Just as Burken was picking his teeth, the scout suddenly spoke up again, “Boss, bad news! Another group of people has appeared from another direction!”
Burken put away the toothpick made from a rib and asked, “Is it another professional leading them?”
“That’s right, boss, and this professional seems even weaker. Moreover, they are using a horse-drawn carriage to pull their army.”
Burken was not foolish. After briefly speculating in his mind, he quickly stood up and said to the soldiers around him, “Get on your horses, quickly!”
Two groups were not only attacking in a pincer formation, but were also fully armed. Even Burken, no matter how arrogant, could sense that the newcomers were not friendly.
Although he didn’t have a clear concept of a pincer maneuver, Burken understood that one group was responsible for separating the demon clan from the refugees while the other group was responsible for the main offensive. Under a flank attack, the demon soldiers would find themselves in a deadlock where they couldn’t advance or retreat.
Of course, all of this was based on the assumption that both sides were evenly matched. Burken’s inner arrogance still made him think that human soldiers were as fragile as paper, shattering upon contact. So while he did mount his horse, he didn’t immediately fortify the area where the refugees were, but rather prepared to engage the opposing main attacking force.
This way, he could strike a serious blow to human confidence. The greatest pleasure for Burken during war was witnessing despair and terror on human faces and listening to their wails when they surrendered.
Moreover, this was the first human force daring to engage him since entering the Snowland, and it had been a long time since he enjoyed the thrill of slaughter. Now, his desire for bloodshed was rising.
Even if, for the sake of argument, this group of human soldiers truly managed to win through some despicable means, as long as one demon soldier managed to escape, it would spell disaster for these humans. They could expect to face the wrath of the Demon King when they encroached upon the territory.
Burken’s squad was made up entirely of cavalry. How could a bunch of infantry catch a group of cavalry? After all, horses were the norm in this world.
Thus, Burken’s arrogance was entirely justified. This arrogance even caused him to become increasingly lazy in his thinking as he issued commands to actively engage the enemy, ordering a charge from a distance.
Seeing Burken charging towards him, Lauri was completely stunned.
Was the enemy not planning to conserve their horses’ strength at all? They were charging from such a distance.
This was completely different from the measured approach of the demon clan he had seen on the front lines.
In an instant, the seasoned Lauri even suspected that the enemy was playing a trick!
There was no way around it; Lauri had no idea that the demon clan was rapidly deteriorating at an unimaginable pace after capturing territory outside the Snowland. Burken had been relatively slow in his corruption.
But there was no time to think. Lauri immediately ordered, “Disembark, all troops disembark and prepare to engage!”
Soon, the soldiers on the horse-drawn carriage swiftly disembarked in an orderly fashion to face the enemy and quickly formed a battle formation. Drawing upon countless training sessions, they instinctively reached for their grenades, ready to send these mindless charging demons a big surprise.
Burken was not blind and noticed that the humans were forming an orderly line, realizing something was amiss. He immediately began to command a strategy most effective against humans.
That was to use bloodline magic for a barrage.
Most of the demon clan’s bloodline magic was long-range attacks, with very few exceptions. These spells, equivalent to low-tier magic, had a long range but were most effective around seventy meters, comparable to bows.
In terms of maximum range, bows might be longer, but bloodline magic was accessible to everyone in the demon clan and did not require as much practice as mounted archery. It was also very dependent on the physical quality of the cavalry.
Quantitative changes can lead to qualitative changes; the overwhelming power of bloodline magic was not any weaker than bows, and visually, it was even more exaggerated. This was one of the reasons for the demon clan’s continuous victories on the borders.
However, Burken’s squad consisted of only twenty people. Though all cavalry, many of them specialized in reconnaissance-type bloodline magic.
Upon contact, Burken realized that the enemy’s equipment was remarkably extravagant.
It should be known that most human soldiers on the borders didn’t even have armor, only what could be described as cotton “armor,” and most weapons were makeshift pitchforks. The equipment was similar to the commoners Burken slaughtered, and bloodline magic hitting them meant real damage.
But now, Burken faced a group of human soldiers fully clad in enchanted chain mail. The distant wind blades and fireballs that struck their armor caused little damage, and these soldiers showed no fear of the demon clan’s flashy bloodline magic. They didn’t even flinch, let alone break their formation.
Suddenly, a feeling of fear rose in Burken’s heart. His arrogance made him unwilling to retreat, yet his long-standing combat experience gave him a new idea; since long-range attacks couldn’t break through their defenses, he would just get a bit closer.
Like ordinary magic, the power of bloodline magic diminished with distance. About twenty to thirty meters away, bloodline magic would unleash its full power; even if the enemy’s chain mail was enchanted, it was still not plate armor, and bloodline magic might still inflict some damage.
The demon clan was composed entirely of cavalry; even at a distance of twenty to thirty meters, Burken believed he could easily kite the enemy.
Thus, he commanded the soldiers beside him to immediately stop casting spells and continued the charge.
The effective maximum throw distance for grenades was about forty to fifty meters, but Lauri was not in a rush. He understood that the enemy was cavalry, and his soldiers had almost no mobility, making it difficult to hold them down.
Although the knights of the Lars Family would take responsibility for pursuing them if they all escaped, Lauri was unwilling; unless he could achieve a decisive victory against these demons, he couldn’t swallow the bitter pill of defeat from the border.
At fifty meters, Lauri tightened his fists, not issuing the order to throw; none of the soldiers present were nervous enough to throw the grenades first.
Such composure was something Lauri would not have dared to imagine while commanding ordinary soldiers at the borders. Yet now, Lauri indeed had an army with terrifying obedience.
Perhaps the lord’s training methods were effective, or maybe Isha’s ideological education played a role, but Lauri felt that perhaps it was the combination of both that led to such results.
At forty meters, Lauri thought that if he were still leading those ordinary soldiers on the borders, facing the cavalry charge, they would have likely already fled by now. Only the finest could remain on the battlefield, let alone obey orders and refrain from engaging.
But it still wasn’t enough.
At thirty meters, Lauri felt the moment had come. Since throwing had a certain delay, by the time they were thrown, the enemy cavalry would likely have closed to around twenty meters. Lauri planned to inflict at least some damage with this throw, aiming for a tangible outcome.
“Throw the grenades!”
With Lauri’s command, the soldiers pulled the fuses and threw the grenades in a uniform motion.
