Berserk: The Prophet

.........

Days passed one after another, with daytime training and nighttime travel to another world, knowledge and martial arts skills growing exponentially.

The tedious mechanical course was over, and after spending time together in the past few days, the two had grown much closer. At least they weren't like before, where they would lower their heads after just a few words.

The old man noticed this and began to have Fetnas watch Trunks and Green practice in the training ground, gradually guiding Fetnas to pick up weapons such as swords for training. However, it was clear that Fetnas was not suitable for using two-handed weapons.

"Bang!" "Crack!" The wooden stick was knocked into the air.

"Ugh, hiss..."

Fetnas clutched his right wrist in pain. His delicate, untouched hand was swollen and looked like it would hurt for days. Tears welled up in his big, watery eyes.

"...Fertness".

Green stepped forward to help him up, but it didn't seem like he was using much force. Well, maybe he should have been a little gentler, since Fetnas wasn't quite used to standing properly yet.

"...snort."

Fertenas pouted in annoyance, his stubbornness suddenly rising. He used his left hand to support himself on the ground and got up and walked away. He decided to ignore this rude nephew who was the same age as him.

"Uh..." Green stared blankly as he walked away.

Okay, the kid's just being stubborn, so let's ignore him then.

Green shook his head and began practicing his swordplay in the training ground. Trunks wasn't there today, and Seranty was off gallivanting somewhere again. However, he overheard from a servant that something big was about to happen.

In the evenings, I would browse through books on making parts and occasionally look at things like the Barkley military system. I heard that old man Casarian was researching something similar to a musket, but that place, which seemed to be called the Alchemist's Laboratory, was heavily guarded. Usually, only alchemists and Casarian could get in, and very few people could get special permission to enter.

.........

"Wake up, we're about to go to war."

A pair of large hands slapped Green's face. Green, looking completely bewildered, wiped the drool from his straw mat and got up to put on his armor. It was still dark when he prepared to leave the city to meet the enemy. This mission was to rush to the aid of the Milanvi Fortress, located about 100 miles southwest of the Erda Fortress.

Springtime is the time for both sides to compete. The fields have just been planted, and those who come out to fight are mostly mercenaries and knights. The real large-scale battles will have to wait until autumn when the grain is harvested, unless one side is not afraid of emptying the national treasury the following year and making it difficult to sustain a protracted war. However, replenishing the granaries by plundering is a common practice.

Midland's spies finally got their revenge, having foreseen the Blue Whale Knights' route. The White Dragon Knights, the Tumel Knights, and a group of mercenaries laid an ambush, led by Alton of the Judagopus family.

"Hehe, as expected of me, I've found a place that can quickly get to the front line."

The middle-aged Alton was quite pleased with his cleverness. Just yesterday, a scout had reported that the narrow path here was a shortcut to the battlefield, much faster than the normal march. So Alton immediately ordered the entire army to head down that narrow path, with only five or six cavalry ranks allowed to march side by side.

However, years of combat experience allowed Alton to see the unusual nature of the terrain, which made him laugh.

"Hahahaha!"

Why is the commander laughing?

The Blue Whale Knights' lieutenant beside Alton didn't understand why his father was laughing and asked him with some confusion.

"Good question, Adam! I'm not laughing at anyone else, but at Laban and Eric of Midland for their lack of strategy! What if I, of the Goplous family, were to lead the troops and lure Midland's army into an ambush here? Hahahaha!"

What will happen?

The somewhat dull-witted Adam was still asking questions foolishly when a powerful command came from the mountain.

"Fire arrows!"

Eric suddenly appeared, and the crossbowmen who had been lying in ambush on both sides of the mountain immediately fired dozens of arrows at them.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh" "Swoosh whoosh whoosh"

A deluge of arrows flew towards the Blue Whale Knights below the valley. In an instant, horses and men neighed, and countless knights and servants were killed or wounded by the arrows. The horses ran wildly out of control, and the heavily armored knights who were thrown under their hooves were quickly trampled into a bloody pulp.

"Kill!! Kill them all!!"

However, a large number of knights suddenly appeared behind the Blue Whale Knights on the road they had come from. Judging from the shape of their armor and their banners, they were knights of the Tumel Knights, who were charging towards the Blue Whale Knights.

"Quickly, retreat!!"

The mountain road was rugged and there were no other roads to choose from, so Alton could only lead his team in a panic and flee towards the fork in the road ahead.

Tumer's lieutenant only intercepted a portion of the Blue Whale Heavy Knights who couldn't escape in time before distancing himself from the chaotic Blue Whale Knights to avoid being caught in the same stampede. He simply drove them away at a leisurely pace from behind.

"Surrender and you will not be killed! Surrender and you will not be killed!!"

The knights of Tumel shouted and drove away the Juda mercenaries who could only flee on two legs.

If one could see the whole situation clearly, one would find that this group of Tumer knights consisted of only about a hundred men riding side by side in a single file. If they were to break out from here, even if most of the knights had been lost in the rain of arrows, they would not be able to make a comeback.

......

"Hey... Phew... How's it going? Did you shake them off?"

Alden, looking disheveled, questioned his lieutenants, who had been chased to an unknown location. They only knew that the view here was relatively wide, and the sound of horses' hooves behind them had long since faded into the distance. They had been fleeing since last night, and in order to escape this place as quickly as possible, they had already discarded their heavy lances.

"They've shaken them off, they've shaken them off! Oh dear, this mountain road is so rugged, thank goodness they're not chasing us anymore."

"Oh, I really shouldn't have gone for the convenience."

Alton looked at the empty valley plain with a disheveled face. The road they had come by was so narrow that it could only accommodate three rows of knights.

"The entire army should rest and reorganize, and the casualties should be tallied."

Alton felt a pang of pain upon hearing that nearly 200 of the Blue Whale Knights' 800 heavy knights had perished. The armor of a single heavy knight cost 33 gold coins, not counting the gold coins needed for training. Moreover, there were about 200 nobles of all ranks in the Blue Whale Knights. If they could not bring back their bodies and armor, it would be a huge loss.

Of the other thousand or so apprentice knights, or squires, more than five hundred were killed. The two thousand mercenaries were almost all infantry, who scattered and fled to who knows where. They usually didn't have good equipment, and were either shot to death by arrows, trampled into mincemeat by horses, or captured or killed by the Midland army before they could escape. Only two hundred mercenaries managed to keep up with the group, and they were all light cavalrymen in chainmail without lances.

The total number of cavalrymen available to make up the numbers was only eight hundred. With the addition of the six hundred knights of the Blue Whale Knights, the force of four thousand men was drastically reduced to one thousand three hundred after this incident. Even if they returned, they would inevitably be reprimanded by General Persius, the commander-in-chief of Juda.