[Given that this is your first mission, we'll have another Wanderer currently on assignment in the Qilan Continent assist you.]
Shannon's system's words before departure echoed in Siegfried's mind.
At this moment, he was traversing the forest at an astonishing speed. To save time, Siegfried disregarded the terrain obstacles and chose to rush towards the ambush site in a straight line.
(This is bad, really bad. It's like friendly fire.)
If Siegfried's guess was correct, the Wanderer in the pursuit team was probably his helper for this mission.
He just didn't know how this guy ended up in the opposing camp.
Regardless, Siegfried had to hurry over. If Roland and that Wanderer came into conflict, it would be a devastating loss for Siegfried no matter which side won.
The latter need not be mentioned. If a rookie like Siegfried on his first mission could fare so well with just the Wanderer's Manual and his abilities, this veteran Wanderer must be even more formidable. Plus, being under the same Shannon system, this person was someone Siegfried could trust absolutely.
As for Roland, he was currently the strongest force in their camp. If he was inexplicably taken out like this, the Princess's faction might as well declare bankruptcy.
The more Siegfried thought about it, the more anxious he became. He summoned the Wanderer's Manual and turned to the radar map to check how far he was from the ambush site.
The yellowed parchment depicted the terrain and town distribution of the entire Conston domain. It was so detailed that even remote villages like Fengfeng Village were marked - something that maps sold in the kingdom's markets could never achieve.
Siegfried was represented on it as an acute triangle, with the acute angle pointing in the direction he was facing, very much like the map in World of Warcraft.
However,
Siegfried was shocked to discover,
That at this moment, a flashing red dot was overlaid on that triangle.
On the radar map, any creature within fifty meters of Siegfried would be marked, but there wasn't even a rabbit in sight.
In an instant, a needle-like pain shot straight to the top of his head.
(Damn it, above!)
Without hesitation, Siegfried drew the Hero's Broken Sword and swung it upwards without even looking.
Clang!
Roland effortlessly blocked the combined slash of three knights with a single-handed swing of his great sword.
"What's going on? Why is there an ambush here?"
"How should I know? Hasn't it always been your people responsible for the rendezvous?"
"What the hell are you implying?"
"Stop arguing! Let's break through first and talk later!"
These three were all great knights like Catalina, yet even together they couldn't gain any advantage under Roland's sword.
At this moment, the forest was filled with intermingling shouts of killing and screams of agony. One after another, pursuers were impaled by the spears of Roland's soldiers in the chaos.
They couldn't even organize the most basic resistance. Most of the pursuers were taken out before they could even draw their weapons. This pursuit team of over a hundred people was now showing signs of collapse.
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The pursuit team had a total of one hundred and ten people, led by ten great knights.
Once in battle, the soldiers would quickly form into battle formations under the command of the great knights. This legendary battle formation, designed by the founding emperor of Moen five hundred years ago, could allow the army to exert double its fighting power. At that point, even if Roland had brought three hundred men, he would have had to circle around them.
They shouldn't have been so easily defeated.
But they were too confident. The cat-and-mouse game that had lasted for half a year subconsciously made them see themselves as the hunters, not realizing that the roles of prey and hunter could always be reversed.
When Roland came to scout the day before, he had set up a large number of deadly traps in this area. These were all things he had used against the demon folk on the frontlines years ago.
The moment the pursuit team walked into the ambush site, dozens of different traps were triggered simultaneously, instantly claiming nearly half of the enemy forces, including four of the leading great knights.
And Roland, taking advantage of the enemy's confusion, jumped out of the bushes for a sneak attack, cutting down two more panic-stricken great knights. With half of the ten formation points gone in an instant, there was no way to form any formation.
This was Roland Ferdinant,
A model knight... skilled in surprise attacks, sneak attacks, ambushes, and setting traps.
At this moment, he raised his sword with both hands, dazzling golden light bursting forth from the great blade. In his ears echoed the words of that black-haired man from this morning before departure.
"Roland,
Go,
Go tell them,
From today on."
"The tables have turned!" Roland roared, the golden light from his great sword now too bright to look at directly. The overwhelming aura swept through the entire forest like a tidal wave.
"How is this possible..." One of the opposing great knights mumbled in a daze, his eyes unfocused. The weapon slipped from his hands, clattering as it hit the ground.
"Damn it! This is no Gold Knight! Even a Holy Knight couldn't do this! Hey! Who the hell is this guy? How could the intelligence be so far off!"
Another great knight turned tail and ran, cursing non-stop.
"It's useless, you can't escape... That sword... I've seen that sword before..."
One of the four great treasures of the kingdom,
The indestructible holy sword, the ultimate phantom blade.
Durandal!
"...He is Roland."
The golden sword light swept across the land.
...............
Catalina was now absolutely boiling with excitement.
She had just taken down the last great knight, and now she was charging through the crowd like a crazy little wild boar, shield raised, leaving a trail of chaos in her wake.
"Knight's Charge! Knight's Charge! Knight's Charge! Hahaha, still Knight's Charge!!!!"
This tigress was so caught up in her charge that she didn't even know where she had thrown her weapon, left with nothing but a shield in hand.
You can't blame her for being so excited. She had been frustratingly chased and beaten by these people for half a year. When she finally found a village where she could show off the might of Sir Knight, out of nowhere came a Siegfried who pinned her down and gave her a thrashing.
That beating left this Star of Knights questioning her life choices, even dreaming at night of Siegfried cutting her beloved spear in half.
Now, she had finally regained her confidence as the strongest knight of the younger generation by defeating these pursuers.
"Hahaha! My journey is from Bailan to Loslind, Knight's Charge!!!"
Loslind is the capital of the elves in the north, and the distance from Bailan to there is about the same as from Wenzhou to Canada on Earth.
With the active performance of the two knights, the enemy was quickly and thoroughly crushed. Of the pursuit team of over a hundred, less than ten remained alive.
The soldiers began to clean up the battlefield, collecting spoils and capturing prisoners.
They suffered no casualties in this battle, with only a few unfortunate souls who happened to be in Catalina's path of charge being sent flying and sustaining minor injuries.
Roland sheathed his sword. Beside him lay the great knight with lifeless eyes, not dead but unconscious.
This was on Siegfried's orders, to keep at least one leader alive for questioning.
Roland looked at him with some pity. This unfortunate soul would be handed over to Siegfried, and with the Meilan's methods, this guy was likely in for a fate worse than death.
After everything was packed up, the group headed back to the village.
In this battle, the Princess's faction had completely annihilated the pursuit team, captured a large amount of equipment and food, and taken several prisoners. It could truly be called a great victory.
...............
However, on the other side, Siegfried was getting the beating of his life.