The Lizardman viciously threw the dagger to the ground. It was a desperado, its failure in this all-or-nothing gamble only fueling its madness. It noticed that Conrad feared these Silver Elves like they were poisonous snakes, but it was not afraid. Weren’t they just a group of warriors with Silver Power? Silver Elves were just like that.
The second-line standing army of the Cruz Empire had this strength, and Yohkel had dealt with such troops before. It was originally a fugitive from the Empire, or rather, an exiled criminal.
It squinted its eyes and observed for a while, quickly spotting an issue. The Lizardman bandit leader immediately summoned its deputy, instructing it to lead a group to flank and attack the rear of the ruins — although it was a taboo to split forces temporarily on the battlefield, Yohkel noticed that their opponents seemed to be only thirty to forty people moving back and forth.
It decided to take a gamble to see if its guess was correct.
However, what Yohkel didn’t know was that its firm ally at this moment, Conrad, whom it thought it could rely on, had long been preparing to flee.
The Lizardman crossbowmen finally gathered. After a brief range adjustment, they occupied a vantage point outside the ruins. Arrows soon flew into the sky, then swooshed down — covering both their own troops and the enemy within the attack range.
They didn’t understand aiming or what extended strikes were.
The arrowheads and shafts rained down, striking the covers ’crack’ ’crack’, as Namenis waved his hand backward. He decisively issued the order to retreat. Seeing his gesture, the mercenaries behind quickly put away their crossbows and short bows and left in single file. Only then did the Elf Warriors at the rear follow suit.
After a brief battle, casualties had occurred on both sides. Many mercenaries were hit by arrows, and Sanfde was even slashed during the final melee. The knife struck the young man’s thigh artery, and if not for Namenis stopping the bleeding in time, he’d probably have gone to see Lord Marsha by now.
The mercenaries made a simple stretcher for him, and the young man lay weakly on it, biting his lip to stifle any groans. Death was a sacred and serene matter for mercenaries; they did not fear death, but they would not abandon their comrades either.
However, Sanfde turned his head and saw a mercenary he recognized running over from the ruins.
"Isn’t that guy from Hu Que’s team?" The thought flashed through his mind.
The mercenary, seeing the situation here, immediately shouted from afar, "Captain Hu Que saw Lizardmen penetrating the rear of the ruins. He asks for your opinion!"
Everyone was shocked by his words.
Flanking? This was the worst-case scenario the young Lord had anticipated. They couldn’t help but remember Brand’s words when laying out tactics. The young man had told them to treat every situation as the worst case to avoid being caught off guard.
The Silver Elves didn’t comment on this, but the mercenaries were somewhat dismissive. Most mercenaries believed in the Twin Gods of Destiny, also the bringers of fortune and misfortune — Alice and Yi Lian. Of course, in today’s world of gods turned to stars and laws, this belief was more of a spiritual support.
But in any case, the mentality of a mercenary often aligned with that of a gambler. Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹•𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖•𝗇𝗲𝘁
But now, it had come true.
"Human, what did he say?" Namenis asked back.
"The captain said, unless we split forces to intercept, we would be attacked from both the front and the back," the mercenary replied loudly.
"That’s not a problem," the Silver Elf Commander nodded, "but the question is, who will command?"
"Captain Hu Que suggested Mr. Sanfde..." The mercenary’s gaze fell on the stretcher and he found himself unable to finish the latter half of his sentence.
Currently, among Brand’s available fighters, those with the strongest leadership and most experience were undoubtedly Hu Que and Namenis. Next were Elf Princess Medisha, Qian, and Brand himself. But none of these five could be spared now, leaving only Sanfde, who had gained some prestige in this newly formed team.
Brand had allocated tasks in this way when formulating tactics. But given the current situation, everyone was a bit dumbfounded. Sanfde was gravely injured and out of combat, which was worse than any pre-conceived scenario.
The mercenaries looked at each other in dismay.
"I’ll go, Commander!" A silvery voice suddenly came from the ruins behind. Everyone turned their heads and saw Miss Merchant standing there, holding a sword dragging behind her just like the stone mason’s hammer she carried in the Buchibrando family old house.
She widened her eyes at them, her bright light brown eyes seemed to be filled with a question:
Namenis shook his head. If this were a day ago, the Silver Elf Commander might have considered it. But after the astonishing things she did last night, he couldn’t let her treat the battle as a child’s play.
"Then let me, Commander," a girl walked out from behind Romantic. She pressed one hand against her collar, holding her cape down, and looked up calmly at everyone present.
Namenis looked at Antitina.
"I’ve studied Von Hamman’s Light Infantry Manual, Commander. Besides, I think it’s my responsibility at this point," she said.
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