When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

"Woo Woo Woo—"

The sound of the horn still flew through the gloomy clouds, attracting a few crows, which greedily hovered over the corpses.

Among the hills and streams, hooves crossed and pursued continuously, as the Kush Knights and the Church's knights engaged in repeated acts of interception, pursuit, and entanglement.

Those being blocked outside by the Kush Knights and North Knights were the knights from the countryside of Lower Reif.

The dense lances vibrated with the footsteps, the forest of spear tips merged with the forest on the hill behind, almost obscuring the gloomy clouds on the horizon.

A fireball trailed a long tail of black smoke and flames, whistling as it landed among the shoulder-to-shoulder squares.

One after another fireball exploded, with guards engulfed in flames leaping into a rhythmical dance on the grass.

"What do we do? What do we do?"

Guarded by a group of knights, Mizam completely lost his previous sinister composure, sweating profusely as he clutched Arman's sleeve.

By this time, Arman had lost his earlier good temper, and merely replied coldly, "What else can we do? We fight."

"Fight↑!" Mizam's pitch shot above E6 in an instant, and seeing the people around staring, he lowered his voice, "Saint Master is merciful, I can't bear the slaughter, can you send a few Square Banner Knights to escort me out?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Why not?"

"Just can't do it, we're stuck here."

Mizam became furious, raising his voice and reverting to his usual vicious demeanor, "Could it be that without me, the Church Army can't fight?"

"Hard to say." Arman reluctantly gave Mizam some face, "Let's put it this way, once you leave, once the infantry squares see you are gone, they will collapse.

With the disordered panicking troops clogging the roads, and the enemy cavalry aided by Devil Gun Infantry coming, we'll all be like lambs to the slaughter."

"Then what can we do?" With a last thread of hope, Mizam asked, "Can't we go around them?"

Arman wiped the blood on his armor with animal skin, his previously carefree eyebrows now almost pressing above his eyes, "Go around? If I could go around, would I still be waiting here?"

The Salvation Army has such a wide formation, with cavalry guarding both flanks; they say even to bypass them, it would take at least a minute.

Considering their marching speed, our assembling speed, interference from their Holy Gun Cavalry and infantry, and the divination by the Cuirassiers and Wizards, it's absolutely not doable.

Even at a distance of three hundred meters or even two hundred meters, Arman is confident he can lead the main knight force out; after all, if the infantry is lost, then it's lost.

But now, thanks to Horn's maneuver, they've been blocked here by the rabble from Xiaochi City and their own infantry phalanx, with no time to escape.

Surveying the battlefield, under the shouts of various guard captains and sergeants, the guards were attempting to turn around.

Their spear shafts clashed with each other, with someone over there complaining after being knocked over, while others were pushing the fleeing soldiers.

The original trio-based triangular formation was all mixed up, turning into a chaotic mass.

At this pace, it's certain that the six rearmost squares can't be saved, and even if the six foremost squares could reform in time, they definitely couldn't withstand a charge from the Salvation Army.

In summary, it's all over.

When Mizam marched the whole army past Horn's side, the battle was already lost, only differing between a disastrous defeat, major defeat, or minor defeat.

The overall situation was doomed, but it wasn't necessarily over for Arman, as saving the main strength of the knights could still mean just a minor defeat.

The guards were like potato roots in the soil, dig once, and they grow back; it would only take two years at most.

Arman glanced at Mizam, remembered his identity, and reluctantly said, "When we charge, you follow behind us, break through their horizontal array, this is the only chance."

A trace of color finally appeared on Mizam's pale face; though this was a major defeat, as long as he had a pen and paper, while not turning defeat into victory, could at least turn danger into safety.

"Squire Knights, commence formation!" Arman mounted his horse, shouting to several knights, "Do everything you can to slow their advance, give the main phalanx enough time to reform!"

"Yes, sir!"

......

Smoke drifted past, and the wind it stirred up formed dark gray clouds, as the battle formation composed of ten legions quickly moved forward.

Wielding feathered lances and wearing breastplates, brigade commanders ran back and forth in large strides, hoarsely whistling and yelling amidst the marching steps, adjusting formation and speed.

The recent fast march, along with the skirmish with Countess Marika's vanguard, had somewhat disrupted the Salvation Army's ranks.

At the very front of the formation, Horn gazed from afar at the chaotic formation of the Church Army ahead, his pale face expressionless, making those unaware think he was daydreaming.

The wind that dispersed the smoke blew upon Horn's face, bringing a slight coolness, contrasted with the surrounding heated air.

This inevitably caused Horn to have doubts about the principle of the Gale Spell. Could it be that they generate air, rather than propel it?

Riding on the back of his horse, Grape, following the battle formation, Horn gently stroked its mane. The heavy iron gloves covered his hand, but did not affect the gentleness of his motion at all.

With Horn's mastery of the second stage of the breathing method, wearing such heavy iron gloves was not too difficult.

"Your Grace, shall we return?" Duvalon, holding a shield and sweating profusely, stood beside Horn, raising the shield high.

Around Horn's battle formation, Squire Knights were desperately maneuvering. Arrows flew chaotically in the sky, clattering on helmets and armor.

Every now and then, the disorderly sound of guns could be heard, followed by several knights, too close, falling from their horses.

Even though the Squire Knights were quite far away, if a stray arrow hit Horn, that would be disastrous.

"What is there to fear? If something is to be done personally, it must be done personally, without relying on others," Horn said mildly, putting down the spyglass.

But seeing the tense expressions around him, he sighed lightly, tugged at the reins, as the formation flowed past him on both sides like a stream.

"Have the two regiments behind us caught up?" said Horn, reining in his horse, and turning to Duvalon beside him.

Since the formation rotated to the right as a whole, the two new Imperial Guard regiments at the outermost edge still fell behind.

To prevent the enemy from launching a side assault on this weak spot, Horn made a temporary tactical adjustment.

Currently, among the ten regiments of over five thousand men advancing on the grassland, the foremost two regiments were the Imperial Guards, always serving as the reserve force.

"They've caught up and are currently staying in the rear as the reserve," Duvalon confirmed with the Messenger before continuing to speak.

"Has the formation been adjusted properly?"

"All adjusted properly," Jeska revealed large discolored teeth, "just waiting for your command."

Seeing the Church Army grow clearer in his view, Horn's face finally couldn't help but show a hint of a smile.

He never expected the opponent to separate from their formation and launch an oblique assault on their own initiative. Although this was a result of the bait he passively left behind, its effectiveness was somewhat surprising.

Having set out from the main formation, Horn looked like he had run three to four hundred meters, but if viewed as a whole formation, he had not moved far.

A Gallar Array, when fully extended and leaving enough mobility space for gunners, had a width of about 90 to 100 meters.

Horn's diamond formation's first line had no less than four Gallar Arrays, with Gallar Arrays on both sides of the second line.

Thus, including the mobility space between each array, the formation, when expanded, had a width of 500 to 600 meters, and even when converted to a marching column, it still had over 400 meters of width.

Horn seemed to have run far, but viewed laterally, he only moved a body's width and turned half a circle.

The Church Army's infantry battalions vastly outnumbered Horn's, so for even a large formation, its width was but 50 to 60 meters.

Moreover, they were arranged in a staggered "pyramid" pattern, so with Horn's double the manpower, even 12 large formations only had a width of 300 to 400 meters.

This meant that the Church Army's infantry found it very difficult to outflank Horn's Gallar Array, while the Gallar Array, after ensuring its mobility speed, found it easy to outflank opponents.

It was precisely because of this feature of the Gallar Array that Horn decided on the side assault and used the Spring Leather Cannon to forcibly defeat Lady Marika and her Personal Guard Knights.

Leaving the Ibe Knights and the remaining Lower Reif Knights to entangle, Horn began a hasty advance to the east.

Upon receiving news of the enemy's movements from the Cuirassiers, he had already prepared for a side assault.

What he didn't expect was that the opponent seemed unaware, with no sense of precaution, and brazenly almost walked right past Horn's face.

Horn could see them, yet they rigidly continued forward.

From the moment he thought of it until now, Horn couldn't figure out what trick Mizam was playing.

However, he quickly realized it was a perfect tactical opportunity.

Launching a flank attack from within the smoke, being too far from the main formation, the enemy would surely notice early and escape the battlefield.

If attacking from the rear flank, it wouldn't just yield greater tactical effects, there was even a chance to block the enemy.

This contingent decision brought Horn substantial rewards.

Opposite the moving steel forest, the Church Army's exposed vulnerable rear and chaotic flanks were already laid bare before Horn's eyes.

"Your Grace, we are within a 100-meter range of the opponent."

A hundred meters was but a two-minute quick step away.

"The second line's flanking four regiments switch to a normal pace, prepare to meet the enemy cavalry's charge, the center continues at a quick step forward, prepare to charge."