The day's battle went very smoothly. With the players' incredible physical abilities, both teams of Soul Returner completed their assigned tasks exceptionally well.
[ Practice More If You're Bad ]'s raiding party naturally encountered many expected difficulties, especially the easily foreseeable situation of the Hoofed Beast being exhausted.
Even so, the players still took the initiative and tried every possible combination they could think of, just to arrive at the battlefield on time.
The methods they used included, but were not limited to, people riding horses, horses riding people, horses riding people, and people riding people. In short, after a whole afternoon of high-speed racing, the players finally arrived at the designated location just as night fell.
In fact, they weren't entirely undetected during their flanking raid; it's just that all the Soul Returner and Skeletons on the entire front were gathered that night, so when they saw them, they simply pretended not to, since they had other things to do.
Finally, an hour after arriving at the designated location, a group of skeleton soldiers, suspected to be enemies, appeared in the distant desert.
The long-suppressed [ Practice More If You're Bad ] immediately mounted his horse and rallied the players to launch an attack.
Some warhorses habitually mounted the people, but unfortunately, they were quickly beaten.
Although I don't know why it was allowed before but not now, I still managed to launch the charge in the end.
The skeletons, who were retreating under cover of night, never expected to encounter an elite imperial force here. After putting up a weak resistance for a while, the entire skeleton army collapsed with the death of their general.
As expected, the large number of followers fled towards the sandcastle they had come from, since it was the closest Alliance stronghold to this location.
After quickly cleaning up the battlefield, [ Practice More If You're Bad ] ordered his troops to pursue relentlessly, giving the enemy no chance to catch their breath.
Meanwhile, the mountain-climbing team led by [ Elderly and Children Fly First ] also successfully completed its planned operational objectives.
Faced with the steep, smooth, and fragile mountain walls, [ Elderly and Children Fly First ] selected several highly agile Soul Returner to be the first to ascend.
Every so often, these people would find a spot that could barely be considered a platform, and tie vines to the rocks so that they could hang down.
The remaining players then climbed upwards one by one, using the hanging vines and wooden stakes driven into the crevices of the rocks.
They went up and down repeatedly, Elderly and Children Fly First, leading the team through a desolate mountain area, and almost got lost.
Fortunately, they eventually found the right direction and saw a relatively flat desert behind the mountains.
[ Elderly and Children Fly First ] His brain, which had been suppressed all day, completely shut down at this moment. With the determination to die, he jumped off the nearly 90-degree cliff, trying to leave his life to fate.
The dull thuds echoed repeatedly. His body was fractured beyond repair, and he could only lie at the bottom of the mountain, barely breathing, watching his companions slide down quickly using vines and ropes.
Going downhill is always easier than going uphill. Although not all Soul Returner are plant-based, a single vine can still support the weight of two people.
In short, [ the Elderly and Children Fly First ] was so eager to recreate the famous scene that he ended up being one of the most seriously injured members of the team.
Among these people, he was the only one who was seriously injured without even engaging in combat...
Not long after the group descended the mountain, a commotion arose in the distance. Skeletons, whose speech was not very fluent, were making incoherent noises and emitting Psionic Energy that could only cause them pain.
Seeing this, the group hiding behind the sand dunes immediately understood. After placing the enemy in a low-lying area, they charged forward again while shouting battle cries.
The second wave completely routed the skeleton soldiers, and the remaining few hundred spontaneously banded together and ran towards the fortress in Riel Valley.
They eventually returned to Sandcastle as they had hoped, but the familiar barbican ultimately became their burial place.
Standing on the walls of the Riel Valley fortress, Alfonso looked at the "demon servants" before him with a very calm expression, as if to say something like, "I'm not so bad after all."
[ Practice More If You're Bad ], returning with a full load, immediately said:
"Sir, I think we can now report our achievements!"
Upon hearing this, Alfonso's previously happy expression suddenly crumbled.
The young viscount suddenly remembered something—
He was no longer under his father's command, and therefore no longer had the authority to act freely.
Having gone through that ordeal, he was now a lieutenant under Marshal Luokenuosuos i.
He had not received any instructions to move freely.
In other words, everything we do today is ultimately against the rules.
Alfonso expressed his dilemma and awaited an answer from these knowledgeable demon servants.
After a moment of contemplation, [ Great Wei Boxing Champion ] finally spoke first:
"Sir, how about we say it this way—"
"Just say that you know Riel Valley is strategically important and easy to defend, so since you've been stationed here, you've insisted on sending out a large number of scouts every day."
Alfonso scratched his head:
That's exactly what I did.
[ The Great Wei Boxing Champion ] nodded:
"These scouts not only monitored the fortress in Riel Valley, but also the other sandcastles in the surrounding area."
"Earlier today, several of your scouts spotted signs of retreat in Riel Valley, which is why we decided to attack at the last minute to prevent them from escaping."
Alfonso felt a bit thirsty.
"Does that sound like an even greater sin?"
[ The Great Wei Boxing Champion ] continued:
"The important part is coming up next--"
"In addition, the scouts have discovered that all the outer sand fortresses are retreating. We hope that Marshal will seize the opportunity to act quickly. As long as we advance the battle line, our troops can be more concentrated."
Alfonso frowned:
"Isn't this a false report?"
[ The Great Wei Boxing Champion ] and others all shook their heads:
"Sir, this is the truth; it's intelligence that our compatriots risked their lives to bring back!"
After thinking about it carefully, Alfonso realized that it must have been information sent back by other demon servants under the prince's command, which they had simply shared.
The imperial army now has a large number of demon servants; it seems the prince's power is not to be underestimated... What if His Highness were to raise his voice one day...?
Alfonso stopped thinking about it and scanned the crowd in front of him, asking directly:
Who would like to be this Messenger?
[ The Great Wei Boxing Champion ] immediately stepped forward:
"The idea came from me, and I am a green dragon descendant, so I had no choice but to take on this task."
"Good."
Alfonso:
"Then report this news to the Grand Marshal. Hmm, remember to emphasize the urgent military situation and talk less about our unauthorized actions, but... you still need to mention that we captured Riel Valley."
"Understood."
Carrying Alfonso's expectations, [ The Great Wei Boxing Champion ] once again went to the central army to request an audience with Imperial Marshal Luokenuosuos i as Messenger.