Or rather, it seemed as though this battle had been started by the little devils that had flapped in through the window.
But for these Swadian Militia, who had long yearned to win glory and make something of themselves in these chaotic times,
battle was exactly what they desired!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The seemingly weak Hunting Crossbows fired sharp bolts, blossoming bloody flowers across the little devils that had just landed in the Wheat Field and had yet to steady themselves.
As their name implied, Hunting Crossbows were merely tools for hunting.
Compared to standard War Crossbows, more powerful heavy crossbows, or even the Sniper Crossbows equipped by Rhodok Sharpshooters, they were hardly worth mentioning.
As long as one wore slightly thicker Leather Armor, the Hunting Crossbows' power would be reduced by several degrees.
But these little devils had no armor.
They were completely naked.
They used their Physical Bodies to withstand bolts fired at point-blank range from within twenty meters!
Bolts with iron heads!
"Caw, caw, caw!" Two or three little devils at the very front were struck in the eyes, throats, or chests. Their wings fluttered as they struggled twice before abruptly collapsing to the ground.
An even stronger stench of sulfur spread along with the dark-red blood flowing from the little devils' bodies.
It was as if this had triggered a chain reaction.
"Caw, caw, caw!"
The little devils all widened their crimson eyes, shrieking as they flapped their wings and raised the Iron Forks or Iron Spears in their hands. Half leaping and half flying, they charged toward Shen Mu and his Swadian Militia.
"Spear Phalanx! Forward!" A slightly more senior Swadian Militiaman was already issuing orders in a low voice.
Their movements were as precise as they had been on the training grounds, or when they encountered bandits while patrolling the village Suburbs.
Their hands might have trembled slightly with excitement.
But—
Those spears, carved from solid hardwood and fitted with sharpened iron tips, could still kill as long as they were thrust with enough force!
Thus, when the foremost little devils came baring their fangs and flapping their bat wings,
before they could even land, intending to charge straight into the Swadian Militia's Spear Phalanx from midair,
they were impaled by the spears thrust out with all their strength, skewered like candied hawthorns and lifted into the air with bloody holes in their bodies!
"Kill!" Yet the Swadian Militia had no intention of stopping.
They pulled back their spears, then drove them forward viciously again with the force of their arms.
No matter how many little devils charged at them,
the Swadian Militia continued mechanically thrusting their spears back and forth, exactly as they had been trained!
In only a brief moment, more than ten little devils had been impaled to death before the Spear Phalanx.
The thick smell of blood mingled with the foul stench of sulfur.
The little devils behind them, flapping their wings, were suddenly overcome with fear and no longer dared to press forward!
"Do these monsters feel fear too?" Shen Mu, who had been holding a longsword at the rear and overseeing the battle, was slightly stunned.
In the memories of his former self, he had never experienced fighting so many Undead Monsters.
At most, he had faced a lone zombie, or seen more than four or five skeletons and immediately run for his life.
Otherwise, he had hidden somewhere with fire and barely survived.
In situations like this,
only those fortunate enough to obtain a Spiritual Realm Mark and become professionals, or commanders who possessed Spiritual Realm Creatures, had been qualified to engage in such fierce battles.
And now, Shen Mu possessed the Mount & Blade System, and the Mount & Blade Troop Types it had brought him made him seem like...
a commander leading Spiritual Realm Creatures as well!
"Perhaps that really is the case." Shen Mu thought of the Blue Star Rules, which had now been corrupted by the Necromantic Rules.
Humanity's once-powerful firearms had all become ineffective.
Even Blue Star's native Cold Weapons had, in a sense, become fragile.
Not exactly fragile.
Rather, their effectiveness against Undead Monsters under the influence of the Necromantic Rules was extremely limited!
More than once in his memories, Shen Mu had seen Blue Star's native Cold Weapons—whether machetes, homemade iron swords, or Cold Weapons passed down through history.
When fighting Undead Monsters, they could not even compare to a rusty kitchen knife passed down from the Spiritual Realm!
It was as if Blue Star's Cold Weapons were inherently seventy or eighty percent less effective than those of the Spiritual Realm when fighting Undead Monsters, becoming exceedingly—"fragile"!
That was why, even after losing its technology, Blue Star remained at an absolute disadvantage against the endless tide of Undead Monsters despite its remaining industrial strength.
"But things are different now." Shen Mu looked at the Swadian Militia beside him, who were still thrusting their spears.
They impaled every little devil that dared advance before the Spear Phalanx.
Amid the thick scent of blood,
and the accumulating little devil corpses,
a smile curled across Shen Mu's lips.
For some reason, Shen Mu suddenly realized that the fear of Undead Monsters inherited from his former self...
was beginning to fade!
"Kill!"
Shen Mu drew his longsword and looked at the remaining twenty or thirty little devils, who resembled dwarves. They flapped their wings but no longer dared to continue attacking.
He immediately led the Swadian Militia beside him, intending to wipe out these little devils completely.
To personally end this battle!
Without realizing it, Shen Mu's mindset had completely changed.
He was no longer so afraid when facing these Undead Monsters.
He could even—
personally slaughter these monsters!
Shing! The sharp longsword pierced directly into the chest of the last little devil.
The little devil twisted and let out a shrill cry, but its ferocious expression was nothing more than a hollow bluff.
"Die!" Shen Mu twisted the longsword in his hand, shredding the little devil's heart. As blood gushed out, the little devil finally fell silent.
All around Shen Mu,
the Swadian Militia, holding Pointed Hoes and wooden shields large enough to cover their upper bodies in their left hands, were also cleaning up the battlefield.
Whether they found little devils still twitching and not quite dead, or little devil corpses already lying motionless on the ground,
they raised their Pointed Hoes and brought them down hard on their heads.
Only after the crisp crack of bone and the splatter of blood mixed with brain matter did they nod in satisfaction, step over the body, and move on to strike the next little devil corpse.
That was how meticulous and thorough battlefield cleanup had to be.
It was also one of the necessary methods they had learned in the Kingdom of Swadia.
For bandits and brigands they had already offended, sparing them could never bring anything good to the village.
In chaotic times, in the world of Mount & Blade,
kindness and mercy
often led to tragedy in the end.
Letting bad people go was equivalent to giving them another chance. If one's luck ran out, their family, friends, and entire village would be dragged down with them.
It was the same now.
Besides, the Swadian Militia were not merely facing people from Calradia.
They were terrifying monsters from another world!
"I'll leave the remaining cleanup to you."
Shen Mu held the longsword still dripping dark-red blood and looked at the militiamen cleaning up the battlefield. After giving the order, he turned toward the room, not forgetting to remind them, "Remember, throw all these corpses out the window."
"We understand." The Swadian Militia answered respectfully.
After returning to the room, Shen Mu casually pulled over a rag and wiped the sticky dark-red blood from his longsword.
Then he tossed it into the brazier and added two more pieces of firewood, making the campfire burn even brighter.
He also lit another candle and replaced the one in the toilet that was nearly burned out.
Only after finishing all that did he finally sit back down on the bed.
A dialogue box appeared before his eyes.
Ding! Congratulations! You have won this battle! This was a resounding victory! You and your subordinates fought bravely and obtained 1 Bronze Chest. You have completed the mission! You have received the following rewards! ...
Before you continue