"Big Brother! It's too chaotic! Those defeated soldiers are running everywhere—we need to fall back!" Andrew grabbed Andrel and started pulling him away. "What happened? How did they collapse so quickly? We'd only just begun regrouping."
"Leave with the confidants, Andrew. There are too many defeated soldiers. We can't take everyone with us—get out first!" Andrel had no time to command the army they had just gathered. They had regrouped, but the defeated soldiers had already caused unrest. Aside from the knights, mages, and the standing army, the remaining levies simply lacked the quality of proper soldiers.
"Retreat!"
They had barely begun retreating when the pursuers arrived on their heels.
First came the cuirassiers, wildly swinging their sabers and reaping the lives of fleeing soldiers one after another, all while shouting that those who surrendered their weapons would be spared.
People were already terrified when fleeing. Some of them heard the cries, but their bodies simply would not obey, and they kept running with weapons still in their hands—naturally, they were cut down.
Andrew and Andrel looked back from horseback and saw what weapons Lynn's troops were using. The things those infantrymen held looked very much like Matchlock Guns.
To gather more information, Andrel slowed down and observed carefully from a distant hill, drawing the attention of several soldiers carrying Rifled guns.
Several shots rang out in succession. The horses startled, and both Andrel and his horse were hit. Yet Andrel and the horse, clad in expensive Magic Runes armor, did not fall. The distance was too great; their armor had merely been dented.
"Such powerful firearms?" Andrel frowned. "No wonder they fire so quickly. We'll need to find some Water Magic users."
Having gathered enough information, Andrel prepared to retreat. Then, he suddenly spotted a familiar figure on the