Duke Barry sat proudly on his saddle, as bullets whizzed over his head, even cutting off his tall red plume.

His prestigious armor on the shoulder had burst open with holes, and his thigh oozed fresh blood.

There were a few distinct claw marks on the White Crystal Steel armor on his chest, left by those vile werewolves.

Even so, Duke Barry refused to bow his head, his gaze focused on the battlefield before him.

Behind the berry-laden bushes, a group of five hundred Wild Wolf Cultivators had their formation shattered by the cavalry and were slowly changing positions with the reserve forces behind them.

Before the bushes, amidst the streams and flowerbeds deep enough to reach the horse hooves, arrows and sabers flew together.

With the pounding sounds of collisions, a few Kush cavalrymen or Square Banner Knights would fall from their steeds.

The heavy armored bodies crushed the flower stems, and the purple-blue cornflower petals soared into the blue sky.

The fallen Kush Knights and Square Banner Knights gritted their teeth, quickly stood up, drew their knight swords, and swung at the nearest enemy without hesitation.

"For freedom! Long live the Thousand River Valley!"

"Long live the King!"

Wherever one could see, the lances and pistols crisscrossed.

In the grass, bushes, and streams, one might see the collisions between knight swords and forged sabers.

These Holy Alliance cavalry prevented the Leia Knights from continuing their charge on the infantry array but left gaps that hundreds of knights rode through to the back of the Three Mounds.

Although he couldn't see the scene behind the mounds, Duke Barry could hear the sizzle of bullets flying behind.

"The Thousand River Valley People are truly honorable opponents!"

By this stage, Duke Barry showed a complex expression of admiration and awe for the first time.

He even felt a bit regretful.

Facing Leia's finest troops, even when at a disadvantage, and even when unable to make do, the Thousand River Valley People never gave up.

Not just the Wild Wolf Battle Group in front of him, but also the Black Crown Battle Group and the Chongxin Battle Group along the line were the same.

Duke Barry seldom used the word "steadfast" to describe a retreat, but the Holy Alliance Army was just that.

Withstanding the barrage without being able to counterattack, Leia's long spearmen had already collapsed in two formations.

However, the three battle groups of twenty-four five-hundred-men teams not only hadn't collapsed, they even steadfastly maintained their formations, slowly retreating behind the Three Mounds under the bombardment.

As the battle groups retreated, the battlefield's width was indeed becoming narrower, just as Raffel had said, visibly squeezing the infantry together.

The distance between different formations got closer, while the spaces between soldiers within the formations expanded.

Because under cannon fire, standing too close left no place to hide.

Many times, even when severely wounded and in dire straits, the knights and infantry of the Thousand River Valley insisted to the end and hardly surrendered.

For those lost allies and comrades, they would exert every effort to rescue them, rarely abandoning their battle companions.

Such high spirits and tenacity, if only this was the army of Leia, how wonderful that would be!

Yet, the Holy Alliance Army could only go this far.

The Extraordinary Knights had ruled the empire for a millennium, and would continue to do so after this.

Calculating the time, Duke Barry pulled down his visor, "Get ready, we begin our charge."

These damned long spearmen of the Holy Alliance mostly practiced high-level breathing techniques, especially adept at the extraordinary art of thrusting.

When colliding head-on, with the added speed of both sides, their thrusts could indeed pierce armor and should not be underestimated.

Nine banner teams gathered to form the triangular charge formation of the vanguard and the left and right wings.

The reins shook, the warhorse trotted, the saddle began to tremble, and Duke Barry's body started to rise and fall with the warhorse.

The familiar sensation returned from below, and Duke Barry could feel the blood burning.

"Charge!"

"Long live the King!"

Nine hundred Square Banner Knights roared in unison, while the Squire Knights on the sides desperately held back the Holy Grail Cavalry attempting to intercept.

Across the stream, through the bushes, over the flowerbeds, and over the fences.

The wind, shredded by the sharp armor, gave out a piercing shriek. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Like raising a sweeping whirlwind, dust swirled behind the horses' tails, seemingly pushing the knights into the charge.

Two hundred steps, one hundred steps, fifty steps.

Duke Barry felt his warhorse collide with something, yet he could not see it, as it was in the blind spot of his helmet's view.

But he knew, it was the thin deceleration strip formed by the Holy Gun skirmishers.

Hearing screams only made Duke Barry's blood boil even more.

Killing the Holy Gun Skirmishers meant reaching within a hundred steps before the battle line!

Not far off, the Wild Wolf Corps Commander spear smashed down, a black line abruptly appearing in sight.

Many knights only felt a shock to their armor, or their horses suddenly stumbled, and thereupon, a dozen or twenty fell off.

"Don't stop, they can fire no more than three shots, just get past them, and it's victory!"

Duke Barry's shoulder was pierced through, yet he endured the pain and shouted aloud.

But after shouting, he suddenly felt something wrong.

Looking ahead at the intact Wild Wolf Gallar Array, he swallowed.

Why was this formation so intact?

No, something felt wrong, why was it so quiet?

A drop of cold sweat fell along Duke Barry's jawline, why hadn't the spring-loaded cannons on Grey Robe Hill echoed?!

"Alaric!" The suppressed roar in his throat nearly broke the Duke's voice, and Duke Barry bit his lip in anger.

The infantry formation suddenly opened.

Three thick iron tubes extended from the shoulders of the Wild Wolf Cultivators, and the artillerists and service soldiers swiftly loaded them.

The cannon barrels rotated, the improved lock pins connected to the hemp ropes, with a slight pull, the spring-loaded cannon could fire.

"Revolve and retreat, revolve and retreat!" Duke Barry stooped for the first time, "Get down!"

"Praise the Holy Thunder!"

The rope pulled the lock pin, the entire spring-loaded cannon jolted with a bang, sliding back over half a meter like a phantom.

The piercing whistling still lingered in the air, as peach-seed-sized bullets came whistling out.

The knights turned their heads, suddenly a rushing black mist appeared before their eyes!

The crisp metallic clangs mixed with the dull thumps of flesh and bone exploded open.

Blood mist rose, the horses neighed mournfully, a few knights were even flung into the air, rolling on the ground, with streams of blood foaming from their stained plate armor.

The charging knights were unexpectedly falling like mown grass.

When Duke Barry looked up again, nearly fifty knights had fallen, with an almost equal number injured.

On the grass, the writhing, wailing knights were alongside, with horses kicking madly, rearing in terror and panic.

"Sir, continue the charge at the spring-loaded cannon or..."

"Retreat, retreat immediately!" Duke Barry cursed in panic.

The Banner Captain was stunned, "Not taking advantage of the gap after they fired to continue the charge? They are vulnerable now."

"Alaric screwed up, do I have to clean up his mess?" Duke Barry snapped back without turning his head, "Look, how are we even going to charge?"

The old duke waved the flag promptly, as the bugler beside him immediately removed the horn and sounded the retreat call.

The nine hundred thundering Square Banner Knights were to thunderously retreat.

Only the Holy Gun armored cavalry wouldn't let them have their way, charging relentlessly in a triangular formation.

In the ranks of running Square Banner Knights, all the knights heard the sharp shout of a woman!

A scorching torrent surged from behind Duke Barry, and he let out a pained scream as a current penetrated his body instantly.

Countless water blisters spread from his back to his chest, Duke Barry stiffened on horseback, charging nearly fifty meters before slowly falling down.

"Duke, Duke!" His personal knight guards turned back in panic.

With his head resting on the soft grass, Duke Barry looked up blurrily to the blue sky.

He saw the hoofs of the Holy Grail Cavalry leap past his eyes, saw the boots of the Holy Alliance soldiers step past his ears, and the wheels of the artillery carts slowly rolled past him.

"Duke, Duke?" The surrendered attendant officer knelt beside him, shaking his shoulder.

Using his last ounce of strength, he whispered to the attendant supporting him beside him, "Alaric... is an amateur!"