Berserk: The Prophet

.........

【Sword Wind】

"Hurry up, we need to get out of here immediately."

He heard the rustling sounds of preparations underway, and the horses neighed. Green opened his eyes. Although it was early spring, the cold was still unbearable, and his hands and exposed skin were chapped from the cold.

After a three-month siege, Orse fell, which was inevitable. The kingdom's army that came to its aid was also ambushed. Only a small number of remnants joined forces with Lord Laban and his men. Kadi, however, remained remarkably calm. As expected, all of this was being orchestrated by this man in secret. In just three and a half months since arriving at the border, he had managed to cause Midland to lose two cities in succession. This man's methods were truly terrifying.

I heard that Eric, the Grand Master of the Tumel Knights, was also wounded, while Grand Master Yuris, whose leg had just recovered, led his men in a night raid out of the encirclement of 20,000 Judas men. Together with Laban's Aklo Knights, they covered the rear and preserved enough strength to escape to Rhinewood Castle. In Orl City, only a few hundred Midland suicide squads were left behind to make a final delay. Led by a viscount from the Aklo Knights, they fought to the death. His family will remember him.

Rhine Castle alone could not hold out; the wooden castle could not stop the advance of the Judas, especially since the soldiers were crammed inside. The battle line was too far, and the supply line was easy to be plundered. After sorting out the supplies, everyone prepared to retreat to the heart of Midland. However, they did not expect that the Judas had specially sent a force of 10,000 men to ambush them on the edge of the jungle on the left side of the road. However, among these 10,000 men were more than 4,000 Midland civilians and refugees. The refugees had been driven there to steal the Midland army's food, which forced the Midland army to turn their swords against their own people. This battle caused the morale of the entire Midland army to plummet.

Despite the best efforts of the three knightly orders and their men, they could not withstand the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. In addition, the refugees mixed in with them made it difficult to organize any effective charges to penetrate behind enemy lines. Many knights were lost before they managed to break through the rain of arrows and reorganize their ranks to launch a flanking attack.

In any case, the combined Midland army currently numbers 20,000 men. However, the chaos and the unclear battlefield situation make it difficult for the Midland army to organize an effective resistance. Coupled with low morale, once the centurions or the commanding officers in charge of the battle flee or are all killed, the morale of the entire army will collapse and begin to rout.

Fortunately, with Lord Laban in command, he was always able to rally the soldiers who were on the verge of collapse and reorganize the troops, preventing a large-scale rout.

The Knights of Akro and two other knightly orders, led by Yuris and Eric, broke through the blockade and circled around to the flank and rear of the Juda army to launch a counterattack.

Meanwhile, Judas' Black Ram Iron Lance Heavy Cavalry Regiment, led by General Keane, charged into Midland's army. Twenty thousand men were nearly routed by a thousand Black Ram Iron Cavalrymen. Even Lord Laban was in great danger dealing with this situation. Even though he had already ordered his soldiers to raise their shields and hold up their lances, many soldiers were still knocked back and sent flying, trampled to pieces by the horses' hooves.

Yuris understood that now was the time to return and boost morale. The situation on the battlefield was constantly changing, and if the main force fell into a frenzied rout, the battle would be over—an irreversible and utterly shameful defeat!

Eight hundred white dragon knights led the charge, followed closely by the Akro Knights. Eric's Tumel Knights continued to mop up the fleeing Juda archers and engaged in a tug-of-war with the small number of pursuing Juda spearmen.

Before the Black Sheep Iron Cavalry could turn their horses around, the White Dragon Knights dealt them a heavy blow. The Midland army was greatly encouraged, and the horn of counterattack was sounded. The counterattack of 20,000 infantrymen completely crushed the Judas.

The long-term suppression finally found a breakthrough, and the Midland army was invigorated. Lord Laban also breathed a sigh of relief. A total of nearly 600 knights and their squires were seriously wounded or killed in battle after the breakout from Orse. With the addition of the infantry that Midland later joined in, the original force of 40,000 men was reduced to half. Due to the current ambush, the available infantry force was reduced to only 15,000 men.

Many seriously wounded soldiers had to be abandoned in Orse, but it was better for knights to be captured, because their families would usually pay to ransom them, and the Judas would not miss such an opportunity to extort money.

Laban sighed. Regardless of whether there were spies lurking in the ranks, they had to get back to the center of the Midland border defenses as soon as possible, otherwise they would have to fight in this wilderness. The consequences of an army of this size without supplies would be extremely dire.

The troops continued their advance, and night patrols were intensified. Instructed to investigate spies, every soldier monitored the other, and even going to the toilet required reporting. For the time being, no trouble could be caused.

It seems the Galanz family is very dissatisfied with Cardi now. Cardi burns it every time he takes a few glances at it. The family has been suppressed and lost a lot of tax revenue. What does it matter to him if the serfs can't afford salt? He's not William, after all.

Green also had a lot of scars from the recent continuous fighting, so much so that Cardi was surprised that he and Baziso could survive such intense fighting.

The power contained within his body was already comparable to that of an ordinary knight. No matter what the world was like, one must always strive to survive; this is the human instinct to struggle.

In any case, the days to come will likely be filled with nothing but killing, and the only things that will accompany Green as he grows up are the knife and sword in his hand.

.........

【Fantasy Continent - Barkley】

After Green settled in Pence as Ryan, Trunks used his sister's son, who had eloped with a knight-errant ten years ago, to arrange a noble status for Green. It wasn't a good thing, but it was still better than being a commoner. However, Trunks' father seemed quite unhappy about it. Trunks revealed some revelations from the goddess of justice to the old man, but the old man didn't believe him at all. He grabbed Trunks, who was already in his thirties, by the ear and gave him a good scolding.

So Trunks had no choice but to bring Green to meet this eccentric old man—Cassarian, one of the most famous dukes in Barkley.

I've heard that he sponsored many technological innovations. This elderly Grand Duke of Pence is disabled, but a wise scholar. He sponsored many scholars and alchemists, which led to many new inventions in Pence. The arquebus was still a novelty in Barkley and hadn't been widely adopted. His legs were deformed and twisted due to severe necrosis, so he could only use a wheelchair. I don't know why he wore an iron mask. It's said that he was a very powerful knight in the Holy Dragon Knights when he was young, but as the only son in his family, he didn't choose to become the leader of the Holy Dragon Knights because that would mean there would be no Trunks.

When he learned that Trunks had taken over as the captain of the Holy Dragon Knights without even consulting him, he almost fainted. He was already very old, and in order to ensure that the family bloodline would not be cut off, was it really too much to ask him and his wife to have another child when he was over forty and had difficulty walking?

Although Casarian's leg was not as bad as it was at that time, fortunately, he and his wife, in their forties, were blessed with a son in their old age under the care of the renowned healers of Barkley's Azure Disciples. However, the child seemed to be born somewhat weak.