted his attention back to the fight.

The enemy had spears, but no shields while his knights had swords and shields. The enemy had range while Adrian’s men had superior defense, but the dense trees limited the long spears. The terrain was heavily favoring Adrian’s side but the numbers were still overwhelming.

"Get up in the trees and start shooting." Adrian said as he looked at the kids before yelling at his soldiers. "Form a defensive circle!"

The sixty knights formed a tight circle while Claire stood in the middle with him.

The Avarice knights thrust their spears, and the steel tips scraped against the heavy kite shields. They left scratches, but they could not pierce the thick metal plating.

The five kids perched on the sturdy oak branches and raised their rifles.

It was time for a mass execution.

Gunshots rang out every single second and a knight or two fell right after.

The kids did not miss.

Every single bullet dealt massive damage. They smashed into chest plates, breaking ribs from the sheer kinetic impact. Bullets hit helmets, bouncing off but crushing skulls from the whiplash. The armor on the arms and legs was much thinner. They tore right through the one millimeter steel plates, going into the knights’ bodies.

The Avarice knights screamed and their numbers dropped quickly.

In just a few minutes, three hundred enemy knights lay bleeding in the dirt. They were completely incapacitated.

The remaining two hundred knights realized that they were the ones that were at a disadvantage and not their enemies.

Fifty of them who were still in perfect condition turned and bolted, which got the rest to run too.

"Follow them!" Adrian yelled. "Fuck them up!"

His sixty knights broke the shield wall and chased the fleeing enemies while the kids provided cover fire from the branches.

By the time they reached the edge of the forest, the entire enemy unit was wiped out.

"Group them all up." Adrian ordered.

The knights dragged the groaning, bleeding enemy soldiers into a massive pile before taking away their weapons and armor.

Adrian handed out clean cloths and medicine before having his men patch up their own minor cuts.

He slowly walked over to the defeated knights. He looked at the men who were missing limbs or bleeding out heavily. They were basically dead.

"I will give you one choice." Adrian said coldly as he looked at the others who weren’t seriously injured. "You can come work for me and I will treat you well. Or you can die right now."

A few of the dying knights spat blood at his boots. "Kill us. I do not give a fuck."

"Kill the ones who want to die." Adrian nodded to his men.

Heads rolled to the ground and soon, only around one hundred enemy knights remained. They were injured, but they would survive.

Adrian asked again if they wanted to join his side.

"We agree." A battered soldier said as he cried. "But it is of no use! Our kingdom has summoned a Hero."

Adrian frowned as he grabbed his bleeding shoulder.

"What did you just say?" he muttered as he stared at the guy.

In the novel he read, the Crestfall Empire was the first territory to summon a hero, not Avarice.

"Spit out everything you know." Adrian demanded.

"Our kingdom used a sacrificial method to summon a Hero." The soldier coughed. "He is going to help them win this war and take over the empire."

"Where is this Hero right now?" Adrian asked.

"At the royal palace." The soldier said. "He is far from the battlefield. But he was summoned in the same city we are from."

The soldier looked at the bloody dirt.

"We were just regular soldiers at the start." he said as he looked up at Adrian again. "The Hero turned us into knights just by touching us. He can do this to anyone he wants... it’s almost like he’s a god..."