Reynolds's Crisis

On the border of the Southeast Province of the O'Brien Empire, south of Nier City, lies an area bordering the Luo'ao Empire. This region is also the most chaotic. ✌👣 💛🍭

The Luo'ao Empire is located south of the Chaos Territory and west of the Far East Prairie.

Long-term warfare with steppe cavalry has instilled in the people of the Luo'ao Empire an extremely fierce and valiant spirit, and its cavalry army is renowned for its strength. The Luo'ao Empire and the O'Brien Empire have clashed numerous times in the area south of Nier City. The blood shed in those battles has turned the soil of that outskirts a dark red.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" The Gale howled, bending the waist-high wild grass. Through the grass, one could vaguely see dozens of horses drinking water from the stream in the distance.

Dozens of knights were resting on the ground, while several others stood guard around them.

At this moment, Reynolds was leaning against a withered tree, his eyes scanning his surroundings like a hawk's. This Reynolds in the army was completely different from usual; he was now wearing dark blue armor, with a golden flame emblem on his chest. This signified that he was a member of the Golden Flame Legion, an elite force of the O'Brien Empire.

His standard armor also indicated his rank as a battalion commander.

Reynolds took out a pocket watch from his pocket, checked the time, and said, "It's three in the afternoon. By five, everyone else should be here."

"My lord," a blue-haired knight approached and chuckled, "Now that the Luo'ao Empire and our Empire are not at war, do you think it's a waste of our energy to remain on such a watchful eye?" "Huzi, shut up," Reynolds frowned.

"Yes." The blue-haired knight immediately stopped joking.

The cavalry battalion led by Reynolds was a low-organization unit, consisting of three companies and a total of nine hundred men. The 18 squads had already been dispatched for patrols, and the squad Reynolds led was his personal guard, his strongest unit.

Reynolds has been in the army for eight or nine years now, having climbed his way up from a regular soldier.

"Although the Luo'ao Empire and our O'Brien Empire haven't been at war for over a decade, how many small skirmishes have occurred in peacetime? These chaotic border skirmishes cost the empire tens of thousands of soldiers every year," Reynolds said solemnly. "And according to my estimation, after such a long period without a major war, the Luo'ao Empire's population has likely reached its limit, and they probably desperately need a war. Therefore, we must be cautious and vigilant."

The meaning of war is very simple.

With a large population, there is a shortage of land and food. The empire will naturally initiate wars, otherwise internal turmoil will ensue. When both empires suffer heavy casualties, the population decreases and there is enough land, the war will naturally cease.

In reality, it's just this most basic meaning.

After all, for ordinary people, the most basic things are just food, drink, and shelter.

"Yes, sir, we will be careful," the blue-haired knight said with a smile.

"By the way, sir, I heard that even Haydson was no match for Master Lin Feng, your classmate from Ernst Institute," the blue-haired knight said in a low voice.

Reynolds couldn't help but laugh when he heard his subordinate mention Lin Feng.

"He scared off Haydson with a single move; even I was shocked," Reynolds said calmly. Reynolds still felt a pang of regret; he hadn't watched his good friend's breakthrough match.

Looking back towards the west, the blazing sun made Reynolds squint; his good brother Lin Feng was in the western Imperial Capital.

"In a little over a year, my ten-year term will be up. I'll be leaving the army," Reynolds thought to himself.

More than eight years of military service had made Reynolds truly love the army. However, Reynolds was also aware of the family's rules: if a family member served in the army for ten years and reached the rank of division commander or deputy division commander, then he would remain in the army indefinitely. If he did not reach that rank, he would have to return to the family.

Reynolds is now the captain, just one step away.

Although Reynolds liked the military, he didn't want to spend his whole life in it. He still wanted to quietly cultivate magic, and he was already Level Seven Mage. With another hundred years of arduous training, he had a chance to reach the Level 9 Great Mage.

As they waited quietly, the various teams gradually arrived and gathered here. Around 4:50 PM, four hundred people had already gathered. Five hundred more were still missing.

"Hmm?" Reynolds suddenly frowned.

He suddenly felt a sense of crisis, as if an unseen killing intent was lurking towards them. Reynolds was a mage with powerful mental strength, and his perception was much stronger than that of ordinary people.

"Be careful!" Reynolds suddenly shouted.

"Yes, sir," the surrounding knights responded, but just then, the rapid sound of galloping hooves approached Extreme Speed from afar.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" The shrill cry pierced the quiet sky.

Almost all the knights reacted with lightning speed, grabbing their lances and shields, and charging towards their warhorses. But just then, sharp arrows came flying from afar – "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

The arrows, flying at Extreme Speed, swept across the sky like locusts. All the knights immediately knelt down, using their shields to protect themselves, and the nearest knights huddled together.

The Imperial shields were of excellent quality. In war, ordinary arrows couldn't penetrate them. Indeed, many arrows struck the shield, causing it to vibrate slightly before falling limply. However, a dozen or so arrows pierced through it as if it were paper—"Thud!"

An arrow pierced the shield with Extreme Speed, then went straight into the head of a knight, his brains spilling out.

Seeing this, Reynolds felt a pang of pain in his heart. This knight was his personal guard, and had been with him for six years. After six years of living and working together day and night, their bond was naturally deep. But Reynolds instantly judged. "To shoot through a shield from hundreds of meters away, they must be experts, level seven or Eighth-level Warrior. And there are quite a few of them."

The sound of horses' hooves became clearer as the people drew closer. The group was dressed in gray armor, and their warhorses had cloth wrapped around their hooves.

Ahead of this group, a dozen or so blood-stained knights were fleeing.

"Rossi." Reynolds's expression changed; those dozen or so knights were from his own large unit.

"My lord, hurry! The Luo'ao Empire's army numbers in the thousands! Quickly!" A blood-stained knight rushed in from the side, but was instantly pierced through the throat by an arrow.

"Kill them all, leave no one alive!" A cold voice rang out from afar.

"Withdraw!"

Reynolds shouted loudly. The enemy numbered in the thousands, while he only had a few hundred. Moreover, the enemy had launched a sneak attack, and their force was clearly elite, with many level seven and Eighth-level Warrior.

Moreover, their duty was to patrol, and they had to relay this message back.

The surviving knights immediately mounted their warhorses. Perhaps the enemy was also greedy for these hundreds of horses, as the arrows they had fired earlier were all aimed at the knights, and the warhorses suffered little damage. They fled quickly. Nearly four hundred men began to run away, but now only a little over a hundred remained. This was only because Reynolds had used magic to intimidate the enemy. As they fled, Reynolds also silently chanted a magic incantation.

Suddenly, eight giant, sword-like flames, fanned out from Reynolds, surged in all directions. These eight sword-like flames directly pierced into the pursuing cavalry.

"Fire magic, Flame Slash!" The scorching flames struck a knight, who immediately screamed in agony as his armor melted away, turning him into charred remains in the Extreme Speed eye. The surrounding grasslands also ignited again, forcing the cavalry behind to slow down.

"Chase! Chase!" The leader with the messy blond hair glared angrily at Reynolds in the distance.

If it weren't for the magician in the distance, they would have wiped out this group long ago. But it was this magician, especially now that it's autumn and the wild grass is withered and yellow, easily set ablaze. And once burned, it burns a large area, completely hindering their pursuit.

Magical power is not limitless.

Reynolds didn't dare cast Level 7 Magic at all; he only used sixth-level spells. Even so, Reynolds's magical power was now completely depleted.

The Luo'ao Empire was still pursuing a squadron of three hundred men. However, this squadron alone had more than a dozen level seven experts, clearly making it their most elite unit. Of their remaining nearly one hundred men, there was only one level seven warrior, plus a Level Seven Mage.

"Nier City! I can see Nier City!" one of the knights shouted.

"Nier City!" Reynolds gazed at the blurry outline in the distance, his eyes filled with hope. He rode his horse even faster, pressing onward with renewed vigor.

"Whoosh!" Another arrow shot from behind. Exhausted, Reynolds tried to dodge again, raising his shield to block. With a soft thud, the arrow grazed the edge of the shield and pierced Reynolds's shoulder. The powerful penetration caused the extremely tired Reynolds to sway and almost fall off his horse.

After running for more than two hours, it's now getting dark.

There were many warriors guarding the city walls of Nier City, and there seemed to be some nobles up there doing something.