In the pitch-black night, an elite assassin will always randomly spawn in a location unlit by firelight.
If such a thing were to happen, the young viscount's grand ambitions would likely be cut short before they even begin.
As two nimble men demolished the viscount's own tent, the surrounding guards immediately retreated into their formation.
Alfonso's camp was set up on a simple rammed earth platform, and the Viscount, standing on some debris and looking around, could roughly see the wave of enemies coming from there.
Watching the group of guys rampaging through his camp, Alfonso's breathing grew heavy.
It's hardened! The fist has hardened!
How could I have gotten myself into such a mess?!
It should be noted that the friction between the Empire and the Alliance has been ongoing for over a month, and the two sides have long since entered a stalemate.
It's not that the empire doesn't want to launch a large-scale invasion of the desert, but the desert is indeed not a place for humans, especially in August and September. You might go in as fresh meat, but come out as dried meat.
The Empire's soldiers are all human, not skeletons that are immune to high temperatures to some extent. This environment really only allows for small-scale combat.
Therefore, according to Marshal Luokenuosuos i, once the temperature drops further and the sun is less scorching, the Empire's battle lines will be moved forward again, and they will directly encroach on a narrow strip of land Skeleton Alliance.
Before that, all the military camps, large and small, had to do was to survey the surrounding area and record the movements of the nearest enemy, in order to prepare for the subsequent operations.
In order to carry out the marshal's orders, the well-equipped Imperial Army maintained the initiative in small-scale battles during this period, so even the Viscount himself never imagined that he would actually be attacked at night.
The feeling is as exhilarating as a boxer who has been cornered in an underground boxing ring suddenly delivering a beautiful blow.
The only problem with the whole thing is that their own troops were the ones who got attacked.
"Whoosh!"
A rocket was launched, and the quick-thinking Royal Guard Knight Saili strode forward and parried with his sword, knocking the blazing rocket aside.
"My lord, your instructions have been completed."
Saili bowed respectfully, but his eyes darted to his side and rear—why was that rocket burning so intensely?
Years of military experience made Saili glance at the arrow a couple more times, but upon hearing his lord's summons, he immediately turned his head away:
"My lord, I will protect your safety."
"I know."
The young Alfonso Lange had regained his senses by now, and he looked at Saili with emotion, saying:
"Luckily you're reliable. During the day, I ordered increased security and patrols tonight, and you were the only one who actually did it... They didn't even bother to adjust the patrol frequency on the surface."
Saili understood the viscount's underlying meaning; he had only recently crossed that threshold to become a low-ranking knight of the noble class and was still in the process of getting acquainted with his new identity.
However, the viscount did not give him a chance to speak, but instead asked:
" Saili, if my father won battles because of these swine, then perhaps he really was a remarkable man—after all, not just anyone can lead a bunch of stupid pigs to victory."
"My lord..."
Upon hearing this, Saili quickly offered words of comfort:
"Those old centurions aren't necessarily ignorant; they're just unwilling to obey your orders."
"Increasing patrols might be the right thing to do, but they don't want to receive such orders from you."
Alfonso, of course, understood what Saili meant, thinking to himself, "You might as well be saying they're all a bunch of pigs."
However, he still mustered his spirits and said:
"Yes, not one of them ever respected me."
The Viscount sighed:
"Although I don't know why things happened so coincidentally, this night raid might not be a bad thing after all..."
Alfonso, surrounded by fully armored guards, was not actually worried about his safety.
After confirming that the area around his camp was still safe, he took command and led his guards to form ranks nearby, while also gathering the fleeing soldiers who had escaped from other hundred-man squads to prevent them from collapsing completely.
Just as Alfonso was preparing to turn the tide of the night with his commanding skills, a hearty laugh reached his ears from afar, followed by a bold voice:
"Wearing full armor and gags, they raided the camp as if it were empty!"
The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw a stranger riding a tall horse galloping towards them. With a flick of his weapon, he knocked over a passing soldier.
Beside him were two other burly men, the one on the right looking confident and even somewhat refined.
The man on the left was even more remarkable; in the pitch-black night, Alfonso clearly saw a faint red glow emanating from him, as did the Hoofed Beast beneath him.
Where did this enemy come from?!
"Hahahaha, that one's obviously the leader!"
The horse-riding creature with the sharp Lion Hidden in the Eyes keenly spotted the group of enemies maintaining their defensive formation, and of course, it also saw the slightly frightened young man in the very center.
Surrounded by people in the very center, if you're not a high-ranking official, then who is?
"I'm going to try and see if I can capture him alive!"
"[ Lion Hidden in the Eyes ]" said to "[ Gill's Cuisine ]" in front of him.
"You only have one chance, don't forget our mission..."
"Understood, I'll only try once, if it doesn't work, then forget it."
Having said that, he didn't wait for [ Gill's Cuisine ] to say anything more, and whipped the somewhat Dragon Transformation Hoofed Beast beneath him again, increasing his speed once more.
Rushing to the front of the arrayed guards, [ with Lion Hidden in the Eyes ] he suddenly spurred his horse and leaped over the shield-bearer standing at the very front.
At this moment, he was only ten meters away from the young viscount!
Alfonso, standing a dozen steps away, witnessed this scene. Although he was somewhat frightened, he was not so terrified as to run away on the spot.
He considered himself to be ambitious and courageous beyond the reach of ordinary people; although the situation was terrifying, it was not enough to frighten him.
A bizarre change occurred rapidly beneath his skin; in the blink of an eye, the shape of Alfonso's pupils had changed.
He also entered combat mode.
Just as the flaming spear was about to pierce his face, Saili moved first than anyone else.
His long but somewhat cumbersome knight's sword now resembled a nimble wooden stick in a child's hand.
The sword struck the side of the spear, deflecting it at an angle and perfectly avoiding Alfonso's head.
Then, Saili exerted force with his wrist, and the knight's sword instantly turned ninety degrees, its blade aimed at the wooden shaft of the spear.
He immediately pressed down on the sword with all his might, and the spear in the half-dragon's hand snapped in two, the burning spearhead falling to the ground.
Behind him, Alfonso, who seemed timid and hesitant, suddenly stepped forward and actively cooperated with Saili's attack!