Four Split Personalities

Gerbin turned his horse around and, without looking back, said, "Given a certain artifice, we won’t have any consumption for a short time, but we must hurry, so if possible..."

"Possible."

Hei Fan answered hastily without taking time to think, "A gap has already been opened for you."

Simultaneously, a message reading ’Open defenses within twenty seconds, clear the way, execute immediately’ was synced to Feather Song, who had just arranged the forefront battles, giving her the feeling of [Is this guy playing with me?]. Of course, she did it anyway.

Thus, including four advanced Holy Knights and the player ’Hawk’ who strenuously requested to accompany the troops, the total of four hundred and fifty-seven Knights of the Combined Knight Order resumed their charge, spending less than two minutes in the third engagement zone.

By then, the number of mutants on Hodir Mountain Path had already fallen below six thousand.

...

Game Time AM15:08

The Mutants had completely occupied Kai’s vision, these countless desecrating creatures knew no fear. Even if a second ago, hundreds of their kind were speared into the air, their heads severed by longswords, trampled into flesh by iron hooves, the next second more mutants would swarm in, launching kamikaze attacks against the Knight Order, attempting to tear these still warm-blooded creatures into pieces!

It must be said, that by sheer coincidence, these instinct-driven mutants were unknowingly employing the most effective tactic against a host of knights: leveraging their numeric superiority to physically block the charging path with as many bodies as possible, using a horrifying casualty rate to slow the enemy’s momentum, forcefully ’applying brakes’ to the rampaging beast.

This was a simple, clear, and universally understood method, one, however, that few in history had actually successfully implemented, for no other reason than the cost being too steep.

Simply put, it was unaffordable.

Even fully armed heavy infantry battalions, facing a full-on charge by an equally-leveled Knight Order, had to suffer casualties of at least fifty to seventy percent to completely halt the opposition. Yes, just to halt, meaning that with both armies initially numbering a thousand, after the clash the infantry would likely see five to seven hundred dead just to stop the Knight Order, resulting thereafter in three to four hundred infantry facing an almost intact, merely halted, thousand-man cavalry division.

And as it is well known, when a cohort’s death rate exceeds fifty percent, it can virtually be equated with ’total collapse.’

However, these remaining five thousand-plus mutants were not any kind of military cohort. They were ununified, uncooperative, brainless, tactless, disorganized, and undisciplined; their congregation was merely driven by instinct but even now, it was this rabble, under conventional notions, that was defending itself in the most efficient way possible — by piling up bodies!

Two mutants would be impaled by a lance, followed promptly by three mutants who rush out only to humorously transform into ’spiked candies.’

One mutant would have its head severed by a longsword, and half a second later, more heads might appear in your view.

Even if they were turned over and sliced in two by a warhorse, as long as they hadn’t completely lost their mobility, they would try to grab onto the closest horse leg.

This was a form of combat that no normal creature could replicate.

Thus, more and more mutants became skewered candy, more and more heads were launched into the air, more and more twitching claws scratched around aimlessly...

And yet, the speed of the Knight Order was not lessened by half!

Given that they were inherently two levels stronger, the fearless resistance of the mutants in front of Holy Knights who had activated [Combined Purification] was absurd.

Setting aside other factors, but that effect alone which increases damage against the [Evil] alignment by 30% and further increases it by an additional 20% against the [Chaotic Evil] alignment is enough to allow these speeding tin cans to effortlessly crush those bodies.

Obviously, these creatures, with minds full only of the massacre of living beings, could only be [Chaotic Evil].

So, even if they unwittingly executed a wave of highly targeted and spectacular maneuvers, facing the Knight Order with individuals like Gerbin•Kahnz Pallock at the helm, they still had no effect whatsoever.

At least, during the effective duration of [Combined Purification], they had no effect whatsoever.

The not-so-tall Gnome Paladin charged at the forefront of the team, his mini-cross sword continuously casting angry red light trails. Each trail precisely decapitated a head before it quietly dissipated, leaving no survivors nor wasting an ounce of strength.

Although he was an advanced Holy Knight like Snow Mane and Ferman, Ger’s slaughter far exceeded theirs. As the tip of the spear, he was often easily overlooked due to certain reasons, yet he always ensured there was not a single mutant that could move within three meters of him.

Perhaps in terms of sheer strength, Ger paled in comparison to the previous Dawn Knight Green • Terry who once proclaimed in Pato City, ’Holy Light, this evil deserves a fight,’ and then eliminated hundreds of heretics with a single [Dawn’s Sin Slash]. Nor could he be compared to those unfairly strong Knight Commanders. However, this middle-aged gnome, ranked third among the high-ranking Holy Knights of the Justice Sect and regularly stationed in the City of Light to train novice knights, was still quite famous.

As Xia Lian had complained to Yu Chen when she first received the support list—

"Think about it, to be a trainer for the novice knights of the Justice Sect, how dirty must a person be..."

Of course, besides being crafty, Ger was also a very comprehensive combat expert, especially adept at leading a small troop in skirmishes, always finding the ’just right’ approach, just like his combat style.

Moreover, it was said that he was an expert in defensive battles, possessing a stunning, and by some accounts incredibly sly, family shield technique—unfortunately, hardly anyone had ever seen Ger use it, which had turned it into a widely circulated eerie tale among the lower ranks of the Justice Sect.

Getting back to the main point, under Ger’s leadership, the Knight Order influenced by the [Combined Purification] moved forward like an unstoppable force without decreasing their speed at all!

Immediately following behind the high-ranking Holy Knights, Kay hunched over his beloved horse, continually adjusting the angle of his lance, skewering and tossing one mutant after another. He, bursting with the need to vent his fighting spirit, didn’t have to worry about running out of enemies because even though Ger, Snow Mane, and the others were formidable, the sheer number of mutants still filled his vision!

However, just then, Kay suddenly noticed a mutant, knocked into the air by someone, flying straight at him. Due to his distraction and slower reaction, he had no time to adjust his lance, and just when he was about to...

Whoosh!

A hazy shadow flashed by. Kay seemed to see a shield flicker in front of his eyes, and then the mutant, which could have knocked him off his horse, weirdly bounced away.

"Stay focused, Knight,"

Ger’s voice sounded in Kay’s ear, laced with a faint teasing, "By the way, you handle the lance quite well."

Kay was stunned for a moment, looking around, but he couldn’t find the person whose figure had loomed large in his memory.

It has to be said that Snow Mane’s bulk was just too imposing...

...

Game Time PM15:13

It had been 26 minutes since the Holy Knight Order departed from the A1 slope.

By now, under the leadership of player Big Ear Mosquito and High Priest Ferman, a rather rudimentary position had finally been established at the mouth of the pass.

...

Game Time PM15:15

The Knight Order reached the temporary position of the Heavy Assault Squad, marking the end of their first formal charge since the commencement of the battle.

Casualties: zero

Victories: Fourteen hundred and ninety-seven mutants.

Chapter 440: The End