Amber Sword

However, Brand could actually gain their acceptance, which could only be described as freakish.

Others were fine, but the Princess had a somewhat complicated look when she saw him. Brand could even clearly feel that in the Half-Elf Girl’s eyes, there was both recognition and a hint of vigilance, and he knew well where that vigilance came from.

With the addition of the Grey Fin Naga, the army gathered around Princess expanded to six thousand men, barely having the strength of a Guard. Everyone seemed to see a glimmer of hope, especially Count Otin’s Private Soldiers, who no longer appeared panicked—Brand had initially feared these guys would desert at the slightest touch.

Brand inquired with Sani’er about how they managed to catch up, and only then did he understand that Sani’er and the Grey Fin Naga Guard under him had pursued his group via the sea route along Ampezel Bay. According to Sani’er’s description, they had defeated the Harbor Guard and discovered that Brand had already evacuated Ampezel. At that time, the Black Blade Legion had already completed their assembly to the south of Ampezel. Sani’er made a decisive decision, ordering all Nagas to retreat along the city’s river channels, entering the outer sea bay of Ampezel, and then landing from Denggang Bay, thus intercepting Brand’s group.

The terrain of Ampezel is very special, where the north and south lands converge and compress to form a crescent-shaped bay, with the Ampezel Strait in the center. The terrain is flat in the north, while the south is lined with cliffs. Sailing out to sea reveals this unique landscape, with the coastline south of the Ampezel port almost entirely being knife-like sea cliffs, beneath which reefs abound, making it difficult for sails to approach.

To the south are two landing points, with Denggang Bay actually being a shallow beach, where only Nagas can land. Not to mention outside is a whirlpool of reefs, which Brand knew very well, so he dismissed the idea of setting sail from there. Further south is Holy White Bay, far from Ampezel Port, and it is the only anchorage in this area.

Brand estimated the time, and it seemed unlikely to reach Holy White Bay before being caught by the Black Blade Legion. However, the addition of the Grey Fin Naga sparked another plan in his mind.

Brand immediately unfurled the parchment map, and the Officers from the Royal Knight Academy nearby knew that their ’Commander’ was about to devise a plan, so they gathered around. Ou Fuwei’er and Count Otin stood to Brand’s left and right.

"Thought of a way?" Sir Wolf asked.

"Yes," Brand nodded: "I have an idea, but it needs to be verified."

"Could it be that Lord has another trick, a way to shake off those pesky guys in the sky?" Enrock asked with a grin.

"Brand, can we hold out until nightfall and use the cover of darkness to lose the Flying Dragon Cavalry?" Frey also asked.

"Impossible," Count Otin replied. Having served in both the Black Blade Legion and the Southern Army, he was the most familiar with the Flying Dragon Cavalry’s commanders: "The mounts of the Flying Dragon Cavalry are scientifically named Eruein Dragons, mainly residing on the Northern Plateau. They are actually nocturnal creatures, and trained Flying Dragon Cavalry can track just as well at night."

"Truly annoying, still a full-time unit," Brand cursed in his heart, but he actually understood this fact well; after all, he had been a Flying Dragon Cavalry in a game before and was quite familiar with the biological Eruein Dragons, so he never harbored this delusion from the start, "Alright, unless it rains knives from the sky, let’s not think about shaking them off; after all, they fly and we walk."

What he said was witty, and the crowd couldn’t help but chuckle.

"If knives rained down, we’d be dead, Brand." Only Frey gave him a sidelong glance.

"So we must face the Black Blade Legion. At this pace, we’ll be caught by tomorrow afternoon at the earliest," Loka, one of the top three mages, reacted swiftly and said calmly: "No, it won’t even take that long. Sooner, the Light Cavalry of the Black Blade Legion will catch up."

"Light Cavalry is not good at fighting in the mountains and forests, maybe we can bite back at them," Breson mused for a moment and replied.

"That way we’d lose time," Nemesia said quietly, glancing at Brand. She had always been the commander of this army, yet her calm face didn’t show any dissatisfaction with Brand.

Brand also noticed that this Female Knight had a quality he greatly admired, which was military obedience; she was calm, steadied, and absolutely obedient to orders, something even he couldn’t achieve—this was the mark of a truly excellent soldier.