The Apprentice's Shock (Part Two)

The procession set off in a grand procession, and at this moment, Elan felt something was amiss, because the procession's movement was equally strange.

Although the formation wasn't perfectly synchronized, at least the front and back rows were clearly distinguished, with a certain distance between them, and almost everyone was holding their weapons in the same posture.

This is very unusual. Didn't he remember that Fran recruited a large number of farmers? How come these people are like a trained army?

It's important to understand that in Antir, aside from guards and similar groups who occasionally receive training, most civilians' first experience on the Battlefield is essentially their first training.

This place is truly poor. Even the slightly larger neighboring Lorinvik can only afford to train a few thousand soldiers. Most of the time, they simply send farmers to the Battlefield.

As long as you maintain your formation and don't hinder yourself when you go into Battlefield, that's success.

What he was seeing now was something he had never seen these people train before. How could they be arranged in such a formation?

Elan knows nothing about it.

Looking ahead at the column, he noticed something highly suspicious: the column was moving forward without any obstruction.

This is highly unusual, especially for a caravan carrying a large amount of heavy cargo; the pace of travel is truly abnormal.

These days, the condition of roads in the wild is indescribable; you can only barely follow the tracks left by others.

Under these conditions, it's perfectly normal to occasionally encounter fallen tree trunks or collapsed road surfaces. Sometimes, you might even encounter narrow roads that you can't pass through.

The road the group was traveling on looked as if it had been carefully surveyed and repaired. Elan could see signs of road repairs and felled trees along the roadside in some places.

Elan raised an eyelid. If this team was originally going to attack an important city, he could understand.

But aren't they attacking a band of bandits? Why are they making so many preparations?

The group showed no signs of stopping, and as time passed, Elan spotted a crooked road sign by the roadside.

[Flying Eagle Territory]

When Elan brought his apprentices to find Fran, they passed through Flying Eagle City Flying Eagle City and stayed there for two nights to avoid the heavy rain.

They weren't on this road at the time, so Elan didn't immediately recognize it as the road leading to Flying Eagle Territory.

But as the group continued along the main road, Elan sensed something was wrong.

Why haven't we changed directions at all after going through so many forks in the road? Are we heading straight for Flying Eagle City?

The group continued forward for a long distance until Elan saw the familiar city walls and the scenery next to Flying Eagle City again, at which point he had a bad feeling.

Upon seeing the city walls, not only did he and his apprentices react strongly, but a brief commotion also broke out within the ranks.

When some people saw the city wall, they instinctively wanted to straighten their guns, but were stopped by those around them.

The people transporting the cannons also encountered a slight mishap at this last moment; one of the cannons suddenly sank into a pit, and it took the group some effort to pull the behemoth out of the pit.

Elan led his apprentices quickly forward along the roadside. He had originally intended to stand back and watch whatever happened next, but the likely development of events before him made it impossible for him to remain silent.

He approached Anna, the leader of the team, and asked her directly:

"Did Fran order you to attack Flying Eagle City?" He pointed to the distant city wall.

This time, Elan directly called out Fran's name instead of ' Lai ', which shows how anxious he was.

Anna nodded, but before she could even organize her thoughts, she heard Elan say:

"Listen, I don't care what Fran is planning. No matter what, I'm staying at the back of the group and not making a move. Understand?"

Elan had no idea what had gotten into Fran, sending these people to attack Flying Eagle City. Even if they took it, what good would it do Fran?

But now that he'd come this far, all he could do was make it clear to Anna that he wouldn't intervene. Even though he trusted Fran completely, he couldn't help but wonder if Fran had designs on him.

After all, a First Order Profession still has a significant influence in combat, especially when facing Flying Eagle City.

Anna didn't quite understand what Elan was talking about, but after a moment's thought, she could only agree to Elan's request.

"Master Elan, you can naturally stay in the rear. Just remember to take your apprentices far away... We don't need your participation in this battle."

Elan sensed something was wrong and was about to ask for details when a loud alarm suddenly sounded from Flying Eagle City.

Their team appeared on the road without prior notice, so how could the guards of Flying Eagle City not immediately sound the alarm?

Elan could only hurriedly lead his three apprentices to the rear of the group, creating a hundred-meter gap between them before reaching the foot of Flying Eagle City.

"What is Fran trying to do?"

This was the question that popped into Elan's mind after he found a small mound. He saw the group stop a short distance from the city wall and begin to reorganize their formation.

This distance was just right for an arrow to reach, and the group stopped there, carrying up those dark, indistinct things from behind.

The guards on the city wall raised their bows and arrows several times, but none of them caused any damage. The farthest arrow was still a full ten meters away from the position.

Anna's team took a very long time to adjust their formation, so long that the knights in Flying Eagle City couldn't contain their impatience.

A group of about thirty men emerged from the side of the city wall, led by two knights.

Now that Duke Theodore knows Ian is dead, it means something has changed in White Flower Territory. How could he not put in extra effort to defend it?

At this time, in addition to the lord, there were four knights of Formal Rank within Flying Eagle City.

At this moment, the two First Order knights who had left the city knew that the enemy had not yet established a firm foothold when they first arrived at the city walls, so they chose to go out and harass them.

Even if the riot fails, it can still lure some enemy troops forward, allowing the archers on the city walls to attack them.

This is a perfectly normal strategy, frequently used in the defensive battles of Antir.

The two leading knights rode white horses and wore gleaming armor, making them highly visible even in the midst of the battle.

They led their cavalry around the front and attacked from the side.

Instead of charging directly into the opponent's formation, they opted for a flanking maneuver, attempting to harass the enemy from the side.

When they saw the dozen or so raised black staffs, they initially thought they would be weapons like Spear.

The order to fire was given when the knights had advanced to within ten paces.

Several thunderclaps rang out, and the horses, unable to withstand such an attack, swayed and collapsed, carrying their riders.

The two knights felt as if something had struck their armor; they themselves only felt some soreness, but their horses collapsed to the ground.

The two men tried to get up quickly, but the cavalry behind them, unable to stop, crashed into the fallen horses and the two knights. They hadn't even considered that the knights' charge would be directly knocked off their horses.

Only half of the cavalry at the rear narrowly escaped the risk of falling by passing by on the side; the rest almost all fell to the ground.

The two knights pushed aside the cavalrymen and horses that were pressing down on them, quickly got up from the ground, and were about to observe their surroundings when...

The thunderclaps sounded again.

Bang!!!

The powerful impact caused them to stagger backward several steps before they could regain their footing. As they steadied themselves and tried to figure out what was happening, cries of agony rose from their feet.

The cries of agony were especially chilling after the thunderclap, as they peered down through the observation holes in their armor.

The ground was now covered in blood. The cavalry and horses that had followed them were all wounded and seemed to be stuck to the ground by the blood, unable to get up.

Before the two could process the scene before them, a third clap of thunder rang out, pulling them back to reality. At this moment, the cries of agony on the Battlefield intensified, and a white horse, half of its body stained with blood, trembled and neighed.

When the fourth thunderclap sounded, the two knights were ready to fight to the death. After all, they knew that it would be difficult to escape from this place, especially with the enemy possessing such strange ranged weapons.

The cries of agony gradually subsided. Two knights who were not in good condition were cut down by Anna's two sword strikes, without causing any trouble for the team.

In the end, only six cavalrymen returned to Flying Eagle City unharmed from the raid, and Anna ordered her to fire on the fleeing cavalrymen as well.

On the distant hillside, Elan stared blankly at the scene before him, wondering if he was seeing things.

The three apprentices trembled, their eyes already dry, yet they lingered, unwilling to look away, for they saw in it the hope of advancement for the Forge School.

Now that they have truly witnessed the results of these large-scale weapons operations, the three apprentices have a deeper understanding of the principles Fran was trying to teach.

Upon witnessing this scene, Kahn, who possessed the deepest mastery of magic, felt his head begin to shake. He felt no discomfort, which should be a sign that he was about to advance in rank.

The battle below was not yet over. Even though two knights had been lost at the start of the battle, Flying Eagle City still wanted to stubbornly resist with its sturdy city walls.

Anna had already arranged for the cannons to be operated. She instructed everyone to aim at the city gate and fire them at the same time.

Ocien shuddered, patted his ears to calm the tinnitus, and gazed at the cratered and battered city walls after the smoke and dust had cleared.

"If I had been able to build this thing back then and bring it into the assessment, I would definitely have been number one."

He stared at those dark, bulky things, wishing he could go down and study them right now.